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Category Archives: Talkin' Broadway
Reviews, Talkin' Broadway, Theater
Talkin' Broadway: The Old Man and the Sea
Originally published on Talkin' Broadway.
Richard McElvain
Hemingway's classic novella The Old Man and the Sea is a timeless story of determination and struggle, keeping readers on the edge of their seats wondering who will win in a battle of wills – the old man, or the sea? Weylin Symes' new stage adaptation of the piece retains the plot of the book – Santiago (Richard McElvain), determined to end his recent spate of bad luck, sails out into deeper water and battles to hold on to a large marlin – but somehow manages to lose the story of struggle along the way.
The major obstacle in dramatizing the piece is its setting. Most of the original takes place in a boat, on the open water, exploring the inner workings of Santiago's mind as he struggles with his adversary, the marlin. Rather than attempting to embody the fish or portray the fight, Symes has reframed the narrative, which we now encounter as the fisherman's young protégé, Manolin (Nicholas Carter), coerces an exhausted Santiago to recount his recent adventure on the sea. This conceit undermines the drama of the original – seeing Santiago animatedly recount his adventure; there is no question of whether or not he will make it back from his battle with the fish. Here he is. However, McElvain and director Greg Smucker find a new dramatic question. Rather than asking will Santiago make it back in one piece, they confront us with an excitable, rambling, and perhaps broken man and challenge us to ask did Santiago actually make it back in one piece?
McElvain's performance is no less than a tour de force. He transforms his monologues into fully realized plays in miniature, whispering and yelling, all the while making full use of his body to reenact encounters with weather, sharks, and that darn marlin without ever letting us forget that it's an old, battered man recounting what may be his last great conquest. Carter is given much less to do, becoming something between a plot device and a costumed stage hand for most of the show, prompting Santiago to tell his next story whenever it's appropriate, but mostly moving large props around to assist Santiago's storytelling. Still, this young actor makes the most of his material, staying in the moment as Santiago tells his tales.
The story-telling aspect of the play is helped considerably by a skilled design team. Richard Chambers has built the sea on stage, imagining a gigantic blue bamboo wave surrounding and overwhelming Santiago's tiny home. Evocative lighting by Annmarie Duggan and haunting sound cues by David Reffel heighten the transitions from moments shared between Santiago and Manolin to Santiago's flashbacks. The costumes by Allison Szklarz complete the stage picture perfectly, never once allowing us to doubt that this old man really did the things he claims.
This play, a world premiere as part of the Stoneham Theatre's Emerging Stages Program, doesn't fully satisfy, and doesn't feel quite finished. An uncredited narrator begins the evening and pops in from time to time, interrupting the flow in a way that suggests the playwright – who also happens to be the theatre's artistic director – ran out of ideas at certain points in his adaptation. And the change in the story's structure deprives the narrative of a natural place to end, leaving the conclusion somewhat softer than it might be. However, as an evening of theatre, The Old Man and the Sea hardly disappoints.
The Old Man and the Sea is presented by the Stoneham Theatre, 125 Main Street, Stoneham, MA through April 3. Performances are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 2:00 pm. There is no performance on Easter Sunday, March 27. Tickets are $32 for adults, $27 for seniors, and $16 for students. Tickets are available online or by calling (781) 279-2200. The Stoneham Theatre's season continues with Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys, starring Dick Van Patten, May 5 – 22, 2005.
Photo: Emily Sweet
Talkin' Broadway: Homebody/Kabul
Tony Kushner's plays are often mistaken for political statements. Most of his works are set against specific political backdrops, from the Roy Cohn world of Angels in America to the civil rights struggle that sets the stage for Caroline, or Change. Homebody/Kabul is no different, taking place in London and Afghanistan in 1998 during the reign of the Taliban. However, none of these plays are really about politics any more than Star Wars is about space travel. At the heart of Homebody/Kabul is a family drama that happens to play out in a time and a place when connections between men and women, east and west, were particularly strained. The central drama is not about whether the Taliban was right or wrong, nor is it about the place of women in society – it's about finding connection. And unfortunately, Boston Theatre Works' production, directed by artistic director Jason Southerland, could use a lesson or two in connecting. Continue reading →
Talkin' Broadway: John and Jen and blue/orange
Eric Rubbe and Leigh Barrett in John and Jen
John and Jen, now playing at the Stoneham Theatre, and blue/orange, now at the BCA courtesy of the Zeitgeist Stage Company, are in some ways as different as plays can be: the former an Off-Broadway chamber musical about one woman's relationship with the men in her life, the latter a British play about the psychiatric examination of a young man claiming to be the son of Idi Amin. And yet, both are intimate three-character plays exploring the question of what makes us the way we are – really, what makes us each crazy.
John and Jen (book and lyrics by Tom Greenwald, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa) first surfaced in the mid-1990s at the Goodspeed Opera House, before making its way off-Broadway. The first act tells the story of Jen (Leigh Barrett), who grows from an overprotective older sister to a distant, war-protesting, drug-taking hippie, while her beloved younger brother John (Eric Rubbe) grows into a young soldier in the model of the father Jen tried so hard to protect him from. The second act finds Jen as a single mother, raising her son – also named John, and also played by Eric Rubbe – while trying to hold on to him tight enough to not lose him as she did her brother.
The audience's acceptance of the play hinges on whether the adult actors' portrayals of children feel real enough to become a non-issue. The good news is that Eric Rubbe nails the childlike qualities of both of the kids he plays, even as his first-act John ages from infancy to young adulthood. He's got a real musical-theatre voice that delights equally in the ballads and the comedy numbers. Leigh Barrett has more of a challenge with the earliest stages of her character's life. Jen is in a tough position at the start of the play, needing to communicate not only her love for John, but also her fear of her abusive father. Unfortunately, the gravity of her situation overshadows any childlike nuance, making her seem more like an adult in a silly dress. The play quickly shifts focus from the kids' relationship with their dad to their relationship with each other. When this happens, Barrett portrays a teenaged Jen much more believably, and by the time she hits college, it's hard to remember there were ever quibbles with her performance. By the second act, the actors really hit their stride, which is particularly important as the material becomes more abstract and the direction more nebulous – are mother and child actually appearing on a string of television talk shows, or have we moved into psychological space? Director Scott Edmiston doesn't give us any clues.
The physical production of the show is clever but problematic. The stage is filled with clothing and trunks and a few furniture pieces, suggesting an attic, or even memory – things that are stored away haphazardly, to be taken out and played with or cast aside at whim. Above the stage hang paintings of the children at different ages, highlighting the closeness of their relationship. But dead center is a giant screen. And on that screen is projected the worst thing to happen to regional theatre in recent memory: the PowerPoint Presentation. The idea of using projections to bring the audience into the 1960s (and later, the 1980s) is a good one. However, the bells and whistles of PowerPoint – the animated comings and goings of the slides and the occasional title in a font that screams out 1990s – create the opposite effect, pulling the audience back into the present. Nobody is helped by Gail Astrid Buckley's costumes, which never quite capture either the age of the characters or the time of the situations.
There is one more element that reminds the audience of the 1960s, and for this we should all be grateful: the singers perform the entire show without microphones. The theatre has fantastic acoustics (and sightlines), and the blending of two excellent voices with the fantastic three-piece band (under the expert direction of Timothy Evans) is worth the price of admission itself.
The Stoneham Theatre should be cheered for choosing a challenging show from Off-Broadway that hasn't previously been seen in Boston. Despite the 1960s grounding of the work, the story is really a timeless and heart-wrenching exploration of the relationships between siblings and between parents and children. So bring your brother, sister, father or mother – and bring some extra Kleenex.
(l-r) Steven Barkhimer, Dorian Christian Baucum, Eric Hamel in blue/orange
You won't need Kleenex at the BCA, but bring your thinking cap. The Zeitgeist Stage Company's production of Joe Penhall's blue/orange is tremendously thought provoking, asking the question of whether psychiatric diagnoses are influenced by a cultural divide between patient and doctor. But don't worry; under the direction of David J. Miller, there are also plenty of laughs in the show, a 2001 Olivier Award winner for Best New Play.
The scenario begins simply: Bruce (Eric Hamel), a young doctor at a teaching hospital, has been examining Christopher (Dorian Christian Baucum) for the past month. Christopher is in the hospital under court order, but his mandatory twenty-eight days are up. Bruce wants to keep him for further diagnosis and treatment. Bruce's supervisor, Robert (Steven Barkhimer), would rather let Christopher back into society. What begins as a dispute over diagnosis quickly becomes and argument over hospital politics. Before long, Robert reveals he is currently working on research into cross-racial diagnosis and treatment, suggesting that Bruce may be blaming psychosis for some of Christopher's behavior that is actually quite "normal" on Christopher's side of the cultural divide.
Miller – credited with both direction and scenic design – keeps the play moving along, with the focus firmly on the words and ideas at stake. For this the audience can be thankful, for the script is full of Briticisms that one needs an extended glossary (or strong powers of deduction) to fully grasp. And yet, even without catching every word, the debate is engaging and engulfing. Throughout the play, members of the audience find themselves switching sides more than once, at times agreeing with Bruce, at times with Robert, in no small part thanks to the charisma Barkhimer and Hamel bring to their roles. The role of Christopher is something between a pawn and a plot device, but Baucum's performance endows him with a humanity and import that he might not actually deserve.
The strength of the play is also its downfall. There are so many ideas – meaty, worthy ideas, about race, politics, power and more – being discussed and debated, it becomes impossible to find resolution in the situation. Sure, at some point, one of the doctors gets to decide whether Christopher stays in the hospital or not, but by the end of the play, that's far less relevant than the question of whether or not race and culture affect what we think of as "crazy." But if you're looking for the kind of play you will continue to discuss on the ride home (and probably over breakfast the next day, and possibly beyond that), blue/orange may be just what the doctor ordered.
John and Jen runs now through March 6th at the Stoneham Theatre, 125 Main Street, Stoneham, MA. Performances are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $32 for adults, $27 for seniors, and $16 for students. Tickets are available online or by calling (781) 279-2200. The Stoneham Theatre's season continues with The Old Man and the Sea March 17 – April 3.
blue/orange runs now through March 5th at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Black Box Theatre, 539 Tremont Street in Boston's South End. Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sunday 2/27 at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $25, with discount tickets available for students and seniors for $19.50. Thursdays are "Pay What You Can" performances. Tickets are available online or by calling (617) 933-8600. For more information, visitwww.ZeitgeistStage.com.
The Zeitgeist Stage Company's season continues with Tooth and Claw, April 29 – May 21.
Talkin' Broadway, Theater
Talkin' Broadway: The Sound of Music
When I was in high school, my drama teacher absolutely refused to even consider mounting a production of The Sound of Music, claiming that once the movie was made, it was pointless to do the show without the actual Alps in the background, not to mention the unfairness of asking a young actress to compete with the indelible image of Julie Andrews. And surely, approaching a production of The Sound of Music in an age when two generations have been brought up on the classic film must leave many directors asking themselves, "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" Happily, director Jane Staab at the Wheelock Family Theatre has found the answer in the person of Angela Williams, a Maria so effervescent that by the time the Von Trapp children are introduced, you'll be saying "Julie Who?"
While both the Boston press and the Talkin' Broadway chatterati have said much about Maria being played by an African-American woman – even the one-paragraph publicity blurb makes sure to describe Williams as a gospel singer – you will forget it ever mattered once Williams bursts through the doors of the theatre to sing the timeless title song. Fear not – she sings the score with a perfectly appropriate Broadway style, not a single gospel inflection in evidence. But what a voice she has! And what charm! Williams is the real thing, an actress who makes Maria believable without becoming syrupy, a singer who handles the ballads and up-tempos equally as well, and most importantly, a real star presence who nonetheless allows the rest of the ensemble to shine. Continue reading →
Talkin' Broadway: Big River and The Wang Center Family Series
The Deaf West Theatre production of Big River has been enchanting audiences throughout the country since its initial staging in Los Angeles in 2001, so the production's current triumph in Boston – the city where the original production of Big River began in 1984 – comes as a surprise to no one. Sure, there are quibbles to be had with this production: the contrapuntal sections of the opening number are gone, as is Tom Sawyer's big solo, "Hand for the Hog"; the production is really too intimate to play a gigantic house like the Wang; most egregiously, the Wang's notoriously horrible sound system makes everyone sound pre-recorded, although in a production where half of the performers' voices are provided by actors across the stage, perhaps this effect puts everyone on equal footing. Quibbles aside, the result is a stirring example of musical theatre at its best.
On a more personal note, I was excited to see Big River's return to Boston, because the show's visit here on her first national tour back in 1986 was my very first trip to see a musical outside of community theatre. And I was similarly excited to see that much has been done to ensure this production of Big River was similarly suited to serve as an introduction to the theatre for a new generation of youngsters. Much has been made of the generosity of the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Foundation, which has provided a grant to fund the accessibility programs and activities for the tour's Boston stop, as well as the anonymous donations which have cut ticket prices in half for the entire Boston run. Let's hope they start a trend. There's a lot more being done in the realm of community outreach by the Wang for this production that also deserves note, namely, their new Family Series.
The Wang Center Family Series, also known as "Artopolis," kicks off with Big River and continues on with A Year with Frog and Toad, The Little Prince, and Cirque Dreams. The series brings with it more than a "package discount" for families. It's been well-designed to address the needs of theatre-going families. In addition to the expected performance guides (more on that in a moment), the program is offering kid-friendly talk backs, family-oriented pre-show parties ("so you don't have to worry about feeding the family between soccer games and curtain times," to quote their website), backstage tours and more. Participation in Artopolis does require a $50 "membership," and while it's unclear whether those who've missed the first production of the season will have the opportunity to join the season-in-progress (and good luck getting a human being on the phone), it's certainly worth pursuing.
Now, about those performance guides. If the Big River guide is any indication, this is a series to collect and save. The twenty-page booklet, prepared by Laura Dougherty on behalf of the Suskind Young at Arts program, goes far beyond the expected plot summery and vocabulary list. Nearly every page features a "Try This!" sidebar, encouraging young theatergoers to go deeper into issues raised by the play, from the point of dual casting to the influence of American artists on the production design. Talkin' Broadway readers will be particularly happy to know there's an entire page on theatre etiquette, including the best-worded encouragement not to speak during the performance that I've ever read. There's even an entire page entitled "After The Show" encouraging readers to learn more by visiting a library for books by and about Mark Twain, learning more about Deaf West, or even visiting this very website (although an unfortunate typographical error in our address may prevent too many new readers from following through on that suggestion). This guide was based on a "Discovery Journal" produced by the Los Angeles organization Performing for Los Angeles Youth (PLAY), and I suspect similar resources will be available at other stops on the tour. Whether you are a kid, have a kid, or once were a kid, I highly recommend asking an usher to find you one at whatever stop you catch the tour.
Big River at the Wang Theatre, November 16 – 21, 2004, the first in the four-show Wang Center Family Series. The Family Series continues with A Year With Frog and Toad, January 13 – 16, 2005.
Talkin' Broadway: Johnny Guitar
Kathy St. George stars as Vienna with (from left) John Porcaro, Christopher Cook and Drew Poling
Do you ever go to the theatre and find yourself entertained, but feeling like something is missing from the experience? Get ready for that old familiar feeling once more, as The SpeakEasy Stage Company presents the New England premiere of last season's Off-Broadway musical adaptation of the 1950s camp western filmJohnny Guitar. The play, a 2004 Outer Critics Circle Award winner, offers laughs, social commentary and a pleasant score. The script by Nicholas van Hoogstaten is solid, filled with laughs and just as relevant in today's world of the Patriot Act as the novel and film were in the days of the House Un-American Affairs Committee. All it needs now is a reason for singing.
There's nothing particularly wrong with the songs of Johnny Guitar. There's just no particular reason for them to be attached to the play. With few exceptions, the songs feel like filler. Many of the songs, which have music by Martin Silvestri and Joel Higgins, with lyrics by Higgins, are first class filler, from the opening number that perfectly captures the style of a 1950s film title song, to the sweetly reflective first act closer, "Welcome Home." But that doesn't change the fact that when I wanted to write something nice about the song "In Old Santa Fe," a lovely ballad from the middle of the first act, I couldn't find the words to describe the song's function in the show – because it doesn't have one. Music Director José Delgado should be commended, however, for making the most out of slight material. The four-piece band perfectly captures the feel of both country western and 1950s doo-wop, and the singers do their best to make up for the lack of relevancy with considerable panache.
If a handful of extraneous (but by no means offensive) songs don't bother you, there's a lot to like about the show, particularly in the SpeakEasy's production, wittily directed by the company's Producing Artistic Director, Paul Daigneault. The cast is first rate, with particularly sterling performances from Kathy St. George as Vienna, the role originated by Joan Crawford in the film, and Margaret Ann Brady as her nemesis, Emma Small, the Mercedes McCambridge part. St. George perfectly embodies the power and self-consciousness of the saloon owner without belittling the character's truth beneath the camp. Brady gives in to histrionics as she cackles her way through the show, but as the arch-villain of the piece, she's allowed. The men are all capable, if a bit interchangeable. Christopher Chew's Johnny Guitar isn't so different from his rival for Vienna's affection, The Dancin' Kid (Timothy J. Smith), but the show, like the film before it, isn't really about the men. The supporting cast turn in fine performances, particularly the trio of Christopher Cook, Luke Hawkins, and Drew Poling, who function as a Sons of the Pioneers style back-up group in many of the songs in addition to playing a multitude of supporting characters on both sides of the Vienna/Emma rivalry.
There are clever (and appropriately campy) stage effects, from a tumbling tumbleweed that opens the show to a chandelier that has a couple of tricks on hand. The set, designed by Caleb Wertenbaker, is just cartoonish enough to remind us not to take anything too seriously without looking silly. The costumes, designed by Gail Astrid Buckley, are never quite as fun as the rest of the production, but often mirror the look of the film and certainly serve their purpose. The lighting by James Milkey is somewhat more problematic, often leaving supporting characters or back-up singers in the dark, and trying unsuccessfully to substitute three static spotlights for a much-needed follow spot in the opening number, leaving the lead singer crossing through darkness in the middle of lines. Similarly, the sound design (by Briand Parenteau, with effects by Laura Grace Brown) is uneven, particularly when the lead singers are backed by the vocal trio, and everyone is over-amplified. In a theatre the size of the Roberts, these singers could certainly handle this score without any microphones, and hopefully, as the SpeakEasy gets more used to performing there, unamplified voices will become the trend.
Johnny Guitar in the Nancy and Edward Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St in Boston now through December 18th. Wednesday – Saturday at 8:00pm; Saturdays at 4 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Tickets range from $30 to $40; $20 student rush available with valid college ID, at the box-office only, one hour before curtain, subject to availability. For tickets or information, call the Box Office at 617-933-8600 or visit the Calderwood Pavilion box office, 527 Tremont St. or visit one of these websites: www.speakeasystage.com or www.bostontheatrescene.com.
Jewish, Reviews, Talkin' Broadway, Theater
Talkin' Broadway: The Value of Names
Fred Robbins and Harold Withee
A young actress wants to change her name to free herself from the burden of being the daughter of a "name" actor. Her father flips out, first because as someone "named" before the House Un-American Affairs Committee, naming carries heavy symbolism for him, and later because the very friend who named him as a communist sympathizer in the fifties takes over the direction of his daughter's play. Jeffrey Sweet's The Value of Names, now playing at the Theatre Cooperative in Somerville, has a very simple premise, but a simple presence is all it takes to launch a play of ideas as provocative today as it must have been at its premiere over two decades ago.
The production is minimal. We're greeted by a realistic set (designed by Gino Ng), a note-perfect rendering of a Malibu patio, circa 1981. The audience is seated on two sides, and the sound of the ocean helps set the scene. When the play begins, Tracy Campbell's costumes immediately remind us that we're now in 1981 without being campy, and before we have time to think, we're launched into an argument between Norma, the actress/daughter played by Nelleke Morse, and her father Benny, brought to life by Harold Withee. As soon as we're launched into the argument, Norma turns to the audience and addresses us directly, and we immediately become aware of this production's main liabilities. No, it's not the questionable technique of breaking the fourth wall – Sweet has kept this to a minimum and uses it wisely. The real problem is that Nelleke Morse's portrayal of Norma is so flat, it is hard to recognize when she is speaking to the audience and when she is speaking to her father, a problem made worse by the utter lack of lighting cues or any other directorial flourishes. Morse's poor characterization becomes even more ironic when her new director, Leo (Fred Robbins), shows up to convince her to stay with the production. If Norma's acting is anywhere near the level of Nelleke Morse's, Leo should jump at the opportunity to recast his play.
Luckily, Norma leaves the stage for the better part of the evening, allowing Benny and Leo to butt heads and hash out their decades-long grievance. It's clear from their interaction why these two were friends in their youth, and both actors allow us glimpses into their mutual affection even as Leo defends himself from Benny's rage. Withee endows Benny with all the charm, and the tics, of a grandfather figure who's been through enough to have earned the right of irascibility while still being likeable. Robbins' portrayal of Leo is more stately and restrained, drawing his very physicality from the attitude he took towards the HAUC hearings. When these two finally get to the heart of their dispute, the patio becomes like a boxing ring for the prize fight of morality, but neither Sweet nor director Lesley Chapman is willing to declare a winner. Eventually, the characters make their decisions and go on with their lives, but the play leaves the questions of right and wrong, hurt and healing, lingering for the audience to debate long after the final bow.
The Value of Names at the Theatre Cooperative, 277 Broadway in Somerville, now through December 11th. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM, with 3:00 PM Sunday matinees on November 21st and December 5th. Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 for students and seniors. "Pay What You Can" performances on November 21st and December 5th. No performances Thanksgiving Weekend. Post-show discussion with playwright Jeffrey Sweet on November 20th and 21st. For tickets or information, visit www.theatrecoop.org.
The Theatre Cooperative eighth season continues in January with The Ritalin Readings: A Festival of Ten Minute Plays, January 7-8, Friday & Saturday at 8 PM. The Coop continues its support of emerging New England playwrights in their sixth-annual ten-minute play festival.
Talkin' Broadway: Ears on a Beatle
Michael Kaye and Steven Barkhimer
Sometimes, plays come along at exactly the right time to strike a resonance with current events, adding an extra layer of meaning to the lives of the characters portrayed on stage. Other plays feel as though the author started with the question "How can I write about situation x?" and never quite come to life beyond their topicality. Unfortunately, Mark St. Germain's Ears on a Beatle, now enjoying its Boston premiere at the Lyric Stage, falls into the latter category.
The one-act play focuses on two FBI agents, veteran Howard Ballantine (Steven Barkhimer) and newcomer Daniel McClure (Michael Kaye), assigned to keep tabs on John Lennon in the 1970s. Although based in fact – the actual FBI files on Lennon are reproduced both in the lobby and the program book to drive this home – the story of the two agents is entirely St. Germain's creation, and it shows. The entire first half of the play feels like a series of sketches from a beginners' playwriting class on exposition. Each scene quickly reveals necessary information about Ballantine's background or McClure's increasing entanglements with the people he's supposedly studying, before moving on to the next scene and the next plot point. One of the simplest rules of writing for the theatre is "show, don't tell," yet most of the first half of the play consists of the characters telling each other about things that happened between scenes with other characters we never meet. Still, director Paula Ramsdell keeps the proceedings light, making the most of Barkhimer's comic timing and deadpan delivery to divert our attention from the plodding plotting. Continue reading →
Talkin' Broadway: Company
Most theatre companies are considered bold and edgy when they occasionally stray from the endless succession of Shakespeare and Ibsen revivals to venture into the untested waters of new works. How ironic it is that The SpeakEasy Stage Company, Boston's company so known for "staging Boston premieres" that the phrase is part of their logo, has chosen to inaugurate their new home in the Nancy and Edward Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts (say that one five times fast!) by making the bold and edgy choice of a revival! Of course, Sondheim and Furth's Company certainly isn't seen as often as Hamlet, but the obvious question everyone is asking is … why?
In the show's program booklet, director Paul Daigneault suggests the time is right for Company, both because the new theatre offers physical resources necessary for the show that were previously unavailable to the SpeakEasy, and because the definition of marriage is such a hot topic in Massachusetts these days. One can't argue with the former reason – this is certainly the largest production I've seen by the SpeakEasy, with a two-story set, a nine piece band, and an ensemble cast of fourteen, at times all on stage together. But does Company, which had its world premiere in Boston in 1970, really have anything to say about what constitutes a marriage in 2004?
Daigneault tries his best to say it does. Taking advantage of the minimal updating to the script and orchestrations from the 1995 Broadway and West End revivals of the show, Daigneault has chosen to set Companyfirmly in the present. Eric Levenson's set is a slick, modern structure of chrome and light, juxtaposing a sleek, modern sensibility with a decidedly retro bachelor pad feel. While the disco-style light-up floor panels may hark back to Company's groovy origins, the costumes, designed by Gail Astrid Buckley and ranging from the wives bedecked in current shopping mall chic to a Marta (Sara Chase) dressed like a Britney Spears acolyte, making it clear that this Company takes place now. The actors gamely try to pass off dialogue referring to themselves "getting soused" and being "hopelessly square" as current slang, and they almost succeed. But the mere portability of the show from the 1970s to today does not instantly make it relevant to the politics of today. Continue reading →


What will I learn from the at the airport help sheet?
This at the airport help sheet will you learn about the various stages you need to go through while at the airport. We have other lesson that get covered more in depth about on at the airport.
Carry on luggage: - On arriving at the airport you must check in and give them your bags / luggage.
Passport: - Needed to enter or leave a country.
Passport control: - After checking you can now go to pass control. They check everything is OK with your passport. Things checked Is the passport in date. Do you have a visa?
Duty free: - At duty free you can buy things that are free of tax.
Baggage claim: - At baggage claim you can collect your luggage after you have landed and it has been transferred from the plane to the airport.
Cab / taxi stand: - Almost all airports have a cab / stand stand to take you to your destination.
Car rental: - If you need to rent a car this can also be done at the airport.


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December 26, 2019 matttusonracing
F3 2019 Review: The Rise of Robert Shwartzman
Dallara F3-19
There was a lot of excitement going into the 2019 FIA Formula 3 season. The merging of the long time F1 relevant GP3 Series and the 'official' F3 championship, the European Formula 3 season in order to create a clear ladder to Formula One had been mooted for a while. And with a 30 car grid for the inaugural season, it was clear we were going to see some entertaining racing throughout the 2019 season. And we weren't wrong.
GP3 heavyweights' woes
GP3 heavyweights ART struggled this year, taking just the one win in Hungary courtesy of Christian Lundgaard.
Whilst being a merging of two different series, the FIA Formula 3 championship was built on the foundations of the GP3 Series. The car itself was an evolution of the previous GP3 car, utilising a similar aerodynamic package, the exact same engine and crucially, similar tyres. This meant whilst it was obviously going to be close between the heavyweights of each of the merged series, ART and Prema, I personally expected the GP3 teams and drivers would have an advantage in the early part of the season due to experience. And sure enough ART's Christian Lundgaard won the season opening race on the road before losing the win to Robert Shwartzman due to a post race penalty. However from then on other than a dominant win for Lundgaard in the first race in Hungary and a further pole position in Monza in unusual circumstances, they rarely challenged for wins. Not even David Beckmann, a multiple race winner in 2018 driving for ART. He had a miserable season rarely even finishing in the points despite being widely tipped to be a title contender. The same could be said for the other returning GP3 teams, who only saw victory in two other races. One being Pedro Piquet's Race 1 victory at Spa, driving for Trident, and in the second race at Monza, that win coming from Jenzer's Yuki Tsunoda. So surprisingly, experience of the previous version of the car appeared to have little effect.
Prema-turely in command
Prema swept the opening 4 races.
Whilst the long time GP3 constructors failed to hit the ground running, Prema swept the first four races of the season. Robert Shwartzman inherited the win at the season opening first race at Catalunya, whilst Jehan Daruvala won the second race on Sunday. They maintained their streak at Paul Ricard, with Daruvala winning on Saturday, and Shwartzman winning on Sunday. Marcus Armstrong initially struggled to make inroads on his team-mates but found his feet by the Austrian round. With all 3 cars from the same team fighting for the title, fireworks between the team-mates was inevitably going to happen. And it did. In a dramatic second race at the Red Bull Ring, HWA's Jake Hughes had just been passed by Shwartzman and Armstrong, who were fearcely fighting for the lead. Hughes was assured on the radio by his engineer that 'something will happen' and he was right. Going into the heavy braking zone at Turn 3 on the final lap, they made contact, damaging both cars, resulting in Armstrong dropping out of the points and Shwartzman, despite still crossing the line first, losing the win to Hughes due to a penalty.
Estonia's Got Talent
From Estonia's Got Talent to the race track: Vips threatened to derail Prema's dominance after two Race 1 wins.
This was very untimely for Prema as they were now facing a threat, from Hitech's Juri Vips. The Estonian, who won Estonia's Got Talent when he was 8 years old with his mental maths skills, had just broken their winning streak in the first race in that Austria weekend. His and Hitech's strongest weekend was arguably at Silverstone, where the Red Bull junior fended off Jehan Daruvala for the entire Saturday race. A scrappy race on Sunday, which was won by his team-mate Leonardo Pulcini, slowed down his progress, but he made gains in Hungary, a weekend where both Shwartzman and Daruvala struggled, whilst Vips scored two fourth places. However his bid for the title derailed by multiple mistakes in both Spa and Monza, breaking his front wing by hitting Max Fewtrell's ART at the restart in the second race at Spa, then hitting the back of Keyvan Andres's HWA whilst fighting back from a poor starting position in Monza. His title charge was all but over, however he did close off the season strongly by winning the final race of the season in Sochi.
The civil war at Prema
Drama in the mountains as Shwartzman and Armstrong collide on the last lap when battling for the lead.
By this point of the season, Marcus Armstrong was now in the title fight. He had finally managed to take his first win of 2019 by winning the second race in Hungary, a feat that he repeated in Spa. Whilst Daruvala appeared to be going in the opposite direction to Armstrong. Since briefly leading the standings after the first race at Silverstone, he was losing touch pace wise with his team-mates, and Armstrong was looking like he was more likely to challenge championship leader Shwartzman. However he was dealt a hammerblow in the first race in Monza as he was penalised for a safety car infringement whilst Shwartzman won, which put him out of contention going into the season finale in Sochi.
Shwartzman seals it
Robert Shwartzman passes Niko Kari on the way to securing the title in Sochi
Going into the final race weekend, Robert Shwartzman had a 33 point over Jehan Daruvala, and looked likely to secure it in the first race of the weekend. All he needed to do was prevent Daruvala from outscoring him by 16 points in the first race, which became 20 when he took pole. Despite losing out to Armstrong in the race, second place was enough to secure the drivers title with a race to spare. With the championship wrapped up, attention swung to the battle for second, where Armstrong managed to overtake Daruvala, due to the latter being stuck on the grid.
Verschoor's Macau triumph
Richard Verschoor's race winning pass on Juri Vips in Macau.
Whilst the championship season was over, there was still an eagerly anticipated non-championship race to go, as the famous Macau Grand Prix, which was previously run to European F3 regulations, would be run to the regulations of this new championship. This meant we got the spectacle of the faster and louder Dallara F3-19 tearing its way around the Guia Circuit. And the race itself turned out to be an intense one. Juri Vips dominated much of the weekend, having secured pole and dominated the qualifying race ahead of Shwartzman and Lundgaard. However the series champion's race instantly ended as damage from contact forced him to park at Lisboa. This meant it was likely Vips had this in the bag. But he was facing stiff competition from MP Motorsport's Richard Verschoor, who had made a great start and was up to second. He then began putting Vips under pressure, before a safety car gave Verschoor the opportunity he needed and he found a way past on the restart, a lead which Vips could not get back despite his best efforts. It was certainly a statement drive for the Dutchman, who joins an illustrious list of Macau GP winners that includes Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.
Robert Shwartzman's final gap to second place Marcus Armstrong was 54 points. The battle for second was certainly a lot closer as Armstrong only beat Jehan Daruvala by the single point. Juri Vips' impressive season saw him finish as the highest non-Prema driver, finishing 16 points behind Daruvala in fourth ahead of Pedro Piquet and Christian Lundgaard. Jake Hughes and Leonardo Pulcini never looked like title challengers but they showed flashes of speed, finishing in seventh and eighth respectively. Red Bull junior Yuki Tsunoda struggled in qualifying in the early races but once he fixed the issues he was a regular points finisher and won the second race in Monza, finishing in ninth, with Max Fewtrell finishing in tenth.
FINAL DRIVERS STANDINGS;
1. Robert Shwartzman (Prema) 212
2. Marcus Armstrong (Prema) 158
3. Jehan Daruvala (Prema) 157
4. Juri Vips (Hitech) 141
5. Pedro Piquet (Trident) 98
6. Christian Lundgaard (ART) 97
7. Jake Hughes (HWA) 90
8. Leonardo Pulcini (Hitech) 78
9. Yuki Tsunoda (Jenzer) 67
10. Max Fewtrell (ART) 57
11. Liam Lawson (MP) 41
12. Niko Kari (Trident) 36
13. Richard Verschoor (MP) 34
14. David Beckmann (ART) 20
15. Bent Viscaal (HWA) 10
16. Felipe Drugovich (Carlin) 8
17. Fabio Scherer (Sauber) 7
18. Lirim Zendeli (Sauber) 6
19. Logan Sargeant (Carlin) 5
20. Alexander Peroni (Campos) 5
21. Ye Yifei (Hitech) 4
22. Raoul Hyman (Sauber) 2
23. Simo Laaksonen (MP) 2
24. Teppei Natori (Carlin) 1
25. Devlin Defrancesco (Trident) 0
26. Andreas Estner (Jenzer) 0
27. Sebastian Fernandez (Campos) 0
28. Keyvan Andres (HWA) 0
29. Alessio Deledda (Campos) 0
30. Giorgio Carrara (Jenzer) 0
31. Artem Petrov (Jenzer) 0
32. David Schumacher (Campos) 0
33. Charles Leong (Jenzer) 0
34. Federico Malvestiti (Jenzer) 0
Whilst Prema dominated the constructors standings, securing the title in the second race at Spa, and scoring double the points of their nearest rivals Hitech. Whilst GP3 heavyweights ART struggled. They finished in third but were nowhere near challenging for the title.
FINAL CONSTRUCTORS STANDINGS;
1. Prema Racing – 527
2. Hitech Grand Prix – 223
3. ART Grand Prix – 174
4. Trident – 134
5. HWA Racelab – 100
6. MP Motorsport – 77
7. Jenzer Motorsport – 67
8. Sauber Junior Team by Charouz – 15
9. Carlin Buzz Racing – 14
10. Campos Racing – 5
In a competitive season, Russia's Robert Shwartzman rose above the rest convincingly.
The inaugrial Formula 3 season saw an incredibly competitive grid and saw consistently exciting racing with a packed grid of 30 cars. But one team stood above the rest. Prema had a clear advantage over the rest and the title was fought amongst their three drivers. It was a close fight but for me what made the difference was Robert Shwartzman's consistency. Unlike his team-mates, he was able to maintain his form throughout the season. Marcus Armstrong struggled in the early races before being on par with his two team-mates. Whilst Jehan Daruvala's season was basically the opposite trajectory to Armstrong's, starting well before tailing off towards the end of the season. The Ferrari Academy Driver's triumph has brought the attention of many in the F1 paddock and with many seats in Ferrari linked teams such as Alfa Romeo and Haas likely to be available sooner or later, this victory has put him in line to step up to F1 if he can deliver in Formula 2 with Prema in 2020.
Previous Racer of the Decade Nominee #4 – Jonathan Rea
Next F2 2019 Review: Dominant De Vries

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Nothing to do with Atwal's presence at Mumbai event: Government
New Delhi, Feb 28 The government on Wednesday said it had nothing to do with the presence of Jaspal Atwal, convicted for an attempt on life of then Punjab Minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu, at an event hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner in Mumbai and any suggestion to the contrary is "unacceptable and baseless". External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar made the remarks in response to a media query after reports that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had stood by a senior government official who floated the theory that "rogue political factions" in the Indian establishment "orchestrated" the embarrassing invitation to Atwal to make the Canadian government appear sympathetic to Sikh extremism. "We have seen the exchange in Canadian Parliament on the two invitations issued to Jaspal Atwal by the Canadian High Commissioner, for functions hosted in honour of the then visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to India. "Let me categorically state that the government of India, including security agencies, had nothing to do with the presence of Jaspal Atwal at the event hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner in Mumbai or the invitation issued to him for the Canadian High Commissioner's reception in New Delhi. Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and unacceptable," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told the media here. The invitation to Atwal for the Delhi reception was later rescinded. Atwal was convicted in the attempt on the life of Punjab Minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu in 1986 when he was visiting relatives in Canada. Atwal was also charged -- but not convicted -- in the 1985 attack on Ujjal Dosanjh, who later became British Columbia premier and a federal Liberal Cabinet minister. The Canadian media had reported that Trudeau stood by the senior government official regarding his remarks on the embarrasing invitation to Atwal. The Opposition in Canada hit out at Trudeau in Parliament on Tuesday -- his first since his India trip -- over how Atwal was invited to the reception at Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel's residence in New Delhi. Trudeau responded by saying: "When one of our top diplomats and security officials says something to the Canadians, it's because they know it to be true." In a background briefing arranged by the Canadian Prime Minister's Office, a senior government official last week suggested that Atwal's presence "was arranged by factions within the Indian government". The Canadian media identified the official as Trudeau's National Security Adviser Daniel Jean. The opposition pressed Trudeau to say whether he agreed with Jean's "conspiracy theory".
(IANS)
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What is cataract? - WEFA e.V.
Cataract, is the opacification of the lens in the human eye. Without treatment, vision loss as a result of this occurs. Treatment for this disease can be treated and is only possible with surgery. Cataract is one of the biggest health problems in some countries in the African continent, it is seen that the lack of infrastructure and poor nutrition is the reason for this. The number of ophthalmologists in these countries is very low and such a ophthalmologist treats 40-50 thousand people each on average. It is often possible to see the cataract patients as young and old, and people from all walks of life . Children aged 5-6 are diagnosed more often with eye cataracts, they lack the blessing of seeing and this tingles the hearts of people. Moreover, they live in extremely severe living conditions in the home or camp people are faced with this and are exposed to malnutrition.
The most important reason for cataract is old age. Particularly those over 60 years of age have a higher risk of being exposed to cataract. In addition, eye trauma, previously passed intraocular pressure, eye diseases such as ocular inflammation, or surgery, some chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, long-term steroid medications, radiation therapy, vitamin C deficiency, malnutrition, ultraviolet rays or long exposure to intense light, smoking, alcohol, harmful chemicals and radiation also one of the reasons that trigger cataracts.
The most important factors in congenital cataracts; if the mother is exposed to diseases such as rubella during pregnancy, some medications used, and factors such as exposure to X-rays with baby's chromosomal inheritance affect the development of cataract. Blurred vision, glare, color separation difficulty, deep loss, painless and increasingly opinions reduction, sensitivity to light, reading difficulty, forked or double vision, yellowing Fading of color, more light needs, subsequent myopia, in a very advanced stage very little whitening of the pupil with blurring of vision.
Without timely intervention cataract progresses. In this case, however, the patient can choose the direction of the light and follow light, but can not see objects.


text:
HomeNewsBamboozled by the anti-fracking zealots
Bamboozled by the anti-fracking zealots
By Clark Cross
NATASCHA Engel, whose role as Commissioner for Shale Gas was to liaise between the government, scientists, the industry and residents near potential fracking sites, has resigned from her 'no purpose' job after only six months. In a strongly worded resignation letter she said that eco-activists had been 'highly successful' in persuading ministers to curb fracking.
She could also have highlighted the Advertising Standards Authority's 2017 condemnation of Friends of the Earth for making 'misleading' claims about fracking reported here and here.
FoE alleged that the water used in fracking contained a toxic cocktail of chemicals which could end up in drinking water, that fracking chemicals could cause cancer, affect skin, eyes, respiratory systems, nervous, immune and cardiovascular systems and that those living near a fracking site would be at risk of cancer and asthma. Despite being given additional time FoE was unable to substantiate any of these scaremongering claims. The ASA warned FoE never to repeat these or similar allegations, or face court proceedings.
Ms Engel rightly said fracking could help meet our UK carbon reduction targets, make us energy-secure and provide long-term employment, but gullible politicians and the public have been deliberately misled by the anti-fracking zealots.
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Clark Cross
Clark Cross is a retired chartered accountant, finance director and managing director. He lives in Scotland.


Kensington Palace has released the official photos from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding.
The palace shared three official photos from the May 19 wedding on Monday. The photographs were taken by photographer Alexi Lubomirski at Windsor Castle, following the carriage procession.
The first of three images shows the newlyweds posing with Markle's mother, Doria Ragland. To their left is Prince William, standing tall. In front of the future king is his wife, Kate Middleton, who is holding Princess Charlotte. Next to them is Prince George.
Standing to the right of Prince Harry is his father, Prince Charles, and stepmother, Camilla. In front of Prince Charles sits Queen with Prince Philip.
Filling out the photo are the couple's page boys and bridesmaids.
Not pictured was Prince Louis, the newborn son of Prince William and Middleton. The infant did not participate in the ceremony.
In another photo released by the palace, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry sit on the ground as they pose with their show-stealing page boys and bridesmaids.
Surrounding the royals are all of the newlyweds' page boys including Harry's godson, Jasper Dyer, 6, and 7-year-old twins John and Brian Mulroney.
The bridesmaids pictured included 4-year-old Ivy Mulroney and Rylan Litt, 7, and Harry's goddaughters Zalie Warren, 2, and Florence van Cutsem, 3. Meghan's goddaughter Remi Litt, 6, also served as a bridesmaid.
The third and final photo is a black and white intimate portrait of the newlyweds, smiling from ear to ear and sitting on the steps of Windsor Castle.


I love the PS Vita. Alongside my Nintendo 3DS, it without question has gotten the most playtime of any gaming device I've owned since my PlayStation 2. I wonder if even the Switch can catch up! Of course, I prefer to use it for indie games and all of my favorite PSOne Classics, so I require it for an outlet that only a minority of gamers prioritize.
According to a recent interview between Polygon and Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe's Jim Ryan, this is the exact reason why the PS Vita never caught hold in North America. It's also the reason it still continues to thrive in Japan and Asia. A lack of content that Western gamers prioritize ultimately sent it drifting down the unfortunate path.
Polygon: You look at the Switch, which obviously there's a hunger for. Do you guys think, "Maybe we should do a Playstation Vita 2?" Or … Did you just wince? Was that a painful wince?
Ryan: I do a lot of press in Europe and nobody asks.
Layden: For whatever reason, and there are a host of them, and there are even more reasons if we were drinking beer, Vita just didn't reach that critical mass with the audience and thereby, the development community doesn't get behind it and thereby, the audience doesn't come, and it's a quick negative spiral effect.
Layden: You can still see it doing quite well in Japan and in Asia. Japanese publishers and developers are still creating content.
Obviously, not everyone plays classics and indie games, and you can't make the niche market a priority in the way the Sony eventually did. They sold the PS Vita as "the AAA experience in the palm of your hands," but no seminal hit ever helped make that a mainstay. Shifting marketing tactics, a few financial flops, and ultimately, Sony abandoned the idea in the West.
In Japan, however, the Vita is still getting marvelous games, and as long as developers crank them out, fans will keep buying! In Japan, Japanese games are obviously not so niche. You make games specifically for your audience, people buy your consoles. Simple as that.
I'll never call the PS Vita a failure. It's an immensely wonderful device that I hope will last a lifetime as my desire to game on a television dwindles away. If I have one regret about it though, it's that I never got to play SaGa Frontier on it.
Why do you do this to me, Square Enix?! Why?! It was one step shy of being perfect!


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Architecture and modeling in Visual Studio
March 16, 2015 /0 Comments/in Software Development /by
I'd like to take a closer look at the use of CodeMaps in Visual Studio to debug and to document our solution. The following link to Architecture and Modeling has some very cool videos detailing how to use Code Maps to find the root cause of a bug. Further to debugging Code Maps can be used to assist in documenting program flow and dependency chains visually. Lets start with a very basic example of how to generate a CodeMap. First off if you don't know what a Code Map is then let me explain. When browsing your VS project files and looking at the 'References' link that appears above a method declaration, if you pay careful attention you'll see the link 'Show on Code Map'. See below. Read more
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Simple C# Licensing (Rhino Licensing)
What is Software Licensing?
Software licenses typically provide users with the right to one or more copies of the software without violating copyrights. The license also defines the responsibilities of the parties entering into the license agreement and may impose restrictions on how the software can be used. Software licensing terms and conditions usually include the usages of the software, warranties and disclaimers and protections if the software or its use infringes on the intellectual property rights of others.
About Rhino Licensing –
Rhino Licensing uses Public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, it's a class of cryptographic algorithms which requires two separate keys, one of which is secret (or private) and one of which is public. Although different, the two parts of this key pair are mathematically linked. The public key is used to encrypt plaintext or to verify a digital signature; whereas the private key is used to decrypt cipher text or to create a digital signature. The term "asymmetric" stems from the use of different keys to perform these opposite functions, each the inverse of the other – as contrasted with conventional ("symmetric") cryptography which relies on the same key to perform both. You encrypt a value using the one key, and it can only be decrypted using the other key. In the case of license key generation, we store our private key on the server, and distribute the public key with our application. When the user receives a license key, the application is able to verify that it came from us by using the public key. If someone tampers with the license key it will be invalid and the software will no longer execute.
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DevOps The Future of ITSM and ITIL
March 8, 2015 /in Blog, Thought Leadership /by Greg Strydom
Cloud computing allows development teams to get applications into production faster. ITSM leaders must adopt new strategies and change existing processes or risk becoming a bottleneck.
Successful cloud computing requires the DevOps — the fusion of development and operations with the goal of accelerating time to market and reducing time to value. The good news is that ITIL is uniquely positioned to accelerate DevOps — but it requires changes to existing ITSM processes. In this session Hank Marquis will show you:
– How to tune and tweak ITIL processes to shift your operations into high gear and make sure your organization benefits from cloud computing
– The ways cloud changes business, and how IT has to respond to remain relevant
– The changes existing ITSM/ITIL processes require to avoid becoming a bottleneck
– How ITIL is uniquely positioned to facilitate DevOps
https://www.thinktanks.co.za/thinktanks-content/uploads/2013/01/relationship-splash.jpg 964 1444 Greg Strydom https://www.thinktanks.co.za/thinktanks-content/uploads/2015/06/thinktank-logo-300x137.png Greg Strydom2015-03-08 09:56:462015-06-26 10:53:36DevOps The Future of ITSM and ITIL
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text:
using System;
using System.Reflection;
using Umbraco.Core.Models;

namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Mappers
{
    internal class ModelDtoMapper : IMapper
    {
        public void GetTableInfo(Type t, TableInfo ti)
        { }

        public bool MapPropertyToColumn(PropertyInfo pi, ref string columnName, ref bool resultColumn)
        {
            if (pi.DeclaringType == typeof(Content) || pi.DeclaringType == typeof(IContent))
            {
                switch (pi.Name)
                {
                    case "Trashed":
                        columnName = "[umbracoNode].[trashed]";
                        return true;
                    case "ParentId":
                        columnName = "[umbracoNode].[parentID]";
                        return true;
                    case "UserId":
                        columnName = "[umbracoNode].[nodeUser]";
                        return true;
                    case "Level":
                        columnName = "[umbracoNode].[level]";
                        return true;
                    case "Path":
                        columnName = "[umbracoNode].[path]";
                        return true;
                    case "SortOrder":
                        columnName = "[umbracoNode].[sortOrder]";
                        return true;
                    case "NodeId":
                        columnName = "[umbracoNode].[id]";
                        return true;
                    case "Published":
                        columnName = "[cmsDocument].[published]";
                        return true;
                    case "Key":
                        columnName = "[umbracoNode].[uniqueID]";
                        return true;
                    case "CreateDate":
                        columnName = "[umbracoNode].[createDate]";
                        return true;
                    case "Name":
                        columnName = "[umbracoNode].[text]";
                        return true;
                }
            }

            if (pi.DeclaringType == typeof(ContentType) || pi.DeclaringType == typeof(IContentType))
            {
                switch (pi.Name)
                {
                    case "Alias":
                        columnName = "[cmsContentType].[alias]";
                        return true;
                    case "Icon":
                        columnName = "[cmsContentType].[icon]";
                        return true;
                    case "Thumbnail":
                        columnName = "[cmsContentType].[thumbnail]";
                        return true;
                    case "Description":
                        columnName = "[cmsContentType].[description]";
                        return true;
                }
            }

            return true;
        }

        public Func<object, object> GetFromDbConverter(PropertyInfo pi, Type sourceType)
        {
            return null;
        }

        public Func<object, object> GetToDbConverter(Type sourceType)
        {
            return null;
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Jim Cramer says these are his favorite bank stocks in 2022
Baseball-MLB rejects Tampa Bay Rays split city planning with Montreal
Biden plans more public support and reduces legislation
Tampa Bay Rays two-season plan for Montreal rejected by MLB, team says
There is a shortage of food as the world rushes to help Tonga, which was hit by the tsunami, as drinking water.
Kay Granger votes against infrastructure bill
Home/Sports/Run through F1 in a thrilling title battle
Run through F1 in a thrilling title battle
peterDecember 6, 2021
Now is the time to listen to Formula One, in case you've slept in the most spectacular seasons for decades.
After 21 races, the championship battle is over as F1 screams for the finale of the title-decision season in Abu Dhabi. This is the first time a championship leader has participated in a drive on the final Sunday since 1974. This is a match between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
The first driver to cross the finish line will be the champion.
The Hamilton title marks his eighth championship and breaks the tiebreaker with F1 legend Michael Schumacher. Verstappen's victory was his first title, and his taskmaster's father, Joss, was the best achievement he never achieved in his own F1 career, including Stint as Schumacher's teammate.
The producers of Netflix's documentary Drive to Survive, which has exploded in popularity over the last few years, must be spitting on the final script.
Hamilton and Verstappen ran punched all year round, competing against each other beyond the limits of the track's sanity, leaving the track and allowing each team to participate in fierce public competitions for almost anything. Red Bull accused Hamilton of "desperate movement" and "dangerous driving" when he sent Verstappen to the hospital for evaluation in contact at Silverstone this season, when he crashed in Monza after four races. Neither was injured. And Verstappen's car landed on Hamilton's Mercedes.
Verstappen's ninth win of the season in Mexico City a month ago gave him a 19-point lead in title race standings and clear control. After winning the last four championships, Hamilton has won three consecutive victories, following Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, even as Verstappen moves up.
The first F1 visit to Saudi Arabia was a comedy of mistakes and indecision. The race featured a fourth standings in F1 history, two red flag stops, and multiple safety cars. Five drivers crash from the race, Red Bull is given a strange chance during the race to negotiate Verstappen's penalty, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff infuriates the headset, Hamilton crashes behind his rivals. But somehow I won the race.
Hamilton called Verstappen "a (swearing) crazy man" on his radio during the race, and Verstappen declined to elaborate on his criticisms of Sunday's civil servants.
"I don't want to waste too much time because I don't have to make headlines," the Dutch sniffed. "They (stewards) don't deserve it."
The two drivers are no more different on and off course.
Hamilton, 37 in January, is the only black driver in F1 and has spent much of the last two years using his global platform to tackle social and racial justice. He spoke openly about human rights issues during the end of the F1 three-race season stretch in the Middle East, wearing a helmet to support the LBG TQ + community while raising awareness of the law on homosexuality, and Hamilton being a black man. Monza attends Metgara who bought the entire table to assist fashion designers.
As he rides Mercedes and chases history, his activism becomes secondary.
Verstappen is only 24 and the edges are a little unpolished. He is less controversial and prefers video game and simulator time to flashy balls and parties. This season, Wolff is unaware of the fears of the proposed track and shows that one candidate may take the other to decide the championship.
After Sunday's victory in Saudi Arabia, Hamilton repeatedly referred to his vast F1 experience and record of seven titles. It could have been a gamemanship — the Verstappen championship battle took place in a lower division, and Hamilton was able to try to gain an edge by shaking the confidence of his rivals.
However, the two seem to have different racing rules. Saudi Arabia's Verstappen cut the corner and jumped to the top, but was later ordered to return to the position as a penalty, and when Hamilton slowed down to allow him to overtake, Hamilton hit behind Red Bull instead. ..
The two were sitting side by side at a press conference after the race, so their eyes weren't eye-catching yet.
"In my understanding, I know I can't overtake someone to stay off course," Hamilton said. I guess. "
Verstappen was unflinching.
"I think I've been talking more about white lines and penalties lately than actually a proper F1 race," Verstappen said.
Come to Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Hamilton was the five-time winner, and Verstappen led all 55 laps with an overwhelming victory last year. The two try to solve themselves without the involvement of race control. Both teams are ready.
Christian Horner, Principal of the Red Bull Team, said: "There was one shot and it was time to take it."
Other AP Auto Racing: https: //apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2021 AP communication. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
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At Bella we value what makes Puerto Rico a world-class tropical paradise. That is why we have a strong commitment to conserving our resources and reducing our environmental impact, not just in our day to day operations, but by building greener, more environmentally friendly facilities. By incorporating green initiatives throughout the business operation and establishing programs that reduce our carbon footprint, we honor that commitment to a thriving Puerto Rican community.


text:
The Dobermann or Doberman Pinscher (also, more colloquially, Dobie) is a breed of domestic dog. Dobermanns are commonly used as guard dogs, watch dogs, or police dogs, and have a reputation as being a dog that is incredibly loyal to its familial duties and that is vicious if crossed. Because of the Dobermanns typical use as a guard dog, and its often stereotyped role as such in movies, many people are afraid of Dobermanns; most do not understand that Dobermanns are, in general, a loving and intelligent breed that rarely attacks people except when it feels that it or its property or family are in danger.
A female Dobermanns shoulder height is about 24 inches (61 cm) and weight is about 75 to 80 pounds 34 to 36 kg), whereas the male stands about 26 or 27 inches (66 to 68 cm) at the shoulder and weighs around 90 pounds (41 kg). Most people picture a Dobermanns colour as the typical black with brown markings. However, the existence of two different colour genes in Dobermanns provides four different phenotypes in Dobermann colour. The traditional colour, produced when both genes are dominant, is commonly referred to as black, while the most common variation, due to one gene's being recessive, produces what is called a red Dobermann, which is primarily reddish-brown with tan markings. The other gene's being recessive, while the first one remains dominant, produces the blue (grey) Dobermann, whereas the least likely combination of both colour genes' being recessive produces fawn, which is a light tan colour.
Recently, a fifth colour of Dobermann, dubbed the white Dobermann, has been widely bred and marketed to the public. Dobermanns of this colour possess a genetic mutation, which prevents its pigment proteins from being manufactured, regardless of the genotypes of either of the two colour genes; that is, it is an albino. Though many potential Dobermann owners find the colour beautiful, albino Dobermanns, like albinos of other species, face increased risk of cancer and other diseases and should avoid sun exposure as much as possible. The popularity of the white Dobermann has died down dramatically as the risks have become known, with many people even calling for an end to the breeding and marketing of the white Dobermann, because they perceive it as cruelty to the animal. Some countries have made the purposeful breeding of the white Dobermann illegal, though, as happens with human beings, random genetic mutation still leads to Dobermann albinism on a completely arbitrary, but very rare, basis.
What may come as a surprise to people who are used to seeing Dobermann tails that are just a couple of inches long, is that the Dobermann is actually born with a tail that is longer than that of most breeds of dog. Typically, a Doberman Pinscher undergoes docking, a procedure in which the majority of its tail is cut off within days after its birth. The rationale for this is that it is the "look" that the dog is supposed to have, since it was the way Louis Dobermann originally envisioned the dog. It also gives the dog an appearance of ferocity and toughness. Aside from these more vain reasons of putting the animals through a procedure that many view as inhumane, one practical reason for docking the tail is that it removes what would be a convenient "handle" for a criminal or attacker to grab when the Dobermann is performing its guard or police work. Regardless of people's beliefs on this matter, few Dobermann purchasers have a choice on the length of their Dobermann's tail; docking must be done soon after the dog's birth, which means that the breeder nearly always makes the decision, before their dogs are even put on the market.
This is not true, however, of Dobermann ear cropping, which is typically done up to six months or a year after the Dobermann's birth, and is therefore usually left up to the discretion of the dog owner. In larger and larger numbers, Dobermann owners are opting not to have their pets ears cropped, in a procedure that is believed to be extremely painful for the animal.


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Q: How to remove/replace any line of text with empty string inside a doube quot and leave urls only, with RegEx in .vb.net? I have a list like this
"Boring makes sense!"
"http://www.someurl.com/listsolo.php?username=fgt&id=46229&code="
"http://www.someurl2.com/members/listearn.php?username=mprogram&id=465301"
"All is there?"
"http://www.someurl.com/listsolo.php?username=loopa&id=46228&code="
"http://www.someurl3.com/members/mem.php?&mprogram"
"http://someurl4.com/members/mem.php?&loop"

I need to remove any kind of text on particular line including double quots with RegEx in vb.net
Dim fileName As String = "C:\Downloads\Links.txt"

Dim sr As New StreamReader(fileName)

While Not sr.EndOfStream
   Dim re As String = sr.ReadLine()

   If Not re.StartsWith("http") Then
      re = Regex.Replace(re, "(^[A-Za-z]+)", "", RegexOptions.Multiline)
      lblTest.Text += re.ToString()
   End if
End While

sr.Close()

How to do it ...in simple way?

A: Using Linq, reading from file, filtering and re-writing back to it :
File.WriteAllLines("some path", From line In File.ReadAllLines("some path")
                                Where line.StartsWith("http"))

A: I figured it out :-), this regex

.[A-Za-z]\w+ .*

remove whole line of text with double quotas. I test regex here. Anyway, thanks for help.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: postMessage still broken on IE11? It seems that window.postMessage is still broken on IE 11 when the message is

*

*between a window and a child popup/tab with window.open

*when it's sent from different domains [or same domain in some case, c.f. update 16/01]
There was similar issues with IE 8/9/10 but this feature was flagged as 'supported' in IE 11 from 'partially supported' in IE 10
There is an example of the code that works on chrome/ff but not IE:
The opener (jsfiddle):
$(document).ready(function() {
    $('#log').append('listening...');
    window.addEventListener("message", function(e){
        $('#log').append("Received message: " + JSON.stringify(e.data));
    }, false);
    $('button').click(function() {
        window.open('http://jsbin.com/eQeSeros/1', 'popup','menubar=no, status=no, scrollbars=no, menubar=no, width=200, height=100');
    });
});

The child popup (jsbin): (won't work if not open by jsfiddle)
$(document).ready(function() {
   $('body').append('sending...');
   window.opener.postMessage("Hello?", "http://fiddle.jshell.net");
   $('body').append('sent...');
});

I read from the post Is cross-origin postMessage broken in IE10? that we can use a MessageChannel instead of postMessage, but reading the doc, i did not find how to use it in my real case, because you have to pass the port to the child window.
There is a redirect chain before i need to send my message, so even if i could send a port, i will lose any js object sent initially/before the redirects.
Any idea for a replacement ?
Update 14/01: I m thinking about passing my data in the window/tab title and regulary check this title from the parent... but this would be quite a dirty trick.
Update 16/01: The really bad part is that it does break even if the message is send from the same domain, but after being redirected by another domain.
here is the example:
http://jsfiddle.net/L4YzG/13/ opens the popup http://jsbin.com/eQeSeros/4/edit that redirects to http://jsfiddle.net/mxS8Q/2/ (that posts the message)
If you change the url popup directly by the final url redirects to http://jsfiddle.net/mxS8Q/2/show this works on IE because there is no other domain between the opening & post
I am still working on my window title dirty trick. we cannot receive the title of the window when it is on another domain, but if it comes back on jsfiddle the title is available (there is not the previous problem with postMessage). Here is the example: http://jsfiddle.net/L4YzG/14/ ... This may be an alternative solution, but i just saw something about passing the data in a cookie, it just needs to be tested.
Update 04/02: Passing the infos in the title is not sufficient, if works well if the final domains are the same but not in cross domain. I wanted to inject an iframe of the same domain to pass these infos but i cannot share the child window object either (postMessage need a serializable object).
Finally i tried to share a cookie (created & received in js) between the injected iframe and child window, this works well on chrome & ff but still could not receive it correctly with IE. After adding P3P headers it worked fine, this seems to be the true solution. Safari seems to have some problems with this technique so i just keep this technique as a fallback.

A: There are a few mentions of an iframe workaround, but the only ones I've seen are sending a message to the iframe.
Here's an example of receiving a message from the iframe instead:
Parent page (http://first-domain.com/receive-message.html)

Child-page (http://second-domain.com/send-message.html)

A: I found, if I launch another window, launch my window, then close the other window, then I can work with my window just fine.

vvWindow0 = window.open("http://apsed4065:8047/virtualviewer/index.html");
vvWindow = window.open("http://apsed4065:8047/virtualviewer/index.html");
vvWindow0.close();

vvWindow.postMessage(message, 'http://apsed4065:8047');

A: Is it broken? Well, sort of.
I tried various ideas and couldn't get the code in your jsFiddle to work. Looking at this MSDN Blog post, we find that postMessage only works between IFrames in older versions of IE, which has yet to be fixed for IE 11.
That article links to a demo of the problem. There are a couple of workarounds that involve calling scripts on the window.opener. However, as that blog states (emphasis mine):

Unfortunately, this workaround often isn't possible, because same-origin-policy dictates that the popup window and the window.opener page must be from the same origin in order to call each other's script functions.

So it looks like the only way to do this is something like this, where the child is hosted in an IFrame in the parent. I have created a similar demo here, based on the code in yours. It's pretty simple, but posts a message to the contentWindow of the IFrame, which in turn responds.
I see the recommendation to use MessageChannel instead, but I also wonder if using Web Workers might be worth investigating, though their use would of course depend on the nature of your task. There is also the answer to this question, where the IFrame approach was used, but a jQuery UI dialog was used to display it - I would imagine you could do the same thing with modals in Bootstrap if you prefer that.

For reference:
HTML

<button id="post-message-button">Post message to window</button>

Parent script
var wnd;

$(document).ready(function() {
    $('#log').append('listening...');

    wnd = $('#iframe')[0].contentWindow;

    window.addEventListener('message', function(e){
      $('#log').append('
Received message: ' + JSON.stringify(e.data));
    }, false);

    $('#post-message-button').click(function() {
        if(!wnd){
            return;
        }
        $('#log').append('
sending...');
        wnd.postMessage('Hello?', 'http://jsbin.com');
    });
});

Child HTML and JS
<!DOCTYPE html>

<meta charset=utf-8 />
<title>JS Bin</title>

A:
Update 16/01: The really bad part is that it does break even if the message is send from the same domain, but after being redirected by another domain.

Hilariously, this "security feature" can be used in reverse to bypass the crossdomain restriction entirely.
In parent window at example.com:

On example.com server:
GET /dummy_redirect 302 http://jsfiddle.net/b6yfbunw/

A popup will open to your domain, redirect to jsfiddle, and the postMessage call will work in IE. You can even navigate to any domain after that and continue to make postMessage calls to the parent window.


text:
The man behind Chandrayaan 1 thinks India's second mission to the moon is the 'most complex' ever
BI India Bureau
Sep 6, 2019, 12:44 IST
Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman, G. Madhavan NairBCCL
India's Chandrayaan 2 will be attempting to soft on the Moon's South between 1:30am and 2:30am on 7 September 2019.
Former Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Madhavan Nair thinks this is the most complex mission that ISRO has ever attempted.
Nair led the team at ISRO during India's first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan 1.
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Chandrayaan-2 mission is all set to soft-land on the moon's surface between 01:30 and 02:30 am on Saturday, 7 September 2019.
While the whole world eagerly awaits to see this historic event, G Madhavan Nair, the former chairman of ISRO says Chandrayaan-2 is the most complex mission that ISRO has ever attempted.
The man behind Chandrayaan 1
Most notably, Nair had fronted the Chandrayaan-1 mission about a decade back when he was the chairman of ISRO. Commenting on the successful step of separating 'Vikram', the lander from the orbiter Chandrayaan-2 on Monday, Madhavan Nair said it was a phenomenal achievement. He added that from now onwards, the rest of the mission ahead of us leading to soft-landing on the moon is even more a tougher job.
Nair said, "We are one step closer to having us soft-land on the lunar surface and so far so good; all the mission sequences have gone off well, computation, as well as planning, have worked well and now the lander is in elliptical orbit".
Chandrayaan 2 mission gets tough
From this point, the rest of the mission to be accomplished is indeed a tougher one, says Madhavan Nair. There are onboard cameras mapping the moon's terrain and forwarding the pictures to the ISRO's center. The scientists have to carefully select the right location suitable for the successful soft-landing of Vikram.
Saying that this is going to be a highly challenging job in an interview to the press, the former chairman added, "It's a very, very complex operation. I don't think any nation has done a similar operation trying to have real-time pictures and then try to have an on-board computer implement autonomously the function of the landing. It's going to be a remarkable event and we are all looking forward to that event. I am sure it will be a 100% success".
Soft landing on the Moon
Describing the process of soft-landing on the moon's surface in an interesting way, Nair said, it is comparable to something like a flying saucer hovering over the surface and then slowly descending as we come across in a science fiction.
ISRO will be implementing almost a sequence similar to this with virtually no real-time controls on the ground.
Giving the technical details of the soft-landing anticipated, Madhavan Nair said, "...Only on-board cameras would look for the right location and once it matches, there are five rocket engines which will precisely control by first reducing the speed and then making it virtually float at that point and have some lateral movement in such a way that it goes just to the location, slowly guide it to the landing site".
To accomplish the mission successfully, different factors including the laser ranging systems, the software governing the entire operation and the onboard computers have to work in perfect coordination.
If everything goes well and when ISRO succeeds in soft-landing on the moon, India's image will receive a boost in the international arena and proclaim to the whole world how a developing nation has perfected the native space technologies the country has developed.
Madhavan Nair concluded, "It will also drive home the message that Indian talent is second to none", and "if given a vision and direction, ISRO can do it"
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