Addressing Resistance to use Technology by Faculty Members Through Professional Development Initiatives from Different Cultural Lenses | Nishan C. Perera Ph.D.
This paper is presented in two parts. Part 01 will address the background, research problem, research questions, literature review and the methodology used to measure resistance vs. usage intensity in using learning management systems for teaching and learning purposes by faculty and students attached to the School of Business at X University. This section relates to the first section of the capstone project. Part 02 will address faculty resistance to use learning management systems from an administrative lens. The main emphasis here will be to identify how organizations with different cultural backgrounds could use different formats of professional development techniques to help address the faculty resistance in using Moodle based learning management systems for teaching. (This is presented on the premise that there is a significant level of resistance by faculty members. The current data that is being tabulated heavily points to this direction). The author will try to identify the main cultural lens that the School of Business operates with (from the cultural sets identified by the authors of six cultures of the academic) and will suggest a possible mix of professional development opportunities that could be provided to address some of these issues. The student perspective identified in part 01 will not be addressed in part 02 for manageability reasons.
In 2006, X University after a careful in-depth study introduced "Moodle" as their sole learning management system replacing its own lotus notes based system. The task force that was put together identified that Moodle would best support Kwantlen's culture of delivering applied courses to its students and extending learning beyond the classroom. It was envisaged that Moodle will be used by a majority of faculty members within the University in achieving this objective.
3 years after introducing Moodle, while some have embraced this, the majority of faculty members do not seem to use Moodle to support their teaching. Presently 39% of the faculty members of the School of Business use Moodle to teach face to face, online and partially online courses. The breakdown of these statistics is presented in table 1 in page 3. The problem under investigation revolves around understanding reasons for the lower rate of usage of Moodle for teaching and learning within the School of Business. Michelle and Geva May (2009) states in their study that while in recent years many institutions have embraced online learning, the increase in faculty acceptance of technology has been lagging behind. In the same study, these authors identify four types of resistance categories that faculty members typically depict in using technology. As for the student's point of view, Valenta (2001) identified several forms of factors that may lead to resistance by students in using technology. Abbad et al (2009) identifies several categories that students would typically follow in adopting technology, based on the technology acceptance model developed by Davis (1986).
In order to narrow down the problem, the study would attempt to understand to what extent resistance of the use of Moodle based learning management systems technology both by faculty and students will have an impact on the intensity of its usage. While acknowledging that there could be many other factors that would lead to a lower usage rate, the author is interested to identify to what extent resistance affects the usage and if so what types of resistance factors have a bigger impact.
The following research questions are framed to address the identified research problem.
What is the nature of the relationship between resistance to use and the usage intensity of Moodle based learning management system by faculty members within the School of Business at X University?
What is the nature of the relationship between resistance to use and the usage intensity of Moodle based learning management system by students within the School of Business at X University?
How does the student experience in using Moodle based learning management systems compare with faculty usage?
Based on the above research questions, the purpose of this study is to identify whether there is a relationship between resistance and usage intensity of Moodle learning management systems by faculty members and students within the School of Business. The study will also attempt to identify the nature of relationship that exists between these variables and will highlight how the findings will inform policy, practice and theory associated in using learning management systems for teaching and learning purposes.
In taking this study forward, a question that could be raised is as to why the institution should emphasis the use of technology for teaching purposes. The answer lies in how technology would impact student learning. Kimble (1999) in reviewing literature that highlights the impact technology on learning, points to a series of studies that have shown the positive impact of technology on learning while acknowledging that there are also other studies to highlight the opposite. Schacter (1999) synthesizes the findings of several meta analysis studies on the impact of technology on student achievement, and concludes that, on average students who use technology perform better in assessments, students tend to learn more in less time, instructors can extend the discussions beyond the classroom, technology supports interaction and student participation, leading to a higher degree of learning etc. As for the use of learning management systems for teaching and in particular Moodle as a platform, the study would identify whether this is a cause for any resistance.
Cuban (1986) in his study of documenting the classroom use of technology since 1920, highlights that from the early days when institutions were attempting to use films, radio, television and eventually computers in the classroom for teaching purposes, teachers showed resistance towards using them for their teaching purposes. While some of the resistance typologies identified in the current study may be old, at the turn of the 21st century, understanding to what degree the resistance to use technology (and different versions of it) have on usage intensity would be very useful for policy makers to initiate strategy to manage it. It will also have a profound impact on the development of professional development initiatives within organizations to address this resistance. Currently the professional development initiatives at Kwantlen are mostly directed towards providing technical support to implement learning management systems for teaching. If this study directs that resistance to use technology due to several typologies of resistance factors, than specific professional development and support initiatives could be further identified to address these concerns.
The scope of the study is limited to the School of Business in X university for manageability purposes. It is further limited in identifying the faculty and student's perspective in using Moodle, leaving out other stakeholders that use Moodle for other administrative reasons. There could also be many other factors that could be associated with usage intensity of Moodle for teaching and learning. The study is limited only to identifying how resistance factors would impact the intensity of usage of Moodle within the defined faculty of X university.
The literature review will be carried out in several segments. The first section will introduce learning management systems in general, its benefits and different types available. The second part of the review will present various factors identified in literature that leads to resistance by faculty and students in using technology and learning managements systems. Factors associated with faculty members and students are identified separately. The third component of the review will introduce different models found in literature that would be useful to understand the usage intensity of a learning management system.
This section will introduce learning management systems (LMS), best practices and issues related to the adoption of LMS within a higher education context. While there are many definitions associated with learning management systems, Dehindo and Odunaike (2008), defines LMS as "a software program or integrated platform that contains a series of web-based tools to support a number of activities and course management procedures". The use of web based learning management systems used for instruction is on the rise due to many features that they provide to support teaching and learning. LMS could be used for a fully online class, to deliver a mix mode/blended learning sessions or in a full face to face classroom for different pedagogical reasons. Bouhnik (2008) et.al, as quoted in Dehindo and Odunaike (2008), has identified several distinctive benefits of using learning management systems for both learners and instructors. The freedom to decide when the lesson is to be learnt, lack of dependence on the instructor, the freedom for learners to express thoughts and the accessibility of course materials were cited as some key advantages. On a primary level, a LMS could be used as an administrative tool to manage a course and at a higher level as it could be used as an advantage teaching tool with a lot of pedagogical value supporting faculty to allow different areas of content, teaching philosophies and instructional styles.
There are many types of learning management systems. They are Web Course Tools (WebCT), Web Course Home Page (WebCH), Blackboard Learning Management Systems, System for Multimedia Integrated Learning (SMILE), Moodle, Desire2Learn, Angel and many other platforms. While each of these systems has their own differences, many are built to support similar usage needs. Feldstein (2006), as quoted in Black (2007) et. al, states that despite the fact there are many learning management systems and each of them have some form of a better performing basic functionality, they all have one thing in common; the offer of a one size fill all option.
Various literature that has highlighted the resistance and adaptation related factors associated with using technology/ learning management systems/online teaching will be reviewed below. They are presented as separate sections as factors affecting faculty resistance and factors affecting student resistance below.
Cuban (1986), in his synthesis of the use of classroom technology highlights various factors associated with faculty resistance in using technology over the last 90 years. Although the use of radio, film, television, machines and eventually the computer evolved over a period of time, the types of resistance factors that faculty generally resisted remained quite the same. Some of those factors were skill issues, accessibility issues, willingness to change issues and also the lack of understanding in using the technology for teaching purposes.
Cost-benefit: perceptions of online learning as benefits outweighing costs.
This study clearly identifies the main categories to cluster broader themes of resistance factors.
Usefulness: This relates to the faculty perceptions on the usefulness of the technology component in achieving the set learning objective.
Computer background: The ability of the instructor to use the equipment and programs associated in using the technology.
Organizational support: provided by the intuition, department as well as from peers in using technology for teaching.
Ease of use: how user-friendly the technology is to operate in a practical manner?
Type # 1 resistance factors: These include defensiveness shown by faculty members based on fear, ignorance and unawareness in using technology. They mainly express their defensiveness by being unwilling to examine assumptions that underlie behaviours or fairly tested assumptions associated in using such technologies with others who have different views about effective practice. He characterizes these resistance factors as being stubborn and blocking new initiatives related to technology use.
Type # 2 resistance factors: According to Goodson these would be defensiveness that is created based on interests of learning. Faculty members who exhibit this type of defensiveness are more willing to test their positions only if those practices could lead to a much better practice. This resistance is mostly associated with their perceptions of their professional competence as teachers.
Goodson states that faculty members who show type # 1 resistance factors should be left alone since attempting to get them to embrace technology may only create more resistance. As for type # 2, these faculty members' resistance factors could be overcome by creating situations where their learning outcomes of using technology could lead to positive results.
Moser (2007) presents the faculty e-learning behaviour process and a continuum of behavioural factors. He suggests that if these are supported at each stage, faculty members will adopt using technology faster and in a positive manner.
Perceived usefulness: These include how the students perceive how useful the technology based system is in supporting their learning purposes.
Perceived ease of use: Relates to student perceptions of how easy for them to use the technology based system in terms of accessibility, navigation, following instructions etc.
External factors: These include a wide variety of other factors. They are – technical support availability, student's internet/computer experience, subjective norms in terms of who influences the student to use these systems, the level of interactivity with the system and self efficacy criteria.
The above review would highlight the resistance factors associated with using technology both by faculty and students at large.
This segment will highlight various models that would help understand how to evaluate the usage intensity of a learning management system.
Janossy & Hover (2008) presents a proposed model for evaluating C/LMS usage. This model identifies five levels of usage intensity of a learning management system and categories them as follows.
Each level of usage is further categorized into several intensity levels totaling 13 categories spread across these 5 levels. This model is the first of its kind that presents a very clear categorization, with a clear criterion set to establish usage intensity. This was originally developed for a WebCT based LMS but includes provisions to apply this to any LMS. Janossy & Hover indicates that this model will help faculty members and students to understand their current usage and would be beneficial in many ways. Faculty could evaluate whether there is a direct impact of higher usage and the performance of their students. This could also be used as a bench mark to further improve moving up the usage levels and initiate professional development to further support this effort.
Learner – Instructor Interaction – this is argued as an essential component for the learner to interact with the instructors especially in a fully online environment.
Learner – Learner Interaction – recognized as a third important dimension to support a more network enabled educational environment.
Instructor – Content Interaction – allowing the instructor the design and improve course content over a period of time.
Using the above interaction framework, Tuovinen & Quinn (2003) presents five configurations of LMS uses which are presented as a continuum as follows.
They have also provided different forms of support that needs to be provided to students at each level of the configurations in supporting the use of the LMS.
There are many other models presented in literature that would help identify usage intensity further. The above models reviewed are a few but useful models that highlight different formats of usage intensity that would help to develop a framework to evaluate the level and the intensity of usage of a learning management system used for teaching and learning purposes.
The following sections will further highlight methods and procedures associated in finding answers to the identified research questions.
The independent variable would be the resistance factors in using Moodle as shown by faculty members and students separately. As for faculty members, the four main categories identified by Mitchell & Geva May (2009) is used to further capture the nature of resistance. As for students, the factors identified by Abbad et. al (2009), originally cited by Davis (1986), would be used for further analysis.
The dependent variable would be usage intensity of Moodle based learning management systems. In order to identify the usage intensity both by faculty members and students, the components of the five level usage intensity model proposed by Janossy & Hover (2008) will be subjected for testing.
These variables will be further operationalized into a questionnaire in section 04.
The following hypotheses will be tested in this study.
H1 – There is a positive relationship between resistance and intensity to use Moodle based learning management system by faculty within the School of Business at X University. That is, as resistance increase intensity to use increases.
H0 – There is no positive relationship between resistance and intensity to use Moodle based learning management system by faculty within the School of Business at X University.
H2 – There is a positive relationship between resistance and intensity to use Moodle based learning management system by students within the School of Business at X University. That is, as resistance increase intensity to use increases.
H0 – There is no positive relationship between resistance and intensity to use Moodle based learning management system by students within the School of Business at X University.
H3 – There is a negative relationship between resistance and intensity to use Moodle based learning management system by faculty within the School of Business at X University. That is, as resistance increase intensity to use decreases.
H0 – There is no negative relationship between resistance and intensity to use Moodle based learning management system by faculty within the School of Business at X University.
H4 – There is a negative relationship between resistance and intensity to use Moodle based learning management system by students within the School of Business at X University. That is, as resistance increase intensity to use decreases.
H0 – There is no negative relationship between resistance and intensity to use Moodle based learning management system by students within the School of Business at X University.
The following chart will indicate how each of the elements of the research question and variables are informed by literature and how the associated instruments to test them are built around it.
Faculty members who teach in different departments in the School of Business.
Students who are currently taking courses offered by the School of Business.
The following table will highlight the population and the sample that is planned for the survey.
The sample will be selected on a non random basis. Faculty members from departments in the School of Business will be selected for the sample. The researcher will attend the monthly department meetings and will obtain from faculty members, those who are willing to take part in the study, a survey. As for the student survey, students from several courses at different levels will be selected for the study based on the willingness of the faculty members to allow the researcher to visit their classrooms.
Two research instruments developed to gather data.
The data analysis will be carried out in several sections. The first section of data analysis will provide demographic information of the users. This analysis will be further used to carry out cross tabulations with the main findings. The second component will be to identify the resistance factors for faculty members and will be identified based on each of the four main categories as identified by Michell, Geva (2009) and for students based on the study of Abbad & Nahlik (2009). Thirdly the intensity of Moodle usage will be identified based on the five levels of the model identified by Janossy & Hover, (2008).
The main analysis would be to identify the relationship between resistance factors and the usage intensity. Correlation between these variables at a confidence level of 95% and one tail hypotheses tests will be carried out to test the null hypotheses in proving the identified hypotheses.
The findings of this study will reflect only the perspective of faculty and students of the School of Business. However, resource allocations to support the learning management system are not based at faculty level but at university level. The implications for policy and practice identified cannot be enforced at faculty level. While this study may inform theory at the faculty level its relevance for policy and practice at an institutional level may be limited.
Usage intensity is affected by many factors. In this study the focus would be to identify how usage resistance may have an impact on the intensity of the use of Moodle based learning management system. This finding may not provide a complete result since there could be many other factors that could explain the intensity, other than resistance and may be of limited use for policy and practice.
This section will explore different organizational cultural typologies as suggested by the six cultures of the academy model that would create the under lying environment for many educational institutional activities. Different professional development (PD) initiatives that could be used to address faculty resistance factors to use technology to teaching will be reviewed and a matrix will be presented matching these PD initiatives to different cultural context discussed above. This section will also identify the cultural lens that the School of Business operates with and set out specific recommendations for professional development initiatives to address faculty resistance.
The main cultural lens that will be used for this analysis will be the six cultures of the academy model as presented by Bergquist & Pawlak (2008). This model proposes six key cultures operating in higher education institutions. They are the collegial culture, the managerial culture, the developmental culture, the culture of advocacy, the virtual culture and the tangible culture. The following paragraphs will highlight the essence of these six cultural components.
The collegial culture is mainly represented by different disciplines represented by different faculties within a higher education institution that values faculty research and scholarship. In this culture, autonomy is greatly valued. Faculty accountability rarely extends directly to their performance and would take great offense if their autonomy is violated. This culture could be seen mainly in a university type of an environment.
The managerial culture primarily focuses on its organization, implementation and evaluation of work that is directed towards specific goals of the academy. It values fiscal responsibility. It relies on effective supervisory skills to define the mission and the goals of the institution. Administrators of these institutions are expected to be efficient managers of people and money. A faculty member who is successful in this culture is expected to be efficient and a competent teacher and is expected to show leadership by teaching and course design rather than serving in faculty committees. This culture is mainly prevalent in a community college environment.
The development culture finds meaning mainly in the creation of programs and furthering personal and professional growth of all members. It values openness, service to others and growing the institution as a whole. The institution is interested in faculty, student development and in carrying out institutional research on various topics that will contribute to the growth of the institution as a whole.
The advocacy culture primarily focuses on distributing resources and benefits gained through the work of the institution equitably to all. In this kind of culture, management and faculty holds opposing interests, is involved with bargaining and may seek the involvement of outside mediation for support. Collective bargaining is a primary focus in this kind of culture. Faculty members work around a given psychological contract in meeting the bargains held at their levels.
The virtual culture finds meaning mainly in the knowledge generation and sharing in a most modern context and values open, shared and a responsive system. It looks at linking the institution with its educational resources to global and technological resources. It works around five key elements which consider computers as tools, internet as the new information base, exploiting the strengths of the knowledge economy, working around loose organizational boundaries and its virtual epistemology works around the creation and expansion of the virtual culture.
The tangible culture values face to face education in its own physical location. It holds assumptions about the ability of its systems to instil institutional values that integrate learning within a local perspective. The institutional values are often represented in many visible ways. Teaching and learning in this culture takes place in a particular place and at a particular time.
The above cultural typologies highlight different values and beliefs held by faculty and the institution as a whole which would fundamentally differentiate its operating philosophies with set boundaries. In the virtual culture, faculty members tend to embrace the use of technology for teaching and for other functions, thus managing the resistance to use technology for teaching would be relatively negligible. The challenge would be to establish faculty members to use a unified learning management system vs. using their own preferred learning support systems.
As for other cultures, the approaches that need to be taken to manage resistance will have to be addressed on their own nuances that were discussed earlier.
Hinson & LaPrairie, (2005), highlights that professional development (PD) initiatives need to be sustained over a period of time. Obtaining faculty involvement with technology in a meaningful way and initiating professional development in gradual steps over a period of time was also identified as a key as faculty members tend to embrace technology. They also concluded that when these initiatives are supported by knowledgeable professionals and peers, faculty members will tend to resist less in adapting to technology use. They also highlight that the design of the course also plays a significant role in this process. They emphasized that PD should not only embrace ongoing technical support but also support design and delivery initiatives.
One to One – faculties should be allowed to arrange one to one tutorials or just in time sessions.
Small group workshops – operated in a small group setting offered in multiple sessions.
Departmental programs – promote principles and practices of teaching using technology by working with specific departments.
Computer or web-based training – interactive programs that would allow them to enter and exit at any time. Frequent short tests given to test mastery of the required skills.
Tutorials – should include skills set that relate to a range of users. It should be self paced, short and may use visual screen shots to demonstrate effectively.
Tele training – introducing distance learning, such as satellite teleconferencing, interactive television and computer based interactive systems.
Lunch bytes – brown bag lunch sessions featuring faculty members who had used technology in an effective manner.
Faculty institutes – classes and workshops that would focus on integrating computing resources and technology for teaching.
Multimedia user group – a group of faculty who use multimedia frequently meet to share their experiences in using multimedia with others.
Mentors – providing the role of a coach, guardian, counselor and facilitator.
There are many more professional development initiatives that could be presented that are acknowledged in research. The idea here is to identify suitable professional development options that would work in a given cultural context which would be addressed next.
The following matrix is an attempt to suggest different professional development initiatives to support different cultural typologies identified earlier.
Relating the matrix as highlighted above, the professional development initiatives in the virtual culture could be best delivered through remote media such as computer assisted, web assisted, tele training and multimedia use since faculty which embraces general technology use would be more responsive to this kind of training tools. One would ask whether there would be resistance to use technology in this kind of culture. The point would be that although some faculty members would be frequent users of different technology applications, they may resist the use of Moodle based LMS due to other types of resistance factors discussed earlier.
For organizations that are high on the tangible culture, where faculty members prefer interacting in a physical space context, one to one meetings, small groups, departmental programs and faculty institutes would be looked upon favourably. This would allow that physical presence through face to face support.
In the managerial culture where faculty seeks more order in what they do, facilitating more structured sessions like small group workshops, departmental meetings, faculty institutes, tutorials etc. would meet the managerial cultural needs. Clearly set goals for each program would help faculty members to take part in these sessions in a more productive manner.
In a collegial culture where autonomy and individual freedom is valued, one to one sessions, mentors, tele training, lunch bytes would be methods in providing faculty their own pace to learn.
Also, the content delivered through these professional development initiatives should address different types of resistance factors such as intellectual based, change based; support and cost vs. benefit based resistance categories. The list of professional development initiatives identified above is not deemed to be comprehensive and complete. It is also not suggested that the professional development initiatives that are identified for each cultural typology should not be exclusively limited to those identified. The message communicated through this matrix is that, in addressing faculty resistance issues through professional development initiatives, different organizational cultural context needs to be considered. Failing to recognize this would not yield results at an institutional level at large.
X University , with the recent change of its status from a university college to a new teaching university is undergoing a transformation of its identity. The School of Business which accounts for more than 40% of the university student FTE has been traditionally run as a top down organizational hierarchy where many activities are attempted to be controlled by the management. While instructors have the freedom to adopt a teaching method that works best based on their style, there are very clear-cut deliverables and procedures that needs to be followed. These are monitored and administered by the management very closely. With the change of its identity, across the university, a self-governed faculty council model is introduced giving the faculty and departments more control in their decision-making. This currently has led to a friction between the management and faculty in terms of who is in control with faculty trying to grab power and management not willing to let go. The academic cultures inventory was subjected to five faculty members of the School of Business. The result indicated a combination of a managerial and advocacy culture prevalent within the School. While this attempt to understand the cultural dimension through this inventory is not representative due to the negligible sample size, it provides a reasonable assertion of its cultural typology. This also corresponds with the cultural inventory administered by four other faculty members in the administrative processes class who also rated the institution between these two cultures. With its new identity, the School of Business is aspiring to move towards a collegial culture, where faculty members are seeking more autonomy in many of the academic activities.
Given this cultural context, the following section will highlight suitable professional development initiatives to manage faculty resistance to use Moodle based learning management systems within the School of Business.
As indicated earlier, the usage of Moodle based learning management system by faculty for teaching is as low as 39% of the current faculty members. The research data that has been collected and being tabulated does point out a higher level of resistance in using Moodle for teaching. Faculty members tend to dominate mainly in the areas of intellectual and changed based resistance factors. (This data conclusion is based on the partial analysis of the current data and this result may or may not change once the full study is completed).
While there are no specific types of professional development activities only designed and delivered to support faculty members at the School of Business, the following are some general PD activities that are available to support faculty at large who use Moodle.
Requests could also be made for one to one help from the Moodle administration staff which are accommodated based on capacity availability.
A Moodle site is available with basic templates in setting up a Moodle course.
All these programs are based to help faculty members to set up Moodle based courses and mainly support the technical aspect of delivery.
Given that the faculty members are moving more towards an autonomous collegial culture where individual freedom and knowledge is valued, the following PD initiatives are suggested.
To organize courses with certification to faculty members in understanding how to use Moodle to teach online, mix mode and face to face courses.
It is suggested that this be organized as modules and offered over a period of time.
It is also suggested that this be offered both in face to face and in an online format.
The online format will allow faculty members who seek to complete this in a self paced manner and the face to face option for faculty members who seek structured content.
Professionals and faculty members who are experts in using Moodle could facilitate this.
This would allow the users to log on to a site that provides information on how to use Moodle through a search function.
This will help capture faculty members who currently do not use Moodle to teach and will give them an opportunity to understand the system and its value.
Each new faculty member who signs up to use Moodle to be assigned an experienced instructor as a mentor who already uses Moolde and who is an expert. Increase in volumes could be supported through the provision of time release to experienced faculty members to manage their work load.
This would be a drop in cafe that will allow any instructor who is interested in asking questions about the use of Moodle to walk into the cafe where other faculty members who use Moodle to chat around a table. This could be done over a coffee or lunch.
To organize faculty members who have used Moodle to teach and has expertise to showcase their work and to share their experience with others.
The above would be few initiatives that could be implemented with a minimum budget requirement but will significantly encourage the usage of Moodle for teaching among faculty members.
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Walker, G. (2005). Faculty intentions to use Web enhanced instructional components.


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Carriera nel baseball
Henson frequentò la Brighton High School di Brighton, Michigan e venne selezionato nel 3º round del draft MLB 1998 dai New York Yankees, che lo assegnarono nella classe Rookie. Nel 1999 giocò nella classe A-avanzata. Nel 2000 militò principalmente nella Doppia-A, giocando anche qualche partita nella classe A-avanzata.

Il 12 luglio 2000, gli Yankees scambiarono Henson, Brian Reith, Ed Yarnall e il giocatore di minor league Jackson Melian con i Cincinnati Reds per Mike Frank e Denny Neagle.

Il 21 marzo 2001, i Reds scambiarono Henson e Michael Coleman con gli Yankees per Wily Mo Pena. Durante la stagione giocò nella Tripla-A con qualche partita nella Doppia-A e nella A-avanzata.

Henson debuttò nella MLB il 5 settembre 2002, allo Yankee Stadium di New York City contro i Detroit Tigers. Concluse la stagione con 3 partite disputate nella MLB e 128 nella Tripla-A.

Nel 2003 giocò in 5 partite di major league, dove batte anche la sua prima e unica valida, e 133 partite nella Tripla-A.

Carriera nel football
Dopo essere stato, durante l'università, la riserva di Tom Brady nei Mighigan Wolverines nel 1998 e 1999, Henson divenne titolare nel 2000, pareggiando il record dell'istituto per passaggi da touchdown in gara 4, contro la Northwestern University.

Fu scelto nel sesto giro del Draft NFL 2003 dagli Houston Texans ma optò per una carriera nel baseball. Dopo aver giocato per due stagioni negli New York Yankees della MLB, nel 2004 tornò al football e venne scambiato coi Dallas Cowboys. Disputò la sua prima gara come titolare nel Giorno del Ringraziamento del 2004 ma dopo aver passato solamente 4 passaggi su 12 tentativi fu sostituito dall'allenatore Bill Parcells con Vinny Testaverde. La sua stagione terminò con 78 yard passate e un touchdown. Dopo una cattiva pre-stagione 2005, Henson scese al terzo posto nelle gerarchie della squadra dietro a Drew Bledsoe e Tony Romo. Henson fu così spostato nella NFL Europa con i Rhein Fire guidandoli quasi fino al World Bowl. Il 24 agosto 2006 fu ufficialmente svincolato dai Cowboys.

Nel biennio 2006-2007, Henson fece parte del roster dei Minnesota Vikings, senza tuttavia mai scendere in campo. Nel 2008 passò ai Detroit Lions, debuttando nel quarto periodo della gara del Giorno del Ringraziamento in sostituzione di Daunte Culpepper. Quella stagione terminò con due sole presenze e dopo di essa si ritirò dal football professionistico.

Statistiche

Note

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Haha you guys like how my cards seem to be crooked. It looks like this New Moon's energies are going into the third eye helping to awaken or heighten psychic gifts and abilities. Work on developing these gifts through meditation, researching and learning, talking to Elders, and trusting your intuition. Follow your heart. We are asked to exercise – you may want to try a dance class or dancing fitness routine. Pay attention to dreams, messages at night, and messages from the birds.
Thanks for reading, have an awesome day and weekend!


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Profile of George Washington Plunkitt, Tammany Hall Politican
Tammany Hall Politician Bragged of Practicing "Honest Graft"
Important Historical Figures
America Moves Westward
Crimes & Disasters
The Most Important Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets.
George Washington Plunkitt was a Tammany Hall politician who wielded clout in New York City for decades. He amassed a fortune by engaging in various schemes which he always claimed had been "honest graft."
When collaborating on an eccentric book about his career in 1905 he brazenly defended his long and complicated career in machine politics. And he suggested his own epitaph, which became famous: "He seen his opportunities and he took 'em."
During Plunkitt's political career he held a variety of patronage jobs. He boasted of having held four government jobs in one year, which included a particularly prosperous stretch when he was paid for three jobs simultaneously. He also held elected office in the New York State assembly until his steady seat there was taken from him on a very violent primary election day in 1905.
After Plunkitt died at the age of 82 on November 19, 1924, the New York Times published three substantial articles about him within four days. The newspaper essentially reminisced about the era when Plunkitt, generally seated on a bootblack stand in a courthouse lobby, dispensed political advice and handed out favors to loyal supporters.
There have been skeptics who claimed that Plunkitt greatly exaggerated his own exploits and that his political career was not nearly as flamboyant as he later claimed. Yet there's no doubt he had extraordinary connections in the world of New York politics. And even Plunkitt exaggerated the details, the stories he told of political influence and how it worked was very close to the truth.
The New York Times headline announcing Plunkitt's death noted that he had been "born on Nanny's Goat's Hill." That was a nostalgic reference to a hill that would eventually be within Central Park, near West 84th Street.
When Plunkitt was born on November 17, 1842, the area was essentially a shanty town. Irish immigrants lived in poverty, in ramshackle conditions in what was largely a wilderness far removed from the growing city farther south in Manhattan.
Growing up in a rapidly transforming city, Plunkitt went to public school. In his teens, he worked as a butcher's apprentice. His employer helped him start his own business as a butcher at Washington Market in lower Manhattan (the sprawling market along the Hudson River was the future site of many office buildings including the World Trade Center).
He later went into the construction business, and according to his obituary in the New York Times, Plunkitt built many of the docks on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
First elected to the New York State Assembly in 1868, he also served as an alderman in New York City. In 1883 he was elected to the New York State Senate. Plunkitt became a power broker within Tammany Hall, and for nearly 40 years was the undisputed boss of the 15th Assembly District, a heavily Irish bastion on Manhattan's West Side.
His time in politics coincided with the era of Boss Tweed, and later Richard Croker. And even if Plunkitt later exaggerated his own importance, there's no doubt he had witnessed some remarkable times.
He was eventually defeated in a primary election in 1905 which was marked by violent eruptions at the polls. After that, he essentially retreated from day-to-day politics. Yet he still kept a public profile as a constant presence in government buildings in lower Manhattan, telling stories and regaling a circle of acquaintances.
Even in retirement, Plunkitt would stay involved with Tammany Hall. Every four years he was appointed to make the travel arrangements as New York politicians traveled by train to the Democratic National Convention. Plunkitt was a fixture at the conventions and was deeply disappointed when ill health a few months before his death prevented him from attending the 1924 convention.
Plunkitt's Fame
In the late 1800s, Plunkitt became quite wealthy by habitually buying up land which he knew the city government would eventually need to buy for some purpose. He justified what he did as being "honest graft."
In Plunkitt's view, knowing something was going to happen and capitalizing on it was not corrupt in any way. It was simply smart. And he openly bragged about it.
Plunkitt's openness about the tactics of machine politics became legendary. And in 1905 a newspaperman, William L. Riordon, published a book Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, which was essentially a series of monologues in which the old politician, often hilariously, expounded on his life and his theories of politics. His lively accounts of how the Tammany machine operated may not have been well-documented, but they give a solid sense of what it must have been like it New York City politics in the late 1800s.
He always steadfastly defended his own political style and the workings of Tammany Hall. As Plunkitt put it: "So, you see, these fool critics don't know what they're talkin' about when they criticize Tammany Hall, the most perfect political machine on earth."
"George W. Plunkitt Dies At 82 Years," New York Times, 20 Nov. 1924, p 16.
"Plunkitt of Tammany Hall," New York Times, 20 Nov. 1924, p. 22.
"Plunkitt, Champion of 'Honest Graft,'" New York Times, 23 Nov. 1924, p. 177.
McNamara, Robert. "Profile of George Washington Plunkitt, Tammany Hall Politican." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/george-washington-plunkitt-biography-1773509. McNamara, Robert. (2020, August 26). Profile of George Washington Plunkitt, Tammany Hall Politican. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/george-washington-plunkitt-biography-1773509 McNamara, Robert. "Profile of George Washington Plunkitt, Tammany Hall Politican." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/george-washington-plunkitt-biography-1773509 (accessed February 1, 2023).
Tammany Hall
Biography of William 'Boss' Tweed, American Politician
Thomas Nast's Campaign Against Boss Tweed
Biography of Millard Fillmore: The 13th President of the United States
New York City in the 19th Century
Senator Robert Byrd and the Ku Klux Klan
Theodore Roosevelt and the New York Police Department
The Scandalous Election of 1884
Thomas Nast
Biography of Jay Gould, Notorious Robber Baron
Huey Long, Populist Politician of the Depression Era
George Washington's First Inauguration
Presidential Election of 1800 Ended in a Tie
Nelson Rockefeller, Last of the Liberal Republicans
Great Swindles of the 19th Century

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


For ACR, I'd like to be able to go inside the castle more. For example, in AC1 it's so huge. But all you see of the inside is a small library area, an office for the Grandmaster, and a tower that looks out over the distance and has a small table with food and such.
You'd imagine as an Assassin base that it would have some blacksmiths, maybe some tailors. There would also probably be people in financial powers to take care of the money, and others to take care of the whole town. There should be important documents that Ezio would want to retrieve up there also, because I'm sure that Altiar wouldn't keep all of his important documents in one spot. Mainly the point is I want to explore the Masyaf base more in ACR.
On another note, I would like there to be more inside areas that have important stuff. The Rosa in Fiore, the Barracks, and La Volpe Addormentata were just like what I wanted in a way. Along with the Guild Challenges, they were pretty awesome. I loved having the crests up on my walls in the Tiber Isle base.
But I want more things like that. Maybe different guilds for the merchants. A Doctor Academy, a Blacksmith and Tailor guild, a main banking firm (or the Renaissance equivalent to one), things like that. I would love to ally the Assassins further with certain merchant groups.
But even among things like that, I would love to be able to go inside certain key houses.
Yeah, the castle itself probably only had more basic accommodations such as food and supply storage and a barracks, maybe a blacksmith.
Niccolo Polo and Maffei, The Secret Crusade. They frequently traveled up to the Castle, even allowed to go up the tower that Altiar jumped off of. So I don't think it's Assassin only, unless they were already Assassins.
and you were kinda pointing out the obvious..
but yea, you know.. that isn't the only point of this discussion.
Well yes, during Ezio's time, but not during Altaïr's.
ACtually, that would work well. Altiar having to check up on some other Assassins before leaving to do things. And I have a feeling that we'll get to see Altiar's room during the seal that has him during his teenaged years because of something that happened in The Secret Crusade.
Ah yes, poor misguided Abbas. Too bad how it ended, though it was really epic.
I haven't finished The Secret Crusade completely yet. I still have to read Part 4.
Heh. I'll read it tonight after I do some stuff in Brotherhood.
I'd like to see some more of the Masyaf castle's interior as well as be able to climb it this time. I hope it becomes a free-roam location after the story is over so we can take our time there too. I still don't know why in a game where you can climb any building, they wouldn't let you climb around the castle in the first game. It's a cool-looking structure that would be fun to explore. I was also disappointed that they didn't let you climb around St. Peter's dome in Brotherhood in the free-roam map.
Yes, there was much more to the castle than what we saw in AC1. Yes, we will probably see more now.
Just finished reading The Secret Crusade. Good ending in my opinion.
Anyway, what do you guys think of the idea of becoming more allied with the merchants?
I would love to be able to garner more support with them, getting bigger deals and helping them thrive with monetary support. And some sort of challenges. Maybe something like the Shop Quests, but a little different.
..I want moar crests in mah hideoutsss.
I would definately enjoy a more personal interaction with merchants. If they acnowledged me as their landlord/owner with their dialogue, that would be cool.
What about them having their own main guild bases like the Thieves, Mercenaries, Courtesans.
Only if those guild bases are run by assassins or people working closely with them.


Some strategic shifts amongst the 'universal banks' (HSBC, Citi, Lloyds, Bank of America, JP Morgan).
The first is cost cutting.
Increasingly, the heads of so-called universal banks – those that combine high street banking with corporate and investment banking – are deliberately shifting their focus away from foreign adventures in retail branches and on to corporate business instead.
HSBC is not alone. Citigroup, its main global competitor, is busy pulling out of a host of retail markets where it is overstretched, such as Spain, Greece and Belgium, and refocusing on just 100 cities around the world. Barclays, too, is on the retreat, announcing that retail banking operations in Russia and Indonesia should close.
Some of the reasons are obvious. Many banks have come out of crisis mode and are now in a cost-cutting phase – often under the direction of new management.
This is based on the economic realities setting in.
On top of the cost-cutting agenda is the pragmatic realisation that the global economy is moving in slow motion and that strategies need to look for whatever business expansion opportunities there are. Scant gross domestic product growth means scant consumer loan growth.
The other shift noted in this FT piece is within the investment & corporate banking groups of those banks, and that is being driven by both regulatory changes and a desire for greater risk transparency.
In a market that is more nervous of credit risk, corporate lending has the appeal of offering a bank far more transparency than consumer lending on the finances of a borrower, both directly and via credit-rating data. It may also be less capital-intensive.
But the draw is also part of a much more fundamental change – the redrawn lines of the global regulatory landscape. As investment banks are penalised with higher capital charges for trading activity, they need to find more solid sources of business with lower capital requirements.
The fallout from the banking crisis is beginning to play out. A shift of investment from retail to commercial banking does not bode well for innovation in consumer banking. My earlier view of banks sorting out into utilities (majority) and innovators remains.
« Are Governments and Banks worrying about the wrong problems in the cloud?


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School Students Fall Victim to Violence in Russia
Radical pro-Kremlin activists now beat up journalists, intellectuals, poets—even schoolchildren. All with impunity.
Anna Nemtsova
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast
Russia's transparency is gone. Pro-Putin radicals now attack independent journalists, famous intellectuals, politicians, and civil society activists, and the violence remains unpunished.
On Thursday, dozens of nationalists wearing ribbons of Saint George poured a bottle of green disinfectant over the face of internationally acclaimed novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya. The well-organized attackers cursed high school children and their teachers—visitors to Moscow who arrived from Russia's regions to participate in a history contest devoted to memories of Stalin's political repression.
One of the contest's jury members, Irina Yasina, witnessed the attacks. The wheelchair-bound Yasina said that the radical activists scared her and the students she was working with. "Police did not stop the criminals, that means the state approves of this shameful, ugly attacks on children and women," Yasina told The Daily Beast. "Russia is closing, withdrawing into some brutal self-isolated world, where young people do not want to remember their own history," she said.
One part of the country, the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, has already closed its doors for outside observers. Moscow reporters described the republic as "hell," where locals suffer constant abductions and arrests but can find no sympathy or support from the Russian authorities. A dark new trend is the abduction of Chechen intellectuals who have a different opinion from the republic's authoritarian leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. The most recent cases include a university professor, a well-known poet, and two book publishers.
The veteran human rights center, Memorial, reported 24 abductions in the last three months. But nobody knows the true scale of the epidemic in Chechnya, as there is no independent coverage. "We try every chance to shout to the Kremlin about the horrors in Chechnya, violence against journalists and human rights defenders, but so far we are unheard," the chair of the Committee Against Torture, Igor Kalyapin, told The Daily Beast. According to the World Press Freedom Index in 2016, conducted by Reporters Without Borders in April, Russia was ranked 148th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom, just behind Pakistan.
Rumors are rampant in Chechnya about the detention and severe beating of the poet, writer and musician, Hussein Betelgeriyev. His family believes that he was punished for not attending a pro-government rally, and for criticizing the leadership on social media. Who abducted the famous poet and then beat him for days remained a mystery, as usual. "Betergiriyev was tortured so severely that we could not transport him out of the republic," Kalyapin told The Daily Beast.
President Vladimir Putin appointed a retired police general, Tatyana N. Moskalkova, to the post of his new human-rights ombudsman. That killed many hopes for any sympathetic ear within government. "Every week, I receive five or six calls from crying mothers pleading with me to find their sons," said Kheda Saratova, a Chechen human-rights activist. "Not only Chechnya is strangled, the entire country cannot breathe! And now I am supposed to call a police general and ask a former cop to help with our victims detained by police. This is a nightmare."
Last month, a crowd of young Chechens attacked Russian, Norwegian, and Swedish reporters, the last group having arrived from Moscow to uncover the truth about Kadyrov's reign of violence. One of the victims, journalist Yegor Skovoroda, told The Daily Beast that a black Mercedes with "666" on the plates followed him and his colleagues around from the first day of their arrival in the Chechen capital of Grozny.
On the third day, a group of 10 to 15 young men in medical masks stopped them. "It took the Chechen-speaking attackers about 10 minutes to smash the windows of our mini-bus, drag us out of it, break our ribs and limbs, and set our bus on fire," Skovoroda said. "Journalists realize that there is no use to risk lives by going to Chechnya, because local people are terrified their lives would grow even more hellish if they give interviews—more than of personal danger, journalists are concerned of causing harm."
Chechnya was not the only place where law enforcers put pressure on civil society. This week, the Ministry of Justice recognized The World Of Women, a civil group based in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, as "a foreign agent" involved in political activity. "This is absurd, all we do is we teach women about their civil rights and how to protect themselves from domestic violence," the group's leader, Oksana Prishepova, told The Daily Beast.
Both the Kremlin and Chechen leaderships condemned the attack on reporters in March. But weeks passed, and nobody showed any intentions of punishing the attackers. Kalyapin, a member of the Kremlin's Council on Human Rights and one of Russia's braves activists, went to Grozny to speak with Chechen officials about the series of abductions and the attack on reporters. But somebody ordered to kick him out the Grozny City Hotel. The receptionist threw Kalyapin's passport and money on the floor and asked him to leave. Later, Chechens threw eggs, and poured flour and green disinfectant on him.
Last week, Kalyapin told deputy head of Putin's administration, Viacheslav Volodin, about what he and his colleagues had suffered. "I told [him] that our office in Chechnya has been burnt twice, our vehicle was destroyed, me and my colleagues get publicly attacked for doing our job," Kalyapin said.
Memorial's Alexander Cherkasov told The Daily Beast that his group has monitored dozens of political prisoners, and hundreds of victims of abductions, torture, and killings. "The government is responsible for human-rights violations in the army, in Russian prisons, in Muslim republics of the North Caucasus and also in using controlled radical groups to attack reporters, activists, and students," he said. "The list of human-rights issues is much longer than we can imagine and it seems there are no institutions left to help us."


text:
From the Archive: A British Television Blog
Every week I randomly pick a British television show from my collection to watch and then write about it. Pretty simple! Feel free to take part in the discussions by leaving a comment or e-mailing me at FTA13867@gmail.com
DVD Review: Lovejoy Series 6
Lovejoy Series 6
DVD 3-Disc Set (approx. 500 minutes)
Released by Acorn Media on June 16, 2015. SRP $49.99
Subtitles: English SDH 4:3
I have stated on a few occasions how much of a fan I am of the BBC series Lovejoy. Remember that loveable rogue who works in the antique business. Perhaps once in a while, he dips in the underground world of dirty dealing but generally he is on the up and up with a big heart of gold. He's a divvy which means he can instinctively know if a piece is legit and if it is worth money.
As I profess my love for this series, there is one thing I need to disclose. I had never seen the final series of Lovejoy. By the time we get to the final series, which is Series 6 and what this review is about, I felt that the series had changed enough where some of my favorite characters were gone and I lost interest in the series. That was 20 years ago.
As I had been making my way through the Lovejoy series, I decided I would give the final series a chance. When I saw this was coming out from Acorn Media, I wanted to see what I missed. I think what I was most concerned about was the thought of the fun witty writing that was mixed in with some fairly serious situations for our favorite antiques dealer made me uninterested in watching any further.
When I sat down to watch Series 6, the thing I noticed was that we have different writers than before but I feel the character of Lovejoy is tweaked. What I personally see as the series progressed over the years was how Ian McShane (Lovejoy) had gotten himself in better shape over time. Now, I have no problem with anyone who wants to get themselves in better shape and that is not a reason to not like a series but it felt to me that Lovejoy was becoming a bit of an action hero opposed to an accidental hero which I found so charming. There is a scene in the Series 6 episode Breaking the Broker where Lovejoy needs to steal back a painting belonging to Tinker. Lovejoy needs to basically jump over fences and climb up walls of a house to steal it back. He does it so effortlessly he almost looks like Spiderman. Lovejoy is not Spiderman.
By this point in the series, Lady Jane Felsham had left the series. As I said in my review of Series 3, she may have been one of the most patient people in history based on how many times she needed to bail Lovejoy out of some problem. She is replaced for lack of a better term by Charlotte Cavendish. Charlotte and Lovejoy do have a "thing" going but she can be easily exasperated by Lovejoy. She's not afraid to tell him to push off. I think the bigger hole in the cast was when Eric Catchpole left the series. He was sort of our conduit of comedy into the series. That was the starting point of the series when Lovejoy was paid by Eric's father so Lovejoy could show Eric how to be an antiques dealer since Eric had absolutely nothing else going on in his life. Eric was replaced by Beth. Although not as funny, it was a wise move by the producers of this series was to not make Beth comedy relief. Eric was often what caused some of the problems in the series for Lovejoy and Tinker. Beth was not. She was actually competent which is wise but just not as funny. Now, since is the first time I have seen Series 6, did I like it?
Of course I did. It is Ian McShane playing Lovejoy. To me, it is new episodes of Ian McShane playing Lovejoy since I haven't seen these before now. I actually thought when I started to dig into this set that some of the storylines would look familiar to me but it was all actually new. I never caught these on A&E during its original run or repeats. I don't like Series 6 nearly as much as Lovejoy in its heyday but no series maintains the same quality throughout. I think the series has Lovejoy too confident and less frantic. It's funny I say that because the blurb that Acorn provides for the series says, "Ian McShane's raffish antiques dealer may have finally found some professional and personal stability." I think that is the problem I am having with this period of the series. Maybe I don't like Lovejoy to have stability. I like the more rogue sort of character from the earlier episodes. He is just scraping to get by and needs to find ways (some not so legal) to survive. I also thought that some of these episodes took themselves a little too seriously. Episodes such as Day of Reckoning sees an old enemy of Lovejoy's (played by John Castle) kidnap Charlotte in a plot to kill her just to hurt Lovejoy for revenge. This episode does not fit in with what I think Lovejoy was about. Obviously that is a personal observation yet I do feel this episode is not right. Another one I feel this way about is the one I mentioned above which was Breaking the Broker. I don't dislike this episode because Lovejoy can easily scale walls. I think it's worse than that.
This episode sees Tinker set up Lovejoy, yes I said Tinker, to steal back a painting he sold to another dealer. Lovejoy is then caught by the Police and is forced to help them. Tinker was in on this too. I'm sorry, I just don't buy for a minute that Tinker would do this to Lovejoy. It actually sort of depressed me. That just wasn't right. There was a point where Lovejoy told Tinker to never speak to him again. The mood does lighten up on this episode but it just still isn't right.
Do I like any of the episodes? Absolutely! I really like Fruit of the Desert as this is one of those classic episodes of Lovejoy where he is looking to make a ton of money from a deal, working with other parties (robbing Peter to pay Paul) to secure funding only to find once he has the money and paid for the goods, he has been scammed! Now he needs to figure out how to find a way to make good on the other promises. To me, that is a good episode of Lovejoy. I don't think the series should be confused with what it is, it should stay true to itself.
A real treat for me on this set was taking a look at the final episode of Lovejoy, Last Tango in Lavenham. I had never seen it before and it even got the original writers back to write the episode, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. It is a nice combination of closure and sweet reminiscing which also brings Lady Jane back into the storyline along with a little cameo with Eric at the end. It is a satisfying ending to a series I cared a great deal about while growing up.
As keen as I am about British television, there are some great performances from some wonderful actors found in episodes on this set: John Castle, David Ryall, Richard Vernon, Dinsdale Landen, Julian Glover, Julia Sawalha, Richard Marner, Martin Jarvis, Gary Waldhorn, Terence Rigby, Christopher Benjamin, Gavin Richards, Donald Pickering, Earl Cameron, and Brian Croucher.
The quality on this is the same on the other sets which is simply OK looking quality. The film footage didn't look that great on original broadcast. As I have stated previous times, this would look amazing restored in HD but there isn't much luck of that happening. I still contend that the BBC Home Entertainment release of this series on DVD looks a little bit better, this is still watchable. It evens says on the packaging due to the age of the program, it may not look great. I have always heard is that due to the way the series was post-produced back in the 1990s is why it is not that stellar looking. It's not the fault of Acorn. These masters would have been passed along by Fremantle.
There are no extras on this set. There were some extras on the BBC set but it needs to be understood from a consumer standpoint that if a studio buys a series to put out on home media that was previously released by another studio, they are generally only buying the right to the series and not to the extras that may have been previously produced. It's important to understand. On the BBC Home Entertainment set that is now out of print, they include an excerpt from a BBC program that Ian McShane did at the time of the series on the air and also a newly recorded interview. That's not easy to get. Once again, I don't fault Acorn for not having any extras on any of these releases. Always to me, the important thing is to get the episodes in the best quality generally as originally seen.
DVD Breakdown:
Disc 1: Fair Exchange, Day of Reckoning, Somewhere: Over the Rainbow, Double Edged Sword
Disc 2: Guns and Roses, The Last of the Uzkoks, Breaking the Broker
Disc 3: Fruit of the Desert, Holding the Baby, Last Tango and Lavenham
It also should be pointed out on the same day as Series 6 being released, Lovejoy: The Complete Collection got a release. This is a 21-disc box set that includes all 6 series. The SRP on it is $199 but I have seen it on Amazon for as low as $117. This is a really good deal for a very good series. As a box set, this is a Highly Recommended purchase.
As for Series 6 of Lovejoy, if you have been a fan of the series and you want to see where it goes and how it ends I would consider this a Recommended purchase. If you are new to the series, do not start here. The series is not at its best at this point. In my opinion you could start anywhere between Series 1-4 and find it highly enjoyable. If you plan on grabbing a few series at once to try out, I would recommend the entire series boxset or there is also AcornTV which is currently (at the time of this review published) streaming the whole series. Lovejoy as a series is too good to be missed.
Next week: Not British television but British film and damn good British film. I am going to look at the film A Hard Day's Night starring The Beatles! In the article, I will make a startling admission!
Do you have feedback, article requests or want to talk about a program but do not want to leave a public comment? Feel free to drop me an e-mail at FTA13867@gmail.com
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Posted by Greg at 11:28 AM
Labels: Acorn Media, BBC, British Mystery, British Television, DVD, DVD review, Ian McShane, Lovejoy
Dave G said...
I have finally gotten around to watching Lovejoy from the start through to the end, and for the most part I agree with your assessments. It hurt the show when Eric and Lady Jane left, and even back in series three, the ongoing love interest with Joanna Lumley turned me off. Still as far as series six goes, it had its ups and downs, but even the worst of it is miles ahead of much of the dross of current television.
I will say that Series 6 is munch better than I ever gave it credit for but it was a wise move to end it when they did. I didn't know you watched it. I am really happy to hear you did. It is one series I was telling you to watch for years. I even played one episode at your house which you didn't seem overly impressed. I am really happy you have seen the series.
Your right, Tinker would never have set Lovejoy up . With their relationship as it was he would have clued Lovejoy as to what was happening , stayed one step ahead of the Police , and yes laughed about it all the way home ! All along way from the first episodes or even the last. They lost it at times during the last series but theres still some good stuff there . The worst of Lovejoy is alot better than most programming . Cheers Craig Herts UK
DVD Review: Injustice
TV Times Thursday: John Steed Picks the Pools
A Not Very Christmassy Lovejoy Christmas Special
Louis Jourdan is Count Dracula
TV Times Thursday: Michael Praed talks Robin of Sherwood
Why British television?
My name is Greg Bakun. For years I have been an avid collector of British television. I have set up this blog to randomly choose a program from my collection, watch it and write about it. My interest in British television started with programs like All Creatures Great & Small, Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served?, and Doctor Who. Then, my interest in the programs continued to grow. With so many programs in my collection (with more being added all the time) it is harder and harder to choose something to watch while still having time to watch my favourites. So, I decided to randomly pick a program every week and write about it. I always welcome discussions on the articles I write. You can either leave a comment or e-mail me at FTA13867@gmail.com
It's Been a Hard Day's Blog....
Blu-ray Review: The Flying Deuces
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Imagine a game that's one part model UN, one part LARP, and one part classic tabletop RPG. That's pretty much what you get with a MegaGame. We recently took part in one, and we're here to tell you all about it.
DESCRIPTION: Ryan and Erin start off with a recap some of their more recently played games before they and guest Mackenie Cameron to dive into the world of MegaGames. Mack recently ran one in Boston called Watch The Skies, which Erin got to partake in. Combining elements of simulation games, wargames, LARPing and pen & paper RPGs, they and 50 or so other people gathered for the event. We share what it took to get that off the ground and how it all turned out in the end.
Our June Indie Spotlight game is Lift Off!
What even is a MegaGame?
How does it function, and ware the requirements for participating?