This past Christmas, I posting 12 tips to improve your photography on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/garyslens). As Facebook has limited room to post, I'm expanding those tips in this blog. Stay tuned for all twelve tips (some by themselves and some combined), and if you want even more, join me for one of my photo courses!
"Photography is not about operating a camera. It is about capturing your subject. Andre Kertesz said "Seeing is not enough, you have to feel what you photograph". Photography is as much about how you see your subject as it is about the subject in your photo. All of this is to say your photo tells a story. Consider what that story is before you click the shutter. The world is not just filled with smiling faces, and neither should your photos be. Capture your subjects in a way that tells their story - as you see it."
Now that you have the basics of operating your camera down, I get to tell you that Photography is not really about operating the camera.
Let me use the piano analogy again... playing the piano is not about hitting the keys in the right order and at the right time, although that's important to it's operation. Playing the piano is about creating great music that inspires and moves people.
In the same way, photography is about creating great images that inspire and move people. And whether that be music, drama, art, or photography, we do that by telling a story.
Before you click the shutter (with the right aperture, shutter speed and ISO), consider what you are looking at? Does it inspire you? Does it tell you something about the human condition? Is it something that you are going to look at and be uplifted, challenged, or inspired?
So often, we use our camera to take snapshots of people - say "cheese" and click. But the world is filled with all kinds of emotions, not just smiles. Sometimes the tears can be more inspirational than the smiles. Think of the photos you remember most. A little girl running away from the horror of a nuclear explosion in Japan perhaps. Perhaps a remote location in the mountains with a beautiful lake in the foreground and a majestic peak behind.
Ask yourself: what is the story you are trying to tell in the image you are capturing, and how can the image you are capturing tell that story best?
the subject itself all come together to tell a story of this lonely abandoned diesel pump.
When you look at the image, what is the story it tells you?
"If your image is telling a story, you don't want it to be telling too many stories at the same time. Keep it simple - just one subject, just one story. Use techniques to keep your background simple, or blurred (adjust aperture)."
One of the things writers learn to do is to cut out all the pieces of the story that don't really tell the story. Anything that is just "extra" and is unnecessary is removed to leave only what is important. Sculptors have been quoted as saying that the sculpture is inside the marble, all they have to do is chip away the parts that shouldn't be there.
In photography, it is important to remove the parts of the image that can be distracting to the story.
- Using Bokah to blur the background of an image so that does not draw attention from the subject.
- Cropping the image closer to the subject to remove any "other" stories that are creaping in.
- Using contrast or colour to draw more attention to your story.
Using the rules of composition, the tools of your camera, and your imagination, you can simplify your image so that it tells your story more clearly and effectively, without competition from the little side stories that happen everywhere.
Of course, this is another rule that is made to be broken, and although keeping your image simple is true most of the time, there are occasions where the complexity of an image can be a large part of the story itself - like a "where's Waldo" image, the myriad parts become the story rather than the individual subject.
Look at some of the images you have created. Pick the ones you like the best and ask yourself what is the story this image is telling me? What story was I trying to tell?


Markings on the side of the e-mark ensure a reliable positioning on your documents by the help of advanced sensor technology. A notch in the middle of the marking shows the center line of the imprint. It works perfectly with COLOP labels.
A transparent window in the front provides a better view of the imprint during marking.
Easily replaceable and long-lasting cartridge for high-quality full-colour imprints.
The printhead is integrated in the cartridge and visible on the bottom side of the e-mark.
The inbuilt fast-charging Li-Po battery (11.1 V) allows using the e-mark for several hours (4.5 hours continuous marking) without connection to the grid. It is charged within 2.75 hours (0 - 100 %).
Base station for quick charging and protection against drying out of the printhead.
Is integrated in the docking station and protects the printhead optimally against drying-out. The e-mark should always be put in the docking station with its integrated protecting cap.
Move gently from left to right or the other way round for making an imprint, supported by sliding wheels.
An optical sensor provides speed control for best and reliable imprint results.
Connect the e-mark with your computer via a Micro-USB cable. Note that charging is only done with the power plug.
Switch on the e-mark through an opening on the docking station to avoid drying-out of the printhead.
4 contact pins provide a connection between the e-mark and docking station for charging.
Can be opened easily to change a cartridge via a small notch on the bottom of the cover.


text:
RADIOLOGY POLICIES AND GUIDELINES
Ultrasound/CT Scan
All procedures , especially those requiring bowel preparation are scheduled. The patients is provided with instructions for the bowel preparation. However, patients no previously scheduled are accommodated during the day depending on bulk of the patients for the day.
All in patients no initially included for the dayscchedule are placed on an "on call" basis.
Emergency examinations or request for ultrasound outside of office hours or during holidays are done on" stat" basis, consultant "on deck"for the day is requested to come and perform the procedure.
Procedures requiring fasting are given the earlier time slots.
Patient's record
Each patients is given unique case number.the case number of the patients with previous x-rays is retrieved from the computer or file. New patients are assigned new cases number.
All patients are billed accordingly, based on the approved hospital rates.
Procedures of admitted patients are charged to their hospital accounts.
Doing of examination
Refer to the work instructions.
Keeping records of the examination
X-ray film are recorded in the technologist logbook and brought to the x-ray office. The record in three areas ,(X-ray, Ultrasound, CT-Scan) should reflect the name of the patient, his examination, the date and the time of the procedure and the number and the size of the films used including the spoiled plates (for x-ray).
The technologist records the received x-ray films in the logbook. The record should reflect the name of the patient his examination the date and the time of the procedure and the number and size of the films received.
Interpretation of X-ray films, CT-Scan, and Ultrasound results
X-ray plates , ct-Scan films and Ultrasound printout are given to the consultant for official interpretation . For Ultrasound consultant on duty scans the patient prior to issuance of the result.
Official reading of the x-ray films, CT-Scan and Ultrasound results are transcribed into the computer by the secretary.
Radiologic technologist verify, print out of the official CT and Ultrasound interpretations
before releasing to the patients. Two copies of the report are made, one for the patient and the one for the radiology department's record.
Releasing of Results
X-ray results are collected by the nurse on duty for in-patients or endorsed to the technologist for out-patients two times a day (10 AM, 3 PM) Results of patients of visiting physicians or of walk-in patients should be pick up by the patient of their representative. Ultrasound reports are fallow after scanning. CT scan reports are release in 3-5 days.
X-ray, CT and ultrasounds reports and films should be filed separately according to case number,
Barrowing/ returning of x-ray /ct scan plates (in patients)
Barrowed plates will be recorded in a logbook. A side from the patients name the record in the logbook should reflect which examination was borrowed , the borrowers name from what department the borrower belongs to and what time the plates were signed out.
Returned plates are checked for missing films or mixing of plates of other patients. Incomplete plates will not be accepted. A notation of "returned" will be placed in the logbook of borrowed plates.
Borrowing of X-ray CT scan plates (out-patient)
A borrowers form containing the partients name, X-ray/CT scan number, date and type of X-ray/CT scan examination borrowed date the plates were borrowed and name of the borrower will be made. Borrower will be requested to sign the form. All the films borrowed for the day are typed in by technologist into the computer intended for that purpose.
All films intended for teaching and for legal purpose cannot be borrowed by the patients.
All the other films are released to the patients or their relatives only upon receipt of a written letter of authorize of the attending physician.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Skip to sales information
Download cover image
Google Search Inside
BISAC Categories
History - Ancient/General
Business & Economics - Economic History
Law and Transaction Costs in the Ancient Economy
Dennis P. Kehoe, David M. Ratzan, and Uri Yiftach, editors
A critical element of economic performance from antiquity to the present
Law and Society in the Ancient World
Transaction costs (TC) are the "friction" in an economic system, and their analysis is vital to understanding institutional design and economic performance. Law and Transaction Costs in the Ancient Economy is the first volume to collect specific studies from a transaction cost perspective. The volume offers models of this new way of looking at ancient evidence, and suggests ways in which traditional subject areas might inform problems in contemporary economics and legal studies.
After the editors' methodological introduction, the contributors investigate the roles and effects of transaction costs in fourth-century Athens, Ptolemaic Egypt, the Roman Empire, and late antiquity, on the basis of legal texts, papyri, and inscriptions. Collected here are some of the leading voices on TC analysis in ancient history, as well as established scholars, including several who do not usually publish in English: Alain Bresson, Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci, Rudolf Haensch, Dennis Kehoe, François Lerouxel, J. G. Manning, Brian Muhs, Josiah Ober, David M. Ratzan, Gerhard Thür, and Uri Yiftach.
This volume will speak to those who identify with traditional subject areas, like epigraphy or Greek law, and will also demonstrate the value of experimenting with this new way of looking at ancient evidence.
Jacket illustration: Stele of a Banker. Image courtesy of the National Museum in Belgrade.
Dennis P. Kehoe is Professor of Classical Studies and Associate Faculty Member of the School of Law, Tulane University.
David M. Ratzan is Head Librarian at New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.
Uri Yiftach is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Classical Studies at Tel Aviv University.
Praise / Awards
"Provides historians with an interesting instrument
regarding characteristics of law and transaction costs in antiquity."
--Latomus
"[A] well-edited and attractively produced volume..."
--The Classical Review
The Laws of the Roman People
Provincial Soldiers and Imperial Instability in the Histories of Tacitus
The Republican Aventine and Rome's Social Order
Ancient Law, Ancient Society
Getting Rich in Late Antique Egypt
The Roman Community at Table during the Principate
The Roman Community at Table during the Principate, New and Expanded Edition
The Afterlife of Greek and Roman Sculpture
The Invention of Coinage and the Monetization of Ancient Greece
The Justice of the Greeks
Wages, Welfare Costs and Inflation in Classical Athens
Speculum Iuris
The Discovery of the Fact
DOI: 10.3998/mpub.7405925
6 x 9.
9 tables, 3 illustrations.
Available for sale worldwide
$90.00 U.S.
transaction costs, TC, Roman law, economics, papyri, Roman Egypt, inscriptions, Ptolemies, Athens, coinage


text:
Q: How to retrieve an URL inside a .NET http handler? I'm hosting images on a server, within an ASP.NET application.
I wrote a custom http handler that resizes the image and also increment "image_view_count" in a DB.
Now, I would like to also do some logging to know where the image is used. For example:
Image abc.jpg is on my server at www.myserver.com/stuff/abc.jpg
Somebody uses it by linking it in a forum post located at www.forum.com/thread.php?id=1234
I would like to retrieve the www.forum.com/thread.php?id=1234 URL in my http handler. When I use Request.Url.ToString(), in the previous example, I receive www.myserver.com/stuff/abc.jpg.
How should I do this ? Is there an equivalent in managed code to location.href ?

A: I believe you're looking for the Referer header.
public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
{
  IServiceProvider provider = (IServiceProvider)context;
  HttpWorkerRequest worker = (HttpWorkerRequest)provider.GetService(typeof(HttpWorkerRequest));
  String referer = worker.GetKnownRequestHeader(HttpWorkerRequest.HeaderReferer);
}

A: Request.Url is the url for the current request - ie, the request to load your image.
You may be able to get what you want by checking the Referer, however this is not always reliable.

A: You can check referer to see where the image is used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_referrer
C#
string referer = Request.UrlReferrer.ToString();

UrlReferrer can be null if the browser is not sending referer in request header.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Üzgünüz! Bu sayfa henüz tercih ettiğiniz dilde uygun değildir, bu nedenle orjinal halini görüntülemektesiniz.
eso1001 — Kurumsal Bülten
Closing the Loop for ALMA
Three antennas working in unison open new bright year for revolutionary observatory
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has passed a key milestone crucial for the high quality images that will be the trademark of this revolutionary new tool for astronomy. Astronomers and engineers have, for the first time, successfully linked three of the observatory's antennas at the 5000-metre elevation observing site in northern Chile. Having three antennas observing in unison paves the way for precise images of the cool Universe at unprecedented resolution, by providing the missing link to correct errors that arise when only two antennas are used.
On 20 November 2009 the third antenna for the ALMA observatory was successfully installed at the Array Operations Site, the observatory's "high site" on the Chajnantor plateau, at an altitude of 5000 metres in the Chilean Andes. Later, after a series of technical tests, astronomers and engineers observed the first signals from an astronomical source making use of all three 12-metre diameter antennas linked together, and are now working around the clock to establish the stability and readiness of the system.
"The first signal using just two ALMA antennas, observed in October, can be compared to a baby's first babblings," says Leonardo Testi, the European Project Scientist for ALMA at ESO. "Observing with a third antenna represents the moment when the baby says its very first, meaningful word — not yet a full sentence, but overwhelmingly exciting! The linking of three antennas is indeed the first actual step towards our goal of achieving precise and sharp images at submillimetre wavelengths."
The successful linking of the antenna trio was a key test of the full electronic and software system now being installed at ALMA, and its success anticipates the future capabilities of the observatory. When complete, ALMA will have at least 66 high-tech antennas operating together as an "interferometer", working as a single, huge telescope probing the sky in the millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths of light. The combination of the signals received at the individual antennas is crucial to achieve images of astronomical sources of unprecedented quality at its designed observing wavelengths.
The three-antenna linkup is a critical step towards the observatory's operations as an interferometer. Although the first, successful measurements employing just two antennas were obtained at the ALMA high site from October 2009 (see ESO Announcement) and demonstrated the excellent performance of the instruments, the addition of the third antenna is a leap of vital importance into the future of the observatory. This major milestone for the project is known as "phase closure" and provides an important independent check on the quality of the interferometry.
"The use of a network of three (or more) antennas in an interferometer dramatically enhances its performance over a simple pair of antennas," explains Wolfgang Wild, the European ALMA Project Manager. "This gives astronomers control over possible features which degrade the quality of the image, arising due to the instrument or to atmospheric turbulence. By comparing the signals received simultaneously by the three individual antennas, these unwanted effects can be cancelled out — this is completely impossible using only two antennas."
To achieve this crucial goal, astronomers observed the light coming from a distant extragalactic source, the quasar QSO B1921-293, well known to astronomers for its bright emission at very long wavelengths, including the millimetre/submillimetre range probed by ALMA. The stability of the signal measured from this object shows that the antennas are working impressively well.
Several additional antennas will be installed on the Chajnantor plateau over the next year and beyond, allowing astronomers to start producing early scientific results with the ALMA system around 2011. After this, the interferometer will steadily grow to reach its full scientific potential, with at least 66 antennas.
ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ESO is the European partner in ALMA. ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence, is a revolutionary telescope, comprising an array of 66 giant 12-metre and 7-metre diameter antennas observing at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths. ALMA will start scientific observations in 2011.
ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory, and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".
More info: ESO ALMA web pages
More info: ALMA Observatory web pages
Garching, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6716 (after 6 January)
Cep: +49 160 9411 7833
E-posta: wwild@eso.org
Leonardo Testi
Tel: +49 89 3200 6541 (from 8 January 2010)
E-posta: ltesti@eso.org
Lars Lindberg Christensen
Tel: +49 173 38 72 621 (UT-5h)
E-posta: lars@eso.org
E-posta: rhook@eso.org
Douglas Pierce-Price
E-posta: dpiercep@eso.org
Bülten Hakkında
Bülten No.: eso1001
Adı: Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
Tür: Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Telescope
Facility: Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
Görüntüler eso1001a
Three ALMA antennas working in unison
Ayrıca görüntüleyin...
Basın Bültenleri on iau.org
Basın Bültenleri on spacetelescope.org


text:
Book #29
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
From his rooms in Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes grapples with forces of deceit, intrigue, and evil in Victorian London.
I own a very large, very travel-unfriendly copy of The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes. In a bid not to overwhelm myself, I'm reading each of the novels in stages, usually one a year. This time, it's The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, and instead of an entire story devoted to one case, I was treated to a number of smaller tales, quickly wrapped up yet enlightening in their descriptions of Sherlock's acumen, and wide in their variation of strange crimes. Although definitely not quite as compelling as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, this is definitely a worthwhile addition.
Interestingly here, we're given a few tales where Sherlock has missed the mark in his deductions. Although I can see this is an attempt to make him more relatable (we also hear of his school days, and family), he still remains untouchable, and a bit of sociopath.
There's definitely a formula which made the stories predictable, except in the last story The Final Problem in which Moriarty is introduced. I'd have loved to have been present when this was initially released - the shock, the disbelief! Wow. The formula, however, is very much the same as it was in Adventures, which makes me yearn for a case with a bit more depth and intrigue.
Despite not being the best, there's always delight in Sherlock's explanation of events and how he came to solve them. Watson's love for him is there as his friend and chronicler, and they both remain, as always, very close to my heart.
Posted by JK at 16:30 No comments:
Labels: 19th century, books in 2018, classic, crime, detective, mystery, victorian
Columbine by Dave Cullen
What really happened April 20, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we "know" is wrong. It wasn't about jocks, Goths, or the Trench Coat Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene, and spent ten years on this book-widely recognized as the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world's leading forensic psychologists, and the killers' own words and drawings-several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.
Cullen was one of the reporters at Columbine on April 20 1999. A monumental, unforgettable day for everyone, Cullen continued to follow the case for ten years subsequent to the attack. He managed to access witness accounts, interviews with students, families and staff, and most informatively of all - the killers' diaries. This book is the result of all of those little bits and pieces, all pasted together to allow us to attempt some semblance of understanding into the horror.
The most important question Cullen attempts to answer here is the first question which comes to us when hearing of such a tragedy - why? His answer isn't what you'd expect – Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold didn't listen to Marilyn Manson, they didn't hate jocks, nor did they belong to the Trench Coat Mafia. Eric Harris was a psychopath (psychologists are quoted in the book describing him as a classic case) who hated humankind and was seeking a way to exterminate as many people as possible; Dylan Klebold was suicidal and depressed, desperate for love, affection, approval, but also, ultimately, and end to his own life. They were almost at opposite ends of the spectrum, yet the plan to take Columbine appealed to both of them, albeit for separate reasons.
Cullen does well here to separate facts from media conjecture and witness confusion. It's widely believed the two boys were bullied; loners in some reports, goths in others, outcasts in the rest – sometimes they were described as all three. Eric and Dylan were fairly popular pupils, who were actually the bullies rather than the bullied. In the wake of Columbine, I imagine the loners, outcasts, and goths all over America experienced sideways looks. Cullen clearly enforces the importance of understanding that there's no specific social group who are more likely to shoot up a school – if motivation is there, anyone is capable.
Another interesting point is that many media outlets portrayed the boys as snapping. They'd just had enough. Cullen shows us through the killer's diaries that the attack was planned in advance; the groundwork, logistics, and itinerary were all brainstormed and confirmed. Not only this, but the massacre had been planned as a bombing, with the guns purchased to pick off survivors. No one snapped – April 20 1999 was meticulous.
Finally, to learn the police were already aware of these two, and nothing had been done to stop the attack, was frightening to me. Cullen's descriptions of their failings before Columbine, and also during and after, are horrible.
The book is morbidly addictive, yet devastating. My heart gained weight each time I picked it up, yet I couldn't help myself. Cullen sews together his vast collection of information into a blanket of horror that you can't rip your eyes away from. To understand you are reading non-fiction will make you nauseous; to realise these types of terror still occur in schools, and elsewhere, twenty years later, is completely and utterly baffling.
Labels: books in 2018, mental illness, non-fiction, school, school shooting
The Dolphins, the Whales and the Gudgeon by Aesop
Aesop's animal fables are some of the earliest stories ever told, thought to have been composed by a slave in Greek antiquity and giving glimpses of a world that is harsh, pitiless and yet also eerily familiar.
It's enchanting to think how Aesop's fables, said to be written in the sixth century, resonate so well today. Despite the fables here being written mainly from the point of view of animals, it's clear to see that people never change.
Little Black Classics have given us a short fable on each page, with a short description of the moral, or lesson learned, after each of them. Although I had initially welcomed these explanations, I feel on reflection they made things too easy - I would have preferred to have mulled the fables over and considered their meanings for myself. The way they were set out here allowed me to plough through them, making this a very quick read.
Despite the meagre length of these tales, they all had resonance and meaning on the way we live our lives. My favourite, by far, was The Bat, the Bramble, and the Gull, which spoke to us about holding on to things. I found the behaviour of the bramble to be melancholically beautiful; a strange way to feel about a plant, indeed.
Another excellent dip into otherwise uncharted territory for me; bring me more Aesop, please.
Labels: animals, books in 2018, classic, fables, little black classics, morality
Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson
No one can ever be like a mother to us, especially not stupid frizzy dizzy Rose!
Ruby and Garnet are 10-year-old identical twins. They do everything together, especially since their mom died three years ago. Can being a double act work forever? Especially when their father starts dating again?
Whenever I start to feel like a dusty old lady, I know it's time to transport myself back to childhood by picking up something I read ferociously a thousand times, and loved. Wilson (alongside Dahl and Blyton) is the perfect go-to for this type of behaviour.
Although I probably read this in a fraction of the time it would have taken me twenty (ouch) years ago, it absolutely hasn't lost its gorgeous charm. Wilson is a master of creativity, telling us the story of the twins straight from their own mouths (well, pens) by designing the narrative in the form of a diary. Her use of differing typesets for each twin allows us to embrace their variances, and the illustrations by Nick Sharratt and Sue Heap are incredible in their simplicity. I was disappointed in myself this time around for merely glancing at them before getting on with the story, as I remember staring at these closely as a child, really allowing them to contribute to the story. It's devastating to realise that adults really don't appreciate picture books as much after all.
Wilson is a master at children's story-telling, as she deals with issues most kids deal with these days; when I was growing up it was far rarer for kids to move away from home, or to even have a step-mother or father, yet Wilson trailblazed this theme. I imagine a lot of kids read this and could relate, which is valuable. Her other important quality is the skill she has in not talking down to young reader - yes, there's a happy(ish) resolved ending, but she doesn't shove morals down throats, nor lecture on how our behaviour should be.
Reading this again as adult was enlightening, as it's only with years under your belt that you can understand the situation of the twins' father and gran. Richard is an absolute villain, and although the twins hate him for finding a new girlfriend after their mum's death, and dragging them away from their home and school to live in a new area, Wilson doesn't quite make bold his villainy. This guy met a new woman, shoved her in front of his daughters adamant she was now going to be part of their lives, and moved them all away after sticking his mother-in-law (who had lived with, and helped him, for the past three years after his wife's death) into sheltered housing. What an absolute dick. This didn't even register in my ten year old mind, but now I am absolutely raging at Sticky Ricky. Poor twins.
Years ago, I was desperate for a sequel to be released and tell me of Ruby's blossoming friendship with the Blob, and of Garnet's adventures at boarding school. Now, I am even more desperate to find out where they ended up, dusty old thirty somethings like me. I imagine Garnet has a successful job in the big smoke, and Ruby is rotting away in prison somewhere. C'est la vie.
Labels: books in 2018, childhood, children's literature, family, illustrated, nostalgia, school, sisters, twins
The Old Man of the Moon by Shen Fu
The Old Man of the Moon is Shen Fu's intimate and moving account of his marriage - from early passion to the trials of poverty and separation - and his great, enduring love for his wife in eighteenth-century China.
The man in Shen Fu's tale is guilty of love. He professes that he loves his wife too deeply, and recounts their love and hardships until her death. His words are beautiful, yet there was something here that didn't quite grip me.
My favourite part was the section devoted to the old man of the moon, and learning of the couple's beliefs that he caused them to meet, and would cause them to meet again in the next life. The couple believed in this theory so strongly that they began to worship the old man of the moon, and pray they would come back together some day. It's very sad and poignant, particularly due to the tragedy in the final pages.
Other than this, there was nothing here for me. Shen Fu tells the tale of the couples lives, their families, the poverty they find themselves embroiled within, and although I could feel the melancholia, nothing caught in my throat. Perhaps it was the translation, perhaps the eighteenth century language - I'm not sure, yet it's definitely not one of the Little Black Classics I would rave about, not even to the old man of the moon.
Labels: 18th century, books in 2018, china, chinese, little black classics, love, marriage, poverty
Be Careful What You Joust For by Ryan Hauge and Ivy Smoak
The fiercest knights in the realm are coming together to compete in the Joust for Arwin's Lance, a tournament that will divide even the closest alliances. The winner alone will have the power to start or prevent a war from unfolding across the peaceful lands of Pentavia.
House Hornbolt, a prominent family that desires peace above all else, is hosting the tournament. The Hornbolt's have always been strict followers of tradition. The first born son wears the armor of a knight. The second takes the priestly Oath of Arwin. And the daughters get married off to the most eligible suitors.
The eldest son is the favorite to win the tournament. But the rest of the Hornbolts aren't as eager to follow the paths laid out for them. What if the second born wants to be a knight too? And what if the eldest daughter just gave her heart to a common thief?
Customs are meant to be broken. But that's not all that threatens to shatter House Hornbolt, not when a secret deeper than the late king's grave is unearthed right before the joust.
The fate of Pentavia hangs in the balance as war becomes imminent. And the scales are about to tip.
One wrong move and everything could fall to pieces.
I was delighted to receive an Advanced Reviewer Copy of this novel, particularly after my venture earlier this year into the Game of Thrones series; I needed some more fantasy in my life, and Hauge and Smoak definitely delivered.
It's an interesting mediaeval plot, centred around an upcoming tournament, of which the winner will have the power to decide whether or not to incite war throughout the kingdom. All of this is narrated using (a much-loved technique of mine) multiple-voice narrative, giving us a rounded view of each of the characters' desires and motivations. It worked well here in providing descriptions of the current state of affairs within the kingdom, and to introduce us to the main players within the plot.
The world Hauge and Smoak have created is brilliantly executed, and seems to have a real depth to it, similar to Westeros. Although we didn't travel far in Be Careful What You Joust For, far-off lands and different customs were referred to with an implication we would see more of them later in the series.
I did have a couple of problems with this novel, most of which didn't have much of an impact on the novel (and which have been covered off already by a number of reviewers), but there's one which I feel I have to mention – the way in which Princess Navya was described. Although not a pretty picture in comparison to the duke's daughter, this would have been duly received without condescending remarks about her hairy arms, and the almost constant reports of her being "a monster". The harsh repetitiveness of this type of slander didn't sit well with me; why can't a woman with hairy arms be beautiful? Why does natural hair growth immediately turn a woman into a monster? The implication that fair hair and a light complexion should be a prince's ultimate desire was disappointing.
There is a lot going on here that we didn't manage to visit within the first novel. I feel there's whole world of intrigue out there in Pentavia that I want to dig my claws into. Although it felt like a mere toe in the water for the Pentavia series, with an infuriatingly frustrating cliffhanger finale, I would be delighted to read the second in the series. I felt the same appetite for knowledge I did with GoT, and I am desperate to learn more of the characters' fates.
Labels: books in 2018, death, family, fantasy, love, marriage, murder, politics
The Average American Male by Chad Kultgen
An offensive, in-your-face, brutally honest and completely hilarious look at male inner life and sexual fantasy—sure to be one of the most controversial books of the year.
This book is a piece of shit.
It wasn't difficult to perceive, before picking this up, that it was going to be filled with misogynistic crap, but I wasn't quite prepared for just how pointless and pathetic the story was in itself. The narrator is a self-obsessed, sex-obsessed little man who can't look at women without wondering what they'd look like sucking his dick. We also hear his enlightening thoughts on fat women, disabled women, and ugly women (all of which, by the way, he would still fuck), whilst following him along on his vapid quest through life.
The characters were craply defined, there was no sort of development to speak of, no journey. The love of his life turns up with a great body, a high appetite for sex, and oh my god she actually plays Halo. When describing her video game abilities the phrase for a girl was used. Come on.
I'm not sure what the author was trying to do here. If he's trying to get us to hate the narrator, well done. If he's trying to showcase the extremes of toxic masculinity, then he's got it in one. But naming the book in the way he has, and by not being capable of writing a plot with any real direction, he has lost me completely. It was a piece of shit.
Labels: books in 2018, family, relationships, sex
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Oscar Wilde
Wilde's supremely witty tale of dandies, anarchists and a murderous prophecy in London high society.
This is a wonderful satiric gothic parody by Wilde, poking fun at the fashions and entertainment of the upper class, their inability to do anything other than what they're told, and their complete lack of sense when faced with a predicament.
Lord Arthur has his palm read during a get-together at Lady Windemere's. Having been told he will commit a murder, rather than passing this off as a load of hocus pocus, he instead goes off and plans the murder. He prefers this to happen as soon as possible as god forbid his wedding to Sybil Merton is affected by scandal. After all, the lines in his hand have predicted the crime - why not get it over with?
What follows is a hilarious trail of failures which contribute to Lord Arthur's despondency and a number of postponements to the wedding. His murder attempts become more and more outlandish, and as each of them fail, the mental state of Lord Arthur is further exposed to us. His pure obedience to carry out his perceived destiny frustrates both himself, and the reader, yet the mishaps encountered make it all worthwhile, for us at least. Wilde's finale is perfect in timing and delivery; both hilarious and bleak, it underlines the satiric commentary on high society fads.
Wilde shows us the nonsense in Lord Arthur accepting a fate foretold by a performer at a party. The pages are peppered with comical dialogue, dark humour, and Wildean wit. An absolute joy.
Labels: books in 2018, classic, crime, little black classics, murder
Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin
Some cases never leave you.
For John Rebus, forty years may have passed, but the death of beautiful, promiscuous Maria Turquand still preys on his mind. Murdered in her hotel room on the night a famous rock star and his entourage were staying there, Maria's killer has never been found.
Meanwhile, the dark heart of Edinburgh remains up for grabs. A young pretender, Darryl Christie, may have staked his claim, but a vicious attack leaves him weakened and vulnerable, and an inquiry into a major money laundering scheme threatens his position. Has old-time crime boss Big Ger Cafferty really given up the ghost, or is he biding his time until Edinburgh is once more ripe for the picking?
This is John Rebus's 21st entry into the fray, and yet my first alongside him. I'm not one to start something unless it's from the absolute beginning, and I'm still baffled as to why I decided to kick off with what is effectively the final instalment where Rebus is actually retired. Yet here we are.
And what a novel. I couldn't get enough, couldn't inhale the words quickly enough. Rankin creates a tension throughout each page, no matter whether we're in the midst of guns and hammers, or simply sitting in Rebus's flat pondering the details of the case. There's something addictive about his writing which makes ingesting as much of the story as possible the highest priority.
My first time meeting Rebus was wonderful. This is the type of character who speaks to me; someone who sees rules and restrictions simply as barriers to get around, someone who is at the far extreme of resilient, and someone who has a glorious tongue for insulting people. "Is your head made out of fucking mince" was a particular favourite.
Although this is similar to most crime novels in that to give an informative review would be to give away the plot (something I'm against entirely), there is more than one crime to be solved here, each of them interlinking. As soon as one was committed and we felt we were getting something, another was thrown into the ring for us to mull over - every single one a link in a chain of destruction, each one as delectable as the next.
I read Rankin's first novel The Flood a couple of years back, and now have jumped to his most recent. Perhaps an idiotic move, perhaps not, but I'm now desperate to retrace my steps and go back to Rebus's beginnings. We've got the makings of a fangirl here.
Labels: books in 2018, crime, detective, edinburgh, gangs, murder, police, scottish
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
In this harrowing tale of good and evil, the mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll develops a potion that unleashes his secret, inner persona—the loathsome, twisted Mr. Hyde.
Imagine the reaction when this novel was released in the late 1800s – horror, repulsion, women fainting all over the place. I truly wish I had been alive to read it.
Nowadays, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is widely perceived as a horror. With so many adaptations and nods in popular culture (The Incredible Hulk, anyone?), it's difficult to be completely ignorant of the story. Although there are undoubtedly horror elements contained within the pages, this reads more as a study of the human mind. The curious Dr. Jekyll was undertaking such a study when he developed the potion to separate his psyche into two – purely the good and the evil. It's interesting to consider the implication that we are only a mix of good and bad, with no grey areas, and Stevenson separates Jekyll's duality to the extreme.
Even more interesting is the exploration of this upstanding, well-respected doctor harbouring the same temptations to vice as would be usually associated with more poorly judged members of society. Stevenson implies no one is inherently good, and we all experience shaming thoughts. The crux of Jekyll's downfall, however, is that once given a taste of sin, he succumbs mercilessly to its pleasures.
The story is told primarily through the eyes of Jekyll's lawyer, who becomes suspicious of Jekyll's decisions and behaviours from the first. This technique is a crucial element in the book, allowing the doctor's mystery to seep into our bones and create a delicious tension given the lack of viewpoint into Jekyll's thoughts. To then switch the narrative to Jekyll in the final chapter was an utter masterstroke, connecting us with Jekyll's thought processes and emotions, solving the mystery, and ultimately, wiping the slate clean.
A true work of art from my favourite classic Scottish author; my only complaint is how famous the tale is. When I think how glorious it would be to read the novel without prior knowledge of Mr. Hyde's origins, I wish I was born into the smoky London streets of 1886.
Labels: 19th century, books in 2018, classic, gothic, horror, science fiction, scottish
Leonardo da Vinci by Giorgio Vasari
Often called "the first art historian", Vasari writes with delight on the lives of Leonardo and other celebrated Renaissance artists.
Vasari describes the lives and works of three Florentine painters, all alive at roughly the same time in the 15th century, spanning into the 16th century for two of the three. I am no art aficionado, and tiptoed into this addition to the range with strong assumptions of tedium.
The tedium was there slightly. Countless works are noted and described, and surely there are only so many saints which can be painted on walls between three men. I appreciate, however, this work is more for the art-lover, and will respectfully hold criticism to myself, aware of the gaps in my intelligence.
I much preferred reading of the painters' lives than their works. Each of them surprised me with their quirks and behaviours; da Vinci dissecting a bull's intestines and filling them up with air to force people into the corner of a room, Lippi becoming abducted by pirates and set free after surprising them with a charcoal drawing of the master, and Botticelli tormenting his friends and neighbours with pranks, malicious or otherwise, and escaping from his room to chase women.
One interesting point I noted was the difference between Vasari's words on da Vinci in comparison to those on the other two – he was a total da Vinci fanboy. His style, tone, and word choice throughout the da Vinci segment was utterly glorious. He compares him to god, he fawns over his work, he tells us the man is gorgeous, but also has a completely charming personality, and he delights in telling us of this complete Florentine genius. Crush, much? Moving on to Lippi and Botticelli, the style changes markedly to one far more factual and objective. It's fascinating to feel that comparison.
Although not something I'd actively choose to pick up, I'm glad to have read this. To learn of the lifestyles of these three painters, of their personalities, and the making of the Mona Lisa, has been valuable to me. This is also well worth picking up for the section where da Vinci inflates the bull's intestines; I still can't stop rolling that one through my mind.
Labels: 15th century, 16th century, art, biography, books in 2018, italian, italy, little black classics
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled up to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened -- something that ended their friendship and changed all three boys forever.
Twenty-five years later, Sean is a homicide detective. Jimmy is an ex-con who owns a corner store. And Dave is trying to hold his marriage together and keep his demons at bay -- demons that urge him to do terrible things. When Jimmy's daughter is found murdered, Sean is assigned to the case. His investigation brings him into conflict with Jimmy, who finds his old criminal impulses tempt him to solve the crime with brutal justice. And then there is Dave, who came home the night Jimmy's daughter died covered in someone else's blood.
This is a mystery slow in unravelling as Lehane chooses instead to spend time exploring childhood friendships, the effects of trauma, and the complexities of the adult mind. Although most crime novels benefit from a fast pace, Lehane did well here to describe the darkness of the deed, the effect it had on the families, and to delve into deep descriptions of the surroundings.
These three men are bound together by a childhood tragedy, then once again by an adult one. It's interesting to consider how things bind us together, whether it be family, neighbourhoods, deeds, or words. Lehane looks into each of these with incredibly deep character exploration as the pieces of the murder jigsaw fall into place.
I don't think there was a single character I liked, and I mean that as testament to Lehane. All horribly flawed with their own scars, all selfish to their own justifications, they were typical, real, and raw for us to feast upon. Although the three friends are main staples, I found their female companions to be infinitely more interesting. They don't behave in ways we expect them to, yet we can somehow accept justification for their actions as their love for their husbands and children.
The book prepares us throughout for the killer to be exactly who we think is, yet does nothing to prepare us for the reveal. It's cleverly done, with the killer's simple reason for committing the crime to be as unfathomable to our minds as any of our imagined motives would be to theirs. It's a stark contrast to everything we've been setting ourselves up for, an almost anti-climax, and yet a thought-provoking one.
A dark and winding road to something even darker; a slow-paced murder mystery with some gorgeous probing of the human condition.
Labels: american, books in 2018, child abuse, childhood, crime, dark, murder, revenge
How Much Land Does a Man Need? By Leo Tolstoy
A pair of short stories about greed, charity, life and death from one of Russia's most influential writers and thinkers.
This was completely gorgeous, and a stellar addition to the Little Black Classics range. I haven't read a great deal of Tolstoy in my time, but experiencing the style of both short stories has really encouraged me to seek out more of his work.
How Much Land Does a Man Need? explores greed in relation to ambition, implying that man is never happy with his own lot, and is constantly aspiring to achieve more. It seems a noble pursuit, but Tolstoy likens it to greed, and states that man can only push so far when bettering his station, and must at some point become content. The style was beautifully simplistic, yet had an overarching tone of wisdom, allowing us to clearly understand the peasant's mistakes in trying to overreach. Tolstoy ends the story in an apt yet brutal blow, showing us exactly how much land this man needed in the end.
The second story in this collection, What Men Live By, was hugely different from its companion. Focusing more on the power of compassion and love, it's a tale of helping others in their time of need. Although I found it strange to begin with, it was utterly compelling and beautiful once I'd found my feet.
I particularly enjoyed the contrast between the two stories, and feel this was a clever move by Penguin when deciding which story to include alongside the titular item. Both engaging, both exploring the behaviours of man, yet so markedly different in approach. This is one of the best inclusions in the Little Black Classics range, without a doubt.
Labels: books in 2018, classic, greed, little black classics, religion
The Divinity Bureau by Tessa Clare
A stunning debut about a forbidden romance between a young activist and a government employee working for a corrupt bureau that controls the population by deciding who lives and who dies.
Roman Irvine is a disgruntled IT Technician for the Divinity Bureau, a government agency that uses random selection to decide who lives and who dies. In a world where overpopulation has led to pollution, a crippled economy, and a world in crisis, he has accepted the bureau's activities as a necessity. That is until he meets April McIntyre.
April has every reason to be suspicious of Roman. He works for the Divinity Bureau, which sent her father to an early grave. However, he is also sweet and loyal, and unbeknownst to her, he saved her life. As Roman and April fall deeper in love, the deeper they are thrust into the politics of deciding who lives and who dies. Someone wants April dead. And the bureau's process of random selection may not be so random after all.
I live for dystopian novels tinged with corruption, and was delighted when Clare asked me to read and review this. The world has discovered how to achieve immortality, and this has a crippling effect on the government's ability to provide for its citizens. To combat the problem, the government runs a deadly ballot each quarter to determine which of its people should present themselves for lethal injection. If you think this sounds absolutely mental, you're right.
Clare uses a dual narrative technique to allow us a fully rounded view of goings on. Roman is an IT technician for the bureau, with unlimited access to the names on the list, and the ability to remove these, despite this being a criminal act. April is a nineteen year old girl whose name appears on the list unexpectedly, as she's outwith the criteria for selection. Roman notices her name on the list, which sets in motion a whirlwind of intrigue, corruption, and activism, resulting in an utterly breathtaking finale. I am desperately hoping for a sequel.
The skill Clare has here is more than apparent. She masterfully explains the world she has built, how it has come to be, and the reasons for the widespread acceptance of what is, quite frankly, mass murder. She scrapes and scores her way into each of the characters backstories and motivations, carving out an engaging plot peppered with tension, passion, and futuristic machines. I would probably consider putting myself into a death ballot if I could only own a robot which would make me scrambled eggs and bacon.
My only criticism here would be that although the first and final thirds of the novel were completely devoted to either explaining the dystopian world, plunging us into an unknown arena, or exploring the corruption evident within the government, the middle third focused on Roman and April's blossoming relationship. It's a personal taste thing, but I much prefer to read of anti-utopia than the paradise of romance.
A wonderful concept, and executed brilliantly. It's clear Clare has a colourful mind, and I thank myself lucky not only that she's able to articulate her brilliance, but also that I had the opportunity to experience it - thank you.
Labels: books in 2018, death, dystopian, family, romance, young adult
Dead Men's Trousers by Irvine Welsh
Mark Renton is finally a success. An international jet-setter, he now makes significant money managing DJs, but the constant travel, airport lounges, soulless hotel rooms and broken relationships have left him dissatisfied with his life. He's then rocked by a chance encounter with Frank Begbie, from whom he'd been hiding for years after a terrible betrayal and the resulting debt. But the psychotic Begbie appears to have reinvented himself as a celebrated artist and – much to Mark's astonishment – doesn't seem interested in revenge.
Sick Boy and Spud, who have agendas of their own, are intrigued to learn that their old friends are back in town, but when they enter the bleak world of organ-harvesting, things start to go so badly wrong. Lurching from crisis to crisis, the four men circle each other, driven by their personal histories and addictions, confused, angry – so desperate that even Hibs winning the Scottish Cup doesn't really help. One of these four will not survive to the end of this book. Which one of them is wearing Dead Men's Trousers?
At the end of The Blade Artist, I was crapping it to find out what was happening next. After ending on a totally holy shit moment, Welsh picks up Dead Men's Trousers from that precise point - thank fuck.
I love these boys, and reading this book was murder. Desperate to just zoom through, to inhale the violence, the shagging, the plots, the revenge, I forced myself to go as slowly as possible and savour every moment. It was torture.
Where The Blade Artist focuses on Begbie, showing us how he believes he's changed, then highlighting how he hasn't changed at all, DMT finally gets all of the boys back together again - successful, off the skag, but still inherently the same boys they were when we first met them in Trainspotting. The old grudges are still there, their knee-jerk reactions are the same; Begbie's still a psycho, Renton's still battling demons, Sick Boy's still a selfish conceited shagger, and Spud - Spud is still that golden-hearted wee boy in a fifty year old's body.
Seeing them all behave exactly as we would expect them to was gorgeous; seeing them do things we would never have cooked up in a million years was total fucking chaos. Organ harvesting, STDs, new hallucinogenic drugs, homewrecking, and, most inconceivably, our favourite catboy has got himself a dug. The pace was incredible.
We knew from social media (and, indeed, from the above blurb), that one of the boys wasn't going to survive the novel. Although it doesn't happen until the book is almost over, the finger points to one of them pretty quickly. You think you've cracked it until the boys start to turn on one another, and you really have no idea who is heading to the Embra in the sky. The tension was unreal, and when it finally happened I cried like a big embarrassment for about forty minutes. When I then realised where the title came from, it set me off again for another half an hour.
I can't see myself ever saying otherwise, but Welsh has played yet another blinder. Another speeding headfuck from my favourite band of former skagheeds.
"Ye dinnae fuck about wi me n what's mine, mate."
Labels: adultery, betrayal, books in 2018, death, drugs, edinburgh, family, friendship, gangs, london, murder, revenge, scottish, sex
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text:
Everything Explained.Today
A-Z Contents
PETAR Š
Petar Slišković
Petar Slišković Explained
Birth Date: 21 February 1991
Birth Place: Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia
Currentclub: MSV Duisburg
Clubnumber: 25
Position: Striker
Youthclubs1: NK Kiseljak
Youthyears2: –2007
Youthclubs2: DJK SW Griesheim
Youthyears3: 2007–2008
Youthclubs3: FSV Frankfurt
Youthclubs4: Mainz 05
Years1: 2010–2015
Caps1: 73
Goals1: 53
Goals2: 2
Clubs2: Mainz 05
Caps3: 9
Clubs3: → FC St. Pauli (loan)
Clubs4: → Dynamo Dresden (loan)
Years6: 2016
Clubs7: Hallescher FC
Clubs8: → Mainz 05 II (loan)
Clubs9: Viktoria Berlin
Years10: 2019
Caps10: 16
Goals10: 6
Clubs10: VfR Aalen
Clubs11: MSV Duisburg
Nationalyears1: 2010–2011
Nationalcaps1: 6
Nationalgoals1: 0
Pcupdate: 6 March 2020
Petar Slišković (born 21 February 1991) is a Bosnian-born Croatian footballer who plays for MSV Duisburg as a striker.
A product of FSV Frankfurt's youth academy, Slišković made his professional debut on 29 January 2011 for Mainz 05 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern.[1] On 31 August 2011, Slišković was loaned to second division side St. Pauli.,[2] and a year later he joined Dynamo Dresden on a season-long loan. He returned to Mainz in January 2013, six months early.
In February 2015, he left Mainz for good and joined Swiss Super League side FC Aarau on a one-and-a-half-year deal until 2016.[3]
He moved to MSV Duisburg for the 2019–20 season.[4]
Mainz 05 2009–10 Bundesliga 0 0 — — 0 0
2010–11 Bundesliga 9 2 — — 9 2
2011–12 Bundesliga 1 0 1 1 1 0 3 1
Mainz 05 II 2009–10 Regionalliga 5 1 — — 5 1
2010–11 Regionalliga 17 12 — — 17 12
2014–15 3. Liga 8 3 — — 8 3
FC St. Pauli (loan) 2011–12 2. Bundesliga 9 0 — — 9 0
Dynamo Dresden (loan) 2012–13 2. Bundesliga 9 0 — — 9 0
FC Aarau 2014–15 Swiss Super League 15 3 1 0 — 16 3
2015–16 Swiss Challenge League 12 1 2 1 — 14 2
Stuttgarter Kickers 2015–16 3. Liga 9 0 — — 9 0
Hallescher FC 2016–17 3. Liga 10 0 — — 10 0
2017–18 3. Liga 10 4 — — 10 4
Mainz 05 II (loan) 2016–17 3. Liga 15 6 — — 15 6
Viktoria Berlin 2018–19 Regionalliga 15 9 — — 15 9
VfR Aalen 2018–19 3. Liga 16 6 — — 16 6
MSV Duisburg 2019–20 3. Liga 21 2 1 0 — 22 2
Petar Slišković at Kicker
http://www.bundesliga.de/de/liga/matches/2010/index.php?omi=330131&reiter=b&tag=20&activIndex=2 Mainz siegt im Derby
News: Slišković i Bjelanović u drugoligašima . Glasnović . Marko . 31 August 2011 . Sportnet.hr . Croatian . 31 August 2011.
Web site: Petar Sliskovic wechselt zum FC Aarau. Petar Sliskovic moves to FC Aarau. 3 February 2015. 28 February 2015. German. FC Aarau. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150203225621/http://www.fcaarau.ch/news/2015/02/03/1952.php. 3 February 2015.
Web site: Der gibt nie auf": Petar Slišković stürmt in Zebrastreifen. 24 June 2019. 24 June 2019. German. msv-duisburg.de.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Petar Slišković".
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"Full House" is my favorite TV program. It is a family drama about The Turners. The story is set in San Francisco. The main characters are as follows: Danny is the father; D.J., Steph, and Michelle are his daughters; Jess is his brother-in-law; and Joey is his best friend.
I was 4 years old when I first watched "Full House" on TV. Then, NHK rebroadcasted it.
Last year, I bought its DVD. I usually watch it in my free time.
The household often eats cereal with milk and sandwiches for breakfast. I eat similar food as breakfast now in spite of liking Japanese food (natto, tofu, and so on). Maybe this TV program has had a big influence on me.


This watercolor was painted from the southern edge of Cannon Beach looking north. I've enjoyed this panorama countless times with the endless variations of light, time of day, and change of season. Though the trees have been changed by the storms over the years, the vista itself is always inspiring.


text:
The Bookshop at Queenscliff
Book Porter
Great Ideas: On the Shortness of Life
Author(s): Lucius Annaeus Seneca; Charles Desmond Nuttall Costa
Timeless advice on the art of living well, from the celebrated Penguin Great Ideas series The writings of the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca offer powerful insights into stoicism, morality and the importance of reason, and continue to provide profound guidance to many through their eloquence, lucidity and wisdom. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. The Penguin Great Ideas series brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, statesman, philosopher, advocate and man of letters, was born in Spain around 4BC. He rose to prominence at Rome, pursuing a double career in the courts and political life, until Claudius sent him into exile exile on the island of Corsica for eight years. Recalled in AD49, he was appointed tutor to the boy who was to become, in AD54, the emperor Nero. Seneca acted for eight years as Nero's unofficial chief minister until Nero too turned against him and he retired from public life to devote himself to philosophy and writing. In AD65, following the discovery of a plot against the emperor, he and many others were compelled by Nero to commit suicide. C.D.N. Costa has spent most of his working life at Birmingham University, where he is Professor of Classics and Chairman of the School of Antiquity. Among other works, he has written commentaries on the works of Seneca, Letters, Dialogues and the tragedy Medea.
Dimensions : 181mm X 111mm X 6mm
Author : Lucius Annaeus Seneca; Charles Desmond Nuttall Costa
Dewey classification : 188
84 Hesse Street, Queenscliff, Victoria, 3225
Email: info @ thebookshopatqueenscliff.com


text:
How Judge Posner Thinks Judges Should Think
By Edward Whelan
In his new book, How Judges Think, Seventh Circuit judge Richard A. Posner states that he aims to offer a "cogent, unified, realistic, and appropriately eclectic account of how judges actually arrive at their decisions in nonroutine cases" — that is, in those "rather frequent" instances in which judges can't "just apply rules." But his book, in the end, offers much less insight about how judges actually think than about how Judge Posner thinks judges should think.
In developing his "basic model," Posner presents nine "overstated or incomplete" theories of judicial behavior; explores various factors (such as power, respect, leisure, and the intrinsic satisfaction of the judicial craft) that motivate judges as "labor-market participants"; and discusses the role that preconceptions and ideological world views play in judicial decisionmaking.
In elaborating his model, Posner looks at "external constraints" on federal judges (such as desire for promotion, concern for reputation, and the possibility of political retribution) and finds those constraints to be weak. Nor does he find "internal constraints" on judging to be significant. Legalism — the concept that "law is distinct from politics and policy [and] is the realm of rules, rights, and principles" — gives judicial decisionmaking the "appearance of judicial rigor." But, Posner argues, that appearance is false, as the interpretive rules that various versions of legalism (strict construction, textualism, originalism) adopt cannot "be derived by reasoning from agreed-upon premises" but instead depend on "choices that entail the exercise of legislative-like judicial discretion."
Pragmatic adjudication, which has as its core "heightened judicial concern for consequences and thus a disposition to base [judicial] policy judgments on them rather than on conceptualisms and generalities," is therefore inescapable. "Sensible pragmatic judges," unlike their shortsighted brethren, will consider "systemic, including institutional consequences." They, in contrast to legalists, are "less interested in whether the facts of a case bring it within the semantic scope of the rule agreed to govern the case than in what the purpose of the rule is — what consequences it seeks to induce or block — and how that purpose, those consequences, would be affected by deciding the case one way or the other." Pragmatism won't "grind[] out certifiably correct answers to legal questions"; it "sets no higher aspiration for the judge than that his decisions be reasonable in light of the warring interests in the cases, although a reasonable decision is not necessarily a 'right' one." Pragmatism can't be banished, and efforts to banish it would "make judges even less candid than they are" and would inadvertently give greater play to judges' personal and political preconceptions in cases involving discretion.
Does Posner succeed in his stated goal of providing a "cogent, unified, realistic, and appropriately eclectic account of how judges actually arrive at their decisions in nonroutine cases"? I certainly don't think so. As Posner himself acknowledges, his "nine overstated or incomplete" theories of judicial behavior — attitudinal, strategic, sociological, psychological, economic, organizational, pragmatic, phenomenological, and legalistic — "make for an unwieldy analytic apparatus." That analytic apparatus becomes even more unwieldy when Posner adds in his insights on the various factors that motivate and constrain judicial decisionmaking. The fact that Posner's approach is highly theoretical and abstract, not empirical, compounds the problem. In the end, the reader is left with a hodgepodge of considerations — an interesting hodgepodge, but a hodgepodge nonetheless — that might or might not affect how various judges decide various cases.
Judge Posner's argument that judges should be Posnerian pragmatists hinges on his claim that "the materials of legalist decision making fail to generate acceptable answers to all the legal questions that American judges are required to decide." This claim, as I understand it, in turn rests on three underlying contentions: (1) the interpretive rules that legalists (or, if you prefer, formalists) adopt cannot in fact "be derived by reasoning from agreed-upon premises" but instead depend on "choices that entail the exercise of legislative-like judicial discretion"; (2) even these interpretive rules will leave lots of cases without "right" answers; and (3) these interpretive rules will yield some "right" answers that we reject as unacceptable. Let me address these one by one.
First: I readily concede that the interpretive rules that legalists adopt cannot all be derived, with mathematical precision, "by reasoning from agreed-upon premises." Given that academic philosophers might have difficulty agreeing, say, on premises from which one could reason to the conclusion that Judge Posner really exists, the standard that Posner would hold legalists to seems an impossible one to reach. But is that the proper standard? And is the exercise of freewheeling "legislative-like judicial discretion" the only alternative? Why isn't it coherent for legalists to advocate for particular interpretive rules on the grounds that those rules are most faithful to text and history, or to separation-of-powers principles, or to the properly limited role of the judiciary? I don't doubt that "discretion" will be involved in determining which interpretive rule is best, and I don't doubt that there will sometimes be room for reasonable disagreement. But I don't think that the result is open-ended "legislative-like judicial discretion," and I don't see why the set of interpretive rules available to legalists needs to be as limited as Posner maintains.
Second: Only after the full set of interpretive rules available to the legalist is established is it possible to try to demonstrate that those rules would leave cases without "right" answers. Given the availability of default canons of construction, it's not obvious to me that there would be such cases. (At one point, Posner seems to argue that because deferential appellate review might leave in place opposite rulings below, "it must be that legalism … countenances a great deal of error." But surely he doesn't mean to imply that legalists must support de novo appellate review of all questions. The fact that there is a right appellate answer in the cases he posits — uphold both rulings — means that legalism is determinate in those cases.)
Third: Posner offers a laundry list of unacceptable results that would flow from "strict construction." An aside: I'm not aware that any legalist these days argues for strict construction. As Justice Scalia has put it (in A Matter of Interpretation), "I am not a strict constructionist, and no one ought to be.… A text should not be construed strictly, and it should not be construed leniently; it should be construed reasonably, to contain all that it fairly means." It's rather strange that Posner's refutation of legalism has strict construction front and center, and it's also surprising that he confuses "original meaning" with the "original understanding" variant of originalism.
Back to the point: Let's assume that each legalist approach, if it were adopted today and employed to overturn contrary precedents, would yield some results that we find unacceptable (and let's set aside any questions about what Posner's standard of accepta
bility is). Why would that amount to an indictment of legalism? Our perception of acceptability is surely path-dependent: the existence of wrong, but long-entrenched, precedents makes us more likely to see their reversal as problematic. But that fact says nothing about the validity of a legalist approach ex ante (nor about the world that would have resulted if that approach had been consistently followed). Nor is it obvious why legalists should be compelled to seek the reversal of all wrong precedents. As Scalia has explained, "Originalism, like any other theory of interpretation put into practice in an ongoing system of law, must accommodate the doctrine of stare decisis; it cannot remake the world anew.… Where originalism will make a difference is not in the rolling back of accepted old principles of constitutional law but in the rejection of usurpatious new ones."
Judge Posner's primary argument for judicial pragmatism is that "there is no alternative" to it. As discussed in the preceding section, I am not persuaded that Posner has demonstrated the inadequacy of legalism.
Posner's secondary argument for judicial pragmatism is that it produces "better consequences" than legalism. I am not particularly interested in contesting Posner on this ground. As Posner suggests, it would be curious to rest the defense of legalism on pragmatist grounds. At bottom, the only legitimate test of a legalist approach is whether it produces legally right results, not whether those results are, in the judgment of some grand social engineer, better for society than what pragmatism would yield.
That said, I would like to call into question briefly whether pragmatism can really be expected to yield the favorable consequences that Posner claims.
First, as a simple matter of institutional competence, I question whether the typical federal judge is able to weigh the relative social consequences of different possible rulings. I don't mean this comment to slight the intellect or ability of judges; I mean, rather, to recognize the inevitable narrowness of their training and the limited empirical perspective that they have on the real world. It will be rare that any judge will have the remarkable breadth of learning and undeniable brilliance that Posner has, and it's far from clear that even a Posner can handle the challenges that pragmatism would place on him.
Second, as Posner acknowledges, different judges "will weigh consequences differently depending on a judge's background, temperament, training, experience, and ideology" — and, of course, intellect. Posner's criticism of Justice Breyer (in a different part of his book) is particularly telling, as Breyer, an avowed pragmatist and an extremely bright man, would seem to be Posner's closest intellectual soulmate in the federal judiciary:
"[L]aw" for Breyer, or at least constitutional law, seems more his own creation than a body of thought external to his personal views. I am tempted to describe him as a bricoleur — one who uses "the instruments he finds at his disposition around him, … which had not been especially conceived with an eye to the operation for which they are to be used and to which one tries by trial and error to adapt them, not hesitating to change them whenever it appears necessary." [Quoting Derrida] … Such eclecticism leaves a judge with complete freedom to indulge his political instincts — liberal, conservative, or moderate — as it can accommodate any result that a judge might want to reach for reasons he might be unwilling to acknowledge publicly, such as a visceral dislike for capital punishment, abortion, affirmative action, or religion in the public sphere.
Posner calls Breyer an "intermittent pragmatist whose pragmatism is heavily leavened with liberal political commitments," but it is difficult to see how Posner's criticisms of Breyer don't apply to Posner himself and to any pragmatist.
Third, Posner claims that self-conscious pragmatists "are less likely to be drunk with power if they realize they are exercise discretion" than legalists are. This wishful thinking rests on mere assertion. It also contradicts Posner's interest earlier in the book on the external and internal constraints on judges: within Posner's own scheme, it makes no sense that a lessening of constraints would make a judge more constrained. Curiously, whereas Posner had previously emphasized how weak the remaining constraints on federal judges are, he here plays up their significance.
Chapter 10 of Judge Posner's How Judges Think is titled "The Supreme Court Is a Political Court," and Posner argues in favor of the proposition in the chapter title. But in so doing, he renders the seemingly significant and surprising proposition entirely vacuous — devoid of any meaningful content. Consider:
Posner argues that the Supreme Court is inescapably a political court when it deals with constitutional issues. He intertwines two arguments. The first argument is that a constitution "deal[s] with fundamental issues" that "are political issues: issues about political governance, political values, political rights, and political power." (Emphasis in original.) "Political issues by definition," he asserts, "cannot be referred to a neutral expert for resolution." This argument is simply incoherent. By the same illogic, Posner could argue, say, that legal questions dealing with Department of Agriculture manure regulations are manure issues — issues about manure governance, manure values, manure rights, and manure power — and that manure issues by definition cannot be referred to a non-manure expert for resolution.
Posner's second argument is coherent, but doesn't come anywhere close to establishing (either by itself or together with his first argument) his proposition that the court is, in ordinary parlance, necessarily a "political" court when it deals with constitutional issues. Posner argues that constitutional provisions "tend … to be both old and vague" and that the "political preferences [of justices] are [therefore] likely to determine how they vote." There is, of course, always a danger that justices will indulge their political preferences. That danger is compounded when justices subscribe to a theory of constitutional decisionmaking (e.g., living constitutionalism) that invites them to indulge those political preferences, and, as I've extensively documented, it would seem that that danger has frequently been realized. But Posner offers no evidence for his assertion that each justice's political preferences are "likely" to determine how that justice votes, nor does he recognize that even the threshold of likelihood falls short of establishing that political decisionmaking is inevitable.
It gets worse. Later in the chapter, Posner asserts that "discrepancies between [a justice's] personal and judicial positions usually concern rather trivial issues, where the judicial position may be supporting a more important, though not necessarily a less personal, agenda of the Justice." Further, Posner maintains, a justice's "doctrinal beliefs [on constitutional meaning] are as personal or political as the desire for a particular outcome; they are not the products of submission to the compulsion of the constitutional text or of some other conventional source of legal guidance (though the judge many think they are) because there are no such compulsions in the cases that I have been discussing" (i.e., cases that Posner considers typical of constitutional cases). (Emphasis added.) Where there are discrepancies between a justice's personal and judicial positions, the justice is unconsciously "trad[ing] a minor preference for a major one."
It simply isn't true that discrepancies between, say, Justice Scalia's personal and judicial positions "usually concern rather trivial issues." Take the issue of abortion. Let's assume, as Posner does, that Scalia's personal position would favor substantial restrictions on abortion. Scalia, in arguing that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and should be overturned, has never taken the position that the Constitution should be construed to prohibit permissive abortion laws. On the contrary, his position is that the Constitution is substantively neutral on the question of abortion — and that state legislators should generally be free to permit or proscribe it. Of course, it is true that Scalia's judicial position, if adopted, would make it possible for a legislature to implement his putative personal views. But that does not alter the fact that there is a huge gap between his personal and judicial positions. (I develop this elementary, but somehow widely misunderstood, point in this essay.) Ditto for Scalia on an endless list of issues like the death penalty, pornography, criminal procedure, and same-sex marriage.
More importantly, Posner's dogma that a doctrinal position on a vague constitutional provision is necessarily "as personal or political as the desire for a particular outcome" renders tautological and meaningless his proposition that the Court is inescapably a "political" court (as well as his taunt that only "the self-deluded believe that 'ideological commitments' play a significantly smaller role in the decisions of legalists … than in those of" other judges). For whenever a legalist's position is determined by legalist materials, Posner's response is that the legalist's adoption of his legalist approach was itself a political (or ideological) decision.
At bottom, Posner's charge that the Supreme Court is necessarily a "political" court is empty and deceptive wordplay.
Having addressed Posner's central arguments in How Judges Think, I'd like to draw attention to a handful of lesser — but revealing — assertions that he makes:
1. On the first page of his introduction, Posner refers to the "startling (to the naïve) right turn by the Supreme Court" in its 2006-2007 last term, a turn that "resulted from the replacement of a moderately conservative Justice (O'Connor) by an extremely conservative one (Alito)." It's bad enough that newspapers routinely use reductionist political labels to describe the Court and its justices. I found it even more startling that an esteemed jurist would do so. Except, of course, that I later discovered (as discussed above) that Posner actually maintains that when justices decide most constitutional issues, they are merely imposing their political preferences (because Posner defines the concept of political preferences in an all-consuming manner) — and that anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded. Given the fact that Posner reduces Supreme Court decisionmaking on most constitutional questions to mere politics, his resort to reductionist political labels is consistent.
But the particular political labels that Posner adopts don't make sense, even within his scheme. Let's skip over Posner's reference to the "startling (to the naïve) right turn" by the Court, as it's not clear how sharp a turn Posner thinks the Court made. (As I explain here, if crude political shorthands must be employed, the 2006-2007 term is best summarized as a small step towards the right — and towards the center.) How can Posner label Justice Alito an "extremely conservative" justice? Let's assume, as Posner presumably does (and as I hope), that Alito's general positions on constitutional law may, over time, largely comport with those of Justice Scalia. As I've discussed, on the broad bulk of constitutional issues, the Scalia position is that the Constitution is substantively neutral and that the matter is left to the political processes for decision. In a sensible system of reductionist political labeling (as I discuss in this essay), that position is moderate. Even after one sprinkles in the much smaller number of instances in which Scalia would override the political processes, it's difficult to see how Scalia would merit anything other than a label of moderate conservative — the label Posner mistakenly confers on O'Connor (who, among other things, voted to retain the radical abortion regime that the Court imposed in Roe). Posner doesn't offer a word of explanation for his mislabeling of Alito and of O'Connor, and it would seem that his labels merely signal that he finds his own positions closer to O'Connor's than to Alito's.
2. Posner asserts that in his first two terms Chief Justice Roberts "demonstrated by his judicial votes and opinions that he aspires to remake significant areas of constitutional law." According to Posner, the "tension" between Roberts's invocation of the umpire analogy at his confirmation hearing and "what he is doing as a Justice is a blow to Roberts's reputation for candor and a further debasement of the already debased currency of the testimony of nominees at judicial confirmation hearings."
Posner's characterization of Roberts's first two terms is rank and conclusory hyperbole, and the tension that he posits, along with the supposed resulting "blow to Roberts's reputation for candor," is tendentious distortion. As Posner recognizes, Roberts's umpire analogy is legalist in nature. If Roberts were to determine that previous umpires have misdefined the strike zone, it would be entirely consistent with his analogy for Roberts to strive to redefine it properly. The tension is not between Roberts's testimony and his performance, but between Roberts's legalist understanding of judging and Posner's pragmatism.
Posner's curious and baseless attacks on Roberts and Alito invite attention to Posner's discussion of the psychological theory of judicial behavior. Might Posner resent the fact that his juniors have become his superiors? Unfortunately, his brief discussion of the psychological theory does not address the possible phenomenon of SCOTUS envy.
3. Posner asserts that "[m]ost judges who oppose abortion rights do so because of religious belief rather than because of a pragmatic assessment of such rights." This statement is remarkably sloppy. First, Posner offers no empirical or even anecdotal support for it. Second, Posner fails to make clear whether the phrase "oppose abortion rights" means merely "believe that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion" (in which case, of course, the legislative process remains available to protect abortion) or means also "opposes the legislative conferral of abortion rights." (We can exclude a third possible meaning — "believes that the Constitution prohibits permissive abortion laws" — only because few if any judges have ever taken that position.) Third, Posner presents a false dichotomy: There are plenty of legalist reasons beyond "religious belief" or "a pragmatic assessment" to recognize that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion — and not even Posner contends that judges can adopt legalism only out of "religious belief."
4. Posner asserts, in the context of discussing judicial confirmations, that "the Republican Party is more disciplined than the Democratic Party and therefore better able to organize opposition to a nominee." Posner offers no evidence for this startling assertion. Nor does he confront the most obvious contrary data: (a) Whereas Justices Ginsburg and Breyer received strong support from Republican senators and were confirmed by overwhelming majorities (96-3 and 87-9, respectively), Roberts and Alito encountered ardent opposition from Democratic senators and much closer vote margins (78-22 and 58-42, respectively). (b) Senate Democrats have taken the unprecedented step of resorting to partisan use of the filibuster against President Bush's lower-court nominees. In 2003 and 2004, they succeeded in defeating some 20 cloture petitions on ten different nominees, five of whom were never ultimately confirmed.
I would have thought that the necessary intellectual temperament of a pragmatist would be empirically focused, skeptical of his own initial certitudes, and meticulous — not abstract, dogmatic, and sloppy.
There is much in Posner's book that is interesting and insightful. In particular, although I think that Posner falls far short of his stated goal of providing a descriptive model of judicial behavior, anyone interested in the topic will find his discussion worth reading. There are also various collateral discussions that I haven't touched on — modern legal academia, Justice Breyer's Active Liberty, Justice Kennedy's "moral vanguardism," and the Court's misuse of foreign legal materials, to name a few — that many readers will appreciate.
My overall assessment of How Judges Think, however, is decidedly negative. Beyond the criticisms that I've already offered, I'll add that the book is at least one thorough redraft short of being ready for publication. Posner states in his acknowledgments section that he has "incorporated material" from nine previous articles of his, "though with much revision and amplification," but the book reads like a hasty copy-and-paste compilation, with little attention to harmonious coherence. Posner is indisputably brilliant and amazingly prolific, but brilliance and rigor, alas, do not always keep company.
— Edward Whelan is president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and is a regular contributor to NRO's "Bench Memos" blog.
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Investing in lower-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods, when done with community involvement and support, may translate into health and economic gains for residents. To support better policy decisions about neighborhood investment and understand the policy levers that contribute to successful community development, it is important to measure the effects of such investments on residents' health and neighborhood satisfaction.
Opening a new full-service supermarket improved residents' diets and neighborhood satisfaction. In the Hill District neighborhood, once considered a "food desert"—where healthy food options were limited—a new supermarket opened. Homewood is a similar neighborhood a few miles away that continues to be a food desert. The research team followed randomly selected households in both neighborhoods to measure changes in diet and food shopping over time.
However, these changes were not related to whether shoppers used the new store.
Neighborhood investments were associated with improvement in residents' economic well-being. During the same period of time, the Hill District benefited from several investments, including the new supermarket, new housing, and greenspace improvements. Although both neighborhoods have experienced investments in housing and greenspace improvements, the concentration and size of investments was substantially larger in the Hill District neighborhood.
a slight increase in per capita household income.
Neighborhoods can shape health outcomes, both day and night. The PHRESH studies are examining how changes in neighborhood conditions influence residents' physical activity and their sleep. Physical activity is important to numerous health outcomes. Sleep is also increasingly recognized as a critical health behavior that is associated with obesity and other chronic health conditions. However, very little is known about how changes in neighborhood environments influence physical activity or sleep among residents. This study is the first to systematically examine changes in neighborhood conditions in relation to objectively measured physical activity and sleep.
Greater exposure to crime was associated with reduced feelings of safety and lower levels of physical activity.
Feeling socially tied to the neighborhood, feeling safe, and reporting better neighborhood infrastructure (such as lighting and sidewalks) were related to better sleep quality.
Community improvements—primarily a new supermarket and new housing—were associated with health and economic gains among the residents of an underserved, primarily African-American neighborhood. Many of these gains were linked to improved perceptions of neighborhood quality, even if residents did not necessarily make use of the physical improvements. The results thus far suggest that policy interventions in underserved communities that enhance residents' neighborhood satisfaction and perceived safety may have downstream health and economic benefits.
PHRESH continues to follow how neighborhood changes influence residents' diets, physical activity, sleep, and risk for chronic health conditions. In addition, the PHRESH team is examining how investments in both neighborhoods are associated with economic vitality, as well as residents' health and well-being. The PHRESH project team is deeply grateful to the residents of these communities and community-based partners who make this research possible. Ultimately, the goal of the PHRESH projects is to identify opportunities for policymakers and community planners to enhance neighborhood conditions to improve residents' health and well-being and to reduce racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health.
Tamara Dubowitz @TamaraDubowitz, Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar, et al.
Amy Soo Jin DeSantis, Wendy M. Troxel @wendytroxel, et al.
This research was conducted by RAND Health.
Dubowitz, Tamara, Wendy M. Troxel, Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar, Deborah A. Cohen, Robin L. Beckman, Elizabeth D. Steiner, Gerald Paul Hunter, Karen Rocío Flórez, Christina Y. Huang, Christine Anne Vaughan, Jennifer Sloan, Shannon N. Zenk, Steven Cummins, Rebecca L. Collins, Amy Soo Jin DeSantis, Lauren Hale, Daniel J. Buysse, Andrea Richardson, and Natalie Colabianchi, Community Development Can Improve Resident Health. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2018. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10016.html.


Full list of ASB ATMs in Northland, New Zealand with location addresses.
Welcome to Northland! Were the grass is green, and the weather is warmer than Invercargill. Also, ASB ATMs! There aren't as many as in Auckland, but there's still more than enough to not have to travel far to find one.
You'll be able to find an ATM in places such as Dargaville, Kamo, Kerikeri, Snells Beach, and many more.


text:
function love.conf(t)
	t.title = "synth with love"
	t.author = "SuperZazu"
	t.identity = "synthwithlive"
    t.window.width = 320
    t.window.height = 288
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub