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A Glimpse into a 19th Century Acland Family Photo Album
On this warm and wonderful afternoon here in Florida, due to the modern miracle of the internet, we're about to travel back in time to "see" the world through the eyes of young George Mills, his half-brother Arthur Frederick Hobart, and his older sister, Agnes Edith.
Thanks to a portfolio donated to the University Of Canterbury [Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha, in Maori] in Christchurch, New Zealand, by the Acland family [descendants of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet, of Killerton, Broadclyst, Devon, the maternal great-grandfather of George Mills] after they emigrated, we can see Cornwall, Devon, and much of southern England exactly as it looked to the very young Mills siblings, circa the late 1880s or the 1890s. [Click an image to see it full-sized.]
This amazingly unexpected photograph is labeled "Mills driving horses," so I suppose we're to assume that's George's grandfather, Arthur Mills, Esq., M.P., there at the reins. The passengers may be visitors to his home, but if so, would I be wrong in assuming he'd be sitting with his guests? My hunch is that he's taking out the family, but what do I know?
Would it also be wrong of me to assume that smartly dressed fellow in the carriage could be Revd Barton R. V. Mills, Vicar of either Poughill or Bude, and he could be sitting with his mother, Lady Agnes, and possibly his first wife, Lady Catherine [who passed away in 1889] or Elizabeth Edith Ramsay Mills, whom Barton married on 10 January 1894?
Lady Agnes died on 23 May 1895, so if that is both Elizabeth and Lady Agnes, that certainly narrows the list of possible dates on which this image could have been taken. Should it perhaps be Lady Catherine, this image would then be of an 1887 to 1889 vintage.
Barton's brother, Col. Dudley Acland Mills, was an officer in the Royal Engineers who is not found anywhere in either the 1891 or 1901 census. It seems unlikley that the he's the gentleman in the carriage. Barton, however, was listed in the 1891 census as living at 128 Efford Down, Cornwall, with his mother Agnes Lucy, father Arthur, and his son, young Arthur F. H. Mills, who was then 3 years old. Put this address, Efford Down Park, Bude, Cornwall EX23 8SE, UK, into Google Maps and see if you don't think this is the same place!
This is the lovely church at Poughill. Reverend Barton R. V. Mills was rector there from 1887, to 1889. Arthur Frederick was born in 1887, and Lady Catherine, young Arthur's mother, died in 1898. Is it likley this was taken during that time by the Aclands to show visitors the church where their grandson Barton was vicar?
This beautiful picture was taken on one of the Acland estates. Young George Mills was born in 1896, and his half-brother Arthur was 9 years older than George. Is it possible that this healthy looking lad could be young Arthur visiting Killerton?
This gorgeous image shows the Cornish coast that the Mills family must have known and loved so well. While I know that could be anyone who just happened to wander into the photograph, it still makes me wonder...
Why are this boy and, I suppose, his mother, so disinterested in someone taking outdoor photographs in Bude Haven in the 1890s? Could that have been such an everyday occurrence, compared to seeing a sailboat? It occurs to me they must have had the same interest as the photographer, having accompanied him to this spot: That wonderful vessel! Could that lad be young Arthur—or even George Mills himself? After all, how many tots in Bude would have likely been that disinterestedly close to a party of traveling, photographing, parasol-wielding Aclands?
If that is, George, date this image 1898 or 1899. And, if it's Arthur, make it 1891 or 1892. And perhaps it was different in the late 19th century, but I can't imagine why the Aclands would've taken the camera to Bude if not on an visit to see Arthur, Barton, and the children...
And in this photograph of the coast, we see a panorama of Bude Haven. It features the stately home of Arthur Mills, Esq., M.P. resting comfortably atop the hill.
Here's yet a closer shot of the Mills family's residence in Bude. Nice place, eh? I wonder what it costs to heat, though...
This image depicts Killerton in Devon. Barton and Dudley Mills were raised there as young boys until it was off to boarding school. The only residents of this manor listed in the 1861 census were Sir Thomas, himself, and "Barton Reginald Vaughan Mills (age 3) and Dudley Acland Mills (age 1) (Children of Arthur Mills, Esq., M.P.), + 18 servants." The boys' father would have been either in London, serving at the time as the Tory M.P. from Taunton, or may have been on one of his many excursions abroad. Mills had recently published his definitive book on the costs of the Sepoy Mutiny and the state of the colony, India in 1858.
This time, we've actually entered Killerton of the 1890s. The painting is entitled "Great Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet," and was painted by William Owing. Sir Thomas had died in 1871, having been succeeded by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet, but obviously is still watching son-in-law Arthur Mills like a hawk.
Before returning to the 21st century, let's just take a look at a few images of the southern England of the late 18th century that the family of George Mills must have loved so dearly...
Posted by Sam [Also known as Harry] at 6:03 PM
Labels: acland, agnes, arthur, arthur hobart, bude, cornwall, devon, dudley, efford down, elizabeth edith, killerton, lady agnes, lady catherine, new zealand, poughill
Can You Please Help Me Learn More about George Mills?
I am still researching British author, GEORGE MILLS. Some books attributed to him are Meredith and Co., King Willow, and Minor and Major. Right now, I have learned just about all I can about him. That's where you come in. Please help me research the history of George Mills, his career as both a teacher and author, and his family members.
If you know anything about Mills, his life or his times, please contact me. You can leave an anonymous comment with information at any time, on any topic, by clicking the word "comments" beneath any post. Otherwise, please e-mail any information, tips, or clues regarding George Mills to:
Sam [Also known as Harry]
Ocala, Florida, United States
Search "Who Is George Mills?"
Web www.whoisgeorgemills.com
Meredith and Co. [1933] by George Mills
First edition, published by Oxford University Press: London, 1933. Printed in Oxford. Illustrator: C. E. Brock.
King Willow [1938] by George Mills
First Edition, published by G. G. Harrop and Co., Ltd.: London, 1938. Printed in London. Illustrator: H. M. Brock
Minor and Major [1939] by George Mills
First edition, published by G. G. Harrap & Co., Ltd.; London, 1939. Printed in London. Illustrator: John Harris
Oxford University Press: London, 1938. Printed in Great Britain. Illustrator: "P. White"
Meredith and Co. [1957?] by George Mills
Andrew Dakers Ltd.: London. No copyright date [Owners inscription: 1957]. Printed in Czechoslovakia. Illustrator: "Vernon"
King Willow by George Mills
Spring Books: London. No copyright date. Printed in Czechoslovakia. Illustrator: Tom Thursby
Minor and Major by George Mills
Spring Books: London. No copyright date. Printed in Czechoslovakia. Illustrator: Unknown
Lt. Arthur Frederick Hobart MILLS (43673)
Lt. and Paymr. G. R. A. Mills (150796)
"Our works do not pass away, as they seem to do" -...
Of Parisian Night Clubs, Mysterious Blondes, Devil...
The Lady Dorothy Mills Award (1965)
Sheikhs, Spinsters, and the Local Standard of Beauty
Gone, and Now Only Somewhat Forgotten
'"But in England, Men Admire Thin Women..."
Replies and Records Concerning the Revd Barton R. ...
Tuesday Afternoon: Quick Questions
22 Meads Street
Ladycross Catholic Boys' Preparatory School in Sea...
"George Mills Has a Handkerchief in his Breast Poc...
The Life of B. R. V. Mills, Part 3
Visualizing Warren Hill School and Some Possible M...
The Craig School in Windermere
St Bernardus in the Chancel North window and Revd....
A Glimpse into a 19th Century Acland Family Photo ...
1914: George's Brother Goes to War
Tracing the Career Arc of One Arthur Frederick Hob...
Lady Dorothy's latest journey: San Jose, Californi...
Word from a Relative of George Mills...
Of J. Goodland, Warren Hill, and perhaps the Son o...
Links to Friends of this Site, to Whom I Owe Many Thanks...
Downlands Educational Trust
Slouch Hat Publications & Dr. Rbt. Likeman
Roger Kelly's Jack Mitchell Site
Warwick School
The Croquet Association
Bowden Croquet Club
Fairlynch Museum
Budleigh & Brewster United
Mollie's Loft Books
Cuckfield Compendium
Diocese of Truro
Lady Dorothy Mills
Cornwall Record Office
City of Westminster Archives
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Classic Crime Fiction
The Queen's Chapel of the Savoy
Eastbourne Local History Society
Maureen's Choice
Children's Bookshop - Hay on Wye
Windlesham School
Chapter House Books
Peakirk Books
No thanks at all to these...
So far there has been no reply to polite and at times repeated requests for academic research assistance from:
• St Edmund's School, Canterbury
• All Saints, Rome
• The Contextual Theology Centre
• University of Cambridge
• Royal Mail
• All Saints Margaret Street
• Drayton St. Leonard
• Eaton House Schools
• The Independent Association of Prep Schools
• Magdalen College School, Brackley
• Old Brackleians Society
• Continuum Books
• Steve Holland
Mistakes, Misapprehensions, and a Mistrial
Over the last few days, we've taken a look at the sensational trial that must have been a brick through the glass of Robert Hora...
Finding Parkfield...
Lately, I've been catching up on many things that I've been working on. Today I'd like to share some information someone e...
New Information: The Chittendens of Seaford and Newlands School
Hello, everyone! I hope the new year finds you healthy and happy! Here, it finds me a bit wiser, thanks to the recent kindness of R...
A Final Look at Louise Melissa Corbin Walpole; Part 1
Last summer I made a decision that I almost came to regret. The end of the story seemed the most tragic of all I'd done ...
Additional Information: Percy Carmichael Clarke, Emma Anna Piper, and Egerton Clarke
I've had some exciting information arrive this week, some of it from in and around Watford, England . Let's start with the t...
George Mills Enters the 1960s...
Here's something I just found on-line that fills in a little bit more of my timeline of the life of George Mills [my emphasis]: A...
Mr. Egerton Clarke, Kezil, and the Popular Kerry Blue Terrier
By the end of September 1918 Egerton Arthur Crossman Clarke found himself demobilised from the military. The armistice wou...
Mr. Egerton Clarke: Meet the Maternal Family
This morning, it's time to take a look at a Clarke , and I don't mean Darren [left] up at Royal St George's… La...
Ladycross Catholic Boys' Preparatory School in Seaford
Booting up the computer on my desk at work, I sleepily sipped some coffee without realizing the surprise I had in store. There in my e-...
Newlands School Sports Days, 1937–1939
The website Geograph provides us the following information, along with the image above: "With over 100 schools, Seaford once had on...
Something amusing I ran into on-line...
All images are presumed copyright 2000-2013 by the respective copyright holders and are presented here for research purposes as fair use under applicable laws.
Text © 2010-2013


text:
role :app, %w{deploy@my.ip}

# Set this to the top level directory of your deployment on the remote server

set :deploy_to, '/path/to/my-wordpress-site'

# Set this to the remote domain you'd like to use for your site

set :build_url, 'www.my-wordpress-site.com'

# Set your database details here

set :db_host, 'localhost'
set :db_user, ''
set :db_pass, ''
set :db_name, ''
set :db_root_user, 'root'
set :db_root_pass, ''

# Turn off debug mode

set :app_debug, false

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
US unemployment claims hit pandemic low as hiring strengthens
By Paul Wiseman
WASHINGTON - The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week for a fourth straight time to a pandemic low, the latest sign that America's job market is rebounding from the pandemic recession as employers boost hiring to meet a surge in consumer demand.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims fell by 29,000 to 348,000. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, also fell — by 19,000, to just below 378,000, also a pandemic low.
The weekly pace of applications for unemployment aid has fallen more or less steadily since topping 900,000 in early January. The dwindling number of first-time jobless claims has coincided with the widespread administering of vaccines, which has led businesses to reopen or expand their hours and drawn consumers back to shops, restaurants, airports and entertainment venues.
Still, the number of applications remains high by historic standards: Before the pandemic tore through the economy in March 2020, the weekly pace amounted to around 220,000 a week. And now there is growing concern that the highly contagious delta variant could disrupt the economy's recovery from last year's brief but intense recession. Some economists have already begun to mark down their estimates for growth this quarter as some measures of economic activity, like air travel, have started to weaken.
A woman walks by a "Now Hiring" sign outside a store on Aug. 16, 2021, in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
Filings for unemployment benefits have traditionally been seen as a real-time measure of the job market's health. But their reliability has deteriorated during the pandemic. In many states, the weekly figures have been inflated by fraud and by multiple filings from unemployed Americans as they navigate bureaucratic hurdles to try to obtain benefits. Those complications help explain why the pace of applications remains comparatively high.
By all accounts, the job market has been rebounding with vigor since the pandemic paralyzed economic activity last year and employers slashed more than 22 million jobs. The United States has since recovered 16.7 million jobs. And employers have added a rising number of jobs for three straight months, including a robust 943,000 in July. In the meantime, employers have posted a record 10.1 million openings, and many complain that they can't find enough applicants to fill their open positions.
Last week's drop in applications for aid was larger than many economists had expected, a sign that the job market's recovery remains on track for now despite the worries surrounding the spread of the delta variant.
"As life normalizes and the service sector continues to gain momentum (delta variant permitting), we expect initial jobless claims to remain in a downtrend," Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at the consulting firm Maria Fiorini Ramirez, said in a research note.
Shapiro added that "this report points to a continued rapid pace of job gains since the July employment data were collected.''
Some employers ascribe their labor shortages to supplemental unemployment benefits from the federal government — including $300 a week on top of regular state aid — for discouraging some of the jobless from seeking work. In response, many states have withdrawn from the federal programs, which expire nationwide next month anyway.
Economists point to other factors, too, that have kept some people on the sidelines of the job market. They include difficulty finding or affording child care, fear about becoming infected by the virus at work and the desire of some people to seek better jobs than they had before the pandemic triggered widespread layoffs.
Whatever the causes, the economy remains 5.7 million jobs shy of the number it had in February 2020. And with the U.S. recording an average of more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases a day — up from fewer than 12,000 in late June — the delta variant is increasingly clouding the outlook for the rest of the year.
Just over 2.8 million people were receiving traditional state jobless benefits in the week of Aug. 7, down by 79,000 from the previous week and the lowest since the pandemic struck.
Including federal benefits, 11.7 million were receiving some type of unemployment benefits in the week of July 31, down from 28.7 million a year earlier. That drop is a result, in part, of the increased number of people working and no longer receiving jobless aid. But it also reflects the cancellation in many states of a federal unemployment aid program for the self-employed and a separate program for the long-term jobless.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Manchester United announce the departure of Andreas Pereira on loan
gideonolukotun
Manchester United has announced that midfielder Andreas Pereira jas completed a season-long loan move to Lazio, after a successful medical in Rome.
The announcement was made on the Red Devil's official website on Friday evening.
According to the club report, Andreas will hope to make his debut in the weekend Serie A clash with Internazionale and push for a regular place in Simone Inzaghi's side at the Stadio Olimpico.
His loan move to the Italian side will be his third loan move from United, after stints in Spain with Granada and Valencia.
Good luck for the 2020/21 season, @AndrinhoPereira 🤞#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 2, 2020
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, according to Sky Sports emphasized that Andreas need for more playing time, and also stated that the loan decision was best for the player.
"They're a big club, Lazio. Andreas needs to play regularly." Said Solskjaer.
"He started last season really well and played loads of games. You could see the confidence growing and see him developing but, after we signed Bruno, that position that Andy played in was taken because Bruno came in and had such an impact.
"We decided this is what was best for Andreas."
Following the arrival of the high-performing Bruno Fernandes in January, the playing chances of the 24-year-old who joined United's Academy from PSV Eindhoven in 2011 are even slimmer.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has explained the capture of the Portugal international, our 2019/20 Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, has restricted the first-team opportunities for Andreas.
After missing out in the first two league games of the season and the Carabao Cup win over Luton, it was almost clear that Pereira is not in the plan at Old Trafford.
Goal reports that Pereira might not be the only player to leave Old Trafford for Serie A in the coming days, with Chris Smalling also hoping to complete a permanent deal to Roma following his successful loan spell last season.
Diogo Dalot, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Sergio Romero could all be allowed to leave before the transfer deadline day as United work on incomings.
Related TopicsLazioManchester UnitedOld Trafford
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text:
RSPCA reveals that the number of horses suffering cruelty has risen
August 18, 2017 Imogen Johnson
The RSPCA has launched a fresh appeal to horse lovers to help horses as new figures showed the charity rescued 55% more equines from cruelty and neglect last year.
As England and Wales' largest animal welfare charity, the RSPCA has seen an enormous increase in the number of horses coming into its care - with almost three a day being rescued.
The charity is currently looking after more than 850 horses, donkeys and ponies and has launched Stables Sponsorship, asking horse lovers to help the RSPCA care for rescued equines until they are ready for rehoming.
"For several years now we, as a charity, have been picking up the pieces of the equine crisis, with our inspectors being called out to sick, injured, neglected or cruelly treated horses every single day," says Cathy Hyde, who leads a team of specially trained equine inspectors at the RSPCA. "And, despite our best efforts the crisis is not getting any better. Last year we took in 979 horses which was a 55% increase on the year before*.
"For many of the horses, being rescued is just the beginning of a long road to recovery, and it can take many months for us to rehabilitate them to a point where they can be rehomed. The time and work during those months is absolutely essential but extremely costly, and we now find ourselves with over 850 horses in our care, so we desperately need the public's help.
"Those who rehome a horse from us are doing something very special but for those who aren't in a position to do so, this new scheme provides a unique opportunity to make a huge difference too."
From foals suffering neglect to older horses cruelly treated or abandoned, the RSPCA has seen an enormous increase in the number of horses taken in.
The impact of the recession, over breeding, the high costs of vet bills and falling prices for horses have all contributed to the crisis, which has also seen a distressing number of horses dumped dead and dying like rubbish.
The poor state of the horses coming into RSPCA care means that the cost and length of their rehabilitation is increasing and as a charity, the welfare organisation is urgently calling for the support of horse lovers through the new Stables Sponsorship launch.
Last year, the national call centre received over 30,000 calls about horses and already this year alone more than 500 equines have come into the RSPCA's equine centres.
Princecame into the care of RSPCAlast winter, after he was found abandoned
These include four-year-old horse Prince who came into the care of RSPCA Lockwood Centre for Horses, Ponies and Donkeys last winter, after he was found abandoned, suffering with a horrific leg injury that was so severe, it exposed parts of his tendon. Prince was understandably very unsure of people but the grooms at Lockwood worked tirelessly to rehabilitate Prince and treat his severe injury and help him to trust people again. Thankfully, Prince is now healed and is ready to find a new home.
You can help horses like Prince by giving just £10 sponsorship per month which will help provide our equine centres with everything from shavings and straw for the horse's bedding to feed and hay, grooming brushes, rugs and of course veterinary treatment for those who are rescued from the most appalling conditions by RSPCA inspectors.
You will receive quarterly news and updates about some of the horses who have been taken into RSPCA care and looked after in the stables along with letters from the staff at the RSPCA equine centres with updates on the horses they have helped.
To sign up to sponsor our stables, please call 0300 123 0346 or visit www.rspca.org.uk/stables
Valegro returns to Your Horse Live
Gireg Le Coz scoops surprise victory at Jardy
Skin trade means donkeys in Kenya could be wiped out by 2023
A fond farewell to one of the best cross-country horses in eventing history
Olympic showjumper to be retired at Hickstead
In News Tags rspca
← Team GB take gold at eventing European Championships RARE EDITION OF BLACK BEAUTY TO BE AUCTIONED FOR REDWINGS →


This is the most luxe gift in this week's series and I realize it's not going to be for everyone or sit well in everyone's budget, but I wouldn't be suggesting it if I didn't think it was absolutely brilliant! Nu Skin ageLOC Me is a system that provides an easy, efficient skincare regime that's customized to suit the every need of your skin. If you have a beauty buff on your Christmas shopping list who ranks pretty high in the pecking order, this is the most fabulous gift you can give... It's not only great for women, it's also a superb way of getting men to stick to a skincare routine because not only does it involve a super cool gadget, it's also easy and there's absolutely no guess work required. It's as simple as pressing a button.
Here's how it works... When you buy the ageLOC Me device, you receive a 1 month supply of skincare products to get started with. The products are specially suited to the region where you live and will be what the recipient will use while they go through the process of analyzing their skin for personalization. The starter kit contains 3 serums that mix together when they're dispensed, a day cream and a night cream. The month's supply allows enough for use every morning and evening.
After 14 days of using the starter kit, the user then completes an online assessment which is super easy. The questions are geared toward recognizing what the individual's skin needs. For example, some of the information I gave on my assessment included my age, skin tone, that I live in a city, skin concerns and product preferences. My preferences included a richer night cream, increased sun protection and more moisturizing. The answers to many of the questions are done on a sliding scale, so it's super easy and the survey only takes about 5 or 10 minutes. Once it's completed, a customized skincare regime that's specific to the user is then generated and sent out. There's also an Automatic Delivery Rewards program for people who decide to have their products delivered on a set date each month, which offers a good amount of savings for continuous users.
One of the things I really like about this system of skincare is the ease of it. It's definitely a luxury, but it makes moisturizing so simple, quick and easy. It's also quite easy to switch up your products if your needs change. For example, you may be in a different climate for part of the year or you may notice that your skin is really different as you get older, while you're expecting a baby or when you're spending time in a different place, like a few months in the country... There's no guessing about which product to buy next with the ageLOC Me system - you simply go back to the survey and fill in your new answers to tweak your program. Easy peasy!
I used this system for two months and I've got to say, it's honestly really cool! There's absolutely no excuse for not applying moisturizer and serum when it's as easy as putting your hand in a device. This is a perfect system for people who are super busy and quite happy to pay a bit more for a skincare system that makes their life easier. Managing the preferences is very easy and can even been done from a phone app. The device itself is quite big, but it's sleek and white, so it doesn't interfere with decor and it runs on AA batteries, meaning it's not much of a chore to keep it powered. The skincare products are absolutely brilliant and the customization options I hoped for were exactly what I received when I got my first customized pack.
The machine is set to dispense a morning and night routine and it has a clock in it, so it knows what to give you when. You can of course opt to change that if you need a second dose of day cream after a shower or something like that. You don't have to search for a day bottle or a night bottle, sifting through an endless collection of skincare jars. It's all sorted out for you. The product comes in sealed syringe-like cartridges so if you swap out a different set for your holiday in the sun, it's okay... You can go back to your old set when you return and it will be fine. A skincare system like this also eliminates the whole dirty hands in the cream jar problem too. I've absolutely loved using the ageLOC Me system and I can't recommend it enough.


text:
How Do You Run a Coding Workshop?
Now Pay Attention, Class!
A fellow recently asked me for advice about running a Ruby workshop. And folks, I had forgotten I knew so much about it before he asked!
Before Rebuilding Rails had a video class, I had written a lot of the material for Rebuilding Rails workshops that I gave at Southeast Ruby and at Railsconf. I got to run a whole roomful of people, for multiple hours, over that code, trying to get everybody to get exactly the same result. Oy.
Running a workshop where people type and run the code is an unusual situation. It changes how you present. And it changes how you write the code.
In his case, this was an intro workshop about $NAMEOFTECHNOLOGY. He wanted people to build a demo, get some good experience and come away wanting to learn more. Great! That's a fantastic goal for a workshop at a conference.
Here's What I Told Him
First he needs a resource page — a list of documentation, tutorials and so on for people who want to know more. He should promise the resource page at the beginning of the talk and then not give it out until the end, so that his fastest, best, brightest students aren't ignoring him through the whole workshop to do their own thing.
If possible, he should have a teaching assistant. If you're trying to get a whole roomful of people to do the same thing all at once, "one" is not enough people. Your TA doesn't have to be utterly familiar with the material. Just having somebody competent and energetic to help people with quick problems will speed everything up a lot.
You want a code repository to follow along in, with git tags or similar for each chapter-sized section. Then if somebody is having trouble, they can do a quick "git checkout" to catch up at the next chapter. They can also peek ahead to compare their code and see what's different. It's also a lovely record of the code for post-workshop reference.
The demo code should start with a deploy. The early steps should involve making something runnable and workable that they could show off to friends even if they don't get far. Workshop attendees are not like coworkers: some will be very highly skilled and some will be of very low skill, randomly. That means getting everybody to do the same thing is going to move much, much more slowly than you think because you'll be waiting for the novices, while trying to keep the old hands from getting too rowdy.
The demo code should be in small steps so that you can run them quickly. If somebody makes a typo on the first slide of code, you do not want them to have to wait for two more full slides before finding the typo. Each runnable step should be very quick, no more than a slide or two. Otherwise you'll have a whole roomful of people trying to check the code from the last three or four slides, all at once. You can only have one displayed at a time.
The code must be short and to-the-point. You need big fonts for everything, including code. And you only get a slide or two for each runnable feature. So review your code over and over. Could you split a feature into two smaller features? Could you do the same thing with fewer lines? Could you cut out a bit of error handling in favour of letting them type less? This is a learning workshop, not a finished commercial product.
Slides that change code must highlight the changed code, perhaps by circling the few words that changed or using a different colour for the lines that are different. If you're changing code, make it extremely clear what changed and what didn't.
Put your code and text onto slides as early as possible. You don't know how much room they'll take up with the large fonts and weird sizes of slides until you've put them there. Having a single too-long line can be the difference between two slides and three. Put everything onto slides, at the correct sizes and aspect ratios, very early in the process. It will show you your trouble spots while you still have time to fix them.
Before the workshop, run through the code with somebody who's never seen it. Multiple people is good, especially if they are consecutive, not simultaneous. You need to find problems, fix the problems, try again and find more problems. Even just one or two run-throughs will find a lot of trouble before you have to handle it in a roomful of thirty-plus strangers who are all stuck waiting for you.
I mentioned this earlier, but it's important enough to say twice: big fonts, big fonts, big fonts. Text should be large and clearly visible. For the English text, put a few key words or sentences on the slide and the rest in presenter notes. For the code, cut it down to short line lengths and few lines per slide. Cut, cut, cut that code. If you're working in a nice terse language like Ruby or Python it will make your life much easier.
And An Example
To show that I practice what I preach, here's a workshop based on Rebuilding Rails that I gave in 2019 at a couple of conferences. I'd do a few things differently now, but it hews pretty close to my advice above. I did give it with a TA. You'll see him credited on the title slide. And we helped over a hundred people spend three hours typing it at RailsConf, with all the desks full and people sitting in ones and twos, up and down the aisles.
I'm told it was a good one.
When You Run Your Workshop…
I normally end with a summary here. But this post is so dense that it's basically all summary.
This should sound like you could do a lot of work on your workshop. And that's definitely true. I gave it at several conferences, which helps spread the load a bit. Workshops tend not to be recorded, so giving them repeatedly is good. I expect if Covid hadn't hit when it did, I could have given a lot more of this workshop.
Instead, it was the beginning of the video class for Rebuilding Rails and it sells pretty well. So if people want to hear what you're saying, you have options to reuse it for a bit of fame or profit.
It is a lot of work, but it can help you in the long run.
career business ruby rails
Do I Need Twitter or LinkedIn to Get Hired as a Software Developer?
career business
When Do I Break Out a Service?
business ruby rails
Keeping Multiple Representations in Your Head
The Hundred-Year Programming Language
technique ruby
What Things Should You Break Out Into Services?
What Does a Web Request Actually Contain?


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Transgender posters torn down in West Hall
November 20, 2018 by EIC
Cheyenne Roper
Elevator in West Hall covered with Trans support posters. Photo by Cheyenne Roper.
A posting related to support of transgender and non-binary lives was repeatedly ripped down and eventually torn in the West Hall dormitories on Monday, October 28.
An email was then sent to the resident students of West Hall on November 2, notifying them of the details of the incident.
"We are writing to inform you of an incident that recently occurred in your community, and to encourage you to engage in positive behavior while living on campus as Elmhurst College students," said John Hernandez, assistant director of Housing and Residence Life. "Each member of our residential community expects and has a right to live in a space that is free from discrimination and harassment."
Hernandez also mentioned the importance of providing respect for all residential community members and how the destruction of signs or posters concerning an organization or club is irreverent.
"When postings are defaced, vandalized, or torn down either by members of our community or guests for whom we take responsibility, it diminishes the respect we demonstrate for one another and erodes the sense of trust we hope you build within your residence hall community," continued Hernandez.
Sarah Meaney, director of Housing and Residence Life, added how bigotry is not accepted or tolerated on campus.
"Within Housing and Residence Life, our commitment to intercultural communities spans learning about ourselves and others through commonalities and differences," said Meaney. "As our halls are your homes, we do not tolerate any form of bigotry, harassment, intimidation, hate, threat, or abuse, whether verbal or written, physical or psychological, direct or implied."
EC will be participating in a Trans Day of Remembrance, a day to memorialize and honor trans people around the world whose lives have been lost to anti-transgender violence, on Tuesday, November 20.
A candlelight vigil will be held at 7:30 at the fountain outside of A.C. Buehler Library.
Taylor Lutz, a member of Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) who also lives in West Hall, says that QSA is willing to meet with anyone to discuss these issues.
"Please just offer us basic human decency and respect," said Lutz. "No one is hurting you by existing. If you don't understand something, we're open to having conversations to help you learn."
Lutz also added how QSA hopes for peace.
"QSA hopes that in the future, we're given the same respect as everyone else and allowed to exist in peace, without fear of being targeted or harassed," concluded Lutz.
November 20, 2018 /EIC


We've all been there. One day we get this big dream or goal in our minds and life seems like an endless blue sky of opportunity. But a few months, weeks, or even days into your dream, doubts haunt you. Setbacks rise like giant walls in front of you. Fear of failure looms as a roaring ocean threatening to drown you.
In this moment you wonder, "Why should I even try?"
Feeling overwhelmed and discouraged is normal! Life's biggest accomplishments require the greatest effort. If it were easy everybody would be doing it! But the outcome will be worth every tear shed and every sweat-stained towel thrown in the laundry.
This is the most crucial part to staying on track during the hard times. Why are you going after this goal? Is it to lose weight and have a healthier, more energetic lifestyle? Is it to bring in a better income so you can buy your own home? Do you want to live debt free? Do you want to be your own boss?
Make sure your WHY is rock solid. Because only the strongest WHY's can withstand the waters of doubt.
Have a clear picture of what your completed goal looks like. Create a vision board with pictures of your dream home or a picture of someone who has accomplished what you're hoping to achieve. Keep your dream alive in your mind by envisioning what your life could be if you stick to your goals.
3. Plan out your dreams.
Dreams only come true if you work to turn them into reality. Create a solid plan for how you will reach your goal. Give yourself a timeline to complete certain tasks. There's nothing like a deadline to keep you focused!
4. Complete small consistent actions.
So you've made a plan to reach your goal. Awesome! Now, time to set the plan into action. But be careful not to get over-eager. Remember, small rivers cut through mountains--not because they're mightier than the mountain, but because they flow steady and consistent every day.
Do small consistent actions each day instead of saving large amounts for the last minute. Establishing habit and routine will do wonders for your stress level.
Even the smallest achievements toward your goal deserves attention. Rewarding efforts and good behavior makes us want to do it again and again. Your reward doesn't have to be extravagant. Take a relaxing bubble bath or order a Starbucks coffee one morning instead of brewing your usual Folgers.
6. Don't compare yourself to others.
Comparison kills contentment. I came across this statement the other day and it resonated deeply with me. While visualizing a better life is important, we have to be careful not to fall into the comparison game. No road to success is the same. What works for one person might not work for you.
Role models are awesome. Often times, they are the greatest source of motivation and encouragement. But how easy it can be to wish for their life instead of yours and to lose sight of what is good in your own life right now.
Embrace your reality as a vital stepping stone to reach your dream. Accept the road in front of you, because this is the road you've chosen! Don't get sidetracked by other's successes or endeavors. If everyone took the same road, imagine the traffic jam!
7. Look at how far you've come!
What did your life look like a month ago? A year ago? Five years ago? Think of all the lessons learned, friendships made, and accomplishments achieved. You did all those things and you can do them again! Just believe in yourself and use past successes as positive affirmations to give you the boost to push through.
Success takes hard work. There's no way around it. But as daunting as the commitment and work may be, the struggle makes the end product ten times more satisfying.


fundamental problem. Any ideas greatly appreciated.
my a/b function, i get lots of collisions, many more than i expected.
match. (key lock i use is the hash index used to store the position) .
32 bits and the rest of the key truncated.
might be a good idea to test for equivalence.
know there is a bug in making/unmaking a particular type of move.
(1) Are the generated keys really 64 bits and all random stuff, i.e.
not 32 bits and the rest of the key truncated.
way, you only have to change the typedef and not the code.
2*sizeof (long), which is not justified by the standard.
itself many times over in the reduction in type promotion bugs.
my textbooks on data structures are in the office and I'm not.
verse and twice as fast!
On the other hand, my flatmate's copies are at home.
-- Sedgewick, _Algorithms_, 2nd edition, p231.
board itself being the key and the zobrist hash being the munged index.
index and this is a collision.
What is a collision, then?
compatc position storage known) that produce the same Zobrist signature.
signature, then 64 bit Zobrist signatire - N bit table index.
position comparison which I found very helpful.


There are eleven elected members of Congregation on Council. The period of office of an elected member is four years. However, it may be shorter if the person is elected to fill a position left vacant part-way through the four year period, in which case the person elected is a member of Council for the remainder the period.
Vacancies on Council for elected members of Congregation are advertised on the Elections website and in the University Gazette as and when they arise. Election procedures are set out in the relevant Congregation Regulations. To stand for election to Council you must be a member of Congregation and be nominated by a minimum of four, and a maximum of ten, members of Congregation. Nomination forms can be downloaded from the Elections website. In the event that more than one candidate is nominated for a vacancy, a postal ballot is held. Each candidate is invited to submit a written statement, setting out his or her reasons for standing and qualifications for the office being sought. In the event of a contested election, these statements are published both on-line and in the Gazette. Further information is available on the Elections website and from the Elections Officer.


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Norwood College was a private boys' school located in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. It was founded on 8 May 1936, by Gordon William George Cass, a former teacher, known as "Charlie" to his pupils. The school was on a corner site with the original part in Tewit Well Avenue and the later part in Leeds Road, close to The Stray.

As of its 25th anniversary in 1961, it had 110 pupils, of whom 40 were boarders and 70 were day students. The college included a lower school where basic subjects were taught; a middle school with a more general curriculum, from which boys could take the Common Entrance Examination for public schools, the Preceptor's Exams, or the London Chamber of Commerce examination; and an upper school where boys prepared for a General Certificate of Education. Some boys remained at the school after attaining that certificate, studying for university entrance, the military, or preliminary examinations for the professions.

The Norwood crest was taken from the crest of the Harrogate Coat of Arms with the Norwood motto added: Gentilhomme a Jamais, Always a Gentleman.

"Norwood was, however, not an instant creation; Charlie left his teaching job at Clifton House School in early 1936 and with two pupils he taught in a room behind the Old Lion House Hotel, as a tutor rather than a paid employee of a school; a short time later, he took on the Tewit Well Avenue property, now having acquired ten pupils. The ten rose to 27 and now a name was needed. The name of Sunnyside School was suggested but thankfully declined; perhaps someone had been reading Enid Blyton and similar children's books of the day! As mentioned earlier in Charlie's First World War Experiences, Charlie chose the name Norwood so Norwood College it was and the school was established on 8 May 1936."

The school closed on 24 March 1972, and the building was demolished later that year. A block of flats was built in its place, called Hanover House.

Notes

External links
Postcards of Norwood College

Educational institutions established in 1936
Educational institutions disestablished in 1972
Defunct schools in North Yorkshire
1936 establishments in England
1972 disestablishments in England
Schools in Harrogate
Buildings and structures demolished in 1972
Demolished buildings and structures in England

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Immediate re-transplantation following early kidney transplant thrombosis.
Paul J Phelan, Colm Magee, Patrick O'Kelly, Frank J O'Brien, Dilly Little, Peter J Conlon
Nephrology 2011 August
Allograft thrombosis is a devastating early complication of renal transplantation that ultimately leads to allograft loss. We report here on our experience of nine cases of immediate re-transplantation following early kidney transplant thrombosis at a single centre between January 1990 and June 2009. The mean age was 42.9 years at time of transplant. For seven patients, the allograft thrombosis was their first kidney transplant and seven of the nine cases had a deceased donor transplant. The initial transplants functioned for a mean of 1.67 days and the patients received a second allograft at a mean of 3.1 days after graft failure. All of the re-transplants worked immediately. Four allografts failed after a mean of 52.5 months (2-155 months). Two of these died with a functioning allograft, one failed owing to chronic allograft nephropathy and one owing to persistent acute cellular rejection. The remaining five patients still have a functioning allograft after a mean of 101.8 months (7-187 months). One year allograft and patient survival after re-transplantation were 87.5% and 100% respectively (after 5 years, both were 57%). Immediate re-transplantation following early kidney transplant thrombosis can be a success. It may be considered in selected cases after allograft thrombosis.


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Tag Archives: maniac
by Alice | September 19, 2012 · 3:00 am
The second I heard about the "Camp & Cult Blogathon" being hosted by Stacia at She Blogged By Night, I knew what I wanted to write about. Because Maniac (1934), aka Sex Maniac, is perhaps the weirdest movie I've ever seen. Watching it is like entering a trance. Directed by Dwain Esper, the exploitation filmmaker behind titles like Marihuana and Sex Madness, Maniac is no mere movie; it's a cri de coeur against structure and restraint. Not one of its 50 frenzied minutes is anything less than outrageously loony.
The plot? It is labyrinthine, and thinking too hard about it leaves me woozy. Roughly: vaudevillian Don Maxwell, moonlighting as a lab assistant, kills a hubris-addled scientist and assumes his identity. Police investigate; corpses walk; the actor grows increasingly paranoid. Peripheral characters deliver halting monologues. One jaw-dropping, Poe-pilfering set piece follows another. And finally, with only a few minutes left, Esper and screenwriter Hildegarde Stadie (his wife) introduce an out-of-nowhere subplot featuring Don's estranged showgirl wife, an inheritance left by his rich uncle, etc., etc. THE END.
About a dozen horror movies' worth of plot is squeezed into Maniac, all of it told at breakneck speed and maximum volume. Dialogue isn't spoken so much as hyperventilated. No one seems to have an inside voice—like Horace Carpenter, who plays the mad Dr. Meirschultz by howling every single one of his lines, and who literally beats his chest when Don disappoints him. "Coward!" he sobs. "Oh you fool!" Histrionic is the default here, with each performance more mannered and exaggerated than the last.
Well, except for the INLAND EMPIRE-esque chorus girls who turn up at the end, lounging around a hotel room and cracking wise. They behave just like actresses in a conventional 1930s B-movie. Although their conversations are a little strange: one girl describes homelessness as "sinking your weary bones into the soft recesses of some park bench"; another jokes about the Greek philosopher Diogenes; and a third girl mocks a sucker in a newspaper article by laughing, "His head must be a jelly bean instead of what they thought it was!" Evocative, puzzling, both? Maniac positively bulges with writing like this.
Or like this:
Stealing through my body… creeping through my veins… pouring in my blood! Ohhh, darts of fire in my brain! Stabbing me. Agony! I can't stand it, this torture, this torment! I can't stand it! I won't! I wo— [incoherent ape noises]
These lines are screamed by Buckley, a patient of Meirschultz who thinks he's a killer orangutan, after he's injected with "super adrenaline." And this hysterical, stream-of-consciousness rant is only one of Maniac's many grotesque spectacles. To wit:
Immediately after Buckley's rant, a once-dead woman appears from behind a screen. Buckley abducts her, runs off into the wilderness, and exposes her breasts.
Don decides that a black cat named Satan has "the gleam" in his eye. He catches it, then gouges out and eats one of its eyes onscreen. (This, after Satan knocks Meirschultz's artificial heart onto the floor and nibbles on it.)
A jocular neighbor explains the workings of the cat-and-rat farm in his backyard: "The rats eat the cats, the cats eat the rats, and I get the skins!"
More breasts are exposed.
Don manipulates his and Buckley's respective wives into fighting each other with syringes. Meanwhile, a frog hops around the basement.
Jailed, Don moans that he "only wanted to amuse, to entertain," but has now "spent [his] whole life perfecting an act that no one wanted."
The causal connective tissue between these incidents is minimal. At times, their chronology feels totally arbitrary, as if the whole movie was a loose, nightmarish clip reel. This impression is magnified by the "educational" title cards that occasionally break up the flow of the film, dry lectures on mental illness with headings like "DEMENTIA PRAECOX" or "MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PSYCHOSES." In keeping with exploitation film formula, these are meant to excuse Maniac's excesses. See? they say. This [prurient, horrifying] movie's performing a public service!
However, since the information in the title cards is now 100% outdated and had only the most tenuous link to the rest of the movie in the first place, they instead come across as a proto-Godardian distancing device, existing only to further disrupt an already fragmented narrative. You read that right: Maniac is surprisingly avant-garde, though it's unclear how much of the film's demented style is a function of low budgets, tight schedules, and bad actors vs. Esper and Stadie intentionally crafting a Dada-horror fever dream. One image in particular, of Don and Meirschultz massaging a dead woman's limbs in a cavernous morgue, even struck me as something right out of Jean Cocteau. (Or, by the same token, Ed Wood.)
This isn't to say that Maniac is sophisticated or poetic. On the contrary, it's crude trash. But trash can be experimental too. In all its gory, convoluted melodrama, Maniac is exactly as powerful as it is risible. Every unanswered question—Why do they talk like that? Why did he do that? Where did she come from?—and every one-of-a-kind act of violence sticks like a burr in your brain. Every non sequitur, bizarre inflection, and over-the-top cackle helps explain why Maniac makes such a deserving cult object, even if doesn't have much in the way of an actual cult. This is exploitation cinema at its most transgressive.
Filed under Cinema
Tagged as blogathon, dwain esper, exploitation, gore, horror, maniac
by Alice | October 15, 2010 · 4:12 pm
Link Dump: #9
Dwain Esper's exploitation film Maniac (1934) is not kind to cats. They get thrown into rooms, forced to fight with each other, and are the subject of much bizarre dialogue. Even though vaudevillian-turned-fake-scientist Don Maxwell (Bill Woods) insists that he won't use cats in experiments, he nonetheless plucks out his cat Satan's eye and eats it. Thankfully, it's obvious that they're switching between a black cat and an already one-eyed tabby, but it's still disconcerting. The film manages to butcher Poe by making his story's far, far weirder. Anyway, here's some links!
Oh my God, plushies and embroidery can be cute sometimes! Behold: Mr X Stitch. My favorite is the Catwoman.
The dating site OkCupid has aggregated statistics from their gay and straight customers. Some of their astonishing revelations: all gay people aren't actually promiscuous sexual predators hungering for converts. Also, not all straight OkCupid users are totally straight all the time. (Shocking, right?!)
Jessica Winter of Slate writes about "The film career of David Bowie." This includes plenty of The Man Who Fell to Earth. "Get out of my head!" (And speaking of Bowie's film career…)
Really, MPAA? "Male nudity"? (Apparently, yes.)
Good ol' cuckoo puff Armond White took a shot at bloggers and Rotten Tomatoes a few weeks ago. Man, is his critique scathing! It cut me to the bone, emotionally speaking. I think my favorite part starts here:
"Attacks from bloggers—crude interlopers of a once august profession— are not about diversity of opinion. What's at root is an undisguised rivalry. Every moviegoer with a laptop claims equal—vengeful—standing with so-called professionals. This anti-intellectual backlash defies the purpose of the Circle's founding in 1935. Professional dignity is the last thing Internetters respect."
Oh my, no! I'm such an anti-intellectual Internetter! You know, White's persecution complex would be a much more valid argument against online film journalism if his writing weren't nonsensical shit. (I really dropped the sarcasm there.)
Apparently we were supposed to have some visitors from the stars on Wednesday. A retired NORAD officer said so!
These outtakes give some cool insights into Humphrey Bogart's acting process. (For example: when he missed a line, he'd say, "Goddammit!")
Adam Zanzie and Ryan Kelly, of Icebox Movies and Medfly Quarantine respectively, have announced a Spielberg Blogathon for mid-December! You've got two whole months to prepare.
On the search term front, we had a few good ones this week. The people looking for pictures of animal genitalia are getting more specific; this time around we had not only "frog pussy," but also "chinese frog vagina." What, American frog vaginas aren't good enough for you? In the "Deeply Unpleasant" department, we had the classic "most excruciating climactic screwing of." I prefer my climactic screwings of to not be excruciating, if you please. To the person who searched for "sex war 1945 pussy," I'm sorry to inform you that the war from 1939-45 was actually a World War, not a Sex War. And finally, I can only stare in befuddlement: "sexy wig for masturbation." Yes. That says what it looks like. "Sexy wig for masturbation." Thanks for reading, folks!
Filed under Cinema, Meta, Sexuality
Tagged as aliens, armond white, blogging, criticism, david bowie, homosexuality, humphrey bogart, kitty!, Link Dump, links, maniac, queer
by Alice | October 14, 2010 · 12:32 am
20 Horror Faves
Way back when, Stacie Ponder of Final Girl requested that all the horror-loving folks out in blogland send her their 20 favorite horror movies. They responded en masse. I was part of that masse! Well, I figured, why not milk that list for some actual content? Thus, here it is: my list, in its chronological, 20-entries-long glory. It was a painful list to come up with, and I'm missing some of my other special favorites, but it's decent, I think.
The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927): So macabre, so weird, so Freudian, so fucked-up. Also, probably Lon Chaney's best surviving performance. (I mean, Burt Lancaster loved it!)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian, 1932): The best version of Stevenson's tale, no matter what the Victor Fleming partisans tell you. Also, Miriam Hopkins' sexy leg [courtesy of Lolita's Classics]:
Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932): Um, duh! More about this forthcoming later in the month.
Maniac (Dwain Esper, 1934): "DARTS OF FIRE IN MY BRAIN!" Looniest, wackiest, most maniacal exploitation movie of all time.
Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935): Whale at his gleefully perverse best. I wish Dr. Pretorious was my boyfriend!
Mad Love (Karl Freund, 1935): Peter Lorre is a creepy fucker, plus obsession and grand guignol! I adore this movie.
Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942): One of the seminal Hollywood horror movies, at once erotic, repressed, and scary as hell.
The Seventh Victim (Mark Robson, 1943): And another Val Lewton masterpiece! Unbelievably morbid and moodily poetic.
Dead of Night (Alberto Cavalcanti et al., 1945): The segments are uneven, but Michael Redgrave vs. a ventriloquist dummy, together with the nightmare finale, is more than worth it. Ealing should've made more horror.
Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju, 1959): Franju tells his really icky mad scientist story with a delightful sense of humor. Valli makes a great (evil) lab assistant, and the design of the mask is so simple as to be nightmare-inducing.
Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, 1962): This is easily in the top 5 on this list. Independently made with an unblinking vision of existential horror, it also has one-time actress Candace Hilligoss giving the performance of a lifetime. "WHY CAN'T ANYBODY HEAR ME?"
The Haunting (Robert Wise, 1963): I fucking love Julie Harris here; she leads a pretty much perfect cast as they navigate the recesses of a very angry house.
Onibaba (Kaneto Shindo, 1964): I talked about this recently, but to recap: it's a brutal tale of two women and a man in the wilderness, with a big hole in the middle. So greasy and desperate, I love it.
Night of the Living Dead (George Romero, 1968): It's a pretty canonical choice. Romero was a true original, resourcefully squeezing all the metaphorical value he could out of a solid cast, a boarded-up house, and some brain-craving zombies.
Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman, 1973): SO DEPRESSING. Watching this movie is like masturbating with a shard of broken glass. OK, I'm done drawing analogies now. But seriously, Bergman turns family drama into ultra-visceral horror.
The Tenant (Roman Polanski, 1976): The underrated third member of Polanski's Apartment trilogy, it's really stuck with me. I don't know if it's Trelkovsky's miserably kafkaesque relationship with his neighbors, or him wearing a dress and whispering, "I think I'm pregnant!"
The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982): When Poe wrote the words "desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted," I think he was anticipating the lingering dread and scary-as-shit special effects of Carpenter's masterpiece.
Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988): I wish Jeremy Irons were my drug-addicted gynecologist brother. But then I'd have to be Jeremy Irons. Also, mutant vaginas. What's not to love?
28 Days Later… (Danny Boyle, 2003): I wasn't expecting it, but Boyle's neo-zombie odyssey across postapocalyptic England has insinuated itself into my bloodstream like a particularly pernicious virus.
Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008): Aren't those kids cute? And isn't that movie startlingly beautiful and well-written?
Are you shocked by my bad taste? Or shocked by my good taste? Comment below.
Filed under Cinema, Meta
Tagged as 28 days later, bride of frankenstein, carnival of souls, cat people, cries and whispers, dead of night, dead ringers, dr. jekyll and mr. hyde, eyes without a face, final girl, freaks, halloween countdown, horror, let the right one in, lists, mad love, maniac, night of the living dead, onibaba, the haunting, the seventh victim, The Tenant, the thing, the unknown, tod browning, val lewton


text:
Lasers aim to replace scalpels in cutting-edge biopsy technique
May 16, 2019 by Emily Velasco, California Institute of Technology
Above: A region of a mouse imaged by the dual-laser microscopy technique. Credit: Caltech
To a patient, the analysis of a tissue biopsy sample to check for something like cancer may seem like a relatively simple process, even if it does mean giving up a small piece of flesh to be tested. The sample heads off to a lab, the patient heads home, and in several days the doctor calls with the results.
In reality, quite a bit of work goes into preparing a tissue sample and evaluating it for signs of disease. To be viewed under a microscope, the sample needs to be cut into extremely thin slices that might be only a few cells thick. And to aid with viewing, the technician may employ a variety of dyes to label specific proteins or cell structures.
"Extensive processing of the sample is required," says Lihong Wang, Caltech's Bren Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science. "You can only label so many molecules at a time, and you have to do a washing between labelings. And some molecules don't absorb dyes and don't get labeled at all."
A new technique being developed in Wang's lab aims to make that process a lot simpler and less invasive. Instead of using dyes, the technique uses pulses of laser light to image a sample.
This new approach, called ultraviolet-localized mid-infrared photoacoustic microscopy, or ULM-PAM, develops images of the microscopic structures found in a piece of tissue by bombarding the sample with both infrared and ultraviolet laser light.
A sample to be imaged is first hit with a pulse of ultraviolet laser light. This light causes the molecules inside the sample to vibrate. Sensors placed against the sample pick up those vibration signals and pass them along to a computer that processes them.
In the next step, the sample is hit with a pulse of infrared laser light. This pulse heats the sample slightly but not evenly. Some materials in the sample, like proteins or DNA, will heat up more than others because they absorb more energy from the laser.
Immediately after the heating pulse, the sample is again hit with a pulse of ultraviolet laser light. Just as before, the UV light causes molecules inside the sample to vibrate, and those signals are passed along to the computer. By comparing the signals from samples before and after they are heated, the computer creates an image in which structures can be identified by their heat signatures. Since cancerous cells express proteins and DNA differently than healthy cells, they can be differentiated this way.
To better understand how it works, imagine if you were given two sheets of paper—one white and one black—and asked to determine which was which without looking at them.
One way to do that would be to set both sheets of paper in the sun, wait a few minutes, and then take their temperature. Because black objects absorb more light than white objects, the black sheet would get hotter than the white one. The sunlight in this example is analogous to the infrared laser used in the ULM-PAM technique, and the thermometer is analogous to the UV laser.
Junhui Shi, a postdoctoral scholar in medical engineering in Wang's lab, led the two-year effort to develop ULM-PAM and says the project faced some significant hurdles.
"Because ultraviolet light and infrared have different properties, we had to find special mirrors and glass that could focus both," he says. "And because no camera exists that can see both, we had to develop ways to see if they were correctly focused."
Though Wang and Shi have shown that ULM-PAM works, their technique remains at the proof-of-concept stage. It still takes too long to be useful in a clinical setting—although upgrading the lasers will allow quicker scans of tissue samples, they say.
A longer-term goal is to develop the technology into something that can be used on tissues while they are still in a patient's body, Wang says.
"I want to move this to in vivo. I want to use this to image cancer cells during surgery," he says. "That would be the dream."
The paper describing the technique, titled "High-resolution, high-contrast mid-infrared imaging of fresh biological samples with ultraviolet-localized photoacoustic microscopy," appears in the May 13 issue of Nature Photonics.
More information: Junhui Shi et al. High-resolution, high-contrast mid-infrared imaging of fresh biological samples with ultraviolet-localized photoacoustic microscopy, Nature Photonics (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41566-019-0441-3
Journal information: Nature Photonics
Provided by California Institute of Technology
Laser technology helps researchers scrutinize cancer cells
Unwanted side effect becomes advantage in photoacoustic imaging
Tiny droplets open the doors to in-flight imaging of proteins
Laser-imaging technology provides improved method for peering inside living creatures
Important biomedical microscopy technique can now image deeper into tissue
Using a crystal to link visible light to infrared opens a window on infrared sensing


WonderRoot is poised to expand as a premier artistic haven for budding creative types.
As far back as when he was a youngster attending private schools in north Atlanta and DeKalb County through earning his degree at Georgia State, Chris Appleton knew he wanted a future tied to arts and culture. But it also needed to have a key element: a link to community engagement.
In 2004, Appleton's idea took the form of WonderRoot, a Reynoldstown nonprofit that offers fledgling artists access to creative spaces. Its heart is a 4,000-square-foot bungalow on Memorial Drive that doubles as a community arts center with a recording studio, darkroom, pottery studio, digital media lab, gallery, music venue and a small library. It's often crowded with artists working on projects or adults and kids packing in for arts classes.
"We want to provide artists the opportunity to have careers in Atlanta, and we offer space and tools to do that, then connect them with audiences," Appleton says. But he's not just committed to inspiring and supporting artists: he's also passionate about connecting those artists with opportunities to share their work in public spaces across Atlanta, where everyone can share in the benefits art brings.
For instance, WonderRoot artists have paired with MARTA to produce public art that enhances train and bus stations. Last June, a group created work was installed at the King Memorial station. In November, a series of murals depicting families from the neighborhood was erected at the Oakland City stop near West End. Other projects have been part of the BeltLine. In addition, WonderRoot takes teaching artists into schools and supports an alternative sentencing program through the Atlanta municipal court system.
"Instead of facing jail time, people can participate in an arts and leadership development program we run that's been around about a year and a half," says Appleton. "We've had 35 people participate so far to learn arts related, marketable skills like photography, graphic arts, audio engineering and other technical skills that increase their employment opportunities.
After six months, if they complete the program, the charges are removed from record. And they have to come back and mentor the next cohort." After years of calling that rehabbed bungalow home, WonderRoot is gearing up to grow again. The organization is refurbishing a former school building across the street into a new, 54,000-square-foot center to accommodate more aspiring artists.


text:
Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund of Metro Orlando
Since its inception in 2000, HHSFMO along with the support of our partners, has been able to provide $1.65 million in scholarships to help more than 330 students pursue a college education.
Our mission is to enhance the post-secondary educational success of Hispanic students in Central Florida. Our vision is to ensure post-secondary completion rates of Hispanic students who can contribute to the Central Florida economy.
HHSFMO's board, sponsors and partners recognize and uniquely understand the continuing need for quality education, the financial challenges of our community, and the difference that scholarship support can have on a student's academic success. We believe that an investment in the education of our youth is an investment in the future well-being of Central Florida.
The Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund of Metro Orlando (HHSFMO) originated with a series of activities organized by the Hispanic Heritage Celebration Committee of Orange County, an employee group whose main purpose was to plan and organize activities for Hispanic Heritage month. The first Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Gala was hosted by this group in October 2000 to raise the organization's initial funds.
In 2003, as a result of this effort to support the local Hispanic community, a partnership with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando was developed and the HHSFMO was established as a separate and independent organization. HHSFMO was incorporated in August 2003 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization under the State of Florida.
In 2014, HHSFMO was awarded a million dollar grant from the Helios Education Foundation, the largest grant in its history. The Helios grant includes a $750,000 endowment intended to help the organization to pursue its mission in perpetuity. The remaining $250,000 allowed the organization to develop new strategic and operational plans, cover operational costs and fund 20 scholarships for Hispanic college students.
To date, HHSFMO along with the support of our partners, has been able to provide $1.65 million in scholarships to help more than 330 students pursue a college education.
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The Burden of Knowledge: A Historian Reviews Popular Period Movies
Many years ago, I watched an episode of one of the Next Generation Era Star Trek spinoffs, and as (at the time) a biologist, was incensed at some technobabble uttered by a character, something nonsensical about a protein breaking up into DNA fragments. I mentioned this to a physicist colleague who burst into laughter, letting me know that I had finally experienced what every physicist feels watching nearly every episode of Star Trek.
This came to mind while watching the video below, in which Tudor historian Dr. Nicola Tallis offers reviews on recent movies about that period. Suspension of disbelief becomes really difficult when you know intimately what's being depicted. Interesting that a lighter fictional film like Shakespeare in Love ranks higher for authenticity than big, serious period dramas.
Please feel free to share your stories of infuriating viewing in the comments below. I'm willing to bet that many of our librarian colleagues will have something to say about how their profession is portrayed in film and television.
David Crotty
@davidacrotty
David Crotty is a Senior Consultant at Clarke & Esposito, a boutique management consulting firm focused on strategic issues related to professional and academic publishing and information services. Previously, David was the Editorial Director, Journals Policy for Oxford University Press. He oversaw journal policy across OUP's journals program, drove technological innovation, and served as an information officer. David acquired and managed a suite of research society-owned journals with OUP, and before that was the Executive Editor for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, where he created and edited new science books and journals, along with serving as a journal Editor-in-Chief. He has served on the Board of Directors for the STM Association, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and CHOR, Inc., as well as The AAP-PSP Executive Council. David received his PhD in Genetics from Columbia University and did developmental neuroscience research at Caltech before moving from the bench to publishing.
View All Posts by David Crotty
9 Thoughts on "The Burden of Knowledge: A Historian Reviews Popular Period Movies"
It's a shame that she didn't watch the whole of Shakespeare in Love because then she'd have understood the whole girls-on-stage bit of plot!
By Carolyn
Mar 4, 2022, 11:39 AM
Yeah, I was trying to figure out if she just didn't get it, or if she was saying that Gwyneth Paltrow is obviously not a boy in a wig and that it wasn't believable that they'd be able to pull that off given that it was supposed to only be men on stage.
"I'm willing to bet that many of our librarian colleagues will have something to say about how their profession is portrayed in film and television." Okay David. I'm not a librarian, but if I may, that scene near the end of "It's a Wonderful Life" where we find out that Mary without George has become (gasp) a librarian, has to rank right up there as one of the biggest librarian put downs ever. Here's the full description of the scene, plus a photo of Mary in her life before libraries, and after: https://reel-librarians.com/2011/09/21/its-a-wonderful-stereotype/
By Glenn Hampson
Mar 4, 2022, 12:03 PM
I am a basic science-turned-health science/scholarly communications librarian. Fake science drives me bonkers. I find myself saying "No" to many fake science things in both TV and movies. My girlfriend is a computer and coding type. She does the same when characters spout some sort of nonsense about code.
By Shannon Compton
Lest we forget movies are designed for entertainment! Went to see Platoon with a buddy who was at Long Bin before moving into the field. As we left the movie people were talking about the horrors of war. He turned to me and said: I forgot how dusty it was!
Mar 4, 2022, 1:18 PM
The most intellectually unsophisticated aspect of this are the comments by the historian, who doesn't seem to understand that she is talking about works of fiction. For the next episode we will have a condescending discussion of the historicity of the cyclops in the Odyssey. Viva lies! Viva art!
To be fair, many of these films are meant to depict actual, historical events, and she even notes the difference, pointing out the different standard one expects from them versus the entirely fictionalized "Shakespeare in Love".
Highly recommend the podcast Historians Film Club ( https://shows.acast.com/history-film-club/episodes ) where some great historians who work on film and tv adaptations talk about why they are more concerned with themes that costumes and details. I love every episode of this! There are some other great venues where historians are talking about this vis a vis especially race and representation in, say, Bridgerton (which is historical fiction to film but relevant to discussions).
By Karin Wulf
Last James Bond movie for anybody with some background in molecular biology and/or genetics…oh boy. There is a full suite of scenes that fight for my fingers as I write, but I will limit myself to my personal favourite: this little blue light that lights up to indicate that "the genetic material was transferred". On a lighter note, I believe that the biggest lie of this type is one of the scenes – was it Da Vinci Code? – where physicists at CERN or something to that effect wear white lab coats. What an insult.
By Anna Sawicka
Hollywood Takes on Peer Review
Design Matters: How One Typeface Came to Dominate Movie Posters
Alien, the Stage Play
Libraries and the Contested Terrain of "Neutrality"


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Ad_Nauseam
Sepultura – The Hunt (New Model Army cover) Lyrics
The Seven Crowns sounds like a typical English pub name.
Killing Joke – Democracy Lyrics
So anyway, this is about how 'democracy' is actually no choice at all, because whichever colour the party, they represent big business.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Jesus of the Moon Lyrics
I think another parallel between this lyric and 'We Call Upon The Author To Explain' is the idea that change must come, in the circumstances he describes ('socio-economic divisions' etc)
Cathedral – Serpent Eve Lyrics
We so are.
The Smashing Pumpkins – My Blue Heaven Lyrics
I want to climb into this song!
The Coup – Lazymuthafucka Lyrics
Fantastic song, about how working people make all the world's wealth and yet suffer in poverty, while lazy rich people don't have to lift a finger.
Type O Negative – These Three Things Lyrics
'What's wrong with republicans, at least we don't support gay fags who want to tear apart our country.'
I think the second part of your question (although there's no question mark), answers the first part.
Filter – Only You Lyrics
Great song, but it's 'the lie', not 'deny'.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – We Call Upon the Author Lyrics
I love these lyrics ('he went the Heming-way'!)
I think the reference to prolix and a pair of scissors means cutting down his lyrics, to get rid of that amazing over-the-top and gradiose stuff. And I believe he is 'the author', because he gets asked about all those things when he goes 'guru-ing' down the street.
So in summary, I reckon this is about people asking Nick Cave to explain his lyrics and the world. Which makes this a pretty appropriate page!
Stone Temple Pilots – Naked Sunday Lyrics
Trail Of The Madman is dead on. It's about religious hypocrisy, and about how religion purports to solve problems, when it is part of the problem.
Suede – Everything Will Flow Lyrics
I think this might borrow some ideas from the Taoist notion that nature flows like a river (where the saying 'go with the flow' comes from).
The Verve – Velvet Morning Lyrics
I think it's more likely to be a reference to 'Some Velvet Morning' by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood than Velvet Underground.
Sanctuary – Long Since Dark Lyrics
Yep, with the reference to diamonds in the sky - (L)ucy in the (S)ky with (D)iamonds - confirms this. That song title, along with this one, is also namechecked in Nevermore's This Sacrament!
Nevermore – This Sacrament Lyrics
All the stuff about 'the flow' seems like a reference to Taoism, which was been alluded to in other Nevermore songs.
Beth Gibbons – Romance Lyrics
Well 'what they say about romance' is 'and they say romance is dead'. So it seems to be about a world seemingly devoid of romance, yet still hoping to find some.
Manic Street Preachers – P.C.P. Lyrics
richeye is right. No Marxist (not that the Manics have been anything like that for a long, long time) would claim that state socialism is freedom, rather than freedom would exist when pure communism is established, and wage labour, nations and the state are abolished. However, Marx himself saw 'socialism' as being organised along the lines of the Paris commune, and certainly not like the USSR or China.
Still don't get the Lear thing though. The first line is: 'I thought the king had more affected the Duke of Albany than Cornwall.'
Nevermore – The Seven Tongues of God Lyrics
Blackened89, no lyric or lyricist can ever 'brainwash' anyone into believing anything. If an argument (like yours) doesn't seem to stack up, then an individual won't accept it. All any kind of writer can do is collect certain ideas together.
To further simplify, I don't agree with Warrel Dane about most things because I admire him, I admire him because I agree with him about most things.
Grinderman – No Pussy Blues Lyrics
"As our dreams and desires are hung on the butcher's hook of rampant consumerism, and the mirage and the illusion and the Nike trainers are served up on the trembling quim of an impossibly nubile girl-thing, No Pussy Blues tells it like it is," suggests Cave. "It is the child standing goggle-eyed at the cake shop window, as the shop-owner, in his plastic sleeves, barricades the door and turns the sign to "CLOSED". It is the howl in the dark of the Everyman."
"Set over a throbbing pornographic bass line, the world holds its breath for the onslaught of the wah's shriek of frustration and dirty water," counters Casey. "No Pussy Blues continues in the blues tradition and its timeless fascination with getting laid... or not."
"It's 'Back Door Man', it's 'Crawling King Snake', it's 'Tiger Man'," says Ellis.
"It's 'Shake Rattle and Roll'," says Sclavunos.
Hard-Fi – Polish Love Song Lyrics
This is clearly about immigration, from the point of view of an immigrant from Poland into the UK. A lot of Poles have come to this country in the last few years, and the media likes to demonise them. Hard-Fi are clearly trying to set the record straight here.
Serj Tankian – The Unthinking Majority Lyrics
Well done naeem9. I think you're right there. Perhaps Serj means Dollarable. It's not 'officially' a word, but it could be taken to mean suitable for US economic interests, like in Afghanistan, Iraq and soon Iran.
Soulfly – No (feat. Christian Olde Wolbers) Lyrics
Hootie and the Blowfish, LMFAO!
My Dying Bride – The Snow In My Hand Lyrics
The song doesn't use all those lyrics! It misses out '(it's not hurting)' and "So this is life?". Amazing though, all the same.
Black Sabbath – Children Of The Grave Lyrics
If you want to hear a slow, doomy cover of this song, visit: http://www.myspace.com/torturegardenmusic
The Nightwatchman – Flesh shapes the day Lyrics
Although actually, to get Marxist on yo ass, it's your material circumstances which make 'you' want to to shape your surroundings in any particular way.
My Dying Bride – For My Fallen Angel Lyrics
The last verse is taken from Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis: http://shakespeare.about.com/library/blvenus3.htm
One Minute Silence – Words Lyrics
50 million, is that WWI?
The Verve – So It Goes Lyrics
Anyone read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut?
One Minute Silence – Food For Your Brain Lyrics
Totally agree guys. Do what Yap says, think for yourself! ;)
Great song. Not enough songs that glorify intelligence!
Kreator – Progressive Proletarians Lyrics
This song seems to be about a revolutionary working class being born from the pain of today.
'Yeah, I support my troops
They wave black flags
They wear black masks'
I leapt up from my seat, laughed, and clapped when I heard that. Go Tom!
Soulfly – Mulambo Lyrics
So this is a song for all you rebels and revolutionaries out there...
Fear Factory – Freedom Or Fire Lyrics
Right enough. Reminds me of 'liberty or death' in the American revolution. Except that FF mean real freedom, rather than freedom for the American owning class in paying taxes to the British crown.
Manic Street Preachers – Spectators Of Suicide Lyrics
A lot of the lyrics in this song are taken from/inspired by the situationists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist), who wanted people to actively shape and create their world, rather than be passive consumers (or 'spectators').
Soulfly – Born Again Anarchist Lyrics
Yes, this is how Max is that ultra-rare combination of a Christian and an anarchist. Like Jesus himself, in all likelihood.
Manic Street Preachers – The Intense Humming Of Evil Lyrics
"I am strongly in favour of using poison gas against uncivilised tribes..."
Skunk Anansie – Aesthetic Anarchist Lyrics
This is about rich people who pretend to be anarchists in an attempt to be cool.
Skunk Anansie – We Love Your Apathy Lyrics
Government and business fuck us over every day, but most people just accept this and ask for more.
Machine Head – Imperium Lyrics
Fucking hell, this is amazing. hearing this every once in a while really does give me the strength to go on! Someone I've never met understands me totally!
Killing Joke – Implant Lyrics
This is how governments want to control and monitor us by using ID cards and chips/
Machine Head – The Rage To Overcome Lyrics
About how he has been conditioned to self-destruct, but knows he has the anger and strength to overcome society and help make a better world.
Machine Head – A Thousand Lies Lyrics
What is a man don't stay true to the game
Don't care for no one, only cares for his greed
He's playin' God killin' thousands of people
'Cause the power is the fix that he needs
Racist goal of the white devil
I watched our soul burnin' over oil
A politician got no feelin'
It makes my motherfuckin' cold blood boil
Reminds me of a certain president (and accomplices)
Nevermore – The Tiananmen Man Lyrics
Er, this song is about the Tianenman man who stood in front of the tanks and got on telly! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989
Stereolab – Slow Fast Hazel Lyrics
Hey, I've never heard of this song, but historical materialism is always interesting, so I'll give it a listen.
Killing Joke – Total Invasion Lyrics
'as far as trying to go up against the goverment, well, unless the whole country did it , i guess...'
fuck yeah, bring it on!
Carcass – R**k The Vote Lyrics
This is the 'rock the vote' scheme, which tries to get young people to vote using 'rock' music. It could equally apply to people like Bono supporting Bush and Blair.
Carcass – Death Certificate Lyrics
This is more difficult to understand than all the others on Heartwork. Maybe about how poor people are born, are indoctrinated with the ideas of the rich, have boring lives and then die. The only meaningful mark they leave on society is to be a statistic.
Carcass – Doctrinal Expletives Lyrics
I think this is about how working class people are indoctrinated to argue on behalf of the rich, through the media, education system and religion. Hence 'As you regurgitate another's words, In their shallowness you drown'.
Carcass – Blind Bleeding The Blind Lyrics
This applies to the rich generally, hence 'silver spoons' and 'how they other half die' instead of 'how the other half live'. Of course it's something like 95%/5% but it's only a saying!
This is another Shakespeare reference, this time to Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth's attempts to clean her hands of what she imagined to be King Duncan's blood. This is the origin of sayings like 'Bush and Blair have blood on their hands'.
Carcass – Blood Spattered Banner Lyrics
The Confederate thing fits with the Dixie reference, but I think it's patriotism generally.


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Cover story: Zendaya on her drive to succeed
Having made the leap from Disney starlet to serious dramatic actress, the Bvlgari ambassador is now looking to make her mark behind the camera. Mathew Scott finds out what drives this hard-working and multitalented 24-year-old
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Director Sam Levinson has been as close a witness as anyone to the rise – and rise – of the multitalented Zendaya as the young American's star continues to shine across the worlds of television, the movies and music.
It was Levinson who directed Zendaya in her breakthrough dramatic role as a recovering drug addict in the ongoing hit HBO teen drama series Euphoria. And he cast her again in this year's critically acclaimed Netflix drama Malcolm & Marie. So it was fitting that when the people at GQ magazine were looking to fully flesh out a profile of Zendaya, and to look at what goes into making her the talent that she is, they turned to Levinson for his thoughts on the matter.
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Talking about the processes of casting a co-lead for Malcolm & Marie – an often-tense drama that brings to the boil a couple's frustrations with each other (and life) – the director highlighted how he had to find someone who could match Zendaya's passion for her craft, as much as for life.
"Zendaya is such a formidable force as a person and an actor, that it was really difficult to imagine who could go 12 rounds with her," Levinson said. "She could snap most actors like a twig."
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This month #legend is celebrating Zendaya, and celebrating her ongoing role as a Bvlgari ambassador. It comes as the 24-year-old from California is preparing for the release of two of 2021's most hotly anticipated films – the Jon Watts-directed Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Canadian director Denis Villeneuve's take on the sci-fi classic Dune.
That Zendaya stars in both is a reflection of the power she wields, and of her talent. The roles come on the heels of the acclaim she continues to receive for her starring role as Rue Bennett in Euphoria, for which the actress was last year named the youngest-ever winner of a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series.
Zendaya's rise to fame is completely of the age into which she was born, as she has been able to expand her career across media – and platforms – and she has been able to use her relationship with her social media community of more than 100 million followers to maintain control of her own narrative along the way.
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Zendaya was born Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman in Oakland, California, to parents who were both teachers. During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show she told the host they have been her guiding lights.
"I'm really lucky to have the parents that I have. They just have always instilled in me these core values that I think I have to carry with me through everything. I give it up to them, I give it up to family," she said.
After working as a child model, Zendaya was cast by the Disney Channel in the sitcom Shake It Up, which ran from 2010 to 2013 and allowed the young star to explore her musical side. There was a contract with Holly wood Records in 2012, the debut single Replay and, later, appearances on the hit series Dancing with the Stars. Zendaya then took on the role of the kid spy K.C. Cooper, in the hit sitcom K.C. Undercover – as well as taking on the role of a producer – before Euphoria came along in 2019.
By then, there had also been scene-stealing turns in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019) – and the feeling that Zendaya was developing her range. The star revealed earlier this year, on the Okay, Now Listen podcast, that she had started to look for more from the roles being offered but had been careful when it came to choosing her projects.
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"I think a lot of people have grown up with me or have seen me grow up and so, to a lot of people, I almost feel like their little sister," she said. "That's why I choose to take my time and not dive into things before I feel like I'm ready as an actress. If I feel like that's not the right move quite yet, then I just wait, you know?"
The character of Marie Jones in Levinson's Malcolm & Marie was arguably the most layered Zendaya has played so far, and saw her cast opposite another rising star in John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) in a drama that plays out across one night and sees the couple lay their relationship bare. It was in every way a collaborative effort, with Levinson and Zendaya discussing plot development almost daily.
As Zendaya explained to GQ, film roles had been coming in but nothing that really looked like taking her career – and her talents – to this next level.
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"It's not necessarily that any of [the scripts] were bad or something like that," she said. "I just felt like a lot of the roles that I was reading, specifically female roles, were just like, I could have played them all as the same person and it wouldn't have mattered, if that makes sense."
The best way to describe it is just, like, they'd usually serve the purpose of helping the male character get to where they need to go, do what they need to do. They don't really have an arc of their own. And they usually feel very one-dimensional in the sense that there's not a lot of layers to them, meaning they all seem very kind of like the same person over and over and over again. It would have been great and it would have been fine, but I wouldn't have grown at all."
Zendaya picked up a nomination for best actress from the Critics Choice Awards for her performance and the film taps into moods felt everywhere during the global pandemic, as isolation has forced us all into often long bouts of introspection and even revelation.
For Zendaya, the major discovery has been just how much she loves to work – and how much (at this stage of her life) that work defines her."
I feel most like myself when I'm working," she told GQ. "I felt like, when I wasn't working, my powers had gone away, and I was like, 'Who the fuck …' I didn't really know who I was and what made me happy. What do I like to do? What else do I do? What is my value? What is my purpose now?"
As far as the personal side of her life goes, Zendaya has managed to keep things low-profile, brushing off rumours of a relationship with Spider-Man co-star Tom Holland. She recently shared what she looks for in people in general, though, in an exchange that reveals much about the confidence she has when it comes to expressing her views.
That much was again highlighted when Zendaya sat down with Vanity Fair, there to take part in the publication's Holly wood issue and in one of its famed The Proust Questionnaire sessions. When Zendaya was asked, "What is the quality you most like in a man?" she replied, instead, by suggesting the question might work better reframed to ask her what "I most like in a person".
See also: From 'Malcolm & Marie' to 'Mission: Impossible': How the film industry is adapting to COVID-19
"It's such a big question. What is the quality I most like in someone? I would say 'kindness' is kind of not the best way to describe it, but some people are just good people, and you can just feel it," Zendaya went on to reply.
"I don't know how to explain that but there's this little spark they have or this little special thing that they have, that you feel safe and happy around them. I don't know what that is, but some people have it, and it's special."
The actress believes she is able to help her fans understand her, through regular social media postings – "I'm pretty open but also pretty private. I think we have, in a weird way, a pretty close relationship. My fans get me for sure," she told Allure.com.
But Zendaya has also come to understand that she can use social media platforms as a means of instigating change. Most memorably that happened back in 2015 when a broadcaster made a caustic remark about Zendaya's hair during an Academy Awards red carpet appearance.
The star – then just 19 years old – fought back, and told W Magazine that the moment "made me think, 'How could I always have a lasting impact on what people saw and associated with people of colour?'
"The world is now waiting for the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Dune – both scheduled for the last quarter of the year – and for Zendaya's next move, which she revealed to The New York Times includes furthering her career behind the camera. "I'd love to be able to be a filmmaker," she said.
"I don't know when that'll happen. Sam [Levinson] is always like, I give you a year until you're directing something, and I'm like, all right, well, that means you got a year to teach me. So I don't know what that looks like personally, but I really enjoyed being a producer [on Malcolm & Marie]. And I enjoy this idea of hopefully one day being able to make the things that I want to see, the roles that I want to see for Black women. That would be exciting and a goal of mine." #
Photographer and director / Txema Yeste
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