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Woody Allen | Annie Hall
NEEDING THE EGS
Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman (writers), Woody Allen (director) Annie Hall / 1977
Although Woody Allen had long played himself as a character in his stand-up comedian
performances, Annie Hall was his first foray into a version of self-representation on screen that would continue throughout the rest of his directing career.
In this film his self-based character—although Allen has long denied that the film was truly autobiographical—is named Alvy Singer. Alvy is a true "insider" New Yorker (born in Brooklyn who lived as a child under a Coney Island rollercoaster), who, yet, in his paranoia about being Jewish in a world of gentiles, feels as a permanent "outsider" in the world. Although one might easily perceive
Annie Hall as a valentine to Manhattan, it is also portrayed as a raucously annoying world of imminent danger, wherein every query such as "Do you," can be read as a racial baiting of the world "Jew." People in movie lines pontificate on Bergman, Fellini, and Marshall McLuhan (the real man whom Alvy pulls from behind a nearby poster-board to prove the loud smock behind him is mistaken in his views). And almost everyone he meets talks, endlessly talks. In short, it's lot the family scenes that Allen portrays in Alvy's childhood. Indeed, the movie was originally titled Anhedonia, from Greek word meaning the inability to experience joy.
Yet Alvy, much like Allen, is often attracted to the "other," something so very different from the world he has embraced. At the center of this film, which was to be devoted simply to the fragments of Alvy's life, is Annie (perfectly personified by Diane Keaton, whose childhood name was Diane "Annie" Hall, and who had a romantic relationship with Allen), the polar opposite of Alvy. She is an insecure would-be singer, while he writes jokes and does stand-up comedian gigs; she is totally curious and committed to the new, while he is an opinionated pessimist fixated upon death—after all, as a child he has discovered that the universe is forever expanding, and human life is necessarily doomed.
Most importantly, Annie and her family are near-Wasps whom Alvy imagines see him as a Hassid with Tallas and a tall Russian hat on his head. The scene in which he dines with Annie's family, replete with Annie's Jew-hating "grammy," her possibly suicidal brother Duane (Christopher Walken)—he confesses that he often has a desire to turn his car into the headlights of passing autos—and an over-inquisitive mother (Colleen Dewhurst), is certainly among one of the film's best, reminding one a bit of scenes from Allen's later Hannah and Her Sisters.
Annie Hall, in its final version, centers upon Alvy's attempt to comprehend why these two opposites have fallen out of love, but we discover almost immediately that, in fact, they were never truly compatible, he self-centered and determined to keep his space, she far more easy-going and emotionally responsive. Even their costumes, Annie dressed in casually chic male-female attire, he in standard shirt, kakis, and loafers. Is it any wonder that, by film's end, Annie has drifted off to the antithesis of Alvy's world, California? Perhaps the only thing these two do share is a fear of
multi-legged creatures, he of lobsters, she of spiders.
Calling up the major events of their affair and his central character's two previous marriages, Allen's work is squarely in the romantic movie genre, lacking great experimentation. Yet he tricks his audience into believing that this work is someone adventurous by throwing in what later will would be described as postmodern tropes such as the scene described above with Marshall McLuhan, schoolroom children standing to announce in what professions they were later employed, direct and sudden questioning of passerbys on the New York streets, split-screens portraying completely different realities, subtitles that express the real fears behind the characters' everyday dialogue, cross-cuts that break the somewhat realist plotting, and, most importantly, the direct embracement of the audience-goers, which force us to feel that this movie is truly engaging us. Allen also employs the Robert Altman device of introducing real-life celebrities into his film, including McLuhan, Truman Capote, Paul Simon, and others.
And then, the film has the major asset of Diane Keaton, who, if she isn't truly Annie Hall, is, even today, completely comfortable in embracing that role. While Alvy/Allen is constantly whining, she, in the old-fashioned meaning of the world, is constantly gay, "La-de-da," being her most common phrase. Clearly the sunshine she has brought into the mostly gray skies of Alvy's beloved New York not only charms us but warms Allen's diatribe against life with a kind a golden glow that he would return to in later films such as Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Midnight in Paris, and Café Society.
And, in the end, it moderates Alvy's incessant howling with a warmer view of life and love. As one of the women he queries in the street replies to his question about love: "It's never something you do. That's how people are. Love fades."
Or, as Alvy himself perceives by film's end:
Alvy Singer: [narrating] After that it got pretty late, and we both had to go, but it was great seeing Annie again. I... I realized what a terrific person she was, and... and how much fun it was just knowing her; and I... I, I thought of that old joke, y'know, the, this... this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, uh, my brother's crazy; he thinks he's a chicken." And, uh, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?" The guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs." Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y'know, they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs.
Yes, this film too reminds us of just how much Allen, throughout his career, has portrayed himself as a proliferate womanizer, and as a man who used others to get what he wanted, in most cases sexual satisfaction. But history is filled with such sad stories. And the Gods themselves, in nearly every mythology, suffered such desires. I know, given how much women suffered in such pillages, it's now very difficult to forgive such actions. I do think men have to alter their ways forever. There's something even slightly slimy about some of Allen's films, particularly his next, Manhattan. But I think Allen and co-writer Marshall Brickman's simple admiration for the Keaton character says a lot. If nothing else, this film, dominated by Keaton's version of "Seems Like Old Times," demonstrates that Allen, at heart, is a nostalgist, dedicated to a past that perhaps never truly existed, a world which might wash away his innumerable sins.
Paul Thomas Anderson | Phantom Thread
SLOWING HIM DOWN
Paul Thomas Anderson (writer and director) Phantom Thread / 2017; I saw this film with Howard Fox on January 17, 2018.
"The Phantom Thread" of Paul Thomas Anderson's new film, does not refer, as some have asserted, to the secret messages the movie's hero, Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) sews into the women's gowns he creates, but rather to the almost incomprehensible "thread of love" between Reynolds and the young German-born waitress, Alma Elson (Vicky Krieps) who he meets in a provincial British restaurant, and, much-like Shaw's Pygmalion, he takes home, dresses up, and puts to work in his fashion-house. We never do fully discover what these two see in one another: Alma is a vaguely beautiful, but somewhat clumsy and outspoken woman; while Reynolds is a man dedicated to himself and his routine, unable to tolerate any interruption and set-on-edge by even the sound of Alma buttering her morning toast. Both are somewhat selfish and set in their ways, yet their ways go in very different directions.
What's even worse is that Reynolds is a kind of mother's boy, his life now run by his sister, Cyril (Lesley Manville), a more complex Miss Danvers (from Hitchcock's Rebecca), who, at first, is dreadfully jealous of her brother's new discovery, but gradually begins to appreciate Alma's ability to learn quickly and her proficiency at fitting, modeling, and helping with the sewing, as well as taking some of the load of caring for Reynolds' temperamental fits. Alma's very quietude seems, at times, as the perfect antidote for Reynolds' tirades.
Of course, this is hardly the first time that Anderson has focused on inexplicable relationships and their personal obsessions: one need only remember the almost homoerotic connections between Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the same director's The Master, or the similarly strange interconnections between Joaquin Phoenix and the Josh Brolin character in Inherent Vice. Indeed, one may describe Anderson's films as focusing on strange relationships that have as much to do with obsession as with love.
If Alma enters the Woodcock mansion much like the disoriented Rebecca, as a spirited ur-feminist, she soon begins to take over, responding to Reynolds' sexual lack of attention quite differently from the designer's previous mistress, even arranging, against Cyril's advice, a surprise private dinner with him, that she has cooked. True to form, Reynolds explodes in anger, simply over the fact that she has cooked asparagus and served it with butter; he prefers oil. And, it soon appears, that she will also be asked by Cyril to leave the relationship like Alma's predecessor.
The film begins with Alma recounting her experiences with Reynolds to an unknown individual, and within that context we hear her describing that it had become necessary to "slow him down," to help him to realize that he, in fact, was truly dependent upon her, not the other way around.
Her solution, hinted at very early in the narrative, is to feed him a ground-up mixture of poisonous mushrooms, which makes him terribly ill, after which she watches over him, gently ministering to a temporarily helpless tyrant. Although Cyril demands a doctor, even the sick patient demands that the doctor "fuck off." Mother's boy that he is, Reynolds, quite obviously, prefers the care of a woman who almost selflessly watches over him, a chair pulled up to his bed, while below an army of sewers seek to correct the damage he has done to a princess' wedding gown.
He recovers, suddenly realizing that he wants to marry Alma, or, at least, have her care for him for the rest of his life. The two marry, but almost immediately begin to fight again, as who we might perceive as an almost gay-man realizes he has made a terrible mistake, much like Henry Higgins has in inviting Eliza Higgins into his world in Pygmalion. And as the failures of their relationship escalate, Reynolds turns to Cyril to plead that she help him "get rid" of his mistake, again reminding us of another intense mother-son relationship, that of Alex Sebastian and his dominating mother in Hitchcock's Notorious.
By this time, however, Cyril has grown quite fond of her Rebecca, and refuses to dismiss Alma or to help her tortured brother. And overhearing this discussion, Alma determines it is again time to "slow him down," mixing up an even more potent mixture of the dangerous mushrooms in an omelette. Calmly she places the plate before him, but we realize that Reynolds has observed her actions and knows precisely what she is up to. Nonetheless, he bites into the egg dish, carefully chewing up the mixture, as, finally, Alma admits to what she desires: for him to need her caring for him once again. This "outsider" has most definitely become the "insider" in this house. As she tartly tells the legendary Belgian princess , who has previously shunned her: "I live in this house."
He too, finally, recognizes his child-like needs, kissing her before he falls deeply ill. Demanding she call the same doctor, just in case he is more poisoned that she imagines; she agrees, and by film's end we discover that the story she has been telling throughout the work is a kind of confession to the young doctor, himself a man who has been highly attracted to her.
The final scene of the film, right out of Gigi, shows the happy couple strolling down the avenue with a baby carriage, which they briefly pass off to Cyril, while they joyfully walk off for a stroll, the previously reluctant bachelor having now been trapped into a heterosexual paradise. Surely they will live more happily together than Albee's George and Martha.
Steven Spielberg | The Post
Liz Hannah and Josh Singer (screenplay), Steven Spielberg (director) The Post / 2017
Steven Spielberg's 2017 film, The Post, had to be made this year, and was an almost inevitable product in a time when our current President is threatening journalists and other sources with erasement of free speech almost daily.
The result of this rather quickly made film (it began shooting on May 30th, and was in the theaters by late December) is a well-made and engaging work, with superior acting across the board, surely a sign of Spielberg's remarkable artistry, although he's never been a favorite director of mine. Nor, as anyone who has followed my writing must perceive, has actress Meryl Streep been (who I have often criticized for disappearing into her roles), or Tom Hanks (who I feel is often a kind of lumbering giant of good intentions without deep depth); yet both here served wonderfully in their roles, bringing subtlety and true complexity to the figures they portray, The Washington Post leader, Katherine Graham and the newspaper's famous editor, Ben Bradlee. I guess I still think Jason Robards, Jr. in All the President's Men, is more convincing in the role, but then he is the greater actor. Hanks does a more than commendable job, downplaying his do-gooder behavior. And I don't think anyone could have better captured Katherine Graham, known by all in those days, as "Mrs. Graham," socialite heir from a father and husband who had headed that paper until her husband committed suicide.
The story of this film, on its surface, is about how The Washington Post, undergoing an amazing change from paternalistically private to public financial support, jumped on the Daniel Ellsberg (played here by Matthew Rhys) release of the stolen Pentagon Papers, which detailed from the Truman administration to the Nixon White House, how our leaders had consistently lied about the reasons we were in Viet Nam and the possibilities of our winning such a war, which cost the nation hundreds of lives. It was The New York Times who actually released the papers and courageously investigated and reported on the large trove of documents. But this version focuses instead on the scrappy little local paper, in those days, who with the help of reporter Ben Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk) contacting his old acquaintance Ellsberg to procure a second set of the stolen documents. When The New York Times is handed a court injunction by the Nixon lawyers, the question becomes whether The Washington Post will rise to the occasion to continue the reporting, a prelude, of course, to their later, very brave covering of the Watergate affair.
But the real story here, fortunately, is not simply that fact that Bradlee and others were able to make that happen, but the gradual awakening of a previously protected and male-dismissed highly intelligent woman, Graham, who over just a few weeks finds that she must not only alter her relationships with life-time friends such as Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood) and speak out against her all-male board, but chance the entire reputation of her beloved family heir-loom by speaking openly and freely in a time in which the Nixon administration was determined to protect itself by misusing all of their power.
Howard and I were in Washington, D.C. only a few years after, and I would soon write book reviews for The Washington Post under Pulitzer Prize-winning William McPherson's editorship; and I too, as critics such as Kenneth Turan have written, experienced that storied newsroom, recreated in this movie to perfection.
So too does Streep manage to somehow recreate the spirit of Graham, showing her literally "coming out," so to speak, from a somewhat clumsy, highly self-aware woman facing entirely hostile rooms of her male colleagues, to become a savvy and quite fearless woman, suddenly able to tell Bradlee to run the articles when all of her other worthy lawyers and board members warn her just what it might mean, including the destruction of all she loves.
Sarah Paulson plays Bradlee's proto-feminist wife, who finally helps him to comprehend just how brave Graham has been, and Alison Brie performs her equally proto-feminist daughter, Lally, the latter of whom quietly helps Graham come into her own. But it is Streep's remarkable acting which gives the role the slow-growing depth of personality, where, as if she were suddenly perceiving her power and perception, Mrs. Graham gets stronger day by day, until we now can imagine her as the strong force who made The Washington Post into a major American newspaper during the last dark days of the Nixon reign. This film is not really about the Ellsberg Papers as much as it is about the awakening of that powerful newspaper publisher, and that's what makes it so moving and significant as a movie, better, in my thinking, than the much showier and plot-driven All the President's Men—still a movie I greatly admire.
An excellent highlight of this work the moment Bagdikian delivers up a shopping bag to Ben Bradlee, containing newspapers from across the country that have continued with the Ellsberg coverage, meaning that in order to prosecute The New York Times and The Washington Post, authorities would have to close down the entire US newspapers, a shocking possibility. The Supreme Count weighs in, 6-3, that the press has the right to report the truth, something we might remind ourselves in our own dark days.
At moments the script, by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, is perhaps a bit too overtly didactic—after all they are retelling a story that most younger Americans no longer remember. And I do wish we might have had a bit more of the actual content of the Ellsberg Pentagon Papers to work with, instead of quick headlines. The shocking news they revealed suggested that all politicians lied and lied and lied over the decades, a fact we must face again with the release of the papers by Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden—and god knows what Mueller may eventually reveal about Trump.
But Spielberg's film quite clearly points to where it's going, when, at movie's end we hear Nixon on the phone, outlawing any The Washington Post reporters from ever entering the White House—the very same moment a young police detective finds that there has been a break-in to the Watergate office of the Democrat Headquarters.
Buster Keaton and Edward Sedgwick | The Cameraman
A MATINEE IDOL BEHIND THE CAMERA
Clyde Bruckman and Lew Lipton (writers), Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton (directors) The Cameraman / 1928
Buster Keaton's The Cameraman is an absolutely splendid comedy that also saw the beginning of his decline. The move to MGM, with its film factory-like techniques, eventually did away with Keaton's improvisatory methods, and demanded even more formulaic comedic plots.
Yet this film has a wide range of quite innovative scenes and techniques, including a supposedly disastrous movie made by the former tintype portrait cameraman as his first film which reminds one of the work of Russian filmmaker Dziga Vertov, whose Man with a Camera appeared one year later. In another scene, Keaton plays with somewhat homoerotic visions as his character is forced in a small changing room with a large man, with whom he must struggle in order to put on his bathing suit; ultimately the two appear in each other's swimming gear.
The longest film-scene, a gangland battle in Chinatown, was ordered up by studio head, Irving Thalberg, much to Keaton's distress, but it's still wonderful filmmaking, and Keaton even was able to mock the shoot by placing a small monkey on his back throughout.
The heroine this time around, Sally (Marceline Day), is a far more independent and capable woman than the simpering Southerner in his The General of a couple of years earlier. And even the more standard routine comedic skits, such as the scene in which he is forced to sit in the rumble seat, while the man trying to steal away his lover, Sally, drives away with the heroine at his side. As critic Donald Egan notes, it is clear, given the sudden rainy downpour that he must endure, that the writers of Singin' in the Rain had seen this film.
Keaton is even able to mock studio executives further by allowing the money to switch reels, losing him, at first, any possibility of winning over Sally, but finally vindicating his talent and his lover for her; when the reel is rediscovered it also revealed that it was he, and not his enemy, Harold Stagg (Harold Goodwin) who saved Sally's life. In short, The Cameraman is so much fun, in part, because Keaton, although now drinking more heavily and getting a bit too old to play the naïve innocent, appears to be willing to let the audience in on the jokes. For even is double-exposed and apparently under-lit images are so much better, to my taste, than almost any of Chaplin's carefully composed and over-rehearsed shots.
Even when it appears that Keaton has lost the girl, and he walks off as a kind of Chaplinesqe figure, we think of him as a bigger man than the Little Tramp. And Keaton's true beauty comes through at all moments. We side with him not simply because he is an ordinary man prone to dozens of daily pitfalls, but for the fact that he truly is a kind of matinee idol underneath who, despite all the handsome boys that swarm around Sally, she truly deserves—something I believe both he and the listed director, Edward Sedgwick, were deeply aware of. There is always a kind of secret sexual energy behind Keaton's best performances, even when he plays an absolute innocent. If nothing else The Cameraman truly reveals that if Chaplin was cute, and Harold Lloyd a kind of likeable nerd, Keaton, behind his constant pratfalls, was a truly beautiful being. Even a monkey could recognize that.
Unfortunately, this film would be his last great work, with MGM, a company change that he described the worst decision of his life, ultimately draining all Keaton's brilliant comedic subtlety.
Greta Gerwig | Lady Bird
A GOLDEN STATE
Written and directed by Greta Gerwig Lady Bird / 2017
Our dear friend, Diana Daves, who grew up in Sacramento, insisted, the last time we chatted, that we should see Greta Gerwig's new film Lady Bird, and Howard, who takes in far more current films than I do, quickly took her advice; a few weeks after, on New Year's Day, he dragged me along to see it again. I'm glad he did.
This is a gentle film simply about a young high school senior trying to live out her last year in an all-girl's Catholic school; it's a story any young girl—or boy for that matter—might have experienced, a painful time between complete independence and the dependencies that parents who still see you only as a child demand of their almost grown-up offspring. It's a time of daring social and sexual experimentation (the same issues were at the heart of Luca Guadagnino's recent Call Me By Your Name, only from the male view). And it's a time when one is never more aware of the "slings and arrows" of the world about them.
It's also a year that is nearly unbearable for parents, not only because of their desire to still protect their increasingly rebellious children, but because of the deep sense of their impending loss. For today's parents, moreover, it's a period of desperation for most families not only to find a college or university for their child, but have to come up with the money to pay for it. People of my generation did not truly comprehend how good they had it; I worked paper routes for years and was able to pay most of my excellent State University education at the University of Wisconsin by myself! Today, it's nearly unthinkable that a teenager might be able to earn enough to cover even a fraction of the costs.
And the McPherson family, (father played by Tracy Letts and mother by the amazing actress, Laurie Metcalf), have little money to help, the father having just lost his job and the mother working often twice-a-day shifts as a nurse-counselor. Their poverty and inability to live on "right side of the tracks" is something that not only has embittered the mother, Marion, but helped create further strains for their daughter, the self-named Lady Bird (nothing to do with Lady Bird Johnson), real name Christine (Saoirse Ronan), with her fellow students, some of who come from wealthy families, and, like most teenage girls, gather into clusters often centered around family income and social status.
Lady Bird has a wonderful friend in the somewhat plump Julie (the incredibly talented Beanie Feldstein), but both would like more fashionable friends as well. And then, there's the issue of boys. Fortunately, one of the priests is organizing a production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along—a rather brave undertaking, I might add, for a Catholic school—and boys from a local all-male Catholic institutions have also been encouraged to audition. There are enough roles in this musical that almost everyone who tries out gets a part, but Julie gets a plumb lead-role, while Lady Bird only nabs a chorus part. Yet, one of the other leads, Danny O'Neill (Lucas Hedges) immediately steals Lady Bird's heart. Given his youthful good looks and talent, we can well understand why. There are clues, however, that a naïf like Lady Bird—as tough as she pretends to be—simply can't interpret. The two get along remarkably well, beginning with some serious smooching; she even declares that he might touch her "boobs," he, as all good boys might, staying that he respects her too much to do that in their still early relationship. I suppose, at that same age, I told a girl I was dating the very same thing. Of course, Danny's gay, as Lady Bird soon discovers, a devastation to her as it is also to the not yet fully-out Danny.
The startled Lady Bird tries to bounce back, so to speak, by taking up with a young environmentally concerned, bad-boy rocker, Kyle Scheible (Timothée Chalamet—who along with Hedges seemed to have grabbed up all the best young male roles this year). He's cute, and totally ready to have sex with her. But you just know that he'll probably eventually become a self-centric tech wizard in Silicon Valley; and when, after picking up in her prom dress, he suggests that they skip the prom for a night out on the town, she asks to be let off at her former friend Julie's house—who she herself has abandoned to be part of the "in" crowd—and together the two girls joyfully attend the prom together in a wonderful bonding of sisterly love.
For all of these small and inevitable hurts, however, the deepest problem that Lady Bird must face is the open hostility between her and her mother. It's not that Marion McPherson doesn't love her; she's a more than decent woman, having even adopted, or at least excepted into her home, a slightly older Latino boy along with his girl-friend. It's just that, she, even more than her husband whom she describes as "depressed," is desperately disappointed with life. Indeed, there are a great many depressed people in this film, including the play-producing Father Leviatch (Stephen Henderson). And Lady Bird's mother, not so very different from Frances McDormand's character in Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, vents her frustrations quite openly, carrying a kind of personal grudge expressed by her demands for her daughter's personal grooming, her treatment of clothes, and other rebellious behavioral attitudes.
Lady Bird, quite comprehensibly, wants only one thing: to get away from the most Midwestern city in all of California and to get out from under her mother's painfully iron rule, which, of course, exacerbates the fissures between them. Marion wants her daughter to attend the nearby University of California-Davis; after all, it's the only good college they can afford. But Lady Bird, enlisting the help of her more affable father, applies to schools, seeking financial aid, without her mother knowing. Her grades are not spectacular, and she is turned down by Columbia and others, but somehow manages to get put on a waiting list for New York University, finally being accepted.
When Marion discovers the fact, it appears that all communication has broken down between the two and a rift has occurred even between the normally loving mother and father. Still darker issues are approached when, applying for a tech job from which he is turned down because of his age, the father discovers his own "adopted" son applying for the same job; the younger man is hired.
You might think, given my descriptions of the plot above, that Gerwig's work is something closer to a family tragedy than a golden-colored memory book of family at a difficult moment in their lives. But it isn't at all a dark work, partly because it is a true valentine to the city of its location, Sacramento, and, simultaneously, every single figure in this film is truly human and well-meaning at heart. Even the most minor parts come alive with moments of startling insight, as when the nun who Lady Bird perceives as torturing her, suggests that the young girl's writing hints at a deep love of the city in which she lives. Or when, after meanly snapping about her daughter's choice for a prom dress as being "too pink," the mother bites her tongue in deep regret, knowing just how much she has hurt the one she so desperately loves. Larry McPherson suggests he and his daughter "celebrate" his job rejection with a bag of Fritos. Danny returns to the girl he has hurt, begging for her to keep his being gay quiet and tearfully asking for forgiveness; even Kyle spouts concerns about climate change and human waste. There is simply not an evil being in this motion picture. And director Gerwig is so remarkable in both her writing and visual telling of her story, that she has become a force worth watching. We need more of her quiet and positive insights.
Even the rebellious daughter, after a drunken night which lands her in the hospital, calls home to share with her mother a small previous excitement, after finally obtaining her license to drive, of her first solo car trip through Sacramento. Even though she is now far-away in New York, she has returned home to claim her original name.
Posted by greenintegerblog at 7:53 AM 2 comments:


OHP Local Gov Workshop Rescheduled!
The Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) is heading north for the next Local Government Preservation Workshop. Rescheduled from last year, this workshop is being hosted by the cities of Eureka and Arcata, and will provide a full day of preservation topics important to local governments. Included will be sessions on survey and landmark designations as part of the planning process, CEQA and historical resources, and the value and purpose of the Mills Act. A roundtable discussion is also on the schedule as well as plenty of time for questions and sharing of best practices. Join us for what promises to be an informative and productive day!
For questions or additional information, contact Shannon Lauchner, shannon.lauchner@parks.ca.gov , or 916-445-7013.


Colossians 2:6-7 says, "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."
What does a little seed need to grow? It must be watered and given enough sunlight. It also needs good, nutrient-filled soil! These things are crucial for a little seed to grow into a plant. It can't just be put in the ground and then be forgotten. It has to be taken care of!
We can't forget about our faith, either. God has planted a seed of faith in each one of us! If spending time with Jesus continually slips our minds and we don't think of Him as a priority, our faith won't grow. On the other hand, if we spend time with the Lord and read His Word, then our faith will blossom!
Below are some ideas of ways to grow stronger in your faith. I hope you find these useful and beneficial!
Although I have many different Bibles, my favorite one is my journaling Bible. I recently bought the "NIV Beautiful Word Coloring Bible" from Michael's, and I love using it! It has lots of verses to color, as well as a 1 1/2 inch margin of space to write notes and doodle!
I bought my Little Faith Book from Amazon through the original creator, Jenny (@christiangirls on Instagram). I purchased the "create your own cover" style and decorated the front with colorful paper, a picture, and some washi-tape. These books are especially great for keeping a prayer request list, doodling Bible verses, or even writing down encouraging quotes.
Highlighters come in handy when you find a verse in your Bible that just "pops" right off the page!
Gel pens are great when it comes to my notes. I use them to bold certain words that stand out or to draw things that relate to a Bible verse!
I also enjoy using calligraphy pens to write out Bible verses, quotes, or even song lyrics.
Reading a devotional each day is a great way to learn more about being Christlike and connecting with God. It doesn't take very long, either! I have the book Daily Whispers of Wisdom for Girls and would recommend it to others! Devotional books can be purchased from places like Amazon, eBay, Barnes & Noble, or the Family Christian Store, to name a few. Also remember, a devotional a day keeps the devil away!
The website "www.verseoftheday.com" is a great website that has a different verse for each day! It has some thoughts about the verse, a prayer, and a picture with the verse on it.
The Bible app also has a daily verse and verse image that you can read as well.


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10.30 – 4.30, Wesley Conference Centre, Euston, London
Purpose: In addition to publishing 4 issues of the journal each year, the Community Development Journal occasionally holds international gatherings which provide an opportunity to meet colleagues for face to face learning and discussion. On 3rd July 2019, we will be hosting a 'Thinkery' – a day in which to reflect, learn and challenge our understandings around community organising and social action.
identify the commonalities across community practice, and examine ways of promoting community organising as a core feature of practice;
build alliances at a local, national and international level with a view to supporting collective action and movement building;
build solidarity between local and global social action;
challenge ourselves and others through critical debate.
Speakers and provocateurs:
Tricia Zipfel: in the 1970s Tricia helped pioneer Co-operative Housing in the UK and was involved in community organising in the States. She has been an active member of TELCO/Citizens UK for more than 20 years. In addition, she ran a national organisation for 20 years, was a government policy adviser and remains heavily involved in community organising.
Bob Fisher: is Professor of Community Organization at the University of Connecticut. Bob teaches courses in community organizing and urban and community studies. Bob has been researching, critiquing, teaching, writing about and engaged with community organizing since the early 1970s.
Pushpesh Kumar: teaches Sociology at University of Hyderabad. Present academic concerns include queer movements, queer pedagogy, religion and queer issues, and Marxism and Queer Theory. He is currently editing Sexuality, Abjection and Queer Existence in Contemporary India (Routledge) and has published extensively in leading national and international journals.
Adam Fletcher: Adam is an internationally recognized advocate for youth engagement. Beginning in 2001 with his flagship programme, The Freechild Project, Adam's work on youth engagement has influenced communities worldwide. His education outreach program called SoundOut began in 2002 and has led the international student voice movement since.
Please join us for a day of participatory discussions and thinking.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Below is a YouTube interview between John Kearon and myself, talking about the changes that are coming up in market research.
Would you like to be the Apple of market research?
Kathryn Korostoff (of Research Rockstar fame) has posted an interesting question on LinkedIn about what it would mean to be the Apple of market research in the NewMR discussion group and I thought I'd like to share and extend my response here.
I think Apple in an interesting example of how survivor bias can make some risky decisions look good. Apple has made some big bets and recently several have paid off very well, as did the decision Jobs and Wozniak made in the 1970s to move from the homebrew Apple 1 to the production line, ready to run Apple II. However, many other companies who have made these 'bet the company' decisions have failed (as Apple nearly did when it made the Mac too proprietary and lost ground to the PC and when it produced lemons such as the Lisa and the Newton).
I think a research company that could be called the Apple of market research would be one that took a big bet on a single style or approach, a big bet that could not be fully justified on research because they are assuming the marketplace and people will change. Examples of market research companies that have done this include: Gordon Black and Harris when it went so strongly into online polling, or Diane Hessan who has developed a really strong community offer based on one approach, or perhaps even more John Kearon and BrainJuicer who have combined chutzpah, style, smarts, and a very, very strong branding message to what they are doing. But surely the strongest claim to have been an 'Apple' in its time would have to be the company formed by Maurice Millward and Gordon Brown when with very little research experience these two advertising guys created a business in a tiny office in the West Midlands to research advertising, creating ad tracking and one of the most clearly branded of the research companies, Millward Brown.
My feeling is that these innovative companies tend to either become traditional when they start to be successful (Sony and Nokia perhaps), or they keep making big bets and consequently go the way of Lehman Brothers, Arthur Anderson, IBM as a PC company, Lotus (cars and software), AOL, Myspace, etc.
As an additional thought on this topic, I wonder if any market researcher would ever recommend a 'bet the company' approach to a client? For example, if we felt the odds on some new strategy or product were something like going bust 20%, doing OK (i.e. the ROI on the effort would equate the norm, say 5% to 10%) 60%, and making a major impact with great rewards and returns 20%, would we recommend it? Or, is one of our core benefits that we tend to be risk averse?
(BTW, my feeling is that Apple has probably peaked, at least for the moment, I think the iPhone will continue to lose ground to Android phones and I suspect that the tablet computer will not really take of outside of the home for a while yet, which will hold the iPad back, almost nobody with a Mac changes to PC these days, but not many go the other way, which to me means they need to get even more students using them).
Today we held a really successful online event looking at gaming and MR, the recordings and slides will be available next week at NewMR.org. We had eight presentations, about 100 attendees, lots of discussion and a real buzz on Twitter (check #newmr).
At the end of the webinar there was a brief (six question) survey asking for feedback. 70% of the attendees seemed reasonably satisfied with the event, and 88% thought it very or quite likely they would attend a similar future event. I wanted to assess people's views as I would like to develop a model where I can provide a growing number of these events, but as a sole trader I need to do them without going bust!
They should be free because they do not cost anything.
They should be free because they are not worth money.
They should be free because they are done as a business promotion.
They should be free because they should be paid for by sponsors.
They should be free because they should be paid for by advertising.
However, all of the above seem, to some extent, to be flawed to me.
1) They do cost money. I would estimate my out-of-pocket expenses at somewhere in the range $1000-$2000 for this event, including costs for admin), cost of webinar system, cost of online storage for the recordings, etc. As an example of the admin costs, there were eight speakers, each one required about one hour of rehearsal/recording time and the final recordings will take about six hours of work to produce versions to store on the internet.
2) Whether they are worth the money (e.g. $10) is a matter of opinion, but if they are worth attending for three hours it would seem odd if they were not worth $10.
3) Many webinars are done as a sales promotion and the case for these being free is strong. However, this webinar, and the ones I'd like to run are only tangently of benefit to my business. I am pretty much booked for the rest of the year so they take time but are unlikely to increase my revenue and they will cost money and take time.
4) It might well be possible to find sponsors to pay for the costs of the webinars (in fact I suspect it would be straightforward). However, the protestant in me rebels at this idea, surely it is wrong for people to get something for nothing, just because somebody else would be willing to pay, isn't that almost the definition of a freeloader?
5) I suspect we could easily pay for the costs of running webinars by allowing advertisers to have short slots, perhaps between each speaker. This does not offend my sensibilities since people are paying for it in the sense of having to put up with the advertising – but I am not drawn to the idea.
Find a sponsor for the events and ignore my views about freeloaders (particularly since I might equally be a freeloader in such a model).
Run the events for free but charge for the recordings and slides.
Charge for the events and ignore the half of the industry who does not want to pay (if my poll is vaguely indicative).
Ask for voluntary payments, perhaps listing those people who have paid.
Only running events where I have a reasonable chance of advancing my business interests and limiting the number of events to my budget.
However, it is worth noting that charging introduces its own problems, including accounting, differential taxes (for example accounting for VAT), liability if things go wrong etc. There is also a negative link between charging and sponsorship money. Sponsors would like as many people as possible to attend and this is best achieved by making the event free.
The Gaming Event is a NewMR exploration of the context and opportunities created for market research by gaming. The Event has eight great speakers, each of whom will be adding a different perspective to the discussion. In order to make the Event as broad as possible and to maximise questions from the attendees we are limiting the presenters to just ten minutes each, allowing plenty of time for people to ask their questions.
If you want to attend, register at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/926924726.
The times below are in terms of GMT/London time, the times in brackets are in terms of EST/NewYork, the event runs from 2pm GMT (9am EST) to 5pm GST (midday EST).
We will be making copies of the presentation and of the recordings available from the NewMR.org website, they should be there by about 28th January.
As well as asking question using the built in question facility in the event we invite everybody to follow the broader discussion by using the #NewMR hashtag.
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting and having a chat with Robert Rush the MD of PFA Research at their offices in Bodmin, Cornwall. For those of you not familiar with the business and physical geography of the UK you might be interested to know that nearly the entire market research industry is based in London (there are a few exceptions) and Cornwall is one of the least accessible (but arguably the most beautiful) counties in England.
I have wanted to meet the PFA team ever since I noticed several of their people signing up for the NewMR.org website. They caught my eye because I was not aware there was a research agency in Bodmin (a location I visit fairly often because my daughter's business, Mish Online, is based there). So I was delighted when I contacted Robert and he invited me to visit them.
PFA Research is a small agency and in many ways provides a microcosm of the whole MR industry and illustrates several really useful lessons. They have been in existence for 20 years and Robert has been with the from the start, although when he joined he was (in his own words) a fresh faced graduate (he still looks pretty well on it to me).
One of the key lessons that PFA illustrate is the need to change or die. When they were formed they were created as the research arm of a small management consultancy firm. The management consultancy firm has long since gone, but PFA Research persist and have been through several changes of focus during those 20 years.
In their early days PFA focused on the IT industry and on multi-client projects, the links for which came from their associated management consultancy. Over time the projects/clients matured and needed bespoke research, rather than syndicated, and the dot com bust changed the environment considerably. PFA responded by building a more general portfolio of clients, by becoming a full-service agency, and developing a particular strength in public sector research (an area which has been quite good in the UK over the last ten years but which is now in decline). Similarly, the techniques used by PFA have changed and adapted, for example their fieldwork is increasingly moving to online fieldwork for their quantitative research.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the chat was when Robert talked about where the company was going next. They may be a small and established agency, but they know about the need to change and they are looking at social media (Robert can be found tweeting at http://twitter.com/#!/robertrush and on LinkedIn at http://uk.linkedin.com/in/rjrush), they are looking at online communities, and they are looking at some innovative R&D with respect to online evaluation of phenomena. The key opportunities lie in finding ways for the public sector to make better use of smaller budgets and of reaching out to new markets, particularly those in the South-West of England, an area where local matters. Another interesting aspect of Robert's vision is the cyclical nature of things like insight. Twenty years ago PFA research were associated with a management consultancy and much of the end value was strategic. Over time tactical research projects become more important to PFA and their clients and this was the focus of the companies middle years. Looking forward Robert is looking to build on the strategic/advice side again, reflecting the current needs of many clients, whilst still being ready to offer tactical research to those who want it.
One of the comments that Robert made early on in our discussion highlighted a key aspect of what any research agency needs in order to be successful, his comment was simply a heartfelt "we're good at what we do". In these very competitive times there is no easy money to be made in market research. Companies need to pick the right fields and then it is essential that they are good at what they do, it is important that they communicate it to clients, and it is vital that they believe it themselves. Being good at what you do is not enough to guarantee success, but it is an essential prerequisite.
You can find out more about PFA Research on their website at http://www.pfa-research.com/.
Research-Live has an interesting story about a call by Paul Lindley (the founder of Ella's Kitchen) for tax breaks for market research (effectively a subsidy from the taxpayer for companies commissioning market research). On the face of it this would seem like a good idea for market researchers, and perhaps beyond that for UK companies, consumers, and the wider economy.
My first issue is that tax systems generally work best when they are simple, the more politicians play around with incentives and breaks, the more the tax system distorts the economy, creating unexpected consequences and frequently creates perverse incentives.
In putting forward the case for tax breaks for market research Lindley makes the comparison with the UK's tax subsidy for R&D. However, even if one accepts that the tax subsidy has created more and better R&D, the comparison does not seem strong. R&D is an exercise which often, perhaps usually, ends in failure. The return on R&D tends to be a largish number of failures, a number of modest returns, and few blockbusters. The 175% break means that a company focusing on R&D can obtain some cash whilst still in the R&D phase.
By contrast market research is a normal cost of business, companies conduct market research because there is a business case to do so and they expect to make a return on their research. If a tax subsidy were available some of it would be spent on projects that would have happened anyway (wasting taxpayer's money) and some would bring into being projects that could not meet the cost/benefit analysis without a subsidy – i.e. the least good research ideas.
When looking at Government actions it is often useful to 'follow the money'. The UK is currently in a financial hole, paying off record amounts of debt, some of it created by avoiding an even deeper recession, some of it through bad management of the previous Government. Additional money is scarce and can only be raised by a) cutting essential spending (at the moment the current Government are proposing massive cuts to a wide range of services and benefits and really hurting students) or by raising taxes (a variety of taxes, both direct and indirect have been increased by both the last Government and the current Government). So any extra money for a market researchers would come from cutting essential services further or by raising taxes further (both borrowing more money and printing more money are currently not available as options). Linldley argues the subsidy could be net neutral if it led to more growth in the economy, better products and services, and an enhanced business sector. However, not only do I doubt that this would be the result, but the timescale is such that the costs would be now, but the benefits would be in the 'long run' (and recall that Keynes pointed out that we are all dead in the long run). So, finding the money would cause pain.
1.	Some client companies would keep their research spend at the same level and would pocket the subsidy (rules will be written, and accountants will find a way round them), which would result in the money being spent on other purposes, being given to parent companies, being remitted to shareholders, and/or paid as bonuses.
2.	Some client companies would indeed do more research. This would transfer the money to research companies, which means about 60% of it would go to the large multinational research companies –probably not a major priority for the UK taxpayer?
So, whilst a tax subsidy for MR would be good for me and my clients, I do not think it would be good for UK taxpayers, consumers, or indeed the country.
As a shareholder in two companies in the MR field and as a consultant and supplier to market research companies I would be affected by any such change in the tax system.
I am a member of LibDems, I sit as a councillor, and I have been a parliamentary candidate, so my views of the last Government (Labour) and the current Government (coalition of Conservatives and LibDems) should be viewed in that context (BTW, for the record, I do not support those LibDem MPs who broke their pledge on student fees, I accept that fees would probably have gone up by more under Labour, but Labour did not sign a pledge, LibDems did and some of them broke it, it is as simple as that).


text:
attendees = ['Shannon', 'Jenn', 'Grace']

print attendees[0]

print len(attendees)

attendees.append('Kate')

print attendees

attendees[1] = 'Jen'

print attendees

attendees.insert(2, "alison")
print attendees

print '\n'

attendees_ages = []
print attendees_ages
print len(attendees_ages)

attendees_ages.append(28)
print attendees_ages
print len(attendees_ages)

attendees_ages.append(27)
print attendees_ages
print len(attendees_ages)

attendees_ages[0] = attendees_ages[0] + 1
print attendees_ages

print '\n'

###new_attendee = raw_input('What is the first name of the new attendee? ')
###attendees.append(new_attendee)
###print attendees
##
###for index, attendee in enumerate(attendees):
###    attendees[index] = 'Ms. ' + attendee
##
##print attendees
##
##for attendee in attendees:
##    attendee = 'Ms. ' + attendee
##
##print attendees
##print attendee
##
##

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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text:
GASLIGHT: Biden's BLIND Border Chief CAUGHT Spinning A WHOPPER On illegal Invasion
According to Democrat policies and actions anytime you can destroy American law, and degrade American standards it should be celebrated as an accomplishment.
News breaks fast, make sure to catch it when it does, tap subscribe, enable notifications and never miss a report.
America was made to be a melting pot. Our collective ancestors had to wait months or years to get to America, through a legal process, or had to wait on Ellis Island to be processed before going into America. Now it seems that our ancestors' way of following the law was foolish. According to Democrat policies the American dream is a lie, as our nation's laws mean nothing.
Cbs reports. Chris Magnus, US Customs and Border Protection's commissioner appointed in December 2021, discussed humanitarian and operational woes caused by Title 42, which allows border agents to quickly expel migrants for public health reasons.
Let's watch the interview now. (clip)
While Magnus claims it is a success for his goals, it is a failure for America.
Breitbart reports. Approximately 2.6 million immigrants have arrived in the United States since Magnus and his boss, the Cuban-born pro-migration zealot Alejandro Mayorkas, were appointed. By November, the number of migrants is expected to reach 3 million.
Approximately 900,000 migrants sneaked across the border while Biden's border agents processed them for release. There have been thousands of migrants who have died on the way to Biden's welcome.
The Biden administration's continued attack on America's rule of law is relentless. Encouraging illegal immigration does nothing to help America. Our nation is in the midst of a recession, record inflation and is dealing with a drug crisis. Yet, the Biden admin is continuing to open our nation's southern border to all comers.


text:
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize
(Redirected from Jerwood Drawing Prize)
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize is the United Kingdom's leading award in contemporary drawing.
Initially awarded in 1991 as the Malvern Open Drawing Prize, it became the Cheltenham Open Drawing Competition in 1994, and then the Jerwood Drawing Prize from 2001 until 2017.[1] It is claimed to be the largest and longest running annual open exhibition for drawing in the UK.[2]
2.1 Malvern Open Drawing Prize
2.2 Cheltenham Open Drawing Competition
2.3 Jerwood Drawing Prize
2.4 Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize
BackgroundEdit
It was established by Malvern Drawing Associates in 1991 to promote excellence in contemporary drawing practice and moved to Cheltenham in 1994.[3][4]
From 2001 until 2017 it was funded by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation and organised by Wimbledon College of Art.[5] The exhibition is open to entry by all artists resident or domiciled in the United Kingdom. It takes place annually, and includes an exhibition of all the shortlisted drawings which then forms a touring exhibition.[6]
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust, which since 1998 has used income from properties at Trinity Buoy Wharf in east London to fund arts projects,[7] took over sponsorship of the Prize in 2018.
In 2004 approximately 2,000 entries were received.[8] In 2011 the competition accepted approximately 3,500 entries. A first prize of £6,000 and a second prize of £3,000 were awarded. In addition there were two student awards, each with a £1,000 prize.[2] In 2016 the first prize was £8,000 with a second prize of £5,000 and two runners up prizes of £2,000 each.[9] In 2019, the first prize was £8,000; the runner-up received £5,000.[10]
WinnersEdit
Previous first prize winners include:[11]
Malvern Open Drawing PrizeEdit
1991 – Clare Jarrett[12]
Cheltenham Open Drawing CompetitionEdit
1994 – Sharon Beavan
1996 – Kenny Lowe
1997 – Rebecca Salter
1998 – Wynn Jones
1999 – Anna Mazzotta
2000 – David Connearn
Jerwood Drawing PrizeEdit
2001 – Kate Davis
2002 – Adam Dant
2003 – Paul Brandford for Snatch[13]
2004 – Sarah Woodfine [8]
2005 – Juliette Losq for We are the fiction of the vanished lives and buildings[14]
2006 – Charlotte Hodes[15]
2007 – Sophie Horton
2008 – Warren Baldwin[3]
2009 – Mit Senoj (AKA Tim Jones)[16]
2010 – Virginia Verran for her drawing Bolus-Space (signal)[17]
2011 – Gary Lawrence for his drawing Homage to Anonymous[18]
2012 – Karolina Glusiec for her film Velocity[19]
2013 – Svetlana Fialova for her drawing Apocalypse (My Boyfriend Doesn't Care)[20]
2014 – Alison Carlier for her audio work Adjectives, lines and marks[21]
2015 – Thomas Harrison[22]
2016 – Solveig Settemsdal for her video, Singularity. A "temporal and sculptural process of drawing", it was the first video to win the prize.[9]
2017 – Gary Lawrence[23]
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing PrizeEdit
2018 – Caroline Burraway, for her charcoal drawing, Eden, The Jungle Calais 2016 (2017).[24]
2019 – Alice Motte-Muñoz for her drawing, Reverie.[10]
Jerwood Painting Prize
List of European art awards
^ "Bath Spa University announces new sponsors of UK's pre-eminent Drawing Prize: Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust". Retrieved 2018-04-05.
^ a b Joes Villarreal (Ed.) Gary Lawrence is awarded the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011, artdaily.org, 15 September 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-08
^ a b Jerwood drawing winners revealed, BBC Entertainment News, 17 September 2008. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
^ "Jerwood Drawing Prize Winner Announced". ArtDaily. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
^ "Jerwood Drawing Prize". Jerwood Charitable Foundation. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
^ "Jerwood Drawing Prize 2009". ArtRabbit. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
^ "About TBW". Trinity Bay Wharf. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
^ a b Jerwood drawing winners announced, BBC Entertainment News, 22 September 2004. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
^ a b "Art news daily". Apollo Magazine. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
^ a b "Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2019 at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London from 18 January to 1 February 2020". Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize - News. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
^ Wimbledon School of Art, The Jerwood Drawing Prize, 2001 archive. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
^ "Escalator Literature: 2007 Winners". Escalator. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
^ "Jerwood Drawing Prize 2005". Jerwood Visual Arts. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
^ "Jerwood Drawing Prize 2006". Jerwood Visual Arts. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
^ Anita Taylor Artist Anita Taylor reveals the winners of this years' Jerwood drawing prize, The Guardian, 19 September 2009. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
^ "Winners Announcement". Jerwood Visual Arts. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
^ "Jerwood Drawing Prize, 2014". Jerwood Visual Arts. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
^ "Essex Artist wins Jerwood Drawing Prize 2017". Essex Magazine. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
^ "Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2018". Arts University Bournemouth. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trinity_Buoy_Wharf_Drawing_Prize&oldid=935149489"


text:
Home News Why 25% of En...
Why 25% of English farms could go bankrupt after Brexit
Thomas Colson, Business Insider US
A pig stands in a field near RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland, April 13, 2018.
Reuters / Russell Cheyne
Academics say government plans to replace farm subsidies after Brexit could mean that up to 25% of England's least profitable farms could go bankrupt.
Dr Ludivine Petetin said "up to one in four" farms in England could "disappear" after Brexit in comments originally reported by the Farmers Guardian.
The EU's Common Agricultural Policy has long been criticised by economists because it is not tied to market incentives, but academics warned the speed and scale of the changes could leave farmers without sufficient time to adapt and diversify their incomes.
Environment secretary Michael Gove says the new system will reward farmers for "public goods" such as planting meadows and access to the countryside.
LONDON – Theresa May's plans to replace farm subsidies after Brexit could mean that up to 25% of English farms could go bankrupt, according to academics.
Dr Ludivine Petetin, an expert in agricultural law at Cardiff University, told Business Insider that proposals from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to replace existing EU farm subsidies with environmental payments mean "up to one in four" farms could "disappear."
The EU's Basic Payment Scheme currently provides land-based subsidies to farmers that, in England, represent a significant portion of many farmers' incomes. When Britain leaves the EU, Defra says it will replace the basic payment scheme with a new policy which rewards farms for environmental schemes, but experts believe the overall budget allocated for English farmers could reduce significantly, and that is causing concern.
"From reading the paper, it seems that the payments being given to farmers will reduce in the long-term," said Petetin. "That will mean that those farms which are struggling at the moment – even with direct payments coming from the EU – will not make it afterwards."
Dr Alan Matthews, professor emeritus of European Agricultural Policy at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, emphasised that Petetin's estimation was an "extrapolation" of Defra's policy approach rather than its own expectation, but said that it appeared to be "reasonably accurate."
What is the CAP?
The purpose of the CAP is to support farmers, who struggle to maintain consistent revenues against a backdrop of volatile food prices and low margins.
The Common Agricultural Policy has long been criticised by economists because it is not tied to market incentives – instead, the EU pays farmers an annual lump sum payment every year for each hectare they farm. As a result, many believe that the new system which incentivises goods production is welcome, but there are concerns that the speed and scale of the changes could leave farmers without sufficient time to adapt and diversify their incomes.
Those farms which are struggling at the moment – even with direct payments coming from the EU – will not make it afterwards."
In any case, farmers are highly dependent on the payments. Dr Alan Greer, associate professor in politics and public policy at UWE Bristol, outlined just how dependent UK farmers are upon CAP payments in evidence given to a House of Lords select committee last year.
"It has been estimated that EU subsidies make up between 50 and 60 per cent of farm income in the UK as a whole. However it is estimated that 87 per cent of total farming income in Northern Ireland, 80 per cent in Wales, and three quarters of total income from farming in Scotland is contributed by CAP payments."
Farming policy is deferred to the UK's devolved administrations, which means that Defra's post-Brexit farming plan will only apply to England, but farms in Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland are likely to face even greater challenges if the overall budget for farm subsidies shrinks significantly.
Defra's proposals to replace the CAP with environmental payments are still only at the consultation stage, and its exact plans cannot be clarified until the Treasury confirms its overall budget. Philip Hammond has confirmed that the budget will remain the same until 2022, after which it will enter an as-yet undefined "transition period."
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, says post-Brexit farming policy will reward farmers for "public goods" such as planting meadows and access to the countryside.
Dr Petetin, whose original comments about the impact of Defra's proposals were made at a conference in April and reported by the Farmers Guardian, said it was vital that Defra better communicated its policy plans to farmers.
"I think [these changes] need to be made clearer to farmers, because many of them at the moment do not know that this is definitely going to happen."
"When you read the consultation paper, it is actually quite clear that payments will be received by farmers only if they produce environmental services or environmental goods.
"As a result of that miscommunication, there is a danger that farmers will not be given enough time to adjust to the changes that will be made for them to be profitable enough when basic payments are removed."
Defra did not respond to a request for comment.


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text:
All Looney Tunes Shorts To Receive Epic Live-Action Remakes
Entertainment · Jul 15, 2019 · BabylonBee.com
BURBANK, CA - Warner Brothers Animation announced last week that they would be following in the footsteps of Disney by remaking all of their classic Looney Tunes shorts using ultra-high-budget, hyper-realistic computer-generated graphics. With the success of The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, and the hype surrounding The Lion King's coming release, the WB decided it was time to bring back a few classics of their own.
"When we made the original Road Runner cartoons, we were extremely limited in what we could accomplish," said Vice President of Animation, Brian Jones. "We didn't have the resources to have a photorealistic coyote falling off of an actual high-definition cliff in Death Valley. We had to tell the whole story using childish line art with incredibly unrealistic falls and explosions. Now computers have caught up to our vision: a real-life coyote falling to the bottom of a cliff and getting crushed, then exploded in extremely realistic detail."
Warner Bros.' Road Runner is slated for a late 2019 release, followed by Last Turn at Albuquerque, Duck Amuck, and What's Opera, Doc? Besides retelling the stories in gorgeous high-definition - where every single hair can be seen from the back of the largest movie theater - the shorts will also be converted to feature-length cartoons with emotionally satisfying through-lines. "Wile E. Coyote will be less about just trying to kill a bird and be more of an in-depth look at hunger, immigration, and the border through the eyes of this coyote's struggle to find a meal," said Jones. Warner Bros. also has a Pepe Le Pew film in the works to address the concerns of the #MeToo movement featuring music by the White Stripes titled Without Con-Scent.
Other planned releases include an H.R. Gigeresque take on Marvin the Martian and an epic Duck Dodgers film directed by James Gunn starring a real duck in green pajamas.
When asked if Warner would be producing any new, original material, Warner Brothers reps assured reporters that the age of new, original material in Hollywood was over and the age of recycled animals with ultra-crisp, high-definition animal hair was finally here.
Warner Bros. also admitted that by "live-action" remake they actually meant CGI.
Hell Introduces New Extra-Hot Section For People Who Lick Ice Cream And Put It Back On The Shelf
Trump Distracts From Previous Racist Tweets With New Racist Tweets


Great location with charming curb appeal in Hollywood Lakes. Two master bedrooms in this 3 bed/2 bath home. Large kitchen with granite counter tops. Wood floors, impact windows & laundry room. Professionally landscaped, open patio, carport, fenced backyard with storage shed.


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Business Spotlight, Features & Interviews, Home
TJ's All-Star Band set to rock the Narrows
November 27, 2012 limelightmagazine	Leave a comment
Todd Salpietro, Owner of TJ's Music in Fall River
By JESSICA A. BOTELHO
FALL RIVER – "This is a large scale show for such a young group, and I hope people will come out to see them," Todd Salpietro said of TJ's Music Concert Night, set for Dec. 6th beginning at 7 p.m. at the Narrows Center for the Arts located at 16 Anawan Street in Fall River, Mass.
The show will feature TJ's All-Star Band, which is comprised of at least 35 children ranging in age from 10 to 19 who take music lessons at TJ's Music. The students have been divided into groups and will be performing a few songs apiece.
"It's not like, 'Oh, look at the kids. They are cute.' No – they are rocking," Salpietro said. "These kids are good."
Salpietro is the owner and operator of TJ's Music, a music shop at 347 South Main Street in Fall River that opened in 1997. He used to play drums for Trendkill, an international acclaimed tribute to Pantera, and offers music lessons, as well as sells instruments and music gear, to musicians and aspiring artists alike. These days, he devotes his time to TJ's. Currently, about a dozen staff members teach more than 300 students a week.
To help their youngest students develop skills that allow them to succeed as members of bands, Salpietro created "Jam Night," a music program at his shop about three years ago. Every Tuesday evening, students of all ages visited the store and played together, along with their teachers.
During lessons, students learned the basic fundamentals about their instruments. But at "Jam Night," they got a flavor of what it's like to perform with a full band.
"I used to watch them and they'd take their half hour lesson and go home," he said. "I'm like, 'They're not in bands; they don't play with anybody and these kids are great players.' So, I said, 'We've got to get these kids in, put them together in groups, and see what we can make happen."
Using a 25-foot stage that's located on the second floor of the shop, as well as a full PA system and light set, the children got the opportunity to get a feel for what it's like to perform as a band. After a few months, Salpietro said the students got the hang of it and were performing comfortably with other musicians. Some of them even formed bands together aside of "Jam Night."
"Getting them together to play gave them a goal," said Salpietro.
To further give the children a chance to shine, Salpietro chatted with Patrick Norton, the Executive Director of the Narrows, as Norton recently stopped by the store. He once took music lessons there, along with his children.
"He came in one day and started talking about the kids and said, 'Would you maybe want to do a show at the Narrows?'" Salpietro said.
For Salpietro, agreeing to the gig was a no-brainer.
"It's the greatest venue locally," he said. "The kids are going to play on a real stage, with real lights. They are all going to leave with band photos and action shots of themselves playing."
In no time, Salpietro and his staff began prepping the children for the show. Students signed up for a 12-week program that started in September, and visited the store every Sunday afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. to practice as groups.
"This program really works out a lot of bugs for kids," he said. "If you're learning how to play with a bass player and you're a drummer, you know what to listen for. You watch the singer and see the singer's cues."
Not only does the experience teach them how to further develop musical skills, the children have made close friends and are learning the importance of teambuilding. Additionally, it helps them build confidence.
"I've had kids that were lacking stage confidence, as well as confidence in life, and we were able to get them to play together," Salpietro said. "They are not scared to get on stage anymore. They get up there and are running the entire show. It's amazing. It's been a huge hit. They are working together. I see them talking things out, and that to me is just magic. I love seeing these kids grow."
Since he created the program, participating students were invited to play on WSAR, a radio station in Massachusetts. They played live in the studio twice, and performed during Fall River Mayor William Flanagan's slot, per Flanagan's request. From there, Flanagan invited them to perform at the third annual 2012 'Eat 2 the Beat Festival,' a summer showcase which consisted of New England tribute acts such as Dirty Deeds, Klassik Kiss, Scarab, and more.
"The kids did a great job," said Salpietro. "They were unbelievable. They got a lot of recognition." The students also appeared on Fall River Community T.V., and are set to take part in the Fall River Christmas Parade on Dec. 1.
Salpietro said the children are excited about the parade, as well as the Narrows show. To purchase tickets, which are $10 each, visit http://www.narrowscenter.org.
"The tickets are selling like wildfire," said Salpietro, noting that he's looking forward to the Narrows gig, too, and is hoping it is the first of many shows like it. "I do this because I think it's something that they need. I enjoy introducing them to the other side of it. I have tons of experience playing and touring, and it's a great way for me to share that side of my professional life."
Learn more about TJ's Music, as well as the program, at http://www.tjsmusic.com or call 508-673-9100.
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November 2010BJ Cardiol 2010;17:265	Leave a comment
Authors: BJ Cardio Staff
News in brief from the world of cardiology.
Ticagelor recommended for approval in Europe
The antiplatelet agent ticagrelor (Brilique™, AstraZeneca) has been given a positive approval recommendation for the treatment of acute coronary syndromes from the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP). This is expected to lead to approval by the European Commission.
The CHMP based its recommendation largely on PLATO (A Study of Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes), which showed a significant reduction in the primary end point of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke with ticagrelor compared with clopidogrel.
Liraglutide for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published a technology appraisal on liraglutide. It recommends liraglutide taken at a dose of 1.2 mg once a day as a possible treatment for some people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. NICE does not recommend liraglutide taken at a higher dose of 1.8 mg once a day. Further information can be obtained from guidance.nice.org.uk/TA203
UK diabetes and obesity rates rise 5%
The number of diabetes sufferers in the UK has risen by roughly 5% in the last year, while one in 10 of the population are now registered as obese, according to Diabetes UK. Figures collected from GPs reveal that diagnoses of diabetes have increased by more than 150,000 to 2.8 million in the past year, while those registered as obese have risen to over five and half million, an increase of more than 265,000. Roughly 90% of those with the condition suffer from type 2 diabetes.
The charity estimates that around 10% of NHS spending goes on diabetes and its complications, the equivalent of £9 billion per year. The government has announced that it will be publishing a 'white paper' report tackling the issue before the year's end.
Antihypertensives more effective when taken at night
A recent study on Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Events (MAPEC) reveals that many sufferers of hypertension may benefit from taking medication at night instead of in the morning.
The study's findings, published in Chronobiology International,* confirm that the natural reduction in blood pressure often expected during sleep does not occur in all people, which makes them potentially vulnerable during sleeping hours. Dr Francesco Portaluppi (University of Ferrara, Italy), lead author of the study, says it was "the first to conclusively find that the time of day when medications are ingested not only affects efficacy but also cardiovascular disease risk and these findings must fundamentally change the way patients are treated worldwide".
He calls for 24-hour monitoring to become the new standard, "to help millions of people stay healthier… by ensuring that their blood pressure medications are taken as effectively as possible".
*http://informahealthcare.com/doi/full/10.3109/07420528.2010.510788
Insulin degludec shows promise over insulin glargine
The investigational insulin, degludec, has shown significantly lower day-to-day variability and a more stable glucose-lowering insulin effect in people with type 1 diabetes than insulin glargine, a phase 2 study has shown.
Presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm, Sweden, the study used an euglycaemic glucose clamp technique in 54 patients with type 1 diabetes and showed that once-daily administration of insulin degludec was evenly distributed over each 24-hour period, with the metabolic effect evenly distributed between the first and second 12 hours.
A second study presented at the meeting showed that insulin degludec has the potential for a three times weekly regimen. A phase 2 study in type 2 diabetes showed HbA1c reductions were similar in the 16-week study for once-daily and three-times-weekly insulin degludec groups (-1.3% and -1.5%, respectively) and comparable to insulin glargine (-1.5%).
Upwardly mobile
Coenzyme Q10 may help in heart failure


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Indianhead Lehigh Neighborhood Association
Florida DOT has historical aerial photographs online. The image to the right is of the Indianhead Acres area in 1957. For more detail, see the three-times-more-detailed image and the nine-times-more-detailed image. The latter is still only half the resolution of the image I downloaded from FDOT.
Here are some observations about the aerial photo. (You'll need to look at one of the more detailed images to verify these.)
The western side was nearly as wooded as it is today, though not quite. The eastern side, though, was a great deal more open. Many yards on the eastern side were completely bare of trees, or had only a couple of small trees.
Most roofs were completely visible from overhead. (By contrast, today very few are fully visible, and many cannot be seen at all.) Most of the creek was easily seen from overhead. (Today none of it is visible.) The creek area shows what I interpret as signs that it had recently been "adjusted" with bulldozers, probably to narrow and straighten the channel.
Most of the roofs were bright in these black-and-white photographs, but some were dark. I'm not sure what this says about construction materials used.
What is now the open part of Optimist Park was still a lake. At least that's my interpretation; it looks like reflection from water. I'm confused though because other bodies of water (such as the pond on Atapha Nene) show up dark, and the Optimist Park area is light. Possibly this is right after the lake drained and before vegetation started growing on the former lake bed.
The Parkway Shopping Center had not been built, but it looks like the site is under construction. Apalachee Parkway is under construction, probably being four-laned. Hartsfield School had already been built.
The majority of houses in Indianhead Acres had been built, though several blocks are still almost empty. Chowkeebin Court was just a driveway. Several small streets didn't exist, but all the major ones did. Brentwood (the 2200-2300 blocks of Atapha and W Indianhead) had only begun being built up. Lehigh did not exist in any form.
Jim Lee Road did not extend south of Mountbatten Rd, or at least was only a small dirt road. No part of Blair Stone Rd existed -- I cropped that area out of the photo but it's on the image from FDOT.
Most existing roads and intersections within the neighborhood had exactly the same alignment that they have today.
It's really apparent that the standard driveway was the two strips of concrete which some houses still have. In 1957 those double strips shone brightly in front of almost every house.
jNeighborhood association president is
Web site technical contact is 850 942 6877.


The body is often seen as merely a vehicle or vessel for personhood, this view can often be exaggerated to the point of destruction. In my work I aim to address this dichotomy within the portrayal of the body, especially that of the female, both lovely and soft, yet still disdained and torn apart. I use textile processes in many of my sculptures both because this medium is traditionally attributed to the housewife and mother and because cloth is a symbol for carnal bodies as it acts as an alternative skin. The colors and shapes I employ in my most recent work evoke imagery that is floral, feminine, and soft while also resembling the carnal, rotting meat, and flesh. Growing up in a home steeped in conservative religion, I had been taught that the physical experience was to be denied in order to attain the spiritual. My work acts as a satirical response to this belief by creating pieces that are void of that spiritual presence or recognizable identity and leaving the flesh to hang, drip, and portray the abject. Julia Kristeva, the French philosopher most noted for her work on the abject describes abject as "aspects of the body that are deemed impure or inappropriate for public display or discussion." In my works I aim to bring in brief glimpses of carnality subtracted of any identity, as empty shells of flesh.
Juried by Alison Hiltner. Denler Art Gallery, St. Paul, MN. September 2012.
Full length Video is Approximately 8 Minutes.
This piece Consists of six canvases hung horizontally on the wall, dye is poured into the top-most canvas and the dye slowly soaks through each of the canvases.


The new 2018 Chevrolet Chevelle Ss model and almost all of its predecessors before it enjoy a reputation for impressive utility functions, impressive. Expect an all-new 2018 Chevrolet Chevelle Ss for model-year 2020, with fresh styling and slightly larger dimensions. That leaves the 2019 edition a lame duck that's showing its age versus top rivals in this red-hot market segment.
Manufacturer's suggested retail prices for the 2018 Chevrolet Chevelle Ss are apt to increase, so you'll be asked to pay more for an essentially unchanged vehicle. That doesn't mean you'll actually pay more, though. Road manners are a selling point, and intriguing features include such novelties as automated self-parking.
Otherwise, expect the 2018 Chevrolet Chevelle Ss Safe and Smart Package to again include a good range of driver assists, including adaptive cruise control that can maintain a set distance from traffic ahead, plus lane-keep assist to automatically steer you back should you inadvertently drift from your lane. Rain-sensing windshield wipers and blind-spot and rear cross-traffic alert would also continue as part of the package.


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Police: New Jersey break-ins could be work of serial burglar
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (WABC) -- Police in one New Jersey town are investigating a string of burglaries and urging residents to be be cautious and vigilant.
Authorities are also looking into whether the suspect breaking into homes in Franklin Township could also be responsible for a rash of similar incidents in North Brunswick and other municipalities.
The Franklin Township Police Department released photos of the suspect that were captured by a Ring.com doorbell.
"According to the time stamp, it was 4:03 in the morning," homeowner Michael Wade said. "My wife and I were sleeping, and the dog started running around like he wanted to go out."
But then, Wade said his phone sent him an alarm saying someone was trying to open the door.
The images showed a man with gloves on, looking straight into the camera, before taking off seconds later. Wade called police and went downstairs.
"I could see the screens had been raised and looked like he tried to open the door," he said. "Scary."
Police Lieutenant Philip Rizzo said his department is investigating a few burglaries in the area that are similar, and they're working closely with other nearby towns..
"Many times we hear people say, 'I saw someone,' but it's two days later," Rizzo said. "Call if you see anything. Give us an opportunity to make contact with the suspect."
In the North Brunswick incidents, police say the man was entering occupied homes and burglarizing them while the residents were asleep.
The suspect got away with alcohol and car keys, even stealing several cars. In one incident, there were 11 people asleep inside at the time of the burglary.
The investigation is active and ongoing, anyone who notices any suspicious activity in Franklin Township is urged to call police at 732-873-2300.
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franklinsomerset countyburglarycrimesurveillance video


The Hader Clinic offers a free comprehensive assessment to all prospective patients.
The purpose of the assessment (also referred to as a consultation) is to find out more about you, your addiction and your current situation. From the information you provide we can firstly determine that our addiction treatment program would be right for you and secondly it provides an opportunity for you to ask us questions so that you can be sure that we are the right rehab for you.
Assessments can be carried out immediately and are usually conducted face to face in our head office in Brisbane.
The assessment usually takes around 30 minutes to one hour. If required, admission can be arranged as soon as the assessment is completed.
During the assessment we ask for information on your drug/alcohol addiction history, your mental health, your family situation, your current social situation, your health, if you have tried to quit before (either on your own or with help) and discuss what you want from your treatment.
Our client liaison officer will answer any questions you have. You will probably want to know what is involved in residential drug rehab. We have put together a list of frequently asked questions that people usually ask.
Hopefully our rehab program will be suitable for you and you decide that The Hader Clinic is the best rehab facility for you. If so, we will than arrange admission for you. In some cases The Hader Clinic might not be right for you. In this situation we will recommend to you other programs you may wish to consider.


Home Unlabelled How does customization affect the procurement process?
How does customization affect the procurement process?
The early days of customization have spawned a consumer culture that expects personalization to be one of the basic amenities corporations provide to their customers. This type of demand has pressured manufacturers to seek procurement services to help them acquire the necessary amount of particular goods.
As opposed to what some may think, buying a wide array of materials en masse can be extremely wasteful. A market research analyst can provide enterprises with the knowledge necessary to figure out which products are and will be in high demand. Blindly submitting purchase orders for items may seem like the easiest route, but it certainly isn't the safest.
According to Woodworking Network, mass customization has allowed lumber companies to deliver a diverse range of individually manipulated products to the market without sustaining an increase in production costs. The news source noted that advanced machinery and software has helped organizations achieve corporate cost reduction and simultaneously develop unique materials that cater to the needs of specific customers.
Companies that are still struggling to figure out how to cope with customization need to determine how the aforementioned technical assets can work cohesively with management. Again, purchasing factory apparatuses for the sake of catering to a market demanding customization is nonsensical. Guidance throughout the procurement process can provide focus and direction when looking for the appropriate instruments with which to fill facilities.
Jordan Reynolds, a contributor to Industry Week, acknowledged a couple of operation models that can help manufacturers satisfy consumers in want of tailor-made products. The first one, engineer-to-order, allows companies to take a project bid, conduct research and development, scrutinize the specifications and then design and build the desired product. This protocol is repeated every time a new custom order is submitted.
The second most popular procedure involves mass production. Factories that subscribe to this model often provide their target audiences with personalization features on their websites. For example, some shoe brands allow site visitors to select different colors, sole shapes, laces and other features. The manufacturer than receives the manipulated design and funnels its schematics into software that directs assembly lines. This mode of operation allows corporations to produce customized materials more fluidly, despite the fact that their customers may not be able to benefit from a wider selection of items.
Now more than ever, many consumers expect the ability to change items to their particular preferences. Marketing analysis and outsourcing to organizations specializing in procurement management can greatly benefit manufacturers that need to cater to contemporary needs.


My condolences to the Hylton family on their loss. God Almighty has promised to end the tears and mourning suffered at the death of our loved ones. Revelation 21:4 May you find peace in reading that scripture.
Jehovah promises that the dead will live again. - Isaiah 26:19. They will be brought back to life. That is the hope of the resurrection.
Sincere condolences to the Hylton's family. It is a sad time right now but here are some comforting words found at Acts 24 : 15. It promises a resurrection for our dear loved ones. Thanks to Jehovah the God of True Comfort. He has given us a future.