"I would like my picture to look as if a human being had passed between them, like a snail leaving its trail of the human presence... as a snail leaves its slime."
Francis Bacon produced some of the most iconic images of wounded and traumatized humanity in post-war art. Borrowing inspiration from Surrealism, film, photography, and the Old Masters, he forged a distinctive style that made him one of the most widely recognized exponents of figurative art in the 1940s and 1950s. Bacon concentrated his energies on portraiture, often depicting habitues of the bars and clubs of London's Soho neighborhood. His subjects were always portrayed as violently distorted, almost slabs of raw meat, that are isolated souls imprisoned and tormented by existential dilemmas. One of the most successful British painters of the 20th century, Bacon's reputation was elevated further during the "art world's" widespread return to painting in the 1980s, and after his death he became regarded by some as one of the world's most important painters.
Bacon's canvases communicate powerful emotions - whole tableaux seem to scream, not just the people depicted on them. This ability to create such powerful statements were foundational for Bacon's unique achievement in painting.
Surrealism, and in particular biomorphism, shaped the style of Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944), the work that launched Bacon's reputation when it was exhibited in London in the final weeks of World War II. The work established many of the themes that would occupy the rest of his career, namely humanity's capacity for self-destruction and its fate in an age of global war.
Bacon established his mature style in the late 1940s when he evolved his earlier Surrealism into an approach that borrowed from depictions of motion in film and photography, in particular the studies of figures in action produced by the early photographer Eadweard Muybridge. From these Bacon not only pioneered new ways to suggest movement in painting, but to bring painting and photography into a more coherent union.
Although Bacon's success rested on his striking approach to figuration, his attitudes toward painting were profoundly traditional. The Old Masters were an important source of inspiration for him, particularly Diego Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (c.1650) which Bacon used as the basis for his own famous series of "screaming popes." At a time when many lost faith in painting, Bacon maintained his belief in the importance of the medium, saying of his own working that his own pictures "deserve either the National Gallery or the dustbin, with nothing in between."
Born in Dublin, Francis Bacon was named after his famous ancestor, the English philosopher and scientist. His father, Edward, served in the army and later took a job in the War Office during World War I. In an interview with critic David Sylvester, Bacon attributed the connotations of violence in his paintings to the turbulent circumstances of his early life. A British regiment was stationed near his childhood home, and he remembered constantly hearing soldiers practicing maneuvers. Naturally, his father's position in the War Office alerted him to the threat of violence at an early age. Returning to Dublin after the war, he came of age amidst the early campaigns of the Irish nationalist movement.
Crucifixion is the work that first launched Bacon into the public eye, long before the much greater successes of the post-war years. The painting may have been inspired by Rembrandt's Slaughtered Ox (c.1638), but also by Picasso's Surrealist style perhaps sensing this latter connection, Herbert Read, in his book Art Now, illustrated Bacon's Crucifixion adjacent to a Picasso Bather). The translucent whiteness painted over the bodily frame in Crucifixion adds a ghostly touch to an already unsettling composition, introducing Bacon's obsession with pain and fear. Exhibited at a time when the horrors of the First World War were still remembered, Crucifixion spoke of how brutality had changed the world forever. At the time of writing the picture is owned by Damien Hirst, an artist who has acknowledged a large debt to Bacon.
Three Studies launched Bacon's reputation in the mid 1940s and shows the importance of biomorphic Surrealism in forging his early style. Bacon may have originally intended to incorporate the figures in a crucifixion, but his reference to the base of such a composition suggests that he imagined them as part of a predella, the scenes at the bottom of a traditional altarpiece. The twisted bodies are all the more frightening for their vaguely familiar human-like forms, which appear to stretch out toward the viewer in pain and supplication. The perspective lines in the background create a shallow space, alluding to captivity and torture. The figures are based upon the Furies, goddesses of revenge from Greek mythology that play an important role in the Oresteia, a three-part tragedy by Aeschylus. Bacon may have been drawn to the play's themes of guilt and obsession. The piece profoundly influenced images of the body in post-war British art.
The layered images of this enigmatic painting blend into each other, giving it a dreamlike (or nightmarish) quality. From the top, the outstretched wings of a bird skeleton seem to be perched upon a hanging carcass, the latter motif influenced, like Bacon's Crucifixion from 1933, by Rembrandt. In the foreground, a well-dressed man under an umbrella sits in a circular enclosure which might be decorated with more bones and another carcass. The strange, collage-like composition of this work reveals Bacon's method. "The one like a butcher's shop, it came to me as an accident," he once said of the picture. "I was attempting to make a bird alighting on a field. And it may have been bound up in some way with the three forms that had gone before, but suddenly the lines that I'd drawn suggested something totally different, and out of this suggestion rose the picture. I had no intention to do this picture; I never thought of it in that way. It was like one continuous accident mounting on top of another."
Although the figure in this picture derives from a 1650 portrait of Pope Innocent X by Diego Velazquez, Bacon avoided viewing the original painting, preferring to work from reproductions. Once again, he deploys a cage-like frame that surrounds the pope, but also introduces vertical brushing across the surface of the painting, an element he described as a curtain, relating the figure to a precious object requiring a protected space. However, the linear strokes are destructive to the image, and seem more like the bars of a jail cell. The lines almost seem to vibrate, and complementary shades of purple and yellow add to the tension of the composition.
About his famous scream, Bacon says, "I didn't do it in the way that I wanted to.... I wanted to make the mouth, with its beauty of its color and everything, look like one of the sunsets or something of Monet." Bacon's own connections to earlier masterpieces are picked up by the reviewer Mary Abbe who wrote: "[F]or all their nastiness and brutality, there is something undeniably beautiful, even serene in these paintings.. Bacon .. achieved a kind of lyricism that makes even his most horrific subjects compatible with the drawing rooms in which many of them hung. Backgrounds of boudoir pink, persimmon, lilac and aqua combine with the calligraphic grace of his fleshy figures in images of stylized elegance."
Due to its homosexual overtones, the inaugural exhibition of Two Figures caused an uproar. Drawn from studies of anatomical drawings and Eadweard Muybridge's motion photography, Two	Figures is as much an exploration of the body in action as it is a representation of the physical act of love. The two figures entwined in bed are covered by Bacon's "curtain" of striated lines, which both obstructs the view and enhances the movement of the figures. Instead of evoking the romance of a nighttime rendezvous, the dark colors of the painting allude to a more sinister encounter.
Bacon was in his 60s when he met the young George Dyer. Their relationship, although romantic, always had the sense of a father-son dynamic. Dyer was constantly in need of attention and reassurance, and the naked embryonic form kneeling precariously on a ledge expresses his vulnerability. The circular sofa, however, surrounds him in a protective embrace. Uncharacteristically, the coloring is light and subdued, although the red and green highlights hint at an inner struggle. Dyer suffered from a lifelong addiction to drugs and alcohol, which is alluded to by the painted figure looking downward into a central abyss.


text:
Home /CPA Journal Content/Current Developments in the Private Sector
Current Developments in the Private Sector
By Norman Strauss, Susan Cosper, Patrick Durbin, Robert Laux and Alison Spivey
Feature Articles, July 2016 Issue |
The third panel of the 15th Annual Financial Reporting Conference covered recent financial reporting developments in the private sector. Topics included the new revenue recognition standard and the proposed disclosure framework, as well as FASB's financial reporting simplification initiative and the Emerging Issues Task Force's (EITF) agenda.
Susan Cosper opened the panel by discussing FASB's efforts to ease the transition to its new revenue recognition standard. "We formed a Transition Resource Group [TRG] to solicit, analyze and discuss stakeholder issues around the standard." Alison Spivey, herself a member of the TRG, added that "the original discussions were focused on very broad issues. The conversations now have evolved to the point where it's less about the need for additional guidance, but more to help educate stakeholders." Cosper noted the transparency of the TRG's process and the broad makeup of the group. She also encouraged stakeholders to submit issues to the group via FASB's website, especially issues involving guidance that can be applied in multiple ways.
Moving to the standard itself, Cosper gave an overview: "Today we have a risk and rewards model," she said, "and tomorrow we'll have a control-based model." This model is based around a five-step process: 1) identify the contract, 2) identify the performance obligations, 3) determine the transaction price, 4) allocate the transaction price, and 5) recognize revenue. The effective date is 2018 for public companies and 2019 for nonpublic companies, with early adoption permitted for 2017. Spivey emphasized that this meant calendar-year public companies have only eight months to early adopt; regular adopters have 20 months, also not a lot of time.
Returning to the TRG, Cosper said that the group has addressed all of the 94 issues submitted to it so far. Three Accounting Standards Updates (ASU) have been issued regarding implementation and one on the effective date, and a technical corrections ASU will be exposed soon. Spivey noted that some issues brought up through the AICPA's process will be addressed through its own guidance.
Norman Strauss asked Patrick Durbin how much leeway issuers might have to ignore statements from the TRG, whose guidance is not technically authoritative without a formal standard. Durbin advised against such a strategy, saying, "Our initial counsel would be [the TRG guidance is] the best thinking that's happened on this subject. But like anything, we're willing to consider alternative views." Robert Laux added, from a preparer's perspective, "We'd probably follow [the TRG's guidance], just to lower the controversy. Even though it's not in an ASU, it'd be difficult not to follow it."
Cosper then turned to the content of the ASUs issued so far by the TRG, noting some common themes in requests from stakeholders. "One is to clarify the intent of the board's language within the standard," she said, "and the other is to reduce the cost and complexity around implementing the new guidance." Clarifications have addressed identifying contracts between issuers and customers, identifying performance obligations, licensing, principal versus agent considerations, and determining transaction prices, as well as providing certain practical expedients.
Spivey added that "the conversations now have evolved to the point where it's less about the need for additional guidance, but more to help educate stakeholders."
Building a New Disclosure Framework
Turning to FASB's disclosure framework project, Cosper outlined the goals of the project: "The overall objective is to improve the effectiveness of the financial statements. We're trying to help companies promote discretion and promote the financial statements as a communication tool." This will require refining FASB's process in setting standards as well as issuers' assessment of those standards, she continued. As an example, one project will replace minimum disclosure language with the statement "to the extent material." Materiality would be determined, individually and in the aggregate, as a legal concept that "would state specifically that the omission of an immaterial item is not an accounting error," according to Cosper.
Durbin was supportive of the framework project, saying that "FASB should be commended at least for trying to make progress, because there's been a lot of noise in the system." Feedback from constituents, however, will be critical to the process. Laux cited the Supreme Court's definition of materiality, noting that a literal reading "could get rid of 90% of our footnote information," as unrealistic as that might be.
Continuing, Cosper cited defined benefit plans, fair value measurement, income taxes, and inventory as problem areas identified by constituents. Exposure drafts have been issued or are pending for all of them, as well as materiality.
Proposed changes to fair value measurement included the removal of forward-looking and process information, the addition of disclosures for public companies, and the modification of disclosures that users found particularly useful. Feedback was, predictably, "pretty happy with the removes and the modifies for the most part, but pretty unhappy with the adds." Changes for defined benefit plans followed the same pattern.
Investor feedback for income tax disclosures, however, called for "more disaggregation, particularly between income from domestic results and income from foreign," leading to many proposed additions. Meanwhile, FASB's review of inventory disclosure is still in its infancy.
Other FASB Concerns
Cosper then talked about other projects at FASB, starting with the revision of the definition of a business. FASB's goal is to move closer to the narrower outcome found under IFRS. In addition, the proposal would "reduce the number of transactions that actually need to be evaluated under the framework," which would help screen out some of the false positives under the current definition.
After exploring several alternatives, FASB has elected to develop a simplified goodwill impairment test by eliminating the second step of the current test. Instead, "the test would compare the fair value of the reporting unit to the carrying value of the reporting unit, and the impairment charge would be recognized based on the difference if the carrying amount exceeds the fair value."
Finally, Cosper talked about a project to increase disclosure of government assistance received by issuers. The project will cover "anything that's a legally enforceable agreement where the entity receives value or benefit from the government and the government has discretion over who receives it and how much." Feedback on this project has been "mixed," she said, with some wanting broader recognition and others noting that such contracts are often confidential.
The EITF and Simplification
Strauss turned the panel over to Durbin, who spoke about FASB's simplification initiative and recent EITF activity. In the past year, the simplification initiative has finalized its amendments to inventory measurement, measurement period adjustments, deferred tax classification, the equity method, and stock-based compensation. Future plans include simplifying income tax reporting regarding intra-entity transfers and simplifying the classification of debt.
Laux noted that executives at Microsoft are excited about the stockbased compensation standard, as companies can now withhold the statutory maximum, lessening the cash impact.
Speaking about the EITF's recent agenda, Durbin highlighted work on energy contracts, prepaid gift cards, employee benefit plans, derivative contract novations and existing hedge accounting relationships, contingent put and call options, classification of cash receipts and payments, and restricted cash. He characterized the guidance as "logical answers." Cosper noted that the cash flow guidance dovetails with FASB's future agenda, which includes a project on "financial performance reporting, which would include other comprehensive income, statement of cash flows, as well as segment reporting." FASB plans to seek comment on this topic, as well as others, in the near future.
Audience Q&A
Strauss then opened the floor to audience questions. One questioner asked whether carried interest is within the scope of the new revenue recognition standard, as there has been some question about the SEC's stance on it. Cosper replied that she did not know the SEC's view, but a recent TRG meeting concluded that it was.
Norman Strauss, Ernst & Young's executive professor in residence at Baruch College, moderated the panel.
Susan Cosper is the technical director at FASB.
Patrick Durbin is a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Robert Laux is senior director of financial accounting and reporting at Microsoft.
Alison Spivey is a partner at Ernst & Young.
Transforming the PCAOB's Agenda
Financial Instruments – Where Are We?
TAGS: revenue recognition accounting standards private sector
ICYMI | Employee Retention: The…
ICYMI | Considerations for Women…
ICYMI | Testing Participant Data…
ICYMI | Estate Planning after…
Getting Taxpayers' Consent to Disclose…
Using Online Calculators to Choose…
Providing Services to the Marijuana…
ICYMI | It's Time to…
ICYMI | Student Perceptions of…
ICYMI | Tax Cuts and…
Exploring the Use of Robotic…
The Accountant's Role in Advertising
The COSO Internal Control Framework…
The Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Scandal…
An Interview with former Congressman…
Challenging Outdated Technology
Meeting the Challenge of Artificial…
Fraud in a World of…
Internal Auditing: Trends and Challenges
FASB's New Guidance for Contributions…
To Audit or Not to…
Failure Study
Leveraging Common Sense in Building…
An Interview with Richard Howitt,…
What's Happening at the SEC

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Corey Blake
Internet Person
Music Chamber
Dash Shaw
Comics at the LA Times Festival of Books 2011
LA Times Festival of Books loves comics, Hi De Ho
Comic books, graphic novels, manga (whatever you want to call sequential art) was pulling in the crowds at this past weekend's LA Times Festival of Books, the nation's largest book fair. After 14 years at UCLA, the free open air event moved to rival campus USC in South LA and it didn't seem to hamper attendance. The more concentrated layout, and the campus' access to public transportation seemed to please most attendees.
(Although, it could've been more clear where to park and where to walk to get to the Festival as you arrived. We saw no signs at Vermont and Jefferson after heading south from the 5. Hardly an obscure route.)
That nitpick aside, all seemed to go well for the most part, and perhaps the most favored part of the Festival was comics. While I was only able to attend over half of Saturday, almost every comics booth and panel I checked in with had a heavy turnout with a good mix of what seemed like a lot of curious newcomers and some diehard (or at least familiar) comics readers.
Hi De Ho Comics & Books with Pictures, a longtime store located in Santa Monica, had a very prominent location and a big booth setup (right). This was probably one of the most consistently and heavily trafficked booths we saw on Trousdale and Childs Way. Legendary Archie Comics writer George Gladir, co-creator of Sabrina the Teenage Witch with artist Dan DeCarlo, was signing copies of Archie's Americana series. He was particularly proud of his name getting credited in the two Best of the Eighties volumes, noting how rare it was for Archie to name the creators at the time. Adults that grew up on Archie and kids that are growing up on Archie now clustered around his table, sometimes making it near impossible to even see him. By the middle of the day, Hi De Ho had sold out of Best of the Eighties Volume 1 and George had to keep asking for the staff to replenish copies of Volume 2. It was also great to see the great diversity of people that were drawn to him, proving that Archie truly is a pervasive American icon. On the other side of the booth, graphic novelist Mark Kalesniko was providing free sketches with purchases of his books, like his latest release Freeway, about that most unique of LA experiences: soul crushing traffic. Yet just from the little I've read so far, it maintains such charm and humor with an amazing ability to depict movement and the main character's emotions, sometimes with no dialogue whatsoever.
SLG Publishing was the second booth we discovered, and it kept getting waves of people checking out their great selection of graphic novels, comic books, t-shirts, posters and Ugly Dolls. In addition to their own material, they also had a smattering of graphic novels from other publishers. We easily spent the most money here, which surprised me. Nahleen actually out-spent me at SLG, which might be a first when it comes to comics.
Kids, parents eat up kaboom's Disney comics
Right next to SLG was the Boom! Studios booth, which had a constant mob trying to check out the Disney and Peanuts graphic novels from their kaboom! imprint. Boom! smartly had a buy 1, get 1 free deal going on. Kids and parents alike were asking all sorts of questions about what's best, what's age appropriate, and more, and the Boom! staff was great. They clearly love this material too. One kid asked which volume of Donald Duck: Double Duck was best, and the guy responded not as a dry sales person, but as an enthusiastic reader. One somewhat awkward moment came when a mother asked where Boom!'s store was located, so she could buy more at a later date. She had to be informed that there is no store, Boom! sells to other stores. She must've sensed it was going to get confusing so she said she would just check out their website, and I suspect she did based on her kids' eagerness. Fortunately kaboom! has an online store, so I'm optimistic they'll eventually get what they want.
Next stop was the booth for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. This was a pleasant surprise, because I didn't see them listed on the exhibitor list posted on the Festival's website or iPhone app. The CBLDF provides crucial First Amendment protection to the comic book industry, so it's great to see them accepting donations and getting the word out about their work in this kind of mainstream venue. Unfortunately not as many people were stopping at their booth. Maybe it needed to be laid out differently, with the tables pushed more toward the front of the tent, or maybe people thought something with the word "Legal" in the title was too boring to even bother. But they had a steady stream of 2-3 people at a time, at least. (One guy abruptly stopped in and asked if there was a way to volunteer to get into Comic-Con, which seemed a little transparently like someone didn't get tickets to the sold-out convention, but still wanted to go and maybe or maybe not cares at all about the work CBLDF does. But whatever.) They had awesome "I Read Banned Comics" t-shirts for sale, as well as signed copies of some fantastic material all reasonably priced.
The web-comic Green Pieces Cartoons had a booth with a great set-up that was constantly pulling people in: a monitor displayed to passers-by artist Drew Aquilina drawing his environmentally-friendly characters. The gag strip has been covered by National Geographic Kids and there was a near-impenetrable wall of people there when I stopped by. A print version of the web-comic was for sale, along with t-shirts and tote bags.
Lots of interest at the Archaia booth
Archaia Entertainment had another popular booth (right) with probably the best deal at the festival: buy 1, get 1 free; buy 2, get 3 free. This kind of belief in their product goes a long way and caught some off-guard. There were also a few artists on hand to offer free sketches, like Dave Valeza, artist of the graphic novel An Elegy for Amelia Johnson. It's great cover design really popped out, and was getting a lot of questions, some from young women. Comparisons to Blankets were made. Mouse Guard and The Killer were also getting a lot of attention (The Killer Vol. 1 had sold out), and Revere got one of the best pitches from publisher Stephen Christy ("The British are coming, but the werewolves are worse").
The team-up booth of Wondermark and Sheldon also had a wall of people in front of it. They not only were attracting a lot of interested, but they probably won the Devoted Fans Award. I overhead a young woman tell Sheldon creator Dave Kellett that she had traveled a considerable distance just to see him. The rest of the Festival, indeed the rest of Los Angeles, was apparently inconsequential. These two web-comics have a unique look and their styles are different, so that no doubt explained the big draw. They were undeniably eye-catching, which probably explains why the comics booths in general got so much attention. Graphic design skills pay off. And then the quality substance kept them there.
The only panel I was able to make was the Graphic Novel panel moderated by the Hero Complex' Geoff Boucher. The panelists were three amazing talents: Daniel Clowes (Mr. Wonderful, Wilson, Ghost World), Dash Shaw (BodyWorld, Bottomless Belly Button), and Jim Woodring (Weathercraft, Frank). The three had a fully engaging and frequently funny discussion about their approach to their art, storytelling, technology, their work environments and more. The panel wasn't quite sold out but the room was definitely packed within 5 minutes after it started. It was fascinating to listen to creators with such diverse styles and approaches.
In 2009, the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, begun in 1980, added a Graphic Novel category. This year's winner, only the second since the category was created, was the amazing debut graphic novel by Adam Hines, Duncan the Wonder Dog: Show One. Dash Shaw's BodyWorld and Jim Woodring's Weathercraft were also nominated, along with You'll Never Know Book II: Collateral Damage by Carol Tyler and Karl Stevens' The Lodger. (Both Tyler and Stevens were guests for the earlier Graphic Memoir panel.) Last year's Graphic Novel Book Prize winner was the worthy Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. The LA Times Book Prizes were awarded Friday night before the first day of the Festival.
For more pictures, see my Flickr set.
Posted in Bloggy-blogging, Dig Comics and tagged Adam Hines, An Elegy for Amelia Johnson, Archaia, Archie Comics, BodyWorld, Boom! Studios, Bottomless Belly Button, C. Tyler, Carol Tyler, CBLDF, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Daniel Clowes, Dash Shaw, Dave Kellett, Dave Valeza, David Malki, Disney Comics, Donald Duck, Duncan the Wonder Dog, Fantagraphics Books, Festival of Books, Frank, Freeway, Geoff Boucher, George Gladir, Ghost World, Hero Complex, Hi De Ho Comics, I Read Banned Comics, Jim Woodring, Kaboom, Karl Stevens, LA Times Book Prizes, LA Times Festival of Books, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Mark Kalesniko, Mouse Guard, Mr. Wonderful, Revere, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sheldon, SLG Publishing, The Killer, The Lodger, University of Southern California, USC, USC Campus, Weathercraft, Wilson, Wondermark, You'll Never Know on May 3, 2011 by Corey Blake. 2 Comments
New Graphic Novels, Comic Books for You – 10/14/09
Never read a graphic novel before? Haven't read a comic book in years?
Here's some brand new stuff that came out the week of October 14 that I think is worth a look-see for someone with little to no history with comics. That means you should be able to pick any of these up cold without having read anything else. So take a look and see if something doesn't grab your fancy. If so, follow the publisher links or Amazon.com links to buy yourself a copy. Or, head to your local friendly comic book shop.
[And yes, I'm nearly a month behind. You don't have to rub it in.]
Disclaimer: For the most part, I have not read these yet, so I can't vouch for their quality. But, from what I've heard and seen, odds are good they just might appeal to you.
Blood + Water – $17.95
By Judd Winick & Tomm Coker
128 pages; published by DC Comics' Vertigo Books; available at Amazon.com
Adam Heller is dying, but before he can take the big dirt nap, his best friends offer him a chance at immortality and he takes it. Now Adam is a vampire living it up on the wild side and it's everything he could ever want. But the eternal party crashes to a bloody halt when an ancient monster awakens from the dark, forgotten places of the world and comes looking for Adam. The startling reason this monster has come looking for him may be the most horrifying realization of all.
I read this story when it originally came out in individual comic book issues back in 2003. (I can't believe that was 6 years ago.) I find Judd Winick to be kind of a mixed bag as a writer, but this was one of his good ones. And as I recall Tomm Coker's art is even better. It was so solid, I was kind of surprised a sequel never materialized. Maybe this collected edition is a hint that one is finally coming. Unfortunately I couldn't find a preview. If anyone finds one, post it in the comments below.
Heavy Liquid – $24.99
By Paul Pope
"Pope has embellished his stylish love story with heart-stopping action and adventure. …Pope's drawing and page design … is both technically assured and wonderfully expressive." —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"This has the potential to attract a large audience, including serious readers, science-fiction buffs, artists, and would-be graphic novelists." —SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
In a future where New York has evolved into a sci-fi metropolis, "S," a man addicted to "heavy liquid," a substance that is both a drug and an art form, finds himself trapped in a mystery littered with love and drugs. This new edition features bonus sketch material, new coloring and more.
Another one from Vertigo's vaults, this was originally released in early 2000. Paul Pope is one of the art form's more exceptional storytellers and artists and this has been on my must-get list for some time. It's great to see this re-released. DC Comics has a pretty skimpy preview here in PDF.
The Fixer and Other Stories – $19.95
By Joe Sacco
216 pages; published by Drawn and Quarterly; available at Amazon.com
"Sacco is one of the most astute war-zone correspondents working today" –Rolling Stone
"A searing and amusing look at the motley collection of reporters, war profiteers, criminals, soldiers and hapless civilians trapped in war zone." –New York Times
"Sacco doesn't try to lay claim to the truth. He's simply telling one man's story, and it makes for an excellent book." –Washington Post
"Sacco demonstrates that the narrative arts, including comics, can gather up complicated social truths with a gradual patience that often eludes the camera." –Boston Globe
Using old-fashioned pen and paper, award-winning cartoonist Joe Sacco reports from the sidelines of wars around the world. THE FIXER AND OTHER STORIES is a new softcover that collects Joe Sacco's landmark short stories on the Bosnian War that previously comprised the hardcover editions of THE FIXER and WARS END.
It must be re-issue week. This reprints material from 2003 and 2005. Joe Sacco is living proof that comics can do and be anything. Even journalism. And fortunately he's real good at it, too. It's sorta kinda like NPR in comics.
Blackbeard: Legend of the Pyrate King #1 – $3.50
By Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Robert Napton, Jamie Nash and Mario Guevara
32 pages; published by Dynamite Entertaiment
Dynamite presents their most ambitious undertaking yet – BLACKBEARD: THE LEGEND OF THE PYRATE KING #1! Under the stunning John Cassaday, producers Eduardo (writer of The Blair Witch Project) Sanchez and Gregg (producer of The Blair Witch Project) Hale are joined by Robert Napton and Jamie Nash to present the ultimate adventure tale of a bygone age, when pyrates ruled the waters!
Beginning with his childhood and carry through to his bitter end, Blackbeard's legacy has never been explored as deeply and illustrated as beautifully (by Mario Guevara) than now!
I don't really consider a comic by the makers of The Blair Witch Project to be all that big of a selling point, but Dynamite has had a pretty decent track record with properties like The Lone Ranger, Zorro and Sherlock Holmes. I think this is their first comic steeped in history and based on an actual person, and I'm sure liberties will be taken. But it looks like a fun ride nevertheless. Check out the preview at the publisher link above.
MOME Vol. 16 – $14.99
Edited by Gary Groth and Eric Reynolds
112 pages; published by Fantagraphics Books; available at Amazon.com
Since its inception in 2005, Mome has served as a comics McSweeney's. Whether exposing new talent like Eleanor Davis (author of the recent Stinky by Toon Books); featuring short stories by contemporary graphic novelists like Dash Shaw (The Bottomless Belly Button); bringing the work of international superstars like David B. (Epileptic) to American audiences; or introducing the work of legends like Gilbert Shelton (The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers) to a new generation of readers, Mome is the most acclaimed, accessible, frequent, and reasonably priced anthology on the market despite it's high production values and mostly color format.
This issue features several of our favorite alternative comic artists of the last 15 years, bringing us great joy. Archer Prewitt is the first, with an all-new "Funny Bunny" strip created in between his active musical career. "The Moolah Tree" is the new Fuzz & Pluck graphic novel from Ted Stearn, following Fuzz & Pluck and Fuzz & Pluck: Splitsville, beginning serialization here. We are equally proud to debut new work from Renée French, whose work is also featured on the front and back cover of this issue. And Nicholas Mahler debuts to ask "What Is Art?" (translated by secret weapon Kim Thompson).
Also: the second chapter of T. Edward Bak's "Wild Man – The Strange Journey – and Fantastic Accounts – of the Naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, from Bavaria to Bolshaya Zemlya (and Beyond)"; a new "Cold Heat" story by the team of Ben Jones, Frank Santoro & Jon Vermilyea; Dash Shaw interprets an episode of "Blind Date" into comics form; and new stories from Lilli Carré, Conor O'Keefe, Laura Park, Nate Neal, and Sara Edward-Corbett, with incidental drawings by Kaela Graham.
This highly regarded quarterly anthology is a great survey of some of the industry's greatest and most innovative creators. If you've always wanted to sample quality alternative comics, here's your first stop. Here's a great big 12-page preview (PDF).
You Are There – $26.99
By Jacques Tardi & Jean-Claude Forest
The satirical masterpiece that ushered in the graphic novel era to European comics, finally available in English—the beginning of an ambitious publishing project introducing one of Europe's most beloved cartoonists to American audiences. One of the earliest full-length, standalone graphic novels to be published in Europe, and certainly one of the best and most original, Ici Même was serialized in the adult French comics monthly (A suivre) in the early 1980s and then released in book form. A quarter of a century later, this dark, funny, consistently surprising masterpiece has finally been translated into English.
An unexpected yet smoothly confident collaboration between the darkly cynical Jacques Tardi and the playful fantasist Jean-Claude Forest (of Barbarella fame), You Are There is set on a small island off the coast of France, where unscrupulous landowners have succeeded in overtaking the land from the last heir of a previously wealthy family. That heir, whose domain, in a Beckettian twist, is now reduced to the walls that border these patches of land he used to own, prowls the walls all day, eking out a living by collecting tolls at each gate. His seemingly hopeless struggle to recover his birthright becomes complicated as the government sees a way of using his plight for the sake of political expediency, and the romantic intervention of the daughter of one of the landowners (who has her own sordid history with the politician) engenders further difficulties, culminating in an apocalyptic, hallucinatory finale.
Set in Tardi's preferred early 20th century milieu, You Are There is drawn in his crisp 1980s neo-"clear line" style, gorgeously detailed, elegantly stylized, with impossibly deep slabs of black. You Are There is a feast for both the eyes and the brain.
As we cover in our documentary Dig Comics, the perception of comic books and their corresponding growth (or lack thereof) is notably different in countries other than the United States. This past summer, Dig Comics director/writer/host Miguel Cima discovered firsthand that France has a healthier, more diverse industry. This release from 1979 was apparently a significant moment in the growth of that industry. Here's an even bigger 19-page preview (PDF).
The Act-I-Vate Primer – $24.99
Edited by Dean Haspiel, Nick Bertozzi, et al.
160 pages; published by IDW Publishing; available at Amazon.com
In the tradition of the acclaimed and groundbreaking anthology, Flight, the ACT-I-VATE Primer showcases a wide array of stories and talent -18 innovative creators, 16 intriguing properties, one beautiful book – and all-new, never-before-seen stories and art!
act-i-vate.com is the premier comic art collective on the Internet, featuring many renowned cartoonists who produce all-new material on a regular basis. The ACT-I-VATE PRIMER is a PRINT EXCLUSIVE anthology by many of the Act-I-Vate creators. None of the material in this book will appear on the Act-I-Vate website for at least one year from publication date.
There is a lot of good comics work being doing online and Act-I-Vate.com is one of the best hubs to find it. This anthology is another fine sampler. Here's a 16-page preview.
That's it for this week. Tougher than usual to whittle it down to a halfway digestible list. Yay comics!
Posted in Dig Comics and tagged Act-I-Vate Primer, Archer Prewitt, Ben Jones, Blackbeard, Conor O'Keefe, Dash Shaw, Dean Haspiel, Dig Comics, Eduardo Sanchez, Eric Reynolds, Frank Santoro, Gary Groth, Gregg Hale, Heavy Liquid, Jacques Tardi, Jamie Nash, Jean-Claude Forest, Jim Dougan, Joe Infurnari, Joe Sacco, John Leavitt, Jon Vermilyea, Kaela Graham, Kim Thompson, Laura Park, Leland Purvis, Lilli Carré, Mario Guevara, Michael Cavallaro, Michael Fiffe, Mike Dawson, Molly Crabapple, MOME, Nate Neal, Nicholas Mahler, Nick Bertozzi, Paul Pope, Pedro Camargo, Renée French, Robert Napton, Roger Langridge, Sara Edward-Corbett, Simon Fraser, T. Edward Bak, Ted Stearn, The Fixer and Other Stories, Tim Hamilton, Ulises Farinas, You Are There on November 7, 2009 by Corey Blake. 4 Comments
New Graphic Novels, Comic Books for You – 9/30/09
Here's some brand new stuff that came out the week of September 30 that I think is worth a look-see for someone with little to no history with comics. That means you should be able to pick any of these up cold without having read anything else. So take a look and see if something doesn't grab your fancy. If so, follow the publisher links or Amazon.com links to buy yourself a copy. Or, head to your local friendly comic book shop.
Johnny Cash: I See A Darkness – $17.95
By Reinhard Kleist
224 pages; published by Abrams ComicArts; available at Amazon.com
The first and only illustrated biography of "The Man in Black", Johnny Cash, the most famous country singer of all time.
Cash was a 17-time Grammy winner who sold more than 90 million albums in his lifetime and became an icon of American music in the 20th century. Graphic novelist Reinhard Kleist depicts Johnny Cash's eventful life from his early sessions with Elvis Presley (1956), through the concert in Folsom Prison (1968), his spectacular comeback in the 1990s, and the final years before his death on September 12, 2003.
The author's site has a preview (although the final lettering is missing). I love that image of Cash in the recording studio.
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth – $22.95
By Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papadimitriou & Alecos Papadatos
352 pages; published by Bloomsbury; available at Amazon.com
The innovative, dramatic graphic novel based on the life of the philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell.
This brilliantly illustrated tale of reason, insanity, love and truth recounts the story of Bertrand Russell's life. Raised by his paternal grandparents, young Russell was never told the whereabouts of his parents. Driven by a desire for knowledge of his own history, he attempted to force the world to yield to his yearnings: for truth, clarity and resolve.
As he grew older, and increasingly sophisticated as a philosopher and mathematician, Russell strove to create an objective language with which to describe the world – one free of the biases and slippages of the written word. At the same time, he began courting his first wife, teasing her with riddles and leaning on her during the darker days, when his quest was bogged down by paradoxes, frustrations and the ghosts of his family's secrets. Ultimately, he found considerable success – but his career was stalled when he was outmatched by an intellectual rival: his young, strident, brilliantly original student, Ludwig Wittgenstein.
An insightful and complexly layered narrative, Logicomix reveals both Russell's inner struggle and the quest for the foundations of logic. Narration by an older, wiser Russell, as well as asides from the author himself, make sense of the story's heady and powerful ideas. At its heart, Logicomix is a story about the conflict between pure reason and the persistent flaws of reality, a narrative populated by great and august thinkers, young lovers, ghosts and insanity.
The Amazon.com link above has previews and the Bloomsbury link above has three-part making-of video series on YouTube, but there's also an excellent website at Logicomix.com with behind-the-scenes info, a preview trailer and lots of other info. This debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List and is getting excellent reviews.
Mickey Mouse & Friends #296 – $2.99
By Stefano Ambrosio & Lorenzo Pastrovicchio
32 pages; published by Boom! Kids
First BOOM! Kids issue! One of the longest-lived, most-successful comic book series in the industry's history comes to BOOM! and brings a little magic — presenting Wizards of Mickey! Student of the great wizard Grandalf, Mickey Mouse hails from the humble village of Miceland. Allying himself with Donald Duck (who has a pet dragon named Fafnir) and team mate Goofy, Mickey's come to the great tournament to get his revenge on Peg Leg Pete, who has stolen the Rain Crystal from Miceland! Join Mickey Mouse and his friends on an epic tale of magic and wonder! Join BOOM! Kids for a whole new epoch in Disney publishing!
Disney comic books have been missing from the market place for about a year now. This is an imported story, which has been a pretty standard practice for previous publishers of Disney comics. It was originally done in Italy but from the looks of this preview, the translation holds up pretty nicely.
High Moon Vol. 1 – $14.99
By David Gallaher & Steve Ellis
192 pages; published by DC Comics' Zuda Comics; available at Amazon.com
The first winner of Zuda Comics' monthly online competition, HIGH MOON is a horror adventure of cowboys and werewolves in the Old West. HIGH MOON begins with a gruff bounty hunter, Matthew Macgregor, investigating a series of strange happenings in the dusty town of Blest, Texas. While Macgregor seeks to uncover the town's dark secrets, he tries desperately to keep his own hidden.
The horrors of Blest ripple out to the mountainous town of Ragged Rock, Oklahoma, where another detective investigates a series of murders following a bizarre train robbery. Uncovering an age-old vendetta, this mysterious lawman is forced to do battle with a steam-driven monstrosity.
Macgregor's tale concludes as a young woman's dire call for assistance leads him through the Black Hills of South Dakota and into devastating battle between two warring factions. Macgregor must face down the United States government – only to discover a secret ritual that spells the destruction of the American frontier.
It's such a relief when someone you personally know releases something, and you can be genuinely complimentary of what they've produced. While David Gallaher and I have "virtually" known each other for years, I'm happy to say that his web-comic holds up nicely as a thrilling horror/western mash-up. You can read it for yourself right here. And then there's this production blog for good behind-the-scenes goodies.
Power & Glory – $19.99
By Howard Chaykin
128 pages; published by Dynamite Entertainment; available at Amazon.com
A crime fighter is genetically engineered to be a super-hero – but when the test goes awry and he doesn't have the super-hero qualities needed, he has to be teamed up with a former CIA agent who is the brains behind the duo. One gets all the glory while one has all the power.
I've always thought that it was a bit weird that every super-hero just instantly has what it takes, mentally and emotionally, to actually be a superhero. I guess I'm not alone. Probably not one for the kiddies.
The Dynamite link above has a 9-page preview so you have a better idea of just what you're getting into by entering one of Howard Chaykin's worlds.
Prison Pit: Book One – $12.99
By Johnny Ryan
Prison Pit is an original graphic novel from the pen of Johnny Ryan, best known for his humor comic, Angry Youth Comix. Prison Pit represents a marked departure from AYC or his Blecky Yuckerella weekly comic strip, combining his love for WWE wrestling, Gary Panter's "Jimbo" comics, and Kentaro Miura's "Berserk" Manga into a brutal showcase of violence, survival and revenge. Imagine a blend of old-fashioned role playing fantasy games like Dungeons & Dragons crossed with contemporary adult video games like Grand Theft Auto, filtered through Ryan's sense of humor.
The book begins with C.F. (his full-name would be too horrifying to reveal here) being thrown into the Prison Pit, a barren negative-zone populated by intergalactic, violent monster criminals. In this first volume, C.F. gets into a bloody slorge war (a slorge is a giant slug that excretes a steroid-like drug called "fecid" that all the monster men are addicted to) with ultraprisoner Rottweiler Herpes and his henchmen Rabies Bloodbath and Assrat. The ensuing bloodbath is an over-the-top, hyperviolent yet hilarious farce worthy of Ryan's inspiration, Kentaro Miura.
If Howard Chaykin is too much for you, you'll never be able to handle Johnny Ryan, who is maniacally funny in the absurdly over-the-top violence. Here's a PDF file preview.
Ball Peen Hammer – $17.99
By Adam Rapp & George O'Connor
144 pages; published by First Second Books; available at Amazon.com
The world is dying. After most of the city succumbed to the plague, Welton's staying inside — permanently. But hiding in his claustrophobic basement room — the only place he knows is safe — exacts a gruesome price, and he becomes part of a collective that's killing children. Infected with the plague himself, with no way to find the woman he loves, Welton takes refuge in apathy — until someone knocks on his door.
Ball Peen Hammer gives us a window into life in a half-deserted apartment building in a time of raw love, sacrifice, fear, and death.
This one is a bit more serious but also not for the weak at heart. Here's a 13-page preview.
Refresh, Refresh – $17.99
By James Ponsoldt, Danica Novgorodoff & Benjamin Percy
Fathers, sons, and the war that comes between them.
There's nothing Josh, Cody, and Gordon want more than their fathers home safely from the war in Iraq — unless it's to get out of their dead-end town. Refresh, Refresh is the story of three teenagers on the cusp of high school graduation and their struggle to make hard decisions with no role models to follow; to discover the possibilities for the future when all the doors are slamming in their faces; and to believe their fathers will come home alive so they can be boys again.
The above says enough to get me hooked. But for more, here's an 11-page preview.
Trotsky: A Graphic Biography – $16.95
By Rick Geary
112 pages; published by Hill & Wang; available at Amazon.com
Trotsky was a hero to some, a ruthless demon to others. To Stalin, he was such a threat that he warranted murder by pickax. This polarizing figure set up a world conflict that lasted through the twentieth century, and in Trotsky: A Graphic Biography, the renowned comic artist Rick Geary uses his distinct style to depict the stark reality of the man and his times. Trotsky's life becomes a guide to the creation of the Soviet Union, the horrors of World War I, and the establishment of international communism as he, Lenin, and their fellow Bolsheviks rise from persecution and a life underground to the height of political power. Ranging from his boyhood in the Ukraine to his fallout with Stalin and his moonlight romance with Frida Kahlo, Trotsky is a stunning look at one of the twentieth century's most important thinkers and the far-reaching political trends that he launched.
Rick Geary does excellent work. Unfortunately I can't find a preview but just imagine looking at something really impressive that compels you to buy it.
The Best American Comics 2009 – $22.00
Edited by Charles Burns
352 pages; published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; available at Amazon.com
Now in its fourth year, Best American Comics showcases the work of both established and up-and-coming contributers. Editor Charles Burns—cartoonist, illustrator, and official cover artist of the Believer—has culled the best stories from graphic novels, pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, mini-comics, and the web to create this cutting-edge collection. Featuring the work of such luminaries as Chris Ware, KAZ, and Robert Crumb, this volume is "a genuine salute to comics" (Houston Chronicle).
This is a highly acclaimed yearly anthology that provides a great sampling of the depth and art of comics. Here's the book's official site which has more information.
The Book of Genesis – $24.95
By R. Crumb
published by W.W. Norton; available at Amazon.com
From Creation to the death of Joseph, here are all 50 chapters of the Book of Genesis, revealingly illustrated as never before.
Envisioning the first book of the bible like no one before him, R. Crumb, the legendary illustrator, reveals here the story of Genesis in a profoundly honest and deeply moving way. Originally thinking that we would do a take off of Adam and Eve, Crumb became so fascinated by the Bible's language, "a text so great and so strange that it lends itself readily to graphic depictions," that he decided instead to do a literal interpretation using the text word for word in a version primarily assembled from the translations of Robert Alter and the King James bible.
Now, readers of every persuasion—Crumb fans, comic book lovers, and believers—can gain astonishing new insights from these harrowing, tragic, and even juicy stories. Crumb's Book of Genesis reintroduces us to the bountiful tree lined garden of Adam and Eve, the massive ark of Noah with beasts of every kind, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by brimstone and fire that rained from the heavens, and the Egypt of the Pharaoh, where Joseph's embalmed body is carried in a coffin, in a scene as elegiac as any in Genesis. Using clues from the text and peeling away the theological and scholarly interpretation that have often obscured the Bible's most dramatic stories, Crumb fleshes out a parade of Biblical originals: from the serpent in Eden, the humanoid reptile appearing like an alien out of a science fiction movie, to Jacob, a "kind've depressed guy who doesn't strike you as physically courageous," and his bother, Esau, "a rough and kick ass guy," to Abraham's wife Sarah, more fetching than most woman at 90, to God himself, "a standard Charlton Heston-like figure with long white hair and a flowing beard."
As Crumb writes in his introduction, "the stories of these people, the Hebrews, were something more than just stories. They were the foundation, the source, in writing of religious and political power, handed down by God himself." Crumb's Book of Genesis, the culmination of 5 years of painstaking work, is a tapestry of masterly detail and storytelling which celebrates the astonishing diversity of the one of our greatest artistic geniuses.
A surprisingly reverential and straight adaptation from one of comics' most influential humorists. Here's a preview of chapter 19.
Pretty big week for comics. Lots of good stuff to check out.
Posted in Dig Comics and tagged Adam Rapp, Adrian Tomine, Al Columbia, Alecos Papadatos, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Anders Nilsen, Apostolos Doxiadis, Art Spiegelman, Ben Katchor, Benjamin Percy, Best American Comics, Charles Burns, Chris Ware, Christos Papadimitriou, Dan Zettwoch, Danica Novgorodoff, Daniel Clowes, Dash Shaw, David Gallaher, David Sandlin, Doug Allen, Gabrielle Bell, Gary Panter, George O'Connor, Gilbert Hernandez, High Moon, Howard Chaykin, I See A Darkness, James Ponsoldt, Jason Lutes, Jerry Moriarty, Jessica Abel, Jillian Tamaki, Johnny Cash, Johnny Ryan, Kaz, Kevin Huizenga, Koren Shadmi, Laura Park, Logicomix, Lorenzo Pastrovicchio, Mariko Tamaki, Matt Broersma, Matt Madden, Michael Kupperman, Mickey Mouse, Mimi Pond, Pall Been Hammer, Peter Bagge, Power & Glory, Prison Pit, R. Crumb, Refresh Refresh, Reinhard Kleist, Rick Geary, Ron Regé, Sammy Harkham, Stefano Ambrosio, Steve Ellis, Ted Stearn, The Book of Genesis, Tim Hensley, Tony Millionaire, Trotsky on October 11, 2009 by Corey Blake. Leave a comment
Corey Blake on Facebook
game4m.net | tai game mien phi | tai game iwin | tai game ionline | tai game danh bai | tai game | truyen ma | chuyen la | truyencogiaothao.net | truyen nguoi lon | doctruyenkiemhiep.net | anhkhieudam.net | lau xanh | phimkhieudam.net | phimalo.net | phim ma | truyen cuoi | truyen tinh yeu | truyen dam
@CoreyBlake on Twitter
Oh shoot, Justin Trudeau from the Mirror Universe has taken over Canada with his sexy evil beard powers. https://t.co/mbs2ffqpxA 5 days ago
I've seen people share their lists of Star Wars movies in order of favorites. I haven't seen all of the movies yet… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 2 weeks ago
As we say goodbye to 2019, I just want to leave you with this one question you can ponder in 2020: how do the two p… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 2 weeks ago
OK another political campaign marketing pet peeve of mine (because that's probably 85% of emails I get now): starti… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 2 weeks ago
Presidential candidates, stickers are not a big incentive to donate to your campaign. And yet I keep getting emails… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 3 weeks ago
Follow @coreyblake
Links: Corey Across the Internets
Corey Blake Message Board
Corey Blake YouTube Channel
Corey's Facebook
Corey's Google+
Corey's Instagram
Corey's Pinterest
Corey's SoundCloud
Corey's Tumblr
Corey's Flickr
Corey's Twitter
Dig Comics
Part-Time Fanboy
The Comics Observer
The You Convention
(Re-)Reading Comics
Bloggy-blogging
Caturdays
Comics Events
Comics News Roundup
Fight MS
Improv Show
Living Room Theater
Not-So-Funny Videos
Photo-blogging
Your Brad Link of the Day
Johnny sena on Popeye host Tom Hatten taught…
AJ Speck on It's Foreskin Man! With…
Cynthia Wilson on Popeye host Tom Hatten taught…
Corey Blake on (Re-)Reading Uncanny X-Men: Th…
Jasen T Perri on (Re-)Reading Uncanny X-Men: Th…
Jack Bishop on Popeye host Tom Hatten taught…
Tom Hurst on Popeye host Tom Hatten taught…
J.R. LeMar on (Re-)Reading Uncanny X-Men: Th…
(Re-)Reading Uncanny… on (Re-)Reading Uncanny X-Men: Go…
Corey Blake on Flickr


virus signatures and build/unpack/test/verify CVD databases and update scripts.
Be quiet - output only error messages.
Write all messages to stdout.
Read data from stdin and write hex string to stdout.
Generate MD5 checksum from stdin or MD5 sigs for FILES.
Generate SHA1 checksum from stdin or SHA1 sigs for FILES.
Generate SHA256 checksum from stdin or SHA256 sigs for FILES.
Generate .mdb signatures for FILES.
Extract VBA/Word6 macros from given MS Office document.
Print a CVD information and verify MD5 and a digital signature.
is found in the --datadir its version+1 is used and this value is ignored.
Don't create a .cdiff file when building a new database file.
Create a database file without digital signatures (.cud).
ClamAV Signing Service address (for virus database maintainers only).
Use DIR as the default database directory for all operations.
Unpack FILE (CVD) to a current directory.
Unpack a local CVD file (main or daily) to current directory.
Create a diff file for OLD and NEW CVDs/INCDIRs.
This command will compare two text files and print differences in a cdiff format.
Execute update script FILE in current directory.
List all signature names from the local database directory (default) or from FILE.
REGEX. The whole signature body (name, hex string, etc.) is checked.
etc.) for which the signatures were created.
Print Authenticode details from a PE file.


text:
Social Determinants of Health (14)
Infant Health (11)
Communities in Ohio Address Rising Inequalities in Response to COVID-19
A serious compounding problem of COVID-19 is how it is intensifying inequalities across the country, including in Ohio where significant disparities in maternal and child health persist. Learn how Mahoning County is proactively identifying how the pandemic will affect at-risk populations and then developing a comprehensive plan that bring together partners from across the health system.
Breastfeeding Takes a Village and, Too Often, Black Women Don't Have One
Breastfeeding peer support networks run for and by Black women fill a gap in breastfeeding support for Black women—a gap largely created by historic and systemic inequities. Here, Khadija Garrison Adams, co-founder of Black Lactation Circle (BLaC) of Central Ohio, shares how their community is empowering black pregnant and nursing mothers to meet their breastfeeding goals.
It Takes a Community to Save Babies
By partnering with community programs and organizations, public health initiatives can give families opportunities to learn about safe sleep from trusted members of their community who share their lived experience. Here, find six strategies for engaging community partners, maintaining that partnership, and collaborating to raise awareness.
One Step Closer to the National Norm of Infant Safe Sleep and Breastfeeding
Consistent, evidence-based advice on safe sleep and breastfeeding, whether in a hospital or at home, could improve maternal and infant health outcomes, save babies' lives, and address significant racial disparities. Learn how a national initiative is seizing every opportunity to support caregivers and babies by working with hospitals and prenatal care centers, social service agencies, and other community touch points across the country.
Are Your Hospital's Website Images Safe-Sleep Friendly?
The internet is filled with unsafe images of babies sleeping. Hospital websites can set a much-needed positive online precedent. Here, learn what you can do make sure your hospital images are safe sleep friendly.
Interrupting the Mother-Child Dyad is Not the Answer to Infant Safety
Rooming-in not only has the potential to improve health outcomes for moms and babies, but it is a critical strategy for closing equity gaps in breastfeeding and, in turn, equity gaps in maternal and infant health. Recently though, questions about infant safety and rooming-in have arisen due to worries that an already exhausted mother may fall asleep while breastfeeding her baby. Here, three experts off advice on keeping moms and babies together safely so that both can benefit from this critical practice.
Historic Trauma is Affecting Tomorrow's Children
When Indigenous people were dispossessed from their land, they not only lost their homes but were separated from their way of life. And in many cases, children were forcefully taken from their families. How do we synthesize the promotion of breastfeeding and safe sleep practices among within the context of this historical trauma? Collectively our Indigenous healthcare professionals offer three ideas.
How can Hospitals Reduce Sleep-Related Infant Deaths?
Improving conversations between health professionals and caregivers can help ensure that more families have the knowledge, skills and self-efficacy to practice safe sleep at every sleep. Right now, hospitals across the country are developing a bundle of evidence-based best to spread and scale. Keep reading for four key takeaways.
Recognizing Implicit Bias Can Reduce Inequities in Children's Health
Here, Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, MPH—a nationally and internationally recognized expert in healthcare disparities, cross-cultural health and cross-cultural communication—shares recommendations to help health professionals and improvement teams better identify bias and prevent it from affecting their behaviors and decisions.
Building Resiliency in Teen Moms Can Improve Breastfeeding and Save Babies
Less than one in five adolescent mothers exclusively breastfeeds their babies for the recommended six months. This means that, with the right supports, over 80 percent more teen moms and their babies can gain proven health benefits, including a reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Here, Lori Feldman-Winter, MD, MPH, highlights strategies that uniquely empower teen mothers to breastfeed their babies.


text:
Q: iptables and physdev match confusion I'd like to be able to prevent a network bridge from generating certain types of traffic from some of its interfaces.
If I understand iptables correctly, packets generate by a device appear on the OUTPUT chain. I have tried adding a physdev match to the OUTPUT chain using iptables but get the following warning:

xt_physdev: using --physdev-out in the OUTPUT, FORWARD, and POSTROUTING chains for non-bridged traffic is not supported anymore.

From what I can tell, this capability was once added and then removed from iptables. Since many examples on the internet seem to no longer work.
Is someone able to comment on any of the following: what the original intention of this rule was, how we can use it correctly with more recent versions of iptables and how we can achieve the original intent of blocking traffic generated by the bridge from particular interfaces (I think the correct answer here might be ebtables).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Above & Beyond's "Good For Me" R….
Above & Beyond and Artem Stolyarov reunite once more on the ALPHA 9 remix of 'Good For Me' (feat. Zoë Johnston). 'Good For Me' was initially released on Above & Beyond's debut album 'Tri-State', which will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary this coming March. Featuring the ethereal voice of long-time collaborator Zoë Johnston, "Good For Me" is one of Above & Beyond's most beloved anthems.
Whether he's ARTY or ALPHA 9, Artem is one of Anjuna's biggest stars. His ALPHA 9 project went from strength to strength in 2020: with notable highlights including the 'Stellar EP', 'Everywhere I Go' and 'All That I Can'. ALPHA 9 contributed three tracks to Anjunabeats Volume 15, Above & Beyond's marquee release of the year. Artem's recent 20 Years Of Anjunabeats mix featured some of his best work as ARTY and ALPHA 9 from the last decade, plus selections from Andrew Bayer, Mat Zo, Grum, and Jaytech. This being said, ALPHA 9's take on 'Good For Me' is a faithful update of a cherished classic.
Follow Above & Beyond Via:
Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud
Jan Blomqvist Unveils Incredible Remix For Mako's….
Carlo Whale Hits Home Run With Remix For Jonas Saalbach….


text:
package orange.spring4.sample.domain;

/**
 * ${DESCRIPTION}
 *
 * @author Ricky Fung
 * @date 2016-12-30 11:19
 */
public class Order {
    private long id;
    private String customerName;
    private int amount;
    private double totalPrice;
    private String address;

    public long getId() {
        return id;
    }

    public void setId(long id) {
        this.id = id;
    }

    public String getCustomerName() {
        return customerName;
    }

    public void setCustomerName(String customerName) {
        this.customerName = customerName;
    }

    public int getAmount() {
        return amount;
    }

    public void setAmount(int amount) {
        this.amount = amount;
    }

    public double getTotalPrice() {
        return totalPrice;
    }

    public void setTotalPrice(double totalPrice) {
        this.totalPrice = totalPrice;
    }

    public String getAddress() {
        return address;
    }

    public void setAddress(String address) {
        this.address = address;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Official course description: COREQUISITE: CHMY 141 or CHMY 151. How the human body works. For students planning to be health professionals. Includes basic cellular mechanisms, physiological control and communications. Major topics include muscle, nerve, respiratory, renal and cardiovascular systems. Cadaver laboratory will cover related human anatomy.


text:
Home Politics IRAN SAYS IT WILL EXPAND MILITARY TIES WITH RUSSIA, HOLD JOINT DRILLS AS U.S. TRIES TO BUILD RIVAL COALITION
IRAN SAYS IT WILL EXPAND MILITARY TIES WITH RUSSIA, HOLD JOINT DRILLS AS U.S. TRIES TO BUILD RIVAL COALITION
Posted By: on: July 30, 2019 In: Politics, Slider
The head of Iran's navy has said he signed a document to expand ties with Russia, with whom his forces planned on conducting joint drills in the same tense waters that the United States sought to counter the Islamic Republic with international support.
Iranian naval commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said Monday that he signed an unprecedented memorandum of understanding with Russia, largely involving the two countries' naval forces, and that it "may be considered as a turning point in relations of Tehran in Moscow," according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency. The news came as Khanzadi was visiting St. Petersburg to celebrate Russia's Navy Day and he further announced that "joint Russian-Iranian exercises in the Indian Ocean are expected to take place soon."
"When we talk about the Indian Ocean, perhaps the most significant part of the area is the northern Indian Ocean, which flows into the Gulf of Oman, the Strait of Hormuz and also the Persian Gulf," Khanzadi said.
Such an exercise would take place in the same waters in which the U.S. has accused Iran of attacking and seizing international vessels in recent months, charges Tehran has denied as it faced mounting sanctions in the wake of Washington's withdrawal last year from a 2015 nuclear deal with its longtime foe.
The agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was also signed by Russia as well as China, the European Union, France, Germany and the United Kingdom — all of whom still support it in spite of President Donald Trump's exit. Washington has threatened to hit the countries with sanctions should they engage in trade with blacklisted Iranian business sectors, such as its otherwise lucrative oil industry.
Read More at: News Week
Iran Briefing | News Press Focus on Human Rights Violation by IRGC, Iran Human Rights
Tags: ChinaEXPAND MILITARY TIESIranIran NavyRouhaniRussiaRussia NavyTrumpUSA
Pompeo pledges 'collective defense' of shipping threatened by Iran
UK warship commander says Iran trying 'to test' Britain in Gulf
Ailing Political Prisoners Deprived of Health Care
January 16, 2012 In: Arrests, Human Rights, Iran Briefing Exclusive, Tortures No comments
English translation of this report is exclusive to Iran Briefing Iran Briefing : Qasem Sholeh-Sadi, imprisoned lawyer and former lawmaker, is about to be paralyzed due to lack of medical care. Mohsen Aminzadeh, Deputy Foreign Minister during Khatami's presidency, was tr...	Read more
The Revolutionary Guards' Looting of Iran's Economy
Brigadier General Ali Fazli
Appreciating the Role of IRGC in Suppressing Oppositions: Statement of the General Staff of the Armed Forces on Anniversary of IRGC Formation
Commander: Iran's Enemies Weaker Than Ever
IRGC, Quds Force killing Iraqi people under Khamenei orders
Argosy's fate goes before judge Thursday


text:
Cruising Maryland
Oxford, Maryland is an underrated cruising ground.
The boating life is the beating heart of Oxford, Maryland.Mark Sandlin
The first time I visited Oxford, Maryland, in 2004, I wrote that the place was like "a fly trapped in amber with a fistful of sawdust." Walking through the town's streets felt like strolling through some of the coolest pages in the history of boatbuilding. The population was only about 650 souls, and seasoned shipyard characters seemed to be around every corner. Some had hands callused from years of working in wood, or thick glasses from decades spent staring at lines plans. Big brands such as Hinckley had a presence, alongside places like the Cutts & Case Shipyard, which dates to 1965.
When I was there, Eddie Cutts Sr. was still in charge; we talked for a spell about how he'd spent two years restoring Foto, the 33-foot cedar chase boat that Morris and Stanley Rosenfeld used to photograph America's Cup yachts in the Golden Age of Yachting. Today, the yard is run by Ronnie Cutts and Eddie Cutts Jr., keeping the family legacy—and the boatbuilding legacy—alive as Oxford gentrifies into a more tourism-friendly place.
Rick Gordon welcomes customers with a smile at Dockside Boat Rentals, just up the street from Oxford's ferry landing. Bicycles, paddleboards, kayaks and more are available for rent or purchase.Mark Sandlin
"Instead of a true, honest-to-God working waterfront, now you have flowerbed competitions in the middle of town, festivals here, festivals there," Cutts Jr. says. "It's a fun little town with ice cream and good restaurants and all that kind of stuff. The boatbuilding and the marinas are all thriving and doing well."
To visiting cruisers, he says, the place feels upgraded from 15 years ago.
"Everybody here is fierce about the place not changing too much," he says. "I don't think there will ever be a McDonald's in the middle of Oxford. It's a cool little town. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
More Cruising and Chartering


I have Wallpaper Slideshow Pro configured to run at system startup. I have unchecked the option "Change on startup" but every time WSP starts it changes the wallpaper as soon as the program loads. Is there some way to correct this problem?
The same thing happens if I exit and start the program manually. Often times I pause on a particular wallpaper and I would like to have the same state when the program next starts.
first of all make sure you are using the last version available (3.4.2).
Depending on how you configured WallpaperSS it is possible it changes wallpaper on startup even if the option is not ticked. Suppose you configured WallpaperSS to change wallpaper every 10 minutes, you close the program, wait 20 minutes, when you start it again it will change wallpaper because the wait time elapsed. If you wish WallpaperSS to stay on a specific image for all the time you wish instead of closing the program you should use the pause function (right click on its system tray icon, the choose "Pause Wallpaper Slideshow").


So you've got some customers in your business now. What's next? Should you go out there and acquire more customers? Well, before we answer that question, let's go over what lifetime value of a customer is.
My goal with this post is to help you learn about or further increase your knowledge of what lifetime value of a customer is, why you should care, how to measure it, and how to increase the lifetime value of a customer.
So I will break this post down into those four sub-topics.
Question #1: What is lifetime value of a customer?
Essentially, what lifetime value means is that over any arbitrary timespan, how much revenue does a customer on average generate for your business.
So for example, if a customer spends $10 with your business on day one, then for that specific customer, the lifetime value is $10 on day one.
Now imagine that the same customer comes back and spends $10 more with your business on day ten. The lifetime value for that customer is now $20 on day ten.
You can use any timespan you like, just make sure that they make sense for your business. The more granular you get, the more redundancy you may get in your data, however, space them out too much and you may lose some valuable data.
It is also advised that you use multiple timespans so you can start to get a sense of how much on average each customer spends with your business over the long-term.
Personally, for fast-paced online businesses, I like to measure the lifetime value every week. So how much did a customer spend on day one, then day seven, then day fourteen, and so on.
If the business is somewhat slow-paced, say a SaaS company, then I like to measure the lifetime value every thirty days as most SaaS based companies operate on a monthly billing service.
Now that you understand what lifetime value is, why should you care? Let's move on to the next question.
Question #2: Why should you care about lifetime value of a customer?
If you're thinking that it's just a cool metric to have in your business and that's the only purpose of measuring lifetime value, you are going to be leaving a lot of growth opportunity on the table.
Essentially, if you know how much money a customer will spend with your business over any arbitrary timespan (LTV) and you know how much it costs on average to acquire a customer (CAC), you can easily check to see if your business is profitable.
Not only that, you can start to see how long it takes before your business is profitable. This can be extremely valuable data to use if you are trying to pitch your company to a venture capitalist and raise money.
So for example, let's say that you run an online course that teaches people how to stay productive for longer and learn more in less time. Imagine that it requires you $20 to get someone to enroll into your introductory course which is $5.
Most marketers would just stop right there and discontinue that marketing campaign because it's simply not profitable. You're spending $20 to make $5. Who in their right mind would put $20 into an ATM and want to get back $5? No one.
However, they are missing the point here. They are attempting to day-trade attention, trying to acquire more customers and optimize only for day one value of a customer. They are not trying to build an audience and provide them with massive amounts of value.
I wrote another post that goes over the four benefits of building an audience and how it can drastically improve your business. One of the points I made was that by providing lots of value and building an audience, your customers will become more valuable over time. What does that sound like? Sounds like you're increasing the lifetime value of your average customer.
So yes, you might be losing $15 per customer, however, you have their attention now. This is where you must provide massive amounts of value through the introductory course to leave an amazing first impression of your brand.
Go above and beyond with the content. Create a community on Facebook to help answer their ongoing questions. Host private webinars or release new tips every week. Something to make that introductory course feel like the best introductory course to ever exist.
Now you've built massive respect, trust, and rapport with your target audience. They know your brand, they've invested time in learning from you, they love your content, they're familiar with your face.
Then on the third day or after they've been through a certain percentage of your introductory course, you offer them a course that will help solve their productivity problems for $50. You are offering them this advanced course after you've built respect, trust, and rapport with your customer base by giving them value.
If you do the math, you only need a 30% conversion rate to breakeven on your marketing efforts and recover the $15 you lost on each customer that signed up.
Keep in mind, you own the audience, so if you don't hit 30% the first time around, you can give them even more value and then offer them the $50 course again and include some psychological biases such as urgency bias.
If you're measuring the lifetime value of your average customer in weekly periods, you will know after how long your business will become profitable. Furthermore, you can provide even more value in your advanced course and further grow your audience.
By having this information at your disposal, you can be much more confident about your marketing efforts. You may lose money in the beginning, however, you'll make that money back AND have a loyal customer base that loves your brand.
While your competitors are out there trying to flip their marketing dollars, you'll be over here providing as much value as you can to each customer so that over time, your business becomes profitable.
So hopefully by now, I've convinced you that knowing your numbers for lifetime value is important, let's get into how you can measure for lifetime value.
Question #3: How can I measure lifetime value of a customer?
If you have an online business, this will be far easier to accomplish, however, if you do happen to have an offline business, don't worry, by getting creative, you can achieve this as well.
By having an online business, you can keep track of each customer and assign each a customer ID. You can then record when they first become your customer to serve as the starting date.
Next, you can create a table that tracks all of the purchase history on your website. Make sure that this data can be filtered by the customer ID.
You can then have an algorithm that calculates what the lifetime value of each customer is for a certain timespan. After you've calculated the lifetime value of each customer, you can then aggregate the data and get your final answer: your average lifetime value of a customer.
If you are not a programmer yourself, you might need to hire one to help you accomplish this. Don't worry, the upfront cost is well worth how much money you can make in the long-term.
Additionally, I offer these programming and data analytics services to businesses as well. If you would like to work with me, click the 'Services' tab up top and fill out the form. I will get back to you with a free database architecture and a quote.
If you have an offline business, you can try to replicate this, however, some businesses, like restaurants, don't assign IDs to customers, so there's no way of identifying who made a purchase at what time.
In this case, you will have to get creative. Brick-and-mortar businesses in the past have tried to accomplish this by giving out punch cards with unique IDs or by having a loyalty program. Some salons will take your name and phone number to keep track of how many times you've been to the salon.
Bottom line is, you'll have to get creative with measuring the lifetime value of your business. This might even lead to you giving more value to your customers (free stuff from punchcards is value).
Now that you have a good idea on how to measure lifetime value, let's get into the four ways of how you can increase lifetime value of a customer.
Question #4: How can I increase the lifetime value of a customer?
The short answer is to give your customer more value. However, that short answer is vague and it doesn't provide you with actual tactics and strategy, so let's get into the four ways to increase the lifetime value of a customer.
Develop a product or service with your customers: People love to have their voice heard. If you can listen to what your audience has to say about your products and services, you can start to gain valuable feedback on how to improve existing offers which can reduce churn and produce customer retention. This can also help you come up with new products and services that can better solve their problems.
Create products and services that are related: Say a customer comes to your online tennis shop and buys a tennis racket. They might also need tennis balls, tennis shoes, tennis bags, tennis whatever. By just having these related products, you increase the chances of you making more money per customer.
Create "add-on" products or services which can make solving the problem faster or easier: Imagine that you are learning about marketing funnels because you have a marketing problem in your business. You go out on the internet and first consume free content to increase your awareness. You stumble across my marketing blog and I give you a lot of free valuable information. You want to learn more, so I sell you my $4 book. You learn all of my marketing strategies and my mindsets, however, now you're stuck at implementing what you've learned. Not to worry, I also developed a $27 a month software tool that does every single thing I talk about in the book. Now you're taking action to solve your marketing problem, however, since you lack experience, you don't get results right away. Your boss is breathing down your neck to solve this problem in time. Not to worry, I offer my marketing expertise to you for just $500 a month, promising to fix all your marketing problems right away and make back your $500 every month. What I'm doing is selling you based on your urgency. If you're just browsing around, you just want some free stuff. Once you're a bit more aware and urgency starts to develop, you will start to buy products and services. Have your business ready for every level of urgency.
Lure customers in with low prices, overdeliver on service, and then sell them expensive products: This strategy is one of the more riskier ones because you're guaranteed that you will lose money in the beginning. However, it is also the most powerful one. It's the same strategy that Jeff Bezos has used to grow Amazon. For a very long time, Amazon would sell products way under market value and they were obviously losing money on these products, however, they wowed customers with quick two-day delivery and exceptional customer service. They made the products cheap and sold you on their service and brand. Amazon now makes their money back on your attention in multiple ways. They've also become a cultural norm. If you want to shop online, where do you mostly go? Amazon.
You can mix and match any of these methods to start increasing how much money you make with each customer.
Just keep in mind though, whatever product or services you sell, make sure that they are high quality and actually do what you promised and more. If the customer feels like they're not getting their money's worth, they're going to leave and your lifetime value will start to drop.
By understanding how much it costs to get a customer on average and how much money on average a customer will create for your business, you can get a better sense of how profitable your business is over a given timespan.
It will make you more confident with your marketing efforts, incentivize you to give more value to your customers, and make your business more profitable in the end.
So back to the original question, now that you've got customers in your business, what should you do next? Pretty obvious now, you need to increase the lifetime value of each customer!
If you'd like to further discuss how you can start to incorporate this "value-first" mindset into your business, feel free to contact me, it's @sunnychopper on pretty much every social media platform out there, even Xbox Live.


text:
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import {NgFor} from '@angular/common';
import { Tab } from './tab';
// http://plnkr.co/edit/1no1sjZ9Lkv4glsUFnnU?p=preview
@Component({
    selector: 'tabs',
    templateUrl: 'app/html/tabs.template.html',
    directives: [NgFor]
})
export class Tabs {

    tabs: Tab[];

    constructor() {
        this.tabs = [];
    }

    getTitle(tab:Tab): string {
        return tab.title;
    }

    selectTab(tab: Tab) {
        /*if (tab.hasSubtabs()) {
            return;
        }*/
        _deactivateAllTabs(this.tabs);
        tab.active = true;

        function _deactivateAllTabs(tabs: Tab[]) {
            tabs.forEach((tab) => tab.active = false);
        }

    }

    addTab(tab: Tab) {
        if (this.tabs.length === 0) {
            tab.active = true;
        }
        this.tabs.push(tab);
    }
}


Whatever your reason for relocation; movers NJ will be there to assist you. They can help not just in transporting your belongings, but they can also assist you in packing them, making sure that every single one is taken care of, packed and transported without getting damaged. Our movers will not only save your money; they can help make your whole process a little less of a headache.


Reason to celebrate: February 5, 2019 is National World Nutella Day.
Chocaholics realize that there's chocolate after which there's Nutella. The creamy and scrumptious chocolate and hazelnut spread has been available since the nineteen forties, and regardless of the many imitations which have made an appearance on the market, Nutella remains the widely used guilty pleasure of chocaholics all over the world. It's not surprising that die-hard Nutella fans made the decision to begin the Nutella Day tradition in 2007. This sweet celebration was released through internet sites with a blogger and Nutella fan, and shortly hundreds of 1000's of like-minded Nutella enthusiasts demonstrated their appreciation for that chocolatey delight online.So, Nutella fans around the globe unite! Celebrate the presence of this scrumptious chocolate spread by getting a spoon and becoming creative with 100s of Nutella quality recipes. Start your Nutella Day having a classic Nutella-on-pancakes breakfast and follow having a shaken espresso having a dash of Nutella. About this day, add Nutella for your cookies, frozen treats, mousse, or perhaps to savoury dishes. Your imagination may be the limit!
Lugene Pezzuto: Forget New Year's; Nation Spaghetti Day is just around the corner!
Looking ahead, to plan accordingly, National Carrot Cake Day and World Nutella Day is observed in February and it's also National Cherry Month and National Grapefruit Month. I'll be sure to celebrate National Banana Creme Pie Day on March 2, too.
Read more: World Nutella Day: 10 Things you didn't know about Nutella. Knead once again and divide into 12 balls. Place in a warm place for a further 30 minutes. In the meatime, heat 300ml of vegetable oil in a high sided saucepan until it is 190C.