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How did the catholic church respond to the protestant reformation
What was the church's response to the Protestant Reformation?
During the Protestant Reformation , many concerned Catholics worked to revive the spiritual nature of the Church , reform the abuses of the clergy, and counter the growth of Protestantism . Paul III, pope from 1534-1549, realized the need for reform and renewal in his Church .
What are three ways the Catholic Church responded to the Protestant Reformation?
How did the Catholic Church respond to the Protestant Reformation Ended indulgences. Improved training of priests. Code of conduct for clergy. Stated only the pope/ church should interpret the bible-services in Latin.
How did the Catholic Church try to fight the spread of Protestant ideas?
The Catholics tried to fight the spread of Protestant ideas by becoming missionaries and traveling to teach people the Catholic beliefs. The Catholic Church had more influence in Southern Europe because In the north the churches were all protestant Churches .
How did the Roman Catholic Church respond to the spread of Protestantism quizlet?
How did the Roman Catholic Church respond to the spread of Protestantism ? It attempted to reform itself by correcting bad practices and clarifying its teachings.
What were the problems with the Catholic Church during the Reformation?
There were reports that priests, monks and nuns did not behave as well as they should. Some felt that the Catholic Church was more interested in money and power than in saving souls. For example, the church sold 'indulgences' for those who had committed sins.
Why did Protestants break away from the Catholic Church?
The Reformation began in 1517 when a German monk called Martin Luther protested about the Catholic Church . His followers became known as Protestants . Many people and governments adopted the new Protestant ideas, while others remained faithful to the Catholic Church . This led to a split in the Church .
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How did the Catholic Church respond to the 95 theses?
How did the Catholic Church initially react to Luther's 95 Theses ? The Catholic Church responded by generating its own Reformation and Pope Pius IV appointed leaders to reform the church and he established the Jesuits (leader Ignatius of Loyola who founded the order of Jesuits a group of priests).
What else did the Catholic Church do to stop the spread of Protestantism quizlet?
The Catholic Church used the Jesuits to stop the spread of Protestantism . The Jesuits would establish missions, school, and universities to help combat the spread of Protestantism . They created schools that could better educate priests.
What were the major causes of the Protestant Reformation?
Causes of Reformation . The start of the 16th century, many events led to the Protestant reformation . Clergy abuse caused people to begin criticizing the Catholic Church. The greed and scandalous lives of the clergy had created a split between them and the peasants.
What was one of Luther's complaints about the Catholic Church?
Luther had a problem with the fact the Catholic Church of his day was essentially selling indulgences — indeed, according to Professor MacCulloch, they helped pay for the rebuilding of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Later, Luther appears to have dropped his belief in Purgatory altogether.
Who broke with the Roman Catholic Church?
Henry VIII's
How did the Roman Catholic Church react to the loss of followers to Protestant movements?
The Roman Catholic Church reacted to the loss of followers to Protestant movements by: It attempted to stop some of the worst abuses of the Catholic Church . The Roman Catholic Church reacted to the loss of followers to Protestant movements by: It attempted to stop some of the worst abuses of the Catholic Church .
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Why did the Catholic Church start the Inquisition?
The Inquisition , in historical ecclesiastical terminology also referred to as the "Holy Inquisition ", was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy. The Inquisition started in 12th-century France to combat religious dissent, particularly among the Cathars and the Waldensians.
Who were the Jesuits and what did they do?
In Rome, the Society of Jesus —a Roman Catholic missionary organization—receives its charter from Pope Paul III. The Jesuit order played an important role in the Counter-Reformation and eventually succeeded in converting millions around the world to Catholicism.
What improvements did Pope Paul III make in the Catholic Church?
He encouraged many new religious communities and gave papal approbation of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1540 and of the Ursulines in 1544. Paul's greatest encouragement to the Catholic reform was the opening of an ecumenical council which he tried to inaugurate as early as 1537 at Mantua.
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Is catholic and christian the same
Are Christian and Catholic Bibles the same? Differences from other Christian Bibles Bibles used by Catholics differ in the number and order of books from those typically found in bibles used by Protestants, as Catholic bibles remained unchanged following the Reformation and so retain seven books that were rejected principally by Martin Luther. Can you […]
Can a catholic marry a divorced non catholic
Can a Catholic marry a divorcee? The Catholic Church treats all consummated sacramental marriages as permanent during the life of the spouses, and therefore does not allow remarriage after a divorce if the other spouse still lives and the marriage has not been annulled. Can a Catholic marry a non Catholic? Catholics are forbidden to […]


Mutual recognition of one or more Methods of Payment (MOPs) between different transport operators can enable the payment of tolls, public transport services, Electric Vehicle (EV) charge points, public cycle hire schemes and many other transport-related value added services. This flexibility is very attractive to travellers but requires a common – standardised – payment system and/or interoperability between different payment systems.
Interoperability aims to ensure consistency in the way that data is stored accessed and transferred between different MOPs and between the transport operators and payment service providers. It also enables a road user or public transport passenger to have confidence that his or her MOP will be accepted on a variety of transport modes.
Interoperability means that a MOP may be used without reconfiguration or modification to enable a road user or public transport passenger to pay for tolls, parking and public transport. Interoperability can be further developed to enable the payment of road user charges, Electric Vehicle (EV) charge points, public cycle hire schemes and many other transport-related value added services.
Technical standards for EPS technology cover data exchange as well as equipment and communications. Standards aim to ensure consistency in the way that data is stored, accessed and transferred between a MOP and a reader, and between transport operators and payment service providers. Although standards are necessary, they are not always sufficient since a standard may have many options that may be selected and so some additional specifications sometimes known as 'profiles', may be needed.
Standards have been developed for tags used for tolling, such as Title 21 (generally California only), ISO-18000-6C and European Norm EN15509: 2007 (European Union) To confirm technical compliance, a MOP and the readers would commonly be subject to conformance test procedures, also defined by standards.
The world's largest, multiple agency ETC scheme is E-ZPass that depends on a common proprietary single-source RFID tag (used as a MOP) supported by procedural and business level agreements amongst all participating operators known as the InterAgency Group, IAG. (See E-ZPass Group: Operating Agreement and Reciprocity Agreement (http://www.e-zpassiag.com).
For public transport, the most common standards are for smart cards – EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) and MIFARE (a proprietary technology) for hybrid (contact/wireless) and wireless cards respectively. The Near Field Communication (NFC) standards embedded in cards and mobile phones are also used for MOPs, most commonly for public transport.
Certification processes can help ensure that equipment is safe and fit for purpose; open procurement processes are a means of stimulating competition.
Interoperability enables a single MOP to be accepted within and across modes. Adopting this policy can reduce procurement risk of MOPs by transport service providers sharing a common specification and can increase user choice amongst multiple competing MOP providers. If a single provider's electronic tolling tag is usable at multiple locations then this would be de facto interoperability, but procurement risk depends on the delivery performance of one provider and there may be limited consumer choice of MOP variants.
In general, institutional barriers may slow down or prevent agreement on interoperability and therefore the most successful schemes are those that have addressed these. Efforts to ensure interoperability for Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) have not included procedures and evidential requirements for cross-border enforcement (for example the EETS definition does not include this).
Other challenges exist in establishing new services with incompatible competing standards such as physical interfaces for Electric Vehicle charging and transaction reports generated by GNSS OBUs to report road usage.
Overall, despite the many benefits to users of interoperability described here, the benefits to an operator may be limited, or there may be a net cost to the operators that could make it difficult to implement interoperability or prevent it happening at all.


A lovely two bedroom cottage house located on a popular residential street in East Greenwich.
Spread over two floors, the ground floor comprises a kitchen with ample counter space and large reception room leading into a dining room. Additionally, two bedrooms and a 3-piece bathroom are on the first floor. The property benefits from a large private garden.
Colomb Street is enviably located only 0.3 miles from Maze Hill station, offering regular services to London Cannon Street via London Bridge. Local bus routes into maritime Greenwich for Cutty Sark and DLR, Blackheath, or North Greenwich for the Jubilee Line are also frequent.
Royal Greenwich park is only 0.6 miles away, offering ample green space and a beautiful view from the Royal Observatory. Local amenities, shops, pubs, and restaurants are all close by.
"Beautiful 2 bedroom cottage with large garden and excellent transport links."


Have you ever wished you were an Oscar Mayer Wiener? If that is what you truly wish to be, then now's your chance. They have a ton of events this weekend. Each one is a fun opportunity for people to come out and get a tour of the inside of the Wienermobile, play games, and receive an iconic Wiener Whistle.
The Wienermobile is riding into Casa Grande on Thursday and will be in Tucson on Friday and throughout the weekend.


Inspired by the great song from Blind Guardian. A clown with lute on his shoulder. He is going to sing the lyrics.
i used the santa outfit for this and put a sinx scarf and a big flower on her head.
Kobashi from Pitaten. Inspired by the Anime series. Create with nekomimi ears ,small twin ribbons and fermal gm sprite.
Gildmate who ask me to make him an avatar. This Idea comes into my mind. Because he was really looking forward to High Wizzard.
A sprite edit for a Signature Request.
A very simple edit ,but i like it looks funny.a wizard who stole the big golden bell from Moonlight Flower.
I animate the bell moving.
Asmaria a guildmate ask me to make her a Sprite edit.
She wants a male and fermale Highpriest who hugs each other.
But it looks a bit strange to me , then a make i it he lay his arm around her.I think this light blue robe from fermale high priest suit there very well.
maybe there could be something done with the kneeling male HP-sprite, or you just move the male one a lot more behind the female.
" Helm of Evil Wing" and " Violet Potion"
I was bored ,sort my collection and this Idea comes into my mind.
I allready post it few days before here on Rocards. I admire Chinos Style to make such beautiful Bigsprites. Than try my best and make a sprite with this Style but i cant make it looks like her ^^.
i cant see any pic T__T whats wrong?
The Idea for this edit i have some days ago. When i heard the new song from Subway to sally- Eisblumen ( Iceflowers) first.
But its hard to find a snowflake brush or usefull flower for a signature.
I allready post it on rocards but i corect the outlines a bit ,there smaller now and it looks a bit better than before.
A friend of me ask me make him a pink and cute-gaylike sig.
i made a bigsprite from.
Ist eine Art wasserzeichen ,um bilderdiebe schnell aufzuspüren dies bei sich verwenden.
My priestes with a new version of Bunny Band an cute heart on her right soc.
i'm not sure, but if that behind her bum is a bunny-tail, then it dosen't match the ears.
i like it except i think the outlines of the ears shouldnt be black but gray or something.
Our GuildBard, he would see his chara surfin on a wave.
And he means this fits pefect to to him.
It seems my guild members love my edits Stahlhand ask me to make him a Avatar too.
Iam have such a great mooth at this days.. spring ,sun and high tempratures makes me smilie.
he sure does look evil with his finger and his cute teddy sitting in the cart.
hmm just wondering where the background is from..snes or rpgmaker?
Ist eine recht spontane sache gewessen.Liebe allgemein die mythen und geheimnisse um den Mond und seine bedeutung für die menschen.
Wow. This is really a neat sprite!
I can see this sprite being a monster or something and one of the bosses too.
Erm... the goat.... is crying??!!
wwwooooowwwwwwww i love it :D may i use it on my server?
The woman really is very beautiful.
my new work , its my new ava ...i use the turtle shell from medusa und the Halo from lude.And the animation from Cute Pet Sohee.
O.O those wings are great.
i use that idea of "good and bad" for a few of my characters too^^ but i chose green instead of blue.
exprimental : dancer sprite mix with valkyrie wings and staff.
I made a Sigature from it.
Yeah, he had a genius Hairstyle but it looks good.
Hmm ich kann halt kein englisch also Deutsch.


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Tony Watt [Interview]
June 30, 2014 by rontrembathiii Leave a comment
Sometimes, it is great to be weird. Sometimes it is so much fun to be strange. But to be weird and strange, that is when shit just gets beautifully complicated. One of the most wonderful things about the world of film is that it can be a forum for truly talented people to celebrate the weird and the strange. And I can think of very few filmmakers who have managed to showcase how delightful the deranged and demented can look on film than legendary indie filmmaker Tony Watt.
Tony Watt is a guy who has made some films that would make Lloyd Kaufman seem like Stanley Kaufman, or John Waters seem like Steven Speilberg making another movie with Tom Hanks as yet another lovable asshole. Watt's filmography is littered with nothing less than some of the most creative and bizarre scenarios that will leave you wondering: Is there something wrong with me for really loving this sick shit? The answer is no. Celebrate the weird! Celebrate the strange! And on that note, I am very happy that we got to ask a few questions from this amazing multi-media mastermind. Ladies and Gentlemen…..Tony Watt!
So much of your work is build around an obvious love for all things bizarre. Frankenpimp and Acid Head: The Buzzard Nuts County Slaughter alone sound incredibly strange and awesome just by the title. Tell us if you would be willing to answer a simple but maybe complex question…..How do you come up with this shit?
-Before the Internet— I wanted to become a rock star, or a cartoonist…. I thought that the miracle of Film-making came like magic, to an elite, lucky few in Hollywood, U.S.A. ,from God's personal blessing (When film equipment, analog film-editing & analog sfx, was more expensive; pre-YouTube days…) I covered all this ephemera, in my book Kount Kracula's Twisted Sinema,available on Amazon, BarnesAndNoble.com..and the finer e-book stores, near you (*Smiles*).
…As movie influences; my mom & Raymond, my Dad; used to throw laundry on top of me and my younger my brother, in the back seat of their car & sneak us into the Jamaican 'Harbour View' Movie Drive-In, to see a Mainstream & sometimes Exploitation movies. I remember them gently pushing my & my brother's head down & telling us to go to sleep, whenever a titty scene came on).
In the late-70s & '80s on theToronto-based, Elwy Yost hosted the Magic Shadows public television, movie showcase series [ I viewed such cinematic ephemera, like Mighty Joe Young, 'Animal Farm & Buster Crabbe's 'Flash Gordon..etc..] and regular American tv shows [Like Adam West's Batman, Redd Foxx's Sanford & Son, Gabe Kaplan's Welcome Back, Kotter', Starsky & Hurch, What's Happenin', Diff'rent Strokes, The Dukes of Hazard, Elizabeth Montgomery's Bewitched & Lee Major's Six Million Dollar Man… Britain's Red Dwarf and the Monty Python series…etc..], as well as the WUTV Buffalo U.S.A.-based (and Canadian seen) Creature Feature and Sci-Fi Theater' afternoon Showings of Japan's Mothra, Godzilla and Gamera-type movies.
Thankfully, in the early 2000's when I was just starting out in film; I was able to transfer my expensive analog-based film-making footage efforts to the cheaper digital medium (and to also edit in that electronic medium (as analog film editing took way longer and infinitely more expensive). I think my film-making is an amalgamation of my self-taught, self interest 'sequential arts' studies.
What is it about the bizarro category that intrigues you?
-As a kid-to- teenager in the 70s & 80s ( when an average kid's meager disposable cash was only able to go so far, towards, say 45 vinyl records..candy & comic-books ), I had a $1.50-$2.50 weekly allowance.Thankfully I wasn't interested in video games.
And with such a meager allowance; personally going to movies, in the local mall-theaters, was a rarity. So I really wanted to focus become an animator, or cartoonist… moviemaking thoughts were a million miles away…though I fancied acting very much…even took courses….anyhow, lost the plot..where was I..oh, drawing became my main hobby.
I only needed a pencil and clean paper, to be a happy boy….. But, my art skills then, were OK for impressing my friends with sketchy porno & Hulk drawings…but, as far as being professional , I was far below par. And also, I had many artistic focuses, in music, acting, writing,,drawing… which pissed off my hard-working, blue-collar father to no end.
…But, I could afford comic-books…. kept drawing for years…. trying to create better form.. studying the art books and looking through various comics helped me find my own personal style…… I prowled flea-markets and got a lot of the classics, near classics and non-classics…. My early artistic entertainment mostly came from comic-book reading (mostly compiled from my mom's brother: Uncle Charlie who had a lot of Cracked Eerie & Mad magazines, as well as DC, Charlton & Marvel Comics…My mom's sister Aunt Jill, had a lot of Harvey , Disney & Archie stuff) & I dug reading Sunday Paper Funnies (a lot of it [the Weekend Newspaper Color Comic Strips] were collected & compiled together and placed inside each other, like a huge ash-can comic, minus staples), gotten from my Grandma Gwendolyn[aka Precious], who over months, slipped them all into one honkingly huge comic-strip omnibus, and also , who I credit, as being very integral in fueling my artistic hunger (as well as being the real creator of the trade'graphic-novel') *Laughs*…
…The comic 70′s and 80′s color weekend strip pages were larger, and more colorful than today's—- & had many, many 'genres' in those days. …. not just the funny sitcom stuff.
In the late- 1970s, I had a buddy, in Brampton Ontario, Canada; named Stuart, who's older brother Collected Robert Crumb, Spain Rodriguez, & Gilbert Shelton…mostly '60s-70′s 'Underground' stoner comix…And my mom had her crazy Mickey Spillane & Harold Robbins books… Good times!
.. In school, I also loved reading biographies, Mark Twain, Dickens, Southern USA & West Indian folklore and Norse / Greek mythology books( as well as the epic tales from the King James' children's bible) ..so you see, before films: books, t.v. and comics where my main source of entertainment and storytelling influences) …. Even more so, when VCRs came in, in the 1980s…But, I'd say mostly comics…mainly Heavy Metal Magazine..I'd put on a cassette of Zeppelin, Queen , Pink Floyd, or Genesis, or whatever..and slip away.
..Later, as a teen; (in the mid-80s to Early '90s), before I dropped cartooning,& grew my hair long, to start rock bands, for chicks. I studied almost every major comic creator (even from old 50's E.C. & Gold Key Comics), from Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, Wally Wood, Steve Ditko, Carl Banks, Frank Miller, to Engand's 2000 A.D. Magazine's Alan Moore and Alan Davis, to Heavy Metal Magazine's Jean Giraud (aka Mœbius), Philippe Druillet, Richard Corben & Simon Bisley…. so, to answer your question about my intrigue, about the bizarro category…. I look at my film projects as living comic books… Something to take you out of this serious world for an hour and a half..or , in the case of my comic books : 20 minutes, to half hour,
…When I firmly decided to become a comic 'creator', back then (in the late-70s), as a kid; I first looked through a lot of related 'artist' books at the local library….Walt Disney, Frank Frazetta, Chester Gould, Al Capp, Walt Kelly, Milt Caniff, Alex Raymond & Burne Hogarth (etc.) stuff was the amongst first library books that I borrowed, based on art ( I was hooked on the sci-fi fantasy world within the worlds and works the artists created)…Their fine art, in the comic strip & book medium (Hogarth and Raymond's Tarzan & Flash Gordon), really took me to other worlds; that I saw in the movie theater (My mother took me to a lot of Johnny Weissmuller 'Tarzan' movies, in a velvet-curtained theater… which was awesome) in the early-mid 70s.
In turn, from these cartoonists' initial influences (as well as EC/DC/Marvel/Charlton & 60s-70s underground comix), inspiring my late 80s and '90's foray into creating T&A fantasy comics, for various Canadian 'gentlemen's' adult magazines..up to my own recent '10s indie graphic-novel output..like: Code Name: King, Bird of Steel and also my Space Chick & Nympho:Vampire Warrior Party Girl comix series (all upcoming , or available on Amazon, BarnesAndNoble .com and others of the finer e-book stores near you, Sir, don'cha know!?* laughs*).
I know you are probably sick of explaining this, but I have to ask…..Where does the nickname "Tex" derive from?
– I served in the U.S. AIR FORCE , in Fort Worth Texas, a while back…..and that….
…. So, when I came back to Canada, 'Tex' the nick-name stuck…It's a hell of a lot better than 'Toronto', I guess.
What was not so insane, but still strangely brilliant was your 2009 Documentary, Dobbie Dobson: An Interview with Jamaica's Music Ambassador. This seems like such a stretch from your normal works.
I believe folklore culture is important in all societies… even the mindless smut I create, takes a lot of personal research into getting a drift, on anything I'm writing about script wise, and that..
… A lot of the vintage West Indian 'music scene' is not documented, very well…Especially seeing from my research & interviews; how a mixture of African Culture and North American culture (both of which I grew up in), can make such a sweet gumbo, of the Jamaican music styles…and how (just like my art was partly influenced by Japanese monster B-movies, that wafted from an American tv station's airwaves into Canada) these talented West Indian artistes adapted the North American pop music sound, which wafted over from Miami, U.S.A.'s radio-wave signals, into their own various music sounds and stylings; like Jamaican doo-wop, reggae, ska, lover's rock,roots rock, rocksteady, toasting (early rap), dancehall and other such delights, Mahn…T-tt! ("Laughs*)
Dobby Dobson records were also a part of my family's vinyl collection..I especially remember digging the East Indian-looking lady, drinking milkshake with him, on his 'Sweet Dreams' album cover picture, when I was 6, or 7…. Very Talented man, that Dobby Dobson… He is a musical amabassador….. In concert he sings in all the Jamaican styles I mentioned, even gospel. (these days…..google, youtube, , I-tune, or Catch his stuff live, you can…… There's more than Marley, out there kids.. Yuh bet yuh Bumbo!!..Big Choons , Sah!..Chuss I-yah!… His site is at DobbyMusic.com! (*Laughs*)
So, how did your manage to hook up with the reggae legend to make this thing happen?
-Dobby & I met in the late 2000s, at one of his Toronto area concerts & he knew I was a filmmaker…
…. so, we chatted & I found out that he wanted his music in my movie (Vixen Highway 2006: It came from Uranus) & I also helped him with his 'rockumentary', that you mentioned. Also, by coincidence, my aunt, Dr.Mavis Burke, a Jamaican educator/author , taught Mr. Dobby, in Kingston College, when his was a youngster…. Life is stranger than fiction, man!
Check out the entire documentary, free at IMDB.com.
You have worked side by side with your partner, the wonderful Vivita for quite some time.
-We met on the internet …now, before you get the wrong idea we found each other in the filmmaker section of Meetup.com and she became my wife a few t.v. shows and movies later.
What do you believe it is about this relationship that works out so well professionally?
… I was a filmmaker.t.v. producer looking for a female editor, who could hopefully act ..and she was an actress who just took up editing, right…..
We hooked up to work professionally, and the… well, shit happened, y'know! Not exactly a text book romance though…I came on a bit heavy, on our first meet-up and she told me to agitate the gravel, eh.
So, later, after I was in a major car accident and she stalked…er… visited me… strangely ver-ry often., at the Toronto area St. Michaels Hospital… then love was in the air…..ah, the smell of hospital urine and formaldehyde, must've done it… and things grew from there….actually I grew from there…She'll kill me for saying this, but she once took me, on the hospital bed, behind the screen.. and when we were done..er..communicating… I was back in my sexy blue backless nightgown, literally a few seconds before hospital security showed up, behing my tented casbah— thank God! But, at least it got me released from the hospital, earlier! (*laughs*)
Is there some sort of spirited connection that gives you two the ability to create such great entertainment/art together?
Our mutual lust for glory…..and bread!
Another individual you "work" with is a little somebody named Sophia The Cat. Who exactly is Sophia The Cat?
-Sophia The Cat?… Sophia The Tabby….Sophia The Super-Bitch Diva?…She owns Vivita and I…We are her 'humans'…she let's us (and her little felin- friend, Dino) live with her.
She's our Pussy Queen.. When she was a kitten, last year…..we were filming a t.v. & online crowd-pledge fundraiser for, our upcoming Pam Grier-influenced ChickRevenge flick Violet Is Blue & Sophie hopped up on the synthesizer keyboards (with an old-time organ sound), which happened to be on at the time and walked across it (the video is on Youtube)..
We then used the tune in Nosferatu vs. Father Pipecock & Sister Funk (in the scene when the hero, Hutter wakes up & checks a second time to see if Count Orlock the shape-changing vampire is still alive, before he ran up to his room, being followed by the demonic, sexually ambiguous, homicidal bloodsucking aristocrat)…We also got the cats to act in the movie, as well.
Can you tell us a bit about your latest film Nosferatu vs. Father Pipecock & Sister Funk?
…I re-dubbed, reedited and added scenes to the original director: M F.W.urnau's classic, Nosferatu (1922) movie…… big fan of the original film
What exactly is this film about?
Well, according to Amazon.com , in Nosferatu Vs. Father Pipecock and Sister Funk (2014)' the 'Original 1922 star: Max Schreck plays (in newly tinted archive footage, mixed, with new) Count Orlock, a deviant, adulterous, shape-shifting Transylvanian vampire aristocrat & super creep, who is tearing Bremen, a new corn-hole & it's up to a 'brotha-in-a-collar' and a creole nun with a flamin' gun, to stop him, in this 'creature-feature' fang-fest! Co-Starring Canadian Scream Queen: Vivita, with new footage shot in tantalizing Watt-a-Rama & dubbed in Tex-O-Phonic Super-Sound; Nosferatu Vs. Father Pipecock and Sister Funk , kicks ass! '…. Basically I added naked tits & rumps…..and some colour sequences…Just like Murnau intended , but, was born 100 years too early…I also sexed up the Count and gave him a few lusty, nublile vamps for his wives…now, the old boy is pimpin' , necromancin' and getting some sweet tail!
What would you say is the biggest difference between Tony Watt in 2004, when compared to Tony Watt in 2014?
Older , fatter, & not as smart as I thought I was, as a youth… less starry-eyed …but, I feel more accomplished artistically, and also it so pleases me to be aesthetically satisfying my one, or two fans, out there… and that fact means more to me, than anything else.. other than my marriage to the lovely, infamous, uni-named Vivita, of course (she'll be reading this, so I'll be forced to mention that)…. and spending time with Dino & Sophia, the wonder-cats!…And sneaking out junk food, to nosh on!
…Thankfully I can hit the gym to loose the weight, though, when I get the notion…not really interested in getting smarter, or more starry-eyed ..just to get more commercial…and richer, these days; is my main focus, now that I've got a few people's attention…. I definitely smell better … shorter hair and more expensive suits…. just a more conservative a-hole, these days.
What is one project or idea you have yet to had the chance to tackle , that you hope to complete before you are worm food?
– I've pretty well done everything I wanted to do, artistically…..um….After I finish drawing/publishing Space Chick & Nympho: Vampire Warrior Party Girl Comix #2 and my & Vivita's 'Frankenpimp's Revenge', 'Violet is Blue' & 'Bird of Steel' movies (updates will be on my IMDb.com,or TonyWatt.com pages, by the way)..also, my wife intends to put me in pumps— and make me work the street-corners; to pay for cat-food….so, I guess shopping for a couple strong knee pads, work on my fluffer technique….and hopefully work on, or act in a Major Studio movie, with the help of Anik, my new agent.. Oh, and to complete a few more Kount Kracula t.v. show episodes with V. and 'Jazzy' Johnny Migliore..seen on www.Blackflag.tv, of course!
What else does the future hold for you? Any new projects you would like to pimp out right about now?
My three movies,: Frankenpimp's Revenge, Violet is Blue & Bird of Steel & also, my upcoming Space Chick & Nympho: Vampire Warrior Party Girl Comix #2 ..all on Amazon and finer e-stores, baby!
What kind of advice would you give to young filmmakers out there looking to break into the underground world of film?
-Quit!!…no, I'd say to you aspiring film-makers…."get rich..get popular, from my sage advice ..Then hire me as an actor and pay me millions of dollars, as a grateful homage.
AND…For God's sake…. DON'T FORGET my own fucking trailer, you pompous ass-holes!!!..and I need classy, big-boobed hookers, Sirs…and very cle-e-e-an!!!!!" …. Then my humble, kino-matic mission on this planet, is done.
What was the last thing that made you smile?
-That's very personal…How dare you, Sir!…… but, I'll tell you…whatever I did…it made my wife smile, also! (*winks & smiles*)
Filed under Interviews
Sadistik: Ultraviolet [Album]
June 28, 2014 by rontrembathiii 2 Comments
So, your favorite indie rocker's favorite rapper is back! Already! It doesn't seem that long ago that I was feeling amazed by 2013's Flowers For My Father. And honestly, the album hasn't really left my regularly scheduled playlists to date. But, the diligence and constant artistic efforts of Sadistik are impossible to ignore, especially when he releases such an amazing record as Ultraviolet almost directly (well, figuratively directly, anyway) after releasing one of the finest hip hop records I have ever heard.
Ultraviolet has so many high points, it's almost not fair to point them out individually. There are a few things missing from the record that I would have loved to see (appearances from Kristoff Kane, Bodi, Cas One, etc.) but I know the back story of this album, and I now that this album was oh-so-carefully constructed in the mind of Cody Foster a.k.a. Sadistik, that I easily set my own bullshit personal wishes aside, and enjoy the beautiful things about this amazing album. First of all, "In the Night" is by far the most brilliant piece of work I have heard from this fucking guy to date. I simply can not get enough of it. Second, we get to hear from Trainwreck'd Society's 2012 Person of the Year, Anna Lynne Williams, a.k.a. Lotte Kestner, once again on "Chemical Burns". Which, oh-so-incredibly, features the late wonderful artist Michael "Eyedea" Larsen, who is also no stranger to the TWS world, and more importantly one of the single greatest hip hop artist to have ever lived, and was taken from us far too quickly. Finally…. guest appearances from legends like Sticky Fingaz and Tech N9Ne on "Death Warrant"….are you fucking kidding me? Such brilliance! Throw a wonderful cameo with Yes Alexander, some return production from Kid Called Computer, and Sadistik continuing to spit his wonderful poetry just as well, if not better than, as he always does, and you may very well have one of the finest records of 2014. Easily the finest hip hop album of the year, but Sadistik's music extends beyond the idealism of any sort of genre. This is indeed hip hop, but more importantly, this is art.
You can stream Ultraviolet now at DJBooth.net. Official release date is July 1st, and you can pick up a copy for yourself right HERE.
Filed under Music
Fred LeBlanc [Interview]
June 26, 2014 by rontrembathiii 1 Comment
So, there has been this great band I have been listening to for as long as I can possibly remember. Actually, we just covered their latest release a few days ago. They are Cowboy Mouth, and they are amazing. In fact, one of the main reasons I even started this little website that has blossomed into something beautiful was to be able to ask a few questions with certain folks, one of them being the man behind the creation of Cowboy Mouth, the absolutely and incredibly talented Fred LeBlanc.
And now I have finally been able to wrangle up a few words from Master Fred. Mr. LeBlanc has been the drummer/front man of Cowboy Mouth since their inception, oh so many years ago. And in the 20+ years he has been rocking stages and stealing hearts, he has never seemed to miss a beat. Cowboy Mouth music is about as perfect as music can be. Fred & company great good time vibes through "hell yeah" beats that are reminiscent of the glory days of rock and roll past, but always seem fresh and original. And most of all, just damn brilliant. And we are so excited that we were able to ask a few questions from his greatest, the wonderful Fred LeBlanc. So, throw on your new copy of Go!, and check out this awesome interview from a modern day living legend. Enjoy!
How did you initially get started in making music?
Apparently, I was a pretty sick kid. Due to a birth defect my tonsils and adenoids were overgrown and blocked my hearing passages for the first three years of my life. And since my lungs were underdeveloped at birth (oh, the irony), the doctors were not able to correct my hearing issues until I was three years old.
Since I couldn't hear, I did not interact with the world too much. In an effort to draw me out of my shell, my parents would lay my head on the stereo speakers and crank classical or movie showtunes which was what they were listening to the time. The old family story is that I could actually sing before I could talk, belting out "Mary Poppins" at church when I saw other people singing.
All I know is that music has always been my first method of communication. It has always been easier for me to express emotions with music than with conversation. Which is nowhere near as fun as it sounds sometimes…
What were some of your early inspirations?
That's a pretty far ranging question, but I'll give it a shot; I've always loved classical music as well as the old dirty rock 'n roll of my youth. One of my first jobs was when I was 11 years old working in a used vinyl record store… Remember those? My job was to alphabetize and catalog approximately 250,000 vinyl albums and singles. Since there was a steady stream of records coming and going, my job that was pretty constant. So I would always pull out whatever looked interesting and play listen to it. Patsy Cline? I'll listen to it… Howling Wolf? Sounds interesting… And it all just grew from there.
Also, growing up Catholic, I was pretty tired of being told in what was supposed to be a spiritual setting that I was "original sinner" and that there was no hope for me, all the while being gouged for money and intimidated by supposedly well-meaning clergy. I intuitively realized that the church had nothing to do with spirituality and was more of a system of control. Pretty heady stuff to realize at the age of five, but I guess I was a little different than the average kid.
Anyway, there was a local television show that aired right before the Saturday morning cartoons in New Orleans where i grew up of a black Baptist church service that I loved to watch. I those church services, the tangibility of their expression of faith, and it's cleansing and purifying effect was very hypnotic to me. I saw that that was something that I wanted to do with, and for people. It seemed to me that the folks who got the crappy end of the stick (i.e. the African-American culture at the time) were able to experience a much more clear and cleansing sort of faith that seem to be focused on the soul and its uplifting, as opposed to something that beat down their parishioners in order to just keep them in line. I was really drawn to that on a very primal, emotional level.
In your own personal opinion, what is it about a Cowboy Mouth show that makes it special and unique?
This is something that even most of the people who have been in the band have never understood about it; Cowboy Mouth has never been about the people on stage, it's always been about the feeling in the audience. It's that simple. This band is a very real conduit for a vital sort of energy that exists in our shows – the sort of energy that people remember they have within when you ask them to give the very best of themselves in a completely secure and freeing situation. Using that as a foundation, there is no limit to where you can go.
How do you maintain the enthusiasm you are so well known for having during your live performances after so many years? What keeps you motivated?
Enthusiasm, plain and simple. A basic love and appreciation for what I have been blessed to be able to do for my entire adult life. The thing about energy that many people don't understand is that it all comes from the inside out – not the other way around. With that as your basis, you understand that energy and enthusiasm are actually limitless in supply and scope, so therefore they can be used to move huge groups of people to the point of finding that in themselves if you choose.
So much of today's world is specifically designed to make people feel "less than." That is the basis of how many products and services are marketed and sold, albeit very subtly. I'm not one to judge anybody just trying to make a buck, but I decided a long time ago that I wanted to be part of something that would uplift the human spirit as opposed to something that would break it down, no matter how seemingly insignificant my efforts might be. That was a personal decision I made for no one else but me. And it was also a specific, conscious decision I made in putting this band together all those years ago.
One of my all time favorite Cowboy Mouth songs, and one of my favorite songs in general, is "How Do You Tell Someone" from 1994's It Means Escape. And with that in mind, I have waited 20 years to finally get to ask you…. Is this a very personal song? And what made you want to create such a light hearted gem of a song with such a dark context?
My entire song catalog is pretty much a diary of my life. Some of it is very obvious and outfront while other songs can be obscure or abstract – which may be related to aesthetic/creative decisions or personal ones, depending on the song. You do what you feel is right in the moment to get across the idea and/or emotion that you're trying to convey. Sometimes you can convey a certain feeling by not being as direct which can involve the listener in a communal experience of a similar journey more than the specific retelling of a certain history. You can actually relate the emotion to the listener by having them relate it to their own experience as opposed to your own. Get it?
"How Do You Tell Someone" is an actual, direct, and true story. The names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent. Also, the real story was a good bit darker. The original song was played at a much slower pace in the key of F, which is a much more somber tone. When I started playing it with the band – since I'm a drummer who likes to play fast and the key of G (which is a much more happier sounding chord) is easier to play on guitar than the original F chord (owing to the F barre chord finger formation on guitar which can become quite grueling during a two hour show) – the song's arrangement just came out sounding a lot more happy and chipper than its lyrical content. Luckily, that makes me sound a lot more clever than I really am!
What do you believe it is about New Orleans, and the entire state of Louisiana that makes it such a happening place for music? What do you love the most about the state?
There is a certain "live and let live" vibe to both the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana that is unique to American culture. I think it's a generational thing that goes back to the time long before air conditioning when people had nothing to do during the summer but just sit around, be hot, be sweaty, drink, think, create drama out of boredom, and watch the time pass… hence the name, the Big Easy.
It's a good place to woodshed away from the spotlights of either New York, Los Angeles, or Nashville; the three big musical and cultural centers in the country right now. New Orleans is a place you can try different things until you figure out what works for you and then to decide to present it to the world.
Being born and raised there, as well as my relationship to the state – not just the city – gives me a certain unique look that is linked to the area's past and present, as well as its future. I have an understanding and love for the state's history that goes back to my family being involved in state politics throughout the 20th century to my own cultural involvement with the city/state over the years. I was a Louisiana advocate long before it was the trendy thing to do, and I will still love the place long after the cultural carpetbaggers have all cleared out. But I love all the aspects of it, not the ones that are just focused on by the media these days… There's a large swath of rich heritage and experience there that is purposely ignored by the cultural powers that be. Oh well, their loss. That's the New Orleans and the Louisiana that I love.
What can fans expect to hear on the latest Cowboy Mouth release, Go!?
This album turned out so much better than I expected, and I expected a lot! It has the same feel of an old album of ours entitled Are You With Me?, but the guitars are heavier and the band is a lot stronger now. But it has that kind of vibe; pop melodies, big beats, and lots of energy and emotion! Sounds like Cowboy Mouth to me…
Now that Go! is out and available, what does the future hold for you personally and for Cowboy Mouth?
I have a saying that sometimes frustrates our crew. When confronted with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle or problem relating to a show I'll just smile and say, "I'm Fred, things work out." Ad they always do.
Every time I try to make plans, God laughs. So I just do what I do and have faith that it will all work out. And it does.
I'm Fred. Things work out.
Who is one living artist that you would love to perform with, but have yet to get the chance to do so?
I've been very fortunate in that I've gotten to play music with many of my heroes; Bo Diddley, Ziggy and George from the Meters, etc… I think it would be fun to play with Mike Mills from REM, a very talented bassist with his own total center and groove… I think Springsteen and Cowboy Mouth could make a fun noise tearing up a barroom…
This question.
The Verve Pipe: Overboard [Album]
A couple of summers ago I attended another Pig Out In the Park at Riverfront Park in Spokane, Washington just as I had several times throughout my youth and during my 3 year stint living in the city. But the summer of 2012 was very different. That year a blast from my past was performing, and I knew I had to be front and center. The Verve Pipe was there to rock the park like few have done in the past. And at some point it occurred to me just how surreal it was to be standing in the middle of this park with my wife and three daughters, hearing "Freshman" live and in person, when it seemed like just yesterday that I was rolling around this very city with my old man hearing this wonderful track routinely played on the down extinct Z-Rock, and falling in love with these guys. For 90's kids, you won't be surprised that I used to sit next to the radio, blank cassette tape on deck, just waiting to get a chance record both "Freshman" and "Photograph". And of course, saving my allowance to run to the nearest Sam Goody on the Tuesday that Villains dropped. Remember when we had to do that? Well it has been quite a few years since Villains, and 13 years since The Verve Pipe dropped their last album, Underneath, but the boys are back! And I will be hot damned if their latest release doesn't take me right back to those good old days of Z-Rock and rocking out in Riverfront Park.
The Verve Pipe is a band that you absolutely must see live to truly appreciate it. But, we all know this isn't always possible (although they are constantly on tour!), so they have been oh so kind to put their brilliance on wax, and produced an amazing new album with their latest release, Overboard. Tracks like "Here In the Dark" and "I Want To Bury You" are very reminiscent of their glory days in the 90's, while "Carry On" brings us back around to 2001 with their signature pop rock sound that is simply delightful. Whether you are a long time fan of The Verve Pipe, just discovering them, or just like damn good music, Overboard is a brilliant work of art that simply must be admired.
Recently I reviewed the latest release from Cowboy Mouth, and I made a statement about the mixed bag of emotions there is in learning of new releases from some of your favorite artists from the past. Well, much like Cowboy Mouth, this is yet another band from my youth that is an obvious exception. These cats simply rock, no matter what decade they are in. And Overboard is a brilliant album that could forge a brilliant set list on its own, voiding "Freshman" all together. Although, admittedly, I was a giggling fool when I finally got to hear it live on that beautiful summer day in 2012. But, times have changed, and a new era is upon us. And The Verve Pipe are going to be here to usher it all in. And that is a damn good thing!
Head on over to the band's WEBSITE to find out how you can pick up a copy of Overboard for yourself.
Cowboy Mouth: Go! [Album]
I have been listening to Cowboy Mouth for just about as long as I can remember…anything at all. This is a band that has been rocking shows and shaking up worlds for a ridiculous amount of years. And with each passing year, they are showing no signs of slowing down. This may be a band that saw its start of success during the happy-go-sadly days of the 90's, but they have proven time and again that their music is absolutely timeless. And after a dozen studio albums and countless live shows viewed by millions, their legacy is one that will truly never be forgotten.
Cowboy Mouth's most recent album, Go!, might seem to be just another simple addition to an already vast and impressive catalog of music. This wouldn't be entirely a bad thing, but it would also be false. Go! might very well be one of the most fun albums these guys have ever released. It is loud, respectfully abrasive, and just so much damn fun! If you need an example, check out "My Little Secret", and try to tell me that these NOLA masters of entertainment don't know a thing or two about rocking the hell out. Go! is indeed very reminiscent of days passed for Cowboy Mouth, but it definitely stands on its own two feet as a beautiful work of art. Even on a more heart-felt track like "Where's The Rain", Fred LeBlanc and crew seem to demand some sort of swaying, emotional body movements.
Being a 90's kid, it is always a sort of mixed bag of emotions when you see bands you loved 15-20 years ago continue to put out work. I'm always proud of them, and usually always love the music! Talent does not die out with trends, it is forever. But, the downside is in the live performances. Seeing a band being pigeon-held to certain tracks and moments of their lives that they may have grown apart from, but know damn well they can't get away with NOT playing that "one song". I bring this up here only because Cowboy Mouth seems to definitely be the anti-matter of this theory. This is a crew that has built their entire success around being energetic, talented, and the masters of a damn good time! Every Cowboy Mouth show is an experience, and every track is a hit. Cowboy Mouth is that sort of band that you can put on shuffle in your iTunes, and be damn certain that one of their "good" songs is going to come on next. This is a band that has broken the stigma that they could have easily fell victim to, and decided to say, "Nah, we're just going to rock!" And rock they have, and we should all feel so damn fortunate for their presence, and that after all these years, they can still manage to release one of the finest rock n roll records of the year!
Pick up your own copy of Go!, and find out when Cowboy Mouth will be performing in a city near you (chances are that they surely will be!), at the band's WEBSITE.
Bike Thief: Live @ Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, OR [05.29.14]
June 14, 2014 by davidminne 2 Comments
The band has only been in Portland for a couple years, and have been moving along at an incredibly fast clip. It's been a busy year for Bike Thief as the band has changed some members all while working on a new record that will be out later this coming August. On Thursday, May 29th, I was able to make it down to Doug Fir to see them play their new stuff, and in spite of the date I brought with me, I had a great time.
If you saw Bike Thief last year, you need to see them again. In less than a year they have successfully transformed from the jangling, folky, moody, mostly acoustic sound of their Ghost of Providence EP, to electric and dynamic rock 'n' roll…and I love it. Hitting some higher notes this time around, lead singer and songwriter Febian Perez has pushed his voice to another level on these new songs, using falsetto that's full of vibrato in the spirit of Jeff Buckley. Yes, he does it THAT well. I would never throw around the sacred name of Jeff Buckley if it wasn't warranted. But that's what I heard.
Now, don't get me wrong, Bike Thief still sounds like Bike Thief, just bigger, louder, and more electric. The moody violin/viola of Greg Allen trades off and intermingles perfectly with the new guitar leads that weren't there on the Ghost of Providence. Greg and Febian are up front and center and harmonize vocally into one mic like Springsteen and Stevie Van Zandt in the "Glory Days" video. Now that I think of it, wasn't The Boss playing a natural blonde telecaster in that video? And wasn't Febian Perez playing a natural blonde telecaster May 29th at the Doug Fir? Well, yes he was. There is no way in hell that is just a coincidence. Febian Perez is the next Bruce Springsteen.
With the debut full length album coming out in August, and decent sized slab of tour dates coming together in the Fall, this could be the year that Bike Thief gains some wingspan and flies out of Portland just as fast as they flew in.
Learn more about Bike Thief, and check out some of their tunes at the following links:
http://bikethief.bandcamp.com/
www.facebook.com/bikethief
Filed under Live Reviews
Mark Rosenthal [Interview]
We have spoken with many folks from the world of film here at Trainwreck'd Society. From Oscar winning screenwriters, to beloved indie writers and filmmakers, we have had many extremely talented folks who have been the masterminds behind some of your favorite films both in the big studio Hollywood world, and the independent film world. And one job title in particular that has us the most intrigued is that of the screenwriter. The screenwriter is the man who puts the wheels in place. Whether he or she is simply a hired hand being paid to bring a millionaire's dream idea onto the written page, or he/she has developed a story in the screenplay format that he/she has put their heart and soul into to see it make it on the big screen, the writers are some of the most fascinating creatures in the world of film. Where many writer's in the world of literature have existed for the simple fact that they fear the public, and simply want to put words to paper to set their mind at ease, this is not a duty of a screenwriter. While they might very well be reclusive characters at times, the ultimate goal of any screenwriter is to create a story that is going to be manhandled, dismantled, and thrown up on a screen in a visual medium for the world to know. I could only imagine the first time a screenwriter sees the blood, sweat, and coffee stains thrown up on the screen, either being horrified or delighted, or feeling as though they are simply watching something totally different from what they intended. And all they can do is dry their eyes on moderately sized paychecks, and continue to create and create again.
I do not mean to sound somber in these descriptions, but simply express my love and adoration for the great work that these people do. And I am extremely honored to announce that we have yet another wonderful screenwriter in the house who has agreed to share a few words with us. And this time we went all out! The wonderful and talented Mark Rosenthal has agreed to do our longest interview to date, as I asked our dear friend, Trainwreck'd Society contributor and filmmaker/screenwriter Chris Eaves to throw some questions at this legend of the film world in his own right. And Mark was a damn trooper and answered them all! His tale is one of personal triumph that should act as a great source of inspiration to anybody out there looking to accomplish, well, just about anything, let alone becoming a part of the world of film. This guy has worked on a plethora of wonderful projects that have been beautiful and diverse. So please enjoy our interview with the illustrious and brilliant screenwriter, Mark Rosenthal!
For over 30 years you have worked alongside fellow writer Lawrence Konner. How did this partnership come to life? And what do you think it is that makes you guys such a great team?
We actually met at the University of Vermont. I was a TA in the English department and Larry was grazing through a pre-med curriculum. We'd scurry across the campus in thin, very Flatlander leather jackets and meet in the UVM Student Union and talk about movies. Mostly to avoid course work. A good strategy for anyone in college who wants to go into the movie business: avoid coursework at all costs!
Simply, we tend to fill different ecological niches. I can spend an hour at the keyboard on the right adjective; he's more a pace and move-it-along type. I've found that writing teams often separate this way: ground and canopy, fox and hedgehog. Plus he have the essential personality type of avoiding confrontation so we tend not to sulk over disappointments.
Do you and Lawrence have any type of system when working on a new project? Have there been any large disagreements and if so how were you able to over come them?
This has changed enormously as the kind of films being made have shrunk and TV beckons more. I've done a few scripts on my own recently, small stories with lower budgets, trying to find a way to write drama. The truth is jobs are harder to find and that takes precedent over everything.
You have expressed in the past, some of the difficulties you had during the making of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. But, as you look back today with even more Superman projects coming out and coming to life, how do you feel about your contribution to the legacy? Why do you think it is important, and how does it feel to be a part of it?
The comforting memory of what turned out to be a sinkhole of a film was getting to hang out with Chris Reeve — a warm, ebullient and passionate guy. We'd stroll through the West Side near his apartment and talk story, gossip, trade stories, watch how kind and unpretentious he was with the public. Really good guy. While there's an undeniable 'black comedy cool' to the fact that we were part of an historic movie madhouse, with an epic cast of Dickensian characters, no writer loves to watch a script that gets a greenlight transmogrified. As Major Clipton says at the end of Bridge on the River Kwai, 'Madness!'
"A shot with the 'villain' from Jewel of the Nile that MAD Magazine asked us for after Mort Drucker did a parody." – Mark Rosenthal
You have previously described your childhood as growing up watching movies every Saturday afternoon with your fellow neighborhood kids. Can you tell us more of what that experience was like for you and some of the most memorable films you saw?
If you lived in a 'rowhouse' neighborhood in Philly when I grew up there was always a kids' matinee on Saturdays around 1:15. Movies in those days were pretty much for grown ups — meaning no Sci Fi, Horror, or Mayhem at night. So they dumped the expanding slate of Baby Boomer films on weekend afternoons. We hardly paid attention to the name of the film — just lined up dutifully and filed in. I was so 'into' movies as a little kid that when it was some new state-of-the-art effects film (quite crude by today's standards) like The Mysterians or The Tingler I'd man-up and watch it with the kids, then have massive, paralyzing nightmares through the night. I still have them. The first house I ever bought was deep in the Vermont woods. Friends would ask me if I feared a criminal breaking in when I was alone out there. I could never tell them, 'No, I'm not afraid of some psychopath with a gun. But I'm frozen with dread at night that Dracula is hiding in the bathroom when I get up to piss.'
How did your life guide you into screenwriting? Why movies over books or theater?
When I drove myself to L.A. I'd never seen a screenplay. Films course were pretty much 'appreciation' courses taught in English departments. Papers never talked about the process and hardly mentioned box office. The movies were as secret as the Masons. I was finishing a doctorate with a concentration in Chaucer. Then in 1976 my brother, who was working for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was killed by terrorists in Istanbul. Waiting with my parents for his body to come back so we could bury him, unable to sleep, I made a vow to at least try to do what I dreamed of doing — I guess to acknowledge what Ian McEwen later called 'this brief privilege of consciousness'. So I just drove myself to L.A. right after my doctoral defense in a private way to honor my brother. Lived in a garage for a while. Read scripts for Mark Rydell and the new studio Orion Pictures. After a 1000 scripts (he exaggerates, as always!) I thought I understood the form. Then I saw a tiny article in the back of the NY Times about a 15 year old girl named Phoolan Devi who was raped by a group of men and though a poor girl from a low caste instead of keeping quiet went back to avenge herself. And when the police came to arrest her she fled and was hidden by other poor villages. So I sat in a brand new shopping center called The Beverly Center and wrote a script in two weeks that became The Legend of Billie Jean.
Can you elaborate on your first venture into screenwriting with The Legend of Billie Jean. How do you feel about your involvement in the film today? How much, or any, has your opinion on those events changed?
Larry Konner gave our very first script to his agent, Bill Block, and it sold within days. I found out back in Philly in a hospital ICU where my father was having an emergency triple bypass. I was stunned. I think I flew back to L.A. without a plane. The phone was ringing as I entered my apartment — and it was the director saying he'd been put on the project and "I can't direct things I haven't written." He fired us before we even had a chance to get studio notes. It was my baptism-by-fire of a writer's life. We watched the script simplified and dumbed down, much of the character drama removed. A year later on a rainy night in Westwood we saw some women giving out passes to a test screening — it was for our movie. So we went to the MGM Lot and stood in line with lots of 12 year old girls to watch a rough cut. Took me a year to get over that. But film is a director's world. Has to be that way. When the film opened poorly I actually sent (as opposed to literally?) a sarcastic note to the producers and one threatened to 'rip my throat out' but that's another story.
"A drag queen review tribute to Billie jean." – Mark Rosenthal
Since The Legend of Billie Jean, do you believe that screenwriting has changed?
Immensely. 'Indies' have replaced much of the dramatic studio projects and the competition for high-paying job is furious. Biggest change is that many projects are generated in-house so if there's not relationship to them already, it's hard to get in. All the cliches are true: more people trying to get a piece of a smaller pie. TV is more friendly to writers. Etc.
As I cannot number my own favorite films in order, generally, what have been some of your favorite films and could those movies still be made in Hollywood today?
I can only say that I can't rise above seeing only the things that didn't go right, the changes I never could palate, or the lost opportunities. So mostly I like other people's films.
How do you pitch your ideas and what are your thoughts on this process?
The pitch is like stand up comedy with one person in the lounge. Not hard to bomb.
At what point do you decide your script is done?
When there's a paycheck! … The truth is, I think most writers can always re-write endlessly. We're our own Scheherazades!
Would you please talk of your days at Orion and how you became initially a script reader?
Long story that must be short. I had literally (correctly used here by the way) just finished my doctoral exams. I didn't know how to get a Reader's job but someone told me to look in Variety. I saw an announcement about Orion and called the Story Department. Now here's the first act main beat: I was so stupid and callow I called at lunch time. Everyone was out. But on this particular day Sarah Altschul, the Story Editor, was working through lunch at her desk and grabbed the phone and said, 'What?' I fumbled out something about grad school and she just asked if I could be there in 30 minutes. Orion was on the Warner's Lot and I didn't know where that was. I didn't know where to park. Or which gate. I parked somewhere in Burbank and ran sweating profusely into her office very, very late. Again, she should've kicked me out but instead gave me a test script to read. I went home and did what I'd been trained to do in Grad School. I wrote a literary essay about it. With Latin literary phrases. And again, when I brought it back, she should've kicked me out. Instead she ripped me and teased me but gave me another chance. In a couple months Orion asked me to be an in-house Reader. Then I started reading for Mark Rydell. It kept me alive in my tiny studio apartment till I sold me first screenplay. By the way, today that position would probably be filled by an intern working for free — and maybe I wouldn't have stayed around long enough to write. Every free internship is a scandal, an exploitation, and should be illegal. The nonsense about 'but you're learning' can be said about anything including the US Congress, studio executives and business affairs. Let's not pay lawyers congressman or exec's for their first few years and see how they like it.
With works such as the comedy The Beverly Hillbillies, science fiction such as Star Trek IV and Planet of the Apes, as well as the romantic adventure The Jewel of the Nile in your career, how have you managed not to be forced into a specific genre?
It goes back to that kid standing in line at a Philly theater for a matinee. I never asked 'what genre was playing' — I just loved them all. Most genres have the same structural challenges. The characters demand the same attention to detail. My feeling is a writer doesn't look at project in terms of theme or tropes. A writer thinks in terms of 'hard and easy' (not that any writing is ever easy!) Plot and dialogue are hard. Comedy the hardest. But whether a character falls in love with an alien or a jet plane rockets forward but never leaves the ground, good writing is the common denominator — and not genre.
Outside of screenwriting and the entertainment industry, how do you spend your time?
Time? You mean, like, 'free time', 'carefree time' — hmm, I used to know what that was? Like everyone, the world seems to spin faster on its axis. I have college-aged kids which takes management (there is no 'empty nest' — the nest merely widens and deepens). But my passions are bicycling (everyday!), reading literature (love iBooks), defeating Republicans, plus I'm involved in conservation — particularly with the Center for Great Apes in Wachula, Florida. It's an amazing sanctuary where many 'movie, TV, and commercials' orangutans and chimpanzee's are rescued from tragic circumstances by a real modern saint named Patti Ragan. Patti re-constitutes their family groups and lets them live in a forest preserve with grand walk-ways through the canopy. She even has some of the apes from my films. Michael Jackson's Bubbles is there, too. The re-boot of Planets of the Apes has been wonderful because they use CG apes. Because if you see a chimp or orang in any film, TV show or commercial remember it means: first, the ape is pre-adolescent, some parent has been destroyed or hurt to take it, and it will be killed or dumped when it reaches puberty — often into a brutally horrid cage in the dark to live out it's days immobile and in pain. (Your readers can go to their website to see video of the sanctuary and its apes!).
In your opinion which have your scripts have been your best and/or favorite?
Oh, far too many. Again, I don't rate scripts from high art to low brow. That to me is a false calibration. Hard and easy. Most recently, Looper was a great script within its genre, as was The Conjuring. A Serious Man, and, of course, Social Network were masterful. But these kind of questions, to me, only make sense year by year, country by country, and even based on budget. Topic by topic. That's why, to me, JC Chandor's script for Margin Call was infinitely better than Wolf of Wall Street and comparing them a great lesson to a new writer.
Bob Krist, senior photogrpaher for National Geographic asked me to do a Planet of the Apes shoot (tongue in cheek).
What has been your proudest moment?
Best moment — that's easy. It occurred at Leavesden Studios when the very wonderful and gracious Alan Rickman and the director Mike Newell arranged for my kids to be extras in Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. They actually made it into the final cut (for 3 whole seconds) in a Great Hall scene. That made up for years and years of grumpy producers and directors!
What has been your lowest moment?
Besides waking up and realizing I have to write — I can't just chatter around a desk and 'talk' ideas like executives and actors and directors — I have to sit by myself, alone again, eating M&M's, locked in solitary confinement with my mind, for life! You mean besides that? Oh, I could say the times I've been replaced on various projects but that comes with the job description. That's when you just tough it out and run home and write 'FADE IN' on something new,something that surely this time won't be botched in the birthing — the writer's greatest and unique consolation. In some ways it's when tiny and assorted bon mots you're dying to see come to life from your script on the screen get cut out instead. In Mona Lisa Smile we had a bit where the Italian teacher (Dominic West) sings the old Italian pop hit Volare ('Nel blu dipinto di blu') to the girls at Wellesley — but the producer never heard of it (along with lots of other things like 'Catcher In The Rye'!) and cut it out. Writers shoot the whole film instead their heads when they're writing so it's hard to drop the 'scene' just because it never got made!
In a long line of dream accomplishments for most people, do you still have a dream project you have yet completed?
Hundreds. A few scripts I'd still like to see get made. Many, many more I have on the 'back burner' hoping to get to. Writers are all creatively promiscuous.
Literally? (Sorry, the novelist Zoe Heller wrote an hysterical piece for The New York Review of Books about the misuse of 'literally' — so now I try to live dangerously and use it a lot.) Last night I saw Fault In Our Stars and was charmed by it and the performances (despite of it's softening of how ugly cancer really is), and the kids in the theater were sobbing so hard, so long, so loud, so deeply, that I smiled because in our increasingly callous world it was wonderful to see a story affect an audience this way. These were not easy, Lifetime channel tears or dopey Disney Family tears –no, wracking, existentially transformative crying. Catharsis! In comes art — out comes, we must believe, better people! You have to smile. There's still hope!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary has a cute little feature: The "Top Ten Words from Trademarks." You know, mainly the usual suspects: Band-Aids, etc. It's a study in what can go wrong if you don't "police" your trademark, yada-yada-yada.
Speaking of brand management and equity, when I saw this link — hat-tip to Jane Coleman! — it reminded me of how much the Merriam-Webster people need to do stuff like this to build back the primacy they ought to have online but which I have the impression has been ceded to Dictionary.com.
That, in turn, made me think of one very famous "word from a trademark" — the one damnable genericized mark — Merriam-Webster left out of the list!
Second result — not too shabby.
I suppose when you're only listing ten, you have to make choices. How could you rank "moxie" or "pablum" (two words I've never heard in conversation) over "aspirin" or "brassiere"? Not to mention "escalator" or "yo-yo".
I found the choices a little strange, too. "Moxie" and "pablum" are words that will probably be completely archaic in another 20 years.
Wow, wow, wow. Wonder where they go their info. They concede "Ping-Pong" is a registered trademark in the U.S. (No. 283,767 for "hollow composition and like balls for indoor bat or racket games, table games, tennis type games, and the like," and others), so how is it generic? You can also check out http://www.pingpong.com owned by the trademark owner; they don't consider it generic. "Moxie" is also still registered for "nonalcoholic, maltless carbonated beverage and sirup for making the same," No. 189,066 (and others), and you can buy it all over. I don't think using the word for a different, non-trademark meaning makes the trademark generic. Or Spam wouldn't be a trademark either.
SPAM is a trademark, but it's also a word. The genesis of the word is, indeed, the trademark-protected product, but it is now settled — if there was every any question — that it is a word in the English language than can be used to describe… spam. But SPAM is not generic for canned meats.
Same thing for MOXIE. Nope, no one can use it to sell nonalcoholic, maltless carbonated beverages or syrup for making the same. But do sharp New York litigators like me get paid to demonstrate how much moxie we've got? U-Bet!
In contrast, yes, PING PONG is registered as a trademark, but, unlike SPAM or MOXIE, no one would use it to describe anything but the trademark-protected term, i.e., table tennis. And virtually no one would not use it for that. No, no one has gone to the mat to invalidate this trademark, but any good trademark litigator could if put upon. Ask any kid what "a ping pong table" is — you think he or she will say, "A brand of table tennis tables"?


I've been working on multiple races and classes, implementing them slowly into the game. One of the new races is featured in these gifs. They're sort of like Kobolds. There are more races to come however, so stay tuned.
Palette swapped sprites have also been added.
If you'd like to stay up to date more often with this project, head on over to my twitter and give me a follow.


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Kwaku Andoh will participate on the "Law, Industrialization & Technology in Africa" panel at the 16th Annual Columbia University African Economic Forum.
Partner C Evan Stewart will be on a panel addressing the different perspectives and special considerations for securities litigations and arbitrations at the Practising Law Institute's "Securities Litigation: Trial of the Civil Action or Arbitration" program.
Venture Exchanges: Providing Liquidity to Small Cap Companies?
Partner Bonnie J Roe will moderate a panel at this year's ABA Business Law meeting, entitled "Venture Exchanges: Providing Liquidity to Small Cap Companies?" Bonnie, who also serves as the Chair of the Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities, organized the panel as well.
Partner Bonnie J Roe will be on a panel addressing Regulation A at the "Private Placements and Hybrid Securities Offerings 2019" program hosted by the Practising Law Institute.
Partner C Evan Stewart will chair and participate in the Practising Law Institute's 2019 Ethics for Commercial Litigators program. He will address the latest and most complex legal ethics developments, and review the relevant case law arising out of commercial litigation.
Entrepreneurs: Anticipate, Control Your Risk… And Generate Your Success!
Jeffrey M Bronheim participated in a joint HFM/NASDAQ webinar and discussed this year's top compliance trends for global hedge funds, including SEC exam trends, CFTC reporting requirement changes, and Treasury rules.
Managing Partner Lawrence T Gresser spoke on an roundtable titled, "Managing Partner Roundtable: Best Practices for Hiring and Retaining Millennials," which examined how law firms should approach recruiting and retaining the next generation of lawyers. This CLE was a part of the ABA's Law Practice Management Committee Annual Meeting.
Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, Associée du cabinet Cohen & Gresser à Paris et co-leader du Chapitre Français du Women's White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), a organisé un petit-déjeuner au cours duquel Madame le Bâtonnier de Paris Marie-Aimée Peyron a fait une présentation sur le Legal Privilege. Des avocates de cabinets français ou internationaux, reconnues pour leur compétence en la matière, ont participé à cet évènement.
Partner Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, co-leader of the French Chapter of the Women's White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), hosted a breakfast in Cohen & Gresser's Paris office during which Paris Bar President (Bâtonnier) Marie-Aimée Peyron spoke about Legal Privilege. High profile female lawyers from major French or international law firms joined the breakfast.
C Evan Stewart will present on Lawline's "Ethically Conducting an Internal Investigation" webinar on December 19, 2018.
Partner Chris Everdell spoke about cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and ICO enforcement actions as a guest lecturer at the Computer Crime Law class at Harvard Law School.
Partner Stephen Sinaiko will be on a panel addressing the fundamentals of a securities claim, existing precedent and evolving theories, as well as present an overview of the legal issues and strategic considerations that inform the filing of a securities class action at a New York City Bar CLE program.
Partner Melissa Maxman spoke at the 22nd Annual National Institute on Class Actions hosted by the American Bar Association in Chicago. The panel discussion, "Big Price Tags, Big Issues", explored the proliferation of third-party financing and its challenges.
Partner Muriel Goldberg-Darmon spoke at the AMF Enforcement Committee's annual symposium on October 3, 2018, as the only speaker from a private law firm. Muriel was a panelist for the second round table on "Cooperation between the respondents and the AMF during investigations or inspections and sanctions," which was moderated by Jean Gaeremynck, State Councilor and member of the AMF Enforcement Committee. Muriel's fellow panelists were: Jean-Luc Blachon, First Vice-Prosecutor at the Parquet National Financier; Sophie Bresny, Head of the Inspections Unit at the Autorité de la concurrence; Andrew Cotterell, Head of Law, Policy & International at the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority); and Benoît de Juvigny, Secretary General of the AMF.
Muriel Goldberg-Darmon a participé à la Table Ronde sur "Quelle coopération entre les mis en cause et l'AMF ?" organisée par la Commission des sanctions de l'AMF le 3 octobre 2018. La table ronde était modérée par : Jean Gaeremynck, président de section au Conseil d'Etat, membre de la Commission des sanctions de l'AMF.
Les intervenants étaients : Jean-Luc Blachon, premier vice-procureur, Parquet national financier, Sophie Bresny, chef du service des investigations de l'Autorité de la concurrence Andrew Cotterell, Head of Law, Policy & International, FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), Muriel Goldberg-Darmon Associée du cabinet Cohen & Gresser, Benoît de Juvigny, secrétaire général de l'AMF.
London office managing partner Jeffrey M Bronheim participated on a panel discussion entitled "New Approaches for Blending Active & Passive Investments: The Pension Perspective," at Inside ETFs Europe on October 1, 2018. Topics of discussion included active and passive investing, particularly with respect to factor investing and the proliferation of ETFs.
Associate Sophia Soejung Kim has been featured as a speaker at the 26th Annual International Association of Korean Lawyers conference. Her presentation examined the influence and reach of the DOJ and SEC into the affairs of foreign nationals who are in violation of U.S. Financial laws abroad.
Partner Bonnie J Roe will speak on a panel entitled "Going (to the) Public" at the ABA Business Law Section Annual Meeting 2018 in Austin, Texas on September 14.
Partner Melissa Maxman appeared on Legal Talk Network's podcast series 'On the Road' on the 'Antitrust Exemptions in Sports--& More!' episode. She joined host Creighton Macy of Baker McKenzie, and panelists Sathya Gosselin of Hausfeld and Kim Scott of Miller Canfield, in a discussion about antitrust exemptions in sports, antitrust careers, and litigating sports cases.
C&G partner C Evan Stewart will chair the "Ethics in Banking and Financial Services" CLE seminar.
Partners Muriel Goldberg-Darmon and Angéline Duffour spoke at a roundtable on "Grey areas in privilege" during the Women in Investigations conference in London on June 28, 2018. The panelists were: Jane Shvets, Partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, Polly Sprenger, Partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman, Mona Vaswani, Partner at Allen & Overy, and Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, Partner at Cohen & Gresser. The moderator was Martina de Lind van Wijngaarden, Partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Muriel discussed the French Bar rules regarding privilege and internal investigations as well as cross border investigations (DOJ investigations and AMF/SEC investigations). Angéline spoke about specific issues in France regarding employment law (disciplinary sanctions and protection of employees).
C Evan Stewart will teach an online course on legal ethics for Attorney Credits, a provider of CLE materials based in California.
Muriel Goldberg-Darmon participated in the "Activists Funds: Opportunity or Threat for the Economy" roundtable at the conference on Activists Funds and Governance organized by the Paris-Dauphine University on June 26th, 2018. The panelists were: Hubert de Vauplanne, Partner at Kramer Levin, Edouard Dubois, Vice-President at Blackrock, Philippe Leroy, President at Associés en Finance, Ahmed Guenaoui, Administrateur civil at Direction générale du Trésor, Laurence Boisseau, Journalist at Les Echos, Colette Neuville, President at ADAM (Minority Shareholders Defence Association), Anne-Sophie d'Andlau, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at CIAM, and Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, Partner at Cohen & Gresser. The roundtable was moderated by Sophie Schiller, Professor at Paris-Dauphine.
Please also find a link to the September 6, 2018 issue of the magazine, La Semaine Juridique, in which a transcription of Muriel's presentation, "Fonds activistes : opportunité ou menace pour l'économie ?" is featured on page 42.
Bonnie J Roe presented at The Reg A Conference by DealFlow Events on "Will Regulation A find its niche?"
C&G co-founder and Managing Partner Lawrence T Gresser led a discussion on "The Business of Law" at the Cambridge Forum on English-American Litigation on June 5, 2018 in Middleburg, Virginia. He also serves as the Co-Chair of the Forum's 2018 Steering Committee.
Artificial Intelligence is perceived as mysterious and complex. It doesn't always have to be.
Join Francisco Villegas of Cohen & Gresser for a 90 minute CLE designed to help lawyers better communicate with AI stakeholders, including scientists, business owners, and executives.
First, we will learn basic technical concepts that underlie AI. Then, with a technical primer, we will survey the intersection of data science and law, and explore how laws and regulations can trigger AI legal liabilities. Finally, we will review tort and contract law to assess how old common law precedent may have new relevance.
We promise math is optional!
C Evan Stewart will speak at PLI's Delaware Law Developments 2018 in its Ethics segment.
C Evan Stewart will participate in Clear Law Insitute's "Professional Responsibility Traps Waiting For Financial Services Counsel" webinar on May 23, 2018.
Lara Kroop Delamarre spoke on the "Broken windows and new frontiers: the increasingly long arm of anti-corruption law" panel, which focused on increased international cooperation in anti-corruption regulation, at the 21st Annual IBA Transnational Crime Conference in Krakow, Poland.
Jason Brown will participate on a panel titled "Consumer Protection and the State Attorneys General" at COMPLY2018.
Christian Everdell participated on the "Focus on CryptoCurrency: How to Identify Transactions that are Using Digital Currency to Avoid U.S. Sanctions" panel at the ACI's 11th Flagship Conference on Economic Sanctions: Enforcement & Compliance. The panel discussed how new payment methods are challenging the existing banking system for risk and compliance, how non-US companies use digital currency to avoid US sanctions rules, and how financial institutions can protect themselves.
C&G partner C Evan Stewart will speak at PLI's Securities Litigation 2018 program on April 4, 2018 on "Ethical Issues in Complex Securities Litigation." He will cover topics including drafting the complaint and the use of confidential witnesses, creating a motion to dismiss limited by allegations in the complaint, ethical issues when selecting the forum and interactions between plaintiff and defendant groups, and professional obligations regarding the retention of discovery materials.
John was the keynote speaker at the 2018 Global Investigations Review Conference.
Muriel Goldberg-Darmon participates in the "Ring the Bell" ceremony at Euronext Paris to celebrate International Women's Day. Click here to see a photo of the bell ringing ceremony.
Ron Wick moderated this second installment in the Civil Practice & Procedure Committee's Class Action Series, which offered insights into best practices in presenting and rebutting economic evidence, including retaining and working with experts; tactical considerations and evidentiary issues unique to class actions; and the impact of the Supreme Court's most recent class certification decisions on antitrust class actions.
C&G partner C Evan Stewart will speak on "The intersection of the attorney client privilege, the work product doctrine, and the professional obligation of confidentiality," broadcast live from Lawline's New York studio.
John spoke on the subject of legal privilege at The Cambridge International Economic Crime Symposium in 2016, 2017, and 2018 .
Le cabinet Cohen & Gresser, en collaboration avec SONJ Conseil, a organisé un petit-déjeuner / débat sur "L'émergence d'un activisme constructif", le 5 décembre 2017 au Cercle de l'Union Interalliée, autour de : Ahmed Guenaoui (Direction Générale du Trésor), Gilles Mentré (Associé Gérant, Banque Lazard), Joseph Oughourlian (Managing Partner, Amber Capital), Caroline Ruellan (Présidente, Sonj Conseil) et Muriel Goldberg-Darmon (Avocate Associée, Cohen & Gresser).
De nombreux acteurs de place (AMF, Euronext, AFEP, MEDEF, banques, fonds d'investissement, sociétés cotées, etc.) y ont participé et ont ainsi enrichi le débat.
Cohen & Gresser, in collaboration with SONJ Conseil, organized a breakfast discussion on "The rise of a constructive shareholder activism", at the Cercle de l'Union Interalliée, Paris, on December 5th, 2017. The panelists were: Ahmed Guenaoui (Direction Générale du Trésor (French Treasury)), Gilles Mentré (Managing Partner, Banque Lazard), Joseph Oughourlian (Managing Partner, Amber Capital), Caroline Ruellan (President, Sonj Conseil) and Muriel Goldberg-Darmon (Attorney at law, Partner, Cohen & Gresser).
A substantial number of financial leaders were present and enriched the debate (The French stock market regulator (AMF), Euronext, AFEP, MEDEF, banks, hedge funds, public companies, etc.).
C&G counsel Lara K Delamarre lectured at ESSEC Business School in France on "The Internationalization of White Collar Crime: Compliance Is More Critical than Ever." She discussed the increasingly international nature of DOJ investigations and how to both avoid and prepare for such investigations.
C&G Partner C Evan Stewart will speak at the New York City Bar Association November 28, 2017 Legal History Meeting on the continuing history of substantive due process.
Mark S Cohen participated in a CLE panel titled "Ethical Issues in Jury Trials" at PLI's annual Trial by Jury. The panel discussed issues including avoiding ethical pitfalls and making ethical decisions, preparing a witness without coaching, dealing with a witness whose story changes or conflicts with other evidence, and issues involved with using jury consultants and investigating jurors.
C&G partner Angéline Duffour led a workshop on French Labor Law Reforms at Paris EUROPLACE's Expanding Your Business in Paris Workshop in London. President of the Paris Region, former Education Minister and Treasury Minister, Valérie Pécresse, introduced the workshop.
Mark S Cohen and Muriel Goldberg-Darmon served as guest lecturers at the Université Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne for the 2017 fall semester. They taught a course titled "U.S. White Collar Criminal Law" to students in the Master 2 (JD equivalent) program. The course covered the fundamental principles of U.S. criminal law and a review of the key participants in white collar criminal practice. The course also covered substantive white collar issues, such as FCPA, banking, and finance-related issues. Jonathan S Abernethy and Christian R Everdell served as visiting lecturers. Reggie B Schafer served as the course's teaching assistant.
"Rule 12, The Motion to Dismiss"
Lawrence T Gresser spoke at the 2017 Forum on Defense Class Action regarding Rule 12, The Motion to Dismiss. The session covered how the courts have applied Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937 (2009) at the pleading stage, and reviewed the current status of other defenses that are often raised by defense counsel in motions to dismiss putative class actions.
C&G counsel Lara Kroop Delamarre gave a presentation, as part of the Barger Prekop International Speakers Series, titled "White Collar Defense: Borders Will Not Stop the U.S. Agencies' Investigations" at Barger Prekop in Bratislava, Slovakia.
C&G counsel Lara Kroop Delamarre gave a presentation to the Slovak Bar Association titled "Tips for Successful Oral Advocacy in Arbitration" in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Les cinq ordonnances portant réforme du Code du travail, signées vendredi 22 septembre dernier par le Président de la République, ont été publiées samedi 23 septembre au Journal officiel.
Certaines mesures prévues par ces ordonnances sont d'application immédiate, telles que le barème des indemnités prud'homales ou la réforme du télétravail, tandis que d'autres, comme la fusion des instances représentatives du personnel, écessitent des décrets d'application. Selon le gouvernement, une vingtaine de décrets est attendue d'ici le 31 décembre 2017. Les ordonnances devront toutefois, pour être pérennisées, être ratifiées par l'Assemblée nationale.
bénéficier de conseils opérationnels pour se mettre en conformité.
Le programme portera sur les conséquences juridiques et fiscales dans le pays de situation de l'immeuble et le pays de résidence de l'investisseur, ou encore le pays dont il est ressortissant.
The program will address legal and tax issues in the country where the property is located, as well as in the investor's country of residence or country of nationality.
C&G partner Bonnie J Roe will participate in an ABA Business Law Section webinar titled, "Current Issues in Securities Law for the Non-Securities Lawyer." This program will provide the basics of what a non-securities lawyer needs to know about securities law. It will demystify the laws and give enough walking-around knowledge so lawyers can determine whether a securities specialist is needed and to what extent.
Associate Sophia Soejung Kim spoke about the developments in corporate transparency and public corruption at the 25th Annual International Association of Korean Lawyers hosted in Seoul, Korea. She addressed the recent trends and developments in the US Government's enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
C&G partners Karen H Bromberg, chair of the firm's Privacy and Data security group, and Kwaku Andoh, former Managing Director & Associate General Counsel at JP Morgan Chase whose practice currently focuses on M&A, participated in an interactive CLE webinar on data privacy in M&A transactions.
During this program, hosted by the Practising Law Institute, C Evan Stewart and other expert faculty will review and provide practical guidance on current ethical issues faced by attorneys in banking and financial services.
Practising Law Institute: "Securities Litigation 2017: From Investigation to Trial"
Johannes Jonas participated in a panel at a conference in Paris organized by Business France about business opportunities for French companies in the United States. The panel, entitled "How to Approach the U.S. Market," discussed business and legal considerations/implications when starting or developing a business in the United States.
"Everything You Know Is Wrong: A Strategic Overview of Current Trends in the Two Jurisdictions"
Lawrence T Gresser participated on a panel titled "Everything You Know Is Wrong: A Strategic Overview of Current Trends in the Two Jurisdictions" at the English-American Litigation Forum. The discussion covered trends and events including Brexit and the election of President Trump and their implications on the business and practice of law.
Dans ce programme, Franck Le Mentec portera sur les questions suivantes : Quel avenir des spécificités françaises en matière de fiscalité des groupes dans une perspective globale? Quel est le rôle de la fiducie patrimoniale face à l'assurance vie?
In this conference, Franck Le Mentec will address the following topics : What is the future of the French group tax policy system from a global perspective? What is the role of the financial trust as opposed to life insurance?
Jon participated in a panel at the IBA's 20th Annual Transnational Crime Conference in Lisbon, Portugal. The panel, entitled "The Right to Silence When Everyone Else Is Talking," examined the right against self-incrimination from the perspective of several countries in a world of increased cross-border information sharing between investigators, regulators, and prosecuting authorities.
Mr. Stewart speaks at the Village of Westbury's annual Law Day.
Experiential legal learning platform AltaClaro has partnered with international law firm Cohen & Gresser, LLP to host a live online panel to discuss current trends in anti-money laundering enforcement. The panel is complimentary for in-house counsel, white-collar and regulatory attorneys, and compliance professionals.
Dans cette "Matinée Fiscale," Franck Le Mentec portera sur les thèmes suivants : l'étendue des obligations déclaratives, la problématique des sanctions et de la solidarité prévue, le trust et ISF, le trust et échanges d'informations, le trust et article 123-bis du CGI, et les conséquences de la jurisprudence Wildenstein.
In this "Fiscal Morning" program, Franck Le Mentec will address topics related to the scope of reporting requirements, sanctions and the solidarity clause, trusts with respect to the Solidarity Tax on Wealth, exchanges of information, and Article 57 of the General Tax Code, and the consequences of the Wildenstein jurisprudence.
Discussed White Collar Crime/DOJ Issues.
Commentator: "Interstate Circuit and (Other) Antitrust Myths"
Discussed on a panel the application of the U.K. Bribery Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and comparable legislation in France and Ireland to the age-old problem of public corruption at the New York State Bar Association International Section Spring Meeting.
This program guides participants through issues that can arise in the most complex securities matters — from the initial government investigation to the filing of the civil cases to either settlement or trial. The expert panel consists of leading practitioners, government officials, and judges, providing updates on the latest best practices and case law.
Moderator, "Eyes Wide Open: Ethical Stumbling Blocks in Class Action Litigation"
Evan Stewart will be on this panel for commercial litigators, covering new developments in confidentiality, the attorney-client privilege, and the attorney work-product doctrine, exposure to civil liability, and a bevy of other issues s surrounding ethics for commercial litigators.
Speakers include: C. Evan Stewart, Jennifer Smith Finnegan, Charles C. Platt.
Speakers include: C. Evan Stewart, Helen V. Cantwell, Michael J. Dell, Susan J. Kohlmann.
This course will examine the legal principles surrounding extraterritorial application of U.S. criminal law and its limitations. It will also cover methods U.S. prosecutors use to gather evidence overseas, as well as general principles of law concerning extradition of foreign nationals.
Mr. Stewart addressed FBC Second Circuit Committee members about the U.S. Supreme Court's Korematsu decision.
A presentation discussing how the legal market landscape was impacted by the financial crisis and how it has changed since and strategies to succeed nowadays.
A conference organized in partnership by Sorbonne University and C&G in relation to the French anti-corruption law, Loi Sapin II.
Final remarks by the vice president of the Assemblée Nationale.
Corporate and Personal Liability: Are You At Risk?
Jon participated in this panel at Deloitte's 10th Annual U.S. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Conference at Fordham Law School in New York.
This course will examine the legal and practical foundations of good corporate governance for privately held companies, particularly younger growth companies, or start-ups, and companies backed by venture capital or private equity investors.
C Evan Stewart will speak on the topic of American Political Memorabilia at Cornell University in New York City.
Speaker, "Strategies for Navigating U.S. Antitrust Lawsuits Following Government Investigations of a Price-Fixing Cartel"
International Association of Korean Lawyers, IAKL Seoul Conference Program, Washington, D.C.
C Evan Stewart will speak on the topic of American Political Memorabilia at Cornell University in Washington, D.C.
Speaker, "Keep your Company and your Employees out of Trouble Under U.S. Criminal and Civil Laws"
Corporate, Employment Law – U.S.
Guest Lecturer, fall 2016, at the University Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne. The course provided an overview of U.S. white collar criminal law. It began with a review of the fundamental principles of U.S. criminal law and a review of the key participants in white collar criminal practice. The course also covered substantive white collar crimes, such as FCPA, banking, and finance related crimes.
"Ethics in Banking and Financial Services 2016"