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Howard Thurston (20 de julio de 1869 - 13 de abril de 1936) fue ilusionista estadounidense. Llegó a ser uno de los magos más famosos de su tiempo gracias s sus espectaculares trucos, que presentó en teatros de todo el mundo. Su espectáculo de magia itinerante era tan grande, que se necesitaban ocho vagones de tren para transportarlo.

Primeros años
Howard Thurston nació el 20 de julio de 1869 en Columbus (Ohio). Era el hijo mediano de William y Margaret Thurston. Su padre, William Henry Thurston, era carretero y fabricante de carruajes, y sirvió brevemente como soldado raso durante la Guerra Civil en el Tercer Regimiento de Ohio. Su madre, Margaret (Cloude), era hija de un granjero de Ohio.

De niño, Howard asistió a la Escuela Mount Hermon para Niños en Northfield, Massachusetts, en la clase de 1893. Entre sus compañeros de estudios estaban Lee De Forest, "El padre de la radio estadounidense", y el humorista musical Charles Ross Taggart, "The Old Country Fiddler". Su infancia fue infeliz y se escapó para unirse a un circo, donde también actuaba su futuro compañero Harry Kellar. Thurston quedó profundamente impresionado después de asistir al espectáculo del mago Alexander Herrmann y se propuso igualar su trabajo.

El rey de las cartas
Todavía es famoso por su trabajo con naipes. Según se cuenta con un halo de leyenda, un mago mexicano apareció en una tienda de magia propiedad de Otto Maurer en Nueva York. El enigmático mago le mostró a Maurer cómo podía hacer desaparecer las cartas, una a una, en la punta de sus dedos.

Maurer le mostró a Thurston el movimiento, que luego este último presentaría en sus actuaciones. Añadió el truco de las "Cartas en ascenso" descrito en el libro "Modern Magic" del profesor Hoffman, el libro del que Thurston había aprendido los rudimentos de la magia. Para este truco, se dirigía a la audiencia y pedía a varias personas que eligieran cartas de una baraja. A continuación, barajaba las cartas y las colocaba en un vaso transparente. Thurston pedía entonces que se dijeran cuáles eran las cartas elegidas. Una a una, las cartas subían hasta la parte superior de la baraja.

Thurston organizó una audición improvisada con Leon Herrmann, sobrino del famoso mago Alexander Herrmann. Su actuación consiguió sorprenderle, y a partir de ese momento, se llamó a sí mismo "El hombre que engañó a Herrmann" y utilizó la publicidad para conseguir introducirse en las principales casas de vodevil de Estados Unidos y Europa, y se autoproclamó como el Rey de las cartas.

Ilusión de levitación

Thurston se hizo conocido por realizar la ilusión de una dama flotando por el escenario, conocida como la "Levitación de la Princesa de Karnac". La ilusión fue originalmente realizada por John Nevil Maskelyne y se hizo muy famosa gracias a Harry Kellar.

El historiador de la magia Jim Steinmeyer ha escrito que "En manos de Thurston, la levitación de la princesa de Karnac se convirtió en una obra maestra. El hermoso truco se adaptaba perfectamente al tono lírico de Thurston". En 1908, magos famosos buscaban la manera de reproducir el número de la levitación. Fue duplicado por Charles Joseph Carter para una gira mundial y le había interesado al mago Chung Ling Soo.

Años posteriores
Tras la jubilación de Kellar, Thurston continuó presentando el espectáculo original de Thurston–Kellar durante treinta y cinco años, hasta que el 30 de marzo de 1936 sufrió una hemorragia cerebral. Murió el 13 de abril en su apartamento de Oceanside en Miami Beach, Florida. Su muerte se atribuyó a una neumonía. Está sepultado en  Green Lawn Abbey, un mausoleo en Columbus, Ohio, que volvió a abrir al público en 2021 después de más de cincuenta años.

Legado
Thurston es citado como experto en la materia en el libro de Dale Carnegie Cómo ganar amigos e influir sobre las personas. Aparece en la segunda parte, capítulo uno ("Haz esto y serás bienvenido en cualquier lugar"), en las páginas 67–68 del texto original.

Se puede ver un póster de Thurston en muchos episodios del programa de televisión The Magicians colgado en la pared de la casa de estudiantes de los protagonistas, conocida como 'el dormitorio físico de los niños', llamado así porque la magia que realizan es física, en lugar de decir psíquica, o magia basada en ilusiones. La colocación de carteles en el programa llevaría a los espectadores a creer que Thurston era posiblemente un estudiante de la escuela, y que por lo tanto, sus actuaciones utilizaron magia "real".

Llegó a decir de sí mismo: "La historia de la magia puede trazar una línea de sucesión ininterrumpida desde el Faquir de Ava en 1830 hasta mi propio espectáculo".

Publicaciones

Artículos
Revealing the Mysteries of Magic, an exposure of the methods of the Egyptian conjuror Tahra Bey. The Day (January, 1926)
Thurston, Howard. The Truth About Indian Magic. Popular Mechanics (April, 1927)
Thurston, Howard. Magic and How It Is Made. Popular Mechanics (October, 1927)

Libros:

Howard Thurston's Tricks With Cards (1903)
50 New Card Tricks (1905)
Thurston's Easy Pocket Tricks: The A-B-C of Magic (1915)
The Mishaps of Magicians (1927)
Fooling Millions (1928)
Tales of Magic and Mystery (1928)
My Life of Magic (1929)
400 Tricks You Can Do (1940)

Véase también
 Ilusionismo

Referencias

Lecturas relacionadas

 Worthington, Thomas Chew. (1938).  Recuerdos de Howard Thurston: prestidigitador, ilusionista y autor . (Con una introducción de  Henry Ridgely Evans). Baltimore.

Enlaces externos

 "ThurstonMasterMagician.com - La fuente n. ° 1 de información sobre Howard Thurston".

 Howard Thurston  Encyclopædia Britannica
 "Digital Howard" Esquemas clásicos

 carteles de Howard Thurston, en manos de Billy Rose Theatre Division,  New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Fallecidos por neumonía
Ilusionistas de Estados Unidos
Intérpretes de Vodevil
Columbianos


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Lathan took to Twitter to deny these rumors, sort of.
Y'all are funny. Under no circumstances did I bite Beyonce and if I did it would've been a love bite ?
Does Oprah Winfrey Believe Michael Jackson's Accusers?


"Sweet Psychedelic Orange"がこの度、The Penelopesの2006年のアルバム"Summerdew Avenue"とともに、東京のThisTime Recordsのオンラインショップにて取り扱い開始となりました!
6. This may be related to the question no.5. About the Leeds scene. Could you tell me the overall situation?
The Leeds scene is very healthy and extremely competitive, loads of venues and hundreds of bands. Bands like Black Wire and Kaiser Chiefs have put Leeds guitar music back into the mainstream after a long lull.
The Leeds band of the moment are The Pigeon Detectives. They blend The Strokes style guitar, with massive terrace chant style choruses. There are so many bands in Leeds now it's hard to keep up. Leeds is still known for its arty bands, for which there are still a horde of them gigging around. I prefer the new proletarian pop bands storming into the mainstream and the charts, making loads of cash in the process. The Kaiser Chiefs and The Pigeon Detectives have good pop tunes and a great sense of humour in their music. The other major star to come out of Leeds over the last few years is Corinne Bailey Rae. She has showcased a more soulful style for the sounds of Leeds. She creates great pop music, but in a chilled out summery fashion.
The above bands/artists are from the mainstream, but my favourite Leeds bands are more rebellious, more tuneful, or extremely unlucky. Travis and I used to really like rock 'n roll band 10,000 Things who were an awesome live band. They did manage to get an album out on a decent label, but unfortunately, they were savaged by the music press, and their label dropped them. Sam Riley, the singer of The 10,000 Things, is now turning into a film star. He is the young man who played Ian Curtis in the recent biopic Control, to great reviews. It is strange how things work out sometimes.
Another great Leeds band are The Terminals. They are an in yer face high energy pop punk rebel band who play with real flair, and have lots of catchy as hell tunes, great stuff. They feature former members of The Pale Saints and Edsel Auctioneer.
The final Leeds band I must mention is the great mod beat band The Lost 45s UK who released an album on the Biff Bang Pow! label and put out several superb self-released singles. They recently split up, which is sad news, as they were fellow travellers of the mod pop furrow and they played a whole suite of superb songs. With former Lost 45 Nige currently playing bass for The Ace, and their drummer Davey Fairbrother helping us out loads in the past, The Ace have a strong connection to The Lost 45s UK. Hopefully they'll get back together with loads of great new tunes, sometime in the future.
5. About the UK Mod scene. Are you concerned with the contemporary part of it? Is there any new movement that excites you?
The UK mod scene is in a good health, with Rob Bailey's New Untouchables putting on loads of great events throughout London, the UK and Europe. Obviously the broad mod umbrella includes lots of styles of music from blues R&B, northern soul, Hammond jazz, on to ska and reggae, and then to the noisier guitar styles of beat, pop art, freakbeat, power-pop, mod-garage, psyche-pop, modrevival, Britpop and retro sounding indie bands. There's a growth of old school modernism happening within the clubs, with R&B, soul and blues getting more popular, so folk can have a good dance to those classic sounds. There are lots of little scenes and promoters throughout towns and cities of Great Britain, so there is loads going on.
In Leeds, there is the 25th Hour Collective who promote excellent mod events filled with R&B, soul, ska, latin, beat and funk for the discerning dancer in smart threads. Then there's Brighton Beach at Leeds University, which is more proletarian in style, mixing up beat, garage, R&B, psyche, soul with modern indie and Britpop to lots of drunken students and some bemused smartly dressed mods. I think the current mod scene is dynamic with good times, classic tunes and dancing the night away.
I think the gigging scene for mod/power-pop/garage bands outside of London is slightly more restricted. A band like us mainly plays on the pub circuit with all the other indie and rock bands, but we occasionally get invited to a mod, garage or power-pop themed night. If we wanted to play a mod/garage/power-pop night regularly, we'll have to organise it ourselves.
My personal favourite scene in the UK has always been the guitar scene in Liverpool, modern Mersey-beat if you like. The bands from Liverpool seem to have great catchy songs written into their DNA. I have really liked recent bands like The Coral, The Bandits, The Pedantics, The Great North Western Hoboes, Free Peace, Candie Payne, The Zutons, as well as the classic Liverpool bands such as The La's, The Stairs and Shack, great tunes galore.
Travis of The Ace really digs a band called Dogs from London, who have supported Paul Weller in the past. They have that firebrand punky mod power-pop mayhem going on in their sound; like a collision of The Clash and The Jam, which Travis really likes.
The most exciting region for producing great mod-garage bands is still the Medway region, with Graham Day And The Gaolers kicking out a great rampage of an album recently and the awesome The Len Price 3 who have loads of great tunes. The Len Price 3 are my favourite band of the last 5 years, catchy melodies galore, guitars with big chords and great harmonies. They are like The Who and The Kinks mixed with the Ramones and Beatles style harmonies, I proper love them.
3. It seems you are recording songs so frequently. Could you tell me the process of the recording?
We record as much as we can, but in our perspective we don't really record enough, as we have plenty of songs. Our main limitation is cash, as with all bands, so we record when we have gathered enough money. Our first priority is trying to raise the cash. We work with Carl Rosamond at Billiard Room Studio is Leeds. Carl is a master sound engineer and he is superb at mixing; basically, he is a great bloke to be around when dealing with creativity and song. It is always great fun when we record with Carl, even when we're working hard. Travis and I have been recording with him since 1999. Carl is a busy live sound engineer and has been touring with various acts all over the world for the last few years, so we try to book him when he is back in Leeds.
When we have the cash and Carl is around, we charge into the studio. We usually record, mix and master songs over one weekend, trying to put the songs down as quickly as possible. We limit ourselves to four songs within a session, as we've found we can just squeeze that many songs into the time we have and still get a great mix. In terms of picking songs, we democratically choose four songs from the pool of new material we have, then we go in, record them and hope for the best. We have recorded every which way with Carl over the years, from the keeping it real analogue reel to reel methods, to keeping it unreal with all out digital trickery. We're not purists, we'll use whatever method is the most efficient in getting the best sound for our songs in the time we have to record.
4. What do you always pay attention to in recording? Because your music usually seems to be categorized into Mod/Garage genre, but there's always some strong, catchy hook in your song, which sometimes tends to be forgotten in the genre. Are you conscious of it?
I think it is the songs we choose rather than the way we record. We always try to vary the mood and style of our songs as much as possible. I think the only constant is that nearly all our songs are in the upbeat, keep it to the short type of tunes. When we record the more visceral garage numbers like our tunes Industrial Slit and Tonight, we try to put as many hooks in as possible, whether it be the chorus, certain riffs, big chords changes or a simple chuck berry style solo. Hopefully amongst the mayhem, there is enough melody to keep the ears listening.
I think with a lot of the bands ploughing the mod or garage genre, they obsess over recreating various retro sounds, rather than actually concentrating on the song writing. Primitive or not, a crap song is a crap song, no matter how great the sound of the recording might be. To be honest, you never really know how a song will turn out until it is recorded, but some effort in putting together a solid verse and a catchy chorus can make all the difference. If you're clever enough, then you can do a middle bit.
I think we try to concentrate on our songs in terms of simple song constructions, but with a maximum amount of energy, hooks, guitar riffs and licks, melodic bass lines, big rhythmical beats then we hope that the chorus is catchy enough.
We try to vary the style and mood of our songs. New tunes Turn The World Upside Down, Gatso and Alright have a 70s influenced mod power-pop punk feel of The Jam and The Undertones, so that is a slight shift from our past 60s influences. Saying that, we have songs like Supernatural, Wings of Wax or Adamantine Sorceress of Ecstasy which are rooted in the whimsical jangly pop of the 60s, from the likes of The Byrds, The Beatles, the Searchers etc, we like to let those chiming guitars ring out. We also have a tune in the mid-60s mod style big chord crashing mod stomper SuperCool Super Cruel, a killer garage tune called Tonight, and a psychedelic pop song called Elysium Sky.
I think varying the sounds of the guitars helps to create stylistic variation within our songs or so we hope. We try to adjust our guitar sounds in the studio, crunchy sounds, crashing chords, chiming guitars, dizzy fuzz, punchy distortions etc… these are like a paint palette of sound which can give a song its character. Also the way we try to sing a song hopefully will add to a tunes mood. A full on throat ripping train wreck of a vocal will suit the garage or punky numbers. A bouncy melodic voice goes well with the poppy songs. Overall, I think we mix up late 70s mod power-pop influences with the 60s obsessed mod garage sounds that we all really dig.
Various Rubbles, Nuggets, Pebbles, 60s mod garage psyche compilations.
1. Tell me about the history of The Ace. How did you get together?
The Ace's origins stem back to the split in 2004 of the mod-garage band (Thee Mighty) Uptight that myself (Jonny Magus) and Travis were members of. The split was a sad moment, as all the band had given 6 years of hard work playing crazy mod garage. Travis and I decided to carry on playing, so we started putting together our next project, Freebooting Profiteers. Travis now swapped from playing Hammond organ to guitar, so this instantly started to shift the sound of our new band away from that of (Thee Mighty) Uptight. Along the way we recruited massive The Jam fan Jonny Fox on bass and Jefferson on drums.
The Freebooting Profiteers added an extra dose of late 70s power-pop to the mod-garage sounds of our previous band, so we gigged and recorded for the next few years. We recorded enough songs for an album, received good reviews and gathered plenty of airplay from rock 'n roll radio shows throughout USA, Canada, France, UK, Spain and Australia. We even had a label interested in putting out the album and things were looking quite good until the summer of 2007, when mysteriously, Freebooting Profiteers fizzled out with a whimper, and we fractured apart.
After a few months in the wilderness, we reconvened under a new band name 'The Ace' with myself (Jonny Magus), Jonny Fox, Travis and Davey Fairbrother, of Leeds mod beat band The Lost 45s UK, helping out on drums. After two rehearsals with this initial line-up, we played our first gig as The Ace, and it was a magnificent. We had decided to change our name to The Ace, to give ourselves a fresh start and a name that reflected our modish roots, but we did decide to continue playing the songs we wrote as Freebooting Profiteers, but now as The Ace. We are also in the process of writing plenty of new songs.
Eventually Andy Walton came along and joined The Ace on drums, so Dave could get back to his own band. This particular line-up of Jonny Magus, Jonny Fox, Andy Walton and Travis lasted about 8 months, in which we played quite a lot of gigs and recorded some more songs. Unfortunately, in the summer of 2008, Jonny Fox and Andy decided it was their time to leave the band, so Travis and I were back in the same position as we were at the end of (Thee Mighty) Uptight years.
All was not lost though, Nige Spencer, a friend of Dave Fairbrother and member of The Lost 45 UK, is now playing bass for The Ace, which is great news, as Nige is a great song-writer, singer and a magnificent musician. It also seems that things have come full circle as former (Thee Mighty) Uptight drumming loon Dynamite Daz Lee has come back into the fold, so Dynamite Daz is now playing drums for The Ace. Daz's drumming is eccentric and extreme, all energy and fire, a totally demented style. With two such maverick musicians coming into the band, we're starting to develop a more unhinged but exciting sound. The current line-up (Autumn 2008) is Jonny Magus (guitar/vocals), Travis (guitar/vocals), Nige Spencer (bass) and Dynamite Daz Lee (drums). The strand between all the soap opera style comings and goings of musicians has been Dave Fairbrother of the late but very great Leeds mod band The Lost 45s UK, as he was the catalyst in getting The Ace motivated; and his constant help and advice has always been greatly appreciated.
01. The Ace "Adamantine Sorceress Of Ecstasy"
02. Monsieur Mo Rio "There Isn't Any Truth"
03. Santa Dog "Belle De Jour"
05. Age Of Jets "Beep Command"
06. The Music Lovers "Alan Lake"
08. The English Roundabout "Hallucinogenic London"
09. Paul Bevoir "His Number One Fan"
10. Wingdisk "Pink Snow (Space Mix) For Lil 8"
11. Fiel Garvie "The Palace Lights"
12.Mr.Wright "I Wish I Had A Girl Like You"
13. The Penelopes "Trick Of The Light"
14. Achordian "The Day That The Town Finally Died"
15. Rinaldi Sings "Julie Barber"
The Music Lovers "Guide For Young People" 国内盤リリース!!


T.E. McHALE: Thank you. Good afternoon to everybody. Welcome to the CART media conference. We are pleased that you all could join us. We want to extend a special welcome to our two guests this afternoon, driver Alex Zanardi and owner Chip Ganassi of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. I am going turn it over to Mike Knight of Target/Chip Ganassi who would like to make a brief statement; then he will introduce Alex.
MIKE KNIGHT: Thanks, Tom. On behalf of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing we want to thank everyone for taking time to join us today and, also thank Tom and the CART people for the opportunity to be on the call today. I just wanted to make some brief introductory remarks and then Alex had a little statement that he wanted to make before we get into the question and answer. For those of you who maybe regular viewers of the RPM Tonight Show on ESPN 2, just for your information, Alex will be on the show tonight being interviewed. Some statistics that I'd like to point out going back to last weekend, the victory at Long Beach was the fourth of Alex's IndyCar career and put him second into the PPG CART World Series points standings with 41 points. That is 3 behind leader Scott Pruett. I think most of you are aware that Alex set a CART record with six consecutive pole positions that was set when he won the pole in Surfers Paradise a couple of weeks ago. And what you may not be aware is that three of those poles actually came in the last minute of qualifying. And while that pole streak was ended in Long Beach, by qualifying second, Alex did extend his CART record of consecutive starts on the front row to 11. That is three more than the previous record of eight. Alex started that streak of 11 consecutive front rows last June in Portland where he won the pole and also went on to win his first career IndyCar event, the Budweiser G.I. Joe's 200. And, while there has been a lot of focus on the pole record and the front-row streak, I'd also like to point out to you that also in that 11-race streak, in other words, again going back-to-back to Portland again last June, in addition to starting on the front row in all of those 11 races, in that 11-race span, Alex has four victories, two second place finishes, one 3rd place. One 4th place. And one 7th place finish. Alex also has set the fastest race lap in each of the last two races, Australia and also in Long Beach. In that same timeframe, going back to the last 19 races, in other words, all of the races last season and the first three this year, Target/Chip Ganassi Racing has 8 victories, 4 by Alex and 4 by Jimmy Vasser. And, that is more than any other team in that 19-race time span. As some of you are probably aware, Target/Chip Ganassi Racing has a very special partnership this year with St. Jude's Research Hospital in Memphis, this was the hospital originally founded by Danny Thomas. And, for every team victory this year, the team is donating $5,000 to the construction of Target House which will be the home-away-from-home for the families of patients being treated at St. Jude. For every pole there is a $1,000 donation and for every lap led there is a $25 donation. I mention it specifically because of Alex's victory last weekend and the laps that he led and that Jimmy led there, was a $6,300 donation by the team to St. Jude last weekend alone, which brings the total for the season to $9,575. Let me just conclude my remarks by saying at the end of the teleconference if anyone else needs any further information; needs photos or slides or have information faxed you, press kit, anything like that, please call Monica Davis at 612-851-7221. And, I will certainly be available this afternoon for any follow-up questions out here in Scottsdale where it is closing in on 90 degrees today, and bright sunshine, and that number is 602-661-5240. And with that, I want to introduce the Long Beach Winner and last season's Rookie-of-the-year and third place in the championship last year, Alex Zanardi, and Alex's remarks, just to put them into context for you, when Alex won the pole in Australia, which set the record of 6 consecutive poles in the post -- the qualifying interview, a couple of his remarks were misinterpreted and this has to do with a myth that he once drove a pizza delivery truck in Rome. The background on this is that the 1996 Target television commercial featured a scene incorporating this idea. And, of course, they don't see the Target TV commercials in Australia. So, anyway, Alex tried to clarify this in Long Beach last weekend and we wanted to just take this opportunity to have him explain it to this group. And, then we will get into the question and answer with both Alex and Chip Ganassi. So, Alex, why don't you go ahead.
ALEX ZANARDI: Thank you very much, Michael, and good afternoon to everybody. Michael Knight had basically said everything, so it is not much for me to say left. Basically, I am Italian and I eat a lot of pizza. But, this is about it. So, that was a little bit misinterpreted and went around the world. But, the clarification, I think, it was needed at this point and that is it, basically.
Q. Chip, I'd like you to sort of compare and contrast the styles of your two drivers.
CHIP GANASSI: Compare and contrast the styles of the two drivers -- well, let us see, Joe. I think if you go back to last year, I sort of felt that -- that -- I knew we had all the ingredients, I guess, to have a good team last season. I think it was going to take Alex a couple three to five races or something to sort of get the feel of the -- the feel of the CART World Series last year. And, that is because when you look at the first, I want to say, five of the first seven races or something were on ovals last year. So, it was a bit of a -- it was a bit of a questionmark, you know, because you always have that question as a driver coming from Europe, is he going to adapt to the ovals. So, I knew that it was going to be about mid-season before he was actually very comfortable in the car and you know, you have the -- the guy could have been speaking French by the time we got to Detroit last year or something, I think was really the first -- where we started to do some road racing and I think we were afforded by rain there last year. But once -- I think I was quoted at some point as saying last year probably the biggest thing Alex was going to do in 1996 was help Jimmy win the Championship and I think it turned out that way. And, I think you are going to see the opposite happen in 1997, if you will. I think the two drivers, I think, are -- you have -- how can I say this -- you have one who is very technical and one who is very American, if you will. And, by meaning very American, I mean, Jimmy is very sort of -- grew up with, you know, with the quarter midgets and came from a background of oval track racing and then into road racing. Where, Alex did the opposite and, was on an oval much, much later in his career, if not -- until last season, so, I think the two of them -- and now you have to juxtapose against that the engineering of their two cars because while you have a technical driver, a very technical driver and for lack of a better term, a very American driver, you have to layover top of that, Joe, their engineers. Because their respective engineers, I think are just the opposite of that. Whereas, Morris Nunn is a, while not a college trained engineer, he is Alex's race engineer and is very -- very much schooled from the seat of the pant, I would say, as opposed to Julian Robertson, who is Jimmy's engineer, that I would call -- that I sort of nickname the slide rule. So, you have opposites in terms of the drivers in their respective strong points. But, then laid over top of that, you have the engineers who are, again, opposite with their respective drivers- if that made any sense to you. And, so I think that -- the combination of those four pieces make our team as what the strength it is, because you know, at different circuits throughout the season, you call upon those different talents throughout the organization and I can tell you, Joe, that a large part of our success is because the two teams work as a team. And, you know, when one is down, the other one lifts him up. And, when one is up, the other one, you know, -- he pulls the other guy up with him. So, it is working very well right now as a team. And, I hope I explained that.
Q. I have one for each, if I can. Alex, if I could start with you. This is kind of an ambiguous question, so I hope you can get it okay. I remember talking to Michael back before he went back to Formula I. And, even if he wasn't winning every single race, he was the guy to beat and everybody knew it. He was the fastest guy. Last year I remember you talking that you were behind the fence in Louden somewhere; nobody had even talked to you. Not last year, but the year before. Now, all of a sudden, seems like you are in that same spot like Michael used to be in, I mean, even if you are not winning every race, Mike was saying the points finishes and you are qualifying and everything. Does it seem that way to you that you are -- I mean, everybody is confident and thinks they can win, but does it seem that way to you that you are the "hot shoe," I guess, of the series now and can you kind of compare that to how it has been to when nobody would talk to you a couple of years ago?
A VOICE: There was one guy that talked to you there.
ALEX ZANARDI: Yes, that is right. But, people were not avoiding me because I was ill. People were avoiding me because they don't know what I was. I mean, Formula I is a completely different world and what we get over here it is -- it is the names of the people that are winning races. Unfortunately, I won races in my career, I won a lot of races in go-cart, Formula III and Formula 3000, but in Formula I, I never had the right situation and sometime in this kind of business, you need to be lucky also. I believe that I am a very good driver. I have a lot of say in my capabilities. But, I also believe that that I am not the best driver in the world. I have to believe that I am as good as the best driver in the world, but I don't believe that I am the best. I believe that there is a lot of young guys that, if they would have had the same opportunity I had in my career, they would have done probably the same kind of results or maybe even better. But, hey, it happened to me - what I have to say, now I am here, and I am very successful and I want to keep it that way. That is why I don't -- I don't stop enjoy the results for more than one day after I get the results. But, I try from the following day, straight-a-way, to build the good results for the following race. The fact that everybody indicates me as one of the hottest driver or the main contender for the Championship, as I said, pleases me a lot and I do believe that we have a very strong opportunity this year. I believe that our technical package with the Honda engine and Reynard car and the Firestone tires, it is probably one of the best, if not the best, not because the Honda itself or the Reynard or the Firestone are better than the opposition, but because in our technical package, we don't, to me, we don't have any weak points. And, we are probably maybe the only team that can say that. Our car, so far, has been very reliable. I have to give credit to my mechanics because not simply they did a fantastic job last weekend in Long Beach making me win in the race in the pits, but also because every time we have been testing during the winter, we always did a lot of running. We spend a lot of time in the track while other people are spending time with their wheel up in the air the garage because they have a lot of problems. We do a lot of running. We do a lot of testing. And, that is why when we come to Saturday afternoon to put together the fast lap or to Sunday afternoon, when it is time to race, our car goes, and, goes very well, actually.
Q. Chip, you might have gotten this before, but they have had the reports about Roger Penske going to do Indy in 1998 and Al Jr. going with him. I just wondered, would you consider doing the same thing No. 1? And, No. 2, do you think it is right to have CART -- have this stance that they must combat IRL, which is what I have heard before, and fight them everywhere and make sure we have got the good drivers on this side and they have just got Indy. And is that the kind of stance that CART should continue to take?
Q. In your view - I don't mean to drop names again - but I remember Mario saying when the IRL first split, "we must combat them;" we had to have the US 500 right in the same day and now they have moved it up a day ahead. Do you see, from your view, that that is the way the CART should continue to attack the beginning of IRL; that we should say all the drivers, good ones are on this side, they have just got Indy and, you know, we must fight them everywhere we can?
CHIP GANASSI: I think it is important for the fans of motor sports to realize that, you know, any time there is a conflict, you know, both sides have to come forward with some sort of idea or some sort of -- and I think we as -- I think for myself. I just want the fans to know that we are doing everything we can to try to make something happen there. I mean, if -- all we can do is keep trying. We are trying to make something happen to bring this back together, to bring open wheel racing back under one -- back under one roof. I think it is important that we do everything we can to make that happen. Whether that involves Indianapolis or not, you know, is another discussion. I mean, I think it is important that it be under one roof, one, you know, one set of rules. It would obviously -- it would be a lot stronger with both groups together as opposed to being a part.
Q. Are they trying to get together or are they fighting each other?
ALEX ZANARDI: Yeah, you know, it is an ongoing thing. I don't know whether "fighting each other" is the right word, but, I mean, they seem to be off in separate directions right now.
Q. I was wondering if you considered going back to Formula I, Alex?
ALEX ZANARDI: Well, my dream when I was a little kid was obviously to succeed in my activity and to become a professional racing driver, possibly at the top of motor sports. I consider what I am doing now really the top of motor sports and I am very, very happy because I have a fantastic situation where I am not simply getting race results, but I am really enjoying myself. And, under that point of view, I have no thinking or any concern, any doubt, "Well, should I do something else, should I go back to Formula I or this and that." Nevertheless, you have to take opportunity in life and maybe in the future I will find myself in a situation where I can't have the situation I want in CART and if I would have another opportunity-it doesn't have to necessarily be Formula I. Maybe -- who knows, maybe in touring cars or in different series, maybe I would consider something different. But, right now, the way I am enjoying myself in the CART Series with my team and the way things are going -- the way they are going for me at the moment, I am not expecting- I keep my finger crossed- but I am not expecting to find myself in a situation where I won't have a job offer. So, I believe that our series has a lot of strong points and that makes the challenge very, very tough and challenging for a driver. I believe it is a fact that if you win a championship or if you win races in our series, you know as a fact, that there maybe better drivers than you are around the world, but you beat a lot of good drivers in a very fair situation where other people has the same kind of material, the same kind of technical equipment, the same kind of support from their team that you do, and, so, you know that -- the day you win a race, you know that, for sure, your team has put you in the right situation, but you have done your part. And, this is very, very satisfying. Now, in Formula I, sometime you find yourself in the wrong situation, no way you are going to win anything. If you find yourself in a good situation, you can feel good when you beat your teammate, but you can't feel good when you beat all the other drivers because you just did what you were supposed to do. In other words, today, if you are driving Williams and you beat your teammate, you know that you have done a good job. But, you don't know which kind of job you have done beating all the others, you know, because they don't have the same car you do. So, at this moment of my career, this is my attitude. This is my understanding. But, we all change in life and there is different things that comes into play in life like maybe one day I will have a family; I will want to go back and live in Italy because this is where I am from. And, maybe I will consider to move closer to home and that is why I may decide if not to quit that to find a job that gives me the opportunity to spend more time at home. I believe that if you want to do your best, you don't have simply to be committed to what you are doing, but it has got to be a passion for you and it has got to stay that way. Chip knows that as a fact because he sees me at the shop whenever I have an occasion and I always want to talk about the car because I like to do that; not because I am doing that to simply to try to win. I like to do that. It is a big passion for me. And, another moment I cannot consider that as a sacrifice, the fact that I cannot see my friend, the fact that I will be living over here in the United States and I cannot spend time with my family, I have a lot of motivation and this is why probably things are going well for me right now. If that one day will start to become a sacrifice for me and I couldn't do that as naturally as I am doing that today, I may decide something different for my future. But, this, it would never be because I rate Formula I than CART. For me, the two series are at the top of motor sports and I am delighted, at this moment, to be driving for one of the best teams of the CART Series and be in the condition to not simply win races, but to be as -- to be considered as one of the main contender for the championship.
Q. Do you consider yourself Al Unser Jr. as one of your top competitors? Is he the person that you consider that you have to beat?
ALEX ZANARDI: I believe the question was do I consider Al Unser, Jr. like one of the men to beat for the championship; is that right?
ALEX ZANARDI: Yes. I mean, when you believe you killed the guy, he comes back and it is like a cat, it has got 7 lives. And, it is a fact that Al Unser, Jr. is one of the stronger challengers, not simply for me, but also for Michael and for all the other guys that are hoping to not simply win race this is year, but also in succeeding in winning the championship. So far, he has been facing some problems. It looks like his teammate had a quicker understanding of what the car -- the new Penske takes in all their setups and this kind of regulation to make it work, so -- but, I believe the car is competitive. I believe that this year, the Penske car is a competitive car and I wouldn't be surprised to see Al Unser Jr. not simply scoring top 5 results as he did last weekend, but fighting for the win for the next race. So, Al Unser, Jr. has the capability and everybody knows that he can be very strong where -- also when you are not expecting him to be that way. I mean, he proved in the past that starting from really the back of the grid he came back and actually won races, so you always keep an eye on a guy like that. And, as I said, I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the position to win the championship with -- like three or four races to go. Also, because he always reach the checkered flag. He seems to be like a championship-man more than a single-race-man. So, I believe is he going to be very strong and I just hope we are going to be stronger than him.
Q. Sort of a complex question about oval racing, Alex. And specifically about Nazareth. To win this championship and the way CART has the Championship designed, you are going to have to do well on oval tracks. What will it take and what are you doing to break through the win column there and to be consistent on oval tracks and what do you expect and what will be your approach to Nazareth?
ALEX ZANARDI: Well, obviously we have indications from last year and last year we were very, very competitive in the super speedway like Michigan or even Rio de Janeiro was sort of super speedway and we had a fantastic car there. We know, as a fact, that there were some fundamental problems in the package Reynard Honda in the short ovals around the corners where you are normally travelling at the speed of 130, 140 miles per hour. We do believe that our new car, it is different and we do believe that the 1997 Reynard is a big step forward and at this point of view -- and, so, as we will put the wheel down on the ground, our motivation, we hope, will be raised from the performance of the car. Unfortunately, we haven't done much testing in the short ovals. Personally speaking, I haven't done any yet. But, I do hope we are going to find some good weather next week in Milwaukee as we will be testing for two days on Monday and Tuesday before Nazareth. And, I hope we can find a good setup for that race. Once again, I never go to a racetrack with particular expectation. We can -- sometime as for example when we went to Long Beach last week, we knew that last year Goodyear was very, very strong there and we expect Goodyear drivers to be really competitive. So, we kind have said, okay, if we can grab home some points, that is going to be good. But, then, as we put the wheel down on the ground, we realize that we were competitive and we didn't race for second place. We raced for a win. So, this is what is going to happen in Nazareth again. For sure, I don't feel right now like -- I don't feel very, very confident. In other words, I don't expect to go to Nazareth and put a lap on everybody and win the race. But, you never know. I believe that we have the way to put the wheel down on the ground and then we will see -- we will see what we can do. I had don't think I need to say that Michael and Al Unser, Jr. are going to be very strong down there. But, if we cannot compete for the win, we will try to bring points home because it is very important. I believe that in Rio de Janeiro we are going to be strong because we were strong last year and we have a very powerful engine and Firestone tires were performing very well there last year. But, again, nevertheless, I believe we have a team that is capable of trying to solve problems. And, we have problems last year. We are going to be testing in a short oval next week. We will be working hard to try to reach a good setup and then we go to Nazareth and we do what we can. This is the only thing we can do. We will try to bring points home and if it is possible, we will win the race. I mean, I am not going to Nazareth thinking, oh, boy, no way that I will win the race, you know, because -- otherwise, if you then find yourself in the situation where you can win, you may get scared to win the race. So, you have to clean your mind and go and try to do your best no matter what that is and if you do so, and you come home with a 10th place, you got to be happy anyway because on that day, that was your best. So that is what we are going to do.
Q. Anything in particular been difficult for you for short ovals coming off your background?
ALEX ZANARDI: Well, obviously, it is not easy. I had this big questionmark in my mind last year because, as Chip said previously, I never race in ovals before 1996. So, I had a questionmark in my mind because I didn't know how I was going to do in ovals from a driver's point of view. I was a little bit concerned, especially for the super speedways because I thought due to the fact that you are travelling at very high speed, was going to be more difficult from the driver's point of view. Didn't work that way for me. I considered actually more difficult to race in a short oval where the rhythm is much more important; especially in a race situation than really the performance on a single lot. I believe that in five or six years time I will know more things about how to set the car up in a short ovals or how to deal with traffic in a short ovals, but I can't have -- I can't have this experience and I can't go to the supermarket and buy it. So, I believe I have to do the best with what I have got. And, -- but once again, I think we have enough to score more than a few points. So, I want to go to Nazareth and do well and if I would come home after all the oval racing with an average of 10 points each, I will be happy right now. But, who knows? I may come back with that and then regret that I should have got something more because who would expect, included me, for example, that last year I could have challenged Jimmy for the Championship. For sure, last year was a fantastic season. But, now, looking back, I regret that we missed some opportunities to score points and if we wouldn't do so, maybe we would have won The championship. So, you never know in life and you always have to do whatever you can. And, be happy with it.
Q. Chip, seems like you said earlier and I want to clarify this that last year Alex helped Jimmy win the Championship and the reverse may be true this year. Does that mean you think Alex is going to win the Championship and Jimmy is going to help?
CHIP GANASSI: Well, I think, yeah, -- obviously, both guys are trying to win the championship. I said last year that -- I said in 1996 that Alex was going to help Jimmy win the Championship and I think you may see the opposite happen this year. Yeah, I mean, I don't -- I mean, I think Jimmy is certainly trying to win the Championship too, but I think the two of them together, as I said, going back and forth between the two with the strong package between the two of them, they help each other.
Q. Could you put it into laymen's terms the difference between a technical driver and an American driver?
CHIP GANASSI: I just think that -- I don't think one -- I don't think -- that is not to signify good, bad, or right or wrong. I think what I am saying is I think the apprentice program, if you will, in Europe is much more technical than it is here in the United States in open wheel racing. I don't think that is any big secret. And, so, you are generating guys that are much more technically oriented out of Europe. And where I think Americans are more, I would say be, more -- have a different demeanor, if you will, in the car. And, whereas, a European, I think, is trying to get his car -- would work much harder and longer to get his car to work. I think an American would just sort of drive around particular problems, if you will. And again, that is not to say, good bad right or wrong, just different.
Q. Alex, first I'd like to know something about the mental preparation that you go through for qualifying; particularly with the whole streak you have going 11 now on the front row. Is there something special you do or some kind of a mindset that you put yourself into before you head out on Saturday?
ALEX ZANARDI: No. It is not much. I mean, I go out. I make somebody beat me. I eat some spinach and I go out again like Popeye. No. Really, there is nothing special. I mean, this is -- it is a little bit in relationship with the previous question difference between me and Jimmy. Jimmy has always the desire to go fast and under this point of view, he is learning a little bit from me to be patient and try to make the car better before he can actually go faster. You know, this is his desire. Sometimes he tends to adapt himself and change his driving style in order to suit the car problems and go around the problems that way. I always like to make the car better. My desire - and this comes from not simply my technical background, but simply because it is my passion - I really like to follow the development of the car close. That is why I believe I have developed in my career some quality that I probably had, but probably all the drivers have, I had the possibility to develop those qualities because it really comes natural for me because I really like, I really like the technical aspect. I like sometimes to interfere - sometimes even too much - with the works of the engineer suggesting technical solutions for the car. So, this attitude that I have never been -- I am never happy with the car. I am never going to be totally satisfied with the way the car is handling because if you have some understeer and you cure it, you make a technical change to the car; then you are going to try to travel faster around the corners. Now, doing that, you are going to face -- you are going to push a different problem into the car because you always drive the car to the limit. Now, what the limit is, is the limit something that can be moved further? In other words, can you change something in the car to try to use the grip that comes from the tire at this 100%? I always ask myself this question. And, until the last minute of qualifying, I keep trying with Morris Nunn, actually one of the most experienced engineers in the CART Series - and he is my race engineer - I always try to make the car better. Now, when the car is okay, when I am pretty satisfied with the car, I just put on a new set of tires and I take out the time from the car, the time is in the car. It doesn't come from me. It is in the car already; just need to drive the car on another circuit and do one lap, that is all it takes. It may sound difficult, but it is easy. It may sound easy, but it is difficult. You know, it is something that you learn through your career and when you actually find the right situation where you have everything it takes, you have the right tools; then you can really show whether you are good or not to play with those tools. But right now, things are going well, so I am very, very happy. I don't have any mental preparation. My mental preparation is knowing that I am doing everything I can to develop my car and when I know that my car is okay, when I know that the car is doing what I want, when I know that I can drive the car without having to change my driving style because I have developed my driving style and I want to drive the car in the way I know is the fastest way; when I know all those things, it gives me the peace and -- the inside peace to go out and say "it is going to be easy to do that lap." I go out and the times come from the car. It doesn't come from me. I don't have to push the car. I have an engine that is strong enough to do that. So, to answer your question, I don't know, I don't do any kind of special mental preparation. I just have -- I am just working with a team where I have a lot of friends. This helps a lot. I know that everybody in my team is fully committed and as they proved last weekend, everybody works at his best to do his part. And, when the results come, you are not surprised because you know that you have done everything -- everything was in your possibility to achieve that kind of result.
Q. One other quick question I wanted to ask was: One of the big things that has been made a lot of in Formula I with Jacques Villeneuve's success has been his ability to deal with the car, coming from IndyCar to develop and set up the Williams' car. Are you finding that you have more freedom to get involved with the setup of the car in CART than you did in Formula I?
ALEX ZANARDI: No, not really, actually. In Formula I, there was more space, more things to play with; especially at the time I was involved with Formula I, I raced in 1993 with the Lotus Team and at that time, we used to have the active suspension system. To briefly explain what it is, it is a pump driven by the engine, the motor of the car, that generates pressure, oil pressure and instead of having the four shock absorber with the springs, you have four hydraulic activators and this pressure is controlled by the way the pressure goes to these four activators is controlled by the computer. And now, simply changing some computer data, you can make the car handle completely different. You can make unbelievable things. Now, that system was very unreliable. Sometimes the car would sit down on the ground and you would have a big, big moment like I had in 1993 when I had my huge accident. That was an active suspension failure. But, I learned a lot and I enjoyed that. Yet, although, the car was not competitive, I enjoyed that year as one of my best seasons in my racing career because I learned so much really, let me use this expression, "talking to the computer all the time," that I learned a lot of things. After that, when active suspension were banned, we start to ask, both me and the engineers, we start to ask now what did we learn? What can we do with the passive car, in other words, with springs and shock absorber, how can we recreate with the sort of stupid car, the same kind of advantages we had with the other car? And now you go into a new scenario where you ask yourself this different question. You try to go around the problems and recreate the same sort of advantages you had previously. The bad thing of Formula I is the fact that sometime the basic project of the car is so different from one thing to the other, everybody is running their own car, and especially everybody has a different budget. So, sometimes some team, they spend half of their budget in just designing the car and then they go to the circuit, they realize that they have designed an artichoke and there is nothing they can do because they cannot afford to start with from a white piece of paper again. They have to stick with it and that is it. In IndyCars, everybody can go to Chip Ganassi because he is the importer of the Reynard cars and buy a Reynard which is a competitive car and you start from a very good point straight-a-way. Now, that may sound like a limit, that may sound like, hey, good people cannot develop their own idea. But, it is actually more difficult because you can just play with setups. In other words, you can have your own development programs, but in fact, when you come to the race weekend you have -- to succeed to compete with other, people you have to develop a better setup. So, you have less room to work in and if you fail to gain the perfection, you then -- you then stay behind other people. So, you have less room to work in our car, less tools, in other words. But it is much more challenging because you know that the opposition has the same kind of opportunity to start with and if you stay in front of them, it is just because you did a better job. So, under the human point of view, I believe it is much better.
MIKE KNIGHT: Let me just point out that we have already been on the line here for an hour. And, while the conference is fascinating, I am sure everyone doesn't have an unlimited amount of time here today. I'd like to make a suggestion that so that we can accommodate everybody that is on the line, let us get right to the question and, in turn, let us ask Chip and Alex to, you know, sort of hone in right on the heart of the answer so that we can accommodate everybody on the line. We are doing the exact opposite of what we do on the racetrack. We are kind of going slow today, but we are always fast on the track.
T.E. McHALE: Thanks, Mike. I was going to open it up for questions on the floor. Mike's advice is very well taken and one thing I would add to it, if you want to ask a question first, signal the operator by punching star one on your key pad and I would please ask all to keep it to one question, please. And, we will try and accommodate whoever needs to ask a question. But, we do need to move this along. Star 1 again if you want to signal the operator.
Q. Alex, you talked about going back to Italy at some point in the game. Would you like to see an oval track built in Italy?
ALEX ZANARDI: That would be fantastic. Really -- that is a dream. It would be fantastic to go race with CART in Italy because I believe we could make people understand what is a real show and Italy everybody just see red. They just -- you say motor racing and they understand Ferrari. It is very difficult. Maybe a little bit crazy sometimes because right now, I am doing, I believe, good results for my country and it is very, very hard. Motor racing is very popular in Italy. It is quite easy for a young kid to start and to race with CART or little formulas, but then it is very, very difficult to find the sponsors to succeed in your career because we have these big clouds that is Ferrari that is covering everything and is putting everything under a big shadow. Very difficult to find the spot where the sun shines. So I would love to see that happening.
Q. Clip the St. Jude Research hospital - we are located here in Memphis. Talk about that relationship the team has with the Children's Research Center?
CHIP GANASSI: Basically what the laymen don't know is that St. Jude is really -- it is more than just a hospital. It is a research facility. Some of the research going on there in Memphis with children is obviously second to none throughout the world, in fact. And, that is mostly what we are interested in are -- is -- what got our attention really was the children aspect and it is -- I guess it is an old cliche that our children are our future, but having a new child myself, I could tell you, it brings a whole new meaning to things. So our affiliation there is really true Target. They announced they were doing the Target House and being a partner with Target obviously, we stepped up and said, hey, we want to be a part of this thing- really, is the long and the short of it. As Michael said earlier, they are constructing a Target House there, which is basically like a hotel, if you will, for the families. We are going to have a room in that facility in the racing decor of the team and it will be in the team name and we are proud -- we are proud to help out one of our partners as well as help a good cause. I mean, you really don't understand what is going on in the medical world with children until you go to a St. Jude hospital and see what they are doing down there and it was an eye-opener for me to be in Memphis and be a part of that. And, I certainly can remember those commercials on television with Danny Thomas when I was a child and once again, we are just proud to be a part of it.
Q. Alex, you were the first Italian to win a CART race since Teo Fabi. Was that a special meaning for you?
ALEX ZANARDI: For me it was, very egotistical speaking, it was a special meaning for myself; not for my country. It is obviously nice then when you read the magazines and the newspaper and you see that they are taking good care of you and they are all with you and they say, oh, an Italian is doing well, but for me, it is important in my career to finally find another opportunity to change the direction that my career took in the previous two years of my agreement with Mr. Chip Ganassi, which I take the occasion and I thank him again for the opportunity. So, obviously, it was an unbelievable sensation because when you win a go-cart race in your first years and you have -- you kind of have the same feeling, but it is not in front of the same crowd. Like, for example, yesterday in Long Beach was amazing. When we took that lap after the race, it was incredible. To see all these people cheering for you, it is an emotion that you have to experience in life to really understand what it means.
Q. Alex, congratulations on your win Sunday. I have got a question that I guess it is for Alex and Chip. How do you see the current tire war in CART affecting the outcome of the season ultimately?
ALEX ZANARDI: Thank you very much for your congratulation. I believe it is a constructive war for both companies. I mean, the reason why they spend so much money into racing it is because they try to develop their product and if they don't have a reference point, it is difficult to really judge how good is the work you have been doing. Now, the battle has reached pretty equal level. Personally, I believe we have an excellent tire; especially for the race situation with Firestone and we are very, very proud and pleased to be associated with them. We do a lot of development for them. We did a lot of development during the winter and I look forward to do some more. So, I don't think that is going to be something that is going to degenerate in something that will make -- will take the series to a worse level. I think it is a productive war. So, I am very -- I am pleased that obviously there is more than one manufacturer involved in our series producing tire. I think it is a big plus. Now, I would like also to make another thing about the previous question about the St. Jude Hospital. Chip was very good about what he said and if I can just add one little thing. I believe that the team feels that association with the St. Jude hospital really strongly and was very emotional when, after the race, Chip Ganassi to me on the radio didn't simply say congratulation for the win, but he said this is the first $5,000 we are donating to St. Jude Hospital. That was not -- nobody was listening to the radio, so that was really sincere. And, that tells you how much we feel about that program and how much we are proud of it.
T.E. McHALE: That seems like a pretty good way to close. I want to thank Alex, Chip and Mike for joining us today. We wish you all continued success heading into the April 27th Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix presented by Toyota at Nazareth Speedway. I want to thank you all for joining us and we will be with you again next week.


INTRO's feargal on TV3's Elaine show (Friday 12th Jan 2018), chatting about whether women are stronger than men, who does more housework and lots of fun Friday topics! With Elaine Crowley, Alison spittle, Ray Shah and Nathan O'Reilly. Click here for the video.


text:
<?php
namespace inklabs\kommerce\ActionHandler\Cart;

use inklabs\kommerce\Action\Cart\GetCartBySessionIdQuery;
use inklabs\kommerce\ActionResponse\Cart\GetCartBySessionIdResponse;
use inklabs\kommerce\Entity\Cart;
use inklabs\kommerce\Entity\CartItem;
use inklabs\kommerce\Entity\Product;
use inklabs\kommerce\Entity\TaxRate;
use inklabs\kommerce\Entity\User;
use inklabs\kommerce\tests\Helper\TestCase\ActionTestCase;

class GetCartBySessionIdHandlerTest extends ActionTestCase
{
    protected $metaDataClassNames = [
        Cart::class,
        CartItem::class,
        Product::class,
        User::class,
        TaxRate::class,
    ];

    public function testHandle()
    {
        $sessionId = self::SESSION_ID;
        $cart = $this->dummyData->getCart();
        $cart->setSessionId($sessionId);
        $this->persistEntityAndFlushClear([
            $cart,
        ]);
        $query = new GetCartBySessionIdQuery($sessionId);

        /** @var GetCartBySessionIdResponse $response */
        $response = $this->dispatchQuery($query);

        $this->assertEquals($cart->getId(), $response->getCartDTO()->id);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Constellation TMS was created by TranzAct Technologies to fill the gap between the bloated TMS systems on the market, where many users pay for features they never even use, and TMS software that isn't powerful enough to fulfill shippers needs.
We put over 30 years of logistics experience into Constellation so that you can save time and money on your transportation. The combination of technology and team of experts backing it up mean a perfect and reliable solution for you.
Our team is based in Elmhurst, IL, just outside of Chicago. We are ready to help you with your shipping needs.
Just give us a call at (630) 206-4772 or send us a message.


The 6th annual Tatum memorial quiz will be held at the Oddfellows in Ramsgate on 28th April 2018 starting at 7PM, entry is £3 per person with teams of 2-8 people. This is in aid of the local hospice due to the great work they carry out.
The event has raised over £5,000 already over the years.
We have some fabulous raffle prizes including a night's stay in the Abode Hotel in Canterbury with breakfast worth £180.00.
All tables need to be booked before 27th April via Peter. This is always a brilliant night for an amazing cause and we are hoping to exceed last year's monies raised of £1,000.
Any raffle or auction prizes are very much welcomed.


Santa and Friends Foil Christmas Wrapping Paper, 25 Sq. Ft.
Make the season bright! This high-quality foil gift wrapping paper roll features a colorful, shimmering pattern with cute holiday characters like Santa, a snowman and a penguin. Decorate the shiny wrapping paper with ribbons, bows and other accessories (sold separately) for a festive finishing touch. Christmas gift wrapping paper is perfect for creating an extra-special gift presentation!
1 roll of wrapping paper, measures 2.5 ft. x 10 ft, 25 total sq. ft.
Foil Christmas wrapping paper roll features festive rows of holiday characters in a bright, shiny and colorful design that's perfect for kids!
Perfect American Greetings wrapping paper for the holiday season!


Art Deco aquamarine bracelet by Hardy Bros.
Product code: 1621 Categories: Sold Items, Sold Jewellery.
This is a magnificent Art Deco bracelet made in 15ct gold and platinum and set with 7 wonderful blue aquamarines.
Platinum was the metal of choice of the jewellers of the Art Deco 1920's that was often "married" with gold – in this case 15ct gold to add colour to the piece.
Made in the 1920's by Hardy Brothers, the design of this bracelet is so elegant and stylish and would look simply superb day or night.
The aquamarines in this bracelet are all millgrain set where instead of just a bezel setting they have that beautiful and very refined "crimping" around the bezel that adds so much charm and character and is so typical of the setting of the Art Deco period.
There is something about the soft blue that aquamarines have that have made them so popular in jewellery even today and the seven aquamarines are matched perfectly for colour and size.
The colour combination of the gold and platinum work so well with the blue from the aquamarines, and is such a wearable bracelet which will always be commented on.


text:
Le MeM
La Piverdière
Route de Sainte-Foix
See the website
A new and original place of culture opens its doors in Rennes, on the banks of the Vilaine: the MeM. A magnificent wooden tent, a "Magic Mirror", which hosts concerts and a guinguette to drink and eat on the water's edge.
OPENING HOURS> Guinguette: every day from 11:30am to 00:30am. > Catering: from 12am to 2:30pm and from 6:30pm to 10pm during the week, continuous service at weekends. > Concerts: doors open 30 to 60 minutes before the announced schedule. TICKETING >Le MeM Ticketing ACCESS> By bus: lines 9 and 13, stop Cleunay, then 5 minutes on foot. > By car: parking on site
Hiking along the GR39 long-distance footpath in Brittany
Less frequented than the GR34, the famous customs path which goes around Brittany by the coast, the GR39 long-distance footpath is not lacki...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: WiX doesn't run bat file after installed it I try to use a recipe of WiX Cookbook book to run batch file after copying it but somehow after the copy the installer deletes the folder and files and doesn't run the batch file.
The batch file would register two reg files into the registry.
I installed WixUtilExtension.dll, too.
<ComponentGroup Id="NewFilesGroup">
  <Component Id="A.dll64.reg" Directory="MyCommonAppDataFolder" Guid="60BDBD5E-8219-4C21-94B4-DE5F5E230C8C">
    <File Id="A.dll64.reg" KeyPath="yes" Source="A.dll64.reg" />
  </Component>

  <Component Id="B.dll32.reg" Directory="MyCommonAppDataFolder" Guid="8615ACC0-A07C-43C8-81A4-F91A8678009F">
    <File Id="B.dll32.reg" KeyPath="yes" Source="B.dll32.reg" />
  </Component>

  <Component Id="CMP_regasm_installer.bat" Directory="MyCommonAppDataFolder" Guid="5C8DBF10-6ED8-4E07-99F0-73AC43E1ACF2">
    <File Id="FILE_regasm_installer.bat" KeyPath="yes" Source="regasm_installer.bat" />
  </Component>
</ComponentGroup>

<SetProperty Id="RunBatch"
          Value=""[#FILE_regasm_installer.bat]""
          Sequence="execute"
          Before="RunBatch" />

<CustomAction Id="RunBatch"
        BinaryKey="WixCA"
        DllEntry="CAQuietExec"
        Execute="deferred"
        Return="check"
        Impersonate="no" />

<InstallExecuteSequence>
    <Custom Action="RunBatch" After="InstallFiles" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>

A: Batch files are text files, you cannot execute them directly. You need to use cmd.exe to interpret and execute the instructions in the batch file.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


A New Entry in the "Which is Greener Debate:" How Does Nomacorc Rank?
Ben Simons is a project manager for a web development company and specializes in marketing and social media consulting. He publishes the blog Vinotology, which sometimes focuses on the wines of his home state of Texas.


text:
Q: python xml write with using namespace Are those two roots the same??
Output xml got changed about the order in the root.
If they are different each other, how could I fix it??
#Python 3.7
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

ET.register_namespace('xsi', "http://www.w3.org/2001/test")
ET.register_namespace('', "http://www.test.com/test/test/test")
tree = ET.parse('test.xml')

tree.write("test1.xml", encoding='utf-8', xml_declaration=True)

#input XML root
<root xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/test" schemaVersion="2.8" xmlns="http://www.test.com/test/test/test" labelVersion="1" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.test.com/test/test/test ..\Schema\CLIFSchema.xsd" name="test.xml">

#output XML root
<root xmlns="http://www.test.com/test/test/test" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/test" labelVersion="1" name="test.xml" schemaVersion="2.8" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.test.com/test/test/test ..\Schema\CLIFSchema.xsd">


Forums » Forum Archives » Avid Xpress Pro - Mac » AXP R.I.P.
Latest post Mon, Apr 14 2008 1:27 PM by AK-Jake. 66 replies.
Sleep well my dear friend.
Now jump on the Media Composer and don't look back!!!
That's the best Avid news I've heard in years.
I could find no upgrade offer AXP to MC in the avid store. what are youfolks talking about?
It's not posted yet. See the Post in the general Forum titled "New Communication from Avid"
Do you know if this upgrade price ($495) is going to be offered for us XPress Pro users from now on, or is this a time-sensitive upgrade offer?
I own two commercial licenses of XPress Pro 4.7 and would like to upgrade them both, but I can't swing $1000 at the moment.
I think it's great Avid is offering this and I'll almost certainly take advantage of the upgrade, but I still honestly believe they don't get it. Avid's user base tells them they need to be able to compete with Final Cut Pro's price point so they reduce the price of MC to twice that of FCP and then get rid of their least expensive (and if I remember correctly, still more expensive than FCP) product.
I despair every time one of my clients or a new client calls and says, "we want you to cut for us and, by the way, we've just gone to Final Cut because..." and they then give one of several reasons we've all heard.
I gladly filled out that long online survey Avid sent me months ago. And I wrote a long essay at the end about what I saw as the problems (price being only one) that were jeopardizing this company and this product I've built my career on. And I got a form email back saying, "we hear you and stay tuned." And I have kept my eye on my inbox even as I have been stuck in yet another long-form doc that would work go so much more smoothly on this system so many are abandoning for inarguable reasons. And I wonder, did you really hear us?
If Avid made cell phones and mp3 players, they probably could sell their software at FCP's price point. Of if they made the computer that was required to run their software, they could sell Media Composer for $1300 and make their money on the hardware. But Avid doesn't have the depp pockets and additional product lines (consumer product lines) that Apple does.
Honestly, $2,495 is a much lower price point than I was anticipating, and I believe--for $1,000 more--it's now a much, much, much greater value than FCP.
I agree with you that MC is a superior product to FCP. My real concern is that I'm going to be stuck in a few years working on FCP exclusively because Avid can't or refuses to find a way to work within the existing market. I think price is only one of the reasons FCP is gaining in the marketplace. And, yes, I think economies of scale as well as marketing budget aid the competition, but these and other issues can be addressed by Avid and -for whatever reason- don't appear to be.
This new move is the FIRST BIG MOVE I have seen by Avid that is geared towards it's customers. Bravo. I will be upgrading to the MC software after not using my XPro software for 5 years (cutting my demo only).
A sign of the times: My new facility is dumping MC Adrenalines & a DS for all FCP HD stations in the fall. It is happening everywhere I look. Avid has been putting nails in the coffin for smaller shops for years by not being there for the customers. It's not only the price point...you get a lot more for your money with Final Cut Studio 2 and it's quicktime based...and the FCP community is awesome.
I don't know what Avid's plans are to compete with FCP and the cheap (by comparison) HD interfaces, but if they don't have a plan, they're driving business away.
I don't see that there's a future for Avid in my personal business. I'll still continue to freelance at boutiques and clients who have Avids, but I'm going to FCP and Premiere Pro for my home-based work where I can outfit a nice competitive HD suite for around $10K.
I may even sell my Avid stock now, if this is indicative of the "new thinking" at Avid. This kind of change isn't the direction they should be going, IMO. Not too smart to be sending customers into the arms of the competition.
Have an issue? Here's a tissue.
If anyone has read the message boards, the excuses, and sarcasm from avid over the past year or so you could see the writing on the wall. MC upgrade is a great start, but a little to late for me and obviously others. I just made the move to FCP.
Tomorrow is too late when your competition has already crossed the finish line.
Avid not supporting the EX-1 was the last straw for me. Another Avid issue that had a sorry lame excuse, they removed the feature to export .flv , iPhone and a few other export plugins. Avid tech support's answer was too many bugs so we removed it, meanwhile FCP has no prob with these features. If you are working on a project for SD, and shoot in HD, FCP keeps the full HD resolution so you can use it to your advantage. AXP & MC fall short here. Avid just does not have the resources and FCP blew past Avid while they were out to lunch.
Sorry Avid, I hope you have something good to announce. In the meantime I'll be driving FCP with my competition.


text:
aircraft hangar - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing
Search entire site for aircraft hangar
The aircraft were parked in a massive iron barn, shrink it down and I guess you could call it a fairly basic shed. Yet on the scale it was, everyone found it inspiring, as if when you stepped through the doors it was another world, one of steel and grit. His boots met the concrete floor, as his eye adjusted to the silvery light, as if this place was so large it had another sun. And on that day, in the morning that was still so new, it was as if there was only light and birdsong other than this place. Soon he'd be airborne, he smirked, mama always said he was born to fly.
By Angela Abraham, @daisydescriptionari, February 11, 2019.
The main hangar was huge. Perhaps this was where the Cessna was kept when it wasn't in use. The roof was a great curve of corrugated iron. One wall slid back to allow access to the launch site. There were various pieces of machinery and a few oil drums scattered around, bu otherwise the hangar was bare.
By Angela Abraham, @daisydescriptionari, June 18, 2012.
Found in Alex Rider, Ark Angel, authored by Anthony Horowitz.
The aircraft hangar was the only thing around as far as the eye could see. It's silver domed roof projected up from the golden plains into the blue like some alien ship. Inside was only dust and the echo of my feet. In the shafts of light that penetrated the tall thin windows the dust swirled. the wind whistled through the front and rear openings. It seemed unfinished, like it had been built for a purpose and then abandoned, yet it wasn't that old. There was no decay in the wooden beams and no cracks in the concrete floor.
By cassie, November 24, 2014.
The aircraft hanger was so large that even inside it felt totally different to being inside any structure Farley recalled. The breeze moved freely from front to back and the light cascaded from windows onto the planes as softly as forest sun onto trees. In short, there was no stuffiness and no odour save a tincture of kerosene.
The hangar was vast like an endless desert of concrete. All traces of life were scarce amongst the dull, grey walls that reached up above to a colossal sky of darkness. Although the air was bitter cold, it was filled with the unbearable odour of petroleum that burnt my eyes and tempted me to escape. On the edges, an array of fierce fighter jets were flood with a waterfall of light. The mesmerising pieces of machinery were idle and in serenity yet it was only a matter of time until the thunder of roaring engines would echo through the entire dome.
By botond, August 2, 2015.
cc Sue


text:
Welcome to the neighborhood: A familiar home, amid so much change
By Susan Carey Dempsey
Tiffany, Myla, Hammy and Dave Rolfe enjoy the beach.(Credit: Courtesy photo)
Early this spring Tiffany and Dave Rolfe made the decision that several other parents have faced, choosing Shelter Island as the safest place for their family during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Both employed in advertising and marketing, their work went remote in March, so they moved their family here from New York City.
After the summer, knowing their workplaces would stay closed through January, they found the uncertainty of the school district in the city too difficult. They made the decision to enroll their daughter, Myla, in second grade at the Shelter Island School and their son Hammy in the Pre-K-4 class.
In the beginning, the children were a little nervous, Ms. Rolfe said, but she praised the school for welcoming them and setting up a meeting the day before school started to meet new friends, their families and their new teacher.
Of course, all of this had to take place while everyone was observing the restrictions to keep safe, including wearing masks. "It's amazing how resilient the kids are," Ms. Rolfe said, as they adapted quickly to wearing masks throughout the school day.
There were a couple of familiar aspects that helped the children adjust, she added. "We've been coming to the school playground for years," she said, And the school parking lot was where Myla learned to ride her bike last summer.
There was another family from the city who also opted to stay on the Island and enroll in the school, including one of Myla's classmates from the city school who is now in her class here. "It helped to have that family here," Ms. Rolfe said. "We needed each other for support."
There were other adjustments to make along the way. Dave Rolfe had to get a new job as a result of the COVID shutdown, but is now a head of production at Facebook. Ms. Rolfe was promoted to a global role at her company, R-GA.
"Ordinarily, this new job would require a lot of travel, but instead, we're both working from our guestroom. We know we're lucky to have jobs we can do virtually. Of course," she laughed, "someday we'll probably have bad wrist issues from all the time on our computers."
The Rolfes bought their home on Ram Island a few years ago after coming here for eight years. They've enjoyed developing deeper friendships with people they knew on the Island and making new friends.
Still getting used to differences between their life on the Island and in the city, the Rolfes had their children playing on the beach one late afternoon recently, "under a cotton-candy sky," and just days later were frolicking in the heavy snow that fell last week.
The Rolfes plan to celebrate the holidays here with their "pod" of neighbors, with whom they've practiced social distancing, and connect online with family.
Coming from Seattle originally, Ms. Rolfe said they will continue their traditions, including crab dinner for Christmas Eve. "This is the first time we're here for Christmas," Ms. Rolfe said. "We took the children to see Santa at the History Center."
Looking back on the decision to relocate to the Island, Ms. Rolfe said, "This has been such a great choice for us."
Susan Carey Dempsey
Email Susan Carey Dempsey Email Created with Sketch. Email Susan Carey Dempsey
R-GA


Dufftown's 12 year old whisky, part of The Singleton family of three Single Malt Scotch Whisky distilleries, presented here in a pack along with two chunky based tumblers.
Over half of Scotland's malt whisky distilleries are found on Speyside, and Dufftown distillery is at the centre of this fertile region, caught between mountains, rivers and sea. With water so pure, rival distillers of old tried to divert its course; Dufftown produces a sublime collection of Speyside expressions which form part of the wider The Singleton family.


The Lyon portable modern ventless ethanol tabletop fireplace is small, yet suave. Suitable for any table, counter, or bar, the Lyon fireplace sits comfortably on two vertical tempered glass sheets. The flame seems to float and is visible from all angles.
Very well made with a very refined look!
The flame is almost mesmerizing, with its ever changing look and warmth.
This creates an absolutely beautiful and toasty warm little fire. It looks better in operation than in the picture. Great table top fireplace.
A very cool little tabletop fireplace.
Very cool!! It's built solid and was packaged really well. Looks really nice when lit. It does put out some heat above the flame. Probably not going to heat up the whole room, but certainly gives off some heat up close and really sets a relaxing atmosphere. I have no complaints about this product.
Nice, relaxing and simple to use. Only wish it were a bit wider to make refilling easier. Ultimately, a very nice product.


Mike Coleman touched up the trail this afternoon the trail remains a bit soft due to cold temperatures and dry powder. With heavy Friday the Thirteenth traffic we will send Chuck Hathaway out at 8am tomorrow morning. Riding should be great by afternoon. Just in time for the NMMBA annual Meeting at Timber Ridge ride at 2pm, Potluck at 4pm and general meeting starts at 5pm.


(PhysOrg.com) -- If quantum computers are ever to be realized, they likely will be made of different types of parts that will need to share information with one another, just like the memory and logic circuits in today's computers do. However, prospects for achieving this kind of communication seemed distant -- until now. A team of physicists working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has shown for the first time how these parts might communicate effectively.
The goal to develop quantum computers—a long-awaited type of computer that could solve otherwise intractable problems, such as breaking complex encryption codes—has inspired scientists the world over to invent new devices that could become the brains and memory of these machines. Many of these tiny devices use particles of light, or photons, to carry the bits of information that a quantum computer will use.
"We manipulate the photons to be as indistinguishable as possible in terms of spectra, location and polarization—the details you need to describe a photon. We attribute the remaining distinguishability to properties of the quantum dot," says Glenn Solomon, of NIST's Quantum Measurement Division. "No conceivable measurement can tell indistinguishable photons apart. The results prove in principle that a hybrid quantum network is possible and can be scaled up for use in a quantum network."
Actually, the Lockheed computer uses something called 'quantum annealing' which some argue isn't really true quantum computing. 'Standard' quantum computers use quantum particles as qubits. I think that so far we have only built a system containing 14 qubits, and it's relatively unstable!


text:
St. Vincent, John Jervis, Viscount, 1735-1823
Buckingham and Chandos, Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos, Duke of, 1776-1839 (4)
Buckingham, George Nugent Temple Grenville, Marquess of, 1753-1813 (4)
Carlisle, Frederick Howard, Earl of, 1748-1825 (4)
Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, 1769-1822 (4)
Derby, Edward Smith Stanley, Earl of, 1752-1834 (4)
Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806 (4)
Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Marquess of, 1754-1826 (4)
Lansdowne, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of, 1780-1863 (4)
Lauderdale, James Maitland, Earl of, 1759-1839 (4)
Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811 (4)
Norfolk, Charles Howard, Duke of, 1746-1815 (4)
Rose, George, 1744-1818 (4)
Spencer, George John Spencer, Earl, 1758-1834 (4)
Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, Earl, 1753-1816 (4)
Taylor, Michael Angelo, 1757-1834 (4)
Tierney, George, 1761-1830 (4)
Tooke, John Horne, 1736-1812 (4)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815 (4)
Abbot, Charles, Baron Colchester, 1757-1829 (2)
Bedford, John Russell, Duke of, 1766-1839 (2)
Cobbett, William, 1763-1835 (2)
Cromwell, Oliver, 1599-1658 (2)
Eldon, John Scott, Earl of, 1751-1838 (2)
Ellenborough, Edward Law, Baron, 1750-1818 (2)
Fitzpatrick, Richard, 1747-1813 (2)
Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of, 1735-1811 (2)
Grattan, Henry, 1746-1820 (2)
Hanger, George, 1751?-1824 (2)
Holland, Henry Richard Vassall, Baron, 1773-1840 (2)
Irish in art (2)
Jones, Thomas Tyrwhitt, Sir, 1765-1811 (2)
Kings and rulers in art (2)
Laurence, French, 1757-1809 (2)
Long, Charles, 1761-1838 (2)
Perceval, Spencer, 1762-1812 (2)
Pitt, William, 1759-1806 (2)
Pretyman, George, 1750-1827 (2)
Robespierre, Maximilien, 1758-1794 (2)
William IV, King of Great Britain, 1765-1837 (2)
Charon's boat - or - The ghost's of all the talents taking their last voyage from the Pope's Gallery at Rome [copy 1]
Confederated coalition - or - The giants storming heaven [copy 1]


If you have ever wanted an insight into the lives of refugee children to see what they think and feel; here is the opportunity. These 25 stories told by children, are raw brave, and honest and pure as only a child's voice can be. Painful at times, always evoking deep emotions, these delicate pieces of children's lives are offered willingly to be shared with other children, and hopefully, to encourage tolerance and understanding in all people.
The stories are not bedtime reading. They are tales of war, lack, loss and separation – of family, country, culture, and all that's familiar. They are also about new beginnings, opportunity, and reunion amongst many other things.
The illustrations are created with recycled and natural materials of all sorts upon earthy coloured pages of fine quality paper. This book is wholly created by children for children, as are all books published by Kids' Own Publishing.


text:
NorthCountry Federal Credit Union (Barre)
December 16, 2020 Movies » Movie Reviews
'Mank' Is a Glorious Pastiche With an Empty Center
By Margot Harrison
Courtesy Of Netflix
QUIP OR FLOP Seyfried and Oldman share sparkling repartee in Fincher's period pastiche.
Our streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. This week, I watched Mank, director David Fincher's tribute to old Hollywood and to his late father, Jack Fincher, who wrote the screenplay. The film was released on Netflix after a brief theatrical run and is likely to be an awards contender.
Once, screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) was the toast of Hollywood, with a renowned wit that made him a favorite dinner guest of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. But by 1940, years of boozing and gambling have caught up with "Mank."
The washed-up scribe heads into the Mojave Desert to convalesce from a broken leg, dry out and write a screenplay commissioned by young wunderkind Orson Welles. The subject? A thinly disguised Hearst, portrayed in unflattering terms.
As he dictates a draft of what will eventually become Citizen Kane to his secretary (Lily Collins), Mank wallows in memories of his glory days; of his friendship with Hearst's mistress, Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried); and of how it all went wrong.
Will you like it?
Every aspect of Mank is a love letter to vintage Hollywood and old-school moviegoing. The film is shot in luminous black and white, with "cigarette marks" to signal the reel changes to an imaginary projectionist. The compositions are dramatic. The soundtrack echoes and pops.
People in Mank don't just talk; they fire off strings of stylized banter like people in the screwball comedies that Mank used to write. For every brilliant one-liner ("If I ever go to the electric chair, I'd like him to be sitting in my lap," Mank says of studio head Louis B. Mayer), there's at least one tortured mixed metaphor. When Oldman and Seyfried are quipping in tandem, it's hard not to be reminded of the parody of His Girl Friday on "BoJack Horseman."
All of this makes for an extremely talky movie that was tailor-made for film buffs, full of gossip and inside jokes — and, for the most part, it's entertaining. But the elder Fincher's screenplay runs into trouble when it attempts to turn Mankiewicz into a sympathetic — nay, heroic — figure who stood up against fascism and the Man, here represented by Hearst, Mayer and the California Republican Party.
That effort involves delving into the minutiae of a 1934 gubernatorial campaign and placing a great deal of weight on Mank's supposed sympathy for Democrat Upton Sinclair. There's also a clunky "save the cat" moment in which a minor character informs us that Mank saved an entire village from the Nazis (an exaggeration, though he did sponsor many refugees).
There's nothing wrong with wanting to elevate the underdog, a man whose contribution to Citizen Kane was dismissed for decades in favor of Welles'. But Mank pivots too quickly from sarcasm to sentimentality, telling us to like Mank because his heart is in the right place. We're expected to tut-tut at his bad behavior while smiling fondly at him, much like his long-suffering wife (Tuppence Middleton). Though she bears the sobriquet "poor Sara" in their circle of friends, she quips right back at him and never speaks a word of reproach.
Overall, the film could have used a few breaks from the relentless quipping. Even the heroes of those old movies paused occasionally to look at themselves in a metaphorical mirror, and I'm not sure they'd have let themselves off as easily for their indiscretions as Mank lets Mank off.
My guess is that, if you were a fan of the Aaron Sorkin-scripted combination of wordy snark and moralizing in Fincher's The Social Network, you'll be a fan of Mank, as well. For this viewer, the elaborate pastiche is a lot more successful as an aesthetic object than as a story.
If you like this, try...
Citizen Kane (1941; HBO Max, rentable): Whether you like Mank or not, it should inspire you to revisit Welles' classic before it leaves HBO Max on December 31.
Gods and Monsters (1998; Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, rentable): Can't get enough of classic Hollywood stories? Ian McKellen received an Oscar nomination for playing director James Whale (Frankenstein) in this period piece about the man's final days. For portraits of jaded screenwriters, In a Lonely Place (1950; Tubi, rentable) and Sunset Boulevard (1950; CBS All Access, rentable) are indispensable.
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994; rentable): Before Mankiewicz went to Hollywood, he honed his fast wit at the Algonquin Round Table, a group of New York writers known for what we'd now call merciless snark. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Dorothy Parker in Alan Rudolph's unjustly forgotten film portrait of that Jazz Age scene.
The original print version of this article was headlined "Mank"
Got something to say? Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Tags: Movie Reviews, Mank, Netflix, Gary Oldman, Lily Collins, Amanda Seyfried
More Movie Reviews »
Irish Animation 'Wolfwalkers' Is a Hand-Drawn Feast for the Eyes
Book Review: 'A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears),' Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
Highlights From a Most Unusual Year in Film
Margot Harrison
margot@sevendaysvt.com
Margot Harrison is the Associate Editor at Seven Days; she coordinates literary and film coverage. In 2005, she won the John D. Donoghue award for arts criticism from the Vermont Press Association.
Radha Blank Explores Art, Racism, Midlife Crisis and More in 'The Forty-Year-Old Version'
'Hillbilly Elegy' Says More About Hollywood Than It Does About Hillbillies
Social Media Show Their Dark Side in Documentary 'The Social Dilemma'
'The Devil All the Time' Is a Blood-Soaked Epic
Movie Review: 'I'm Thinking of Ending Things'
Since 2014, Seven Days has allowed readers to comment on all stories posted on our website. While we've appreciated the suggestions and insights, the time has come to shut them down — at least temporarily.
While we champion free speech, facts are a matter of life and death during the coronavirus pandemic, and right now Seven Days is prioritizing the production of responsible journalism over moderating online debates between readers.
To criticize, correct or praise our reporting, please send us a letter to the editor. Or send us a tip. We'll check it out and report the results.
Online comments may return when we have better tech tools for managing them. Thanks for reading.
1. Irish Animation 'Wolfwalkers' Is a Hand-Drawn Feast for the Eyes Movie Reviews
2. Radha Blank Explores Art, Racism, Midlife Crisis and More in 'The Forty-Year-Old Version' Movie Reviews
3. Highlights From a Most Unusual Year in Film Movies
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Romanian Documentary 'Collective' Offers a Searing Look at the Breakdown of Public Trust


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Q: How do I prevent the Visual Studio debugger from focusing the window when a breakpoint is hit?
Possible Duplicate:
Visual Studio: How to stop breakpoint hit from stealing focus?

Many times I will set a break point in Visual Studio and run a process that might take seconds or a minute or two. While that runs, I will do something else, usually other coding in another window. When the breakpoint is hit, Visual Studio gains focus and my next several keystrokes go into the debugger and all hell breaks lose depending on what my kestrokes are. (expecially in Visual C++). This is especially annoying the longer it takes to get to the breakpoint since I have to restart all over again.
Bottom line, is there a way to turn off the auto focusing feature in Visual Studio or Windows in general?

A: You cant stop it but you can hack around it, by setting a hit counter, so it only breaks when it reaches a certiain hit count, just right click the break point and go to hit count to do this.


The village of Freckleton is located on the A-583/A-584, between Preston and Lytham-St-Annes. The bandroom is behind the car park belonging to The Coach and Horses Public House.
The location of Freckleton bandroom is detailed on the maps below. If you fancy a visit, we would be very pleased to welcome you.
And of course, we socialise in The Coach and Horses afterwards!


HomeNewsDC Comics Movie NewsThe Joker Teaser Trailer Is Here!
Finally! We have the first trailer for Todd Phillips' Joker!!! Starring Joaquin Phoenix,Frances Conroe and Robert De Niro the film tells the origin story of everyone's favorite clown prince of crime! Phillips has said the film defies description on terms of genre and is more of a character stiudy and the trailer seems to justify that The highly anticipated film hits theaters October 9. Check out the trailer below!