text:
NASCAR signs multi-year deal with Genius Sports
Home > NFL > FREE NFL Pick AFC North
CTS365 » NFL » FREE NFL Pick AFC North
FREE NFL Pick AFC North
Times are changing in the AFC North as of late, and for the first time since the NFL moved to a four divisions per conference format in 2002, the Cleveland Browns are the favored bet in the AFC North.
The Browns have witnessed the emergence of a franchise quarterback in fan-favorite, Baker Mayfield, and they've made some aggressive moves in the off-season acquiring some other offensive pieces to complement Mayfield.
With the departure of star receiver Antonio Brown, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be looking for other players to stand out and establish themselves. The Steelers are perennial contenders, so the loss of Brown may not necessarily have as great of an impact on the team as a whole.
The Baltimore Ravens are justifiably excited about their young, dynamic quarterback, Lamar Jackson. However, as he continues to develop as an elite QB, the staff will need to address some gaping holes on defense with several key departures.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals continue to flounder. Quarterback Andy Dalton has performed below-average as of late, and there don't seem to be signs of any stirring, dramatic turnaround for the Bengals in the near future.
Now let's take a look how Vegas has stacked the division and some of the key components that support each team's odds.
Cleveland Browns +140
As mentioned previously, this is the first time the Browns are the AFC North favorite since 2002. This is also arguably one of the most talented Browns teams in recent history.
After some flashes of brilliance confined to questionably limited playing time in the beginning of last season, Baker Mayfield became Cleveland's undisputed starter at QB. The dismissal of head coach Hugh Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley definitely played a role in that transition.
The Browns also promoted interim offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens to head coach in order to build stability given Kitchens' familiarity and relationship with Mayfield.
It's obvious that the Browns have spent considerable effort to build up an offensive around Baker Mayfield. The acquisition of Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry at receiver provide some dangerous targets for Mayfield. Combined with up-and-comer Antonio Callaway, the Browns now have some legitimate depth at the receiver position.
Additionally, the Browns will have an assortment of talented running backs with the likes of Nick Chubb as well as Kareem Hunt, once he has served his eight-game suspension. Duke Johnson may or may not get traded, but either way the Browns have plenty of pieces put together to run a well-balanced offense this season.
For all of the offensive firepower, the Browns' defense is somewhat underwhelming. With the addition of Sheldon Richardson on the line, the Browns have some capable pass-rushers as well as a decent secondary. However, the loss of Jamie Collins at linebacker leaves some questions.
It's possibly an opportunity for draft picks Sione Takitaki or Mack Wilson to establish themselves as rookies.
Pittsburgh Steelers +175
For once, the Steelers do not have the most star-studded roster in the AFC North. However, it's a bit early to count the Steelers out yet.
Despite losing Antonio Brown, Juju Smith-Schuster is an extremely capable receiver and was arguably close to overtaking Brown as the Steelers' top wideout. The big question will be who will step up behind Smith-Schuster?
Ben Roethlisberger will have plenty of time to locate new favorite receivers behind a veteran line that looks to return all starters except for tackle, Marcus Gilbert. Still, led by Pro Bowler Ali Villanueva, the Steelers' offensive line remains one of the team's biggest strengths.
With a spotty receiving corps, the Steelers will need to continue feeding the ball to running back James Connor and Benny Snell Jr. who has quite a bit of potential despite being a fourth round pick.
Defensively, it appears as though Pittsburgh took the opportunity during the off-season to address some concerns in the secondary as well as at linebacker. Acquiring Justin Layne at cornerback and Devin Bush at linebacker in the draft, plus the addition of LB Mark Barron during free agency should alleviate fears in both areas.
T.J. Watt, Cameron Haywood, and Stephon Tuitt will all return, giving the Steelers plenty of pass-rushing power as well as a veteran presence that will hopefully permeate the rest of the defense.
Baltimore Ravens +300
Out of all the teams in the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens probably experienced the most critical losses, with a majority of them coming on defense.
Offensively, the Ravens have a tremendous cornerstone in QB Lamar Jackson. The trick has been finding the right components to support Jackson. A veteran offensive line with little turnover from last season is a great foundation, and Baltimore has found some offensive weapons to build upon it.
Jackson already has a target in Willie Snead, but the addition of Marquise Brown will give him options in tight situations. Picking up Mark Ingram as a sturdy and reliable running back in addition to drafting Justice Hill should help keep the Ravens balanced.
Defensively, Baltimore lost C.J. Mosley, Za'Darius Smith, Terrell Suggs, and Eric Weddle which leaves some big holes to fill. The secondary shows promise with the development of Marlon Humphrey at cornerback and if Earl Thomas can quickly return to form following a serious leg injury.
The biggest remaining concerns lie at linebacker and pass-rushing on the edges. The Ravens will need to come up with solutions if they intend to beat their odds in the AFC North.
Cincinnati Bengals +1400
There's not much of a positive outlook on this Bengals team. Lackluster on both sides of the ball, it's going to take some serious work to get Cincinnati back into the mix.
Quarterback Andy Dalton hasn't performed up to expectations and his top receiver, A.J. Green has had issues staying healthy. Further compounding issue is the fact that the Bengals spent a fourth round pick to acquire QB Ryan Finley which doesn't spark a whole lot of confidence in Dalton moving forward.
Furthermore, the Bengals didn't do much to bolster a mediocre offensive line through either the draft or free agency. Really the only bright spots on offensive are Joe Mixon's rookie campaign and the selection of Jonah Williams in the first round of the draft.
Defensively, Cincinnati has a decent secondary with the likes of Shawn Williams and Jessie Bates. However, there's a noticeable lack of talent at linebacker and along the defensive line. Again, the Bengals didn't make any impressive moves in the draft or free agency to address those issues.
Free NFL Prediction AFC North
Look, I think it's incredible what Baker Mayfield has done for the Browns and for Cleveland. They finally have a QB to rally around and it looks like things are on the up and up. However, if this past Super Bowl is any indicator, I think Mayfield and company's Cinderella-story is still at least a season away.
Mayfield is a promising young quarterback and the Browns have definitely put together some formidable pieces to the puzzle, but a star-studded roster doesn't necessarily guarantee a good, or winning, team. I expect it to take about a season for everyone to work out the kinks and get on the same page.
It'll be interesting to follow the story-lines of Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson this upcoming season and I think the edge belongs to Mayfield and the Browns. However, I see the Steelers hanging on for one more season and finishing at the top of the AFC North.
Experience wins this round, but I sense a changing of the guard not too far away.
Joe Kramer
Husband, father of 3. Army Vet and USMA grad ('16). Lifelong Colorado Avalanche and Army West Point fan. Living the dream as a beer league hockey player.
https://blackknightsrams.sport.blog
Philadelphia Phillies vs Colorado Rockies 5-17-2019 Free MLB Pick, Prediction and Odds
Kansas City Royals vs Los Angeles Angels 05-17-2019 Preview, Picks, Odds And Parlays


My name is Mark Kuhn and I am extremely happy with my results after only 16 weeks on the LIMU LEAN system. I've been a yo-yo dieter since adolescence and I've never found any diet or plan that satisfies my appetite, tastes good, is healthy and, best of all, allows me to lose weight at a healthy pace. The shakes and appetite controller actually force me to remind myself to eat!
The remarkable nutrition included in each delicious shake gives me the confidence I'm drinking the best meal available. I've lost 34 lbs and 7" off my waist in this short amount of time. This was going to be my last attempt at losing weight before putting my declining health into the hands of doctors. Every day I see someone who comments on how great I look! My closet is barren! I've taken 3 full large garbage bags of oversized clothes out of my closet to be given away. I think I need to go shopping!
Previous ArticleTime to get Twitter-pated.
Next ArticleShayna Langston lost 28lbs in 9 Weeks!
I'm so Proud and Happy of you for you. I know what a challenge it is and I know you are not done yet so, good luck and we'll see you soon!!
Mark, you looked wonderful at conference. I would imagine you really look wonderful now! Way to go guy!
Way to go Mark, you are an inspiration to many!


text: export { default } from 'ember-cli-gingerbread/utils/computed-sample';

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Where To Buy Office Chairs – When you are seeking Where To Buy Office Chairs for style solutions or wish to refurbish your home, you no question desired the most effective recommendation as well as could also widen the remedy for you. We will certainly provide details about the Where To Buy Office Chairs that could be the most effective alternative for you.
Solutions in home decoration or interior spruce up existing ones sometimes could experience the diverse problems. Consequently, we provide the most effective selection for your favorite home. We offer an example of photo Where To Buy Office Chairs photo quality we pick online, as well as we provide it to you due to the fact that it is extremely appropriate as well as suitable for your set as a recommendation to address your confusion in locating examples of style that is best for your lovely home. This photo is the most effective collection about Chair we download and install properly for you due to the fact that we assume you are unique.
Everyone must have a wish to have a lovely as well as comfortable the home of be occupied due to the fact that with a sizable family home you absolutely will rejoice as well as fun. If you are seeking on Where To Buy Office Chairs might be one of the most effective referrals for your home. Do we assume this idea am designed with concepts that could absolutely make you really feel extremely comfortable your home paired with the existence of modern architecture like this. Can be a mix of elegance as well as excellence that will certainly become the beauties you in selecting the best style for your home Chair.


text:
Guy Lombardo, geboren als Gaetano Albert Lombardo (London (Ontario), 19 juni 1902 – 5 november 1977), was een Canadees-Amerikaanse violist en bigbandleider.

Hij vormde in 1924 een dansorkest, waarin onder meer zijn broers Carmen en Victor Lombardo (saxofoon) en Lebert Lombardo (trompet) speelden. Ook zijn jongere zuster Rose Marie zou in de jaren 1940 bij het orkest zingen. Ze maakten hun eerste plaatopname in 1924 voor Gennett en met hun toegankelijke dansmuziek, die ze zelf als "The sweetest music this side of heaven" bestempelden, verkochten ze in de jaren twinig honderdduizenden platen. Vanaf 1929 waren ze gevestigd in de Verenigde Staten, eerst in Cleveland, later in Chicago en New York. Als "Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians" werden ze al gauw het populairste dansorkest van de Verenigde Staten.

In 1934 was het orkest van Guy Lombardo een van de eerste die tekenden bij het pas opgerichte platenlabel Decca Records. Tijdens de volgende twintig jaar zou dat een groot aantal opnamen van zijn orkest uitbrengen. Tijdens zijn leven verkocht Lombardo meer dan 100 miljoen platen. Het orkest werd ook bekend dankzij de radio-uitzendingen van hun optredens.

In 1938 werd Guy Lombardo Amerikaans staatsburger. In de jaren 1940 was hij ook een bekende en succesvolle speedboatcoureur.

Het jaarlijks eindejaarsconcert van de Royal Canadians, dat rechtstreeks vanuit het Roosevelt Hotel in New York op de radio werd uitgezonden, groeide uit tot een nationaal instituut. Nadat het Roosevelt gesloten werd zette Lombardo de traditie verder in het Waldorf-Astoria Hotel tot in 1976. In 1977 maakten hartproblemen een einde aan zijn carrière. Hij stierf op 5 november van dat jaar. Zijn opname van "Auld Lang Syne" wordt nog steeds op Times Square gespeeld bij de jaarwisseling.

Externe links
Biografie op Allmusic
Biografie op Bigbandlibrary

Amerikaans bigbandleider
Amerikaans jazzviolist

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


For those who are looking for superior homes, Golf Estates is an impeccable expansion with a dynamic, pleasant environment and ideal living style. A person who loves golf, for them it's a color of daily life and the need of the Golf Homes gets reflected within Golf Estates. The community is designed to meet the demands of every family. It is located adjoining to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road and there is direct approach from Al Khail Road. It is the best Golf Estate present in that locality. There is a chain of developments being formulated for the people who are very excited to golf and want the pleasant and peaceful place to live. The world famous golfer Greg Norman has designed the golf courses of phase A which has been named according to the elements of Earth and Fire and phase B, C and D will be planned in the future. Under phase A 13 residential communities has been made in an elegant way covering the 375 hectares out of 1,119 hectares. It consists of 1,000+ individual assets. There are about 1,050 villas and 75% among them has been provided with the splendid golf courses and rest 25% has been offered the beauty of lakes and strips. This plan has achieved huge success. The recreational facilities being provided at the 131,000 square feet comprises of sports services, different kinds of soothing services along with marvelous restaurants and shops. After Europe and North America earth course has become the playground of the DP World Tour Championship. This estate gives numerous services to the players who are very passionate about sports. These services include golf academy, fitness center and tennis academy. The presence of red colored lands and rolling structure together with fully grown green trees make the earth course perfect for the golf. It has been created artistically so that it gives the unique vision to everyone. The fire course is constructed in such manner that it can attract the players as well as audience. The magnificent flora and delightful lakes adds beauty to the fire course. Among the Jumeirah Golf Estates, the distinguished locality named Flame Tree Ridge made up of 99 villas provides the alternative of four and five bedrooms with the Fire and Earth courses views. Eight unique construction styles and different color options of interiors and decor offers traditional and modern both styles can be chosen by householder. These villas are build based on Tuscan and are constructed by using real stone appearance and roofs are accomplished by landscaped gardens with double garage and swimming pool. Whispering Pines offers three or four bedrooms having the views of both courses. The presence of swimming pools, terracotta roofs, and appears able stones make each home second to none in this region. It presents the pleasure environment to live in. The inhabitant of Sienna Lakes feels the sense of tranquility and calm atmosphere around them. There are 12 different types of designs of villas are available at Sienna. Each villa is constructed with a special attention especially on the quality of the material used. Olive point is located on the 7th golf course. It exhibits the Mediterranean living style. This community is built as per the moon standard exposing the highest level of luxury with enchanting greenery. Villas are having four to six bedrooms in seven different designs.


South Group members visited Selden Masts UK facility in Fareham. Originally planned for 14th February, it proved so popular that a further visit was arranged for the following day. Selden subsumed Kemp Masts who fitted out many Westerlys.
Selden Masts is a worldwide company, with factories in Sweden (mainly spares), USA, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Asia and the UK. They account for 70% of the global market for new masts and spars, covering custom yachts up to 75 feet long, to dinghies. The UK facility is the company's global centre for the fabrication of carbon masts. They also cover a large after market for existing yachts.
We had a presentation, followed by a factory tour. We started in the carbon spar fabrication facility where the masts (and spars) are woven using several wide strands of resin impregnated tape using a specialised weaving machine. This produces a single piece seamless tube. The type of weave varies in order to maximise the resistant to stresses. For instance, the base has a particular weave to resist compression, whereas the gooseneck attachment weave reflects the torsion and twisting loads. The mast is then baked in an autoclave to set the resin. Various fittings are then glued on, before painting.
They had a separate shop for fabricating metal masts, using bought in blanks, specialising in CNC cut tapers to reduce top weight for dinghies.
We were well entertained and informed by a willing and expert team. All of us were impressed with this modern and efficient facility.


text:
Q: Random walk on $\mathbb{Z}$/L $\mathbb{Z}$ Consider a random walk on  $\mathbb{Z}$/L $\mathbb{Z}$ where:
$$
Z_{0}=0 $$
and  if  d (i,j) = 1 then:
$$\mathbb{P}\left(Z_{n+1}=i \mid Z_{n}=j\right) = \dfrac{1}{2}\text{.}$$
else:
$$\mathbb{P}\left(Z_{n+1}=i \mid Z_{n}=j\right) = 0\text{.}$$
We define $\beta$=$\beta_{L}$ $\in$  $\mathbb{Z}$/L $\mathbb{Z}$  as the last non visited point.
1) What is the (probability law of $\beta$ ?
2) Is $\beta$ more likely to be closed to to $\mathbb{0}$ or far from $\mathbb{0}$?

A: This is a classic probability puzzle, whose result is counterintuitive.
For each $0<i< L$, let $p_i$ be the probability that $i$ is the last non-visited point. I claim that for any $1<i<L-1$, we have
$$
p_i=\frac12p_{i-1}+\frac12p_{i+1}\tag{1}
$$
To see this, suppose your first step is in the clockwise direction. Now, point $i$ is $i-1$ steps clockwise of you, so conditioned on this first step, the probability of seeing $i$ last is the same as the probability of seeing $i-1$ last. The other summand comes from conditioning on an anti-clockwise step.
The equation $(1)$ implies that in the list
$$
p_1,p_2,p_3,\dots,p_{L-1},
$$
each entry is the average of its neighbors, implying this list is an arithmetic progression. Furthermore, the symmetry of this problem implies $p_1=p_{L-1}$. Therefore, the arithmetic progression is constant, so each $p_i=\frac1{L-1}$; that is, no particular point is more likely to be visited last!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


If you need to ship cargo of any kind and size, refer to our International Cargo Shipping Directory to find the shipping company in Venezuela that will take care of your cargo and meet all your shipment requirements. All profiled companies provide quality cargo shipment services with affordable rates.
H & S international, inc.
F. Stanzione S.A. was established in 1950, in Venezuela. Since then we have been dedicated to customs services and management of international cargo. More than 15 years experience in international moving, transport, shipping, cargo, freight forwarding, household goods, vehicles, general cargo dry goods, etc.


text:
A trick or treating alternative
Andrea Martinez
At Apollo Park an annual Pumpkin Patch event was held in order for the community to enjoy Halloween without having to worry about their kids being in danger. The Pumpkin Patch event also offered many treats, fun games, and free food for families to enjoy.
Joey Flores, News Editor
Apollo Park hosted events carnival games on Halloween night including a costume contest, and passed out free candy to serve as a safer alternative to trick-or-treating for children in the community.
Candy tampering has been a problem in the past, so parents began to worry about the safety of their children. This festival provides a safer environment and more trustworthy candy distributors. Amanda Garcia, a mother of two trick-or-treaters, liked the festival because of the safer environment.
"You hear about all these stories of kids getting harmful candy and about kids getting kidnapped and it's scary," Garcia said. "It's better here because you can trust the people handing out candy and you can watch your child easier."
Garcia's children ran around to the booths to participate in the games. Even if the player didn't win, they still received a candy just for trying. Children waited in line and were greeted by the volunteers running the games, which gave parents comfort to know that strange people weren't tending to the children. The only problem for some parents was that there was so much for the children to explore, it was a little difficult to keep them near.
"I really like that they have hot dogs, cotton candy, drinks, and candy," parent Jerry Rivas said. "I especially like that it's free!"
Other festivals are available but they have high priced food. Children, teens, and adults alike flocked to the cotton candy station and soda stations to eat snacks that were sweet enough to put them in a festive mood. Plenty of people there hadn't heard about the free food, but they found out about it by word of mouth. Soon enough, attendees were holding either a hot dog, cotton candy, and some even had two cups of soda at a time. The distribution of sweet products, that weren't just candy, excited many children, giving them reason to want to come back.
"My kid has apparently already committed me to come to this for the rest of my life, so my guess is that he really enjoyed it," Anthony Gomez said.
The games and candy created an atmosphere that emitted sounds of laughter and screams of excitable children. Gomez's child was constantly in line to gather as much candy as he could and gave an occasional whoop if he won a game. Because of the candy for participation rule, participants weren't seen sulking or sad, and the crowd stayed in high spirits.
The Apollo Park Halloween festival was a less dangerous alternative for kids with parents who were uneasy with the standard trick or treating custom. Coming to this festival showed these kids not only a different Halloween custom, but a safer experience overall.
Apollo Park
Joey Flores
Joey Flores is a 14-year-old sophomore at Downey High as well as a writer and News Editor for The Downey Legend. Flores chose to join the 2012-2013 staff because he wants to gain experience in journalism, since he aspires to work for Details or Rolling Stone magazine. He plans to attend the University of Oxford or NYU. "I have a minor obsession with the U.K.," Flores said when asked why he wanted to attend the University of Oxford. He admitted that he will miss his friends and family when he's away for college, although he won't be missing the California weather. The News Editor always preferred English over any other subject. "When I was younger I always preferred English because I felt that I had the freedom when it came to creative writing," Flores said. Along with being on the newspaper, he is also taking Honors English 10, which will help enhance his writing skills. Flores' main goals are to fulfill everything that comes his way and to come up with interesting stories that will receive multiple views.
The staff member enjoys listening to indie and alternative rock. He is a big fan of the 80s band, The Smiths. Flores loves doing community service and is a member of the Key Club. The News Editor enjoys helping others and wants to help "beautify the community." Flores has volunteered at recovery centers, like Rancho Los Amigos. He participated in a carnival for the disabled patients at the RLARC. "It was very eye-opening because you realize that they are incapable of doing much, but they never give up," he said. Although Flores has a lot on his plate- being The Downey Legend's News Editor, volunteering at rehabilitation centers, and succeeding in AP European History and Honors English 10- he will manage to stay on top of everything and make his sophomore year a memorable one.
Andrea Martinez, Photographer
Andrea Martinez ,11, is a photographer for The Downey Legend. Martinez first took an interest in photography when she signed up for Photojournalism, and now photography is one of her favorite hobbies. The main reason Martinez joined staff was because Miss. Napoli insisted she would be a perfect addition, not to mention she was also encouraged by her friends Brenda Lopez and April Rios. Her other hobbies include: volunteering at Downey Regional Medical Center and spending time with friends and family.
Martinez is secretary for KIWIN'S club, and she absolutely loves it. She considers members of her club to be her second family. One of her personal goals as of right now is to get straight A s, while a goal for The Downey Legend is to simply become closer with everyone; she wants the newspaper staff to get as close and comfortable KIWIN'S club. " I want them to be like my third family," Martinez said. After high school she would like to travel the world and go on new and exciting adventures. One of the most special moments in her life was when her little sister Isabel was born. Martinez explained that when she was younger she always wanted a little sister or brother, so when Isabel was born, she became one of the most special people in her life. Although Martinez is still undecided about what major she wants to take on, she is very interested in medicine and loves children. With her incredible personality and hard work, she is sure to make any of her goals come through.
The Downey Link Being Considered for Disbandment
Seasonal Depression
Why Dia De Los Muertos Doesn't Interpret to "Mexican Halloween"
JV Waterpolo Downey vs Warren 2022
5 Questions With Julieta Meillion

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I suggest that this feature be taken into consideration in fixed-wing aircraft and possibly rotary wing aircraft.
In general, modern fighters usually fight more than the visual range thanks to the continuous technological advances in radars and guided radar and infrared missiles _ and I have come to think that if the Mobile Anti-aircraft Vehicles attack at a distance _ Then why not fixed-wing aircraft with radar and their respective missiles?
In fact I think that the fights that show us are more like dog fights so the implementation of a this characteristic or something similar would make the battles even more dynamic although that includes reducing attack points to maintain a balance and technological improvements according to the level of the unit to slightly increase this scope but for balance it may not be subtle this last.
Thank you very much for your attention and share this splendid game with us in addition to reading our suggestions.
Yeah we did have this on the screen when designing - this said we would have needed a beyond visual horizon combat mechanic in place - which would allow aircraft to evade/outrun the enemy missiles. One way of simulating we were toying with was creating another set of missiles - similar to cruise missiles - but vs air targets. We finally scrapped the idea to prevent the game from slipping into "missile command" mode.
So you could call this a deliberate decision to de-missileize our gameplay. It was clear to us from the beginning that we would not want to create the literally dozens of combinations and types of missiles in use today - all serving a valid purpose on the battlefield. That's why our cruise missiles are actually an amalgamation of several ground and air and sea launched medium and long range anti-ship and ground missiles.
the arcade style makes the game it is.. to much simulation will cost the simple fun factor.


text:
The Battle of Ongal took place in the summer of 680 in the Ongal area, an unspecified location in and around the Danube delta near the Peuce Island, present-day Tulcea County, Romania. It was fought between the Bulgars, who had recently invaded the Balkans, and the Byzantine Empire, which ultimately lost the battle. The battle was crucial for the creation of the First Bulgarian Empire.

Origins of the conflict
In 632, Khan Kubrat united the Bulgars into the state of Old Great Bulgaria along the coasts of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. After his death in the 660s his sons divided his kingdom amongst themselves. Batbayan, the eldest son, inherited the throne in Poltava but was defeated by and submitted to the rule of his ambitious relative Cozarig (Kotrag) who had undermined the state's unity by leading his Don-Volga Khazars (Kutrigs) in expansion campaigns extending his empire to the north where Volga Bulgaria would eventually remain. The third son Asparuh marched westward and settled in the Ongal area on the eastern banks of the Danube. Eventually the Avars fought back and after Asparuh consolidated his rule they launched an attack against the Byzantine lands to the south.

During that time the Byzantine Empire was at war with the Arabs who had recently besieged the capital Constantinople. However, in 680 the Byzantines defeated the Arabs and concluded a peace treaty. After this success the emperor Constantine IV was free to move against the Bulgars and led an army against Asparuh. In the meantime the Bulgar leader made an alliance with the Seven Slavic tribes for mutual protection against the Byzantines and formed a federation.

The battle

According to the Chronicles of Nikephoros I of Constantinople:

The Bulgars had built wooden ramparts in the swampy area near the Peuce Island. The marshes forced the Byzantines to attack from a weakened position and in smaller groups, which reduced the strength of their attack. With continuing attacks from the ramparts, the Bulgar defense eventually forced the Byzantines into a rout, followed up by the Bulgar cavalry. Many of the Byzantine soldiers perished. According to popular belief, the emperor had leg pain and went to Mesembria to seek treatment. The troops thought that he fled the battlefield and in turn began fleeing. When the Bulgars realised what was happening, they attacked and defeated their discouraged enemy.

Aftermath
After the victory, the Bulgars advanced south and seized the lands to the north of Stara Planina. In 681 they invaded Thrace defeating the Byzantines again. Constantine IV found himself in a dead-lock and asked for peace.

Significance
This battle was a significant moment in European history, as it led to the creation of a powerful state, which was to become a European medieval superpower in the 9th and 10th century along with the Byzantine and Frankish Empires. It became a cultural and spiritual centre of south Slavic Europe through most of the Middle Ages.

Honour
Ongal Peak in Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named for the historical Ongal area.

Footnotes

References
Атанас Пейчев и колектив, 1300 години на стража, Военно издателство, София 1984.
Йордан Андреев, Милчо Лалков, Българските ханове и царе, Велико Търново, 1996.
Пламен Павлов, Историята - далечна и близка, Велико Търново, 2010.

External links
 Byzantine Battles

680s conflicts
680
7th century in Bulgaria
Battles involving the First Bulgarian Empire
Battles of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars
680s in the Byzantine Empire
7th century in Romania
Military history of Romania
Budjak


For pre-fall Christopher Bailey playfully interpreted signature Burberry silhouettes and colors with striking embellishments and new patterns. A cropped aviator jacket with bulky sleeves was combined with an exquisite jeweled skirt, while a chevron knit top was shown with a cool grommeted leather skirt. Bailey also mixed fabrics for some terrific outerwear pieces, including one tailored coat, its top in beige cashmere and bottom in an abstract dégradé printed calfskin. The menswear, which featured elegant double-breasted coats, slim-fit pants and T-shirts with whimsical motifs, like a Beefeater or an English bobby, provided a great counterpart.


I love to travel, and I think travel and photography just go hand in hand. When I travel by myself, or without the kids, I always try to make sure I get a window seat (when the kids are coming with I let them have that window seat because I'm nice like that). I like that window seat so I can take aerial photos; I just cannot help myself.
In this article, I will share some tips for improving in-flight photos to help taking pictures out of that airplane window.
First, try to get a window seat near the front of the plane or in front of the wings for a unobstructed view. Seatguru.com is a superb resource to discover the seat locations on the plane so can be a valuable tool in getting your best chance for good shoots. Try to avoid the seats behind the wing, the engine exhaust can distort and create blur.
The most fascinating views, happen right after take off and shortly before landing, so make sure you have your camera out before the plane leaves the gate or risk missing at least one of these interesting views. Make sure to have the lens hood attached to the lens this will help in dealing with reflections on the window. It is extremely tempting to press the hood right up against the window, but resist this urge as it will transmit vibrations to the camera. Get as close to the window as you can without touching it. Turn off your overhead lights in your row of seats to minimize reflections and then use your hand to block off as much light as possible, avoid touching the lens hood with your hand if your hand is resting up against the window, and try to make some overlap between your hand and the lens hood. Do not use a polarizer, as these more than likely will produce color banding in the windows.
If the window got a lot of scratches or smudges, be prepared to change into auto focus, especially if the camera autofocus has difficulty focusing. A neat little trick to avoid getting the scratches and smudges visible in your image is to use a high aperture value, and in the worst case all that will show is a small spot that will resemble a dust spot against bright backgrounds like the sky, but nothing that the spot removal tool cannot easily take care.
Keep your camera to your eye and be prepared for when the plane banks, this will provide a marvellous view of the ground. If your taking off before sunset and land well after sunset, try to figure out at what time sunset is and keep an eye on the sunset. A sunset from 30,000 feet can be truly spectacular and looks nothing like a sunset seen from the ground. It is an extraordinary opportunity to make a sunset photo that will stand out from all the rest.
The above image titled "Leaving Las Vegas"As my flight took off from McCarran International airport in Las Vegas, NV was taken using these tips. I used a Sigma 24-70mm F/2.8 lens zoomed in to 44mm to get a bit closer to the Vegas Strip. The exposure made with a Nikon D80, was 1/125 sec, at f/8, ISO 100, since I got lucky and the plan was decidedly new, so the window had almost no scratches I could use a relatively low aperture setting.


text:
Interview: The Agony Scene
published: 3 Aug 2006 in Music Interviews
Having been on tour solidly for 2005 in support of their blistering second album The Darkest Red, The Agony Scene know more than most about commitment to one's passions.
musicOMH caught a few minutes with their master of guttural screams, Mike Williams, to hear a little about faith and freedom of expression.
With tours alongside the likes of Danzig, Throwdown and Lamb Of God under The Agony Scene's belts in recent months, it seems that the band's metal apprenticeship is earning them a great deal of respect. This prospect is made all the sweeter for the band after it emerges that they nearly never made a second record:
"We basically broke up after six months of touring on the first record, then [as a band] dropped off the face of the earth! Then eventually we got it back together; we had almost a year to write the new record, which was a real benefit that not many bands get these days, but it means we're so happy with it."
The Agony Scene's "first record" was produced by none other than Killswitch Engage's Adam D. Apart from being a headline-grabbing experience it was one that would inspire the metalcore lads in the recording of their latest record:
"With Adam, it was pretty much business the whole time we were in the studio. We just worked from day to night, and although we didn't really get to hang out he was awesome – so professional – and we were able to learn a lot in those sessions."
"To say 'Jesus' on stage – that takes a lot of balls man!"
– The Agony Scene frontman Mike Williams admires bands with spiritual convictions…
The Darkest Red also saw The Agony Scene switch to heavyweight record label Roadrunner from the indie surroundings of Solid State. The latter is known for its spiritual leanings but Williams explains that their relationship was more of an opportunistic one:
"In the beginning, honestly, we saw them as a vehicle for our music. I mean, we're from a really small place [Tulsa, Oklahoma] and they were interested in our music! We were playing out of basements and garages then, so we thought: 'Yeah, let's make a record!' Obviously along with that we also thought: 'Let's just face the consequences of being labelled something we're not for the sake of getting to put out our music, and see where it goes.'"
Williams then proceeds to set the record straight regarding the band members and their personal convictions:
"Uh, I don't know what I am, I don't know what I believe in, I won't say that any one group is wrong or right you know? I grew up in a very Christian home, and so I had all that, but I'm not at a place where I know what I believe. The other guys in the band, yeah they're pretty much the same."
"Uh, I don't know what I am, I don't know what I believe in."
– … But his band isn't one of them.
However, he acknowledges that there is a rle for "faith" in heavy music:
"Ultimately, I think music is an expression of yourself, a very pure expression of your raw emotions. If your passion is Jesus Christ or not eating meat, or Satan – if that's what you feel you need to write about, that's cool. So be it. I accept everybody, it doesn't really put me off if people are saying things about faith in bands, especially to say 'Jesus' or whatever on stage – that takes a lot of balls man! But, believe what you want to believe man, it's cool."
"I'm not a Christian by any means, but I'm friends with a lot of bands that are, and there is a pressure you know? It's way more prominent in the States, but they view it like 'this is a lifestyle we lead just like straight edge or being vegan. This is what we believe in, and we may write songs about it because this is our passion.' Those guys are the coolest people and often I get on with those bands way better than some who are out partying all the time 'cause I'm more of a mellow guy when it comes to that sort of thing."
So if rock 'n' roll touring hasn't resulted in Williams becoming a party animal, what has it done for him?
"It's made me very humble man. Sometimes when you play a show, it's awesome, and sometimes the crowd hate you and it's crap. I've learnt to appreciate the fact that I'm so lucky to be here and be able to do what I do. It's a f**king privilege to be doing what we get to do on stage so, you know, thinking like that is helpful to me 'cause it keeps me humble."
And with that, this "humble" and "mellow" guy returns to his cramped tour bus to catch some shut-eye before yet another Agony Scene show.
The Agony Scene MP3s or CDs
The Agony Scene on Spotify
More on The Agony Scene
The Agony Scene – The Darkest Red


text:
« Postopolis! DF: Schedule Announced
Julio the Sewer Diver »
Fueling Mexico City: A Grain Revolution
By Nicola | Published: June 14, 2010
IMAGE: Walmart, Mexico City. Walmart sells more food each year than anyone else in Mexico. It is the country's biggest private employer, with a range of supermarkets (the high-end Superama and discount Bodega), department stores (the wonderfully named Suburbia) and restaurants (VIPS, El Portón, and Ragazzi) to suit all budgets and tastes. Rachel Laudan took me to her local Walmart (a convenient five-minute walk away) and commented on the Walmart-induced improvement in Mexico's customer service.
Apologies for the prolonged silence here at Edible Geography. It is one of the ironies of Postopolis!—the blogger-curated "Ponzi scheme of ideas" (in the words of its co-founder Joseph Grima) whose most recent iteration took place last week in Mexico City—that there is not really enough time to post during the event itself.
Now—post-Postopolis!—I'm excited to begin belatedly reporting on a frenzied and fascinating week of presentations, excursions, and garañona. One of the highlights of my time in DF was the chance to meet Rachel Laudan, whose blog is on my regular reading list.
IMAGE: Rachel Laudan holding Mexico's favourite snack, the Twinkie-esque Gansito.
Rachel Laudan's background is as a historian of science but, while teaching at the University of Hawaii, she became interested in the history, geography, and politics of food. Her subsequent book on the fusion cuisine of Hawaii, The Food of Paradise, won the prestigious Julia Child Award in 1997. Although she is originally from the UK, she has been living in Mexico for the past twenty-odd years—and luckily for me, she moved to Mexico City itself in February.
Despite being busy with the final draft of her forthcoming book ("a world history of food") for the University of California Press, Rachel took me on a lovely guided wander round the varied foodscape of her neighbourhood. Beginning at Walmart and ending with a filling and economical meal at a comida corrida, via a traditional bakery, we explored the intersection of food, class, and economics in contemporary Mexico.
From the broccoli in our lunchtime tortitas (originally grown for export to America, it is now replacing the more traditional cauliflower) to the upper-class custom of a pre-marital stint in culinary school with one's servant, Rachel traced the edible archaeology behind almost everything we saw.
IMAGE: Wedding cake model at a Mexican bakery; traditionally, upper-class girls would be sent to culinary school with their servants before they got married, so that they could learn how to supervise (and the servants could learn how to make fancier European dishes).
Our mini-tour was then capped by Rachel's presentation at Postopolis! DF, where she spoke to an eager audience of designers, architects, urbanists, and bloggers. I'm delighted to be able to publish the transcript of Rachel's provocative explanation of the direct link between advances in grain processing technology and the emergence of a thriving middle class in Mexico City, below.
In due course, Domus, one of the event's co-sponsors, will be releasing the edited video of her presentation (and all fifty others) online, so that you can fully appreciate Rachel's maize-grinding demonstration!
Rachel Laudan: All cities require fuel: oil, gas, electricity, and so on. What I want to talk about today is the energy that fuels the people in the cities—food. Without food energy, a city is nothing. A city is nothing without the people who work and play and enjoy or suffer through the city, and they require food.
IMAGE: Tortillas. Photo by Nick Gilman, author of a handy guide to Mexico City's food, via Rachel Laudan.
I want to talk in four short bursts. The first is about what all cities need in the way of food. The second is the reason why Mexico City had a particularly hard time with food. The third describes a revolution in the food of Mexico City that has taken place in the twenty years since I first saw it. And the fourth is about the kind of trade-offs that had to be made to undergo that revolution in food.
So: what do cities need in terms of food? There's only one way to feed a city, at least historically, and that's to feed it with grains—rice, wheat, maize, barley, sorghum, etc.. You can go round the world, and there just aren't cities that aren't fed on grains, except for possibly in the high Andes. Basically, to maintain a city, you've got to get grains into it. Be it Bangkok, be it Guangzhou, be it London, or be it Rome—throughout history, grains and cities are two sides of the coin.
And what do you need in terms of grains? For most of history—really, until about 150 years ago—most people in most cities, except for the very wealthy, lived almost exclusively on grains. They got about ninety percent of their calories from grains.
That meant that for every single person in a city you had to have 2 lbs of grains a day, turned into something that people could eat.
IMAGE: Rachel Laudan holds up a kilo of tortillas—the daily grain requirement for each city dweller.
[Holding up a standard supermarket package of tortillas.] This is a kilo of tortillas. That's what one person in a city needed. It's the same weight, more or less, whatever the grain is—you can go to the historical record, you can research in China, in India, in the Near East, and you will still be talking about 2 lbs of grain-based food for every person in the city every day.
So you can do some calculations. If you've got a city of a million, like ancient Rome, you've got to get two million pounds of grain into the city every day. It's the same for all the cities in the world— it's 2 lbs of grain per person. That's the power, that's the energy that drives cities.
So let's start with that for Mexico City. What are Mexico City's grains? Pre-conquest, of course, it was just maize. Post-conquest, it's maize and wheat. I want to talk primarily about maize, and we'll move onto wheat later on.
Maize is not the greatest grain for the person who is preparing it. Because when I say that cities live off grain, I'm actually telling a lie. Cities don't live off grain. Grain is not edible. Maize is not edible, wheat is not edible—if you eat a lot of wheat or a lot of maize, it will go straight through the system. Grains—maize, wheat, or rice, it doesn't matter which—are only edible once they have been processed and cooked into boiled rice, bread, tortillas—whatever the end product is. That's what you eat.
IMAGE: Women grinding maize: a processing technique that remained the same from antiquity until surprisingly recently. Image courtesy Rachel Laudan.
Yesterday, Nicola was saying that food blogs can be a bit girly. Let me tell you, there's nothing girly about processing maize to make tortillas.
The Mexicans in the audience will know this, but if you don't, here is what you have to do to turn maize into a tortilla. First of all you have to cook the maize with something alkaline. Today you can use cement, but in the past they used the salt from the dry lake bed around Mexico City. You have to take the grains off the maize, which is very time-consuming, and then you heat it, you cook it, and you rub the husks off.
Then, when you have got your wet-cooked maize, you have to grind it. For thousands of years, Mexican women ground maize like this. [kneels to demonstrate] I've spent some time grinding. You have a metate, and you start with your handful of maize and you put it here and you grind it down to end of the grindstone, and it's not fine yet. You use your fingers to move it back up again, and you grind it all the way back down again. Then you move it back up again—and to get it fine enough to make tortillas you have to do this five times for each handful of maize.
IMAGE: Rachel Laudan mimes wet-grinding maize at Postopolis! DF.
Depending on how good you are, it takes somewhere between fifty minutes and an hour to do enough maize for tortillas for one person. That means for a family of five someone is going to be spending four or five hours a day doing nothing but grind. [gets up] It's very exhausting, grinding.
When I first got to Mexico, young women, particularly in the country, would say to each other, "Do you grind?" Imagine it! The girl who worked for me when I first came here, when she was twelve years old, her parents handed her the mano, the thing you grind with, and they said, "OK, girl, now it's time you start grinding." That meant, in sickness and in health, from Monday to Saturday—on Sunday, you ate stale tortillas—she ground for four or five hours a day.
When I was twelve years old, I had my first period. I though, "Oh my god, is this what I'm going to have to put up with for the rest of my life? Roll on menopause!" But imagine if I'd been a little Mexican girl, twelve years old, and I'd not only had my first period, but I'd also been handed the grindstone and I knew that from then on, for five hours a day, six days a week, I was going to grind…
It is a very, very time-consuming thing. It's terrible for the individual: arthritis, bad knees, no time to spend with the children, and no opportunity to go to school. It's also, obviously, not a great thing for the society if you've got one fifth of your adults doing nothing but grinding.
IMAGE: Masa on a traditional metate, photo via.
That kind of labour-intensive grinding was what they did in Ur, and in ancient cities of the Middle East and Egypt. By the time you get to Rome, roughly—by about the birth of Christ—in the Middle East and in Europe, they get a rotary grindstone, and instead of requiring one person per every five to spend all day grinding this two pounds of grain that everybody in the city needs, they get it down to one in thirty. Then they get watermills and it goes down to one in three hundred—and nowadays we don't even think about it! There are big steel rollers up there in Minneapolis and they're grinding grain for hundreds of thousands of people, using just a handful of workers.
Now why didn't Mexico do that? Was it just backward? Why didn't it move to other forms of grinding? The trouble is if you grind wet, you cannot use these other rotary grindstones. So even if the Mexicans had had them, they couldn't have used them. When the Spaniards came here they brought rotary grindstones, but you just can't grind wet maize with rotary grindstones. And if you want tortillas—which we now know have nutritional advantages, but they are also a flexible bread, and hence more appealing than the kind of porridge-y things or tamales that you would have otherwise—you have to grind wet.
IMAGE: Atole, a kind of sweetened corn porridge drink, which to me tastes like thin, lumpy rice-pudding. Photo via.
Therefore, in Mexico, right up until about twenty years ago, large numbers of Mexican women were spending five hours a day grinding. Just imagine Mexico City: every household had somebody grinding tortillas. The landscape of Mexico City up until fifty years ago, and in many ways even later, is one of bakeries that make wheat breads for the upper class or perhaps for breakfast or the evening meal, and then in every household, somewhere in a back room, somebody grinding maize to make tortillas for the main meal of the day.
IMAGE: Mexican pastries at Walmart's in-store bakery.
That's all changed. You can still find the odd person who grinds in Mexico City, but it doesn't happen very much.
So, what's the revolution that's occurred? What's happened to Mexico?
It took about a century. In the late nineteenth century, people began trying to find ways of mechanizing this business of grinding and cooking tortillas. Three things happened: first of all, they worked out how to make a mechanical mill that could grind wet. You still find these mills in many rural villages today—people cook their maize at home, and then they take it to the mill and grind it, and then they take it home and cook their tortillas. Those mills really came to Mexico City in the fifties and sixties—it had been invented earlier, but it needs electricity, and the early ones weren't very good, and so on.
The second thing is that they invented a tortilla machine. If you live in Mexico, or even if you are a visitor here, and you go into any of the big grocery stores, you can see a tortilla machine back in the corner. It's a kind of Heath-Robinson-esque contraption that cooks the tortillas.
IMAGE: Walmart's in-store tortilleria
And the third thing that happened, finally—this really took place in the seventies and eighties—is that the company now called Gruma (Grupa Maseca) discovered a way to take the wet, alkali-treated maize, grind it, dehydrate it, and put it into packets. You've seen those packets in the grocery stores, I'm sure.
IMAGE: Maseca, photo courtesy Rachel Laudan.
By the 1970s, five percent of the maize for tortillas in Mexico came from Maseca. By the 1990s, it was fifteen percent. Maseca now has plans—whether they'll pull it off, I don't know—to take over all the tortillerias in the country.
Another thing that happened, during this crucial fifty-year period between 1945-ish and the end of the twentieth century, was that bread changed in Mexico. Traditional bread in Mexico was bread by the small piece, made in the traditional oven: the bolillo, the semita, and the numerous small breads you still see in Mexican bakeries today.
IMAGE: A bolillo and a semita, photos courtesy Rachel Laudan.
Beginning in 1945, an immigrant from Catalonia, Lorenzo Servitje, bought two second-hand loaf-making machines from the United States—the kind that make sliced white bread. The Servitje family founded the Bimbo company, which is now, as you know, omnipresent in Mexico. Bimbo bread lasts a long time and became widely available, and Bimbo now the largest bakery in the world. It is the fifth biggest food company in the world.
And so now, what does the landscape of Mexico City look like in terms of grains? It's a whole series of Walmarts with in-house tortillerias and bakeries and shelf after shelf of Bimbo.
IMAGE: Bimbo bread, photo courtesy Rachel Laudan.
Of course, there are trade-offs. Bimbo is not as good as a bolillo. A machine-made tortilla is not anything like a homemade tortilla – it's not even in the same universe.
Mexican women that I have talked to are very explicit about this trade-off. They know it doesn't taste as good; they don't care. Because if they want to have time, if they want to work, if they want to send their kids to school, then taste is less important than having that bit of extra money, and moving into the middle class. They have very self-consciously made this decision. In the last ten years, the number of women working in Mexico has gone up from about thirty-three percent to nearly fifty percent. One reason for that—it's not the only reason, but it is a very important reason—is that we've had a revolution in the processing of maize for tortillas.
Audience Member: What do you personally think about Gruma trying to take over the tortilla business?
Rachel Laudan: I think I've got the same mixed feelings that many Mexicans do. It would be nice if there were more masa harina companies, and it would be nice if Gruma couldn't get a monopoly, but are we going to go back to grinding at home for five hours a day? No.
IMAGE: Walmart's in-store tortilleria, photo courtesy Rachel Laudan.
Am I terribly upset that there seems to be a near one hundred percent takeover of not-such-good tortillas? Well, one of the interesting things about this story is that we're apt to assume trends go on forever—but think about two of the things I just mentioned in my talk. There wasn't a Bimbo company in 1945 and there wasn't a Walmart in 1945. So I think all kinds of things can and might happen.
One of the negative effects of having had tortillas subsidized for so long in Mexico—which has really aided the poor—is that nobody has wanted to invest huge amounts of money into developing better tortilla machines and flour mills and things. Now, maybe, we're at a point where we're developing a boutique market for good tortillas. And there are better tortilla machines coming out now—we've got ones that rotate and flip the tortillas like you do on the comal, so they're much closer to the taste of the handmade ones. So I think there will be a movement for good tortillas.
IMAGE: A Bimbo employee stocking the shelves at Walmart. Rachel pointed out his suit and tie, and explained that the Bimbo company was founded along Fordist "welfare capitalist" principles, paying above the average and demanding, in return, hard work, loyalty and adherence to a conservative social code.
Edible Geography: Did the move away from grinding at home have spatial repercussions? Was there an empty room in people's houses all of a sudden?
Rachel Laudan: In the city, I'm not so sure. In the country, there used to be two kitchens—the regular kitchen and the black kitchen. In fact, there still often are. The black kitchen is where you grind and where you cook tortillas and the regular kitchen is where you might have your other stove. But I'm sure people can find something to do with that extra space in the house, especially in the city. Now, of course, you'd probably put a great big refrigerator on the floor space that used to be occupied with your grindstone, because with a refrigerator, you don't have to make your tortillas every day, because they last from one day to the next.
Audience Member: Can you talk about other gender divisions in the production of food?
Rachel Laudan: It's a good question—I'd like to think more about it. Agriculture was always male, and bakeries were always male. I think a lot of street food is female.
Edible Geography: Just to range further a little further afield, into the global geography of culinary techniques, I'd love to hear more of your thoughts about something you blogged about recently: the Columbian exchange that did or did not happen in 1492.
Rachel Laudan: Well, we've all heard about the Columbian exchange. It's a cliché at this point: Mexico's gifts to the world and so on. In fact, there may have been an exchange of plants, but there was no exchange of cuisines.
What happened was that European techniques—wheat mills and bread-baking, for example—came to Mexico, but what Mexicans knew about how to process food did not go to the Old World. The process of adding alkali to maize and grinding it wet didn't go. The Europeans ground maize like they ground wheat, and they got pellagra, and they went blind, and they died.
The technique of dehydrating chiles and grinding them and rehydrating them to make some of the healthiest sauces in the world has never moved out of Mexico. It hasn't even got to the United States, for goodness' sake—what most of the United States thinks is a salsa is some chopped-up tomato with a few chiles in it. I mean, that's a sort-of salsa, but it's nothing like the wonderful salsas you find in Mexican cuisine. So no, there wasn't a Columbian exchange in food. But the question of why not needs a much longer answer than we have time for today.
[NOTE: A huge thanks to Rachel Laudan for agreeing to speak at Postopolis! DF, preparing and delivering such a fascinating talk, and allowing me to publish it online here—not to mention generously showing me round her corner of the metropolis earlier the same day. To find out why there was no Columbian exchange, as well as much more, you will want to read Rachel's blog at www.rachellaudan.com and follow her on Twitter @rachellaudan.
More recaps and round-ups from my week in Mexico City are forthcoming; meanwhile, many thanks to the organizers, sponsors, and fellow bloggers who made Postopolis! DF such a fantastic, overwhelming, and fun event.]
This entry was posted in Digest, Postopolis! DF, Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment.
Elatia Harris
A beautiful post!
suzanne cook
Interesting presentation. I live and work with the lacandon Maya, in the Lacandon Forest, of Chiapas, Mexico. Two things I'd like to add to the discussion are:
1. In the rural towns and villages the indigenous people grind maize with a rotary grinder, like a meat grinder, fastened to a table or post. This speeds the process up considerably. Many of these are now electric, doubling the time (at least) it takes to grind corn.
2. There are numerous sources that offer authentic Mexican salsa recipes. You can check out Diana Kennedy's cookbooks, too. See, Kennedy, D.2003.From my Mexican kitchen: Techniques and ingredients.New York: Clarkson Potter
pianoguy
hanmeng – Check out Diana Kennedy for authentic Mexican recipes. Rick Bayless is also excellent, and surely there are many others.
This was one of the highlights of Postopolis! (so, so many).
Krissa Nichols
Thanks so much for posting this transcript, Nicola. It was a fascinating bit of history and made me think about how we make time and food choices here at home. I ended up posting my thoughts on my own blog, if you're interested. I particularly found the bits about time and class and food intriguing and think that we have some similar issues here at home. Thanks again.
Tom Richards
That's fascinating, especially the rule of thumb on how much processed grain a city would need per day. I remember (I think) Bimbo bread from when we lived in Honduras in the late 1980s. One of our family friends tried to get into the business by baking his own bread and selling it to to the supermarkets, but couldn't manage it since Bimbo could pay for shelf space and he couldn't.
hanmeng
Interesting, but it's a shame she doesn't tell us how to make "some of the healthiest sauces in the world".


text:
<?php

namespace Magento\Checkout\Test\Unit\Block\Shipping;

class PriceTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
{
    const SUBTOTAL = 10;

    /**
     * @var \Magento\Checkout\Block\Shipping\Price
     */
    protected $priceObj;

    /**
     * @var \Magento\Quote\Model\Quote|\PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject
     */
    protected $quote;

    /**
     * @var \Magento\Store\Model\Store|\PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject
     */
    protected $store;

    /**
     * @var \Magento\Framework\Pricing\PriceCurrencyInterface|\PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject
     */
    protected $priceCurrency;

    protected function setUp()
    {
        $objectManager = new \Magento\Framework\TestFramework\Unit\Helper\ObjectManager($this);

        $this->priceCurrency = $this->getMockBuilder('Magento\Framework\Pricing\PriceCurrencyInterface')->getMock();

        $this->priceObj = $objectManager->getObject(
            'Magento\Checkout\Block\Shipping\Price',
            ['priceCurrency'   => $this->priceCurrency]
        );
    }

    public function testGetShippingPrice()
    {
        $shippingPrice = 5;
        $convertedPrice = "$5";

        $shippingRateMock = $this->getMockBuilder('\Magento\Quote\Model\Quote\Address\Rate')
            ->disableOriginalConstructor()
            ->setMethods(['getPrice', '__wakeup'])
            ->getMock();
        $shippingRateMock->expects($this->once())
            ->method('getPrice')
            ->will($this->returnValue($shippingPrice));

        $this->priceCurrency->expects($this->once())
            ->method('convertAndFormat')
            ->with($shippingPrice, true, true)
            ->willReturn($convertedPrice);

        $this->priceObj->setShippingRate($shippingRateMock);
        $this->assertEquals($convertedPrice, $this->priceObj->getShippingPrice());
    }
}


Even though the holiday break wasn't all that long ago, I am sooo ready for this long weekend! And the best part of any long weekend? The sales of course! I have to say, I was surprised how many great sales were happening this weekend! I rounded up some of the best sales, and my favorite styles, from my go-to retailers that you can shop in-store or online over the long weekend. I really like that there are as many great home sales as there are fashion. I found so many great home staples at Anthropologie, Serena & Lily, and William Sonoma!
Abercrombie & Fitch / End of season clearance event at 60-70% off!
Ann Taylor / Take 40% off select full-priced styles plus an extra 60% off all sale styles. Valid 1/16-1/19.
Anthropologie / Take an extra 40% off home, beauty, and fashion sale styles.
Club Monaco / Shop the end-of-season sale now up to 65% off when you take an extra 40% off sale styles. Sale ends 1/21.
Kate Spade / Take an extra 30% off sale styles.
Loft / Take 50% off your purchase until 1/20 with code: want.
Old Navy / Semi-annual clearance sale up to 75% off styles for the whole family.
Serena & Lily / Enter code SLEEPMORE in your shopping bag to receive 20% off beds, bedding, and pillows.
SHOPBOP / Receive up to 40% off site wide. Valid through 1/31.
William Sonoma / Semi-annual clearance event up to 75% off.
Of course I'd love to know what sales you're shopping this weekend! I hate to miss out on a good deal!
On a more serious note, I did want to take a moment to reflect on the reason why we have this long weekend. I think it's so important to remember the kind and inspiring messages that Martin Luther King Jr. spread, not just on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but every day.
These are My Favorite Dainty Jewelry Pieces + A Fun Game!


text:
Q: Making the Android emulator run faster The Android emulator is a bit sluggish. For some devices, like the Motorola Droid and the Nexus One, the app runs faster in the actual device than the emulator. This is a problem when testing games and visual effects.
How do you make the emulator run as fast as possible? I've been toying with its parameters but haven't found a configuration that shows a noticeable improvement yet.

A: I recently switched from a core 2 @ 2.5 with 3gb of ram to an i7 @ 1.73 with 8gb ram (both systems ran Ubuntu 10.10) and the emulator runs at least twice as fast now.  Throwing more hardware at it certainly does help.

A: Just wanted to say that after I installed the Intel HAXM accelerator and use the Intel Atom image the emulator seems to run 50 times faster. The difference is amazing, check it out!
http://www.developer.com/ws/android/development-tools/haxm-speeds-up-the-android-emulator.html

A: I noticed that the emulator defaults to only Core 0, where most Windows applications will default to "any" core. Also, if you put it on another core (like the last core), it may make the emulator go crazy. If you can, you can try putting your heavy-CPU usage applications on the other CPU cores for a boost in speed.
Hardware-wise, get the fastest CPU you can get that works for single-core applications. More than 2 cores might not experience a huge difference in terms of emulator performance.
Eclipse + the Android emulator together eat up a ton of RAM. I would recommend 3 gigs of RAM at least because I used a system with 2 gigs of RAM, and it slowed down because the system ran out of RAM and started to use the page file.
I feel that the best CPUs for it will probably have a high clock (only use clock as a measure for CPUs in the same series btw), handle non-SIMD operations well, and have a turbo boost mechanism. There aren't many Java-based benchmarks, but overall look for application benchmarks like compression and office. Don't look at gaming or media since those are affected greatly by SIMD. If you find a Java one, even better.

A: On this year google I/O (2011), Google demonstrated a faster emulator. The problem is not so much on the byte code between ARM and x86 but the software rendering performed by QEMU. They bypass the rendering of QEMU and send the rendering directly to an X server I believe. They showed a car game with really good performace and fps.
I wonder when that will be available for developers...

A: UPDATE: Now that an Intel x86 image is available, the best answer is by zest above.
As CommonsWare has correctly pointed out, the emulator is slow because it emulates an ARM CPU, which requires translation to Intel opcodes. This virtualization chews up CPU.
To make the emulator faster, you have to give it more CPU. Start with a fast CPU or upgrade if you can.
Then, give the emulator more of the CPU you have:

*

*Disable Hyperthreading - Since the emulator doesn't appear to utilize more than one core, hyperthreading actually reduces the amount of overall CPU time the emulator will get. Disabling HT will slow down apps that take advantage of multiple CPUs. Hyperthreading must be disabled in your BIOS.

*Make the emulator run on a CPU other than CPU 0 - This has a much smaller impact than turning off HT, but it helps some. On Windows, you can specify which CPU a process will run on. Many apps will chew up CPU 0, and by default the emulator runs on CPU 0. I change the emulator to run on the last one. Note that on OS X you cannot set affinity (see: https://superuser.com/questions/149312/how-to-set-processor-affinity-on-a-mac).

I'm seeing somewhere around a 50% improvement with these two changes in place.
To set processor affinity on Windows 7:

*

*Open Task Manager

*Click View All Processes  (to run as administrator, otherwise you can't set processor affinity)

*Right click on emulator.exe and choose Set Affinity...

*On the Set Affinity dialog, select just the last CPU

Note: When you change affinity in this way, it's only changed for the lifetime of the process. Next start, you have to do it again.

A: Google recently announced a new emulator for Android. It's a much faster and better than the old one. You can find more info about it here.

A: Official web page
~50% faster
Windows:

*

*Install "Intel x86 Emulator Accelerator (HAXM)" => SDK-Manager/Extras

*Install "Intel x86 Atom System Images" => SDK-Manager/Android 2.3.3

*Go to the Android SDK root folder and navigate to extras\intel\Hardware_Accelerated_Execution_Manager. Execute file IntelHaxm.exe to install. (in Android Studio you can navigate to: Settings -> Android SDK -> SDK Tools -> Intel x86 Emulator Accelerator (HAXM installer))

*Create AVD with "Intel atom x86" CPU/ABI

*Run emulator and check in console that HAXM running (open a Command Prompt window and execute the command: sc query intelhaxm)

Also don't forget install this one

P.S. during AVD creation add emulation memory: Hardware/New/Device ram size/set up value 512 or more
Linux:

*

*Install KVM: open GOOGLE, write "kvm installation "

*Create AVD with "Intel atom x86" CPU/ABI

*Run from command line: emulator -avd avd_name -qemu -m 512 -enable-kvm

*Or run from Eclipse: Run/Run Configurations/Tab "Target" - > check Intel x86 AVD and in "Additional Emulator Command Line Options" window add: -qemu -m 512 -enable-kvm (click Run)

P.S. For Fedora, for Ubuntu
OS-X:

*

*In Android SDK Manager, install Intel x86 Atom System Image

*In Android SDK Manager, install Intel x86 Emulator Accelerator (HAXM)

*In finder, go to the install location of the Intel Emulator Accelerator and install IntelHAXM (open the dmg and run the installation). You can find the location by placing your mouse over the Emulator Accelerator entry in the SDK Manager.

*Create or update an AVD and specify Intel Atom x86 as the CPU.

P.S: Check this tool, very convenient even trial

A: choose a low resolution emulator (eg: Nexus S) if you don't have a good graphic card (like me)

A: I would like to suggest giving Genymotion a spin. It runs in Oracle's VirtualBox, and will legitimately hit 60 fps on a moderate system.
Here's a screencap from one of my workshops, running on a low-end 2012 model MacBook Air:

If you can't read the text, it's a Nexus 7 emulator running at 56.6 fps. The additional (big!) bonus is that Google Play and Google Play Services come packaged with the virtual machines.
(The source of the demoed animation can be found here.)

A: Enable GPU Hardware Acceleration (in addition to Intel's HAXM), if you are using API 15 v3 or newer and SDK Tools v17+.  Graphics acceleration for the emulator takes advantage of your development computer's graphics hardware, specifically its graphics processing unit (GPU), to make screen drawing faster. This gives a noticeable boost in speed.
To enable graphics acceleration enabled by default on your emulator: when creating the AVD, in the Hardware section, click New, select GPU emulation and set the value to Yes.
To enable acceleration only at runtime: use the -gpu flag while starting the emulator like this:
emulator -avd <avd_name> -gpu on

Source: Google's Using the Emulator tutorial.

A: Edit Although using the Intel images gets some performance gains, the performance gained by using Genymotion is much greater. See Paul Lammertsma's answer.
Previous Answer
With ADT rev 17 the emulator supports running x86 system images in virtualization mode on Windows and Mac OS X. This has a noticeable impact on performance.
ADT rev 17 notes:
http://android-developers.blogspot.jp/2012/03/updated-sdk-tools-and-adt-revision-17.html
Configuring Virtual Machine Acceleration:
http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/devices/emulator.html#accel-vm

A: I think it is because clr virtual machine uses cpu directly without code opcode translation.
It may be optimization for clr application or may be windows mobile/window phone 7 started on INTEL proccessor.
Android platform based on linux and theoretically you can start android on virtual machine in i686 environment. In this case virtual machines such as vmware could execute some opcodes direcly. But this option will be allowed only if you write on the Java. Because the Java interpret their byte-code or precompile it before execution.
see:
http://www.taranfx.com/how-to-run-google-android-in-virtualbox-vmware-on-netbooks

A: Thank you @zest! Worked like a charm. Some things of note:  Need to apply Intel's hotfix for the HAXM to deal with kernel panic issue: http://software.intel.com/en-us/android/articles/intel-hardware-accelerated-execution-manager
Also, note, if you have more than one abi, you need to uninstall one due to a bug in the latest version of the Android API (r19): https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=66740 (remove armeabi-v7a in this case, since you want the x86 abi). Other than the 45-minutes it took me to resolve these, it was an very rewarding exercise in terms of the increased performance of the emulator.

A: You could also try the Visual Studio Android Emulator, which can also be installed as a standalone emulator (you don't need Visual Studio). Please note, that it can be installed only on Windows Pro or higher systems.

A: Use Genymotion instead of emulator. Genymotion has better performance
https://www.genymotion.com

A: Enabling this option worked for me.
AVD Manager -> Select device and click Edit-> Enable the option 'Use Host GPU'

A: I've been using the Intel(86) CPU/ABI. I created another emulator using the ARM(armeabi-v7a) and i found quite an improvement with the speed. I'm using platform 4.1.2 API level 16

A: Update your current Android Studio to Android Studio 2.0 And also update system images.
Android Studio 2.0 emulator runs ~3x faster than Android's previous emulator, and with ADB enhancements you can now push apps and data 10x faster to the emulator than to a physical device. Like a physical device, the official Android emulator also includes Google Play Services built-in, so you can test out more API functionality. Finally, the new emulator has rich new features to manage calls, battery, network, GPS, and more.

A: Well question is from 2011 and I am answering in 2022 the best answer in my experience is to start emulator from command in that way the emulator starts a dedicated process and not a sub process of android studio. If the process is independent then it will be able to use the GPU properly and can utilize all resources unlike starting emulator from device manager.
You can create AVD from device manager and start is from the avd folder below is the way to start the emulator independently.
How to open emulator command line


text:
Eleazar ben Ananus was hogepriester in de Joodse tempel in Jeruzalem van 16 tot 17 na Chr. Eerder had Eleazars vader Annas (of Ananus) het ambt bekleed. Eleazar was de eerste van vijf broers die elk enige tijd hogepriester zijn geweest.

Over Eleazars hogepriesterschap is weinig bekend. Het enige dat Flavius Josephus erover vermeldt, is dat Eleazar reeds na een jaar vervangen werd door Simon ben Kamithus. De reden waarom Valerius Gratus (op dat moment praefectus over Judea) de hogepriesters in deze periode zo snel verving, kan ermee te maken hebben dat bang was dat de politieke invloed van de hogepriester groter zou worden dan zijn eigen invloed en daarmee het risico van opstand met zich mee zou brengen.

Joods hogepriester
Persoon in de 1e eeuw


Veloxe joins Kallo in the Rogue's Den for the very last time! It's the final Assault ranks to be covered here on The Rogue's Den. Kallo takes you through the final assault missions as well as telling you how to rank up to First Lieutenant and give you some information on the Captain rank. Kallo is looking for new guests for the Rogue's Den, the next topic to be covered by Kallo and the Rogue's Den has been selected as: crafting! To submit a guest application for the Rogue's Den you can check out our 'Guest Applications' section in our forums.


Still interested in spending your summer working with us in the Tetons? Here are a few things to remember when you apply. We believe our staff are the most important asset we have. We are fair, concerned and always willing to help our employees in any way we can. We provide a fair wage and, in return, ask for a fair day's work. If you are mentally and physically prepared to work hard in order to enjoy the scenery, the fellowship of new friends and the many other benefits of a summer job in this beautiful National Park, we look forward to receiving your application.
Click HERE or to apply online! After you complete the online application, we encourage you to fill out the voluntary affirmative action form.
Email, call, fax or write us to request a hard copy of our application. We'll even send you a stamped envelope!
Feel free to include additional supporting documentation such as letters of recommendation, certifications, or a resume with your application.


text:
A rubbish way to die
December 10, 2011 May 12, 2014 carinyasharples
(The Pavement, 10 December 2011) Last month The Pavement ran its first advert warning of the dangers of sleeping in bins (pictured). But how widespread is this issue and what is being done to discourage it? We asked Biffa, one of the UK's leading waste management companies, if this is something they're aware of and, if so, do they have any records to indicate the scale of the problem?
"It is on our radar," confirmed Shaun Davis, Biffa's Group Director of Health & Safety and the Environment. "In terms of statistics we're quite fortunate because in the last three years we've had one accident involving a person in a bin, which resulted in a guy injuring his leg."
Sadly, over the years, The Pavement has learned of and reported on much more severe, and sometimes fatal, cases. Just last month, two homeless men who were sleeping in a bin in San Antonio, Texas, were accidentally dumped into a waste truck compacter. According to KSAT news, one of the pair, Richard Salinas, managed to escape and raise the alarm but it was too late for the other man trapped inside, who was crushed from the waist down and later died.
In a bid to avoid tragedies such as this, Biffa has implemented a series of "pre-lift" procedures, designed to make sure no one in sleeping inside a bin before it is lifted and tipped into the waste truck. As well as visually checking that no one is in the bin, the bin is rattled once the lifting forks are in position to give anyone inside another opportunity to make themselves known. The trucks are also fitted with cameras, which film the rubbish material as it is tipped into the truck and relay the images back to the cab, giving staff another opportunity to spot a body.
Similar procedures were recommended in People in Commercial Waste Containers, a guidance document issued by the Health and Safety Executive in June 2010. Although not a legal document, it is made clear that "if you adopt the practice and principles described, you should be taking sufficient action to discharge your legal duties, and secure compliance with the law." Required actions include carrying out a risk assessment of "all of the significant risks relating to the storage and subsequent collection of commercial waste, including the possibility of people gaining entry into bins."
As well as implemented on-theground procedures, Biffa is keen to make sure its employees are aware of the risks. "We've created a DVD called People in Bins, which we rolled across the entire organisation to educate people," says Mr Davis. "Secondly, as we know we're coming into that season now which is particularly wet and cold, we run refresher programmes – what we call Toolbox Talks – which are short briefing sessions on the risk of people in bins and the dangers associated… Obviously it's a risk all year round and particularly a risk in winter when it's cold and wet, so we're particularly active at discouraging it then."
Another step Biffa is currently taking is to introduce a "near miss" reporting programme. "We are looking at actually identifying how many people we think might have been in a bin prior to us lifting it," explains Mr Davis. "And also when we actually do move it, if anybody is found to be in that bin, making sure that our people report that internally as a near miss because that's a potential accident – it might have been stopped at that time but we still need to know why." Under the new scheme, staff will be able to call the Biffa call centre to notify the safety team immediately.
Biffa, like other waste management companies, has also introduced lockable tops and warning stickers on bins, although how effective such stickers are is unclear. The bin slept in by the two men in San Antonio had warning stickers on, and warning stickers were introduced in Brighton long before the death of teacher Scott Williams, who was crushed in a rubbish lorry after falling asleep in an industrial bin. Following that accident, in July 2009, City Clean "upgraded" its warning stickers on large bins and worked with the council's homeless team to put up posters in hostels and other buildings visited by rough sleepers to warn them of the danger of sleeping in bins.
While Mr Davis sounds a note of caution about raising the issue of sleeping in bins – "people may not have thought of bins being nice and warm and dry and cosy" – he believes educating people is vital, and shouldn't stop with Biffa. "If you were to lobby the ESA [Environmental Services Authority] then they in turn might get behind a campaign like this and get a number of the other waste organisations behind this. It's something that I'm particularly keen on promoting and if it came from both sides – from the industry and pressure groups or public groups such as yourself – it could be really worthwhile."
http://www.thepavement.org.uk/story.php?story=1382
homelessness london UK
Previous Post Unemployed pushed to back of housing queue
Next Post Ten Minutes With… Vieux Farka Touré


The lucky ones are good at decision making, whether the decision is good or bad is something that is immaterial, the main point is that some people are good at taking decisions on their own.
However, if you are unlucky like me who cannot decide on anything and always keep swinging back and forth between various options that life throws at us, then welcome aboard. I started writing on this blog in 2010 and since then so many people approached me with their confusions, we kind of formed a confused-support group where we could share and help each other. To narrow it down, I jotted few traits that I found to be common among all confused peoples.
You just need to question, life, job, career, marriage, and even birth. I have so many times gone and asked my mother, "Mom why did you give birth to me". We just don't know why we are here and if we are here then what are we supposed to do. Is the job right, am I married to the right person, should I wear blue or green? Even the simplest of the decisions feel a big task.
I have realized that the scary part if not to take decision; the scarier part is the consequences. We are so confused that once we make a decision, we constantly worry that someone will come and accuse us of making the wrong decision. Recently I had some remodelling done in my house, I left the task of deciding the layout, design, colour, everything to my mother. Not because I feel my choices are bad, but because I was afraid that if things don't look good in the end, I would be blamed. Better to let someone else call the shots while I live in peace.
A normal person can never understand why we take so much time in deciding whether to order pasta or spaghetti in a restaurant. But for us it's about whether we will like what we order or not. Do I want to sit there and keep rolling the fork or just pick one by one and eat the damn dish. Whenever I'm out shopping or going for movie, the other person tends to get super angry with me trying to figure out what's taking so long.
Now this might not be applicable to all, but when you are a confused person, one thing you take comfort in picking the same set of clothes that you wore last week (even if your closet is loaded with lot more). You wore something last week, you know it looked good, so why bother with something new which will leave you confused. This trait is debatable but it sure applies to me, maybe not always but most of the weeks.
Whenever I have a fight with my husband, the first thing I say to him, "I don't know why I ever married you". Even though you might have taken years to decide whom to marry, but in times of crisis, we end up questioning our decisions and put blame on the other person for making you do what you did.
Life is always filled with riddles and it's so tough when you are a confused person. So guys if you are a quick decision maker then please bear with confused souls like us!


This week, we're using traditional techniques to forge Hattori Hanzō's Katana wielded by Black Mamba in Kill Bill.
I've been waiting for this one. Now if only you guys would make a witcher silver sword my life would feel a bit more complete.
One of the best Man at Arms Reforged episodes I think. The depth and detail they went into explaining the smelting, forging and folding process was awesome.
Though is it my imagination, or does that look incredibly involved and time consuming compared to some of their other builds?
Either way, the result is definitely a work of art, that's for sure.
I love your attention to detail in this build it is quite impressive and it really shows in the final product just how much you really care about the tradition of Katanas a a whole.


text:
Stuber Review
The summer blockbuster release slate is often varied. You can expect a few by-the-numbers action flicks (soon to be served up by the Fast and Furious franchise) and more often than not you'll get a mainstream buddy comedy led by a few a-listers, or up and comers, this year this is brought to us by this film.
Dave Bautista leads the cast as it's star. A very unexpected breakout star over the last few years, as the number of ex-wrestlers who've made a successful film career can be counted on one hand, the two stand-outs are Dave, and Dwayne Johnson, and at least Bautista does different things from time to time.
It's not a particularly high-concept film, the unlikely duo buddy comedy is as well-worn a trope as any, especially in the department of 'big-guy cop, and small-guy partner' its setup is anything but fresh, but what's it like in execution?
Ric Manning (Dave Bautista) is a veteran cop who loses his partner while chasing a drug dealer, causing him to obsess over the case, while fighting his own failing sight. He is taken off the case but soon commandeers an Über, driven by Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) and jumps back on the case.
As a film, Stuber is somewhat of a mess. Cobbled together from aspects of other films and held together by cliches. It redeems itself somewhat in the performance department, however, as the Buddy comedy lives and dies on its central duo's chemistry, Bautista and Nanjiani are a very watchable pair, who seemingly force joy into the film at every opportunity, even if the film runs out of steam in the end.
There's very little wit and subtlety about the film as a whole, not that we expected much subtlety, but the failing eyesight angle is an unexpected, yet underused aspect of the character, it is used fleetingly when the film remembers that it needs to make it seem like he's under threat, but takes a back seat through most of the run time.
A comedy film lives and dies on the amount of laughs that can be derived from it, and it does fairly well, helped by the performances of its leading duo, Bautista has immaculate comedic timing, as seen in the MCU, and Nanjiani gets a few funny one-liners. The main problem is it all seems so inconsequential as a film.
Sure, nobody expected this film to be groundbreaking, but there are times when it feels like it's not even really trying. The action sequences are lazy and unimaginative, the side characters are paper-thin, and the token twist is completely nonsensical in delivery.
In conclusion then, aside from a dynamite leading duo, this film has very little to offer apart from that besides a few throwaway laughs. It isn't an experience that will stick with you, at best it's merely forgettable, at worst it's insufferably flat film that's overly pleased with itself, regardless of its laziness, and overall lack of imagination.
Posted in FilmTagged 2019, Comedy, Film
Previous Thunder Road Review
Next The Lion King Review


Lot of 3 sockets of type E27 with rotary switch to color "Gold"
The rotary switch is used to turn on and turn off the bulb, it will give an elegant touch to your décor!
Offer an elegant vintage touch to your décor! Very simple Assembly!


text:
With the click of a button, relive the best moments of key pontificates like Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II. Thanks to "Rome Reports Premium," you will be able to see our agency's exclusive content: documentaries, special reports, historical content, art, music and much more. The new Premium platform allows you to watch 'The World Seen from the Vatican,' a world-leading news program about the Pope and the Vatican, posted exclusively for you every week. Every day you will get the latest news straight from Rome, now in HD and without advertising. Every month, you will also receive a new documentary and the keys to understanding what is happening in the Vatican and in the Church. Through this small contribution, you also support the journalistic work of Rome Reports.
Pope's weekly catechesis
Every Wednesday, Pope Francis begins the General Audience from the Vatican.
Thousands of pilgrims from around the world attend the audience. He delivers a catechesis and greets visitors from all over the world.
Pope Francis says Jesus' preaching can be characterized in 5 unique ways
During his General Audience, the Pope described Jesus' preaching as surprising, healing, joyful, full of light, and free.
Pope Francis: "Christian witness cannot be separated from joy and freedom"
The Pope called attention to the closing of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Pope Francis on recent missile attack in Ukraine: One cannot remain indifferent
"The images and accounts of this tragic event are a strong plea to all consciences."
Pope Francis tells catechists that their work involves "suffering and risk"
The Pope said Jesus was "an unsurpassed model" of proclaiming the Gospel by his "gestures and words."
Francis recalls words of Benedict XVI: "The Church does not grow by proselytism"
After the series of catecheses on discernment, the Pope announced his new series dedicated to the passion for evangelization.
Pope Francis begins new cycle of catechesis on the "passion for evangelization"
The Pope said that when the Christian life loses sight of this dimension, ''it is lost, it grows sick: it closes in on itself, becomes self- referential and it withers."
Pope Francis praises Pope Benedict XVI and calls fragility "our best treasure"
"Beware of people who do not feel fragile. They are controlling," the he warns.
Pope Francis dedicates his catechesis on discernment to spiritual accompaniment
"Confronting our life with another person who has experience is of great help in getting to know ourselves," the Pope said.
Pope Francis on Pope emeritus Benedict XVI: He was a great teacher of catechesis
"I would like us to join with those next door who are paying tribute to Benedict XVI"
Pope Francis asks for a special prayer for Pope emeritus Benedict XVI
The Pope said of the Pope Emeritus that "in silence he is sustaining the Church."
Pope Francis shares story of when he was scared by a tough-looking, tattooed man
During the Pope's catechesis on discernment, the Pope recalled a story from his life in Argentina.
Pope on Ukraine: "Children can no longer smile, they carry the tragedy of war"
Christmas was in the air during the Pope Francis' General Audience.
Pope concludes catecheses on discernment: Sense God's presence in scripture
Pope Francis gave his final catechesis before Christmas.
Pope Francis: "The devil shows up in disguise"
The Pope continued with his weekly catechesis on discernment.
Pope Francis on the World Cup in Qatar: "May it favor fraternity"
At the end of his General Audience, Pope Francis expressed his hope that the World Cup would be a first step to a more fraternal coexistence.
The Pope used his Apostolic Journey to Bahrain as example for religious dialogue
During his Catechesis, the Pope discussed inter-religious peace and emphasized the importance of engaging in dialogue.
Pope Francis on discernment: To escape toxic thoughts, reread your life story
The Pope recommended that Christians make an examination of conscience each night to observe hos God acts in their lives.
Pope Francis encourages nightly examination of conscience at General Audience
He encouraged the audience members to embrace the habit of a nightly examination of conscience so they may understand themselves better and increase their obedience to God's will.
Pope Francis prays for prisoners and those who have taken their own lives
The Pope specifically prayed for all mothers in honor of the Feast of the Nativity of Mary. He expressed his closeness to all mothers, especially mothers who suffer with their children.
Pope Francis uses St. Ignatius of Loyola as an example of discernment
During his second week of catechesis on discernment, the Pope reflected on the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola, saying that the lives of the saints can speak to us.
Pope Francis prays for peaceful coexistence in Baghdad during his Audience
The Pope asked for prayers for the people in Baghdad following protests near the Parliament building, which left 22 people dead.
Pope Francis begins new catechesis on discernment
The Pope reminded the pilgrims present that discernment means knowing oneself and having a relationship with God.
Pope Francis concludes his catechesis on old age with a message of hope
The Pope also explained that, just as Jesus did not lose his wounds nor his humanity when he rose from the dead, we too "will recognize the faces of the people we love."
Pope reflects on the cruelty of war 6 months after Russian invasion of Ukraine
He recalled war crimes on both sides—from the soldiers who have died fighting to the murder of the daughter of a Russian philosopher in Moscow.


Our couch surfing friend very kindly took us to the Mayan ruins named Monte Alban, just outside of the Oaxaca city.
They were a spectacular site. Barely any visitors were there so we were able to walk around imagining what it was like in 300 BCE when the population was estimated to be 5,200 and then increased to 17,200 in 100 BCE. It was the most powerful region in the state of Oaxaca.
It atoned me how historically people were so talented and clever knowing exactly how to build these structures by following astronomical constellations. Not only did they build their pyramids in this manner but they also used the solar system to calculate the time of day. They looked at how the light sat on specific objects.
Furthermore, they used plants as natural remedies. Arnica was used much before our time.
On the drive back we saw the suburbs of Oaxaca. While the city where we we saying was beautiful, clean, safe and colourful, the suburbs inhabited by the majority of citizens were such a contrast. I noticed this in Mexico city too. It was saddened me to see. I think to get the full experience I should explore some of these suburbs and stay there. However, I am not sure how feasible and sensible this would be. The houses were build practically on top of each other.
Then it was time for our last Oaxaca market dinner before heading off for the night bus to San Cristobal. The juices are all so tasty. I had fresh melon juice and an special Oaxaca cheese sandwich. Followed by a Mexican pastry.
–Staying in a well located hostel was important to me. Don Nino – was great for this. It was near enough the bus station to walk to and was also near the zocalo – only a 15 minute walk. It was clean, cosy and had great breakfasts.
-If not sure what to do check out the zocalo – there was always something occurring there from dancing to festive parades.
-Arriving in Oaxaca at night or walking around in the evening is completely safe (obviously still be street wise but no need to worry about being alone here at dark).
-Taking day tours are pretty much the same price as taking the bus to places, all very inexpensive. Taking the tours provides a guide so might have been better than taking public transport like I did (although public transport gives you the freedom to stay in the place as long as you want rather than a tour schedule).
-The cheapest and best food is where the Mexican's go. So to find a place to eat either ask around or go to the cheap busy places. Normally the traditional places have a starter, main and jug of authentic juice for £2 (40 pesos).
Good to see that you went to Monte Alban. You are following in my footsteps. When I went I got a tour from the local historian: a young guy who spoke English. He'd say things like: "Look at that hill over there. There's another pyramid underneath, but the government can't afford to excavate it." Who knows, perhaps they have now, since that was almost 30 years ago.