CBC.ca

Izenberg: At Kentucky Derby, some 'traditions' are better off left in the past The Star-Ledger - NJ.com By Jerry Izenberg/Columnist Emeritus Luke Sharrett/AFP/Getty ImagesA mint julep, the official drink of the Kentucky Derby, sits in the grandstand Friday at Churchill Downs. LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Well, here at the site of horse racing's last great cavalry ... Lack of dominant horse could make for exciting Kentucky DerbyLas Vegas Sun Uncle Mo, Once the Favorite, Is Scratched From the DerbyNew York Times Pletcher's call: Uncle Mo scratchedBoston Herald Kansas City Star -The Associated Press -ESPN (blog) all 4,249 news articles »

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Submit this story Huffington Post (blog) Most American Indian tribal names are not the real names of the Indian nations. They were names given to them by their enemies or more correctly, the Indians who worked with the United States Cavalry to fight the Indians who resisted the white ways. ... Indian leaders cry foul over bin Laden 'Geronimo' nicknameUSA Today American Indians were hurt by the US military naming the bin Laden kill ...CNN (blog) American Indian leaders decry code nameDenver Post Tulsa World -Detroit Free Press -Salt Lake Tribune all 1,335 news articles »

Trooper Jack Little, 19, of the Household Cavalry Blues and Royals, said he was 'shocked' after being turned away from Vodka Revolution in Cambridge when door staff spotted his army ID.

Newegg has the Cavalry EN-CADA4B-CFI eSATA RAID 0/1/10/5/JBOD 4-Bay Disk Array Tower w/ eSATA Card Bundle for $120 - $20 off with coupon code EMCKEKG43 [Exp 5/9] = $100 with free shipping. Features automatic rebuilding in RAID 0+1 and 5 and a tray-free swappable design. [Compare]

If you happen to be a horse, then nowhere has better, smarter shoes than the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment Forge here in London’s Hyde Park.

Indian Stamps – Year 1978 – By India Post Birth Centenary of Vallathol Narayana Menon (Poet) (25p) Date Of Issue:- 15.10.1978. National Children’s Day (25p) Date Of Issue:- 14.11.1978. National Small Industries Fair, New Delhi (25p) Date Of Issue:- 17.11.1978. 175th Anniv. of Skinner’s Horse (Cavalry Regiment) (25p) Date Of Issue:- 25.11.1978. Birth Centenary of [...]

PUEBLA, Mexico — People in the United States make a bigger deal about Cinco de Mayo than Mexicans in Mexico do. North of the border, Cinco de Mayo involves a lot of beer and nachos, and is celebrated in every city with a bar, even if no Mexicans are around. In Mexico, though, there’s an awesome reenactment of a ferocious cavalry charge and hand-to-hand combat with machetes. Plus, cannons. Lots ...

PUEBLA, Mexico — People in the United States make a bigger deal about Cinco de Mayo than Mexicans in Mexico do.

North of the border, Cinco de Mayo involves a lot of beer and nachos, and is celebrated in every city with a bar, even if no Mexicans are around.

In Mexico, though, there’s an awesome reenactment of a ferocious cavalry charge and hand-to-hand combat with machetes. Plus, cannons. Lots.

Read full article >>

16 Strikeout Applesauce - Lincecum gets 12 K's, Mets may get Bay & Pagan back soon Amazin' Avenue The cavalry may be on the way, though. Jason Bay may return to the lineup today after he and his wife Kristen welcomed Garrett Jason Bay to the world yesterday. Congratulations to the Bays on ... and more »

>>BE STILL OUR WALLETS the Alameda Flea Market (ahem, Alameda Point Antiques Faire) was in full effect Sunday, a gently heaving behemoth of vans and makeshift shady areas packed with the finest in 20-plus-year-old posters, leather jackets, doilies, and more. Per usual though, our pulses raced for the clothes. 1960s hula wear, perfectly affordable granny boots, and darling handmade cardigans – all for very reasonable prices, for the Bay Area that is. If you're going to the next one on June 5, we counsel stopping by St. George's Spirits afterward for the $15 tasting menu, or at least a shot of the Firelit Coffee Liquer. <!--break-->

Shopping noms: a ric-rac peekaboo '60s dress and zippy little weirdo bike at the Alameda Flea Market. Photos by Caitlin Donohue

>>FAIR FOOD Price, service, ingredients, taste – the myriad of factors that determine whether or not a restaurant will win your heart are well documented by a thousand SF guidebooks and websites. But one metric that has rarely been the day's special is this: how well do our city's eateries treat their employees? To the rescue is Young Workers United, a community group that released its second such guide at a release party yesterday at Daly's Dive. Hit them up stat for a copy -- because trust, a well-compensated server is much more likely to humor your request for one more basket of bread. 

>>HABLANDO DE CINCO DE MAYO...No matter if you're checking out the lady lube wrestling at El Rio, outdoor ballet folklorico, Danville's Cinco de Mustache Bike Ride, or just joining the calvalcade of gringos that – like, totally – have to get a burrito on Cinco De Mayo, no SF celebration can hold a candle to that of Fruitvale's annual festivities. We were there on Sunday – and dancing horses in bar parking lots? You're not going to see that in Mission, unless they've called the cavalry on us.

>>SO GOOD, SOBERT Do not listen to those that tell you that you'll never be ready for that trip to Lake Del Valle (outside Livermore -- kayaking!) if you eat another pint of icecream. Or if you must listen, stay classy and gently incline the label of your newfound friend, Garden Creamery sorbet, towards the hater in question. The sorbets contain no dairy or soy (coconut puree instead), no refined sugars (they're sweetened with agave), are made right here in San Francisco by the sweet-faced ladies on the back label, and are available by the pint in flavors like Thai iced tea, coconut, and coffee at the reliably awesome Green Earth Natural Foods on Divisadero.

Believe. 

>>BLACK SUN SOUNDS While Slumberland labelmates Pains of Being Young at Heart chose to work with veteran producers to create a commercial second album, Crystal Stilts sticks closer to the sound of its debut, 2008's Alight of Night, on this year's In Love with Oblivion. The Brooklyn group still makes a dark cavernous sound, with an emphasis on reverb and treble, but any enhancements to its scope, or variations within lead singer's Brad Hargett's usually monotone delivery, only add to a musical atmosphere that is richerand more nuanced than most retro-leaning indie rock, and (unlike the efforts of many contemporaries) equal to the best recordings on labels such as K and 53rd and 3rd. Crystal Stilts shares a bill with San Francisco's excellent Mantles at Rickshaw Stop this Sat/7. 

Crystal Stilts, "Invisible City," (from In Love with Oblivion), coupled with Jean Michele Jarre video footage:

The Libyan rebels assembled a motorized cavalry of mostly civilian trucks outfitted with crude armor and even cruder weapons almost overnight. Where'd they come from? Secret workshops run by brave mechanics using junk tools and spit-and-gum techniques to keep the troops at the front armed. More »

Today I got the chance to hobnob with Henry Abbott of TrueHoop.  We talked about the Blazers, basketball philosophy, and blogging.  Take a gander.

Dave:  2010-11 Portland Trail Blazers.  What are your lasting impressions of the season?  What did we learn about the team this year?

Henry:  We learned a lot. Off the top of my head:

• The really big sobering piece of news was that Greg Oden was both more fragile than we ever knew and entirely essential to the whole "just let them age together and they'll win a title" view of the team. (We also learned that phrase probably is pretty true in places like Oklahoma City and Memphis.)
• We learned the same, to a smaller degree, about Brandon Roy, and that he's not going to go quietly into a supporting role, which is not surprising or hard to understand, but could indeed be problematic.
• LaMarcus Aldridge and Andre Miller can do some great things together on the run and at the rim -- things that don't happen as much with Roy on the floor.
• Nate McMillan can depart from his preferred approach of covering the floor with shooters, driving, kicking and offensive rebounding.
• The Blazers tend to underperform in the playoffs.
• It might be good to have some more shooters.
• Paul Allen seems to confirm, in the angst of his book, that he's the common thread in a lot of bitterness at the top of the organization through the years.
• We learned that Rudy Fernandez can be happy living in Portland.
• We didn't learn how to value Nicolas Batum. "Potential" and "great moments" are not definitions. If he's going to really reach his ceiling, great. If not, better to trade when he's still young enough to dream on.
• We didn't learn how to value Brandon Roy, post-surgery. At times he's the best player on the floor, at times he's the worst.

Dave:  The Roy issue is fascinating.  I haven't addressed it directly on the site yet, but Brandon is making me waver a little.  In this modern Blazers era when potential has been king and depth has been sufficient to cause Portland fans to clamor for different starters on a weekly basis I've lived by a simple mantra:  the guy who earns the starting spot gets the starting spot.  Don't talk to me about Sergio Rodriguez or Jerryd Bayless or Travis Outlaw starting until they've earned it and we'll know they've earned it when we see them in there excelling with consistency.  Start promoting people on potential or hunches and you're sending a message that playing well and winning are secondary priorities.

Then again, we're not talking about Sergio Rodriguez here.  This is Brandon...Roy.  Obviously there's a physical component to his declined play.  Who knows what those knees will do?  But there seems to be a mental component as well.  When a guy explodes for 20 points in a quarter and then follows it up with 20 points in a week, something is going on there.  He's in a binary state, either gifted by the gods or unable to hit a single free throw.  Some of that has got to be in the old noggin. 

Brandon's role has always been go-to guy, scorer, savior, and starter.  The Blazers may not need a full-force return to his glory days but they can't afford next-to-zero from him 6 games out of 7 in all those departments.  If the title of starter is what it takes to get him back on track mentally, give it to him.  You can still limit his minutes if desired.  He can become one of those nominal starters, beginning the game, the third, and playing as necessary in the fourth.  I have no problem with Wesley Matthews getting big minutes off the bench.  I have no problem with Wesley Matthews playing in crunch time instead of Roy if the occasion warrants.  Matthews can still give everything he gives now from the pines whereas Roy apparently can't.  All of Matthews and something of Roy beats all of Matthews and none of Roy...at least for now.  Two years down the road maybe this story is different.  But for now you have to give Brandon a chance to be Brandon.

Am I catering to star whims?  Yeah, I probably am.  But I need a little Roy and if this is what it takes, I do it.

Am I crazy?  What's your take on the Roy enigma?

Click through for Henry's thoughts on Brandon Roy plus even more discussion!

Henry:  In a way I'm glad it's the offseason and he's signed up to a huge contract for ages. Unless his one great playoff quarter dazzled some owner out there, we can assume he'll be in Portland for the long haul and we know he's desperate to be good, smart and works hard. We know he has time to retool.

So, presumably, he comes back not like the Brandon of the past, but as some kind of Brandon of the future.

He better! 

Because if you wash those highlights out of your eyes, by just about every measure he has been an average NBA player. He's often the team's worst defender, and the offense that made him famous works best (or only?) when he can finish at the rim, or draw a double and kick it to an open shooter. The team doesn't have those shooters anymore -- they were shipped out to help assemble a team that can win without him -- and evidently he can only finish in the paint with power a few times a month. 

What used to be a third option -- to shoot the step-back with a defender in his face -- is now the first option. 

Thus performance plummets.

Injured Brandon trying to play like healthy Brandon ... I'd assume that long-term team success would hinge on playing that guy as little as possible. But a guy who has always coped with limited athleticism, and who can create space without speed and explosiveness ... maybe he can come up with something.

Dave:  Yup.  Now stuck with him, the Blazers need him to be SOMETHING.  Whatever you have to do to make that happen, you at least try it.  If he wants to be SOMETHING, that is...which seems to be the burning question.  What is going on in Brandon Roy's head?  It's cruel to have to ponder that question along with all the others that afflict this team.

Either way, Brandon's over-reliance on the jumper at least will keep him out of the way of Aldridge, provided LaMarcus embraces the role of lead scorer and getting in the paint every once in a while.  That Miller-Aldridge space should be wide open even with Brandon on the floor.  Then again, is even the new LaMarcus good enough?  Will Gerald Wallace get uncorked?  Can Nicolas Batum become a star?  Does Marcus Camby have anything major left?  Will Miller even be with the team?  And don't even ASK about Greg Oden.  The Blazers have talent, but there's not a guy among them that isn't facing questions...questions about location and role if not inherent ability.  This team is supposed to be getting more settled, not less.  

What's going on?  Why can't they seem to get out of their own way?  Or are we in Portland too close to the situation to judge fairly?

Henry:  Well, look around the league, at the teams still alive ... they're all facing profound questions too. Is Miami's "little nine" anything like good enough? Is Boston too old? Can Gasol and Bynum co-exist? Is it OK to rely on Zach Randolph? Is Westbrook a ballhog? The Hawks recently handed out one of the worst contracts in sports. All those big salaries for so-so players in Dallas ...

And on and on and on.

Stresses and tensions are part of success. The key is not to add to that with a big helping of "why me?" 'Cause it's not you, or us ... it's everybody. That's just life -- or at least, that's life without Tim Duncan in his prime.

The best teams, someone once said to me, see the good in their players. The other teams see the flaws.

So, to me, yes Portland has had big bad luck. But also great luck, in that there are players all up and down the roster who can contribute. 

We're talking about how best to deploy a former rookie of the year, what to do with the returning-from-injury top overall pick, the obsessiveness of an incredible and affluent fanbase and the moodiness of one of the richest owners in sports history. In a lot of cities, they'd LOVE to have problems like that.

Dave: Every team indeed faces questions, even the once-unquestionable Spurs now.  But in Portland those issues seem to be embedded in the DNA.  The questions aren't just in the spaces between teams and players, such as LeBron fitting into Miami or being able to come out of the East, but internal to the players:  Who am I?  How good am I?  How much am I supposed to take on here?

Your "helping of 'why me?'" statement is apt.  It's not just a Portland fan mantra.  It still feels like this team sinks too much into questioning when the pressure is on and things don't go right.  "Why did the refs make that call?  Why did Dirk's crazy shot just go in?  Why is Jason Kidd all of a sudden shooting 60% from the arc against us?  Why can't I hit a shot?  When's our turn to win?"  It never gets to be your turn unless you make it so.  It's less about figuring out why and more about bowling over whatever it is that's getting in your way.  The Blazers will push and overcome sometimes, usually just when you think they're finished, but that pushing always seems to lead to a rousing bout of navel gazing instead of triumph.  It's like when success is in front of them, begging to be taken, they get Woody Allen neurotic and shrink back.

Part of that may be the main guys having grown up without real veteran leadership, trying to figure out the league on their own.  Look how long it took Zach Randolph to make his game success-friendly.  Even the veterans they brought in--Miller, Camby, Wallace--haven't overdosed on playoff success in their careers.  But you'd hope some experienced players and a good session of getting punched in the face by Dallas...and Phoenix...and Houston would snap you out of it.

On the other hand, maybe this really is as good as the Oden-less, Roy-mostly-less Blazers get right now.  I don't know if it's the habit everywhere, but Blazer fans are notorious for 50 wins being less of an accomplishment than a sign you should have won 55.

Henry:  This, to me, is pretty much the definition of mental toughness. You see what Gerald Wallace does out there? Just fights his ass off play after play, regardless of outcome. You do that every time, and you'll have more than enough success in this life.

Anything that keeps you from that ... and for a lot of people, a victim complex is one such thing ... hurts.

Any notion this franchise is snakebit I find laughable, childish and harmful. Get over it!

Also, from my point of view, in the NBA there is no magic elixir, no formula, no ninja training, no real rites of passage even. We like the idea that after getting beat up in the playoffs you then are informed about the playoffs for next time.

But in reality, it was only ever basketball, which does have roles for experience and wisdom and all that, but is also heavily haphazard, random and based on things like the bounce of a ball or the spring in a step. You could look at this year's playoff elimination and question the souls of all involved, or you could just say "that's a pretty darned good team that Kevin Pelton calls the most injured in the NBA, and they missed a bunch of free throws in big games, and didn't have homecourt advantage anyway. And by the way, the Mavericks are beating the Lakers right now."

In other words, there is not one shred of insight into anybody's soul. It's just that the Blazers are a good basketball team, at a time of year when good basketball teams are often left by the wayside.

Dave:  In a sense I agree.  For years there's been a mystique surrounding the Blazers, espoused by pundits and commentators...I have preached it as well.  "This team is 'X' now but just you wait a year or two and they will be 'Y'.  And have no doubt, 'Y' is much greater than 'X'."  That may have been true at one point, but I think it's safe to say that the cavalry isn't coming in the way anticipated.  The mystique is gone.  "X" this year will be "X" next year unless something changes.  But the team itself has been in mystique mode since its main players were rookies.  One wonders if they know another way.  I wonder if the Gerald Wallace everything-at-all-costs mentality--the only thing that matters--is within the reach of some of these guys, including some of the major figures.  They should be fighting their asses off.  Instead they're waiting for next year.

This, to me, was the essence of the Dallas playoff series.  Dallas fought, the Blazers waited.  On paper, even without a healthy Roy and Oden, the Blazers had advantages alongside Dallas'.  Dallas exploited their advantages better, played harder, and turned a two-way paper matchup into a one-way road to success.  The Blazers got beat between the ears as much as on the court.  This is where we diverge maybe because I didn't see it as a matchup of two good teams, one naturally better.  I saw it as a matchup of two good teams, one of which knew what it was doing and refusing to lose because it had been battered before and hated that feeling and the other of which was still waiting for something...waiting for the series to turn their way while the opponent was busy making off with it.  That's often the dividing line between good teams and great.  Put another way, to me there are no great teams.  There are good teams and then there are good teams that refuse to lose and have both the knowledge and drive to back that up.

So...there is no 60-win team waiting in the wings here anymore.  There's a 48-win team that wants to be a 60-win team and is going to have to change somehow--through internal development or roster changes or both--in order to become that great team they want to be.  How do the Blazers get there?  What are the keys?  Is it even possible?

Henry:  I think we see it exactly the same way, but I'd add one wrinkle: Being convinced, in your bones, that you got screwed, and are really better than this, is doom.

In other words, focusing on what's wrong is not just ill-advised, but causative of the mentality you abhor.

Oh yeah, I'm about to quote Shakespeare. Believe it. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

In other words, a big part of developing the mentality you crave is to scoff at the notion this team is cursed.

"We are here right now and 100 percent ready to rip this game right out of your hands," ... that works.
"Some of us are here right now and you wouldn't believe what we could do at full strength," ... that doesn't work.

Being a 48-win team that can overachieve (on the court, in the huddle, in the front office) and make it deep into the playoffs ... that's to be ahead of the NBA curve. That's every team except the very luckiest and most skillfully managed. The only difference with this team is that there was reason, for a minute there, to think all that success was going to be easy -- thinking like that, though, is almost always harmful. It was going to be hard then, and it's going to be hard now. So it goes in an enterprise where 29 of 30 teams "fail."

Dave:  Gotcha.  It's not so much what questions get asked, but how you answer them.  That, my friend, is why you are the best in this business.

Speaking of, I would be remiss in the extreme if I let you go without asking about your specialty.  When we met I was just starting out but you were already a giant in this business...the ONLY giant in this business at the time, the guy who broke the mold.  The world has changed in the last few years.  The world of online journalism has exploded.  I remember when we used to say "online journalism" 90% of the gravity came from the word "online".  Now it might as well not be there in most cases as quality and quantity have eclipsed anything that could have been imagined a decade ago from traditional or nouveau sources.

What has struck you as you've watched this industry develop?  How does it compare today to when you began?  Do you still love doing TrueHoop as much as you did on Day 1?

Henry:  Holy mega hard-to-answer succinctly question.

[Unprompted Editorial Note:  Hey, you get a chance to sit down with Jesus you're not going to ask him something he can answer with yes or no.  You get a chance to eat dinner with Pamela Anderson and you're going to take at least one decent look at her rack.  So I'm taking my shot.  Now back to the show...] 

Henry (cont.):  A lot has changed, but a lot is exactly the same.

Journalism, the job of developing sources and calling people and sticking microphones in people's faces ... That's the same job it ever was, which I say as a guy who did it the old way on murder scenes and at public meetings and the like as a reporter. It's easier now, because people call you back when you're from ESPN. But when I talk to the ESPN news editors, they are literally people who used to do the same job at newspapers, and they have the same questions and standards. So this whole "fall of journalism" thing ... it's a fall of a business model, but not of a process.

At the same time, there has been a publicizing, through the internet, of conversations that were once private. I talked to my UPS guy today. Great guy, just love him. He told me a bunch of stuff about the NBA. A lot of it was really just completely detached from reality, but who cares? He's making small talk! Nowadays, that happens online, too. And some of it gets traffic and makes money. This really riles some people, but I can't see what the big deal is.

The real issue is in getting to know who's talking. So long as I, as a reader, can tell if I'm reading somebody who is really responsible with information or not, then I'm safe. 

We all know how to do this, really. We do it every day. If your toddler tells you he saw a goat jump over a tree, you know -- based on the source and the tale -- to discount that a little. (Although, in fairness, goats do have mad springs.)

I long for a day when every reporter's name comes with an accuracy score, but until then, I think readers with what my journalism professor calls "crap detectors" can do the job well enough. In the end, people who are rash with information will demonstrate themselves foolish again and again.

That's why I tell everyone in the TrueHoop Network all the time that the most important thing is to build credibility. I think that drives value in online journalism.

As for fun ... I mean, I have long treated this like a job, and no job is always fun. (Reference earlier point about when you think it's going to be easy, you're wrong.) However, let's step back for a second and realize: I get paid to watch basketball. I go to work every day and write more or less whatever I want. I get to talk to people like you. Most days nobody even cares if I shave or not, and only once in a while do I have to eat balut.

Not too shabby.

Dave:  Ding! Ding! Ding!  And Henry has spoken the Word of the Day, "Balut"!  For that he'll win a spa pedicure at Lavender Springs Resort and everyone in the audience will receive a copy of the new Blazersedge cookbook, "Oops!  Was I Supposed to Do That?" Seventy-Two Theoretically Easy Meals with Ben Golliver.  I don't think balut is in there though.  Ben's more of a Kraft Mac and Cheese tartar guy.

Thanks so much Henry.  Best of luck during the lockout.  Keep your head high and the content coming!

Henry:  Ha! That is awesome. This was fun. Thanks for having me!

Be sure to check out Henry's work at TrueHoop!  

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

BURBANK, Calif., May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, Billy Ray Cyrus met with troops from the 2nd battalion of the 8th Cavalry at Fort Hood, the largest active duty armored post in the U.S. Armed Services located outside of Killeen, Texas. (Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110503/

French cavalry joins Royal Windsor Tattoo Horse & Hound Online The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment will perform alongside its French counterparts — the Mounted Band of La Garde Republicaine — for the first time at this year's Royal Military Tattoo at Windsor Castle (12-15 May). It is likely that the troops ... French military join Royal Tattoo for first timeBritish Forces News all 2 news articles »

Newegg Coupons

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Let’s rewind to February… On our first full day in Paris, Nubby, Juliane & I just happened to be wandering along rue Vielle du Temple in Le Marais when a bright window display caught my eye. Nubby & Juliane kept walking, but I yelled, “WAIT!”

As they turned around, I looked up at the awning & saw it: M A N O U S H. A passage from an email written by my friend Amanda flashed in my head…

“There is a shop you will love (I dropped a small fortune in) called Manoush. Its Betsey-esq but more edgy with ethnic flairs. Just fabulous. Native to only Paris…”

We gawked in the windows before I squeaked, “Can we go in, please?!” Nubby & Juliane could see that resistance was futile, so they nodded & I practically bounced across the threshold.

“Bonjour madame!!!!!!!!”, I yelped, & ran to the closest rack. What ensued was several minutes of oohing, aahing, cooing & cawing. Manoush is like nothing I have EVER seen before.

It’s what Michael Jackson would be wearing if Neverland had a cavalry. Military jackets with multi-coloured pom-poms?! Oversized ruffles & mammoth petticoats?! Gold suitcases & neon pink everything?! It’s the home of all things frothy, frilly & frivolous.

The next day, on our hunt for Colette & Fauchon, we stumbled across another Manoush store! Clearly, my rainbow-sparkle-antennae are engaged at all times, even on the other side of the planet! It was so funny to Nubs & I that in Paris — where everyone wears black — I somehow managed to magically sniff out the perfect store for me.

After two nights of Manoush-infused dreams, on Wednesday I dragged Nubby back up rue Vielle du Temple for another go round. This time I was prepared.

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Manoush: une petite fashion show

With photos taken on the sly by Miss Nubby Twiglet!

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Manoush: a history

Manoush was started in 2003 by Frédérique Trou-Roy when an inspirational trip to Marrakesh sent her brain into hyper-overdrive. Frédérique was so overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, colours, textures & patterns that she started designing bags immediately. From sequin-encrusted wicker baskets to leather shopping bags with metal detailing & everything in between, she would sit at her table & draw up sketches. Then she’d take the designs to local souks where craftsmen would put them together. She took these bags back to Paris with her, where she eventually found a buyer.

The name, Manoush, comes from the French word for gypsy. Of Manoush, Frédérique says, “When I was little, it was already my nickname. I must say I was just like a wild version of Esmeralda in the Hunchback of Notre Dame, with petticoats to my ankles, a sugar pink scarf tied in my hair, my arms covered with bracelets & other multi-coloured charms: the shinier it was, the happier I felt.” This is clearly something she has held onto! Manoush is the kind of store you dreamed of as a child.

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“I also like the look of the doll, but doll on vacation, not too chic. In fact, I like looks that are inspired by childhood but also all that glitters.” — Frédérique Trou-Roy

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Her designs are always bright & bold, clearly influenced by her international playgirl lifestyle! She says that every trip inspires something new for her collection, like for example, her lingerie mini-dresses which were dreamed up in Brazil.

But even though her clothes are covered in sequins & celebrate a flirtier, more feminine way of life, they also come with a social conscience.

The majority of Manoush’s clothing & accessories are sewn by women from the Moroccan Jalil workshops. It’s a fair trade arrangement — her employment of these women allows them to work from home, so that they are able to earn a living while looking after their families at the same time. Additionally, every season some of the profits go towards the Helga Heidrich charity, committed to helping abandoned animals in Marrakesh.

Isn’t that wonderful?

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Although she concedes that price is important to customers, Trou-Roy often finds the most special pieces, like a birthday cake dress this season, are the best sellers. (Source)

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P.S. I love this interview.

filed under: aesthetic, consumption

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In victory, war on terror continues Twin Falls Times-News Idahoans continue to serve on two fronts: Afghanistan and Iraq. Today, about 1500 Idaho Army National Guard soldiers with the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team still serve in Iraq on a deployment expected to last through the fall. ... and more »

This happened east of Najaf on Friday: "Pfc. Robert M. Friese, 21, of Chesterfield, Mich., died April 29 in Al Qadisiyah province, Iraq, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with a rocket propelled grenade. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas."

Word on the street is that even people who like Americans fear they can't help in this part of Iraq, because we are going to be gone soon but the Sadrists will still be there. So it looks like the point is tipping, as locals seek to establish credibility in post-American Iraq.

. Did you know that STC joined the British cavalry under the name Silas Tomkyn Comberback? This didn't work out too well because of his tendency to fall off his horse. See Tom Clark's blog for Coleridge's "Thius Lime Tree...

Before crash, convoy an inspiring day Gettysburg Times The convoy left Battlefield Harley-Davidson, 21 Cavalry Field Road, Straban Township, around 1 pm to thongs of well wishers watching the trucks and other vehicles leave, many of the trucks sounding their horns and fire engines blasting their sirens at ... and more »

By: Lynette Holloway

"This is a fiction," Fergus M. Bordewich, renowned historian and author of five nonfiction books, told The Root about the latest rancorous debate about black Confederates that comes as the nation's commemoration of the Civil War's 150th anniversary continues.

"It's a myth," continued Bordewich, author of Washington: The Making of the American Capital and Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America. "It is nonsense. I could be blunter than that, but you get the drift. It's a meaningless term, 'black Confederates.' There is no evidence whatsoever from any responsible source that there was more than the occasional slave who was forced to serve in the war."

Bordewich is not alone in his position. Top-ranking scholars have repeatedly torpedoed the myth, including Bruce Levine, the renowned professor of African-American studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Edwin Bearss, historian emeritus at the National Park Service; and Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, editor-in-chief of The Root and chair of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute. Yet it persists.

Gates weighed in on the issue in a quote that appeared in a column by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a senior editor and blogger at Atlantic Magazine, several weeks ago. " 'I would worry if anything I wrote lent credence to the notion that tens of thousands of black men served as soldiers in the Confederate Army,' " Gates said of the bloody four-year battle, fought from 1861 to 1865. "No black rebel units ever fought Union forces, although many slaves fought alongside their owners, and thousands more were compelled to labor for the Confederacy, rebuilding rail lines or construction fortifications."

And still the myth persists. Why?

Counting the Black Confederates

Proponents of the existence of black Confederates are equally adamant that it is not a myth. Just ask Charles Kelly Barrow -- lieutenant commander in chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization dedicated to preserving and chronicling the army's history -- who has written extensively on the subject, including Black Confederates and Black Southerners in Confederate Armies.

"This is not like it's something that's made up after the war," Barrow told The Root. "Some people have agendas, and they refuse to believe there were black Confederates. To them, the Civil War was all about slavery. If you have blacks supporting the Confederacy in aid or combat, it goes against the crutch that the war was all about slavery."

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Barrow said that he has uncovered countless examples of black Confederates. One is Wiley A. Stewart. He found Stewart's name in public records listed as a free man of color who fought for Confederates. Barrow replaced Stewart's nondescript headstone with one that says, "Private Wiley A. Stewart, free man of colour," he said.

"He is in Stonewall Confederate Cemetery," Barrow said. "Stewart was a private in Company H, 4th Tennessee Cavalry. He enlisted Aug. 24, 1861; was wounded on July 22, 1864, at the Battle of Atlanta; and sent to Catoosa Hospital in Griffin. He died and was buried on July 26, 1864. He isn't the only one." Barrow argues that Confederates have a difficult time producing more documents because many were destroyed after they lost the war.

A War That's Not Over?

The vicissitude of the debate is emblematic of just how much the Civil War continues to divide the nation. The schism is no longer about allegiances to the North and South but about politics itself, with conservatives and liberals duking it out.

Three-quarters of adult Americans believe "there are issues that divided the nation during the Civil War that still divide us today," according to a recent IBOPE Zogby interactive poll. Conservatives were more likely than all adults or Southerners to believe that states' rights, not slavery, was the main cause of the Civil War, pollster and political pundit John Zogby wrote a in a recent Forbes column.

For example, 40 percent of all adults and 47 percent of Southerners said that the Confederate flag should be seen today as a symbol of Southern heritage, not a symbol of bigotry. Among conservatives, 65 percent chose Southern heritage, the poll shows.

"We remain captivated by the Civil War for what it says about us as a nation," Zogby wrote. "Societal and technological change has put us in a different world than that of 150 years ago. But we are still a nation of different nationalities, races and ideologies. If we had a civil war now, we would be fighting our neighbors. Fortunately, our conflicts are confined to politics and polemics. That is at least one thing the Civil War resolved for us."

The poll results highlight exactly why historians are deeply divided about black Confederates. Conservatives, for the most part, support the idea of black Confederates, while moderates and liberals do not.

Perhaps the myth persists, too, because as Gates points out, slaves likely were involved in the Confederate Army, but under duress.

Fighting With the Enemy

Such was the case for Creed Holland. Apparently he was a slave who drove a horse-drawn wagon who was made to serve in the Confederate infantry, according to a 2002 Associated Press article. The story came to light when his great-great-grandson William Holland and his family reportedly joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans after making the discovery.

Beyond that, blacks were barred until 1865 from enlisting in the Confederate Army. Confederate President Jefferson Davis, seeing his troops decimated, signed a bill to lift the ban in March of that year that had been passed by the Confederate Congress, Bruce Levine -- author of several books, including Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War -- told The Root. "It looks like there were 60 men who had seen very little service, and then the war was over," Levine said. "And everybody in the Confederacy is quite clear until then that blacks had been barred from service."

Levine makes the bold assertion that the myth of black Confederates is perpetuated by the Sons of Confederate Veterans to bolster its argument that the Confederacy was a great place to live -- otherwise, why would blacks fight so vigorously to preserve it?

He said that the group has infiltrated the Internet with almost viral-like material that is made up of propaganda. "The contents are almost completely mirror images of one another, with the same misleading so-called evidence on them," Levine said. "So anybody who goes looking on the Web for black Confederates is going to fall into this pit."

Further, he argues, there may have been a small number of blacks who fought for the Confederacy of their own volition. But he is convinced that the Confederate Army was not teeming with blacks. "In the Second World War, there were people throughout Europe who collaborated with the Nazi occupiers," said Levine, who has a new book, The Fall of the House of Dixie: The Confederacy's Defeat and Slavery's Destruction, due out next year.

"When the Nazis occupied Scandinavia, there were collaborators. When the Nazis occupied France, there were collaborators, and so on and so forth, " he continued. "There is always somebody who for whatever reason is prepared to sell his own people down the river for some greater power, some greater money or greater recognition, or something.

"There were people like that among the slaves as well," he added, "but that doesn't change the fact that the Confederacy did not allow them to serve as soldiers. So whether there were loyal black slaves on the battlefield, there were no black soldiers in the Confederate Army. I've documented this repeatedly."

The fact remains that the Civil War was fought over slavery, as Gates points out, and the Confederate Army was overwhelmingly white. It rankles the mind to think that anyone would fight to remain enslaved.

Lynette Holloway is a frequent contributor to The Root. The Chicago-based writer is a former New York Times reporter and associate editor for Ebony magazine. Follow her on Twitter.

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William and Kate play cat and mouse with the press – and it's round one to the royal couple

The ink is barely dry on the wedding register but already the game of cat and mouse between the press and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is well and truly on.

Royal sources have told the Guardian that Prince William's decision to return to work as a search and rescue helicopter pilot in Anglesey this week instead of heading to a honeymoon beach with his bride was long planned. The media had previously been led to believe the couple would take a fortnight's holiday shortly after Friday's wedding at Westminster Abbey.

It seemed to be a classic piece of mis-direction intended to keep their honeymoon secret and a senior aide said the decision to delay the break had nothing to do with security fears in the Middle East, as was reportedon Sunday. Jordan had been mooted as a possible destination.

"We don't tend to do things last minute at the palace and we wouldn't have taken any risks with their security anyway," the aide said. "We are concerned to keep their destination private."

That extended to their British mini-break, which began at 11.15am on Saturday when the newlyweds flew from Buckingham Palace to an unknown location in the UK in the Queen's Sikorsky S-76C Spirit. The Scilly Isles and Balmoral were touted as possible boltholes. Their Macavity-like departure set the tone for a couple who are said to be keen to avoid the full glare of publicity in the early months of their marriage.

It also left room for their wedding guests back in London to pick over the bones of the wedding – the winners and losers, the spats and the love-ins which followed a service that David Cameron said was "absolutely beautiful, gripping, moving".

Tales from the eight-hour party at Buckingham Palace on Friday night began to circulate. Prince William, it was reported, introduced his new wife in a speech as "Mrs Wales" while Prince Harry referred to his brother and sister-in-law as "the dude" and "the duchess".

The pair began the dancing under glitterballs in what one onlooker judged to be a "twirly" performance. No well-to-do wedding would be complete without the presence of John Lewis, and so it was apt that the duke and duchess stepped out to a live rendition of the retailer's tear-jerking Christmas advert tune: Ellie Goulding's cover of Elton John's Your Song. The 25-year-old singer went on to perform versions of Bryan Adams's Summer Of '69 and Stevie Wonder's Superstition before DJs played Tinie Tempah's Pass Out and Bodyrockers' I Like The Way You Move.

Few did pass out and even Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall apparently kept going past midnight.

On Saturday, the bride's younger sister, Philippa, hit the headlines as "her royal hotness" after her appearance as maid of honour in a figure-hugging dress.

Already a well-connected party planner, her transformation into a star at the wedding looks set to boost her fortunes further. Less welcome might be the Pippa Middleton Ass Appreciation Society page on Facebook, which has already beenhad been "liked" by almost 90,000 people.

Estimates in the Sunday papers suggested the Middletons may have laid out £250,000 during the wedding on dresses, suits, jewellery, hotel rooms and food, drink and parties for friends, although that did not account for the possibility of discounts from suppliers, such as the Goring Hotel and fashion company Alexander McQueen, which enjoyed publicity throughout the wedding that money could not buy.

There was speculation, too, about the business aspirations of the bride's brother, James Middleton, 23, who registered three companies in weeks running up to the wedding: Nice Wine, Nice Cakes and Nice Group London.

Other winners included Sarah Burton, the wedding dress designer who joined Alexander McQueen as a student intern and won almost universal praise for her chantilly lace and satin creation. "This will open up further avenues for McQueen and it may open up the possibility of her own label," said Sukeena Rao, a style consultant. "Women who may not have considered it before may start to look at the brand. She couldn't have got it more spot on."

Burton's name had already been mentioned in connection with the top post at Christian Dior, vacated after John Galliano was sacked in March for alleged antisemitic remarks.

In the aftermath of the wedding, no aspect of the day was left unexamined. Lipreaders continued their trawl over who said what in the abbey, revealing that the Duchess of Cornwall remarked "it all looks very posh". Perhaps it was, compared with her own wedding to Prince Charles in Windsor town hall in 2005.

The Mail on Sunday revealed it had obtained the 744 horseshoes worn by the steeds of the Household Cavalry, presumably including the one that bolted, and is offering them to readers as mementos.

Political commentator Dominic Lawson even advanced a new theory about the absence of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair: royal revenge because the former decommissioned the royal yacht Britannia when chancellor and the latter banned fox hunting as prime minister, which displeased the Duchess of Cornwall.

The ghost of Diana lingered. Jemima Khan, daughter of Lady Annabel Goldsmith, a close friend of Princess Diana who was not invited, tweeted during the ceremony: "No offence to Camilla but I'd have preferred – out of respect – that no one had substituted for mother of the groom at register signing." That fuelled talk of a rather aristocratic spat between the families over the lack of invitations.

The feelgood factor generated by the wedding was even enumerated in a YouGov poll , which showed that 78% of people think William and Kate will overshadow the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

In the face of widespread public warmth about the event, republicans took solace. "They are facing a problem of their own making," said Graham Smith, director of anti-monarchy group Republic.

"They would do well for the Queen and Prince Charles to stand aside, but they can't do that. William will go back to work this week and the attention returns to the old guard."

He said membership of his group had more than doubled to 15,000 in the five months leading up to the wedding and that 1,000 people came to a Republican street party in London on Friday. His group has some way to go yet.

Private First Class Tyler Smith serving in Afghanistan with the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, based

2004 Mayfield High grad killed in Iraq Las Cruces Sun-News Funeral services for Stiggins, a cavalry scout with the US Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, who was killed in Iraq on April 22, will be at 2 pm Thursday at Christ's Church, 2200 N. Sycamore St., in Roswell. Stiggins will be laid to rest at South ... and more »

Actor Brendan Gleeson is planning to reunite with the director of his new film 'The Guard', John Michael McDonagh, on a new comedy-drama about a priest called 'Cavalry'. 1 of 1 Gleeson - Planning to star in Cavalry Speaking to Comingsoon.net before the New York premiere of 'The Guard' at the Tribeca Film Festival, McDonagh said: "During the course ...

It wouldn’t be a proper wedding if there wasn’t at least one slip-up. But pity the poor cavalry guardsman who fell from his horse when it spooked by crowds in Whitehall.

For months, Democratics have deployed their infantry forces of teachers, union members and students in a battle to win over public opinion and Republicans. Now, it’s time for the cavalry.

Here's one image problem that Teach For America can't seem to shake: TFA teachers as saviors. The stereotype of their teachers (called corps members) as the great hope coming to save poor students of color from lazy, regular teachers reared it's head again on Wednesday thanks to statements by Ohio governor John Kasich.

Kasich signed a bill that will allow TFA corps members to be hired by school districts in the state starting with the 2012-2013 school year. He called the bill a "landmark day for Ohio education" and clarified that allowing corps members to come to Ohio isn't an attempt to replace current classroom teachers. You may not agree with Kasich's point of view, but that's pretty benign as far as statements go. However, things went south when Kasich then referred to corps members as "the cavalry", saying

"They're going to ride on white horses with white hats into our schools and be able to interject a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, talent, capability and real-world understanding."

Kasich calling corps members the cavalry implies that there's a war going on in our schools and TFA corps members are the soldiers coming in to restore order. Sure, many schools serving low-income students do need considerable improvement, but as an alumnae of Teach For America, this is the sort of language that makes me cringe, especially since respect and humility when approaching communities has long been a core value of the organization.

How does Kasich think such statements make the enthusiastic, talented and capable teachers with real-world understanding already working in Ohio's hard-to-staff, low-income schools feel? Probably not too valued. When TFA corps members show up next school year, what are those teachers going to remember? That these mostly recent college graduates are the saviors brought in to make everything right. Way to build a positive staff culture!

Unfortunately, Kasich probably won't be the last person to voice such sentiments, which makes me wonder, what needs to happen to kill off the TFA-corps member-as-savior stereotype for good?

photo via Wikimedia Commons

We hope this isn't the image the modern Army wants to project. The cavalry charging into battle on horseback may be a bit out-of-date -- but it sure beats a fairy riding a toad to a bus. The US Army, facing public outrage, canceled a $600,000 plan to...

Vietnam veterans reunite for big day on Anzac Hill ABC Online Twenty-two Vietnam veterans will unveil a commemorative plaque on Anzac Hill in Alice Springs on Anzac Day. Derek Poolier is one of the veterans from Three Troop, A Squadron, Third Cavalry Regiment, who flew out of Darwin for Vietnam in ... and more »

KITT coming in 2012

The award winning Ford SYNC voice controlled, in-car entertainment, mapping and mobile connectivity system is coming to Europe from 2012. With Ford aiming this squarely at the mass market, it's the Ford Focus that's been chosen as the flagship vehicle to the hit our shores with this state of the art hands- (and even eyes-) free technology. The big question, of course, is whether or not it's worth having and from Pocket-lint's hands-on with Ford SYNC at the IFA Global Press Conference in Alicante, the answer to that is a big yes.

"How can someone access their mobile, music and data and remain connected but still stay focused on the road," was the question the company posed to itself according to Ford's user interface design manager, Jason Johnson. "Voice control," apparently, is the answer.

Ford SYNC works in conjunction with an 8-inch touch-sensitive screen, embedded centrally in the car's dash, known as MyFord Touch, which displays four major hubs - climate control, media player, navigation and mobile phone. While you or your passengers can browse through and select the options within, the highlight of the interface is that it understands 10,000 voice commands, so that you can keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.

Instead of having an HDD on board, as the name suggests, the SYNC system synchronises with the contacts book and media stored on your mobile phone which you can connect by RCA cable, USB or over Bluetooth. Without having to reach down for your mobile, you can then get the system to play music, make and recieve phone calls, read SMS and even play video on the Touch screen as well.

The idea of SYNC is that it's device agnostic but, currently, not every mobile can offer all the functions. That said, just about all handsets offer some degree of compatability and it's not a matter of having a top smartphone or not. Our demonstration was with an old Sony Ericsson which gave as much as any other you could find. Take a look at the MyFord website?to see how your handset matches up.

Naturally, any of your passengers can connect to the system over Bluetooth but there's also something that SYNC can give back as well. Plug your mobile broadband dongle into one of the USB ports, located just under the driver's arm rest, and the car can create of Wi-Fi hotspot complete with its own WEP encrypted password. There's no guarantee you'll get a 3G signal for it to work while you're on the move which is one of the reasons why Ford has left that ball firmly in the court of your operator.

From our brief play, the system worked better than just about any voice recognition system we've seen so far. That part of the equation has been develped by voice specialist Nuance and it's activated by a touch on a lever under the right hand side of the driver's wheel. There were no mistakes whatsoever in the roughly 10 commands we issued it and it responds to a variety of languages and accents which Ford is looking to add to as the system makes its way across the globe. What's even better is that it will even learn your voice in the background as you use it which certainly beats any tedious training sesssions. Perhaps the real test of the way it works though, is when you've got kids screaming in the back as you try to get SYNC to make calls or play music but we'll have to leave that test for a full review.

The music side of things is powered by Gracenote which means you get album art copied over on synchronisation which you'll see on the screen of the MyFord Touch. Thanks to the App Link system - a feature which extends functionality of a burgeoning group of iOS, Android and BlackBerry apps that you can use with SYNC - you can even access your Pandora account where you'll be able to give songs the thumbs up or down by voice as well. That may not be much use to those outside the States but it seems clear that the likes of Spotify are to come too and high up the list as well.

Those running Windows Phone 7 need not fret either. With Microsoft computers inside the ride and running the show, Johnson made it clear that the App Link system would be available for those smartphones as well shortly. Quite what's to come in the world of other apps remains to be seen but one would be surprised if the big players like eBay, Google and Amazon don't get in on the action soon.

The final big feature of the Ford SYNC system is one of safety. Emergency 112 will automatically call the local emergency services on your behalf as soon as the air bags are deployed or the fuel line is cut off. SYNC will warn you that it's about to - just in case there's been an error - and, unless you override it, it will detect where you are via GPS, select the correct language and speak to the local operator to tell the services where you are, what car you're in and who you are as well so that the cavalry can come to the rescue. Perhaps the part worth considering here is whether or not the system will still managed to operate in the event of a really severe collision. However, with all the SYNC circuitary central within the car, it'll certainly have a good shot.

In the future, Ford is looking at the idea of adding a web browser and a way to upload your preferences over your Wi-Fi on your home network for when your car is docked in your garage or driveway. For now, any routes, waypoints or other navigation can be pre-loaded via the MyFord website.

SYNC will be arriving in 2012 but there's no price point as yet. A similar version came out in the States, without the MyFord Touch screen, as a $395 option, so don't expect it to be cheap but the seriously good news is that there will be no subscription charge for any of it throughout the entire life-cycle the car.

Related links:

• Hands-on - 2011 Ford Focus
• News - Microsoft and Toyota to bring Cloud telematics to the car

Tags: Car And GPS Car Ford Ford Focus Ford SYNC

                       

Ford SYNC with MyFord Touch hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:05:00 +0100

You will always find me in the kitchen at parties. So goes the line from Stop The Cavalry by Jona Lewie and it's a lyric that forever reminds us just how important today's food prep zones are.

New batch of labels have come in… Magic Hat Humble Patience: As revealed this past November, a couple of old brewery standbys are making a comeback this year. Blue Moon Vintage Blonde Ale: This beer joins the previously released Grand Cru in the Brewmaster’s Reserve Collection. It is a wheat beer brewed with Chardonnay grape [...]

Beer labels: Magic Hat, Blue Moon, Alvinne, Southern Star, Cavalry, Boundary Bay, Swamphead

[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]

Between the mounted cavalry and the horse-drawn carriages, we could see a kicking, biting, romping-stomping royal rodeo melee...

Gloucester have something going for them, even if they would prefer the going to end after 80 minutes rather than 100. There were times here when Tuesday night rugby seemed certain to mutate into Wednesday morning rugby, but at the end of a second half lasting the best part of an hour, the Kingsholmites consolidated their third-place standing in the Premiership table and are now virtually certain of a semi-final spot.

Performing duties at the upcoming Royal Wedding is an honour not to be taken lightly and requires an extensive amount of preparation. The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment has been working hard for the past month, exercising their horses and perfecting...

Springfield "trap-door" carbines were one type of weapon used by the 7th Cavalry in the Battle of Little Bighorn.

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment has been inspected in Hyde Park prior to intensive rehearsals for its involvement in the Royal Wedding.

HMS Cumberland welcomed home from Libya operations Household Cavalry inspected ahead of Royal Wedding Soldier defies medics to complete marathon in the heat of Helmand

About 140 years ago, my Lakota Grandfathers and their allies won a great victory in a battle over the U.S. Seventh Cavalry at the Greasy Grass River (Little Bighorn) in Montana. Less than 10 years later, the massacre at Wounded...

The Rochester RazorSharks do not like playing with a big lead, according to coach Rod Baker. The RazorSharks weathered a second-half onslaught and escaped with a 105-101 win over the defending champion Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry Friday in Game 1 of the Premier Basketball League finals at the Blue ...

As Prince William gets ready for his wedding, members of his former squadron in the Household Cavalry Regiment have been out on patrol in Afghanistan. D Squadron has been based in Helmand province since last September, maintaining security in and...

As Prince William gets ready for his wedding, members of his former squadron in the Household Cavalry Regiment have been out on patrol in Afghanistan.

[1] It is Thursday, April 14th 2011, and I’ve been invited with a small group of colleagues to visit the Paramount Pictures studio lot to talk with filmmaker Michael Bay and see some footage from Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Editing bay visits are usually done, well, in an editing bay -- which is usually a small room with an AVID editing system, a couch, and a 50 or 60 inch monitor. This is not how Michael Bay wants you to see his movies -- he wants you to see them on the big screen. And what better big screen than the massive screen in the state of the art Paramount theatre. We almost expected Bay to drive up to the theatre in a Ferrari, make some kind of grand entrance -- and he may have if it weren’t for the fact that the Nickelodeon television series Big Time Rush was busy shooting in the courtyard in front of the theater. When Bay arrives, the studio publicists begin to escort us into the theater, but Bay has something else in mind. He asks us to sit with him outside to chat before the footage. Bay has his own idea of how to do everything. The way he shoots movies allows him to capture a lot more footage than other action film directors. The choice to shoot the movie in 3D was only done after an exhaustive investigation into every possible technology available. And in the end, Bay settled on a workflow which has never been done before, allowing minimal complications to the way he shoots. Some people might read his attitude as arrogant, but there is no denying that he is a man with vision. He is also a bit of an enigma. Bay likes to give you the impression that he doesn’t care what critics think, that he is just trying to create a fun movie. But he sits down and begins to list off the various things you won’t see in this movie: annoying robots, dorky jokes, deserts locales, instead they deal with more relatable locations. It is very clear that he’s read all of the reviews and made a checklist of what people hated about the sequel. But seconds later, he takes the defensive on Revenge of the Fallen: “I think you’ve heard what I said about 2 and whatnot. You don’t make that much money on a movie, and it doesn’t become number one in the American box office that year if people hated the movie. You know what I’m saying? Yes, people might have been turned off by it. We might have gone a little south on the direction, but we were under the gun with a…it was a terrible writer strike and it was a shit position to be in. You promise a 1,000 people jobs and then, all of a sudden, uh-oh. A small group is on strike, three of our crew members. And it’s how do you keep the ball going?” Despite the defensive bit, you can definitely tell that he wasn’t satisfied with how the last film turned out, and this is his chance to right the wrong. "It’s like some agent said, “Bay’s a competitor.” And what he meant by that is a lot of people on the third one will just check out and just get a paycheck. It’s like I’ve been working every day for two years, every single day, because I want to make up for the second one and I want to leave this franchise as best I can." ... “But I think this one we had time…this time we talked about, with Ehren Kruger, what we liked from the first movie. You’re never going to match the innocence of the first movie. And the wonderment of…when the robots came out it was kind of new technology that’s lighting had really not be done successfully. So you won’t ever…the genie is out of the bottle there. So this one I think is a more mature storyline. It’s definitely darker. When people see the movie they feel it’s more emotional in the end. You feel the stakes are higher because it takes place in an American city. You’re not as disconnected as Egypt and the pyramids and kind of other worldly.” We screened something like twenty minutes of footage, and another five to seven minutes of 3D selects. We were asked to not describe what we’ve seen in detail, and I’m not interested in printing spoilers, so I’ll give you my general thoughts and impressions: Transformers: Dark of the Moon seems like more of a disaster movie than the previous films. We saw massive destruction, buildings destroyed, derailed crashed trains, post apocalyptic car destruction sprinkling the highways. The Decepticons have taken over Earth in a grand scale -- this is Bay’s alien invasion movie, something like Battle: Los Angeles meets Independence Day on an epic scale. But at the same time, Bay has made a huge effort to have contained the story a bit this time around.When one of us made the comment that the story seems bigger, Bay was quick to respond: "I didn’t want to say it’s bigger, because what I like about it is…And I’ve said this with Ehren. We were talking about concept. We used the term “Black Hawk Down” in just that it’s a small group and you follow. And there’s no cavalry coming. It’s a standard thing in movies: cavalry comes. We tried to make the cavalry unable to come. And it’s more fun to watch our heroes in this epic ending just a small group, which makes the movie more intimate. The Decepticons seem to have newer, more powerful, weaponry which almost disintegrate anything that comes in their path, and this includes both humans and huge military missiles. At the same time, the Autobots have given Sam a couple pieces of alien tech which he uses t fight back. Keeping his cards close to his vest this time around, we didn’t really learn much about the moon conspiracy storyline teased in the trailers. What we did learn is this: whatever happened was kept from the Autobots, and that leads to an all out alien invasion with the Decepticons turning Chicago, at very least,  into a destroyed mess. Somewhere along the way they abduct Sam’s girlfriend Carly, and Sam must adventure into the dangerous city-turned-warzone to save his love. Yes, if you think about it, it is a bit like Cloverfield -- but I already prefer the more character-based emotional core to that of the mindless mess of Revenge of the Fallen. And we’re told that the story becomes something more than that, that “it turns into a bigger problem.” Of course... It is also clear that he taking more time to shoot the action sequences in wide, rather than the close-up fast cutting style that we’re use to. Bay explains that people only “really appreciate depths in 3-4 seconds.” “So in a 3D movie, certain shots where you appreciate it, you really appreciate flying in 3D. Like those were base jumpers jumping off the Trump Tower and that was a cameraman with a 3D helmets falling behind him.” Bay also said the heavy 3D equipment most of the time forced him to shoot in wider, longer, takes, from a crane. “So what I was able to do was I shot a lot of my face stuff with 35 MM. And I used my A camera for the wide shot with 3D. And I kept it on this 50 foot techno-crane the whole time, and I’m rarely moving the camera. I was just rolling the crane around. We got these guys in the pace of my shooting style. So it worked out pretty effectively.” Most of the movies shot and released in 3D thus far have been edited for 2D presentation. Even James Cameron planned and edited Avatar for 2D audiences, as most people would be watching the movie on home video without a third dimension. I don’t believe we’ll see the full abilities of 3D filmmaking for another decade, when filmmakers explore how to use the 3D depth to not only effect the composition of the image, but to use the full XYZ axes not as a gimmick, but to bring more depth to the visual storytelling and dramatic emotion. And I still think we’re years off from seeing filmmakers like Scorsese begin to explore the full potential that 3D brings to the film medium. That said, it is clear that Michael Bay doesn’t do anything half-assed. When Bay decided to do Transformers in 3D, he didn’t just do so as an afterthought. It seems very clear that Bay has not only composed his images for 3D , but also developed sequences to take advantage of the XYZ depth. We saw one sequence which involved a plane over chicago being attacked by Decepticons. The group of men inside freedive over the city, using winged costumes to glide in and around buildings through the city. Here is a 60 Minutes piece on the guys Bay employed to do this stunt: Now imagine following these guys in 3D (from a real 3D camera rigged to one of these guys heads) with decepticons flying after shooting, destroying buildings in their aftermath. It looked insane. And talk about insane, another sequence we saw, which you will see briefly in the next trailer, features a huge sandworm-like Decepticon wrapping itself around a skyscraper, squeezing, tearing it apart. At the same time, our heroes are in an upper floor fending off Decepticons while the building is collapsing. Chairs and furniture are sliding as the building slowly falls over, and our heroes must find a way to survive, but can they? The whole sequence is worth the price of admission alone. Dare I say that the visuals outdo some of the more mind-perplexing stuff we saw in Inception. Bay had outdone himself on this one. It should be noted that Bay also screened a bunch of non action footage so that we could get an idea of the film's tone. The sequences where Sam first meets Carly and Sam goes to a job interview with John Malkovich feel like the lighter, fun, character moments from the first film, than the fart humor of the second film. The new Transformers: Dark of the Moon trailer is due out on Thursday April 28th, and we can expect a slightly different 3D trailer attached to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I can't wait to see more. [1] http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/ZZ6838E886.jpg

Members of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment performed several manoeuvres – including some that will be used at the Royal Wedding – before Silver Stick (Commander Household Cavalry), Colonel Stuart Cowen yesterday. This review acts as a rehearsal for the...

Soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 11th Brigade, 3rd Iraqi Army Division, assault an objective during a live fire exercise at Ghuzlani Warrior Training Center, Feb. 24, 2011. Soldiers assigned to Troop A, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, conducted collective training at GWTC to enhance Iraqi soldiers’ light infantry skills during Tadreeb al Shamil, Arabic for All Inclusive Training. U.S. forces in northern Iraq led individual and collective infantry training for Iraqi soldiers and units from squad to battalion-level tasks during the 25-day Iraqi military training program at GWTC. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Angel Washington, 4th AAB PAO, 1st Cav. Div., USD-N)

After the holiday break the Australian Baseball League will resume play on Wednesday with the first game of the series between the Adelaide Bite (11-10) and the Canberra Cavalry (9-14). One day later the other two series will follow. The Brisbane Bandits (8-14) will host the Melbourne Aces (13-10) and the Perth Heat (14-10) are [...]