text:
<Type Name="PdfSelection" FullName="MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfSelection">
  <TypeSignature Language="C#" Value="public class PdfSelection : MonoMac.Foundation.NSObject" />
  <TypeSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".class public auto ansi beforefieldinit PdfSelection extends MonoMac.Foundation.NSObject" />
  <AssemblyInfo>
    <AssemblyName>MonoMac</AssemblyName>
    <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
  </AssemblyInfo>
  <Base>
    <BaseTypeName>MonoMac.Foundation.NSObject</BaseTypeName>
  </Base>
  <Interfaces />
  <Attributes>
    <Attribute>
      <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Register("PDFSelection", true)</AttributeName>
    </Attribute>
  </Attributes>
  <Docs>
    To be added.
    <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
  </Docs>
  <Members>
    <Member MemberName=".ctor">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public PdfSelection ();" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig specialname rtspecialname instance void .ctor() cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Constructor</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("init")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Advanced)</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <Parameters />
      <Docs>
        Default constructor, initializes a new instance of this class.
        <remarks>
        </remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName=".ctor">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public PdfSelection (MonoMac.Foundation.NSCoder coder);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig specialname rtspecialname instance void .ctor(class MonoMac.Foundation.NSCoder coder) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Constructor</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("initWithCoder:")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Advanced)</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="coder" Type="MonoMac.Foundation.NSCoder" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="coder">The unarchiver object.</param>
        A constructor that initializes the object from the data stored in the unarchiver object.
        <remarks>This constructor is provided to allow the class to be initialized from an unarchiver (for example, during NIB deserialization).</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName=".ctor">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public PdfSelection (MonoMac.Foundation.NSObjectFlag t);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig specialname rtspecialname instance void .ctor(class MonoMac.Foundation.NSObjectFlag t) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Constructor</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Advanced)</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="t" Type="MonoMac.Foundation.NSObjectFlag" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="t">Unused sentinel value, pass NSObjectFlag.Empty.</param>
        Constructor to call on derived classes when the derived class has an [Export] constructor.
        <remarks>
          <para>This constructor should be called by derived classes when they are initialized using an [Export] attribute. The argument value is ignore, typically the chaining would look like this:</para>
          <example>

public class MyClass : BaseClass {
    [Export ("initWithFoo:")]
    public MyClass (string foo) : base (NSObjectFlag.Empty)
    {
        ...
    }

          </example>
        </remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName=".ctor">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public PdfSelection (MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfDocument document);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig specialname rtspecialname instance void .ctor(class MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfDocument document) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Constructor</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("initWithDocument:")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="document" Type="MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfDocument" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="document">To be added.</param>
        To be added.
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName=".ctor">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public PdfSelection (IntPtr handle);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig specialname rtspecialname instance void .ctor(native int handle) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Constructor</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Advanced)</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="handle" Type="System.IntPtr" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="handle">Pointer (handle) to the unmanaged object.</param>
        A constructor used when creating managed representations of unmanaged objects;  Called by the runtime.
        <remarks>
          <para>This constructor is invoked by the runtime infrastructure (<see cref="M:MonoMac.ObjCRuntime.GetNSObject (System.IntPtr)" />) to create a new managed representation for a pointer to an unmanaged Objective-C object.    You should not invoke this method directly, instead you should call the GetNSObject method as it will prevent two instances of a managed object to point to the same native object.</para>
        </remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="AddSelection">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual void AddSelection (MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfSelection selection);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig newslot virtual instance void AddSelection(class MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfSelection selection) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Method</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("addSelection:")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>System.Void</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="selection" Type="MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfSelection" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="selection">To be added.</param>
        To be added.
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="AddSelections">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual void AddSelections (MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfSelection[] selections);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig newslot virtual instance void AddSelections(class MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfSelection[] selections) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Method</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("addSelections:")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>System.Void</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="selections" Type="MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfSelection[]" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="selections">To be added.</param>
        To be added.
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="AttributedString">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual MonoMac.Foundation.NSAttributedString AttributedString { get; }" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".property instance class MonoMac.Foundation.NSAttributedString AttributedString" />
      <MemberType>Property</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>get: MonoMac.Foundation.Export("attributedString")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>MonoMac.Foundation.NSAttributedString</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Docs>
        To be added.
        <value>To be added.</value>
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="ClassHandle">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public override IntPtr ClassHandle { get; }" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".property instance native int ClassHandle" />
      <MemberType>Property</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>System.IntPtr</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Docs>
        The handle for this class.
        <value>The pointer to the Objective-C class.</value>
        <remarks>Each MonoMac class mirrors an unmanaged Objective-C class.   This value contains the pointer to the Objective-C class, it is similar to calling objc_getClass with the object name.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="Color">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual MonoMac.AppKit.NSColor Color { get; set; }" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".property instance class MonoMac.AppKit.NSColor Color" />
      <MemberType>Property</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>get: MonoMac.Foundation.Export("color")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>set: MonoMac.Foundation.Export("setColor:")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>MonoMac.AppKit.NSColor</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Docs>
        To be added.
        <value>To be added.</value>
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="Dispose">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="protected override void Dispose (bool disposing);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method familyhidebysig virtual instance void Dispose(bool disposing) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Method</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>System.Void</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="disposing" Type="System.Boolean" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="disposing">
          <para>If set to <see langword="true" />, the method is invoked directly and will dispose manage and unmanaged resources;   If set to <see langword="false" /> the method is being called by the garbage collector finalizer and should only release unmanaged resources.</para>
        </param>
        Releases the resources used by the PdfSelection object.
        <remarks>
          <para>This Dispose method releases the resources used by the PdfSelection class.</para>
          <para>This method is called by both the Dispose() method and the object finalizer (Finalize).    When invoked by the Dispose method, the parameter disposting <paramref name="disposing" /> is set to <see langword="true" /> and any managed object references that this object holds are also disposed or released;  when invoked by the object finalizer, on the finalizer thread the value is set to <see langword="false" />. </para>
          <para>Calling the Dispose method when you are finished using the PdfSelection ensures that all external resources used by this managed object are released as soon as possible.  Once you have invoked the Dispose method, the object is no longer useful and you should no longer make any calls to it.</para>
          <para>  For more information on how to override this method and on the Dispose/IDisposable pattern, read the ``Implementing a Dispose Method'' document at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fs2xkftw.aspx</para>
        </remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="Draw">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual void Draw (MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage page, bool active);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig newslot virtual instance void Draw(class MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage page, bool active) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Method</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("drawForPage:active:")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>System.Void</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="page" Type="MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage" />
        <Parameter Name="active" Type="System.Boolean" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="page">To be added.</param>
        <param name="active">To be added.</param>
        To be added.
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="Draw">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual void Draw (MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage page, MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfDisplayBox box, bool active);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig newslot virtual instance void Draw(class MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage page, valuetype MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfDisplayBox box, bool active) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Method</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("drawForPage:withBox:active:")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>System.Void</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="page" Type="MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage" />
        <Parameter Name="box" Type="MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfDisplayBox" />
        <Parameter Name="active" Type="System.Boolean" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="page">To be added.</param>
        <param name="box">To be added.</param>
        <param name="active">To be added.</param>
        To be added.
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="ExtendSelectionAtEnd">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual void ExtendSelectionAtEnd (int succeed);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig newslot virtual instance void ExtendSelectionAtEnd(int32 succeed) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Method</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("extendSelectionAtEnd:")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>System.Void</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="succeed" Type="System.Int32" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="succeed">To be added.</param>
        To be added.
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="ExtendSelectionAtStart">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual void ExtendSelectionAtStart (int precede);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig newslot virtual instance void ExtendSelectionAtStart(int32 precede) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Method</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("extendSelectionAtStart:")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>System.Void</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="precede" Type="System.Int32" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="precede">To be added.</param>
        To be added.
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="GetBoundsForPage">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual System.Drawing.RectangleF GetBoundsForPage (MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage page);" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig newslot virtual instance valuetype System.Drawing.RectangleF GetBoundsForPage(class MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage page) cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Method</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("boundsForPage:page")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>System.Drawing.RectangleF</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Parameters>
        <Parameter Name="page" Type="MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage" />
      </Parameters>
      <Docs>
        <param name="page">To be added.</param>
        To be added.
        <returns>To be added.</returns>
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="Pages">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage[] Pages { get; }" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".property instance class MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage[] Pages" />
      <MemberType>Property</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>get: MonoMac.Foundation.Export("pages")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfPage[]</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Docs>
        To be added.
        <value>To be added.</value>
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="SelectionsByLine">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfSelection[] SelectionsByLine ();" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".method public hidebysig newslot virtual instance class MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfSelection[] SelectionsByLine() cil managed" />
      <MemberType>Method</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>MonoMac.Foundation.Export("selectionsByLine")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>MonoMac.PdfKit.PdfSelection[]</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Parameters />
      <Docs>
        To be added.
        <returns>To be added.</returns>
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
    <Member MemberName="Text">
      <MemberSignature Language="C#" Value="public virtual string Text { get; }" />
      <MemberSignature Language="ILAsm" Value=".property instance string Text" />
      <MemberType>Property</MemberType>
      <AssemblyInfo>
        <AssemblyVersion>0.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
      </AssemblyInfo>
      <Attributes>
        <Attribute>
          <AttributeName>get: MonoMac.Foundation.Export("string")</AttributeName>
        </Attribute>
      </Attributes>
      <ReturnValue>
        <ReturnType>System.String</ReturnType>
      </ReturnValue>
      <Docs>
        To be added.
        <value>To be added.</value>
        <remarks>To be added.</remarks>
      </Docs>
    </Member>
  </Members>
</Type>


text:
Mission Innovation | Our members | Austria | Highlights in 2020
Impact of your national clean energy innovation activity
Since the beginning of the Austrian MI Membership in 2018, activities of the energy research and innovation community were bundled, and collaborations were intensified. Highlight of the MI Austria activities is the annual Mission Innovation Austria week[1], the platform for all drivers and shapers of innovation in the energy system of the future.
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the Mission Innovation Week Austria 2020 and 2021 have been held as online events. The conference days were scheduled for April 28-29, 2021.
Moreover, Austria has initiated new partnerships with India and Morocco who were participating in the MI Calls.
Update on clean energy innovation policies and strategies
In 2020, the Austrian government[2] has committed itself in the framework of the new government agreement (2020 – 2024) to a fast track to decarbonisation with the overall goal to reach climate neutrality by 2040. A corresponding reduction path of CO2 emissions will be elaborated in the near future. Energy research and technology development will be key elements of this roadmap.
The current framework of the clean energy innovation policies in Austria are the Climate and Energy Strategy #mission2030[3] (published in 2018) and its implementation plan (National Climate- and Energy Plan[4]; submitted to the European Commission in 2019). By 2030, Austria pursues ambitious goals including:
reduction of CO2 emissions by 36% compared to 2005.
providing 100% of its total electricity consumption (national balance) from renewable energy sources.
increase in the share of renewable energy in the gross final energy demand to 45-50%.
In 2020 Austria has published an updated Implementation Plan for the Energy Research Initiative[5] (Research Chapter of the NECP). It covers missions and related innovation goals, public R&D measures and concrete innovation activities.
Major innovation initiatives and programmes in 2020/21
New RD&D initiatives were started in 2021 with national COVID recovery funds of 15 M€:
"100%-Renewable-Energy Regions"– prototyping model solutions for 100% renewable energy in a regional context (industrial region, wind-region, agricultural region) should be developed and demonstrated.
Climate Neutral City: urban energy labs should be installed with the goal of accelerating climate neutrality in cities (demo projects in districts…)
A new R&D initiative "Circular Economy" was launched. It aims to accelerate the development of a circular economy, thus achieving positive climate and environmental effects while at the same time promoting the development of relevant knowledge. A first R&D call with national COVID recovery funds of 10 M€ was opened in 2021, focussing on:
Innovation for circular economy
Circular procurement and manufacturing
Intensification of the use of goods
A next MI/ERA-Net Call is planned on the topic of Heating and Cooling.
Private sector engagement in 2020/21
The engagement of the private sector in clean energy innovation and research policies and projects has a long tradition in Austria. For more than ten years, the Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (former Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology) as well as the Climate and Energy Fund of the Austrian Federal Government focused on collaborations between industry and the research community in their programmes. This led to a significant private sector contribution to new programmes such as the Flagship Regions Energy where more than doubling of public money by the private sector is expected. As a consequence, leading industries were involved in Austrian Mission Innovation activities from the very beginning. This was manifested in the cooperation with an advisory board of CEOs. The Mission Innovation Austria advisory board meets once a year and advises the Federal Minister and the Ministry on Austria's engagement in Mission Innovation and Austria's RDI policy.
Major activities in support of the Innovation Challenges in 2020/21
Initiation of the MICall series for cooperative RD&D projects. The scope of the MICalls was designed in an ongoing co-creation process with the MI-ICs 1, 6, 7 and 8.
Austria was actively involved in the development of the MI 2.0 missions and the MI 2.0 platform, in particular the module collaborate which combines MI Innovation Challenges/Innovation Communities and Funding Dialogues and Calls.
Public sector RD&D investment
The baseline is calculated by averaging the budget for project funding of the Flagship Projects in the national programmes for energy research (City of Tomorrow and Energy Research Programme). On average €16 million of funding have been granted each year between 2014 and 2016 for flagship projects. An allocation of R&D expenditures was not foreseen in the calculation of the baseline.
New Collaborations
Collaborator: ~40 IEA and partner countries
Name of collaboration
IEA Research Cooperation Call 2020
Funding of collaborations in Tasks and Annexes and Executive Committees of IEA Technology Collaborations Programmes.
Public-public
Type of collaboration
https://nachhaltigwirtschaften.at/en/iea/
Collaborator: Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden India + 11 further regions and countries in Europe (non MI-countries)
MI-Call 19 / ERA-NET Smart Energy Systems Call 2019 Integrated regional Energy Systems
A Transnational Joint Programming Platform to Initiate Co-Creation and Promote Energy System Innovation
Research, development and demonstration
(left blank)
https://www.eranet-smartenergysystems.eu/
Collaborator: 18 Countries (including India and Morocco as MI-Partners outside the ERA-NET)
MI-Call 20 ERA-NET Smart Energy Systems Joint Call 2020 On digital transformation for green energy transition
eranet-smartenergysystems.eu
Collaborator: 16 European Countries including MI Members: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK
JPI Urban Europe Call 2020- ERA-NET Cofund Urban Accessibility and Connectivity
JPI Urban Europe was created in 2010 to address the global urban challenges of today with the ambition to develop a European research and innovation hub on urban matters and create European solutions by means of coordinated research.
https://jpi-urbaneurope.eu/
Collaborator: 11 European Countries and Regions including MI members: Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden
SOLAR-ERA.NET Cofund 2 Additional Joint Call
A European network of national and regional funding organisations in the field of solar electricity generational.
Research, development
http://www.solar-era.net/
[1] https://missioninnovationaustriaweek.at/en/
[2] https://www.bmk.gv.at/en.html
[3] https://www.bmk.gv.at/dam/jcr:36595bff-3fbb-40f2-b573-9bc75f30f75b/mission2030_oe_climatestrategy_ua.pdf
[4] https://www.bmk.gv.at/themen/klima_umwelt/klimaschutz/nat_klimapolitik/energie_klimaplan.html
[5] https://nachhaltigwirtschaften.at/de/e2050/publikationen/schriftenreihe-2020-22-umsetzungsplan-eforschungsinitiative.php

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Treeium Inc., one of the leading remodelers on the west coast, reveled in the holiday spirit by hosting its 2nd annual toy drive to provide toys to children in need.
Treeium Inc. held its 2nd annual toy drive this year to help provide toys for children who are missing their comforts of their home. With this small gesture of kindness, we hope to touch the hearts of many children who have to spend time in the hospital for the holiday season. Treeium has always been a big believer in giving back to our communities, as Moty Ginsburg, CEO and Founder of Treeium states, "There's nothing more rewarding than giving. With that one act of kindness and caring, it can truly make a change for the better." What a perfect way to end the 2017 year by contributing to an organization that truly makes an impact for children on a day to day basis.
Children's Hospital Los Angeles provides the highest quality healthcare for children in the region and beyond. As the first and largest pediatric hospital in Southern California, CHLA relies on the generosity of philanthropists in the community to support patient care, leading-edge education of the caregivers of tomorrow and innovative research efforts that impact children at CHLA and all around the world.


Tucson Daily Photo ~: It's Tuesday! Tucson Trivia about.....MOVIES!
I am sure that you know the song.... "The corn is as high as an elephant's eye...oh what a beautiful morning!" Well did you know that Oklahoma! was filmed in Arizona? Yep. Parts were filmed in California, too, but nothing was shot in the Panhandle State.
I didn't know that! Makes some sense though, because if the title "Oklahoma" hadn't caught on, it wouldn't be hard to substitute AR-RI-ZONA in all the songs...4-syllables, you know. Go on and try singing it that way!! .."Arizona, where the wind comes right before the rain"... haha!
The smart app helps people navigate well for watching movie downloads with many gadgets around a showbox for the iphone provided at showboxbvpn and gives all applications a fast movie update.


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Q: Can I use "being + Past Participle" instead of "have been + PP"? I've came across some sentences that I think have been reduced from "have been + [past participle]" to "being + [past participle]" but I don't know whether this right or not and I couldn't find any grammar topic about this.
This is one of those sentences:

There seems to have been a spate of this substance being used recently.

A:
The new Town Hall, designed by TMC Architects Ltd, is expected to receive several awards.

Is the reduced equivalent of

The new Town Hall, which has been designed by TMC Architects Ltd, is expected to receive several awards.

And in both cases "The new Town Hall" is qualified by a non-defining clause. Non-defining clauses can be omitted and are de-emphasised.
However, in

The new Town Hall, being designed by TMC Architects Ltd, is expected to receive several awards.

"being designed by TMC Architects Ltd" = because it has been designed by TMC Architects Ltd and is probably best classed as a subordinate clause of reason.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


"No one forgets his first foreign country. The light, the architecture, the way they do their eggs. Red money. The dreamy disorientation. The smell of aviation fuel.
"I didn't choose Samoa, John did. We were both 22 and starting out on a long backpacking trip, and he bought tickets in Los Angeles with six stops down through the Pacific. Samoa was after Hawaii. We got there in January 1978. We stayed at a Mormon family's house in the capital, Apia, climbed through jungle to Robert Louis Stevenson's grave, then set out for the bigger western island."


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Home/Technology/Now It Is CENTCOM: But It Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Now It Is CENTCOM: But It Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
co-authored by Dr. Stephen Bryen, Chairman & CTO Ziklag Systems/FortressFone Technologies
You don't have to be brilliant to know that social media accounts are not private, even if you are told by their owners and operators that they are. Social sites, all of them, are easily hacked by outsiders, and even the companies that offer own them exploit them to make money. The monetization of privacy in the United States is highly advanced and represents a multibillion-dollar, unstoppable, business.
But people are starting to figure out that major danger is lurking.
For this reason, the French gendarmes and counter terrorism forces have been ordered to close any personal social media accounts they have and do so immediately.
You would have thought that America's Central Command, which focuses on the Middle East and plays a vital role in dealing with radical Islamic terrorism, would recognize social media risks and would have, long ago, taken security measures to protect sensitive information. But that did not happen. In fact, CENTCOM (as it is known) has been merrily running Twitter and YouTube sites without any care.
So now we know that ISIS hacked CENTCOM and published the names and addresses of top officials including four star generals, making the information generally available to any operational terror cells including some who may be embedded in the United States. U.S. Cyber Command is only the tip of the iceberg. ISIS could have got all the information and passed it to terror organizations without defacing the CENTCOM twitter account and other CENTCOM-sponsored sites. In this way, Central Command would not know that critical information about their top personnel was in the hands of a vicious Islamic terror organization. But ISIS wanted to get the propaganda value out of its hack, so they made a lot of noise. No one knows how long they have been mucking about in CENTCOM's operations.
The Pentagon says it was all a prank and is of no concern. With this mindset anyone hoping there was a chance that the Pentagon might try and fix a looming problem now knows better: they are the problem.
Is CENTCOM an exception? Hardly. Americans, despite countless articles pointing out obvious vulnerabilities in social networking and media sites, continue with their obsession to leak information that compromises personal and organizational security. It is a good bet that virtually every American military base, office, organization and unit is leaking away using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and all the others. So too, are folks at Homeland Security, the State Department, FBI and on and on.
The truth is we do not know just how much sensitive information is in the hands of terrorists, but if we have learned anything watching al-Qaeda, ISIS, the Iranians, the Syrian Electronic Army and all their brethren is that they…
Read more from source…
Bill Gates Dupes Jimmy Fallon Into Drinking Water That Was Once Poop
New app looks to give smartphone owners the ability to text without service or Internet


Because behavioral problems and poor performance can be detrimental to the bottom line, many employers want to be rid of problematic employees ASAP. Small businesses in particular may not feel that they have the time or money to work on correcting bad behavior or improving poor performance. Additional supervision alone can be costly and a burden on already busy managers. Immediate termination often feels like the easier path, especially in industries in which it's relatively painless to find a replacement. But, despite the ease of immediate termination, we generally recommend that employers first use progressive discipline.
Terminating employment always comes with risk, even when it's done for good cause. A terminated employee might own up to their mistakes and understand the basis for their termination, but they might also cause trouble by claiming they were terminated for an illegal reason. This is where progressive discipline comes in handy.
As its name indicates, progressive discipline involves a progression of disciplinary actions with escalating consequences. When used to give employees with behavioral or performance problems time and opportunity to improve, it demonstrates good faith and builds your employer brand. And if the process results in termination, you can show the termination was for cause. Without a record of trying to correct the behavior or performance, it's very easy for the terminated employee, a lawyer, or a jury to fill in the blanks with their own explanation for why the employee was terminated.
Progressive discipline generally begins with a conversation to identify and address the behavioral or performance issue. Often this conversation is part of a regular coaching or check-in with the employee, and some HR professionals view this conversation as a step before actual progressive discipline begins. You make the employee aware of their unsatisfactory behavior or performance, make your expectations clear, give them any guidance or tools available to help them succeed, and allow them to bring their concerns to your attention.
If the employee fails to improve after coaching, the next step is generally to give them a verbal warning and let them know additional discipline may follow if they don't improve.
First and foremost, treat the steps in your progressive discipline process as suggestions, not as a formula that has to be followed in every case. Your employee handbook should have a policy that puts employees on notice that poor performance or bad behavior will lead to discipline, but it should not lay out a specific escalation process. If you tell employees that they'll be subject to a certain set of steps or entitled to a certain process, they can hold you to that policy later and claim they've been discriminated against if they don't receive the benefit of each step in the process. And there are of course occasions in which progressive discipline should not be used. Violence or threats of violence, for example, often merit immediate termination following an expedient investigation.
Second, it's imperative that you document everything throughout the progressive discipline process. Even a verbal warning should be noted in the employee's personnel file. If something isn't in writing, it might as well not have happened."Terminating employment always comes with risk, even when it's done for good cause… Without a record of trying to correct the behavior or performance, it's very easy for the terminated employee, a lawyer, or a jury to fill in the blanks with their own explanation for why the employee was terminated."Third, if the conversation pertains to serious behavior issues like sexual harassment, it's a good idea to have an HR representative or other manager in the room as a witness. If the employee later claims the conversation went down differently than it did, the witness can set the record straight. That said, if having a third party in attendance isn't possible, just be sure to document the conversations. You certainly don't need to refrain from progressive discipline just because you can't get a witness for the meetings. On the other hand, if you're talking to an employee about a performance issue, a third party generally isn't necessary (unless you expect trouble). Having an audience present will likely be embarrassing for the underperforming employee and won't provide much risk mitigation.
Fourth, stick to facts. You're disciplining an employee because they've done something wrong or poorly. Focusing on the facts of the case provides the employee with a clear path going forward and protects you if the employee later challenges you on any of the steps of the process.
Finally, be compassionate, but not apologetic, particularly if you've reached the point of termination. If you've followed your internal progressive discipline policy and the employee has failed to improve, the employee shouldn't be surprised when termination occurs.


The B-52 cocktail is a very popular mixed drink, or fancy drink as it is sometimes categorized. It is a short drink and part of its popularity is given by its name which, contrary to popular belief, was not named directly after the US B-52 Stratofortress long-range bomber, but after the band The B-52s. Of course, both the band and the drink got their names after this bomber, which is known for having been used during the Vietnam war in order to shoot incendiary bombs. This last feature is said to have inspired the flaming version of the cocktail.
There are other names for the B-52 cocktail, some people calling it Bifi or simply B52. However, although we know its name origins, the history of its invention is not as clear. The most convincing story is that it was invented by the head bartender at the Banff Springs Hotel located in Banff, Alberta. His name was Peter Fich and this wasn't the first time he would name a new drink after bands he liked, or after song and album names. The B-52 was one of the first shooters, and it gained more popularity when one of Fich's customers decided he liked the drink so much that he would add it to the menu list in his various restaurants from Alberta.
Like all popular drinks, the B-52 cocktail gave inspiration for numerous other variations based on its recipe; all of them have similar names, which is why together they are called the B-50 Series. All of these drinks are, like the original, layered when prepared correctly. Each ingredient has to have its own level in the glass, which is why one requires some basic knowledge of the drinks used in order to know which have the heaviest and which the lightest volume.
The drinks are poured in this order into a shot glass, so the coffee is at the bottom and the Cointreau at the surface. From the second ingredient, the Irish Cream, the bartender uses a bar spoon so the layers aren't disturbed; thus, one gently pours cream over the back of a spoon, and then the Cointreau over the other two. No garnish is used for this drink, but one can add a stirrer if they want to feel all the ingredients mixed together when drinking. The method of pouring drinks on top of each other to create layers of color and taste is called "building", and it is used for numerous other cocktails as well. Savvy bartenders perform this task by hand, but there are also machines which can produce B-52s in layers, and other similar drinks too.
Like mentioned before, a shot glass is usually used to serve the B-52 cocktail, but one can also use a sherry glass, or a heatproof glass in case you want to prepare a Flaming B-52, and the glass has to be filled to the top so less heat touches the edges.


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Almost 2,000 year-old synagogue vandalized in northern Israel
"This holy place will not be desecrated. You have been warned," was graffitied in red on one of the 1,800 year-old stone walls."There will not be an archaeological park here."
By Yvette J. Deane
March 4, 2019 14:55
Almost 2,000 year-old synagogue vandalized in northern Israel.. (photo credit: CONSERVATION DIRECTOR OF THE ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY)
An ancient synagogue was vandalized in northern Israel according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), who filed a complaint on Monday.
"This holy place will not be desecrated. You have been warned," was graffitied in red on one of the 1,800 year-old stone walls. "There will not be an archaeological park here. Mount Meron is not abandoned. Be warned."
The synagogue is in Mount Meron Nature Reserve, near the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a second century rabbi who wrote the Zohar, according to many Orthodox Jews.
"There is no apparent reason or rational basis behind the spray painting of these inscriptions," Uri Berger, an archaeologist for the Antiquities Authority said after he reported the incident.
This wasn't the first time an incident happened. "There are a handful of strange people, ostensibly in the name of faith, who try to damage our Jewish heritage," Berger said. "When a stranger harms a synagogue outside of Israel it's painful and irritating. But, when it is done by our own people in the land of Israel, it's inconceivable."
This synagogue is one of the largest in the Upper Galilee. It has been a focal point for pilgrimages and is even associated with the Galilean Jewish traditions of the coming of the Messiah.
The IAA has worked to conserve the synagogue with an effort in 2014, funded by the Prime Minister's Office, where walls were strengthen and graffiti was removed.
By ANNA AHRONHEIM


PiCompany provides organizations with an insight into the talent, employability and development potential of employees. Using our advanced tools and Talent Analytics, we bring people and data together. This is how we prepare organizations for success.
Technological developments allow us to offer new, integrated forms of talent management: online, flexible, data-driven. This provides you with 24/7 insight into the talent, employability and development potential of your employees. Data-driven insights allow you to make focused and well-considered decisions.
The future of talent management is people-oriented and data-driven. To be flexible and adapt to market developments, organizations need an insight into available talent. Our advanced tools and reports make this possible. This is the core of our service, the essence of our mission: we give organizations the ability to identify talent, match it and develop it further. For the future of people and the organizations in which they work, with the goal of promoting the success of employees and organizations.
Our solutions are modular and scalable. Based on robust technology that works.
Organizations decide for themselves at what speed and with which building blocks they want to get to work. They can choose which tools they want to use, for example, selection and matching, via their own self-service portal. The deployment of assessment and development tools also provides a wealth of "talent data." Using our talent analytics applications, we unlock this data for organizations.


England's dramatic rise in gang-related knife crime has been called a "disease" by the UK home secretary, Sajid Javid, and amid the daily drama of Brexit the prime minister, Theresa May, has called a summit of 100 experts to Downing Street to discuss the issue.
Proposed solutions have ranged from the severe to the outlandish – but most seem to gloss over the fundamental causes of youth and gang violence.
As an academic whose research has focused on youth and gang crime – and as a lifelong resident of a council estate in Knowsley, one of the most socially excluded and poverty-stricken areas in the UK – I've had the unique chance to see over both sides of the fence.
I have read most of the theories and the recent government reports about why young people turn to gangs and crime. And I have also lived for four decades in a place void of real opportunity, where crime is common. So I know, through research and experience, that places such as Knowsley very quickly become hotspots for crime – not by choice, but because there is a lack of choice.
My own PhD research in 2015 involved 44 young people on Merseyside, in northern England – both those who have joined gangs and those who chose to abstain. These young people were from the same areas and shared similar backgrounds, yet I found crucial differences which meant some were at greater risk of joining gangs than others.
Those young people who decided to join gangs and become embroiled in violence were doing so because they very rarely had a chance to go beyond their own neighbourhood. This prevented them from mixing with young people from other localities and limited their experiences and horizons.
As a result their friendship networks remained static and undeveloped – limited to the people they met at school and on the street. In places where work is scarce and poorly paid, and opportunities for further or higher education limited, young people see older peers earning money through crime, including drug trafficking and selling, and perceive this as a normal way to make a living.
Indeed, many of the young men I spoke to in my research referred to their activities as "graft", and spoke not of being in gangs but in "firms". This was particularly evident among groups located close to the city centre and the vibrant nighttime economy, where the demand for drugs was high.
By contrast, virtually every one of the abstainers I interviewed recognised there were very limited choices in their neighbourhood and actively sought out opportunities and acquaintances outside their area. These experiences provided these young person with more diverse attitudes and beliefs.
Work experience provided a way out, for some.
One particular gang abstainer spoke of getting bored hanging around the streets of Anfield with the same people and looking for a part-time work. As a result of getting a job at a phone shop and meeting young people from other areas, he simply drifted away from a life on the streets to activities which led him to further positive opportunities.
The media portrays gangs as groups of criminals void of empathy and respect, as opposed to young people looking for means to make ends meet. As a result, broader social issues are overlooked – instead reports focus on factors such as a troubled home life or behavioural problems as the main causes of criminal behaviour. Of course, this only serves to marginalise those communities still further.
Recent coverage of knife crime has followed a similar narrative, with violence being blamed on anything from grime music to the decrease in police numbers and powers, with very little mention of the important social aspects. Critics – myself included – argue that this only diverts attention away from what's really affecting young people: marginalisation, poverty and lack of social mobility, all of which have been worsened by rising inequality and continuing austerity.
As early as 2008, knife crime started to draw media attention, following a series of incidents involving young people in and around poorer parts of London. Following these incidents, the then-Labour government prioritised the issue of youth crime, with a specific emphasis on tackling gangs.
From 2008, government and police initiatives targeted teenagers and young people living in designated "hotspots" for violent crimes, as well as groups identified as "gangs". The government's strategy centred less on addressing social issues such as poverty and marginalisation, and more on damage limitation and seeming to be "tough on crime".
Police response to the riots in Croydon, 2011.
In response to the 2011 riots, which saw people vent their anger at social issues including austerity, deprivation and marginalisation – first in several London boroughs, then in cities across the UK – the then prime minister, David Cameron, announced an "all-out war" on gangs and gang culture. The government had changed, but the political rhetoric had a familiar ring to it.
The main target of condemnation was not the austerity policies that left many working class people worse off, but the moral decline of young people and the nefarious influence of gangs. But then, as sociologist James Densley observed, "had the government blamed the riots on social exclusion and social deprivation, it would have implicated itself".
Scotland has taken a remarkably different approach to England, starting with an initiative developed in Strathclyde in 2005, which involved police setting up the Violence Reduction Unit (VDU). The unit treats knife crime as a public health issue, working with police, health, education and social work professionals.
The approach was created by three surgeons who founded Medics Against Violence, which focuses on addressing the consequences of stabbings for victims, families and the offender themselves. Added to this are programmes such as No Knives Better Lives and Mentors for Violence Prevention, which seek to support young people to generate better opportunities for their future.
The results have been dramatic: over ten years, the number of hospital admissions due to assault with a sharp object in Glasgow fell by 62%. These are small but significant steps. At least in Scotland, there are signs that politicians acknowledge the major role that environment and opportunity play in shaping young people's actions. If only their English counterparts in Westminster would do the same.


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Boss Jones warns Ashton & Backwell men not to throw season away at Lebeq United
PUBLISHED: 09:00 01 January 2020 | UPDATED: 18:13 07 January 2020
Ashton and Backwell's Stuart Jones during their pre-season friendly with Paulton Rovers
Ashton & Backwell United's season is in danger of "capitulating" says manager Stuart Jones.
Billy Devoy scores to put Ashton and Backwell back in front. (Picture: Sarah Robbins)
Goals from Joe Bishop and Billy Devoy helped the Stags record a second consecutive victory with a 2-1 win over Portishead Town in the Toolstation Western League Division One on Saturday.
And Jones, who admits his side have done okay so far this campaign, travel to Lebeq United for their first game of 2020 on Saturday (January 4).
"We have a let few results go through the net, but our objective has to be hard to beat at home," said Jones.
"We are not far from our season capitulating. We are under pressure, we need to rack a few wins together.
Billy Devoy celebrates scoring his goal with Ashton and Backwell during their win over Portishead Town. (Picture: Sarah Robbins)
"The players knows that's the standard, that's the way it is here.
"We want to go up and the players do as well, but we all have got to be willing to do extra."
After recording a fourth home victory of the season over the Possest, Jones was pleased to see his side claim all three points in their last game of the decade after successive postponements.
"I was pleased to see the resilience, the work rate, to see us be dogged and that's not a label people put on us. Seeing that was a good thing," he added.
"I accept the fact we have missed two games of football. We have also missed a few training sessions with the weather.
"I understand it's Christmas, so probably if I'm going to be fair, I'm happy with the win."
A&B go into their weekend game at Bristol Road, having not won away since defeating Bristol Telephones in the last week of October.
And Jones admitted they 'must' come back to Somerset with three points which can set them up for the rest of the season.
"Totally," says Jones. "They are not that many points below us. They probably strive to where we want to be. I tipped them at the beginning of the season to do well.
"They lost a couple of players after I said that I wanted them the other week. They get the ball down, they play, they are very quick on the break and they have a lot of ability, width.
"It's going to be a tough game, we are not under any illusions and it will be a good game of football."


A thread for motorcycle talk, Q&A, or just post pics and brag your ride.
As for me, I use to build 30 years ago, I had to give it up, but now I'm back at it again, more to follow.
This seems like a good place to put this.. Bike for sale.
Let me guess, your legs are too short to reach the pedals?
I can't get assless chaps in that color.
Mine is still on the drawing board. I have almost enough to start mock up, still need one or two things and warmer weather.
Ya we already talked about it over @ pf.
You have a little ways to go, eh.
And yes, I have a long ways to go, but taking my time has been part of my plan from the start, originally planning on 2-3 years to complete. A couple of factors figure in to my build, first off, I'm not planning to ride anything two wheeled until I'm 62, still a couple years away and second, building a bike that fits me, see I'm a big guy, 6'2" and 300lbs, the third thing being economics, under 4k is my goal.
This is what my brother bought...around 17k on the showroom floor.
Although he won't admit it, I figure the only reason he bought that model was because he thinks it's chopper like, forward controls and raked front end, ghost flames paint, I think he bought it because he knew that I was planing to start a build, something he hasn't seen me do for the last 30 years, he figured he'd get in the first punch, the way I see it he whiffed, he got himself a big inch sports bike that's a far cry from an old school chopper.


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Jaleigh Cockrell of the Clark County Public Library, left, pushes a brown paper bag with books or other items outside the front door so that Kristin Tarry can pick them up after dropping off others she had borrowed. Within only a few minutes on Thursday afternoon around 3:30, several people drove up to the library to take advantage of its curbside delivery and dropoff.
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No definite date for library reopening; changes planned
By Randy Patrick
It hasn't yet been decided when the Clark County Public Library will reopen its doors to the public, but when it does, things are going to look a little different.
Library Director Julie Maruskin said the library will continue the curbside delivery of books, DVDs and other materials that began May 18 until at least June 25 and maybe later.
"In the next two weeks, we are assessing what phase we move to," Maruskin said. "I evaluate the situation every day."
"We hope to open as quickly as we possibly can," she said.
Even before the novel coronavirus closed or limited in-person services for public libraries, books and other borrowed items were disinfected when they were returned, but now they are quarantined in cardboard boxes for nine days before they are sanitized, based on guidelines of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
For the past month, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, patrons have been able to order online and phone ahead to pick up books outside the library and return them on a cart.
"From the minute we opened the curbside service, people have been very receptive to it," Maruskin said.
However, demand for digital products, such as books, movies and music online through programs such as Hoopla and ACORN TV has remained high.
"A lot of people didn't realize how extensive the digital products available were" until they couldn't come inside anymore to borrow items, she said.
Maruskin said many people also come to the library to use its public access WiFi, including students.
The director said she has noticed at least two families who come to the library almost every day to have lunch and use the WiFi.
As for allowing people back inside the library, however, Maruskin said, that will occur when she and the staff feel it's safe. Public libraries have many older and other at-risk patrons who are more susceptible to becoming critically ill from the virus.
"We are very aware of trying to protect those populations," she said. "That's the real challenge for libraries."
The governor allowed libraries to reopen June 8, but many haven't.
Maruskin said that when the Clark County Public Library does reopen, there will be changes that will be noticeable.
As with department stores, the library will only allow a limited number of people inside at a time.
There will social distancing markers on the floor and at various places throughout the building.
There will be a limited number of computers available for use, but no study tables or areas to sit and read.
Staff members will be behind PlexiGlas shields, wear masks and gloves when interacting with the public, but visitors won't have to be masked.
"We would love for people to wear a mask when they come in," Maruskin said, but "that's not something we feel is necessary" to require.
Maruskin said people who handle books and other materials will probably be asked to place them on carts for cleaning rather than returning them to the shelves, and she is considering self-check stations, but wants to make sure that doesn't cause more problems.
"We're having to take it very slowly," the director said.
One of the innovative ideas the library started a couple of years ago and will likely expand is the scheduled delivery of subscription boxes. Patrons would be able sign up for and get delivered one day a month up to 40 items based on their tastes.
"It's sort of like the old-fashioned milk delivery. You just exchange the tote," said.
About Randy Patrick
Randy Patrick is a reporter for Bluegrass Newsmedia, which includes The Jessamine Journal. He may be reached at 859-759-0015 or by email at randy.patrick@bluegrassnewsmedia.com.
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© 2021, Winchester Sun


Use only the marking device provided in the voting booth.
If you make a mistake, don't hesitate to ask for a new ballot. If you erase or make other marks, your vote may not count.
To vote for a candidate whose name is not printed on the ballot, fill in the oval and write the candidates name on the blank line provided for such a write-in candidate.
You must completely fill in the oval for your vote to count. Any other mark may not be read by the scanner.
Do NOT use a check mark.
Do NOT mark the oval with an X.
The Model DS-200 Precinct Counter is the optical scan voting machine used in Hamilton County to count ballots at the precincts.
When you make a mistake on your ballot, this is considered a Spoiled Ballot and you may ask for a replacement. You may receive up to two replacements or a total of three ballots.
An Overvote is when you vote for more than the number of candidates allowed in a race. If a race is overvoted, the Model DS-200 Counter will return the ballot to the voter. The voter must then return the spoiled ballot to the clerk and receive a new ballot.
An Undervote is when you do not vote in a particular race. That race will not be counted. The Model DS-200 Counter will not return the ballot to the voter unless the entire ballot is blank.


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Dem Bones In Da Movies
We've all got them. We just don't like to think about them. Nevertheless bones are everywhere in the movies. Most commonly they're used in horror flicks to get a quick and easy shock reaction. Nothing reinforces the grim reality of death better than a skull, or spectral finger pointed in the audience's direction.
Dig a little deeper however and you'll find bones have been employed creatively throughout cinema history. Whether entertaining children or even hinting at the nature of the universe, there's a lot more to the matter than meets the eye… well, ocular socket anyway.
So make sure you've drunk your milk because I'm taking you on a rattling good tour of the various ways in which moviemakers have made us aware of what lies just under the skin…
INDIANA JONES & THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
Harrison Ford may find his next foray with a fedora and bullwhip rather poignant, as the pensionable adventurer excavates yet more danger and derring do for Indiana Jones 5. Spooling back to 2008 though, his last outing featured the remains of an ancient civilization, but one of the like he'd never seen before.
Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull brought Indy face to face with a bonce of unimaginable power, in a belated tale of father-son bonding, flesh-eating ants, Cate Blanchett going the full smoked ham and the important advice that you can avoid a nuclear blast by hiding in a fridge.
The big finale, set in an Amazon temple, saw the crystal artefact's true purpose revealed – in a first for the series Dr Jones got introduced to aliens, and director Steven Spielberg wasn't in the mood to make them cuddly. The producers put all their eggs in one basket for a climax that had something for everyone… and at its centre was that eerie, all-knowing skull.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE RED SKULL
The star-spangled shield slinger is really up against it in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at present. Having battled Ultron, he's locking horns with former friend Iron Man for his third movie, Civil War. But there's only one true nemesis for Captain America – old war foe The Red Skull.
His terrifying appearance was due to an attempt to become a supersoldier like Chris Evans' title hero, an experiment which went ever so slightly wrong. Cap then took on Skull over possession of the fearsome Tesseract, a relic capable of giving its user unlimited energy.
This bald bad ass has the full complement of evil credentials. He's a Nazi. He has an insatiable thirst for power. And above all he's only got half a face. Woe bedtide the underling who suggests he needs a nose job.
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK: TOOTH FAIRIES
Mad Mexican helmer Gullermo del Toro has a tendency to take established ideas and give them his own warped spin, to great critical and commercial effect. An obscure TV movie about goblins became a passion project for him forty-odd years after it first aired – 2010's Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark.
Handsome yet haunted couple Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes moved into a perilous pile of prime real estate that unbeknownst to them had a history of carnage, care of some child-seeking tiny creatures. The dark dynamo reworked these as tooth fairies, though left the directing honours to comic book guy Troy Nixey.
Why tooth fairies? Because they liked to feast on your pearly whites of course! The monsters enjoyed getting their teeth into your teeth, a concept del Toro had previously explored in Hellboy sequel The Golden Army.
ONE OF OUR DINOSAURS IS MISSING: APATOSAURUS SKELETON
While you're marvelling at the rampaging skinless T-Rex at the centre of the Night At The Museum franchise, spare a thought for the movie that came first in that predatory respect – 1975's One Of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing.
The Disney classic featured the Natural History Museum as the venue for slapstick-fuelled mayhem. The multi-boned Apatosaurus exhibit was chosen as an unlikely place to hide a microfilm by crusading Brit Lord Southmere (Derek Nimmo). From there ensued a battle of wits between the Chinese government and, erm, some nannies.
The film is well-remembered for the spectacle of the former flesh eater being driven around London on the back of a steam lorry. The presence of Peter Ustinov as ethnically questionable character Hnup Wan – alongside Carry On stars Joan Sims and Bernard Bresslaw – also raised eyebrows.
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS: JACK SKELLINGTON
One of the most famous onscreen skeletons of all wasn't made of calcium but modelling clay. Tim Burton proved the perfect candidate to create a heartwarming family tale based on his dark verse, which made Jack Skellington the all-singing, all-dancing focus. Henry Selick sat in the director's chair, moulding the movie's plasticine legs.
The story is as well-known as a Grimm's fairy tale, but in case you're out of the loop, here it is. Skellington was the toast of Halloween Town, until he stumbled upon Christmas Town, and his whole attitude to life changed as he attempted to bring the two sides of the coin together for a bizarre and brutal festive experience.
Jack had quite a pedigree behind the scenes – his elegant vocals came courtesy of regular Burton composer Danny Elfman, but his lines were delivered by Chris Sarandon, better known as vampire hunk Jerry Dandrige in the original Fright Night.
JURASSIC PARK: RAPTOR CLAW
Sometimes the smallest things can be the most powerful, an idea ably demonstrated by Steven Spielberg in 1993 game changer Jurassic Park. It wasn't all giant scaly horrors running around the place gobbling up lawyers and giving Newman from Seinfeld a venom facial.
Before we even saw a "living" dinosaur we were introduced to rebel paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), who gave a mouthy young scamp an education on velociraptor hunting habits at a dig site. His illustrative tool? A rather nasty-looking claw. As the accompanying picture shows it wasn't long before the kid was seeing those so-called relics in a whole new light.
It was in many ways a quiet scene, but one underscored by a playful bite. Neill's laid back tones, contrasting with the vivid subject matter being described, set the scene for the theme park-based action horror fest to come. The actor returned for Jurassic Park III. Sadly the claw didn't.
THE SKULL
Though Hammer Studios made a lasting mark on the British horror film it's easy to overlook the contribution of Amicus Productions, who specialized in gore-filled compendiums. These typically depicted several grisly chapters under the umbrella of one movie. In the mid-Sixties they had a go at beating Hammer at their own game in our next bony slice of terror, The Skull.
Based around the idea of the late Marquis de Sade's noggin being detached, enabling the decapitator to use its evil powers, the story (by Psycho's Robert Bloch) starred Peter Cushing as a supernatural anorak who came into possession of the title object, complete with terrifying telepathic abilities. This inanimate neck topper left a trail of death and destruction in its cranial wake.
The Skull has unfortunately not survived well against the likes of Dracula: Prince Of Darkness and The Devil Rides Out, but it carried a welter of talent both in front of and behind the camera: Christopher Lee and Michael Gough shared the screen with Cushing and Freddie Francis lined the lurid lenses.
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY: BONE THROW
The most important bone on this list (stop sniggering) is also the most important in human history, according to Stanley Kubrick's epic 1968 collaboration with Arthur C Clarke. Trying to get the story of 2001 down in one paragraph would be stupider than a neanderthal eating his own dung, but here are the basics.
Back at the dawn of intelligent life on Earth a monolith appeared, heralding a strange, ominous, mysterious and beautiful introduction into the world of an interplanetary power. Got that? Good. In a lengthy opening sequence we hung out with primitive humanity as they eked out their existence on the barren landscape.
One particular primate discovered the power of a bone as the way forward for his species – an emblem of Mankind's capacity to create and destroy. He promptly chucked it into the air, where Kubrick cleverly cut from its spinning trajectory to that of a ship hanging in space. The scene straddled our primal past and hi tech future in one striking gesture.
PREDATOR 2: XENOMORPH TROPHY
This nod to the Dark Horse comic looked like a throwaway thing, but turned out to be the biggest blink and you'll miss it moment of recent times. It was just a fleeting appearance, but the in joke of a xenomorph skull on a spaceship in the latter's Arnie-free sequel created a momentum that led to a whole other horror franchise.
Danny Glover felt too old for the shit of Lethal Weapon, but was the right age it seemed for this crock of urban action, which relocated the title monster from the great outdoors to the City of Angels. The climactic scenes saw Glover access the Predator's crib where he stumbled on its macabre trophy collection.
Over a decade later the potential was capitalized on with Alien vs Predator. It didn't receive a red hot reception, but gave rise to a bizarre follow up, in addition to the dreadlocked death dealer taking centre stage again for Predators.
JASON & THE ARGONAUTS: UNDEAD ARMY
Animator Ray Harryhausen was one of the driving forces behind stop motion production. If he hadn't sat there patiently manipulating and snapping all those fantasy creations we wouldn't have had the spectacles of the Sinbad movies or Clash Of The Titans. From Minotaur to Medusa, he gave generations of kids nightmares.
Jason & The Argonauts, my final entry, was one of his crowning achievements. The bronzed and bearded Todd Armstrong went on a quest across the exotic and creature-strewn Colchis, in search of the fabled Golden Fleece. He encountered various fully-poseable beasties, but Harryhausen saved the best and indeed boniest for last.
The final section of the film showcased a massive swordfight between Jason's men and a team of skeletal warriors brought up from the earth by the evil Aeëtes. He even used the teeth of the fearsome Hydra as seeds from which to grow the menace. This sequence is so perfectly executed, blending actors and effects, that it still looks as impressive now as it did back in 1963.
April 18, 2016 damnambulance	2001 a space odyssey, aliens vs predator, amicus productions, apatosaurus, archaeology, arthur c clarke, bones, captain america, crystal skulls, disney, don't be afraid of the dark, film, guillermo del toro, horror, horror movies, indiana jones, jason and the argonauts, jurassic park, marquis de sade, marvel, marvel cinematic universe, movies, one of our dinosaurs is missing, peter cushing, predator 2, ray harryhausen, skulls, stanley kubrick, stop-motion animation, the nightmare before christmas, the red skull, the skull, tim burton, velociraptor	Leave a comment
10 Film Sequels That Went In Wildly Different Directions (WhatCulture)
The psychology behind a sequel is simple: more of the same, and usually bigger. After all, since the first film was a great success, why change a winning formula? While it's generally accepted that a follow up won't match the original, producers can always rely on dollar signs as a motivating force.
Over the years, scores of audience members have sat in the cinema only to emerge two hours later wondering why they bothered. The bloated spectacles of Speed 2, Bad Boys II and Escape From LA are testament to that. However every so often that rule is broken, and a director will try something different with a new instalment. From a shift in tone to a complete change in storyline, there are sequels out there that mean more than an increase in budget and a digit jammed onto the end of the title. Here we take a look at ten of the best/worst examples… Read more.
April 4, 2016 damnambulance	alex cox, batman, batman returns, comedy, films, halloween III, horror, house III the horror show, microbudget features, movies, peter sellers, rambo, repo chick, repo man, sequels, sylvester stallone, the texas chainsaw massacre 2, tim burton	Leave a comment
Brilliant But Blatant Movie Product Placements (The Hollywood News)
UK TV viewers are currently being treated to the sight of Arnold Schwarzenegger being blackmailed by two nattily-dressed Eastern European meerkats. Tied in with the release of Terminator: Genisys, this is an advert for car and home insurance – now the T-800 has popped up in some odd places, but lending itself to a company that helps you when your water pipes burst? That's a whole new level of terror. As the star reaches pensionable age, so the endorsements get more staid and sensible.
What with Sylvester Stallone flogging sliced bread and Jean-Claude Van Damme karate'ing his way round his own ice palace for a popular beer brand, it seems Eighties action stars are really starting to build those nest eggs. It isn't a great surprise to see these commercially-minded butt-breakers sign up for the big bucks – after all Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Bruce Willis made a hefty mint out of the Planet Hollywood restaurant franchise. Yet when the likes of George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and even Al Pacino start appearing in your home hawking various products and services it opens a different chapter on the history of movie stars mingling with the Mad Men.
Bill Murray mildly spoofed stars who absconded to foreign territories to peddle rubbish in Lost In Translation. However these days the business of plastering your face onto a money-making exercize is viewed with less embarrassment, to the extent that Sean Penn weighed in to criticize his fellow actors for being quite so quick to open their wallets. Mind you, he's a fine one to talk, as our list is about to demonstrate!
Here we take a moolah-strewn peek at the complex relationship between the film industry and advertising. Along the way we uncover some alarming examples of Hollywood shunting brand names front of camera, in creative or often just blatant fashion. This is the art of extracting cash from unsuspecting punters, and where better to start than our first choice, a man who earns a crust from being covert? Well, as covert as a handsome man in a tuxedo doing major stunts in capital cities can be…
JAMES BOND (1962 – present)
The 007 franchise has been a bandwagon of luxury brand names for decades. From the Aston Martin he drives, to the Walther PPK he shoots people with, right through to the tipple he enjoys after a hard shift beating up bad guys and bedding beauties (Martini, shaken not stirred) this agent has a licence to print money as well as kill.
Today's Bond is no different, with watch manufacturers, fashion houses and even purveyors of fragrances courting Daniel Craig's attention. Be it deploying one of Q's gadgets, checking the time to see whether the bar is open or tearing up the streets of an exotic location, there's a queue of corporations as long as Richard "Jaws" Kiel's arm waiting to put their stamp all over the latest adventure.
There are too many examples of product placement in the Bond movies to catalogue here, but my favourite was Pierce Brosnan's Nineties superspy driving a remote control BMW off a roof in Tomorrow Never Dies… landing it perfectly in the window of a Hertz rental shop!
CARRY ON UP THE JUNGLE (1970)
The Carry Ons epitomized the idea of a long-running film series way before the blockbuster entries of Hollywood. Featuring liberal helpings of irreverence and outright sauce, their approach was also characterized by the product placement on offer. It's perhaps appropriate that iconic star Sid James became the arch exponent of this.
Known to be partial to a drop of Scotch whiskey, he took his interest to new extremes for studio-bound tropical romp Carry On Up The Jungle. In an infamous sequence he opened a cabinet, where an obscene amount of Johnny Walker Red Label was seen inside!
Ranking as one of the booziest movie scenes since Richard Harris and Richard Burton sat down for a chat and a vat of spirits in The Wild Geese, the unexpected and, more importantly, distilled addition to the shoot ensured both the actor's representatives and his thirst were satisfied.
Director Ridley Scott's visionary sci-fi epic impressed audiences in many respects, bringing them a neon-soaked urban landscape the likes of which they'd never seen before. One of the factors which rang true was the generous helping of brand names lit large amongst the giant geisha faces and the pollution.
Everyone recognized Coca-Cola, but the film also highlighted other logos that reflected the Eighties as much as a futuristic vibe. Atari and Pan-Am were two of the major entities on the list that either changed and vanished into the smog in ensuing years.
Interestingly, there is a "curse" associated with the machine-hunting masterpiece. A noticeable number of companies who got displayed prominently wound up going the way of the replicants! I wonder who'll be queueing up to have their wares splashed all over the upcoming sequel like a robot's brains…?
Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis's lucrative comedy spawned a lot of merchandise, and these two savvy humour-mongers may have had their gameplan worked out to perfection – the ectoplasmic quartet were branded with a distinctive logo, Ray Parker Jr.'s catchphrase-heavy title track became the anthem for a generation and the "ugly little spud" Slimer was a toymaker's dream come true.
Yet the writers also cannily included everyday products in their concept, some of which must base part of their revenue on the basis of 'Buster involvement. American sweet treat the Twinkie got a name check in a legendary piece of dialogue from Aykroyd's Ray Stantz. And then there was the small matter of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
A massive dude made of marshmallows dressed in a sailor outfit may have been fairly low on the list of global threats up to that point, but you can be sure the citizens of New York found him pretty damned horrifying after he tried to wreck the city in a fondant-fuelled rampage! How the incident affected Stay Puft's profits has yet to be revealed.
U-TURN (1997)
When you find yourself stranded in the middle of nowhere, in a dustbowl hotter than Ricky Martin's jockstrap, you're going to get thirsty, right? That was exactly the type of hard-boiled nightmare experienced by Sean Penn in Oliver Stone's vicious thriller U Turn.
While Penn's character Bobby found numerous distractions in the remote community of Superior, most notably Jennifer Lopez's femme fatale Grace, it was the prominent appearance of a lower level brand name that gave viewers the impression they were suddenly watching the world's harshest soft drinks commercial.
Usually a vending machine in an American movie is full of the all-powerful elixir that is Coke. However, when Bobby really needed to drench his parched throat after a battering Stone opted for the lesser-known Dr Pepper as the town's speediest source of refreshment. Penn may well look back on this scene and shudder, bearing in mind he took A-Listers to task recently for their flagrant ties to advertising!
As long as the film business earns money, the big beasts of commerce will always be looking to make a deal. But it's an interdependent thing between art and acquisition, that shows no sign of either party wanting to kick the other out of bed.
This feature appeared on The Hollywood News
August 7, 2015 damnambulance	arnold schwarzenegger, atari, blade runner, carry on, coca-cola, dr pepper, ghostbusters, james bond, johnny walker red label scotch whiskey, movies, oliver stone, product placement, sean penn, sid james, stay puft, terminator genisys, twinkie, u-turn	Leave a comment
Trash Blu-Ray Review (The Hollywood News)
Political corruption and intrigue form the backdrop to Trash, an involving action thriller set apart by two things. First, the unusual location – the slums of Rio De Janeiro, dominated by their mountains of litter. Second, the perspective – it's seen mainly through the eyes of three kids who stumble upon a hotbed of deception that changes their lives forever.
Raphael (Rickson Teves), Gardo (Eduardo Luis) and the delightfully-named Rat (Gabriel Weinstein) earn their meagre living sifting through what society dumps quite literally on their doorstep. But when Raphael discovers an abandoned wallet pitched into a passing garbage truck by man-on-the-run José Angelo, he finds it contains a strange document. Unbeknownst to the boy, Angelo has been apprehended and murdered by the police at the behest of a prominent politician, and with no information extracted the authorities begin combing the trash heaps to recover whatever it is that holds their future in the balance.
Stephen Daldry is the director, which surprises as you don't normally associate him with this type of movie. Even more eyebrow-raising is Richard Curtis's involvement, adapting Andy Mulligan's novel. Curtis has a well-developed social conscience but Trash is strong meat for the writer of Love Actually. The viewer needn't worry as both men do a decent job – they've crafted a proper thrill ride, featuring some great chase sequences and moments of pulse-pounding suspense.
They opt to show the children commenting on the majority of the action via a video confessional made later in the movie, hence reassuring us of their safety throughout. This is just as well, as the film doesn't do things by halves. Like with Slumdog Millionnaire the villains don't go easy on the protagonists because they're kids – one sequence in particular where Raphael is tortured by warped cop Gonz (Selton Mello) is very difficult to watch. Overall however the tone is well-judged, balancing pathos with a light touch (these are wayward boys after all), in numerous scenes which leap off the screen.
This is intended to be an entertainment first and foremost, so inevitably the social context fades into the background. For preference I would have liked more detail about the country and indeed the lads themselves as characters. To the filmmakers' credit it should be noted they hammer home some stark truths in the closing minutes. Some extras about Rio's upheavals would have been beneficial, but unfortunately the release carries just the film, which is a major missed opportunity. Another minor criticism is you don't get a thorough understanding of what Angelo was opposing in the first place, beyond a general idea. But there's certainly enough to go on and the piece has a strong ending, with a showdown in a cemetery as satisfying as anything from a Jason Bourne chapter.
Martin Sheen and Rooney Mara are good as a priest and a nun working in the slums, but really they're providing support for Daldry's trio of young actors, who are a triumph and the movie's main selling point. By parachuting in two American faces the director has managed to realize what is essentially a foreign language film on the scale of a Hollywood outing. He could so easily have had everyone speaking English, but resisted the temptation to his credit.
Whether Trash will live on as a statement about the desperate situation in a little-seen part of the world, or if it'll wind up as just another title on the DVD shelves remains to be seen. As an involving two hours it succeeds in spades. Its legacy on the other hand has yet to be judged.
This review appeared on The Hollywood News.
June 3, 2015 damnambulance	film, martin sheen, movies, richard curtis, rooney mara, selton mello, stephen daldry, trash, trash blu-ray, universal pictures	Leave a comment
All Wool Be Revealed! Interview With 'Shaun The Sheep Movie' Directors (The Hollywood News)
Shaun The Sheep Movie is about to be released on DVD and Blu-ray after a baa-rilliant reception on the big screen. In many ways the original farm heroes saga, its story follows Shaun and the gang as they head into the big city to rescue their gibberish-speaking custodian, the Farmer.
The film was praised for its echoing of old school slapstick comedy and hopes are high for a follow up. So while the gears of the studios whirr in contemplation over that, we sat down with writer/directors Richard Starzak and Mark Burton for a good old bleat…
Shaun The Sheep on TV is only a few minutes long. How did you go about expanding the concept to feature length?
Richard: That was the big challenge. That's why I think me and Mark work as well together. Mark's had much experience of writing feature scripts and we had to find a story that could sustain that long. We had to dig deeper into the characters, a lot deeper than we do in the series. The series could be quite surface, you know, one of the episodes could be just the characters getting stuck together with a tube of glue. We had to think of a bigger story for this…
You needed a bigger tube of glue almost.
Mark: Massive tube of glue!
Richard: A tube of emotional glue…
Mark: The other thing was taking characters out of their comfort zone, take them into a few worlds, so we took them into the big city.
I use this word in inverted commas, but what was an "average" day like on the set?
Richard: Me and Mark got together at 8 in the morning, and we'd go through all the shots we'd be shooting that day with our production team. Make sure everyone knows what's happening… and then we'd go onto the studio floor, see the progress of the shots. We treat the animators like actors, so we brief them on the set, tell them what we want. We want to know what the character's thinking. We go through all the detail when everything's set up and lit, like a live action shoot. But at the same time we're also having to deal with music, with editing, any other story issues that come up… the day lasts from 8 till 8 at night.
Mark: And weekends as well.
Richard: And a few weekends. So it's a very intense time really.
Mark: It's not really a 9 – 5 job. You're very involved and engaged in everything. Like all directors we'll say we're power mad and trying to keep an eye on all aspects of the film, right up to the marketing really.
Moving onto the cast, you've got a lot of comedians in the film, notably Omid Djalili. What dynamic did they bring?
Richard: Omid was great because he's a comedy star, he's been in some Hollywood movies… and we wanted him to grunt and make some noises!
Mark: He rose to the challenge because he got the point, which was that it's not really about the dialogue in that sense, it's about non-verbal communication. So he brought a lot to the character of the baddie, Trumper. He was totally up for it, and not just in terms of being funny. He'd have that range where he'd go from these very small little verbal things we could use, right up to big, Omid-type screaming. But he could bring a level of subtlety to it.
That's what he brought, and I think John Sparkes (Absolutely) – who obviously works on the series – and Justin Fletcher (Mr Tumble)… they kind of rose to the challenge. Like a big Hollywood movie we were were going to take these characters' emotions very seriously, so the comedy worked and the emotion worked… we stretched them out. It was a slightly bizarre process sometimes as you can imagine, but ultimately it was quite a rewarding and illuminating one.
Talking of dramatic intrigue, how did Nick Park's cameo appearance come about?
Richard: The joke came about first I think. We had the idea of the bird spotter, the twitcher, getting revealed and attacked by the birds he's spying on. He's a bit of a voyeur. Then we remembered that Nick Park's a very keen bird spotter.
Mark: He had a great sense of humour about it.
Animation gives you more free rein than in reality, but was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn't achieve?
Richard: The story went through lots of iterations, but it was quite meticulously-planned so we knew what we'd be doing…
Mark: There's a little bit of begging and bartering that goes on. Obviously we've got a production crew working to tight deadlines. So sometimes when we'd want to do a shot at the end, maybe we weren't quite happy with it, or if we wanted to see more characters… to be fair, what's great about the Aardman team is that they've done it for so long they can accommodate that. It was very rare you'd get told "no"! A bit of chin stroking sometimes, a bit of "hmm". But they always try to facilitate the directors.
Richard: What was interesting with the city was that the size of the sets, and the size of the shots, were kind of prescribed by the physical size of the space. We were in this crazy warehouse down on the outskirts of Bristol, where the production is done. And sometimes the camera would hit the ceiling! That's as far as it goes. It's like, you want to get a nice, big, swooping top shot and we literally hit the sky, so that's it. But that's okay, you kind of work into that…
Why do you prefer working with stop motion animation? I like it, but it seems quite laborious compared to CGI…
Richard: I don't know whether it is any more laborious. I think you have to go through all the same processes as other forms of animation. I just love the way it feels, the way you engage with it. It's visceral, you go down on the sets, you've got real sets, real props, real lighting cameramen up ladders… it's great, like doing live action very slowly. I think the audience likes to know that the things are real. The exhibitions are very popular as well, we've got one in France at the moment and it's very successful. People love to see that stuff.
Mark: I think the audience gets more out of that. I mean, we love CGI, don't get us wrong, you can press a button and have huge crowds and great big swooping shots of giant cities and everything, and you can't do that in stop-motion, you've got to think about it another way. But that can also be quite empowering!
What are the pair of you working on next? Shaun The Sheep was a spin off from Wallace & Gromit – are there any characters in the movie you think could have their own spin off…?
Richard: Slip the dog has proved to be very popular…
Mark: It would be nice to do some more Shaun The Sheeps, if possible.
Richard: There could well be a sequel. We're planning for it just in case! The signs are good, I'm currently working on a Shaun The Sheep half hour, called The Farmer's Llamas, which I'm overseeing. That's going to be out at Christmas and will be fairly global…
Mark: You may know Nick Park's working on a new movie. I think he's unveiling it at Cannes.
This turned out to be Early Man, a prehistoric tale and another collaboration with StudioCanal. Here's the teaser poster…
This interview appeared on The Hollywood News.
May 29, 2015 damnambulance	aardman animations, absolutely, cannes 2015, film, john sparkes, justin fletcher, mark burton, movies, nick park, omid djalili, richard starzak, shaun the sheep, shaun the sheep movie, studiocanal	Leave a comment


You too can try and bit of apple-gazing all year round - these are our favourite orchards to visit.
Explore the Winter Walk at the RHS Garden Wisley and wander through the Christmas Display (December 5-January 4) where the Glasshouse display has been decorated especially for Christmas.
(0845 260 9000, www.rhs.org.uk/WhatsOn). Open 9am-4.30pm Sat & Sun, 10am-4.30pm Mon-Fri.
More than 85 varieties of Cornish apples are grown in the orchard as well as medlars and quince. The restored walled garden also contains cordons of historic varieties of apples, pears, peaches and cherries. Organic, and planted using lunar cycles (01637 877447, www.gardensincornwall.co.uk). Open by appointment only.
In the heart of Hampstead, this 300-year-old orchard with more than 30 varieties of English apple is contained within a walled garden that also includes a glasshouse, herbs, cut flower and vegetable borders (020 7435 3471, www.nationaltrust.org.uk).
John Ruskin's home; the orchard was planted in his memory. The apples are used in the restaurant, sold in the shop and made into jam and juice. (01539 441396; www.brantwood.org.uk). Open Dec - March 10:30am - 4pm. Closed Mon & Tue, Christmas Day & Boxing Day.
One of the National Trust's largest collections of apples, pears, cherries and plums within the walled garden.
Join in the winter family fun, a quest which leads you through the new winter trail running every weekend until February 7 11am-3:30pm and tuck in to apple-based dishes in the restaurant (01904 472027; www.nationaltrust.org.uk).
This restored public garden of hedged plots contains 50 varieties of apple, a dozen varieties of pear and more (01926 493216; www.hillclosegardens.com). Open November-March 11am-4pm, closed Sat & Sun.
With over 4000 different varieties of fruit, Brodale Collections is the home of The National Fruit Collection. Visitors can sample pears, apples, cherries, plums and more on a guided tour of the orchard, available March-October, 7 days a week. Open 9am-4pm (Tickets available online at www.brogdalecollections.org).
This heritage orchard was planted 16 years ago to help conserve fruit species that were grown in Norfolk before the decline of the local apple industry. There are 62 varieties of apple and pear trees in the orchard which can even be viewed from a platform at the top of a wind turbine, the only one of its kind in Europe. Open 10am-4pm Mon-Fri, all year round. Visit www.greenbritaincentre.co.uk for more information about upcoming events, including the annual apple day.


text:
Footloose is the story of Ren McCormack, a teenage boy from Chicago. He and his mother move to the small town of Bomont after his father abandons them.
Upon arriving, Ren finds himself at odds with most of the town, including the Reverend Bomont. The Reverend has convinced the town to outlaw dancing, which Ren finds unbelievable.
With the help of the Ariel (the Reverend's daughter) and Willard (a country hick who becomes his best friend), Ren convinces the Reverend to let the teenagers dance, and in the process helps the town to heal from a tragedy that affected them all.
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