Football is still a popular youth sport across Ontario, but growing concern over the risk of serious brain injury is leading some parents to steer away from signing their kids up. Enter TackleBar.
Football is still a popular youth sport across Ontario, but growing concern over the risk of serious brain injury is leading some parents to steer away from signing their kids up.
The new alternative to traditional and flag football, which was created in the U.S. and is now catching on with the Mississauga Football League and some Canadian high school teams, was in the spotlight at the 13th World Congress on Brain Injury in Toronto this week.
"TackleBar is kind of a mediary between flag football and tackle football," said Joseph Toninato, a research assistant from Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation who has been studying the new sport's ability to cut down on injuries.
Players still wear helmets and shoulder pads, but take a different approach to tackling.
"The tackler will wrap up the ball carrier like they were going for a normal tackle, but instead of throwing them to the ground, they would just remove the bars," he said, showing the two removable foam pads attached to a player's lower back with a special harness.
So is it safer than football?
Toninato and his fellow researchers found that in about 17,000 athletic exposures among youth, there were zero incidents of concussion, and only five reported injuries. That equates to 0.3 injuries per 1,000 exposures, a rate Toninato calls "significantly" low.
Surprisingly, his team found flag football had the highest rate of injury, with 5.7 injuries per 1,000 athletic exposures. Traditional football, meanwhile, saw about 2.2 injuries per 1,000 exposures.
"We believe the high rate is due to lack of equipment in flag football. There is supposed to be no contact so (players) don't learn how to take a hit," Toninato said.
Despite those results, there are skeptics who question why there is a need for youth to participate in heavy-contact collision sports at all.
"It feels like they are dancing around the issue," said Dr. Paul Echlin, of the Elliott Sports Medicine Clinic in Burlington.
"You have to stop children — and adults — from hitting hard, and on a repetitive basis. That's the root cause of traumatic brain injury,"
As a primary care sports medicine specialist, Echlin has seen firsthand the damage concussions can cause.
He says most brain injuries go undetected, or occur at the "sub-threshold level," something which would make the rate of injury far higher if factored in.
"Why are you going to have 9-year-olds helmeted up if you aren't going to have any collisions or contact?" he said.
TackleBar was founded by Minnesota entrepreneurs Jeremy and Brigid Ling, parents who wanted an option for their kids — most players ranger range in age from eight to 11.
Since its launch three years ago, the sport, sometimes dubbed "fusion" football, is now being played in youth football leagues in 21 states.
By removing the need to tackle a player to the ground, but encouraging proper tackling technique, proponents of TackleBar say it maintains the spirit of the sport, decreases the risk of concussion and prepares young players for traditional football.
While it doesn't eliminate possible hits to the neck and head, as Echlin notes, Toninato still sees the value in TackleBar.
"Eliminating one of the largest sports for youth is not a good idea," he said.
"I think that will be a detriment to future generations. But I do think having some system like TackleBar to try to eliminate those injuries is just as important."


We've been combing through a huge new report out today from the Russian news agency RBC, whose investigators previously helped TPM identify a Twitter account, @tpartynews, that was run by the notorious Russian troll farm that purchased $100,000 worth of Facebook ads.
Sam Thielman has been in touch with the RBC team and is finalizing his own story as I write. The key takeaway is that the troll farm recruited as many as 100 U.S. activists to organize events, without those activists' knowledge of the real scheme behind their organizing.
More to come from us on this shortly.
We're missing one crucial piece of the roadmap to the Russia probe's various social media threads.
We tasked Sam Theilman with pulling together the various social media threads of the Russia investigations in a way that would help us—and all of you—better understand how they tie together. He found that the ugly undercurrent of the majority of the Russian-linked ads and propaganda that reporters have surfaced so far, whether they focused on Black Lives Matter or stoking fears about immigrants and refugees, is race. "A lot of it does seem to really prey on identity politics," Justin Hendrix, the head of the NYC Media Lab, told him.
It's extremely difficult to measure the effectiveness of the ads given the limited information we have to go on. But exploiting identity politics through ads and other propaganda appears at least to have allowed Russian cyberactors to reinforce, perhaps even invigorate, Trump's base. It remains an open question whether the same ads successfully swayed undecided voters, or whether they pushed third-party, Sanders or Clinton voters to switch their allegiance to Trump.
We very well may be closer to answering that question after Nov. 1, when congressional investigators are expected to hold a public hearing with tech companies. The House Intel panel plans to release the Facebook ads they're reviewing after that hearing, and the company's COO Sheryl Sandberg said just this morning that when those ads are released, Facebook also will supply the information for how each ad was targeted.
How these ads were targeted is a crucial missing piece of this roadmap. So it seems that in a couple weeks we'll have a much more comprehensive picture of how, and, more importantly, with what degree of sophistication Russians targeted U.S. voters online.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) came out of a Senate-wide briefing Thursday by the U.S. deputy attorney general with the impression that the federal probe into Russia's interference in the U.S. election has entered criminal territory.
"The takeaway I have is that everything he said was that you need to treat this investigation as if it may be a criminal investigation," Graham told reporters after the briefing from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
He cautioned that he didn't get to ask Rosenstein to confirm that the investigation, which includes whether Donald Trump campaign officials colluded with Russian officials, was now a criminal one.
"It was a counterintelligence investigation before now. It seems to me now to be considered a criminal investigation," he told reporters.
Graham, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, argued that Rosenstein's appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel in charge of the probe would have the effect of limiting Congress' ability to carry out parallel investigations.
"What does that mean for the Congress? I find it hard to subpoena records of somebody like Mr. Flynn who may be subject to a criminal investigation because he has a right not to incriminate himself," he said, referring to Trump's ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr (R-NC) had signaled earlier in the day that Flynn's lawyers refused to honor a subpoena from his panel, before correcting himself. The subpoena requested documents related to any of Flynn's dealings with Russia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior House Republican is calling on the Trump administration to investigate whether criminal charges are warranted against members of the Turkish president's security detail.
Royce, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, detailed his request for an inquiry in a letter sent Wednesday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The State Department has criticized the Turkish government over violence outside its embassy, where Erdogan's security staff broke up an anti-government protest. The protesters were chanting anti-Erdogan slogans as he entered the embassy on Tuesday after meeting with President Donald Trump.
The phone calls with the Russian ambassador that led to Michael Flynn's ouster as national security adviser were an afterthought Thursday as Attorney General Jeff Sessions stepped in front of TV cameras and addressed revelations that he had met twice with that envoy during the campaign.
So it was a good moment for the White House to confirm to the New York Times that, in addition to those calls, Flynn met with ambassador Sergey Kislyak for about 20 minutes at Trump Tower in December.
Working as a deputy assistant to President Donald Trump is not counterterror lightweight and apparent hothead Sebastian Gorka's first rodeo in politics.
A counterterrorism expert says White House aide Sebastian Gorka rang him up this week to threaten legal action and "berate" him for repeatedly questioning Gorka's credibility on Twitter.
Newsweek on Thursday published what it said was audio of a phone call between Gorka and Michael S. Smith II, a terrorism analyst who's advised members of Congress and, like Gorka, weighed in on the issue as a commentator on TV news.
Smith and Gorka, the former Breitbart News editor whose hardline take on Islam and ties to fringe, anti-Muslim activists have drawn criticism since he was appointed deputy assistant to the President, can be heard trading barbs for more than 14 minutes in the audio of the call.


Warm Greetings from Jaya Institute of Technology!!
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Our students are well known for their discipline; best practices and moral standards which help them show good performance in academics and obtain the best placements, overall an all rounded educational experience with an ability to face any challenging situation. This has been made possible due to the excellent support from the management, the faculty members, the students and their parents.
The infrastructure of our college is in a continuous process of improvement. Through periodic seminars, symposia, workshops and industry visits as part of the course, the students are equipped with technical knowledge, critical thinking skills and creativity to face the global challenges in the field of Engineering and Technology.
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The faculty members are inspiring and are dynamic in nature. The key to our success depends on the dedication of each individual and team spirit.
I am sure that any student who joins in our College will prove their stellar performance during the course, and also continue their good work both in terms of pursuing higher education and in their professional growth.
We have a strong Alumni Association who, we believe that, are the ambassadors of this Institute and could contribute significantly to its growth of this institution in all dimensions.
I extend my best wishes to all my students wherein they will shine in all aspects.


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January 24, 2020 January 24, 2020 Television 2 Comments CBS All-AccessDatagene roddenberryJean-Luc Picardpatrick stewartstar trekStar Trek PicardStar Trek The Next Generationtelevision
Star Trek: Picard Episode 1 DeaconsDen Reaction
Patrick Stewart returns to his most popular role in the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Picard. Stewart reprises the character of Jean-Luc Picard, now retired from Starfleet. Stewart played Picard for seven season on Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films following the conclusion of the series. This new show take place 20 years after the events of the final Next Generation film, Star Trek: Nemesis.
My initial thoughts on Star Trek: Picard are how it feels different than prior series. For starters this does not take place on a starship and obviously from the name of the show, it's going to be more character driven than idea driven like the other shows in the franchise. Yet despite these differences, it still feels in line with what we know Star Trek to be about. This first episode is slower paced because even though we know about Jean-Luc and his impact as captain of the Enterprise, we've been away from this character for 20 years and I appreciate the time to become accustomed again to him. There is some action in the first episode but it's not crammed in and I felt the pace of the episode moved despite taking its time.
It says something about a piece of media when it makes you want to revisit another piece of media you don't feel very positive about because it gives it a new sense of weight. The events in the first episode of Star Trek: Picard actually make want to revisit Nemesis so that certainly a sign of the show's effectiveness. On that note, that same feeling for me may not work with others who are new to Star Trek as there is a bit of lore here that might be overwhelming for newcomers. Most of it due to the relationship between Picard and another character from The Next Generation.
I'm intrigued on where Star Trek: Picard goes on from this first episode. It's a different kind of Star Trek, but still Star Trek at its core. I look forward to this new type of adventure Jean-Luc embarks on.
January 23, 2020 January 23, 2020 reviews, The Deacon's Mind of Movies Leave a comment actionBad BoysBad Boys for LifeBad Boys IIcinemadeaconsdenfilmMartin Lawrencemichael baymovieMoviesreviewwill smith
Bad Boys For Life – DeaconsDen Reaction
2020 kicks off here at DeaconsDen with a reunion of old friends. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return as the hilarious combo of Miami PD detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett. Bad Boys For Life is the 3rd entry in the action-comedy series that began in 1995 with Bad Boys and continued in 2003 with Bad Boys II. This film is directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. They take over the reins from Michael Bay who directed the previous films. The story follows Lowrey and Burnett as they track down an assassin that is taking out people from an old case.
First things first, the chemistry between Smith and Lawrence has not missed a beat. These two were huge in the 90s and even 25 years later you still have that banter and wit that was present in the first film. Add in returning cast members Teresa Randall as Marcus' wife Theresa and Joe Pantoliano as the long suffering Captain Howard and you have the mix for a great time. The key difference however is the change in direction. Michael Bay, I think it's safe to say is not a well regarded director. 1995's Bad Boys was his directorial debut where you could see what he was able to do and what he likes to do. Bad Boys II, is pure Bayhem and while I love both of these films and have blast watching them, they aren't the best films in terms of character. Bay's movies have tendencies to be immature and bloated. I put up with it just fine but I know a great deal of movie watchers do not. We love our two leads and it's mostly their show, but there isn't much to them in terms of substance. Bad Boys For Life won't result in Academy Award nominations for acting or screenplay, but what it does that Bay's entries do not, is attempt to be reflective and earnest. With Smith and Lawrence older actors, the film constantly comments on the passing of time. Marcus contemplates retirement and Mike having difficulty fitting in with a new squad of younger officers, are some of the things that film moves to the forefront. Marcus even talks to Mike about the importance of a positive legacy. (Commentary on the past films?) You'll never say the film is deep and it's probably as deep as it can be for a film that is a star driven action piece, but Arbi and Fallah make a darn good effort to give this franchise some meaning and life to a type of film that isn't as big a deal as it once was in the 80s and 90s. This is a huge positive step in evolving the series.
The only knock I have with Bad Boys for Life is with the action sequences. They aren't bad at all, they are very well done, I just felt they lacked a bit a pizazz that's Bay does best. Bad Boys II was a lot of things and most of those things weren't positive, but it was amazing on the action front.
Bad Boys for Life believe it or not doesn't fall victim to the adage, "the more things change, the more they stay the same." It recognizes its past and makes the effort to show it has grown up while still providing thrills and great comic chemistry from Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. I love putting on the Bad Boys movies and just rolling with things and that still hold true with this third entry. Bring on that fourth film.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Main / Books / The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
By Heather Morris, A love story between two Holocaust survivors based on a true story
By Jennifer Marie Lin on Aug 28th, 2019 (Last Updated Jul 5th, 2020 )
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris has been on the bestseller lists for so, so, so long, but I tend to shy away from WWII books (just because there tend to be a lot of them) so I'd been dodging it for quite some time.
Nonetheless, when I heard a sequel was coming out, Cilka's Journey, and more importantly that the sequel was also getting good reviews, I finally caved and decided to read it just so I could find out what all the fuss was about.
For the Detailed Plot Summary, click here or scroll all the way down.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on a true story about a Jewish man, Lale Sokolov, who is put to work as a tattooist at Auschwitz, the infamous German concentration camp. There, he meets Gita, a woman who is waiting to be branded with her identifying serial number, and he falls in love with her.
The story that follows is one about love, luck, survival and finding hope in the most impossible of places.
See The Tattooist of Auschwitz on Amazon.
Lale and Gita
I liked the Tattooist of Auschwitz more than I thought I would.
Lale's story is unique in that he's not really a normal prisoner at Auschwitz. Instead, in a stroke of luck, he has a chance to become the tattooist at the concentration camp, which brings him into the fold of the political wing of the camp administration. This allows him some level of protection, freedom and privileges which provides a slightly different perspective about Auschwitz and the Holocaust than can typically be seen. When he falls in love with Gita, he's able to extend some of those protections to her as well.
Of course, just becoming the tattooist isn't enough to ensure his survival, as is seen by the disappearance (and presumable death) of his predecessor, Pepan. Instead, Lale manages to make it out alive due a combination of luck, his own ingenuity and a willingness to do what needs to be done to survive.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a plot-driven story that's written in a straightforward and simple manner. It leaves a lot of the analysis and contemplation for the reader to do on their own, but the plot is interesting enough that it still remains a worthwhile story despite that.
Part of my initial reluctance in reading this book is that I tend to dislike "sweet" or tearjerker-y novels that other people find heartwarming. I know that sort of makes me sound like a monster, but I'm often too skeptical of those stories to enjoy them.
In the Tattooist of Auschwitz, there were a few parts that felt borderline contrived, but there was also enough substance in there that I felt like I could get something out of it either way. Ultimately, I did feel that it increased my knowledge and understanding of the experience and tragedy of WWII and the Holocaust. However, I say this with a grain of salt due to historical inaccuracies that have been reported.
Historical Inaccuracies and other Critisms
In December 2018, roughly a year after the novel was released, the Auschwitz Memorial Research Centre published a 7-page article looking into the various historical inaccuracies, large and small, that are interspersed throughout Lale and Gita's story.
If you've read the book or are planning on reading the book, the article is worth reading in full. It reports that things such as Lale saving a boy from being hanged or acquiring penicillin for Gita could have never happened. It also corrects smaller details such as the spelling of Lale's name (Lali), Gita's serial number or the block Lale lived in.
The biggest inaccuracy was probably the character of Cilka. She has an (involuntary) intimate relationship with one of the senior S.S. officers. The article seems to think it's unlikely that could have happened. I'm curious what becomes of this in the next book because Morris's sequel, Cilka's Journey, is entirely about that character.
The inaccuracies are a bit of a shame, since if all those things were corrected, I think the story would be just as interesting. I'm concerned that Morris's follow-up will double-down on the inaccuracies instead of trying harder to be respectful of the history involved.
Beyond that, in some ways, I found the story a little too hopeful, if that makes any sense. For a story about the Holocaust, it seemed fairly optimistic. It talks about the atrocities of the concentration camp, but only in relation to characters we are never given a chance to get to know. The book seems to want to shield its readers from the emotional impact of the horrors of the Holocaust and focus on the uplifting and sweet love story at its center instead, but I think that aspect of it ultimately does Lale and Gita's story a disservice.
Tattooist of Auschwitz Movie / Series Adaptation
Back in 2018, it was reported that Synchronicity Films was developing the book as a TV mini-series, but it's not clear that the project is still on track as of mid-2019. The project was originally aiming for an early 2020 airing, but given that no further news seems to have been reported on it, it's possible that it's on pause or delayed.
For any updates and all the details, see Everything We Know About The Tattooist of Auschwitz TV series.
I would say that if you're going to read this book, I'd also recommend reading the article assessing its historical accuracy as well. I hope that the follow-up novel does try harder to be historically accurate, since it does seem a bit disrespectful to profit off Holocaust stories without trying to be faithful to the facts.
That said, even with the various corrections, it still is a worthwhile and unique story about the Holocaust for those interested in that topic. There are certainly harder-hitting books or better written books, but this one is a simple, straightforward and hopeful story that provides an interesting perspective as well.
If you were only going to read one WWII book though, I'd recommend All The Light We Cannot See, which is fantastic, thoughtful and beautifully written.
Detailed Book Summary (Spoilers)
Show/Hide Detailed Book Summary (Spoilers)
The book opens with Lale tattooing numbers on a young girl.
Chapter 1 – 2 (April 1942)
Lale Eisenberg, 24, is a Slovakian Jew from Krompachy. In towns across Slovakia, each Jewish family was told they needed to had over one child over 18 to work for the German government, and Lale offered himself up for his family. He befriends another prisoner, Aron. After a long journey on a crammed wagon, they arrive at Auschwitz (Birkenau). He is stripped, shaved and tattooed with the numbers 32407. They are put to work constructing new blocks of the concentration camp. As a jew, he wears a yellow star. Criminals wear green triangles. Political enemies wear red. And the Russian prisoners of war don't have patches.
Soon, Lale contracts typhus and awakes 7 days later with Pepan, a French tattooist caring for him. Lale learns that was put on the death cart, but secretly saved by Aron and cared for by others in his block. However, Aron killed when their kapo (a prisoner who is assigned supervisory duty) found out Lale was missing. Pepan offers to let Lale work with him as a tattooist as well, and Oberscharführer Houstek, who oversees Pepan, approves it.
Chapters 3 – 6 (June – December 1942)
Lale previously worked in a department store. Now, he tattoos terrified, involuntary people. One day, Pepan is not there and Lale is told he is the tattooist now. Lale asks for an assistant, and Leon is brought to him. As the tattooer, Lale is part of the Political Wing of the camp administration, which offers some protection and has privileges like extra rations and his own bed in a new, empty block. He shares his food with his old blockmates. Baretski is the SS officer that oversees Lale and Leon. He's a jerk, but Lale puts up with it and gets to know Baretski by giving him advice on women.
A woman catches Lale's eye one day, and he writes her a note which Baretski takes to her, even though prisoners having paper or pencils is forbidden. She soon introduces herself as Gita. Gita lives in Block 29, and she works in the warehouse sorting prisoner's possessions. Her friends are Dana and Ivana. On Sundays most prisoners do not work, and Gita can see Lale if he is not working. She says she will not tell Lale her last name or where she's from until the day they leave this place.
Lale meets two paid builders, Victor and his son Yuri, who are construction crematoriums for the concentration camp. They give him some sausage. Lale asks them to bring chocolate and says he can pay for it. Lale then asks a few women at the warehouse (sorting possessions) to sneak him some jewelry or valuables in exchange for chocolate and food. The women agree, and Lale is able to pay Victor for goods from outside.
Chapters 7 – 10 (January – March 1943)
Lale hears that Gita is sick and needs penicillin. He rushes to Victor, who is able to acquire some. He asks Baretski to have Gita moved to the administrative office to work, where there is heat. There, Gita meets Cilka, who is nice and very pretty and is permitted to keep her hair long. One day as Gita and Cilka are working, Cilka is dragged into a room with Schwarzhuber, Senior Commandant of Birkenau, who rapes her.
One day, a new prisoner named Jakub comes in, a large man who is very hungry. Lale sneaks him some food. Lale soon has accumulated quite a stash of jewelry and cash from the women at the warehouse, and he gives Gita a diamond ring. Meanwhile, more and more people arrive at the camp, including whole families with children in tow. Lale's block is now filled with Gypsies. He meets Nadya, whose son and husband have died of typhus. He enjoys playing with the children there.
Chapters 11 – 15 (May 1943)
Now people across Europe are arriving at the camp. And there is a new doctor in the camp, Josef Mengele. Mengele is selecting patients for something and takes Leon away, despite Lale's protests. Later, Lale is told to tattoo a bunch of naked girls that Mengele is inspecting.
One day, Baretski asks Lale to find eleven prisoners to play in a football game against a team of SS officers. Lale assembles a team, but warns them that they must lose. It ends up being moot, since they are eventually too weak to compete effectively. As they play, ashes from the crematorium rain down on them. There are now five crematoriums working constantly, but more prisoners arrive daily too.
A neighbor that Gita once knew, Mrs. Goldstein, shows up at the camp. She tells Gita that Gita's family is most likely gone. Gita strikes a deal with their kapo to spare Mrs. Goldstein from hard labor in exchange for Lale's diamond. There are a few weeks where Lale is working every day with so many more prisoners coming in that he does not see Gita for a while. Meanwhile, Leon finally returns, looking thinner. He tells Lale that Mengele cut his balls off.
Chapters 16 – 21 (March – April 1944)
A boy, Mendel Bauer, shows up asking for help since he was caught escaping and will be hung the next morning. Lale asks Bella at the administration office to secretly put him on a transport out to a boy's camp that's going out at midnight.
Gita finally tells Lale what's going on with Cilka, that Schwarzhuber has been using her for sex for the past year or so. Lale notes that there is one other girl who is allowed to keep her hair long at the camp.
One day, the SS officers discover Lale's stash of currency and jewels. They march him into Block 11, one of the punishment blocks. He finds Jakub there. His job is to beat people into giving up names or kill them. Jakub remembers Lale's kindness towards him, but Jakub would rather kill Lale then hand over a bunch of names to the officers. Jakub beats Lale until the SS officers are satisfied that he doesn't know anything. Lale survives the beating, and Jakub secretly cares for him until the SS offices come for him. He's taken to Oberscharführer Houstek, who assigns him to hard labor, but doesn't kill him.
Lale sees Baretski, who he asks to give a message to Gita and Cilka that he is alive, but doing hard labor. Cilka realizes he told her in order to ask for help. Cilka asks Schwarzhuber for a favor, who then reassigns Lale to his previous job as the tattooist, against Houstek's wishes. Lale resumes trading with Victor and Yuri, but is more apprehensive now.
Chapters 22 – 23 (Summer 1944)
More people continuously arrive to the camp, and one night the Gypsies that Lale lives with are herded on a truck to be taken away and cremated. Another night, in an act of defiance, ammunition workers manage to stockpile gunpowder to try to blow up one of the crematoriums.
Chapters 24 – 25 (Fall 1944 – Spring 1945)
A cold autumn passes. In late January, there is a commotion when it's announced that the Russians (allied forces) will be arriving soon and that the camp is being emptied out. The women are herded out to an unknown fate by the SS officers, and as Gita leaves she shouts to Lale that her last name is Furman.
Gita and the other women march for a long time, and Gita ends up marching with some Polish girls who decide to make a break for it. They are able to get away to a nearby house. They eventually make their way to the sister of one of the girls in Krakow. From there, Gita gets a ride on a fruit truck back home to Bratislava, where she lives in a crowded apartment with other survivors. Her two brothers (Doddo and Latslo), who had joined the Russian army, find her and they talk briefly but they cannot stay.
Chapters 26 – 27 (Spring – Summer 1945)
With Auschwitz emptied, Lale is shuttled to a different concentration camps. He finally decides to make a break for it. He gets through a fence, dives into a river and wakes up to see Russian soldiers. When the Russians find out he speaks multiple languages, they put him to work. He's given a nice room, clothes and good food. His job is to go out and find local women to entertain them each night, and they give him jewelry and cash to entice them with. He's able to find willing girls, who seem familiar with the practice.
Eventually, Lale is allowed to scout for girls without a guard. He takes the opportunity to escape. He walks until he gets to a bus station and rides home to Slovakia.
Chapter 28 (Summer 1945)
Lale goes home to Krompachy to find his sister Goldie is still alive. She is married to a Russian man with the last name Solokov. He tells her about Gita, and Goldie suggests going to Bratislava to find her since people from the concentration camps are arriving there. He buys a horse and cart and travels there, living in his cart for two weeks. Finally, he is reunited with Gita, and he proposes immediately.
Lale and Gita take his sister's Russian last name, which is more accepted than his own, Eisenberg. They settle in Bratislava. In October 1945, Lale and Gita are married. He starts a business importing fine fabrics. They also smuggle money and jewelry for wealthy people out of the country, and so the business is eventually shut down and nationalized.
In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.
One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.
A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.
the most constant August 28, 2019 5:21 am
You completely summed up my thoughts on reading this book. I had heard about it, but there are a bazillion ww2 books, saw the sequel and caved. I'm still on the wait list so I haven't read it yet, but I'm glad to hear you liked it!
DC Gilbert August 28, 2019 5:25 am
I will have to check this out. "The Volunteer" by Jack Fairweather, is another great Auschwitz story. A true story of unbelievable courage and sacrifice.
Jordann @thebookbloglife August 28, 2019 5:25 am
I really enjoyed this read. I wasn't aware of all the inaccuracies. I might have to read that article! Great review!
Lola August 28, 2019 6:09 am
Great review and very interesting about the historical accuracies. I only very rarely read WWII fiction myself, but it is good to know for people who do. Glad you liked the novel overall though!
Jee Wan August 28, 2019 12:29 pm
Guess what. I'm doing the same thing too! Checking out this book to read the sequel! Haha and thank you for the heads up on the historical inaccuracies. I'm gonna read up on it!
Steph Huddleston August 28, 2019 10:45 pm
Thank you for your review! This book is on my TBR pile in anticipation of an author event in my city in November about the sequel. I will be checking out that article you linked to.
Why is it so you think that we have so many romance novels set in WW2? There seems to be a fascination with this time period that sometimes runs the risk of glamourising or romanticising things that shouldn't really be, like war.
Jennifer Marie Lin August 29, 2019 12:58 am
Hmmm, that's a good question! I think there's just a lot of novels in general set in WW2 just because there's an abundance of research and information available about that period of time. And romantic storylines tend to go well with historical fiction because it allows for a hopeful ending that feels like an uplifting "conclusion" to a story, even if the historical events themselves don't feel that hopeful, if that makes sense. I think it's true that it can seem like it's over-romanticizing things though — I hope you enjoy the book!
Steph Huddleston August 29, 2019 1:00 am
Great response, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one! I agree that the hopeful themes of romance do often pair well with historical fiction. Thanks! I hope so! :)
Valerie December 13, 2020 5:45 am
It may be because when life and death stare at you in the face, people finally figure out what really matters. World War II, was one of those times in history.
DoingDewey September 2, 2019 9:04 pm
Thanks for including the article describing historical inaccuracies in this book! I really love to learn from historical fiction, so it's important to me to know how reliable it is. I'll have to start doing some googling and see if I come up with any similar notes on other books I've read.
kayceeskidmore September 3, 2019 5:31 pm
This book is so high on my TBR list! I'm so thankful for you providing the article as a companion for the novel!
Ann Greenan October 28, 2020 10:16 pm
Uh when Leon was castrated that was it for me. Too painful to read!!!


text:
Aliobası is a village in the Amasra District, Bartın Province, Turkey. Its population is 286 (2021).

History
The name of the village is mentioned as Alabaş in the records of 1907.

Geography
The village is 33 km from Bartın city and 17 km from Amasra town.

References

Villages in Amasra District

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Completely off topic but wanted to share what happened when we flew from LCY to Mykonos on Monday. Much to my surprise we had complimentary food and drink in economy and to learn that it's never stopped on City flights. Also, interestingly one of the cabin crew told me that BA is very unhappy with M & S and hinted there may be changes ahead.
This is also the case with the CityFlyer flights from MAN.
Can concur – we had this in economy on MAN – FLORENCE this month.
This really wasn't a choice by BA, more of a logistical issue. That fleet is separate and has never been trained and switched over to BOB. Probably also linked to the Embraer fleet.
Typically the LCY flights cost a little more than LHR ones for same destination, say TXL, so 30p worth of food not making much difference.
For London to Berlin, LCY is usually cheaper than LHR in my experience. And there's usually more avios seats on the LCY flights.
I believe it's to do with space for the relevant trollies on the Embraer fleet, although it was supposed to get resolved before.
The Vueling card must be causing some alarm at amex UK. I think many would dump their amex basic card for this given the opportunity. However, more importantly, if as you say somebody still thinks they can make money in these conditions then it is difficult to see BA sticking with amex if they can offer this on visa/MasterCard.
Rob, I've got the Tesco Premium card and it's been working well for me.
I've been awarded my bonus 5000 Clubcard points already so my only question is. Do you know when existing cardholders will be informed of their cancelled cards? Cheers.
Tesco may have pulled the card for new applicants, but has it been confirmed that existing cards will be closed?
Hi all… wondering if anyone knows the answer: if my daughter living at the same address buys spg points, is it possible for me or wife to pool them immediately for redemptions? Does my daughter need to check in or can we spend them as we wish?
Your daughter simply transfers the points to you or your wife for use in your / her acct.
They can be transferred from one person to another at the same address using a request form in the online account. However, it is not immediate, it usually takes about 5 working days but last time I got mine in 3 days. To buy points the account needs to have been open so many day but I cannot recall how many, 14 rings a bell.
May have been mentioned already but apparently BA are now embroiled in an error fare controversy where a number of pax have booked cheap flights to the Middle East (and, in several cases separate accommodation and car hire) only to have BA cancel the flights citing an IT error. MSE have picked up on it now so it'll be interesting to see how it pans out. The legal adviser asked for comment calls it a "grey area" even though it's covered to a certain extent by contract law.
Seems a weak position to defend if somebody took BA to MCOL/ CEDR.
The Tel Aviv fare is an obvious error with the actual fare component ( so not the taxes and fees ) was minus seven quid..
Ba have been quick to mitigate conflict by offering £100 ( voucher/cash details to follow ) appology to those that booked it.
I flew a mistake fare to Costa Rica in business from Malaga via London for six hundred pounds a couple of years back so many of these issues are fully ticketed..
And lastly Martin Lewis talks with broad brush strokes generally (and even more so about travel) – he is spreading himself and his site too thin as he is forced to dumb down to the masses.
The voucher details are published. The '£100' is only to be used against purchase of a BA product at the same online travel agent the pax where bought their ticket, with a short 'book by' date, end July 2018 I think. So it's completely mean as a compo gesture.
2. Bookings to be made via the original travel agent. Discount is not available via BA directly or via another agent.
It very clearly states the cancellation terms for tickets before you press the "purchase now" button……with value fares this is usually uncancellable.
Yet BA as the vendor seem in this case to be ignoring this part of the contract between 2 parties! This would constitute an unfair contract if it can be cancelled without agreement by both parties, and hence a breach of the unfair contract terms act…..
My employer could cancel my contract without my consent. I can cancel any financial contract without the consent of the other party within a defined period. I can cancel lots of contracts with notice.
You cannot hold someone to a contract that is unfair. For example, if I signed a contract with a builder to build me a new bog standard garage for £3m it would not be enforceable. Same as if I got them to do it for £1.
Lots of shades of grey but what matters here is not typically the legal position but how the vendor handles the fall out. Can either increase customet loyalty or end it.
It's not a grey area because airlines, especially BA, have been unilaterally cancelling mistake fares for years. This is why we don't write about them.
The only grey area here is whether the price is actually not low enough. However, as BA can unilaterally cancel your ticket anyway up to 2 weeks before departure (and often does when routes are pulled, without making any effort to reroute) it is difficult to complain. Talk to those people who booked holidays to Calgary for the winter.
But in the latter scenario, there is a legal right to re-routing, no matter how awkward BA try to be about it! It seems to be the case here that BA and other airlines) have the right to cancel the flights without any kind of comeback if they can justify that there was a pricing error.
There was a pricing error. You bought a fully flexible ticket, usually four-figures, for £200. A court would throw out your complaint in seconds.
There is a cyclicality here remember. If this ticket WASN'T substantially cheaper, you wouldn't be complaining in the first place, because you could take BA's refund and buy a ticket with another airline for a similar price. You can't say you didn't think it was a mistake but give your reason for complaining as the fact that you can't buy a replacement ticket for anything like the same amount.
How is Joe Blogs the consumer supposed to know that refundable tickets are stupidly expensive? Before being a points geek I had no idea that refundable tickets were 5x the price. I probably had no idea whether the air tickets I bought were even refundable or not. On this basis, the fare is not manifestly an error unless you have a decent level.of knowledge of air fares?
Good luck with that in the Small Claims Court. Ignorance (of the truth, not stupidity!) is not a legal defence.
OT: hi I just got the plat card. If I refer myself for the nectar card, will I get 18000 points?
Yes, according to the experience of many here. However, it would be sensible to wait a while before applying for another card.
Can you merge Vueling Avios to BAEC?
If you purchase fuel from Tesco, then there is a good reason. You need to search.
Virgin are offering a signup bonus and also a monthly spend bonus (including to existing holders)! Had my reward one a while now but get 2000 for £500 spend in each of next 3 months!
I got an email from them yesterday too.
5000 miles for getting the card, then 2000 miles if I spend £500 monthly for the next 3 months.
Can't see a reason not to get the card.
The small print says you don't – I think they have just used €10 units to avoid having to talk in fractions.
Off topic. Does anyone know how long it takes for Marriot status to update following the posting of the final qualifying night? I am doing the platinum challenge and trying to do it before end of July (in the hope that platinum will move to platinum premier in the new scheme). I am looking at my last stay being 28th July, but am worried it might be too late for my status to update if the points don't post before end of July.
Your status should update as soon as the points/nights post to your account for your last stay of the Platinum challenge. Normally that will happened within 48hrs of checking out.
Instant, because I got mine yesterday. Stayed on Saturday at Manchester Airport, points posted Tuesday, status immediately updated to Platinum. Spookily, my linked Starwood status became Platinum too.
Thanks Rob! Congrats on reaching platinum!
So I am not sure if the maximum rate applies there as mentioned on this site. Certainly you can't book it via points online.
Are Marriott rewards and Ritz Carlton rewards the same thing? I have a gold RC card which was issued in lieu of a gold Marriott card. Can i transfer spg points purchased via the 35% discount to my RC account 3 for one, and then book any spg, marriott or RC hotel at a max of 60000 points per night??
In August, yes. And R-C Rewards won't exist post August anyway, in anything except name. All points across all 3 schemes are pooled with one new account number.
On the Vueling card, I note the Cartes Bancaires 'CB' logo.
IIRC domestic payment networks are out of scope for the interchange fee cap. While I know CB has some kind of connection to the Visa network, and I've not been following the interchange cap in France in any detail, I do wonder if that plays a role in making the economics of the card work – if certain fees are not capped as low for a percentage of the transactions they expect. It might also explain the position on cash withdrawals.
But as I said, I've not been following French market too closely.
The French CB card system used by all the banks there is a bit different, so I don't know if it is caught in the interchange fee cap. Their equivalent of our debit card is actually a deferred debit card whereby when you spend on it, the sum is immediately blocked on your bank account, but they don't actually take the money until the end of the month, so a bit more like a charge card as there is no credit involved and it is always paid in full because the money is secured at the time of purchase.
That's weird. Is there any point in them doing it like that? If your current account accrues interest would you get interest on the amount you've spent on your card?
I was never able to find a current account that offered interest in France, in fact there was a monthly fee of €14 just for having the account; no additional benefits and that is very standard there. There are now more online banks but with the inertia factor, the domestic business of the main French banks is very profitable. Cheques and cash are still used far more than in the UK.
I manage to get 6% interest out of La Poste, but I opened the two accounts (Livret A and PEL) 20 years ago during a special offer.
Current accounts do not accrue interests in France… old habit in the French market.
Livret A and PEL are not current accounts.
Interests on Livret A and PEL are not paid on a daily basis.
On the Livret A, interests are paid at the end of the year.
You need to mouve your funds between those and your current account.
You cannot have a credit card linked to a Livret A or a PEL.
And the interest on the Livret A is most of the time inferior of the inflation rate.
The interest on the PEL is better but you cannot cash it before something like 4 or 5 years or more : it is meant to help you to get a reduced interest loan for buying a house.
Then if you manage all those caveats, it may work fine.
I do not know if interchange fee is different for the CB cartes bancaires network.
I believe the CB cartes bancaires was created in the 80s to reduce the cost for the shops to accept the CB cartes bancaires cards.
So the interchange fee, and maybe all other costs related to the cards, were already lower than in any equivalent country.
I am not really sure the new european directive changes substantially something in France.
Economic newspapers are not writing about that and interchange fees.
All the buzz is in the uk ;-).
When I had a French CB Visa, it worked in exactly the same way as my UK debit cards in terms of when debits were charged to my account. I closed the a/c in 2012, though, so things may have changed. Bank was CCF, taken over by HSBC.
All mastercard and visa cards (issued in France) are inside the CB Cartes Bancaires network in France.
CB here must not be confused with Carte Bleue which is the Visa "name/brand " in France.
I'm after the SPG card but was declined back in Feb . Couldn't see any reason aside from a secondary Lloyds amex triggered a credit check. I've since cancelled one card leaving me with one amex issued card.
Anyone advise on how long to wait to reapply ? 4 months too soon?
You shouldn't have been checked if you were an additional cardholder?
Never been checked with amex issued secondary cards but the Lloyds secondary left a mark . I wasn't expecting it but shouldn't have been a surprise given their disjointed IT systems.
Use the eligibility checker on the amex website as a guide. I cancelled the old gold charge card, waited 6 months to reapply and got turned down. I had opened a couple of other credit accounts in that time so I think that may have been why. Waited about 5 months and used the checker. It only gave me a 5/10 chance of being accepted for the new gold credit but I applied anyway and got accepted.
Thanks Lumma – That's handy – hadn't come across that.


text:
Home Comedians Does Dane Cook Have A Girlfriend Or Is He Married To A...
Does Dane Cook Have A Girlfriend Or Is He Married To A Wife?
The issue of who Dane Cook's girlfriend or wife is at present has been widely discussed in media circles recently. Many people know that the comedian is in a relationship, but not many people know whether it is a relationship with a woman or a girlfriend. The growing interest in Dane Cook's private life is not surprising, considering that the man is very popular as a "joker" who has worked hard for years to turn people upside down as a stand-up comedian and actor with a reputation in many movies.
Maybe Dane Cook is in love at this moment, but who is the woman in his life? Is Dane Cook's girlfriend the one who is shaking up his world right now, or does the comedian have a wife? How amazing is the relationship he's sharing right now with his partner? Let's find out the answers.
Who is Dane Cook's Girlfriend?
Dane Cook has never been married before, so he definitely doesn't have a wife. But the comedian has a girlfriend that he's deeply in love with. Dane Cook's girlfriend is an amazing woman, whose beauty has amazed many fans of the comedian since she became known as the one who dates Cook.
Dane is deeply in love with his girlfriend. In fact, the comedian himself has said so many times that he is head over heels in love with the woman. But who is this lady with whom Dane Cook has been building such a strong emotional bond for some time now? Let's take a look at her life.
ALSO READ: What Is Jonah Hill Up To Now Since He Played Seth In 'Superbad'?
Dane Cook's girlfriend is a young woman named Kelsi Taylor. Taylor is an actress and singer from Nevada, USA, who was born on October 26, 1998. Taylor developed a deep interest in making music as a young girl and, according to sources, began performing on stage as a teenager.
When she finished high school, Taylor decided to enroll in college, but she didn't finish college because she felt that school didn't fit into her plans to spread her sound around the world, so she left college to concentrate on making music. Eventually, in 2018, she released her EP entitled Fear of Yourself and received some applause for it.
Taylor is also posting song covers on YouTube and also putting some training videos online. This has helped her to become quite popular on the video-sharing platform and gain fans dedicated to her work. She has also starred in movies like The Funny Bunch (2013) and American Typecast (2019). Today, her relationship with Dane Cook has put her in the spotlight across America as fans of the popular comedian try to learn more about her life.
How Dane Cook and Kelsi Taylor Met
Dane Cook and his girlfriend Kelsi Taylor have been in love for some time. The couple met in 2017 and have been together ever since. Talking about how they fell in love, Cook once revealed that he first met Kelsi Taylor when she attended a game he hosted at his home. He was attracted to her and approached her. They then remained friends for a while before they began to like each other deeply and eventually fell in love.
The fans began to notice that Cook was in love with Taylor when he began posting regularly on social media about the woman and expressing his deep affection for her. Taylor also regularly posted Cook's photos on her Instagram page and declared her love for the comedian. Despite their exhausting work schedule, the couple always made time for each other.
ALSO READ: Matt Damon's Net Worth and The Roles That Made Him The Most Money?
The Age Gap Between Them
The interesting thing about the relationship between Dane Cook and Kelsi Taylor is that Cook is much older than Taylor. In fact, Dane Cook's girlfriend is 26 years younger than him. The big age difference between the two lovebirds has raised some eyebrows among people, but that doesn't seem to affect the couple at all.
Apparently, there was criticism from some people as to why Cook would date a much younger lady, but this criticism never stopped the couple from loving each other. In fact, even their respective families approve of their relationship, and some fans believe that wedding bells may be ringing soon.
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Emily WEST 15/f - NY Mar - unknown .
Ellie PIERCE 6/f - NY May - dropsy on brain .
Hattie BAUCUS 1/f - NY Apr - scarlet fever .
__?__ GIVENS 55/f md NY Feb - heart disease .
Thos MCKAY 74/m - NY Nov farmer consumption .
Lyla ALLEN 65/f w NY May - consumption .
Raymond B. HART 48/m md NY Apr farmer __?__ .
Asenath MONGLIN 71/f md CT Dec - Erysepelas pr__? .
Israel MONROE 13/m - NY May - putrid sorethroat .
Isaac DEGOFF 72/m md NY Mar farmer inflamation lungs .
Joseph HEDGY 82/m md NY Mar farmer palsey .
Jacob SMITH 95/m md PA Jul farmer old age .
Eliza LUNDGRUN? 2/f - NY Jul - typhoid fever .
Thos. TUCKER 28/m - NY Feb farmer consumption .
Wm. C. MINEAH 60/m md NJ Aug farmer dropsy .
Jonathan FAY 61/m md NY Jul farmer gravel .
Israel CULVER 26/m - NY Apr farmer consumption .
Susan BAKER 83/f md NY Feb - old age .
Apollus EATON 56/m md NY Dec farmer dropsy heart .
Matha MIDDAUGH 62/f md NY Oct - consumption .
Jos MIDDAUGH 62/f md NY Oct - Consumption .
Stephen B. JUNE 31/m md NY May farmer consumption .
John MONTGOMERY 43/m md NY Apr farmer consumption .
Enos WHEELER 68/m md NY Dec - dropsy .
Frances SPACE 7/f - NY Nov - fever .
Debby THORGOOD 88/f md NY Nov - old age .
Mary MCLEAN 52/f md NY Nov - dropsy .
Laura GUINNUP 35/f md NY May - consumption .
Amelia RICHLAND 1/f - NY May - Legrippe .
John BESSEMER 70/m md NY Jul farmer Legrippe .
Thos LEWIS 65/m md MA Sep farmer ersypelas .
Thank you Eileen Arndt for contributing this information.
You are our visitor since September 6, 1999.


text:
After the studio move, I'm still catching up on what's been going on in the last few weeks -
I went to a wonderful festival, FICAM, in Meknes, Morocco that was run by Mohamed Beyoud. It all takes place in the Institute Francais estate (Morocco used to be a French territory) and screening hall. It's located in a very fertile forest, with Arabic tents located everywhere, with a wonderful large central tent where we ate all of our meals. The audiences were terrific, lots of fans with a great appreciation for and knowledge of animation.
with Alexis Hunot at FICAM
Plus, there was a preponderance of great animators there - Michael Dudok De Wit ("The Red Turtle"), Michel Ocelot ("Kirikou"), Ann Marie Fleming ("Window Horses", "La vie en Rosie"), Claude Barras ("My Life as a Zucchini"), Jean-Francois Laguionie ("Louise in Winter") and the great David Silverman, who was a complete rock star there because he directed "The Simpsons Movie".
with David Silverman in Morocco!
We were never able to just sit and talk without a line forming to get sketches of Bart or Homer - yes, "The Simpsons" is an international phenomenon. So if you have a new film next year, definitely enter it into FICAM, and try to go - it's a lovely festival and they have the most succulent oranges I've ever eaten.
Next item, I've just finished my newest "Dog" film, called "Cop Dog", and I believe it's my best one. Fans have been bugging me for years for another sequel to "Guard Dog" and "Guide Dog", so I came up with what I think is a very funny story. It's going to premiere at the Florida Film Festival in April, and you should be seeing it soon at other film festivals. Watch for it, you'll love it!
Also, I've decided to start a Patreon account, so my fans can follow up on the studio's new projects. We'll be deciding on the rewards soon - that's always a critical decision because if it's something to mail, it's a big chore and if it's something people can download that's so much easier, but maybe not as valued. So I have to figure out something that's cool but also easy to send.
And finally, I don't know if you saw it, but my most recent "Couch Gag" for "The Simpsons" premiered a couple of weeks ago, to universal applause and acclaim, and if you missed it, you can see it on Twitter here:
https://twitter.com/TheSimpsons/status/839934521751425025
I love working for "The Simpsons" - they're all great guys and the shows are seen all over the world! Weird...
So those are my excuses for the delay in my Scribble Junkies posts. I promise to be a good boy and post a weekly or bi-weekly report. Thanks for your attention.
--Bill Plympton
We've moved!!
I suppose you're all wondering where I've been lately - I haven't posted in a while. Not to worry, I'm back - I've been too busy with a number of projects, which I'll post about in a couple of days.
But first, I decided to move my office - my landlord increased my rent by $2000, which I can't afford, so I had to find a new location - and as usual it was a tough chore. But I finally found something I can handle, even though it's a little smaller than the space I was in on 27th St. for 10 (or was it 11?) years.
Packing up the old studio on 27th St.
So last Thursday we made the big move. My friend Signe turned me on to these Russian movers out of Brooklyn that she used when she moved her studio last year... The day came, and a lot of people showed up to help pack everything up, while the Russians started moving the desks, tables and file cabinets. Everything seemed to be going well, and we even stopped for a pizza break - but when the freight elevator shut down for a lunch break, that set us behind a bit.
It looked like there was no way we were going to finish in time - because the freight elevator in the new building was scheduled to shut down at 5 pm, and there was still a truckload of furniture and merchandise that needed to be loaded in. Meanwhile, the Russians were thinking that the best way around this was to take the truck full of my office furniture back to Brooklyn and put everything into storage until Saturday - then suddenly they were talking about finishing the job on Monday.
Somehow, my office manager, John Holderried, was able to convince the movers to stay on track and finish the job, which saved the day. Then he magically got them access to the freight elevator in the new building for another couple hours, so the rest of the stuff could be loaded in. And he and Wendy stayed late to tell the movers where to put everything, so it all could be done in one day, which was a minor miracle.
The new space on 30th St., waiting for the rest of the furniture
All the order we had in the old studio is completely gone, now we're trying to get our computers, merchandise and files back in some kind of order - not an easy task. Plus the new studio is chock-a-block with mysterious boxes without labels and we just don't know what's what.
We don't even know where to start!
Anyway, here is our new studio address - 151 West 30th St., Suite 405, New York NY 10001. We're trying to get the old phone number moved over to the new studio - but right now, there's no phone or decent internet - so if you need to reach us, please call us on our cell phones!
We'll be back to regular business really soon!
I've got a few bits of scattered news this week -
My Plympton Animation University course is coming to an end. The students have done terrific work - it's been really fun to watch their films come together. Next week we'll have some kind of class film festival, and I'm excited to see all of the (semi-)finished films.
I also just found out that the newest "Couch Gag" I created for "The Simpsons" is scheduled to premiere on (probably) the March 12 episode. So please keep an eye out for that. This will be my FIFTH couch gag, and I don't think any other guest animator has done more than 1 or 2.
There are actually two endings to this short piece, one suggested by Mr. Matt Groening himself, and the other one by me - it's a pretty cool spot, so check it out and let me know what you think. They told me one ending will be for TV and the other is for the internet - and I'm curious to see the kind of sound they added to it.
Finally, congratulations to Signe Baumane and Sturgis Warner, who reached their Kickstarter goal of $126,000 for their new animated feature "My Love Affair With Marriage". Their campaign was very successful in the final week, and they even exceeded their goal, raising over $132,000 - I thought maybe they were crazy to set the mark so high, but they did it! Hooray!!
Also, speaking about crowdfunding, my brilliant animator friend Alex Budovsky showed my the first 20 seconds of his new short film, "Breezin' Along with the Brooklyn Breeze", and it looks like it will be the best thing he's ever done. He's got an IndieGogo campaign, please check it out and support it if you can. It's going to be a fantastic film! Please follow this link:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/breezin-along-with-the-brooklyn-breeze-music-animation#/
Images from "Breezin' Along With the Brooklyn Breeze":


text:
By Cathy Hansen
Roc flies again!
Short Flights
Jim Mumaw
Roc rotation.
After days of waiting for high winds and bad weather to clear on April 29, the colossal six-engine Stratolaunch carrier aircraft, with its enormous wingspan, lifted off gracefully from Runway 30 at Mojave Air & Spaceport ... just as it had done two years ago on April 13.
The composite flying machine climbed effortlessly into the clear blue skies for a three-hour test flight. This gigantic aircraft is nicknamed Roc, as a tribute to the giant bird of Arabian and Persian mythology.
Pilots Evan Thomas "Ivan" and Mark Giddings "Gidro," with Flight Engineer Jake Riley were at the controls of Roc, while Ana Benet flew the Cessna Citation chase plane.
The test flight lasted nearly three hours and at the conclusion, Roc made a couple of low passes down runway 30. Cameras and cell phones were held aloft. The oohs and ahhs were audible, as Roc effortlessly glided through the air. "There she is!" several people exclaimed.
At approximately 10:30 a.m. Roc touched down on runway 30 at Mojave Air & Spaceport with a slight quartering tailwind from the east.
Stratolaunch Systems was originally founded in 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen. The giant aircraft was built for Stratolaunch Systems by Scaled Composites to carry air-launch-to-orbit rockets. In May 2017, it was rolled out and was engineered to enable deployments of a range of launch vehicle shapes and weights.
Allen passed away in October 2018, and a year later, Cerberus Capital Management acquired Stratolaunch, and they announced they would use the aircraft to provide a high-speed "hypersonic" flight test service.
Fred Loughton
Lift off.
The aircraft features a twin-fuselage design and the longest wingspan ever flown. At 385 feet, it surpasses the Hughes H-4 Hercules(a.k.a. the Spruce Goose) flying boat of 321 feet. The flight crew sits in the right fuselage, and the flight data systems is located in the left fuselage.
Stratolaunch will carry a 550,000-pound payload and has a 1,300,000-pound maximum takeoff weight.
Six Pratt & Whitney 4056 engines, hydraulic system, electrical systems, landing gear, flight decks and other major components were fitted onto the Stratolaunch aircraft from two United Airlines Boeing 747-400s.
This was another history making day at Mojave Air & Spaceport. Perfect weather, perfect flight test and another page in the extraordinary book of aerospace history in Mojave.
See you on our next flight!
Record response to Toys for Tots drive
Karl's Hardware is here for all your weather-related needs
Cozy sweaters and jackets for your pets at Canine Creek
Unplanned stay-at-home days
Beginning quilt workshops


text:
Home Sweet Home for Faculty
Hammonds support writers, artists, professors at Ole Miss
UM Provost Morris Stocks, from left, visits with Jeff and Gale Hammond to thank them for their recent gift of a house in Taylor, Miss., to be used for faculty support. Also on hand are UM Foundation President and CEO Wendell Weakley and College of Liberal Arts Dean Glenn Hopkins to thank the couple for their generosity.
While walking his daughter down the aisle to marry her groom – a Mississippi State graduate – Jeff Hammond whispered, "Don't worry. You'll do better next time."
When asked why his wife, Gale, attended the University of Mississippi, Jeff quipped, "…because she was unfortunate enough to marry me."
Hammond was blessed with a quick wit and an often self-deprecating sense of humor. But academics at Ole Miss, particularly programs in the College of Liberal Arts, is a subject he takes very seriously.
"I think academic giving is much more important than giving to the athletics programs, although we do give to them," said Hammond, a Moss Point, Miss., native, who earned an undergraduate degree in accountancy in 1974 and a Juris Doctorate in 1976.
Because of their affinity for the Ole Miss Department of Art – Gale worked there during their early married life – and because the university has one of the South's top creative writing programs, the Hammonds recently donated their second home to be used as a residence for visiting professors in the College of Liberal Arts. The property is just six miles south of the Oxford campus in the Plein Air neighborhood of Taylor, Miss., a community being increasingly populated by local artists and creative minds of all types.
"We hope our gift will assist in a small way in attracting up-and-coming writers, artists and other talented professors to the university because we understand the liberal arts program is the backbone of any good university," said Hammond, who gives credit to his longtime friend UM Chancellor Emeritus Robert Khayat for inspiring the couple's many gifts to the university, including this one.
The house also can be used as a residence for visiting international affairs, accountancy and law professors, according to the Hammonds' agreement with the university.
UM Provost Morris Stocks describes the significance of the Hammonds gift. "As our student enrollment continues to soar, so does our need to bring gifted scholars and artists to campus to continually enhance educational experiences," he said. "Gale and Jeff Hammond entrusted their own children to Ole Miss for strong educational foundations and now they are helping assure other students have extraordinary opportunities. Gifts to help faculty recruitment and retention directly impact our students. We thank the Hammonds for their understanding of this and for their continued dedicated support."
Liberal Arts Dean Glenn Hopkins says that Ole Miss needs such donations. "This extraordinary and generous gift provides many possible opportunities for the College of Liberal Arts, including invitations to writers and scholars to visit our campus for extended periods of time. Both our faculty and our students benefit from such arrangements. We are very grateful to the Hammonds."
Now a resident of Rankin County, Miss., Hammond is an attorney with Watkins & Eager PLLC in Jackson. He was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1977 and to the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, the U.S. Tax Courts and the U.S. Supreme Court in subsequent years. His experience spans from taxation, corporate, real estate, bankruptcy and creditors' rights, and estate planning and administration to banking and commercial lending and finance. He has published several articles in the Mississippi Law Journal and is active in numerous professional organizations.
His wife, Gale, worked for several years in Pascagoula, Miss., where they moved after he received his LL.M. from the University of Florida School of Law, but as the Hammond family grew, she decided to stay home. When Jeff joined Watkins & Eager, Gale served in most offices of the Brandon Reservoir Junior Auxiliary, including president, and has since been active in Brandon United Methodist Church, while also managing a small antique booth in Oxford.
The Hammonds have two children, both Ole Miss alumni: Dr. Kate Hammond Estess, a Taylor Medalist who graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2004 in biochemistry and classics and with a medical degree in 2008, and Ben Hammond, also a Taylor Medalist and Phi Beta Kappa graduate in 2006 with a degree in international studies and an emphasis in Latin American affairs.
Jeff Hammond is from a long lineage of Ole Miss graduates, including both parents, an uncle and an aunt.
"One of my ancestors was in the Mississippi Legislature when the vote was made to locate Ole Miss in Oxford. And I believe one of my ancestors was on the first Board of Trustees," Hammond said. "In any event, I was raised Ole Miss and attended football games, particularly in Jackson, from a very early age."
Some of his fondest memories are of his days at the university, such as studying under the legendary and infamous accounting professors, Gene Peery and Jimmy Davis, and making lasting friendships through his fraternity, Sigma Nu. And, of course, Ole Miss is where he met Gale, whom he took to a football game when she was visiting his roommate's girlfriend … and then to the next football game the following weekend.
"After that, my phone bill went up and we married eight months later," Hammond recalled. "We dated during my first year of law school, and my grade-point average improved substantially after we married. Ole Miss was kind enough to give full scholarships to both of our children, so having built a new house in Taylor, we thought it was time to give back. Ole Miss has always been a part of our lives."
For more information on ways to provide faculty support to Ole Miss through the University of Mississippi Foundation, contact Denson Hollis, senior development officer for the College of Liberal Arts, at dhollis@olemiss.edu or 662-915-5092.
Bill Dabney
previous post: A Tribute to Lifelong Friendship, Gifted Scholarship
next post: Thank You to Our Donors!


They also have some great links if you don't have a Home Depot nearby.
This is good news especially in view of my opinion that they are an environmental disaster.
Okay maybe not from hell per se, actually the cat did it. My son is moving out of town, and getting ready for the walk through to try to salvage the security deposit. Red Oak flooring turns black when exposed to cat piss. Cat urine soaks into wood like diesel fuel in carpet. No, nothing so easy as being a small spot in a corner of a room, but a 2 foot square in the middle of the floor. No this is not a spot sand and poly project,but a screaming condemnation of the entire feline race, for those so inclined.
Before most folks ever discovered tile or carpet, floors were made of wood, real tongue and groove wood that you could sand down a dozen times before you ever ran into the nails, let alone the sub floor.
Hardware stores, Lumber Yard and even Drugstores, carried wood bleach. Not any more. The big box stores are stepping over themselves to sell you carpet or tile, or god forbid, engineered flooring with a veneer so thin, that if you wore it as clothing, you would be arrested for indecent exposure. Your flooring should, but that is a different rant.
Here in the southwest, wood flooring is something that is found in the old part of town the developers haven't gotten their black greasy fingers on and turned into a stucco and tile wonderland of southwest living, as cheaply as possible, but I digress.
Oxalic Acid is the primary product for bleaching wood. It is what is used to bleach pulp for making paper, and why wood match sticks have that light yellow color.
After going into the big box, small lumberyards, hardware stores, (where the folks who have not used grecian formula, remember it), but are sorry that they don't carry it.
I stopped into a Walgreens and inquired at the pharmacy, if they had any. The woman told me that they did not have it at the store, but I could get it delivered there around noon the next day. Being a money for stuff sort, I went to the other big pill stores to see if they had it on the shelf. No Joy.
I went back to Walgreens,, and ordered a 454 gram container(a Reaganomics holdover,remember when we were gonna go metric?). She asked me for a phone number, which I couldn't remember, having a phone to make calls, rather than receive them, so I went to the van, grabbed the phone, couldn't remember the menu to get the number, had to call a friend to have them read me the number, and raced back to the counter before I forgot. I gave her the number, and flush with victory over cat urine, I arrived back at my van only to discover that I had locked the door, leaving my keys on the seat.
Since my keys were laughing at me, and my cell phone was next to them, precluding making a phone call, I began scouring the parking lot looking for a coat hanger or a stiff piece of wire to jimmy the door. Working in wrecking yards for 9 years, you pick up tricks.
Well the Anti Destination League was working overtime for me. No coat hangers, cups or cigarette butts. You could almost perform surgery, this parking lot was so clean. But being no stranger to dumpster diving, I found a piece of wire, and what was once part of a plastic display. I went back into walgreens and got a small roll of medical tape, (the old school stuff that would rip the hairs and skin off your body when you took it off) taped my finds together, retrieved my keys and went about the rest of the day, with no major problems.
The next day, working on a remodeling project that seemed to have just about everything about it go bad, it was after 2 p.m. when I arrived back at the Walgreens. The woman behind the counter informed me that it had not arrived. She called whoever, only to find out that it could only be dropped shipped, and I would probably have it the middle of next week sometime. Way past it doing me any good. She had no explanation for this 'policy', no doubt developed on the spot by some cubicle drone whose idea of a good time was to make their employees look bad and to piss off customers.
Here is the problem. Oxalic Acid has no use in either drug manfacturer, explosive production, or getting you high if you are stupid enough to introduce into any of your mucus membranes. It does block the absorption of calcium, which is one of those Trivial Pursuit bits of information, but so far beyond wood bleaching, that you wonder just how screwed up some companies are.
Most days I am excited living in modern times. Yesterday wasn't one of them.
As I mentioned in Plumb Square and Level, our goal is to produce the best projects we can. Cutting things square in the beginning is the best way of getting your projects to turn out well.
It's great watching shows like Extreme Makeover, where they bang up a 6000 square foot house in only 7 days. Makes for great television, but what you don't see is the months of planning, that goes into getting the plans, permits, site, materials and appliances and furniture ready for 400 workers to descend on a jobsite, and get it done in that sort of time frame.
Doing home improvement projects are made a lot simpler and easier with a few techniques.
If you are going to do it yourself, the Circular Saw is a must have tool. They key to successful projects is to take your time. Take Your time. Take Your Time.
Making a 90 degree or square cut would seem to be as simple as setting your saw at the zero mark. Like Dirty Harry says "Do you feel Lucky?" You might, but in my experience of owning dozens of saws over the years, (production framing and cutting wears them out. dropping them off roofs hurts too), there has always been room for improvement.
This is my corded Skilsaw I have only had this one about six months. I cut a lot more than you probably ever will. Most saws come with a cut guide stamped into the front of the 'shoe' or baseplate. Your saw probably has similar markings. The bottom of the photo shows the front edge of the saw with a series of stamped marks. The shoe is a piece of steel that is stamped and rolled. Mass production at work. The 0 mark has a notch, which in a perfect world would allow you to cut perfectly. It is not and you won't. We will fix that.
The width of the notch indicates the cut line for 90 deg. (degrees) and may have some other use such as being the other side of the saw kerf. Behind the notch on this saw, is a cutout with a couple of teeth which should provide you with good cuts. Don't count on it. The variety of blades and the thicknesses from various manfacturers make this a vague guide better suited to letting you know which way is the cutline.
Setting your saw up to cut square is easy.
To check your saw, turn it upside down. Clamp the blade guard out of the way, adjust the factory guide to 0 degrees which is a 90 deg. cut.
This is my skilsaw set at 0 using the factory guide. The wingnut is the lock for the bevel adjustment.
Using the speed square, with the thick part flat on the shoe, we check our blade along the face between the teeth on the edge.
This is the real set of the blade using that guide. It is off 1-2 deg. Anything that you cut like this will have a bevel. One side will fit tight the other will have a gap. It is not square.
Adjust the saw so the blade is at its maximum extension. This is where the body of the saw is closest to the shoe, or base plate. Turn the saw over. Clamp the saw behind the blade guard so that it is out of your way.
Note: This is the only time you should ever mess with the blade guard.
Clamp the saw behind the blade guard. You do not want to bend it, or break it.
Step 3. Loosen the bevel adjustment. (the knob at the front of your saw) Using your square, gently tap the shoe until the square is flat against the blade. If you cannot adjust the saw like this, Return It!
Tighten the wingnut. You are almost ready to cut. Here is my guide after tuning the saw. Almost the thickness of the stamped line.
Step 5.Release the clamp, letting the blade guard cover the blade, and turn your saw over. You are now ready to cut material. Every so often recheck the blade.
The Guest Bath is finished. Working with constraints is an opportunity for creativity. The Tub was kept in place. We insulated the entire bathroom to make it a quieter place. We also installed a grab bar for safety.
To add visual interest we tiled the bath walls right up to the ceiling. We moved the shower head higher,The window was clear glass unit that the client used an etching compound from her stained glass bag of tricks, to provide light and privacy.
The toilet is a one piece Kohler unit. One of the neat features is the lid/seat. There has always been a war between the pointers and setters over the position and dispostion of the seat. Pointers leave it up, setters want it down. This seat magically goes down at the lightest touch, as if it was on an electronic control. No electronics, so it must be magic.
One of the toughest things to find was the glass shelf over the toilet. Looked and tried a lot of them before settling on this one. Same thing for the grab bar, towel bar, tp holder, and the faucets. Fixture companies do half the job. You can buy a faucet, but need to go somewhere else to find the various bars and holders that a bathroom uses. There is an astonishing variation over finishes and colors. A Brushed Nickle finish has as many variations as there are companies.
The sink is a two piece Kohler unit with very modern styling. It is such a new product that we are still waiting for a single trim piece. The lights are George Kovac's units we picked up at a Lamps Plus store. The Medicine cabinet is unit from Home Depot's EXPO store. EXPO is a high end store for remodeling, or design.
The project was interesting in taking a small space and making it bigger without moving walls. The open towel cabinet, was a nifty feature. A lot more work than stuffing a box in the wall and tacking trim on it, but it was worth it.
Here is a shot through the looking glass.
I keep an eye on solar technology, as I live in phoenix, and get a lot of sun. It would be nice to get a check from the power companies.
Those folks at MIT have developed a solar dish that looks to be easy to build.
TypePad Screwup number 99 or so.
TypePad has been a interesting experience in the same way as the chinese curse."may you have an interesting life. They recently came out with a new version, with all sort of scripty things.
It is not an improvement. Preview is especially bad in Rich Text mode. It gets confused.
TypePad is turning into Microsoft's Front Page. This is not a good thing.
For those of you that are looking for a blogging tool, look elsewhere. This is not worth the money.
In our previous episodes in Plumb, Square and Level, I defined the terms, and then discussed Levels. Square is next up. I probably should have discussed Square first, as without square, plumb and level won't help you a whole lot. This is remodeling and you are already used to having things backwards.
Almost everything that goes into houses from foundation, to trim relies on square in some form. Floors, walls, cabinets, windows, depend on square for proper fit, finish and operation. Raw materials such as plywoods, particle boards, sheetrock, paneling of all sorts, and lumber are manufactured square.
The first encounter with square was in ancient times with the discovery of the 3 4 5 right triangle. If the short leg has 3 units, the long leg 4 units, the line connecting the two end points will be 5 units. And you thought you would never have to use geometry. The good news is that for the purposes of remodeling, this is about all you will need.
This is how folks build square foundations, walls and rooms. Inches, feet, meters, miles, it's the same. This is how you check floors, and walls before you nail them down.
The hands down must have tool for making square is the Swanson Speed Square.
This is the latest model. The inner triangle opening has notches and lines for measuring.They also put the inch lines on both sides. The two inner scales are for establishing cutlines for rafters if you decide to stick build your own roof. It also has a 45 degree angle on the back side. On that angle is a degree scale for other things.
Here is a side view of my old one. The t shape is what you place against the wood for establishing your lines. The small notch on the bottom is the pivot for marking angles if you are doing stick built roofing, which with trusses, is becoming a lost art.
You can also use it inside cabinets, door and window frames to check for square corners.
This is probably the second tool you buy after a hammer and before the circular saw.
The Guest Bath Project is down to seeds and stems. Let's review. The bathroom had no storage to speak of, an awkward counter, and shower tile that was 'dated'.
The counter and base cabinet closed in the room despite the white color scheme. The 'banjo' counter over the toilet made working on the toilet a major project.
The shower tile was added on at some point, with the application of concrete board on top of the drywall, which is why it has such a thick appearance. Plus the shower head was placed so that only short people could use it comfortably.
After the demo, and moving the plumbing, and thinking about some storage, we opened up the wall, split the hall closet and installed a towel shelf. We also re framed the wet wall to install a sunken medicine cabinet.
The fixtures are Kohler, chosen for their looks and color. Yes they are white. I managed to get the client to consider dark gray as a contrast wall for the fixtures. They pop!
One of the early decisions we made was to insulate the bathroom. Bathrooms are one of the noisiest rooms in a house, and builders never insulate them, Nothing but hard surfaces, and in most houses, you can hear what is happening throughout the house. Not this bathroom. You can have screamer auditions for horror movies in here and still sleep in the next room.
The shower presented a few challenges with the offset window, the original tub installation, and the original shower head location. We moved the shower head up, tiled the walls to the ceiling, and did it with daltile Kohler White tile. Yes they make tiles that are the same colors as most fixtures. Surprised me.
What surprised us even more was how hard it was to get it. The big box stores that carry daltile, cannot sell certain styles. Stores that can sell it want to install it, or charge you enough so that you seriously think about buying a kiln and firing your own.