This is the fourth article in a series of TforG Gateway articles on the subject of taking your operation international and building an asset abroad. The information is based on well over 20 years of experience and numerous companies that asked TforG for assistance, in a substantial number of cases, after the first wrong decisions were made.
Growing a successful company is challenging enough without making "rookie mistakes" that can slow you down, stop you dead in your tracks or cost you an arm and a leg, for no good reason. The Medical Device market used to have sufficient margins in the Domestic as well as in the International (EMEA) market. That time, unfortunately is over and small companies that enter the international market have "no- or limited margin for error".
We have assumed that the product has been sufficiently adapted to European (EMEA) circumstances or even country requirements. Also the company has CE-marking and has identified any (additional) country requirements (no matter how limited they may be).
Sailing on a course set a number of years ago – The European (International) markets have changed and continue changing substantially. Staff experience based on another product, in another company, in a different time – a couple of years ago may lead to the wrong decisions on how to launch and market the product in this day and age. Issues like health economics, DRG influence, Evidence Based medicine and changes in the "composition" of Decision Making units, all affect the way that the decision making process develops.
Europe does not exist when it comes to setting distribution strategies – Maybe on the surface, for the untrained and inexperienced company, the European (EMEA) countries are sharing commonalities (incomprehensible languages, unclear decision making structure) but the history of the way that health care is organized, how it is embedded in social en legal structures, how financials have changed in the last couple of years make "Europe" a collection of differences no matter how hard the EU is trying to harmonize the systems. That does not mean that there are synergies between the countries, but the differences are bigger than those synergies.
Not understanding the customer and the environment he (she) works in – It is difficult to put the ins and outs of European healthcare in perspective, in comparison to the US (or other parts of the world), but even between the countries involved. It takes time and effort to understand, especially now, this day and age, under rapidly changing circumstances in the EMEA healthcare markets. Who, how and where is shifting faster than even the experts can follow without substantial monitoring efforts.
Not validating (sufficiently) Market demand, Market potential – With the changing markets, healthcare economics playing a much bigger role and "evidence based" taking a decisive role, the adoption of new technologies and products is less obvious than before. Like in the pharma market, it looks like the number of different products in the cluster is decreasing and there is less of an opportunity for sub-optimal products to create a decent revenue position.
Overestimating the speed of change, the ability to replace existing products and technologies, the effect of long decision processes and budgeting cycles – In order to optimize the operation with a healthy orientation for the bottom line, it makes sense to understand the issues and not try to speed things up that cannot be speeded up. A good example? Budget-cycles in public hospitals. Try to beat those and you will pay a price. Alternative solutions? Try private hospitals that have (take) more flexibility. Don't (!!) hire a sales force if the launch file is not completed yet. You don't want to have a lot of people idling, waiting for it to be completed at a substantial expense.We have used the term before: Hull speed! As explained earlier, Hull speed is the speed with which the hull of a boat finds its optimum speed and power (or sail surface). More power gives –relatively- more waves and, when powered, higher fuel consumption, not necessary (a lot of) additional speed.
Relying (too much) on second hand customer information, collected and passed on (selected and biased) by distributors – You want to hear important stuff in the early phase from the horse's mouth and not statements of which the essence may be lost in translations or filtered on other grounds.
Translation instead of adaptation of marketing materials – Translation of the marketing materials that you are using "at home" is definitely NOT the thing to do. It is questionable to use the same materials in all countries of Europe (well actually we know it is NOT wise). Different countries with different circumstances, different decision makers and different benefits should not be stuck with a document that fails to answer the questions or bring the benefits in a proper order.
Not setting the right price – The country variables may require (and allow) to set different prices or rather, to "discount" differently on the basis of the same list-price in all European countries. Under or overpricing the product may inhibit adoption.
Not understanding the essence of the (relevant) DRG's (or Reimbursement) – Not only that it is essential for setting prices but it may be necessary to adapt the positioning of the product. DRG's have a tendency to slide down, and seldom go up as the result of a new technology or product that becomes available. There are also different DRG's for in-patient or ambulatory interventions. Having a technology that allows ambulatory treatment or intervention may be a potential winner but will no doubt lead to a reduced DRG. It may make more sense to shorten the hospital stay of the patient than to go to ambulatory care.
Underestimating the effort needed to build an asset in Europe (EMEA) – In another life I have worked in the wonder-full world of venture capital. One of the rules of thumb that is applied there is that no matter what the business plan says: it takes at least twice as long and costs twice the investment. I am not claiming that building an asset in Europe will move along the same lines but unfortunately I have seen operations that were able to meet or beat that result.
The fact of the matter is that setting up an operation and building an asset is much more predictable and controllable than starting a venture…..provided that you take control and understand the issues before starting to fork out budget.
It makes sense to go through a thorough process of orientation, gather market intelligence and gain understanding before making a move. It is less essential to research the market potential than to try to understand the essence of the market, drivers, barriers and other elements of success or failure.


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The 11 Most Inspiring Things Ever Said About Aging Gracefully
By	Linda Rodgers	 May 4, 2016
These lovely stars know what it's like to grow older–and they're happy to share their wisdom. You'll find plenty to smile about and reflect on here.
"Don't try to be young. Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won't live long enough to find out about, but I'm still curious about them." -- Betty White
"I think that laughter and smiling are some of the best antidotes to aging that you could possibly have. In general, I pretty much think of myself as still being about 5." -- Demi Moore
"When you're 16, you think 28 is old! Then you get to 28, and it's fabulous. You think, what about 42? And then 42 is great. As you reach each age, you gain the understanding you need to enjoy it." -- Helen Mirren
080416 Jen Garner
"I'm really glad that I'm playing moms, because there's no more rich time in women's lives than when you have your babies, and when you're trying to figure out how to parent them and balance everything, and the emotional weight of seeing your children struggle, or whatever it is. There's so much there to draw from, that it feels like I've aged into where I should be as far as acting goes. You know what I mean? ... As far as my career, I feel like I finally fit." -- Jennifer Garner
"As you grow older, you discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others." -- Audrey Hepburn
"There's no such thing as aging, but maturing and knowledge. It's beautiful, I call that beauty." -- Celine Dion
"Here is my biggest takeaway after 60 years on the planet: There is great value in being fearless. For too much of my life, I was too frightened. That fear is one of my biggest regrets." -- Diane Keaton, 2006
"My relationship with aging is cozy. I'm not trying to play 29 and holding on with white knuckles. I'm done saying, 'I'm sorry I wasn't who you needed or wanted me to be' to everybody in my life." -- Diane Lane
"I never think about age. I believe your age is totally how you feel. I've seen women of thirty-five who are old and people of seventy-five who are young." -- Joan Collins
"Every year can be a brand-new journey. You get one chance to be 25, or 44, or 61, and every age in between. Why wouldn't you want to experience all the wonder in each step on your path?" -- Oprah Winfrey
"Do you really expect me to say gravity hasn't taken its toll? No. But as I'm earning these lines, I'm making an aesthetic choice." -- Susan Sarandon
"Getting older is a blessing, and not everyone gets to do it. It's not a given. It's a privilege." -- Cameron Diaz
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Flowers of the Forest is a 1934 play by the British writer John Van Druten. It lasted for a brief West End run of fourteen performances at the Whitehall Theatre with a cast including Henry Oscar, Haddon Mason, Stephen Haggard, Barry K. Barnes and Lewis Casson. In New York it played for forty performances at the Broadway Martin Beck Theatre with a cast that included Hugh Williams and Burgess Meredith.

References

Bibliography
 Bordman, Gerald . American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1930-1969. Oxford University Press, 1996.
 Wearing, J.P. The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel.  Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

1934 plays
Plays by John Van Druten
West End plays

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Jean Effel, real name François Lejeune (12 February 1908 – 10 October 1982), was a French painter, caricaturist, illustrator and journalist. Mostly he considered himself to be a journalist and political commentator. His pseudonym is created by his initials F. L.

Life
Effel was born in Paris and graduated in art, music and philosophy. Despite all efforts and wishes of his father to take over  his merchant trade, Effel chose path of a professional artist. Often he drew for French newspaper l'Humanité and he is also author of illustrations of Jean de La Fontaine fables.

The cartoon cycle The Creation of the World is considered to be his greatest work (It was  filmed in 1957 by director E. Hofman).  The entire cycle includes five books: Le Ciel et la Terre (Sky and earth), Les Plantes et Animaux (Plants and animals), L'Homme (Man), La Femme (Woman) and Le Roman d'Adam et Eve (Story of Adam and Eve). Among his important works are also the collection of anti-fascist caricatures from 1935 and the book of cartoons When Animals Still Talked from 1953.

Effel's paintings are easily readable, fresh, humorous and novel, and carry his recognizable curly signature often with a little daisy in the lower right corner that shows the author's kind view of the world.

Jean Effel had close relation to the USSR and Czechoslovakia, and was the longstanding chairman of the Company of French-Czechoslovak Friendship. He received the Lenin Peace Prize in 1967.  He died in Paris in 1982.

Jean Effel was celebrated by the French Postal service in a 4FF stamp issued on 5 October 1983.

Work
 1935 – collection of antifascist caricatures
 1944 – Turelune le Cornepipeux – fairy tale
 1945 – La Création du Monde
 1953 – When Animals Still Talked

References

External links

1908 births
1982 deaths
Artists from Paris
20th-century French painters
20th-century male artists
French male painters
French caricaturists
French illustrators
Lenin Peace Prize recipients
Writers from Paris
French male writers
Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples
20th-century French journalists


The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) joins forces with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to expand their existing partnership with Alternatifbank (ABank) through an additional senior loan facility of USD 97 million. Of this amount, EUR 20 million (USD 22 million) will come from the EFSE, which will be dedicated to supporting micro and small enterprises (MSEs). The facilities provided by IFC will support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy by ABank clients.
ABank has strong and long-standing relations with IFC and has been an EFSE partner lending institution since 2011.
"ABank is a valuable partner of the EFSE and we are pleased to support ABank in its efforts to foster economic growth and job creation in Turkey," says Monika Beck, Chairperson of the Board of the EFSE.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in about 100 countries, it uses its capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In 2014, IFC provided more than USD 22 billion in financing to improve lives in developing countries and tackle the most urgent challenges of development.
ABank is among the leading Turkish banking institutions, offering corporate, commercial and retail banking services. With consolidated assets of TL 11.2 billion as of 31 December 2014, ABank works through 64 branches in areas covering 85% of Turkey's economic activity.
The majority shareholder of ABank is Qatar's second-largest banking institution, The Commercial Bank of Qatar, with a 75% interest in the bank. Leading Turkish Industrial conglomerate Anadolu Group holds the remaining 25%.


Okay, so you've got an idea. You're excited about it, sure, but will anyone else be? Do you have enough to make a story out of it? It is worth pursuing? How do you tell? Ask yourself the following questions to find out.
Is it interesting to you? Just because you get a bit antsy to get something onto paper doesn't mean it's actually interesting. Think about it. Really, think about it. Is the topic something that will keep your mind busy for a while? Crafting a story may take a while depending on what medium you decide to work with, so make sure that the idea will be relevant and exciting to you throughout the duration of the project, and sometimes even afterwards. If you aren't psyched about an idea, your reader won't be. It's obvious when people write with passion and conviction and it's also obvious when they just, well, write.
How much will it take out of you?Most stories require some kind of research, even if it's minimal. Some ideas will take more research than you can or are willing to give. Map out what would be necessary in order to do the project properly and determine if it's something you are able to commit to. Don't skip this. Readers will be turned off by poorly thought out plots and hastily scribbled ideas. A novel takes considerably more time than a flash fiction piece, so determine if writing it is in the cards or not.
What is the purpose of the story?If you are looking to create something for publication, trends matter immensely. That doesn't mean you shouldn't create the piece- you could always hold off on submitting it anywhere as public interests have a way of changing and no one wants to miss out on writing a great story- but it may mean you need to focus your efforts elsewhere for now and come back to it later.
Can it be fleshed out properly?Sometimes ideas turn out to be only that- an idea. In theory they sound wonderful, but in execution they may fall flat. It's the classic surface appeal, but once you come down to outlining the story it seems that there is little or no depth. If it's important to you, work with it. Try to add to it, tweak it, etc., but if there just isn't enough there, don't hang onto it forever. It's better to move onto another piece that has more promise than to waste your time with something that you can't quite get a handle on. Who knows? You may be able to revisit the piece with a fresh outlook and rework it into a masterpiece.
If the answers to these questions make you lean toward making the idea into an actual story, go for it. Just keep in mind that the circumstances may change as the story develops. Don't be afraid to revisit these questions for the same piece. As the story shifts, so may your answers.


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"COACH On and Off the Court"
Works with businesses from 5 to 5,000, where the decision maker recognizes that by creating better teamwork he/she can improve the bottom line. Dave's 25 years as a college basketball coach mean he has done more than just study teamwork, he has lived it. His interactive style guarantees participant involvement.


Al Campeggio Le Rioumajou di Saint-Lary-Soulan (Alti Pirenei), soggiorni a soli €16,- a notte in bassa stagione grazie alla CampingCard ACSI. In una delle 122 piazzole itineranti del campeggio nel periodo 01-01-2019 - 30-06-2019 e 01-09-2019 - 31-12-2019 a tariffa ridotta. Oltre ad offrire prezzi vantaggiosi ai titolari della CampingCard ACSI, il campeggio accetta anche l'ACSI Club ID (sostitutivo del documento di identità).
Il campeggio con piscine riscaldate si trova nella Valle dell'Aure, lungo il fiume e vicino al paese montano di St. Lary. Da qui potrete esplorare la Riserva Naturale di Nèouvielle con i suoi 70 laghetti, e osservare piante insolite e animali rari. Struttura adatta anche a soste brevi nel viaggio che vi porta verso la Spagna (attraverso il tunnel di Bielsa).
A really nice site in a stunning area. Toilets, showers and washing up area always spotlessly clean with lots of hot water. Staff friendly and helpful. Excellent swimming pool. Pleasant bar area with limited menu but open all through to when we left on 20th September. Our only concern was the condition of some of the tent pitches which were somewhat overgrown and rutted. Luckily the site was quiet at this time so we still had a choice of 5 or 6 really good ones. Nearby town of St Lary is smart ski resort which was still lively in summer with an excellent market on a Saturday. Small bar in the village of Vielle Aure 1K from site had the best value coffee we found and the next door restaurant La Table De Fontaine serves an incredible 4 course lunch menu including wine for less than £10 Monday to Friday and £11 on a Saturday. Advisable to book as extremely popular with locals!
Friendly reception. Good pitches, well separated with hedges. Heated toilet block with separate male/female toilets. No wifi, but internet access available using a PC in reception. Good dog exercise area outside back gate. It was April and we could not get into National Park because of snow.
Well run site convenient for walking, cycling and local shopping. Very clean sanitary facilities. Beautiful area. We visited twice in 2013 and will return in 2014. Perfect fro watching the Tour de France either at low level or on nearby mountains.
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The latest labor of love is now officially in publication and distribution in Ebook and print.
2013 saw me spending far more time in the hospital and in various stages of (surgical) recovery than I've experienced since my early 20's when I got out of the military.
On one hand, one would think it would be easier to write while under the influence of pain medications. Well, it's hard to write when you're asleep in your easy chair and the laptop is indeed in your lap and you're both in sleep mode. And then there's the issue of falling asleep with your hands still on the keyboard and when the wife wakes you up to come to bed (to get more sleep), you look at the screen and see you have just typed either the letter "j" or the letter "f" non-stop for 694 pages.
So in between hospital bouts and deleting hundreds of pages of text that only contained one letter, I dutifully continued to stroke away at the keyboard and finish the book.
The theme of the book is that there are no bigger or more dangerous false gods than Big Government, Big Business and Wall Street--three entities that have duped the middle-class into supporting them financially and politically and for their efforts now find themselves with the knife of elitism stuck in squarely in their backs.
As my friend Miguel Gonzales states, I'm an optimist. Within the pages of False Gods are the seeds of hope planted, nurtured and carefully grown by the next generation of leaders within our nation.
You can find it in ebook and print at Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com and iTunes, and in ebook format at online book retailers in the U.S. and Europe.


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Farewell to a good friend: Dave Barber
Posted on July 30, 2021 August 2, 2021 by Kenneth George Godwin
Dave Barber and our mutual friend Howard Curle at the premiere of my documentary Carfree (2014)
This is very difficult to write, and I know that no matter how many drafts it's gone through it still doesn't say what I want to say, what I need to say…
Dave Barber, the programmer for the Winnipeg Film Group's Cinematheque since its inception in the early '80s, died Monday evening after six hard weeks in hospital, weeks made even harder by all the Covid restrictions. No visits, no direct communications, just one designated family member to pass on information about Dave's struggle to his many friends. I find it hard to process my emotions – knowing he was in there, that things weren't going well, and no way to see or talk to him after more than three decades of friendship, of almost daily emails and phone calls … no way to say goodbye.
The outpouring of shock and feelings of loss on social media and in the local paper and on local radio testify to how well-respected and loved Dave was, with many members of the film community speaking of the width and depth of Dave's impact not only locally but in important ways on Canadian cinema itself. I will leave those tributes to people more eloquent than myself (much of what I have read in the few days since Dave's death has moved me to tears). All I can speak of here is my own personal experience with Dave over three decades … and the nagging feeling I have that I may have taken that friendship too much for granted, that in some ways I hardly knew him at all.
Dave at the 2004 opening of my friend Gord Wilding's show at Artspace
I first got to know Dave when I joined the Winnipeg Film Group in 1989, but he had already had an impact on me before I knew his name. Dave had been programming for the Cinematheque for a number of years by then, screening movies at the National Film Board's Cinema Main on weekends. My most prominent memory from those days was seeing Mike and Andy Jones's anarchic comedy The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood (1986), a movie which would never have shown up in Winnipeg if not for Dave, who throughout his career was an unflagging advocate for independent Canadian cinema. Some years later, it was through Dave's efforts that I got to see Mike Jones's second feature, Secret Nation (1992), and the brilliant short film made from Andy Jones's play Albert. In fact, it was through Dave that I got to speak to Andy Jones about the latter, because Dave passed on Jones's personal phone number to me.
1986 was the year that the Film Group moved into their third-floor offices in the newly opened Artspace Building in Old Market Square, but more importantly it was the year that the Cinematheque's own dedicated theatre opened on the ground floor, a project with which Dave had been intimately involved. It's impossible to imagine the Cinematheque without Dave – it was a physical manifestation of his personality, an institution which made the WFG one of the key filmmaking co-ops in the country. Members were guaranteed to have their movies screened for an audience of more than just friends and family, programmed alongside films from around the world.
Dave was a key figure in giving those local filmmakers a public face, but he didn't confine himself to the local; he worked indefatigably to promote Canadian filmmakers, bringing in independent features, documentaries and shorts and working with other independent theatres across the country to get those films more widely seen. In this he was entirely selfless and seemingly inexhaustible. A friend called him the "film monk"; he worked around the clock, every day, reluctant to take any time off because filling the theatre's schedule was a never-ending task with always-pressing deadlines.
Dave was a quiet, unassuming man despite the respect he garnered across the country for his work programming and promoting Canadian movies. But as uncomfortable as it made him feel, he would speak in front of audiences and to the media as often as necessary, because the work was always more important than his own comfort. In this, I learned from him because he would ask me to introduce screenings and appear on panels, as a participant and once or twice as facilitator, and because it would have seemed churlish to refuse, I always agreed despite my own anxiety about public speaking. Dave never applied pressure, he just asked, and it was impossible to refuse.
Dave was a great example in other ways too. Sympathetic and tolerant, he was like a father confessor to Film Group members who would enter his office to unload their concerns on him. This included, over the years, many strange characters who inspired discomfort or mocking humour from other people in the office. When such people wanted to screen their strange, amateurish little movies, Dave would be tormented by the dilemma – hurt their feelings or inflict bad movies on an unsuspecting audience? This question would eventually extend to hopeful filmmakers who would proudly send their features to Dave with a plea that he programme them and it always tormented him to turn people down, even when he had the valid excuse of there simply being no room in the schedule.
Back when the entire office was on the third floor, before the administrative staff moved into the basement (which Dave was not happy about, because it seemed to isolate staff from the members who would be upstairs renting equipment, taking workshops and shooting in the studio), he had a small windowless room in the corner. It had probably been intended by the designers to be a storage room, and in fact always looked like a storage room into which Dave had squeezed himself and his desk, with overloaded shelves and stuffed filing cabinets looming over him, piles of newspapers and magazines on every flat surface, and a single other chair at the corner of his desk for visitors.
Because this room was just to the right of the main office door, almost everyone who walked into the Film Group would stop first for a few words with Dave … sometimes many more than a few. And Dave would always take the time to chat, even though his work gave him little time to spare. When facing a pressing deadline, he would close the door and seal himself into that small airless space and visitors would feel a sense of disappointment that he was temporarily unavailable.
Dave and I hit it off immediately. He was someone I could always talk film with in his strangely inviting little office. It was a den, a haven, a place to which we could all retreat to enjoy the calming effect of Dave's quiet, steady personality. Even though he had a serious outward demeanor, Dave possessed a dead-pan, self-deprecating sense of humour, always willing to accept a request to appear in a member's film, often in a comic moment which played on his seriousness. He appeared briefly as an extra in my first short film, Incident at Pickerel Fillet (1991), and again in my more elaborate sci-fi comedy The Adventures of Stella Starr of the Galaxy Rangers in the 23rd Century (1994), in which he was one of a number of people in straitjackets in a psych ward. In fact, Dave was a primary inspiration for that film: it was his old military-style office chair and two huge 35mm lamp housings which stood to either side of the Cinematheque screen that got me thinking about a story which might make use of these artifacts.
Matthew Rankin's brief short Barber Gull Rub gives a nice sense of Dave's unique balance of seriousness and humour:
When I took a position in 1990 as administrative coordinator at Video Pool, across the third-floor hall from the WFG, I would see Dave pretty much every day; that increased, if possible, the following year when I landed the job of Training Coordinator at the Film Group, designing and overseeing a program of workshops. Some of this was done with Dave's collaboration as I would bring in filmmakers and we would schedule screenings of their work while they were in town. Then in 1993, I became Dave's assistant and house manager of the Cinematheque. This involved me with his work on a daily basis, giving me a close-up view of what he was doing, the satisfactions and stresses of tracking down movies, dealing with distributors – an often painful necessity, as so many were reluctant to "waste their time" with such a small, independent theatre – and more directly with filmmakers themselves.
Dave was patient and persistent, doggedly pursuing movies he wanted to screen, often securing agreements with distributors by coordinating with programmers at other theatres across the country, setting up tours which would increase the exposure of movies which might otherwise have had trouble gaining traction. In those days, he was screening mostly 35mm prints, which involved shipping headaches. I recall us showing Chris Newby's exquisite Anchoress (1993); Cinematheque was the final booking in Canada for a print brought in from the States and the distributor asked Dave to hold onto it in case any further bookings came up. A couple of decades later, the print was still there despite Dave's repeated efforts to send it back after the original distributor disappeared. It may still be tucked away somewhere on the Film Group premises.
During that period, I spent a great deal of time at the Cinematheque. It was one of my tasks to schedule and oversee volunteers for the box office and concession, and I would stick around many evenings, helping to sell tickets and popcorn, hanging out with the projectionists and watching movies from the booth. For several years, I virtually lived and breathed movies and I doubt that would have happened if not for my friendship with Dave. Even after I left the Film Group, I would frequently drop in to see him. And after the move to the basement, when Dave was more exposed by the open-plan office, I would call him out for a coffee and a chat.
Because of our shared experience those conversations mostly revolved around movies, the changing climate of distribution and exhibition, the radical shift away from physical prints to digital projection. And with the ebb and flow of organizational politics, more and more Dave spoke about job stress, the unpleasant diversion of his energies from what he loved to do to the pressures increasingly being put on him to make money rather than provide an alternate service to the city's mainstream theatres. With shifts in audience behaviour, Cinematheque went through some pretty difficult years, but Dave refused to give in – despite budget cuts, he maintained his seven-day-a-week schedule, working as hard as ever, harder in fact, to keep providing a service he considered vitally important even if audiences sometimes seemed to disagree. That challenge was amplified over the past year-and-a-half with Covid and the complications of switching to on-line programming, but Dave continued to rise to the occasion and keep Cinematheque afloat and viable.
It was Dave's commitment and unflagging efforts which enabled the Cinematheque to weather these storms and survive, though this all took its toll. Dave had long had health concerns, and his perpetual desire to avoid wasting energy on fighting against the pressures imposed on him, caused him to internalize so much of the stress. He worked for years to counteract the effects of all this by modifying his diet and exercising (he took to walking to work often), but holding back the forces which seemed perpetually to threaten his beloved Cinematheque wore him down. As much of a shock as his sudden decline has been, in retrospect it doesn't seem surprising. Dave was the power source of the Cinematheque for four decades, fuelling this insatiable institution with his own energy; he gave selflessly and it took everything he had to give. He wouldn't have had it any other way and it remains now as a testament to his passion, to the love of his life – the movies.
4 thoughts on "Farewell to a good friend: Dave Barber"
David Zellis says:
That is wonderfully said, thank you for sharing.
Kenneth George Godwin says:
Thanks David
Anita Lebeau says:
This is a beautiful tribute, George. Thanks so much for sharing your story.
Thanks, Anita … Dave touched an awful lot of lives and it helps to hear others' stories.
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As four members in Russian-police uniforms charged the field during the final, Pussy Riot became the only people to make a meaningful statement about Russian politics during the World Cup.Photograph by Daniel Malmberg / Getty
World Cup 2018: The Moral Clarity of Pussy Riot's Protest
By Masha Gessen
On Sunday, in the fifty-second minute of the final game of the World Cup, four women dressed in Russian-police uniforms charged the field, briefly disrupting the match. They were members of the Russian protest-art group Pussy Riot.
Pussy Riot is often misidentified as a punk group, which is, in fact, only one of its many guises. The group, which was founded in 2011, is an open-membership collective that stages actions, documents them on video, and provides textual statements intended as clear and accessible explanations of their intentions and demands. The group's best-known action was what it called a "punk prayer," in which a group of women attempted to sing a political prayer of their own making inside the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, in Moscow, in the leadup to Russia's 2012 Presidential election. The performance was meant to protest the country's symbiosis of church and state. As a result, two of the group's founding members served twenty-two months in prison.
Pussy Riot released a statement, on Twitter, that claimed responsibility for the World Cup action. It also cited the Russian poet, artist, and performer Dmitri Aleksandrovich Prigov. Tomorrow will mark eleven years since his death. One of Prigov's iconic creations, present in his poetry and performances, was the image of an ideal policeman, a just and ultimate authority that Pussy Riot's statement dubbed the Heavenly Policeman. In contrast to the Heavenly Policeman, the statement suggested, stands the earthly policeman. "The Heavenly Policeman will protect a baby in her sleep, while the earthly policeman persecutes political prisoners and jails people for sharing and liking posts on social media." (I am providing my own translation from the Russian original.)
More coverage of the 2018 World Cup from The New Yorker.
The message is not intended to be subtle. In Putin's Russia, dozens of people are behind bars for political crimes—which do in fact include social-media behavior such as "liking" and "sharing." Unlike the 2014 Olympics, in Sochi, where Pussy Riot also protested, the World Cup has occasioned little criticism or reflection by Western politicians or media. It has proceeded undisturbed, as though a Heavenly Policeman were guarding its dreamlike state. For Russians, whose cities have filled with crowds of foreign soccer fans over the past few weeks, it has also provided a vision of a different life, one of a country integrated into a big and friendly world. "The World Cup has reminded us of the possibility of a Heavenly Policeman in a wonderful Russia of the future," the Pussy Riot statement said. "But the earthly policeman, who intervenes in the game every day and knows no rules, is destroying our world."
The four women, by taking the field, demonstrated exactly how that happens: the beautiful world of sport has its bubble punctured by people running and flailing haphazardly, intent on destruction. The group's statement concluded with a list of demands:
1. Free all political prisoners.
2. Stop jailing people for social-media "likes."
3. Stop illegal arrests at protests.
4. Allow political competition.
5. Stop fabricating criminal cases and putting people in jail for no reason.
6. Turn the earthly policeman into a Heavenly Policeman.
And so Pussy Riot became the only people to make a meaningful statement about Russian politics during the World Cup—and it came on the eve of Vladimir Putin's triumphant meeting with Donald Trump. They also created, on one of the biggest stages in the world, an image of unjust and arbitrary authority, the sort with which a hundred and forty-five million Russians live day to day.
Masha Gessen became a staff writer at The New Yorker in 2017. Their latest book is "Surviving Autocracy."
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Seems like you've built in more than a little derisive prejudgement in your wording of Possibility #1, as if that line of interpretation were more arbitrary or "voluntarist" than the others (i.e. "take your pick"). To me, the other possibilities of interpretation are at least as arbitrary, if not more so, with those who possess state power appealing to some stagist model of history so as to defer realization of communist ideals to some point in a distant future.
That said, I welcome the general thrust of your post: the reminder that there are a plurality of Marxisms, each one emerging from particular, unevenly developed historical circumstances.
Thanks, I am trying to present different modes of interpretation from different contexts. Obviously, I am not enamoured with betrayal or 'Fall' narratives. Apart from the need to debunk any socialism in power, it also betrays the deep influence of Christian motifs in European thought.
I think it would be pretty astonishing if there were no betrayals in the long history of the international communist movement, but those individuals or countries who betray can get back on track.
I don't think the Soviet Union was blameless, but I tend to side with them in the Sino-Soviet split that persisted through the 60's and 70's. I think China's rapprochement and collaboration with the American imperialists during this time was an awful betrayal. I think the Chinese got a wake-up call in 1989 when their American partners pulled their Tiananmen Square stunt. Once the Americans used the aid of the Chinese to help bring down the USSR and eastern Europe, they turned on their Chinese collaborators. I thought China learned its lesson, but now I see signs that China is willing to betray their socialist North Korean ally.
Part of the problem I have is that, in the US at least, China is perceived as being a capitalist country. For years I have told typical right-wing Americans that billionaires aren't socialist and can't be socialist. You see, there is a pervasive far right conspiracy theory here where they have flipped the script and turned reality upside-down by characterizing billionaire "globalists" as part of a "New World Order" who conspire to use the United Nations, the EU and globalist policies to create a one-world government that is basically described or understood as communist. Millions of Americans, and Western Europeans, really believe that Obama and Hillary are Marxist revolutionaries and that Trump has now come to save the day. It's insanity, but it hurts when I try to make a case for China being socialist, and lo and behold it has billionaires, engages in capitalism and votes for sanctions on the DPRK in the UN security council.
I understand that China has to engage in realpolitik and open up its economy to further its development, but if it wants to be perceived as socialist, it also has to be concerned with its international image before millions of Western leftists who perceive (incorrectly, I suppose) that it is entirely capitalist. This breeds lots of cynicism and hopelessness. It would be nice if China could assume the mantle of leadership of the international socialist movement.
As for me, I've been duped before. I'm not interested in getting duped again. I don't want to be one of those "Western Marxists," but it seems like there is lots of room for improvement in China.
Agreed. I was talking with Chinese socialists and all of the problems there. But we agreed that it was far better to have had a socialist revolution and all of the problems associated with constructing socialism than none at all.
Yes, I absolutely agree with that statement. No question about it.
There's also the point that according to Althusser, the young Marx "betrayed' the older, wiser Marx. Or rather, later marxists betrayed the elder by having recourse to the younger (i.e., the Hegelian Marx).
Yes indeed: Marx betrays himself in all directions.
6. State capitalism in theory and State capitalism in practice.


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Happy Birthday Vicky Kaushal: Diet Tips To Bulk Up Like The Udham Singh Star
NDTV Food | Updated: May 16, 2019 15:03 IST
Udham Singh actor Vicky Kaushal turns 31 today
Vicky Kaushal gained 15 Kgs for his role in Uri: The Surgical Strike
Vicky Kaushal ate six meals per day to bulk up in a short period of time
Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal has delivered one hit film after another and has established himself among the top crop in the industry. Kaushal, who is celebrating his 31st birthday today, has been basking in the resounding success of the film Uri: The Surgical Strike. His performances have received critical acclaim as well as the love of mainstream Bollywood audiences. His soul-touching acts in Masaan and Raazi speak volumes about his excellent skills and he has demonstrated that he has surprising range with his roles in Manmarziyan, Love Per Square Foot and Lust Stories. Now the actor is readying to delight everyone with two more much-awaited projects- Takht and Udham Singh. While the former is a multi-starrer from Karan Johar, the latter is a biopic being directed by Shoojit Sircar.
Vicky Kaushal has impressed everyone, not just with his acting chops, but also with his rugged good looks and his lumberjack image. The lean Kaushal had famously gained 15 kg for his role in Uri and played the role of a beefy soldier with panache. Needless to say, Kaushal followed a strict diet and fitness routine to bulk up in a small period of time. The actor is a foodie, but for this role, he followed a tough diet that would break the rest of us.
Also Read: Flight Attendants Bake Cake For Vicky Kaushal To Celebrate UriSuccess (See Pic)
A post shared by Vicky Kaushal (@vickykaushal09) on May 13, 2019 at 8:09pm PDT
Vicky Kaushal Diet Regime
If you want to bulk up like Vicky Kaushal did, here are a few tips from his own diet regime:
1. Multiple Meals: Kaushal revealed in his interview with Mid Day that he ate six meals in the day and woke up at 5 am to eat the first meal. Eating often is important for keeping your metabolism up, so that you're able to workout better and burn calories more effectively.
2. Protein and Carbs: It's important for people who want to bulk up, to eat enough protein and carbohydrates in their diet. Vicky Kaushal revealed that he ate proteins from fish, chicken and mutton, and relied on brown rice and oats for his load of carbs.
Also Read: Sunny Leone: The Diet And Fitness Regime That Helps The 38-Year-Old Stay In Shape
A post shared by Vicky Kaushal (@vickykaushal09) on Jan 6, 2019 at 8:29pm PST
3. Fluids: Kaushal revealed that since he was consuming so much meat, he had to consume enough fluids in the form of juices and smoothies to keep his system cool. Vegetables are also important in this diet to keep your body hydrated.
The key to gaining muscle mass as effectively as Vicky did is discipline. You cannot cheat and have to follow your routine religiously. It is also important to consult an expert and stick to your diet as much as possible. Well, we wish Vicky Kaushal a very happy birthday and wish he continues to enthrall us with stellar performances.
(This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.)
Tags: Vicky KaushalDiet RegimeDiet And Fitness
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Experience Editors in Chief
Snell's work is honored
Nomination for innovation
Rattana Kim|February 6, 2014
Cathie Lawrence
Math professor Myra Snell teaches her Math 27; Algebra for Statistics class. Photo by Cathie Lawrence.
Los Medanos College's Mathematics Professor Myra Snell is one of twenty-four finalists nationwide for the Awards of Excellence, which is sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).
The AACC recognizes innovation and promising practices of two-year community colleges nationwide.
There are six different categories of recognition, which include Emerging Leadership, Student Success, Faculty Innovation, Outstanding College/Corporate Partnership, Advancing Diversity, and Exemplary CEO/Board.
Faculty Innovation is a new category for the awards. One winner from each category will be announced April 7 in Washington D.C. during the 94th Annual AACC Convention.
Snell is one of the four nominees for Faculty Innovation and is the only nominee from a California community college.
"It's a great honor to be nominated," Snell said. "I'm thankful to be at a college where innovation can be disruptive. That can only happen with a supportive administration."
According to Snell, she had what she calls a "stu-piphany," which led her to create the LMC program called Path2Stats.
Path2Stats is a one-semester course that prepares students for statistics and is an alternative to the traditional remedial algebra sequence, which often takes three to four semesters.
According to a brief write-up of her nomination, Snell came up with the course in 2009 in response to statistics which show that out of nearly 144,000 California community college students enrolled in remedial math to become eligible for college, only 18 percent completed a college-level math course within three years.
Those in the lowest remedial levels were just about six percent and that included a disproportionate number of Black and Latino students.
LMC students that have taken Path2Stats have shown the completion of transferable math at levels three times higher than students following the traditional curriculum.
Snell believes that there is a poor alignment of traditional algebra courses with the study of statistics. Path2Stats is not only designed for students that struggle with math but also for those who are not math intensive majors.
LMC President Bob Kratochvil praised Snell for her innovative work.
"Her work has had extremely powerful, positive results in student completion of transferable math and streamlined learning," Kratochvil said. "Myra is a shining example of the innovation and hard work that all our faculty and staff do in support of our students. It is extremely gratifying for LMC to be recognized among the leaders of innovation in the country."
Beyond LMC, Snell co-founded the California Acceleration Project with Katie Hern, who is an English instructor at Chabot College.
In addition, Snell has given workshops and conference presentations to faculty and leaders from more than 100 of the state's 112 colleges and has provided extended coaching to math faculty from 21 colleges to offer their own version of an accelerated math pathway.
Both her work with LMC and the California Acceleration Project has helped increase success rates at twenty other community colleges within the state.
Co-founder Katie Hern feels "ecstatic" about Snell's nomination.
"She is a trailblazer in mathematics education, an amazing teacher and an inspiring leader to other faculty."
Hern collaborated with LMC President Bob Kratochvil in nominating Snell for the award. Hern said she saw an email about the AACC Awards of Excellence and as soon as she saw the criteria, she thought, "This is Myra. No one deserves this award more than Myra."
From there, Hern contacted President Kratochvil and both worked together to nominate Snell for the award.
Snell's nomination came to a surprise to her. She was not aware of the nomination until late in the process when she was asked for a photograph.
As of right now, President Kratochvil and his office is making arrangement to facilitate Snell's attendance at the AACC dinner, which will be a black and white gala dinner. Both President Kratochvil and Snell will be attending the convention and the dinner.
"It will be an honor to be in attendance with Myra as she is acknowledged for her teaching innovation and efforts to improve students,'" said President Kratochvil.
Rattana Kim, Writer
Rattana Kim, 19, is in her third semester of journalism at Los Medanos College, and it will be her second spent as features editor for The Experience....
Cathie Lawrence, Sports Photographer/ Staff Writer
I'm very excited to be working on the staff of the Experience. I continue to enjoy my position as a Sports Photographer and Staff Writer...
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Kelsey Mann joined Pixar in recent years, working on the studio's 2013 hit Monsters University. He was appointed Story Supervisor on the film, quite a feat for his first official gig at Pixar. Then he was handed the responsibility of directing Party Central, a Monsters University short that is playing in theaters now with Muppets Most Wanted. I had the chance to speak with him about the short – read what I learned from him about the short and the studio after the break!


It fully considers the imperfection of sensors, which means that sensors do provide false positive and false negative signals, and proposes a two-stage model by combining a facility location model with Bayesian Networks to (1) identify optimal sensors locations, and (2) infer the probability of the occurrence of a contamination event and the possible contamination source based on sensor signals, the probability of a contamination event being detected by the sensors given that there is a contamination event, and the probability of detecting a contamination event given that there is actually no such an event (overall false positive rate). This two-stage model can also be used to construct the trade-offs between the number of sensors and the power (the false negative and false positive rates) of individual sensors while guaranteeing the performance (the probability of detecting random contamination events) of the sensor network system (all the sensors). The method can be generalized to address similar problems in deploying sensors in harsh environments.


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Published: Thu 5 Jan 2023, 11:11 AM
Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy.
Guest line-up announced for first Late Late Show of 2023
Crime journalist Nicola Tallant, former Love Island winner Greg O'Shea, and the leaders of the new series of Operation Transformation will be among the guests on the first Late Late Show of 2023 tomorrow (Friday).
Choreographer and Dancing with the Stars judge Julian Benson will also be on the show to talk about finally buying a house where Cystic Fibrosis patients and their families can stay while they are receiving treatment in hospital.
The house was purchased with monies raised through the Julian Benson CF Foundation and money that was raised on The Late Late Show. Before opening the doors to this house, Julian has a big project ahead of him to renovate the house, and he will appeal to the public on the night for their support.
Olympian and winner of Love Island 2019 Greg O'Shea will join host Ryan Tubridy on the couch to chat about rising to fame, retiring from rugby, and the impact the last three years have taken on his mental health.
Operation Transformation returned to our screens earlier this week, and the Late Late Show will welcome this year's leaders Marie Clear, Andrea Daly, Lorraine Dempsey, Stephanie Bowden and Thomas Hynes as they embark on a health and wellness plan to kick-start a new chapter in their lives.
With the Regency Hotel murder trial resuming next week, Nicola Tallant of The Sunday World will join Ryan to discuss how the Kinahan gang rose to become one of the biggest crime cartels in the world and how they found themselves in the crosshairs of the US authorities.
To mark Nollaig Na mBan, there will be a very special performance by some of Ireland's best female singers and musicians including Niamh Farrell (Ham Sandwich), Pamela Connolly (Pillow Queens), Krea (Wyvern Lingo), Faye O'Rourke (Soda Blonde), Saibh Skelly and Susan O'Neill.
They will perform Sinead O'Connor's hit Mandinka with the Theodora Byrne choir and an all-female band.
And in the spirit of Nollaig na mBan, Toshín Bankole will perform a special version of the classic Respect.
* The Late Late Show airs on RTÉ One this Friday, January 6, at 9.35pm.