text:
using System;
using Project2.GameObjects.Interface;
using Project2.GameSystems;
using SharpDX;
using SharpDX.Toolkit;

using Jitter.Collision.Shapes;
using Jitter.Dynamics;

namespace Project2.GameObjects.Abstract
{
    using SharpDX.Toolkit.Graphics;
    abstract class Terrain : GameObject, IPhysicsObject
    {
        public abstract float[,] TerrainData { get; set; }
        public int terrainWidth;
        public int terrainHeight;
        public float xScale;
        public float zScale;
        protected float maxHeight = 1;
        protected float minHeight = 0;
        // Graphics components
        protected int[] Indices;
        protected VertexPositionNormalColor[] Vertices;
        protected Buffer VertexBuffer;
        protected Buffer<int> IndexBuffer;

        public abstract RigidBody PhysicsDescription { get; set; }

        protected Terrain(Project2Game game, Vector3 position, float xScale, float zScale)
            : base(game,position)
        {
            this.xScale = xScale;
            this.zScale = zScale;
            basicEffect.VertexColorEnabled = true;
            // These will have to happen in the subclasses because of needing access to subclass constructor arguments/fields
            //this.TerrainData = GenerateTerrainData();
            //this.PhysicsDescription = GeneratePhysicsDescription();
            //this.Position = PhysicsSystem.toVector3(PhysicsDescription.Position);
            //game.physics.AddBody(PhysicsDescription);
        }

        protected abstract RigidBody GeneratePhysicsDescription();

        protected abstract float[,] GenerateTerrainData();

        protected void GenerateGeometry()
        {
            int index = 0; // vertex index counter, used to create index buffer
            Indices = new int[(terrainWidth - 1) * (terrainHeight - 1) * (2 * 3)]; // each quad requires 2 tris, each tri requires 3 vertices
            Vertices = new VertexPositionNormalColor[terrainWidth * terrainHeight];

            // create a vertex for each point on the terrain grid
            for (int z = 0; z < terrainWidth; z++)
            {
                for (int x = 0; x < terrainHeight; x++)
                {

                    // create a vertex for each point on the terrain square grid
                    // vertex list is a 1D representation of the 2D terrain
                    Vertices[x + z * terrainWidth].Position = this.Position + new Vector3(z*xScale, TerrainData[z, x], x*zScale);
                    //vertex_list[x + z * terrainWidth].Color = getTerrainColour(TerrainData[x, z], (float)minHeight, (float)maxHeight);
                    Vertices[x + z * terrainWidth].Color = colorFromHeight(TerrainData[z, x]);
                    Vertices[x + z * terrainWidth].Normal = Vector3.Zero;

                    // add vertex indices to index buffer, creating two triangles for each quad, forming a terrain mesh grid
                    // visit vertices in order that creates CW triangle and store that path in index list
                    if (z < (terrainWidth - 1) && x < (terrainWidth - 1)) // check bounds - we fill from top left corner
                    {
                        int upperLeft = z * terrainWidth + x;
                        int upperRight = upperLeft + 1;
                        int bottomLeft = upperLeft + terrainWidth;
                        int bottomRight = bottomLeft + 1;

                        // first triangle
                        Indices[index++] = upperLeft;
                        Indices[index++] = bottomLeft;
                        Indices[index++] = upperRight;

                        // second triangle
                        Indices[index++] = upperRight;
                        Indices[index++] = bottomLeft;
                        Indices[index++] = bottomRight;

                    }
                }
            }
            // each group of 3 in the index buffer represents a triangle
            for (int i = 0; i < Indices.Length; i += 3)
            {
                // take 3 indices
                var i1 = Indices[i];
                var i2 = Indices[i + 1];
                var i3 = Indices[i + 2];

                // look up their corresponding vertices such that you get the points of a triangle
                var p1 = Vertices[Indices[i]];
                var p2 = Vertices[Indices[i + 1]];
                var p3 = Vertices[Indices[i + 2]];

                // the normal vector to a plane is the cross product of two orthonormal vectors on the plane
                var U = p1.Position - p2.Position;
                var V = p1.Position - p3.Position;
                var N = Vector3.Cross(V, U); //Vector3.Cross(side1, side2);

                // accumulate normals for each vertex for later averaging
                Vertices[i1].Normal += N;
                Vertices[i2].Normal += N;
                Vertices[i3].Normal += N;
            }

            // normalise the summed normals to get the average normal
            // this produces a normal that is the average of the normals to the triangle faces surrounding the vertex and is smoother over the terrain
            // not super sure if this needs to be done, but I guess IEEE754 floats are more accurate around 0 after being manipulated by shaders, etc
            for (int i = 0; i < Vertices.Length; i++)
            {
                Vertices[i].Normal.Normalize();
            }
        }

        protected void CreateBuffers()
        {
            // Finally, create the buffers
            this.VertexBuffer = Buffer.Vertex.New(
                game.GraphicsDevice,
                Vertices
            );
            this.IndexBuffer = Buffer.Index.New(
                game.GraphicsDevice,
                Indices
            );
            this.inputLayout = VertexInputLayout.FromBuffer<VertexPositionNormalColor>(0, (Buffer<VertexPositionNormalColor>)VertexBuffer);
        }

        public override void Draw(SharpDX.Toolkit.GameTime gametime)
        {
            if (PhysicsDescription.EnableDebugDraw && PersistentStateManager.debugRender && PhysicsDescription != null)
            {
                PhysicsDescription.DebugDraw(game.debugDrawer);
            }
            game.GraphicsDevice.SetVertexBuffer((Buffer<VertexPositionNormalColor>)VertexBuffer);
            game.GraphicsDevice.SetIndexBuffer(IndexBuffer, true);
            game.GraphicsDevice.SetVertexInputLayout(inputLayout);

            // Not sure if this makes a difference?
            RasterizerState rs = SharpDX.Toolkit.Graphics.RasterizerState.New(game.GraphicsDevice,
                new SharpDX.Direct3D11.RasterizerStateDescription()
                {
                    CullMode = SharpDX.Direct3D11.CullMode.Back,
                    FillMode = SharpDX.Direct3D11.FillMode.Solid,
                });
            game.GraphicsDevice.SetRasterizerState(rs);

            // Apply BasicEffect stuff in superclass
            base.Draw(gametime);

            foreach (EffectPass pass in basicEffect.CurrentTechnique.Passes)
            {
                pass.Apply();
                game.GraphicsDevice.DrawIndexed(PrimitiveType.TriangleList, IndexBuffer.ElementCount);

            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Converts a height value between 0 and 1 into a color, based on a terrain height color scheme
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="heightval">The height value between 0.0f and 1.0f to convert into a color</param>
        /// <returns>SharpDX.Color struct with the appropriate color data for the given height value</returns>
        protected virtual Color colorFromHeight(float heightval)
        {
            Color color;
            Random rand = new Random(System.DateTime.Now.Millisecond);
            float waterlevel = 0.1f;
            //heightval += rand.NextFloat(-0.05f,0.05f);

            // setup colors
            Vector3 brown = new Vector3(150f, 120f, 90f) / 255f;
            Vector3 green = Color.ForestGreen.ToVector3();
            Vector3 white = Color.White.ToVector3();
            Vector3 stone = new Vector3(71f / 255, 79f / 255, 100f / 255);
            Vector3 black = Color.DarkBlue.ToVector3();

            // shift scaling float to between 0.0f and 1.0f
            heightval -= minHeight;
            heightval /= maxHeight;

            if (heightval < waterlevel)
            {
                // decay from brown to black
                color = interpolateColors(black, brown, heightval / waterlevel);
            }
            else
            {
                // adjust to 0->1 scale
                float newScale = (heightval - waterlevel) / (1 - waterlevel);
                if (newScale < 0.25f)
                {
                    color = interpolateColors(brown, green, newScale / 0.25f);
                }
                else if (newScale < 0.50f)
                {
                    color = interpolateColors(green, stone, (newScale - 0.25f) / 0.25f);
                }
                else
                {
                    color = interpolateColors(stone, white, (newScale - 0.5f) / 0.5f);
                }
                //color = interpolateColors(brown, white, newScale);
            }

            return color;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Returns a color at a certain amount between two given colors in the RGB space
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="colorA">Color to start at (returned if 0.0f distance given)</param>
        /// <param name="colorB">Color to end at (returned if 1.0f distance given)</param>
        /// <param name="distance">Float value between 0 and 1</param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        private Color interpolateColors(Vector3 colorA, Vector3 colorB, float distance)
        {
            if (distance < 0.0f)
            {
                //Console.WriteLine("Invalid color value " + distance + " supplied for interpolation, clipping to 0");
                distance = 0.0f;
            }
            else if (distance > 1.0f)
            {
                //Console.WriteLine("Invalid color value " + distance + " supplied for interpolation, clipping to 1");
                distance = 1.0f;
            }
            // calculate distance vector from A -> B
            Vector3 diff = colorB - colorA;
            return new Color(colorA + (distance * diff));
        }

        public void Destroy()
        {
            this.Parent.RemoveChild(this);
        }

        public void Destroy(bool Async = false)
        {
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }
    }
}


text:
4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business
By Soren Gordhamer 2009-09-22 13:08:31 UTC
Soren Gordhamer writes and consults on ways we can more creatively and effectively use the technologies of our age, including social media. He is the author of "Wisdom 2.0" (HarperOne, 2009). You can follow him on Twitter at @SorenG.
Social media is helping to forge a new era in business transparency and engagement, creating both new challenges and opportunities. Gone are the days when companies could rely on carefully crafted press releases or flashy ad campaigns to communicate with their customers, often in an attempt to convince people that their products are the best in the field. In the age of social media, the rules have changed radically, and people today demand a more honest and direct relationship with the companies with which they do business.
Companies now face a clear choice: wall themselves in and become increasingly controlled and hidden, or use social media and other means to reveal their human side, welcome transparency, and forge new relationships with their customers. The old game is undoubtedly over, and the question now is, "what can businesses do to transition and succeed in this new era?"
Below are the top four broad shifts that social media is causing in business. Please feel free to share any others you have observed in the comments.
1. From "Trying to Sell" to "Making Connections"
In order to change the context of customer relationships from trying to sell to seeking to engage and connect with customers, companies need to use various means, including sites like Facebook and Twitter, to socially interact with people. The most popular brands in social media tend to post less about their products or services and more about things that help their customers get to know the people and personality of a company. Their goal is less about "selling" and more "engaging" — and, as a result, through such engagement people feel more comfortable doing business with those companies.
Jeff Swartz, who is the President and CEO of the Timberland Company, is a great example of this. Swartz uses his Twitter account to show his personality by tweeting about his life and the social issues he is passionate about, rather than the shoes his company makes. He also links from his Twitter bio to Timberland's Earthkeeper project that supports environmental awareness, rather than to the company homepage, in an effort to make a connection with people around something that goes beyond just the products Timberland sells.
Lesson: Release fewer "official statements" and more personal ones that help you make a connection to your customers and audience.
2. From "Large Campaigns" to "Small Acts"
With sites like Facebook and Twitter, we all essentially have our own broadcasting network, and businesses are beginning to see that rather than spending millions of dollars on traditional ad campaigns, small acts can be more valuable because people will inevitably share such experiences through the social web.
In the past, if we had a very bad or very good experience with a company, it could take days or weeks to tell all of our friends and relatives about it. Today, in a matter of minutes, we can let all our friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter know about what happened. When every customer experience can be easily and widely broadcast, small issues become super important.
Loic Le Meur, CEO of startup software company Seesmic, once told me that one of the most important jobs of a CEO today is to hear what people are saying about the company's product across social media channels, and to respond to them directly. In fact, much of his Twitter stream is @replies to people commenting on his company's product.
Bigger companies, such as Southwest Airlines and Comcast are using Twitter in the same way, making sure customers' concerns are addressed. Because bad experiences are broadcast just as fast and just as easily as the good, it pays for companies to pay attention to the one-on-one customer relationships forged via social media.
Lesson: Instead of only relying on big campaigns, make authentic, helpful relationships and communication the new campaign.
3. From "Controlling Our Image" to "Being Ourselves"
Of course companies need to have employee policies, and there is such a thing as bad press, but look at the most popular companies in the era of social media, and you'll generally find the ones that give their employees freedom to be themselves in online spaces. The goal should no longer be to create a very controlled and polished image that everyone in a company tries to reinforce, but rather to give employees the means necessary to be human beings that can put a friendly face on the corporation.
I am not sure how NBC directs the social media efforts of their employees, but in watching NBC newscaster Ann Curry (@AnnCurry) on Twitter it is clear that she is not simply trying to get people to watch her shows. Curry is someone who speaks out about women's rights, deeply cares about justice, and likes to quote the Persian poet, Rumi — there is a person there, not a company representative, and as such, I am much more likely to pay attention when and if she does talk about any of her television shows.
John Nack, the Principal Product Manager for Photoshop at Adobe, offers another great example. Adobe is a company that smartly encourages and provides the means for their employees to blog, and anyone who reads Nack's blog will notice that Adobe doesn't put many restrictions on what people write about. Nack's blog is focused almost exclusively on his area of interest — graphic design and photo manipulation — but he doesn't post solely about Adobe products. Many of the interesting art projects and articles he links to have nothing to do with Adobe and some may even have been created using software from competing companies.
Lesson: Forget the unified company image, give staff the freedom to be themselves, and trust that the relationships that they build will help the company in the long run.
4. From "Hard to Reach" to "Available Everywhere"
To engage with customers, it is no longer enough to have an email address and customer service number on one's website. Today, people want to interact with and engage businesses via their chosen means of communication, whether that is Twitter, Facebook, discussion forums, or a feedback site like Get Satisfaction.
If I want to communicate with a company, I tend to look them up on Twitter first. Knowing that I can communicate with a company on the networks upon which I am already most active makes me feel more comfortable doing business with them, because I know that if I have an issue, there is someone at the company I can communicate with through those means.
Companies like Dell, for example, have fully embraced multiple channels of support. Their community site lists all the ways customers can connect with them through Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, forums, blogs, email, and more. Dell wants people to be able to connect with them through whatever channel is most comfortable.
Lesson: Rather than expect customers to communicate through your chosen means, allow them to do so through their chosen means.
The New Business Paradigm in the Age of Social Media
In this new era of social media, companies are asked to be increasingly transparent and personal. Of course, traditional advertising and press releases will still have their place, but social sites such as Twitter and Facebook allow a whole new type of communication to take place that has previously been unknown to most businesses. Possibly more important for businesses than getting a large number of followers on social media sites, is following through on the opportunity to forge more genuine and direct connections with their customers.
Businesses who choose not to adapt to the new culture will be at an increasing disadvantage, as their customers slowly build personal relationships with their competitors. We are now in the age of open communication, engaged dialogue, and transparency, and business success may now have less to do with the size of ad budgets, but on the quality of interactions with customers.
More business resources from Mashable:
- Top 5 Business Blogging Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- 5 Social Media Lessons Learned From Whole Foods
- 6 Must-Follow Steps for Selling in Any Economy
- 5 Easy Social Media Wins for Your Small Business
- HOW TO: Use Twitter Hashtags for Business
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, studiovision
Topics: Business, Business Lists, contributor, Facebook, Marketing, Small Business, Social Media, Twitter

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
2:00 PM PT3:00 PM MT4:00 PM CT5:00 PM ET9:00 PM GMT5:00 AM 北京时间2:00 PM MST4:00 PM EST, Sep. 23, 2017
Torero Stadium, San Diego, California Attendance: 1,701
Lawrence throws 5 TD passes; San Diego beats Butler 38-17
Kansas reinstates top RB Williams
ESPN hires former QB Leaf as analyst
2 Eastern Washington players shot
SAN DIEGO (AP) Anthony Lawrence threw for 367 yards and matched a career-best with five touchdowns to lead San Diego to a 38-17 victory over Butler on Saturday in a Pioneer League opener.
The Toreros (2-2, 1-0) have won 28 straight league home games. San Diego's last league home loss was on Oct. 9, 2010 against Dayton, 21-20.
Justin Priest caught three scores and finished with nine receptions for 148 yards. Tight end Ross Dwelley had six catches including a 13-yard touchdown with 44 seconds left before halftime to give San Diego (2-2, 1-0) a 31-14 lead.
Will Marty was 23 of 42 for 260 yards passing and threw two touchdown passes to Pace Temple for Butler (2-2, 0-1). Temple had eight catches for 155 yards.
More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25


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text:
RSS Feed Twitter Facebook LinkedIn
Polling & Analysis
Dial Testing
Grassroots Projects
Voter Contact
Public Affairs Professionals
Political Consultants
Pollsters
Municipalities and Government Agencies
The Edge: Competitive Edge Blog
Did We Call You?
Focus Group & Panel Sign-Up
Request for Proposal, Quote or Services
The Competitive Edge management team consists of individuals who have more than 60 years of expertise in their fields as well as a passion for putting clients in the best position to win.
John Nienstedt, Sr.
Questionnaire design and script writing
Focus group moderation
Dial-testing using Perception Analyzer
Early in his career, John Nienstedt worked in local political campaigns, was an aide to a San Diego County Supervisor and managed a 300-person political phone center in Texas. He and a partner founded Competitive Edge Research & Communication, Inc. in 1987. John acquired sole ownership of the firm in 1991, computerized the operation in 1992, expanded it in 1995 and again in 1998. CERC opened its El Paso call center in 2017.
John earned his master's degree in political science from SDSU with an emphasis in social science research. His thesis was titled "A Practical Strategy for Predicting Voter Turnout in Pre-Election Polling." John is CERC's principal analyst and moderates its focus groups.
John is a featured speaker at campaign seminars and is frequently called on by the media and other organizations to shed light on political and polling issues. He has written articles for the U-T San Diego and Campaigns & Elections magazine. John is a member of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the American Association of Political Consultants, the Insights Association and the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), presenting papers at two AAPOR conferences. John received the SBA's Entrepreneurial Success Award for 2000. John and his wife married in 2000 and have a son. He is Mexican on his mother's side, a native San Diegan and an avid baseball player and fan.
Ronald Zavala
Interviewer scheduling
Supervision of support staff
Focus group recruitment
Ronald Zavala began his phone center career as an interviewer in 1996. Since then, he's acquired a wealth of interviewing, supervisorial and management skills, having worked in qualitative research, medical data, and quantitative research.
Ronald received his bachelor of arts in Classics (Greek and Latin emphasis) from San Diego State University. He was honored as the Outstanding Graduate in his class, Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Ronald also earned a teaching credential in the same subject from SDSU. He was raised in Central America, is fluent in Spanish, and served honorably for two enlistments in the U.S. Navy as a Quartermaster (navigator's assistant). His interests include Christian theology and apologetics, Mexican history and music, Chihuahuas, and Bob Dylan bootleg recordings.
Libbie Nienstedt
Libbie earned her BA in Liberal Arts at Cal State Fullerton in 1990. She has worked for Competitive Edge since 2014 and is responsible for billing, accounts receivable and payroll. Previously she served as an event planner for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Lawrence Sherman
Data quality management
Data weighting
Report production
Internet survey programing and administration
Lawrence has been a part of the CERC team since February, 2006. He started as an audio-visual technician and then began his career as an interviewer shortly thereafter. After two months he became a part-time Floor Support Team member, and in January, 2008, was promoted to full-time Floor Support. His success as an interviewer, excellence as Floor Support, and willingness to learn and help out provided him the opportunity to assist in an unofficial capacity which ultimately lead to his promotion as Assistant Call Center Manager in July, 2010.
In September, 2017, Lawrence was promoted to Research Manager. He is responsible for the data collected by the firm; the production of fast, flawless, and beautiful reports and charting; as well as web survey programming and panel management, an ever-expanding area for Competitive Edge.
Lawrence's interests include playing video games and occasionally playing soccer. He is an avid sports enthusiast; enjoying sports of all types, particularly watching "his" Raiders.
David Ferree
David has worked in survey research since 1996 when he managed a call center in Reading, Pennsylvania and was responsible for all personnel management, project management and facility management. During his career he has served as a Director of Site Development, a Director of Training and Development, and a Director of Field Services. He has expertise in research planning and design, questionnaire development, interface with analysts and subject matter experts, project scheduling, training of management/supervisory staff and ensuring on time deliverables. David is a Spanish speaker, developing interviewing capabilities and administrative structure for bilingual research as well as advising on cultural aspects of research design and implementation and questionnaire design.
Jenny Holland
Jenny Holland holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from Washington State University (2013, 2009) and a B.A. in political science and English from California State University, Bakersfield (2007). She most recently taught political science at Ohio Wesleyan University. Jenny's areas of expertise include public opinion, voting and elections, and political communication. She has advanced training in both quantitative and qualitative research, including statistical analysis and evaluation research entailing mixed-methods study designs, as well as survey methodology, including questionnaire design, data analysis, and interpretation of results.
Jenny is a proud California native.
Debra Keel Cooper
• Qualitative Research Analysis
Debra's public affairs and political consulting experience runs deep. She began her career in the fast-paced environment of national politics, providing project management and research analysis for Eddie Mahe, Jr. & Associates; Dresner, Sykes, Jordan & Townsend; and Bush-Quayle '92. In 1993 she returned to San Diego and the market research department of Stoorza, Ziegaus & Metzger, and in 1997 joined the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation to lead the organization's strategic planning, marketing, and public affairs initiatives.
In 2001 Debra stepped out of her breakfast, lunch, and dinner meeting job to dedicate herself to her family and community. In addition to raising two sons with her husband, Craig, she became increasingly involved with Poway Unified schools, establishing two school-site foundations and volunteering in numerous capacities for individual schools and PUSD as a whole. In 2016 she obtained first-hand experience as a candidate for political office, finishing third among nine candidates for the two seats open on the Poway Unified School Board.
Debra reconnected with Competitive Edge in 2013 (having worked with CERC as a client in 1995-96) and has been developing qualitative research analyses for CERC clients for the last four years. She defines her job as thoughtful listener and interpreter, discovering patterns and insights to inform clients' interests in the areas of advertising effectiveness, message development, and public, community, and media relations.
A native Southern Californian, Debra holds a bachelor's degree in Social Science with a minor in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.
Gwen Ramsey
Gwen Ramsey is the first person you'll meet when entering Competitive Edge Research & Communication's El Paso call center. She is responsible for managing office operations, company events, payroll and personnel matters. Gwen began working at CERC's San Diego headquarters in May, 2014. Like so many CERC employees, she began as a Telephone Interviewer. Gwen worked her way up to Quality Assurance Coach and then was promoted to Administrative Assistant. She moved to El Paso in January, 2017 to prep the new call center.
Gwen earned a Business Management Certificate in 2007 from Grossmont Adult School. She also studied and earned her diploma in Telecommunications from Associated Technical College in San Diego, becoming a certified Fiber Optic and Premise Cabling Technician. Gwen enjoys activities with her daughter such as hiking, fishing, camping, or curling up with good books, as they both love to read. Both she and her daughter, who aspires to become a veterinarian, are ardent animal lovers.
Olivia Perry
Assistant Call Center Manager
Olivia Perry moved from San Diego to CERC's beautiful new El Paso call center and has really showed her management stripes in this short amount of time. Moving forward, she will be working with David Ferree to oversee CERC's call center operations as our Assistant Call Center Manager. She'll be responsible for the Quality Assurance Coaches, scheduling interviewers and serve as David's back-up.
1620 5th Avenue, Suite 825 ■ San Diego, CA 92101 ■ Phone 619.702.2372 ■ Fax 619.702.2272 ■ Toll-Free 800.576.2372 © 2017 Competitve Edge Research & Communication ■ All Rights Reserved ■ Privacy Policy ■ San Diego Web Design


text:
VIDEO: Hero cop rescues five teens from storm drain
MASSILLION, Ohio (WPVI) -- A police officer in Massillion, Ohio, is being hailed as a hero after he spearheaded the rescue of five teens trapped in a sewer tunnel after they were swept away by rushing water.
The officer, Aaron Franklin, responded to the teens cries for help and leapt into action despite treacherous conditions and slippery surfaces, according to CNN. With assistance from the local fire department, he was able to rescue the first two kids after making initial contact with them. Later, the rescue team helped the other three teens emerge from the dark tunnel using ropes and an emergency rescue ring buoy.
The teens and their families were grateful for Franklin and the other rescuers' quick thinking in the rescue. But Franklin says he was just in the right place at the right time.
"Anybody that would be put in the situation that's in this line of work, they have an obligation to do so and we're gonna do it," he said.
rescuepolice officer


text:
Q: Monogame Xamarin android catch Back hardware key I'm trying to catch the back keypress (hardware) so I can prevent it exists my game but shows the game menu.
I tried overriding the OnBackPressed in my AndroidGameActivity but it doesn't trigger when pressing back. My game exists :(.
So I digged a bit deeper and saw that the on the Window member of the Game object you can use SetOnKeyListener.
I'm now having a OnKey method in my listener class which get triggered at a keypress.
That is nice to react on keypresses but it still exits my app because it didn't really override it, it is only a listener.
It still goes in the the AndroidGameActivity OnKeyDown and checks if its "Back" and then exits the app.
I saw that [https://github.com/dineshkummarc/MonoGame-2.5.1.0-0/blob/master/MonoGame.Framework/Android/AndroidGameWindow.cs
already has a OnKeyDown override. You can see there it exits the app if back is pressed.
So how can I prevent it from exiting when clicken the back hardware key?
Should I override OnDestroy and check the gamestate ?
Any help is welcome.

A: I don't think Back button will exit your game automatically. Double check that you aren't manually exiting in your Game::Update method. A lot of XNA tutorial out there has that code, so it's possible it sneaked in without you noticing.
Look for something like this:
protected override void Update(GameTime gameTime)
{
    // Allows the game to exit
    if (GamePad.GetState(PlayerIndex.One).Buttons.Back ==
        ButtonState.Pressed)
        this.Exit();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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UAB intensive Spanish courses aredesigned for quick, effective learning. Students can sign up for coursesranging from 2 to 42 weeks in length, with starting dates at the beginning ofevery month. The course consists of 20 hours per week (4 hours daily) and isavailable to students at all levels of proficiency.
The semester-long Spanish courses atUAB are designed by experts to ensure maximum exposure to grammatical, oral,and written Spanish as well as cultural elements to further comprehension,immersion and retention. The courses are available to students at all levels ofproficiency and guarantee rapid, measurable results.
The UAB's summer Spanish courses offer an excellent opportunity to spend an unforgettable summer in Barcelona whilst learning the Spanish language. The summer Spanish course combines a traditional Spanish language course consisting of classes during the morning, with a cultural program throughout the evening, which includes visits to interesting attractions in Barcelona and an excursion away from the city centre.
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Skoufa Gallery opens its first group show for 2019 entitled ''Eight artists for a woman'', on Thursday January 17th at 19:30.
Artists with different visual origins, seek to explore the symbolisation of womanhood, as it arises from a woman's various roles; Woman is portrayed as the embodiment of allurement, as the eternal, sacred symbol, or as the wanderer in search of personal freedom.
The artists Kalliopi Asargiotaki, Panagiotis Beldekos, Stefanos Daskalakis, George Hadoulis, Irene Iliopoulou, Kana Irene, Andreas Kontellis and Vaso Tzouti create an exhibition - ode to womanhood, where paintings demonstrate only a few aspects of a woman's psyche.


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School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
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SBCS students obtain industrial placements at GlaxoSmithKline
In this blog, we spoke Queen Mary University of London undergraduate students Aneesah Mukadam and Nishma Thakor about their upcoming placement year at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Aneesah and Nishma are studying Chemistry with a Year in Industry at Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences (SBCS).
Nishma Thakor
Why did you choose to study Chemistry with a Year in Industry at Queen Mary?
Aneesah: I chose this degree because I've always loved science and when I was doing my A Levels I leaned more towards Chemistry than Biology. I really like learning about how things are made and chemical processes. I chose Queen Mary because there's a lot of great research going on at the University and the labs are really professional.
Nishma: I initially did my Foundation year at Queen Mary. The experience helped me decide to go on and do a Chemistry degree. The fact that the University is part of the Russell group and I wanted to stay in London was a big factor in me deciding to study at Queen Mary.
How do you learn about the placement opportunity at GSK?
Aneesah: I always wanted to do a placement so when I saw the opportunity online I applied for the Chemistry placement in drug development and discovery at GSK.
Nishma: We regularly receive emails from Dr Chris Jones and our placement coordinator Karen Clarke informing us of the different placement opportunities so that's how I found out about GSK's placement scheme. I'm still considering what I want to do in terms of my career, so I thought a placement year would help me to get experience and learn about different careers.
How was the application process?
Aneesah: Firstly I had to do an online test and then submit an online application. One or two weeks later I received an email to do an interview. GSK actually came to Queen Mary for my interview. It was a 30-minute interview with a lot of technical Chemistry questions to test my organic chemistry knowledge.
Nishma: I had to do an online application, an online assessment testing our critical thinking and then go to their assessment centre in Hertfordshire to take a series different tests. There were three parts including a one-to-one interview, a presentation and then a group exercise. It was a competitive process with several other candidates
What support did you receive?
Aneesah: Dr Chris Jones, Dr Stellios Arsenyadis and Dr Xacobe Cambeiro all gave me some mock interviews including lots of technical questions, which gave me a lot of practice and improved my confidence for when GSK came to do my interview.
Nishma: With the presentation we were given a set of data and a draft presentation. Dr Chris Jones, my adviser Dr Lesley Howell and one of the PhD students at SBCS helped give me a good breakdown of what I needed to think about when putting my presentation together. Thanks to them, I was able to get the information required to create a strong presentation.
What are your expectations of the placement?
Aneesah: As I've never worked in an industrial lab, I'm looking forward to learning more about how it works in practice and what I could potentially be doing in the future. I want to learn about how the industry works and I might even see other types of careers I could do in the industry. It's very practical-based so I will be spending a lot of time working in the lab.
Nishma: It's an analytical chemistry placement so I'll be learning different analytical techniques using different equipment. I'm going to be doing a lot of lab work by myself and in teams. My adviser Dr Howell did a similar placement at GSK and having spoken to her, it's likely that I will also learn a lot about the whole industry, from initial research and development to the manufacturing process and beyond.
Aneesah: I would like to go into research and hopefully this placement will help me decide whether I would like to work in drug development as a career or if I would prefer to do research in another area. I feel this placement will be very useful for me when I graduate, having the experience in an industrial lab.
Nishma: I'm still considering my options but I think after the placement I will have a much better idea. For now, I plan to do the placement, see what I learn and what I enjoy, and what opportunities there are in the industry.


Full cycle development of the project. This project is under NDA.
This project is a site where individuals or companies can buy tickets for exhibitions and other events for themselves and their employees. Tickets for events are held once a year, in three stages of ticket sales.


We all have the knowledge of the excursions, the majority of them on a firsthand experience, so we can recommend what is best for you & your family. We will also know where you are and who you are with if we ever need to contact you.
2We know that everyone looks for something different on their holiday. We will work with you to give you exactly what you want. So if you don't see what you're looking for, let us know and well do our best to organize it for you.
3The guides who we appoint on the excursions all speak a very good level of English.
4In the unlikely event of an accident, we as a company have our own Public Liability Insurance, to cover all the excursions we provide to our customers.
5We at Falcon Adventure strive to please our customers. We closely monitor customer feedback of the excursions we sell to ensure that not only are they enjoyable, but also that a good service is provided along the way.
6All of our excursions pick you up directly from your hotel, so you don't need to worry about transport.
7Our prices are very competitive; we like to think that we give good, affordable prices so tourists can do more and get the best out of their holiday experience!


Tricuspid Valve Atresia (TVA) refers to a congenital heart condition that is characterized by the complete lack of a tricuspid valve. This lack of communication between the right heart chambers results in a hypo plastic right ventricle.
Because the tricuspid valve is absent NO BLOOD WILL TRAVEL DIRECTLY FROM THE RIGHT ATRIUM TO THE RIGHT VENTRICLE. As a result, less blood will be pumped out to the lungs.
Decreased pulmonary markings: this is due to the lack of blood flow to the lungs.
Small/absent R waves in precordial leads: similar reasons as to why left axis deviation is seen in TVA.
Tall/peaked P waves: the atrial spatial defect permits increased blood flow to the right atrium which causes its enlargement (in turn causing this EKG finding).


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Swords, ice, spaceships and Scotland. Humankind has reached the end of the line. Every nation, every lineage, every tribe has come to the end of its line. Can life go on after the end of the world?
Set 200 years into the future, the world is caught in the grip of an ice age. A great Ring of Ice advances upon all living things that remain. While wolves enjoy a resurgence in number, and wild places come back to life, mankind's die-hard survivors battle to the last.
What can arrest our downward spiral, our slipping fortunes? Civilization falls back in time to something resembling a medieval way of life. There is no electricity, not even paper. Only two fortresses of men remain in this grim setting. And the leaders of these two last Houses are brothers. Rivals. Both are well aware that if our species is to survive the relentless attrition of the advancing ice, the winner inherits the Earth. Winner takes all.
Two Wolves battle for the fates of our race on the Western seaboard of the country once known as Scotland (now Alba). One leader, the elf-like Christopher Ulysses, possesses the Lightning Sword, a weapon of unfathomable power, able to harness and weaponise lightning. The other, the bear-like figure of Ogilvie Skye, has an enormous army at his disposal. Tens of thousands of warriors. Who will win?
BLOODLINE is a fiction series written by Nick van der Leek.
Details on where you can purchase these books will be available soon…


Here's your opportunity to learn all about R, the lingua franca of data science, now ranked #6 in popularity among all programming languages.
This webinar will cover the history of R, how it's used and why it's so popular in analytics applications. We'll introduce the R language and community, and give examples of R in action, with demos from Microsoft R Open.
You will also learn about the enhancements we've included in Microsoft R Open, including enhanced performance, features for reproducible programming, and the new CRAN Time Machine.


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Q: ZTE Modem not working on Ubuntu 18.04 I have run the command lsusb and got the following code:
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:8000 Intel Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 8087:07dc Intel Corp.
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 5986:055d Acer, Inc
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:0129 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTS5129 Card Reader Controller
Bus 002 Device 014: ID 09da:c10a A4Tech Co., Ltd.
Bus 002 Device 028: ID 19d2:2003 ZTE WCDMA Technologies MSM
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

It shows the Modem but I can not find it on the network section, even after unmount the 'ZTE USB SCSI CD-ROM (2.31)' device from the disk. What should I do? Or, Can anyone tell me the process of installing modem handler like Windows OS ?

A: I had similar problem with modem ZTE MF112 produced for Russian mobile provider MTS. In Ubuntu 15.10 and in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS it is recognized as 19d2:2003 ZTE WCDMA Technologies MSM. Now I have partially solved my problem with it. It connects to mobile network and provides Internet, but sometimes it is necessary to unplug and again plug the modem three times for the system to see it. Try to take the following steps:

*

*Install the usb-modeswitch package if it is not already installed.

*In the folder  /usr/share/usb_modeswitch create a text document with the name 19d2:2000. Its content should be

# ZTE devices

  ReleaseDelay=9000

  ReleaseDelay=9000

  TargetVendor= 0x19d2

  TargetProductList="0001,0002,0015,0016,0017,0019,0031,0033,0037,0042,0052,0055,0061,0063,0064,0066,0091,0108,0117,0128,0151,0157,0177,1402,2002,2003"

  StandardEject=1

  MessageContent="55534243123456782000000080000c85010101180101010101000000000000"

*Edit the file /etc/usb_modeswitch.conf and set the option SetStorageDelay=6 in it. You can also uncomment the line EnableLogging=1 and then you will see the log file /var/log/usb_modeswitch.log with modem errors if they occur.


How's your week been? I was celebrating my Birthday and was thoroughly spoiled so can't complain at all. I'm still struggling to pick my featured bloggers each week as the contributions to the link-up are so high quality. So this week after much deliberating I went for this one from this Scribbler Mum. She makes really good points about how we can apply creativity to everyday activities to refresh our daily routine! Pop over to Lucy's page to find out who her featured blogger is. Both bloggers are of course free to grab yourselves the 'featured blogger' badge of course.


Phoenix Half Marathan Race Recap: Well that didn't go as planned.
I thought I could power through and after all the races I missed last November & December from my sprained ankle, I did not want to miss another race (that I paid for!) At the starting line of this race, I talked with a few people that were also running on injuries and how we runners just won't give up and want to race no matter what! That's the kind of people we are.
So Friday, I'm literally driving to the expo, when I get a text from the dude I was dating ending things completely. I called him and we had a very horrible/mean/heartbreaking conversation. As I was driving to the damn expo! So I literally walked in, picked up my packet and left. I didn't even stay and grab a shirt. Just got my bib and walked out.
I was so upset all day, I didn't eat anything. Not a smart decision before a half but I couldn't even think about food. I went to bed early but woke up at 1 am and my mind was spinning so I couldn't go back to sleep. I just laid in bed till 3:00 came and it was time to get ready. I did eat some oatmeal and brought a banana to eat at the start.
The start line was FREEZING. We were huddled around heat lamps but they were the tall kind so the tops of our heads were all that could feel any heat and that was only when the wind wasn't blowing. We stood out there for about 1.5 hours and the whole time I kept thinking about how I should just go home. I shouldn't run. I was in no position. My heads not in the game. I didn't eat enough or drink any water yesterday. My body is sick. I shouldn't be here!
But I came all this way and paid all this money so I ran. The first two miles, my feet were literally numb from the cold. By mile 3 they defrosted but now I was running on pins and needles. My race plan was to start off slow and pick up the pace at mile 4 but by the time it was mile 4 I was exhausted, upset and so disheartened by the whole weekend I just couldn't go any faster. Already.
By mile 5 I just started to walk. I pretty much gave up. Around mile 8, by BFF AL texted me good luck. With schedules and stuff, I haven't seen AL for about a month and I didn't remind him that I was doing this so in my emotional state and knowing he remembered and cared, it literally made me burst into tears. I must've liked a crazy person crying on the course. I texted him back that I just couldn't keep going and he gave me a little encouragement and he always listens to me complain. I walked so so much of the course but I kept moving forward despite how badly I wanted to stop and how many times I texted AL to come pick me up.
Am I Ready for the Phoenix Half?
And it's tomorrow…. yikes bikes.
I've had this hacking awful cold for about a week now and I can barely even breathe sometimes; its awful! I can't believe I'll be sick for another half marathon. It'll be the third time I've done a half while sick. 3 out of 8. Those aren't great odds.
I know I can do it. I always know I can. I can run 13.1 miles. I'm just going to go in as positive as possible and take the pressure of a PR off myself. In the mean time, I'm taking every single pill I think will help in the slightest to kick this cold and I can breathe again.


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American Murder-for-Hire Plot Has Kremlin Connections
Leonid Teyf allegedly put out a contract on his wife's lover and said he'd rub out the man's whole family. In short, he acted like he was still in Putin's Russia, not Raleigh, N.C.
Amy Knight
Updated Feb. 08, 2019 11:41AM ET / Published Feb. 08, 2019 4:39AM ET
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast
Russian businessman Evgeny Prigozhin (a.k.a. "Putin's chef") has had a spate of bad luck recently. Last week his cover was blown when Special Counsel Robert Mueller revealed that Prigozhin's Internet Research Agency, the so-called Troll Factory, had used discovery material from Mueller's own case against Prigozhin to try to launch a disinformation campaign discrediting the probe.
Worse than that embarrassing exposure, Prigozhin's long-time crony Leonid Teyf, the guy responsible for getting Prigozhin billions of rubles worth of contracts with Russia's Ministry of Defense, was indicted in Raleigh, North Carolina in December on charges of murder for hire, money laundering, bribing a public official and owning a gun with the serial numbers obliterated, among other offenses.
The round-faced, gray-mustached 57-year-old Teyf looked bleary-eyed in his mug shot after the FBI's Dec. 5 raid on his multi-million-dollar white-columned mansion backing onto the greens and sand traps of Raleigh's exclusive North Ridge Country Club.
If Teyf is not directly involved in the conspiracies at the heart of the Mueller probe, there are only one or two degrees of separation. He and Prigozhin, Russian President Vladimir Putin's go-to guy for semi-deniable skulduggery, have a long and infamous association.
At a minimum Teyf's case in North Carolina, which will be tried in early April, has drawn renewed attention in Russia to a huge scam he and Prigozhin allegedly were involved in, along with former Russian Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov.
Prigozhin, who enjoys Putin's unwavering protection—despite being named in Mueller's Troll Factory indictment and sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for interference in the U.S. election—will no doubt survive these upsets as long as he stays home in Russia. But his friend Teyf, who brazenly thought he could get away with mafia-style behavior here in the United States, is facing a grim future.
According to court documents, Teyf was planning on moving back to Russia, where he has several lavish homes—and lots of money in Russian banks. Instead, he is sitting in a Raleigh jail awaiting trial after trying to arrange the murder of his wife's lover and talking about wiping out the young man's whole family because, after all, that's the way he and the mob around Putin are used to doing things.
The Casino Skim
Teyf's friendship with Prigozhin began in St. Petersburg, where Prigozhin, after a lengthy prison stint during the 1980s for robbery, had already remade himself as a successful entrepreneur, with the help of Russian organized crime and Putin.
Prigozhin and Russian businessmen Igor Gorbenko and Boris Spektor started investing in St. Petersburg gambling casinos in the early 1990s. As the city's deputy mayor, Putin was responsible for the licensing of casinos, several of which were run by former KGB officers with mafia connections.
Two figures who served as a liaison between the mayor's office and organized crime groups were Roman Tsepov and Viktor Zolotov, who were friends of Prigozhin and ran a private security firm, called Baltik-Eskort—connected to the notorious Tambov-Malyshev gang. (Zolotov now heads the powerful Russian National Guard.) Although the city of St. Petersburg owned 51 percent of the casinos, most of the profits were skimmed off in "black cash" to various members of the criminal underworld. But the mayor's office doubtless got its share.
"Motherfucker…I don't have any choice but to go to Russia, call on the guys and whack his entire family."
— Leonid Teyf telling undercover officer about his wife's lover
Putin writes in his autobiography First Person that he was unaware of the scam: "The casino owners showed us only losses on the books… If I had stayed in Peter [St. Petersburg] I would have squeezed those casinos to the end and forced them to share their profits with the city."
That did not prevent Putin as president from promoting the New Island, a restaurant that Prigozhin opened up in St. Petersburg in 1998. Putin brought a cast of global leaders, including French President Jacques Chirac, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, George W. Bush and Colin Powell, to the restaurant and even celebrated his birthday there in 2003. Prigozhin also won lucrative contracts to cater major Kremlin events.
Meanwhile, Teyf had been running a fish processing company, Delta-Plus, in the city of Astrakhan. The company, the largest in the lower Volga region, with a reported annual revenue of $14 million, received acclaim in 2011 when the region's governor gave Teyf an award for "his great contribution to the socio-economic development of the Astrakhan Region."
In 2009 and 2010, Delta-Plus, which was liquidated in 2015, received contracts from the Russian Ministry of Defense to provide fish to the military. Teyf also had been investing in St. Petersburg. In 2006, his company ZAO Terra Nova, bought for land reclamation, in a dubious auction, 4.7 million square meters of the Gulf of Finland west of Vasilievsky Island, where Prigozhin owned restaurants. The company planned on building passenger facilities for cruise boats and a business center.
Teyf's plan to develop the area did not go forward for whatever reason, and Terra Nova ended up selling the property. But within a few years Teyf had enough connections in Putin's St. Petersburg circles to land, in 2010, a very lucrative Moscow job as first deputy chief of Voentorg, a firm that outsourced catering, laundry and other services for the Russian military.
The idea of outsourcing these services was the brainchild of Anatoly Serdyukov, who became Putin's Minister of Defense in 2007, after serving as head of the Federal Tax Service.
Significantly, Spanish police investigating the Russian mafia in Spain wrote in a 2009 report that Serdyukov was the principle Russian politician for coordination between Putin's Kremlin circle and the Tambov-Malyshev organized crime group.
Serdyukov, a former St. Petersburg furniture salesman who was known to frequent Prigozhin's restaurants and was the son-in-law at the time of then-Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, supposedly was appointed by Putin in order to "restore order" in the Ministry of Defense. But, in handing over services that were previously administered by the MOD to Voentorg, Serdyukov created the opportunity for a massive fraud.
In 2012, at the instigation of Teyf, Prigozhin's subsidiaries were contracted (without competition) to provide over 90 percent of all food, laundry, and sanitation services to the military for two years, for an estimated 92 billion rubles (almost $3 billion). Teyf not only got kickbacks from Prigozhin; according to the Moscow Post, he was also selling Voentorg management positions in the military districts for $100,000 and up.
The Voentorg fraud did not go unnoticed in the Russian independent media. Novaya Gazeta reported in November 2012: "Leonid Teyf, having moved to Moscow from the shores of the Neva… has already survived the replacement of several leaders, to assume complete control of [Voentorg]. The greatest asset of Leonid Teyf is his relationship of trust with Evgeny Prigozhin. It was Teyf who provided Prigozhin with the first outsourcing contracts for the supply of food to army units... And now the work on the transfer to Prigozhin of the provision of food, sanitary and laundry services to the army has reached the final stage." (In fact, the paper estimated the total amount of Prigozhin's contracts to be worth 140 billion rubles (over $4 billion) annually.)
According to the Russian website Meduza: "This was the peak of Prigozhin's career. He flew in private planes and paid for it in cash. In letters, Prigozhin referred to himself as an adviser to the presidential administration and a knight of the 'For Merit to the Fatherland Order,' although there's no official record of him ever winning this honor."
Serdyukov did not fare as well. He was fired in late 2012, ostensibly because of negligence in the case of alleged fraud in the ministry's property department, run by a glamorous lady named Evgenia Vasileva, whom Serdyukov later married. Vasileva cost the ministry several billion rubles worth of losses by selling off military property at reduced prices. (In October 2012, during searches of Vasileva's 13-room apartment in the center of Moscow, police found an impressive collection of antiques and paintings, as well as a stash of jewelry, including diamonds, emeralds and rubies, weighing 19 kilos.)
Serdyukov was investigated and later pardoned for his role in the property department affair, while his bride-to-be was sentenced to five years in prison, but was released within a couple of months. Serdyukov is now director of aviation for the state company Rostekh. ( It was later revealed that in early 2012, Serdyukov received the highest Kremlin honor, the "Hero of Russia" award.)
The Indispensable Man
At first everybody speculated that the new defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, would put a stop to the scheme of kickbacks for military contracts and speculation that the gravy train of Teyf and Prigozhin would dry up. But, although Teyf did leave his post at Voentorg, Prigozhin continued to receive lucrative contracts for services to the military.
According to an early 2016 investigation by Aleksei Navalny's Fund Against Corruption, Prigozhin "found a new niche for receiving billions from the military budget." On the direct initiative of Shoigu, companies affiliated with Prigozhin had in 2015 received contracts—with no competitive bidding—of more than 40 billion rubles ($606 million) to provide housing and public utilities to military bases in Russia.
It is not hard to explain why Prigozhin kept benefiting from the Kremlin's largesse and also why he escapes any repercussions for his corruption. Prigozhin has become indispensable to Putin, offering his services in two crucial areas.
In 2012, at the height of nationwide street protests against the Kremlin, Prigozhin's employees at his firm Concord started collecting information at rallies that was then used in a controversial NTV documentary "Anatomy of a Protest," that accused demonstrators of being paid by the West. In the wake of the Voentorg scandal, Prigozhin started a campaign for an "honest media," targeting journalists who exposed the scandal and accusing them of publishing false information. (A bit like Trump's "fake news.")
Prigozhin even had one of his employees get a job with Novaya Gazeta, where she could secretly collect information on the paper's operations. These efforts might explain why the Kremlin later assigned Prigozhin's Internet Research Agency the task of messing up our 2016 presidential elections, which proved highly successful.
Another hugely important Prigozhin contribution is his sponsorship, together with Russian military intelligence (the GRU), of the Kremlin's private armies—mercenaries who are hired to carry out covert missions for the Kremlin. With his background in contract services for the MOD, it made sense for Prigozhin to support regiments such as Wagner, which has operated in such places as Eastern Ukraine, Syria and Central Africa. A commander of Wagner, former GRU Col. Dmitry Utkin, was identified by Mueller's team as a director of Prigozhin's firm Concord in 2017. And there are now reports that Prigozhin's private jet has been tracked flying regularly over Syria, Libya and Africa over the past couple of years.
As for Teyf, he apparently moved his family to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2010 in order to establish a means of laundering the massive amounts of money he had accumulated fraudulently in Russia—said by U.S. authorities to be $150 million. But Teyf, who never bothered to learn English, continued to live and work in Russia until at least 2013, and traveled there frequently after that. According to court documents in his case, USA v. Teyf et. al., prosecutors learned that:
"TEYF has several properties at various locations in Russia. For example, apartments in Domodedovo, Krasnodar, Sudak, and Moscow; as well as a 'compound' outside of Moscow described as including the main home, outbuildings, and security personnel.
"TEYF has both an apartment and a house in Switzerland, which [source] has seen photos of. [Source] is aware that at one point TEYF flew to Switzerland for the sole purpose of obtaining a dog to bring back to the United States."
Meanwhile, according to the press in Raleigh, bank records presented by investigators showed Teyf and his wife bought nearly $400,000 worth of Mercedes-Benzes in the U.S. and $2.5 million worth of artwork from a New York gallery.
They were the very model of sloppy money launderers, as alleged in the indictments. Starting in 2010, they opened 70 accounts at four different U.S. banks, with money pouring in from Belize, the British Virgin Island, Panama and the Seychelles.
In addition to his mansion next to a country club, according to local press reports in Raleigh citing court testimony, Teyf kept a "safe house" in a more down-market neighborhood where he stashed the money he'd use to pay people off. Investigators found there an array of weapons, including AK-47s and a vintage SKS assault rifle.
Court documents also revealed that Teyf and his family had tickets for travel to Russia on Dec. 15, 2018 and that Teyf had intended to purchase an apartment near the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. He had made arrangements with his son Grigory, a college student in the United States, to oversee his U.S. finances because he did not plan on returning.
Unfortunately for Teyf, his rather messy personal life put the kibosh on his plans.
Conflict Resolution Russian Style
After finding out that his 41-year-old wife Tatyana (also charged with several counts of fraud) was having an affair with the son of their Russian housekeeper, Teyf enlisted an acquaintance from the Department of Homeland Security, first to have her lover deported and later to kill him, neither of which happened.
The DHS agent was working undercover for the FBI and taped all his conversations with Teyf.
According to a prosecution statement: "Teyf has employment opportunities in place in Russia and is able to influence law enforcement there." He was planning on using his influence with Russian police to have his wife arrested on her arrival, as well as to target the family of his wife's lover, telling the DHS agent:
"Motherfucker…I don't have any choice but to go to Russia, call on the guys and whack his entire family." He also said that "if it were in Russia, he'd [the lover] be dead already." (As prosecutors observed, "violence is Teyf's manner of resolving conflict." In the past, Teyf had tried to get his confidant to "'take care of someone' or put them in the hospital" because of disagreements over finances.)
If this sounds like something from a scene in "Narcos" or "McMafia" it is not surprising. The entire cast of characters in the Prigozhin-Teyf saga, including Serdyukov and Putin himself, have for years operated in a world of politics dominated by corruption and violence. Just last October, Novaya Gazeta, following months of secret interviews with a former member of Prigozhin's security detail, published a shocking account of the brutal tactics—including beatings, poisonings and even murder—employed by Prigozhin's thugs against his and Putin's perceived enemies.
This explains why, when the question of Teyf's criminal culpability in Russia came up in court in Raleigh on Jan. 22, the response from his lawyer was this: "There is absolutely no evidence that is present that Mr. Teyf violated law in Russia. In fact, when [the judge] asked the government to identify the Russian statute that he had violated, the government said: 'We can't.' They don't know. Because he didn't violate one."
One thing these guys know how to do is take care of "evidence."
If Teyf had made it back to Russia, his friend Prigozhin and others who have benefited from Teyf's financial dealings most likely would have made sure he avoided prosecution. Teyf's fatal mistake was his failure to grasp that mafia tactics do not work as well in the United States as they do in his home country.


text:
Dalibor Matanić's The High Sun (Zvizdan, 2015)
Vol. 59 (November 2015) by Moritz Pfeifer
Dalibor Matanic's High Sun is a powerful case study of historic recurrence. The film portrays the gruesome ethnic conflicts following the collapse of Yugoslavia in three Shakespearean love stories set in 1991, 2001 and 2011. Each time, the couple are on different sides, and although Matanić leaves their ethnic identity undefined, it is what tears them apart. The actors playing the couples (superb performance by Tihana Lazović and Goran Marković) are the same for each episode, which seems confusing at first, as one expects the story to develop in a 10-years-later fashion. Only little by little does the viewer realize that each story is distinct and that using the same actors again and again is a metaphor for the cross-generational continuity of ethnic problems in post-Yugoslavia.
The first story is set in the pre-war period of 1991, in the midst of growing tensions and anxiety. Carefree Jelena (Lazović) and trumpet player Ivan (Marković) dream about moving to the city, but friends and family oppose the relationship, especially Jelena's brother who just got drafted. Their final confrontation marks the beginning of war. Ten years later, in the next episode, Lazović returns to her war-torn village. She has lost her brother in the war, a trauma which makes it hard for her to imagine a future. A neighbor "from the other side" helps her and her mother to rebuild their home, symbolically allowing Lazović to rebuild her trust in human relationships. By 2011, some of the carefree atmosphere of the film's beginning has returned to the country. Marković, in the role of a student in Zagreb, returns to his village for the summer break. He, too, had left behind his family on the other side.
Matanić's personal and emotional approach to this much-treated conflict makes it stand out. In fact, in light of the overwhelming amount of postmodern takes on the subject, such as Goran Paskaljević's Cabaret Balkan, Srdjan Dragojević's Pretty Village, Pretty Flame and Ademir Kenović's The Perfect Circle, which all seem to shun sentimental immediacy, avoiding it by way of tried and tested techniques of distantiation (pastiche, irony, exaggeration), Matanić' account of the experience of war is fresh because it doesn't fear the emotional reality of those most suffering from it. In a way, the film feels more mature because it doesn't reflect the need to deconstruct ethnic conflict, instead accepting it as a historical given. There's some hope in the last tale, with Marković patiently sitting out his mistakes on Lazović's doorsteps. On the second day, she leaves the door open. This last image sets a cathartic promise against the eternal return of the same.
Goran Škofić's Sector (2015) & Elena Artemenko's Soft Power (2016)
Pavo Marinković on the Pula Film Festival
Srđan Kovačević on Factory to the Workers
Jacek Petrycki's My Notes from the Underground (Moje zapiski z podziemia, 2011)
Alexandru Solomon's The Great Communist Bank Robbery (Marele jaf comunist, 2004)


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    connect(m_button, &QPushButton::clicked, [this]()
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        m_lcd->display(m_lcd->intValue() + 1);
    });
#else
    connect(m_button, &QPushButton::clicked, this, &Window::onButtonClicked);
#endif
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#if __cplusplus < 201100
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#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


We have welcomed 11 new additions to the Royals ranks this summer – business began at the end of June and ran right through until the close of the transfer window at 6pm on Tuesday.
Portuguese forward Sa was the first addition to the Royals squad over the summer, scoring his first goal in a Reading shirt at the weekend in the 3-1 away victory at Brentford. The 27-year-old signed a three year contract on June 29th, joining the Royals from Legia Warsaw. Sa was the Polish club's top goal scorer in the Ekstraklasa in 2014/15 and has led the line since his arrival.
Second through the door at Madejski Stadium over the summer was Ireland international Stephen Quinn when he joined the day after Sa. The midfielder signed as a free agent, having featured heavily for Hull City in the Premier League and making 28 appearances for the Tigers in 2014/15. The 29-year-old has 13 international caps to his name and has been a pivotal part of Reading's midfield so far this season.
Days later, another Irishman made the move from Hull when defender Paul McShane put pen to paper on a three year contract at Madejski Stadium on July 2nd. McShane, having left the KC Stadium at the end of the 2014/15 season, was named as Royals captain by Steve Clarke ahead of the season's opener at Birmingham City and has helped the team keep three clean sheets already. McShane, who has played the majority of his career in the Premier League, is also a well-established international for Ireland with 31 appearances for his country.
Goalkeeper Bond penned a three-year deal with the Royals on July 4th, making him the club's fourth addition of the summer. The England youth international stopper had a successful year in 2014/15, playing a part in Watford's promotion to the Barclays Premier League. The 22-year-old also earned a call up the England Under-21 side for the European Championships in the summer. He has started all five of the Royals' league fixtures to date.
After the squad returned from Thailand, the Royals secured the services of a second goalkeeper in the form of Omani international Ali Al-Habsi. The veteran keeper, who had made the trip to the Far East whilst training with the Royals, signed a two-year contract with Reading and bringing with him a wealth of Premier League experience. He has previously made over 100 appearances for Wigan in England's top division, and was named the Latics' Player of the Season in 2011.
Another man with Wigan connections, Andrew Taylor followed Al-Habsi to Madejski Stadium when he signed on a season-long loan from the Latics on August 5th. The left-back, who was part of the famous Middlesbrough FA Youth Cup-winning side in 2003/04, went on to make nearly 100 Premier League appearances for the Teesiders and has added experience to the Royals back line. His debut came in the League Cup win at Colchester United, and his Championship debut came away at Sheffield United.
Peruvian winger Paolo Hurtado joined the Royals camp on August 12th, signing from Portuguese outfit Pacos de Ferreira. Hurtado agreed a three-year deal with Reading and used his considerable talents to help Pacos qualify for the Champions League in 2012/13 for the first time in the club's history. The 25-year-old has international experience with Los Incas, and was involved in this year's Copa America, and was named in the matchday 18 for the first time away at Brentford.
The deal for Alex Fernandez to join Reading on a season-long from La Liga outfit Espanyol was confirmed on August 18th, and the 22-year-old midfielder made his debut for the Royals as a substitute in the Sky Bet Championship 0-0 home draw with MK Dons. Along with brother Nacho, Alex came through the famous Real Madrid academy made a number of appearances for Real Madrid Castilla before earning a move to Espanyol. He featured for the Catalan outfit in the pre-season draw at Madejski Stadium at the start of August, and made the switch to the Royals soon after.
Chelsea youngster Lucas Piazon joined the Royals on a season-long loan the day before the close of the transfer window, adding attacking options to Steve Clarke's squad. Piazon is a well-travelled forward, even at a young age, having had loan stints in Spain, Netherlands and Germany where he played for Malaga, Vitesse and Eintracht Frankfurt respectively. Piazon has won the FA Youth Cup with Chelsea and also scored the goal that secured Brazil a bronze medal at the Pan American Games this summer – he has represented Brazil as a youth player since Under-15 level.
Czech international Matej Vydra became signing number ten for Steve Clarke when he moved to Madejski Stadium on transfer deadline day, sealing a season-long loan move from Watford. The forward, who was named as Championship Player of the Season during his first spell in England as a Hornets player, and played under Clarke's guidance in the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion. He moved to Vicarage Road on loan against last year for a second time and helped to fire the Hornets back to the top flight.
The final player to join the Royals before the transfer window slammed shut on Tuesday evening was Dutch winger Ola John, who also joined on loan for the season from Benfica. The 23-year-old had been at the Primeira Liga club for three seasons, and his last contribution for the side was to net the winning goal in the final of the Taça da Liga, the Portuguese League Cup. Previously he had come through the academy of FC Twente, like brother Collins John, and spent time on loan with Hamburg. A regular for the Netherlands' youth teams, he also has a senior cap to his name against Italy in 2013.
Also this summer we brought in young frontman Rowan Liburd from Billericay Town, and he has already registered three goals in three games for our under 21s. Portuguese attacker Lisandro Semedo also arrived from Sporting Lisbon and has too found the net for our under 21s already.


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Tag: Land transport
Catching the Vintage Train
New York Transit Museum operates a special subway train made out of a ragtag selection of vintage trains. Normally these trains are used as a stationary exhibit, sometimes as a vehicle for special events (like the Old City Hall station tour), but sometimes all straphangers are in for a treat: the train operates on normal subway lines.
Most people view subway trains as uniform utilitarian objects, stainless steel worms that swallow them in point A and if everything goes well spit them out in point B. But in reality the modern NYCTA system is made out of a hodgepodge of different train models, a legacy of three different subway systems. Many old train models have been retired, like the beloved "Redbird" trains. And by retired I mean dumped into the ocean to become artificial reefs in NJ. I remember riding redbirds, and sometimes used to encounter other old trains before they have been scrapped in favor of the more technologically advanced, but poorly designed R160-style trains. The museum train is a special case of this.
The rivets and a mishmash of large windows and steel panels give the old R1 cars look of living prehistoric creatures. Graffiti writers of the 70s hated these cars because they did not have a lot of flat surface to cover in paint and called them "ridgys". Modern train cars mostly do away with the front windows, cutting off the whole front for a spacious machinist's cab.
This unfortunate design decision leaves less space for passenger and does not allow kids of all ages to get "machinist's view".
These trains don't sound like the new ones: they don't make the "ding-dong" sound when the doors are closing, but produce a pleasant "ksssht-pfft" noise of a pneumatic actuator. Instead of whining a few melodic notes like the R160s, R1s roar like propeller planes.
One unique feature is the lack of large plastic American flag stickers that were added to all trains after 9-11.
Helvetica was not dominating the typography of the subways yet. In fact, it was not yet created.
The alternate reality feeling permeates the cars. Dangerous looking ceiling fans, exposed incandescent lightbulbs and vinyl seats were from an era less concerned with vandalism.
State of the art pre-war climate control: rider-accessible vents
and futuristic fans
The tiny little rattan seat behind the machinist's cab and the completely different design of the hand strap.
One of the biggest difference with the modern trains is how the conductor works. He operates the train with the two hand grips while standing precariously between the cars.
Here's a video that shows this a little better
One of the coolest parts is the fact that you can ride between the cars (something that is against the modern MTA rules. "Looking at the things flashing by" normally gets you a ticket, even if it's an amazing experience.
Here's a video:
Gold and pinstripe "CITY OF NEW YORK" signs are gorgeous, but the ad reproductions are more entertaining than authentic.
A friend of mine who remembered these trains from his youth told me that the part that he hated the most about them were the rattan seats: they tended to fray and fragment into pin-sharp pieces of fiber. Rattan seats look beautiful and are extremely comfortable when new, but I indeed sat down on one seat that had a broken section that was uncomfortably sharp. On the other hand all of these trains feature "conversation-style seats" turned 90 degrees to each other instead of the horisontal rows of benches that are the standard today.
Some dubious advice, although I've seen this happen.
I'm pretty sure this patent ran out by now.
Currently this train operates every Saturday through January 19th. This page lists the schedule of departures. A round trip to Queens takes about an hour. The best way to catch the train is to arrive on 2nd Avenue stop of the F line in Manhattan. The train spends about 10-20 minutes standing in the station there, so it's easier to catch. In Queens it does not stand on the platform, but the departure times are pretty accurate. If it's more convenient, you can just spend a 15 mintues to half an hour waiting along the weekday M train stops, like 47-50th Street/Rockefeller Center.
Imaginative Inventions: The Who, What, Where, When, and Why of Roller Skates, Potato Chips, Marbles, and Pie (and More!)
Have you ever wondered how chewing gum was invented? Or who made the first roller skates? Or why there are piggy banks rather than doggy banks? Imaginative Inventions answers all of these questions and tells the fascinating stories behind these, as well as potato chips, eyeglasses, doughnuts, high-heeled shoes, the wheelbarrow, marbles, the vacuum cleaner, animal crackers, and more. Written in verse and with illustrations full of offbeat characters and quirky details, this book invites young readers inside the minds of great inventors and encourages them to think imaginatively.
Posted on March 30, 2004 October 12, 2008
The Case Of The Lost Indication
My train stopped in the tunnel today. "I lost the indication. Do you have it?" — called out the operator to the conductor over the PA system. Sometimes instead of using walkie-talkies they use overhead PA to communicate. Probably by mistake, because hearing subway jargon spewing from the loudspeaker in a stopped train freaks out passengers.
"I lost the indication here too " — said the conductor. We were stuck for at least half an hour before the train started moving again.
As it turns out, a signal is called and "aspect". For instance red light is a red aspect. And an "indication" is the meaning of an aspect in a context. Red aspect's indication is usually (but not always) – stop. So apparently what the machinist and the conductor meant was that the signal light they were expecting was off. When there is a power loss to a signal a trip arm automatically extends up from the track (it's up motion is powered by a spring, so it automatically engages when a signal loses power). If a train passes an extended trip arm it trips an on/off switch on the train and you get stuck for much longer.
I need to get a scanner with subway frequency.
Yeah, I'll Have Some Recursion For Lunch
Stepped out for lunch and saw a gigantic tow truck towing a smaller tow truck. Hmm.
Posted on October 8, 2003 October 12, 2008
Blue Lights In The Tunnel
Was taking pictures from the front window of an R40 train again. By the way, in theory it's ok to take pictures in NYC subways without a permit unless you use "lights" (this may or may not include flash), a tripod for non-commercial purposes. It's a complicated issue and is pretty open to interpretation, and in fact transit cops might not be aware of it at all. I had been asked by a transit cop once to stop taking pictures and erase what I already shot because of "the 9/11 stuff". I told her politely about MTA rule Section 1050.9, Paragraph (c), but as I had no desire to argue with her also erased the pictures. You see, if I wasn't lazy and got an official permit which supposedly "can be obtained from Division of Special Events by contacting Connie DePalma (718) 694-5121, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays" I could show that to her. Besides, nobody likes a dorky smart ass with a camera.
Anyway, the pictures are pretty, but "hold on Luke, we are going into hyperspace" effect becomes tiresome fast enough. So I'll spare you. Here's a slightly more interesting shot taken handheld at 1/10th sec., f/2.0 ISO 400 while the train was standing in a tunnel (if your monitor brightness is set too high, you might not see the details). For all the coffee that I consume my hands are pretty steady.
I always wonder how it was for the people stuck in the tunnels during the blackout. They probably actually had to walk through whole tunnel stretches like that to get out after a while.
The train signaling system is not too complicated. I think I figured out a sizable chunk of it from just watching the tracks, and the rest can be picked up from here. There's even a "train simulator" for Windows (but for some reason the coolest part, "cab view", doesn't work for me.
"… The color aspects of subway signals are vaguely similar to those of street traffic lights — red means "don't go, but stop," yellow means "slow down," and green means "go". The similarity, however, ends there. Green does not just mean "go", but certifies that the next signal, the one after the green one, doesn't say "stop". Yellow is even more different in meaning: While a yellow street traffic signal means "slow down, because this signal is in the process of changing to red" (which many motorists, of course, interpret as "speed up so as to pass it before it does"), a yellow subway signal means "slow down, (most often) because the next signal already is red, and you must slow down and proceed with caution before reaching it. While street traffic signals usually go from green to yellow to red, subway signals usually go from red to yellow to green…. "
Blue lights probably indicate locations of emergency phones, but could be something else. I am not sure.
Kissed by a Train
A train conductor announced some words of wisdom today: "Don't push a stroller into a closing train door".
Train doors in NYC subway cars close with a tremendous amount of force and don't have a sensor that would keep them open if somebody got stuck. You are at the mercy of a conductor, who usually rapidly opens and closes the door, hitting you a couple of times more before you can enter the car. Jumping into closing train doors is a main event in NYC Olympics though.
You can easily recognize a person "kissed" by a subway door – the rubber "lips" leave black marks on skin and clothes.
It's interesting to note that the announcement probably was made because somebody actually tried to do this with a baby carriage. That's Darwin Award material.
Subway Good, Bus – Bad
I am composing this entry on my blackberry device wile riding the D train. The conductor of this particular train is pretty distinctive – he announces all station with the intonations of a professional announcer. He especially likes to say "Loooooong Iiiiiiisland rrrrrailroad". He's been doing that for years. Sometimes he wishes everyone "happy Monday".
This reminds me how many years ago, in my hometown of Odessa, Ukraine, all the buses, trams and trolleys got this little tape player that would announce the stops with pre-recorded messages. It was always weird to see the same regular tram operator, but hear a professional doctor's voice announcing stops. I think that originated in Moscow during the Olympics because the drivers could not learn how to announce stops in all those foreign languages.
In Brooklyn bus drivers don't announce stops at all. I should check if this is required by their rule book. They are extremely strict about picking up passengers outside of bus stops – they won't open the doors even if they are stuck in traffic. I think I should make it a habit to write MTA supervisor to commend good bus drivers and to report various assholery perpetrated by bad ones.
For instance, once I was locked in a bus by the driver for 15 minutes, while he went to discuss something with another bus driver. That was 2 blocks away from my stop. That's when I realized that I don't remember which lever releases the bus door. Gotta look that up…
You must be Pullman my leg
Hmm..
"Pullman kitchen" – Small kitchen located along one wall. (Oh, that must suck!)
Why Pullman then?


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In Fine Jewelry > Scandinavian Jewelry > Show & Tell.
Found this björn weckström designed lapponia silver pendant today.
It is the vintage and not the reedition which was launched to the 50th Anniversary?
You pretty much *stole* it...LOL! I meant to type "1975" but my fingers don't always do what my head tells them to do.


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A journey through the aspirations of artist P.S.
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New artist Ceeza gives you a HOT 15 songs!
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Supa is still doin his thing and showing off his song writing skills on this new Supa Emcee banger.


Whilst the USA may have asserted itself on football's biggest stage over 20 years ago, by hosting the 1994 World Cup, the cultivation of a new sport has to begin at the grassroots. That said, having played second fiddle to both American Football and Baseball for many years, Major League Soccer as its known across the pond, is now more popular amongst 12 to 17 year olds than both Major League Baseball and NFL, with around 3 million kids playing in U.S. Youth Soccer leagues.
The seismic growth of the U.S. has been attributed to a number of factors, most notably an increase in lucrative TV deals attracting an ever growing number of international legends, such as Frank Lampard, David Villa and of course, the World's most infamous #7, David Beckham.
With its ever increasing pipeline of youth leagues, state of the art facilities, and a young generation more excited than ever to play the sport, the U.S. is fast becoming one of the most desirable touring destinations for school teams of all ages and abilities.
On the MasterClass New York City FC experience, your team is coached at the club's state-of-the-art facility, watches a training session and meets a 1st XI player. Plus, you enjoy the iconic sights of New York City.


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2 people in serious condition following plane crash
By FOX 10 Web Staff
PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Two people are in serious condition following a plane crash in Phoenix on Wednesday.
The Phoenix Fire Department says the victims have been transported to a nearby hospital in serious, but stable condition after the plane crashed near 43rd Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Road.
Officials say they responded to the scene after receiving a 9-1-1 call saying that an aircraft was down in the area.
>>VIDEO from the scene: https://www.facebook.com/FOX10Phoenix/videos/1141145599267319/
This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 10 News for updates.
Road crews getting ready to add 2 new roundabouts in Tempe


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Billy and the Killers
Posted by Stanford Friedman | Nov 11, 2017 | Reviews
By Stanford Friedman
Just three months ago, Jim Shankman's drama, Heartless Bastard, popped up at the HERE Arts Center in a sharp, twisted and vital production. So, it is especially disappointing that, even with the same director and the same venue, his new musical, Billy and the Killers, is such a lackluster and mopey affair. Though the title character is actually innocent of any homicides, this production is guilty of several crimes. These include harboring an uninteresting minor, operating a fog machine with intent to choke, lyric writing without a poetic license and, most egregiously, failure to rock when given the right of way.
Billy (Adrian Blake Enscoe) is your basic disenfranchised teen. Living in a trailer with his kind and down on his luck father, JRoy (Tom O'Keefe), he writes dark songs and paints disturbing pictures that get him expelled from school but which impress the hot, blonde rebel, Nell (Sydney Shepherd). When Nell turns up dead, Billy gets framed, JRoy gets vengeful and the fog machine goes into overdrive. The show is promoted as, "a play meets a rock band," which is a fair interpretation. Most of the dozen songs occur outside of the action, with the characters picking up instruments and performing concert style, backed by an on-stage quartet. Synergistically, Mr. Enscoe and Ms. Shepherd are also two-thirds of a real-life Brooklyn band called Bandits on the Run. Unfortunately, here they have nowhere to go.
Mr. Enscoe exudes innocence and indifference, but brings no depth or contour to the performance. There should be a threatening edge to Billy but, for all his self-proclaimed darkness, he never seems dark. When he ultimately figures out the identity of the true killer, his reaction is so underwhelming that you want to reach out and slap him. His voice and guitar playing are fine, if uncharismatic. Needing to be channeling Jagger or Prince, he seems instead to just be going through the paces. Ms. Shepherd picks up the slack as best she can. Her strong, sure voice energizes the show whenever she goes to the mic. And she performs many of her numbers while playing the cello, which is a treat to take in, but makes little sense in the context of her character. Mr. O'Keefe brings just the right amount of understated dignity to JRoy. The part is written so over-sympathetically that any other interpretation would have been sucrose. He even pulls off a country ballad to his absent wife. Rounding out the ensemble, Paul Sadlik is the nasty detective, Spenders, and Broadway vet Sean McDermott is the even nastier lawyer, Merrick.
All the cast is under-served by the score. Peter Stopschinski's music had the audience sitting still for 100 minutes while Mr. Shankman's lyrics are a downward spiral of end rhymes. "I woke up in the pouring rain/He kissed me once I went insane," sings Nell. "Pay back all the time you borrow/Then you die in pain and sorrow/Pray you won't be here tomorrow," laments Billy. Scenic designer Margaux Maeght divides up the stage with rows of silver poles, creating little prisons everywhere. Maybe all the fog was meant to be a diversionary tactic, but I never felt like we were inside the doublewide trailer where much of the action occurs.
Billy and the Killers – Book & Lyrics by Jim Shankman, music by Peter Stopschinski; directed by Craig J. George.
WITH: Adrian Blake Enscoe (Billy), Sydney Shepherd (Nell), Sean McDermott (Merrick), Tom O'Keefe (J Roy) and Paul Sadlik (Spenders).
Scenic design by Margaux Maeght, lighting design by Cha See, costume design by Glenna Ryer, sound design by Rafe Terrizzi, stage managed by Scott Winton Wray. The SubletSeries@HERE, HERE Arts Center, 145 Sixth Avenue, 212.352.3101, http://here.org/shows/detail/1958/. Through November 18. Running time: 100 minutes.
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Stanford Friedman
With an MLS in Library Science from Rutgers and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia, Stan's published works range from the technical to the abstract. He has written cover stories and reportage for Library Journal, obituaries for The Times of London, over 200 cookbook reviews for Publishers Weekly, and dozens of TV and theater reviews for New York Press. Prior to his current career, he worked a variety of theatrical odd jobs ranging from clerk at the Drama Book Shop to a roving Renaissance festival bloodletter to Special Effects Technician for the original Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors. Follow him on Twitter: @BroadwayCrit and Show-Score.
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