In late 2007, student Meredith Kercher was found brutally murdered in a hillside cottage in Perugia Italy. Her murder sparked a media frenzy due to the alleged sexual nature of the crime. News out of Perugia told unsubstantiated tales of a satanic ritualistic sex orgy that led to murder. At the heart of these accusations was Meredith's roommate Amanda Knox. This outrageous fantasy all began with a kiss.

The morning following the murder, Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were standing outside the cottage watching investigators and members of the media converge on the murder scene. As both stood there in the cold, Raffaele held Amanda keeping her warm and at one point they shared a few short kisses. At that moment cameras flashed, images of the two kissing were viewed around the world, instantly creating the fictional satanic ritualistic sex crazed killer "Foxy Knoxy." The media failed to note that Amanda was scared and shaking, looking for comfort in an extreme moment of shock. They also failed to note that the nick-name pulled from Amanda's MySpace page was actually a childhood nickname earned for her skills on the soccer field. "Foxy Knoxy" made for salacious headlines in a story that was becoming more sexually charged with each coming hour. Sex sells and the media saw the opportunity to cash in. Unfortunately the truth was nowhere on their radar.

In the days and weeks that followed, the fantasy of a lust driven and sexually motivated sex killing was the topic of conversation about a case that in reality had absolutely nothing to do with sex. Police moved forward with their investigation of what they would call a "threesome sex-orgy gone wrong." False claims fueled what quickly became a sexual obsession that overwhelmed every media report. One story in particular sent the obsession into overdrive. It was reported that Amanda went to a lingerie shop with Raffaele shortly after the murder to by a g-string. Readers were told they were seen laughing and talking about "wild" sex in the store. As it turns out, the witness claiming to hear the sex talk didn't speak any English. Amanda and Raffaele just so happened to be speaking English in the store. We would later find out that the witness was paid by a tabloid. Even worse, the store wasn't even a lingerie shop. Elizabeth Vargas, an ABC reporter, reported on the Oprah Winfrey show that she visited the store and observed that they didn't even sell the sexy lingerie that was described in the media. She described the store as being similar to a Target store in the United States. Unfortunately, the security camera footage that showed a brief moment when Amanda smiled at Raffaele was all the media needed to propel the lie around the globe.

 

Barbie Nadeau

One of the most salacious writers in the case, yellow journalist Barbie Nadeau was front and center when it came to fueling the sexual obsession hovering over the case. She printed outright lies regarding excerpts leaked from Amanda's prison diary stating that Amanda claimed to have slept with seven partners during the time she was in Italy. The truth is, in a dishonest attempt to gain information about her sex life, Amanda was told by corrupt prison officials that she tested positive for HIV. In a very responsible manner, Amanda put together an honest list of partners she had been with during her lifetime. Little did she know that immoral journalists such as Barbie Nadeau would use this information to formulate egregious lies to be used against her.

Nadeau consistently shows how out of touch she is with the current culture in Perugia Italy. For example, Nadeau left college students in Perugia baffled when she made this observation:

"I don't think it's completely out of the picture to assume that group sex is part of the university experience now.  Based on interviews I have done, it's just what kids are doing in Perugia. These kids are not strangers to what I would consider to be extreme sex games."

Most readers would probably be quite interested in hearing from those Barbie claimed to interview. If group sex is a normal part of college life, Barbie Nadeau is the only one to realize this.

But Barbie's salacious style is not just used to sexualize the students of Perugia or Amanda Knox. Instead, Nadeau is one of the few yellow journalists willing to take her constant sexualization to the next level by disrespecting the murder victim, Meredith Kercher, in her book Angel Face, describing her lifeless naked body in lurid and sexualized terms ( as viewed during autopsy). There was no reason whatsoever to mention anything about the appearance of Meredith’s private parts and Nadeau should be ashamed for stooping to that level to promote her career. 

Sexually charged headlines for articles written by Barbie Nadeau, and others like her, came easy for editors all around the world.  For those who haven't followed the case, salacious headlines like the following were the norm:

"Lesbian Sex Plea to Knoxy"

"Foxy Knoxy plays the field from her jail cell with new romance"

“Diary reveals Foxy Knoxy’s sex secrets"

“Hayden banned from seeing sex monster Knox”

 

The Prosecution and the Court

The media carries much of the blame for fueling the sexual obsession, but we must not forget that they were being fed erroneous information from the prosecution's office led by Giuliano Mignini. Mignini was the media's source for many of the lies that were spread early on. Prosecutor Mignini would change his theory of the crime many times throughout the course of the trial. He eventually dropped the sex game theory that filled the headlines for over two years leading up to the verdict, going with an equally ridiculous theory that Amanda simply hated Meredith enough to kill her. Along with the baseless motivation of hatred, he was able to keep lust in his narrative. He created dialog for Amanda during his closing argument and imagined her saying this to Meredith during the attack: "You are always behaving like a little saint. Now we will show you; now we will make you have sex."

Judge Massei, the head magistrate in the case, didn't buy Mignini's theory and instead created his own lust driven theory of the crime. Massei suggested that Amanda and Raffaele were being intimate in Amanda's room when they overheard Rudy Guede attacking Meredith. Instead of coming to Meredith's aid, Amanda and Raffaele decided to join in on the attack. The amazing thing is that Massei's theory is even more ludicrous than Mignini's. Why would Amanda decide to help a virtual stranger attack and murder her friend? How would they have known that Rudy would not attack them? Common sense was nowhere to be found and apparently any sexually driven theory would do.

 

Peggy Ganong and Perugia Murder File

The sexual obsession fueled by the court and observed in the media was quickly adopted by a group of individuals running an ongoing hate campaign against Amanda Knox online. This group assembles on a discussion board called Perugia Murder File (PMF) run by Seattle resident, Peggy Ganong. The same group also runs a so called informational site called True Justice (TJMK) run by New Jersey resident, Peter Quennell. This group claims to be dedicated to preserving the memory of Meredith Kercher but in reality their only goal is to smear Amanda Knox. They continuously show an obsession with sex in their daily conversation attempting to paint Amanda's supporters as middle-aged men that only support Amanda because they are sexually attracted to her. Here are a few quotes from PMF, the site moderated by Peggy Ganong:

"They are middle aged Perverts who dream of being the foxy to Amanda's knoxy"

"All are middle-aged men driven by fantasies of recapturing lost youth, being a hero and carrying the damsel in distress off into the sunset."

"those middle aged one hand typists who spend their sleepless nights imagining romantic interludes with Amanda."

"seriously sick, pitifully perverted, lust aided attraction that some bored middle aged males with keyboards, have for a unanimously convicted, justly incarcerated young female"

Recently, this group suggested that Wikipedia Founder Jimbo Wales became interested in the Amanda Knox case because he was looking to have sex with Amanda.

"I don't see the pay-off in the end. Right now, Jimbo is on the verge of losing any sense of respect as a new media entrepreneur (lying about his checkuser results, for example) just for a chance to catch a peek of some tender young sex killer flesh."

"Jimbo is precisely the profile of the aging Lothario looking for access to tail through his powerful media connections. He isn't thinking with his correct head and everything he's proposed is straight out of the FOA manual."   

"Somebody should give Jimbo a cold shower. He's really lathered up and ready for brunette sex killer action"   

Peggy Ganong should have been ashamed to be part of that conversation, but as moderator she not only endorsed the dialogue but joined in with a zinger of her own: "In all seriousness, what is it with these wiki guys and their wicks?"

 

Peter Quennell: The worst of the sexually obsessed

Peter Quennell, who runs the website True Justice, does nothing to hide his obsession with murder victim Meredith Kercher on his site, giving readers an experience that is outright creepy. He doesn't hesitate to carry on the sex laden talking points of his group. He had this to say about me when he felt the need to talk about my daughter while accusing me of lusting over Amanda:

"Hmmm. Someone now tells me that Bruce Fisher who runs some FOA website claims to have a daughter. I have never paid much interest in him, but one has to wonder why he is slobbering kinkily over Amanda Knox while at the same time undermining those public institutions that are the bedrock of the future of his daughter and, when she has them, her own kids."

Even though many of the people that support Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are women, Peter Quennell, Peggy Ganong and their followers, like to spread lies that the support comes primarily from perverted middle-aged men. This line of thinking is disgusting, but not surprising.  More likely than not, followers of Quennell and Ganong project their own shameful and creepy sexual obsessions onto others.

Recently, Quennell showed his obsession with young women when he stalked and attempted to extort money from a young woman who resisted his advances. This young woman's name will not be mentioned in this article in order to protect her privacy. Quennell attempted to lure this young woman into a business deal in which he would create a promotional website to help build her career. She was new to the United States and Quennell's offer sounded pretty good in the beginning. Quennell proceeded to create a website telling the young woman that he was creating the site free of charge to show her the benefits of his promotional expertise. The site included many personal details of the young woman's life and she did not approve. The young woman was shocked at the website Quennell had created and also became concerned (and was warned by at least one friend) that his interest in her was not solely business-related. Quennell's emails were at times sexual in nature, repeatedly asking for her to take trips with him. He refused to cease communications with her when asked, and he appeared to her to be obsessed.

The young woman asked Quennell to take the website offline but he refused, demanding money to remove it. Quennell sent the young woman hundreds of emails encouraging (pressuring) her to work with him. This disturbing daily barrage of emails led the young woman to become afraid of Quennell and she decided to go to the police. It was only after being contacted by detectives that Quennell finally removed the website ending this young woman's nightmare.

Quennell has been instructed by the police to have absolutely no contact with this young woman. In fact, if, as a result of this article or any other catalyst, Quennell decides to disobey the instructions of the police and contact or harass this young woman, or repost the offensive website he created, he knows that he will be in violation of stalking laws, and will be subject to arrest.  Additionally, individuals close to the case are in possession of several hundred emails sent by Quennell to this young woman. To this point, they have been kept confidential, and will remain so, unless Quennell violates stalking laws by any of the previously mentioned actions or continues to harass the young woman in any way, shape or form.

I know of other women that have been mistreated by Quennell that have chosen to stay silent for personal reasons. I encourage anyone that has been wronged by Peter Quennell to come forward. Exposing the truth will help to prevent Quennell from mistreating others in the future. Peter Quennell is one of the leaders of the ongoing hate campaign against Amanda Knox. If this information doesn't cause readers to pause and reevaluate what kind person Peter Quennell is and how credible his website is, nothing will.

The truth in this case has been clouded over by a disturbing sexual obsession that began with the prosecution. This obsession spread like cancer throughout the media, distorting public perception, fueling a hate campaign, eventually leading to the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, who now face a quarter century behind bars.

The murder of Meredith Kercher was a brutal crime but not a complicated one. Rudy Guede ambushed Meredith when she arrived home while Guede was in the process of burglarizing the residence. Meredith endured a violent attack which included rape. This crime was not one of lust acted out by three sex killers. This crime was one of extreme violence inflicted by one man in an act of pure evil. The sexual obsession that overwhelmed this case was based on pure fantasy; it was never about sex.  

I keep getting asked, "what's the point of Empire Avenue?" Or told, "Empire Avenue is just a stupid game." My friend Robert Scoble thinks Empire Avenue makes a good News Reader, and that's about it. The thing is it is not just a game. It's definitely not a news reader (I'm sorry, but as forewarning, Robert will be sorely disappointed, just like he was with Quora, if that is his interpretation of the service). I already covered this a bit already calling it a "catalyst for a new economy". The thing is it's much more than that - it's a new era of social websites, one where capital can trump influence, and those with capital can become influential. It's a network of Capitalism vs. Socialism.

It's All a Game

A year or two ago, I participated in a panel at BlogWorld in Las Vegas where we talked about "the Twitter game." As founder of a site that helps people improve the relationships they build on social networks like Twitter (as, at least I hope, opposed to gaming them), I'm all too familiar with this game. You follow someone in hopes that they follow back. If they unfollow you, you unfollow them. All this increases your numbers and you're perceived as influential as a result. The really successful turn this number into more than just a number and actually show substance to the following they've built. This is why if you follow a lot of people, you'll naturally build your following, especially if you provide some sort of value on top of that.

The game goes farther than Twitter though. In the blogging world it's simple. There are several strategies to this "game". You blog a lot, provide value in the content you post, and link to a lot of people to get them reacting and responding and linking back to your post. Or, you focus on the SEO side so you appear in Google. As you do these things and provide value as you do it, people will naturally follow, and the traffic will come. Your readers increase.

On Facebook it's really easy - almost everyone you send a friend request to will accept it. Just send out a ton of friend requests to influential people and you'll max out your 5,000 friends really quick. Or, if you have a Facebook Page, take the blogging approach I mentioned above, throw in some Facebook advertising, and then measure like crazy to determine your proper ratio. You'll have thousands to hundreds of thousands of fans in no time.

Of course, some times you just get lucky. In that case, just gamble - try different things until something sticks.

You see, in every case above, there's some sort of "silly game" involved. True, you have to provide substance to gain the most benefit and to maintain your trajectory, but building numbers on any social network is just a game. Even the relationship building process (which I am much more about than the methods above) is part of that game.

On Empire Avenue the "silly game" is different though. Those that play it the way they do on Twitter and Facebook and in blogging will see some success, but they won't be the leaders in the network. I think it's a matter of socialism vs. capitalism.

Social vs. Capital Networks

In a "social" network, the focus is on gaming social relationships - how can you pique someone's interest so that they form a relationship with you? What are the psychological lures to get them into your network? What services can you share with one another to build that network? How can you complement each other?  How can I better learn from my close friends and family? How can I get the latest and most relevant news from (and about) those I trust? Most importantly, how can you find influencers that can further boost your potential? For the "right" way to do this, I recommend Guy Kawasaki's book, "enchantment".

In a "capital" network, the focus is different. The "capital" network is focused on gaming capital, and finding people with capital that can further boost your potential. How do you get that capital? You participate on the site and interact with people and promote other people that are doing well. In a way, Guy Kawasaki's book will help you with that as well. Except in a capital network you're rewarded for doing so. On a social network the reward is not so evident. It's important to note that a Capital Network is not a news sharing service. It's a relationship sharing service. You don't "subscribe" to anyone or anything on a Capital network - it's a 2-way relationship if you're going to have any sort of success.

In a capital network it's not about finding people that are already popular. It's about finding the little guy that will make you wealthy, and in the long-term, that will make you popular. In a "capital" network, like any investment-oriented society, you want the little guy that will go big (like Facebook a couple years ago). You don't want the guy that's already big (like Google or Apple are now). At the same time you don't care if they're popular or not - you do care that they are returning dividends for you because in the long run that produces dividends for your investors, making you a more lucrative investment. You want the guys that are participating most on the network and providing real value to their peers, in not just monetary form (because remember money on a capital network is based on activity and participation and trying to help each other out). In a way, each good "follow" or investment is in a sense another startup you're putting your money and words and influence behind, only you know the founders of that startup have held their weight and provide real, social value back to you.

Typical influencers aren't going to understand the "capital" network. It's an entirely new frontier. It's a place where the little guy can make a name for themselves and get on the radar of other influencers. At the same time it's an opportunity for influencers to maintain their influence and grow even further. Watch what my friend Chris Pirillo is doing - he really gets this, and in just 2 weeks has become one of the fastest growing investments on the network as a result.

New Frontiers

From a network standpoint, Facebook was a new frontier at one point. The influencers weren't allowed on it. It was just your college buddies and their friends. It was meant for the "little guy" to be someone. It was meant for them to make a name for themselves, and many people embraced the opportunity.

The web was another new frontier. That's where the Scobles and the Pirillos and the Winers and the Arringtons and others made a name for themselves. They were the influencers of that era, formerly "nobodies" (no offense intended, as they are certainly not such today) who took advantage of an era and made a name for themselves. They've maintained that reputation throughout the Facebook and Social era. That era was all focused on a subscription and news-oriented model.

We're in a new land grab on Empire Avenue, and I'm pretty sure there will be other competitors in the future. It's a capital-driven frontier, one where they require you to put your money where your mouth is, but also maintain your own value as you do so, so others can gain a return on you just as you gain a return in them. It's one where I truly believe there will be a real conversion rate that equates to real dollars, and people will offer goods and services based on that conversion rate.

The New Economy and True Conversion Rates

What do you gain from the Capital Network? Yes, you gain relationships as you find new people producing real dividends, but on this network there's actual money in it for you. Trust me on this one. There will be a real exchange, worth real money at some point as reward for those that truly focus on relationships, and those that ignore this will be running to play catch up. At the same time, those that really invested, those that really focused on real returns (aka dividends and people really involved on the network), not just influencers and people whose stock value grows (and focus on people that do the same) will be a close-knit community of people that know each other, that know each others' names, and that work with each other for even further influence.

Capital Networks Are More Than a Game - They're About True Relationships!

With Empire Avenue people are forced to truly put effort into building relationships. They're force to truly get to know others. They're forced to truly promote their friends, and build up their friends. And they're rewarded for such. To me, this is a much better network, one where I can know people truly care about me and my success, not their own "me" economy.

Ironically, it will be capitalism that will make us social.

If you want more information on how to use Empire Avenue effectively, I highly recommend, and agree with, Chris Pirillo's tips that he posted today (I am an investor, but proud to invest in him because he truly participates on the network, and produces dividends because he focuses on relationships as he does so). Be sure to read over Chris's tips, as they share further my vision for the service.  At some point I'll share my own as well.

In the meantime, you can follow me at STAY on Empire Avenue here (Click the last link if you haven't joined. Click this link if you're already a member.). Let me know if you're getting ready to join and I'll provide you with tips as well - I'd also like to invest in people truly willing to participate and focus on those that care about relationships (aka dividends).

No, that's not a typo.  Officially, the Saturday before Mother's Day is Birth Mother's Day.  I understand that the intention was good -- it was created by a group of birth mothers to recognize their role as mothers at this time close to Mother's Day (not that all birth mothers buy into it!).

But relegating birth mothers to the day BEFORE Mother's Day, as if we want to "honor" her and get it over with before we get to the REAL holiday for the REAL mom?  That strikes me as the "othering" of birth mothers.  She's not a MOTHER unmodified, whose motherhood can be celebrated on Mother's (Unmodified) Day, she is, as I've written before, "the Other:"

These representations of foreign birth mothers [as uncaring] allow us to divorce ourselves from the experience of these birth mothers, to minimize their pain, and to justify how much better off our children are with us than with them. So that we can continue to ignore them even as we internalize how painful the loss of these children would be to us, their relinquishment has to be seen as wholly voluntary, desired, accepted. We have to believe they have moved on, that they feel no pain. They are "the Other," the person who is understood only according to their difference from ourselves. It becomes very easy to do when the birth mother is from another country; we have a long history of "the exotic Other" as justifying all sorts of Western colonial intervention. "They" are just not like "us."


But we do it in domestic adoption, too, with birth mothers raised in the good ol' U.S. of A. We say, "She is a saint, she showed the ultimate in mother's love;" and then we follow up with, "I could never have done that." As Brian Stuy puts it, "Personally, I could not imagine ever giving up my child to another to raise." I don't think it's meant as a compliment -- it's not that she's so much more noble, so much more saintly, so much more loving than I, that I could never do that. She is different from me, she is less than me, she is "the Other."

We'll be celebrating all the mothers important to our family on Mothers' Day -- my mom, Zoe's birth mom, Maya's birth mom, Maya's foster mom, and yes, ME!  (No, moving that apostrophe isn't a typo, either.  I like Nick Kristof's suggestion that we celebrate all mothers, making Sunday Mothers' Day instead of Mother's Day.) 

On a much more personal and profound level, our Mother's Day has to be Mothers' Day. It's simple reality.  My children have many mothers, each important, each REAL. Even without knowing who they are or where they are, my daughters' birth mothers are an integral part of their lives. I'm not interested in creating a falsehood, that I'm the one and only mother in my childrens' lives.  On Sunday, on Mothers' Day, we will honor all our mothers, unmodified. No Happy Other's Day for us.

In case many of us have not noticed, the number 9 is actually the biggest digit in the numerical system in use today.

Just in case many of us have also yet to notice, 9 always appears in the somewhat strategic and somehow oddest of places.

Firstly, 9 is the recorded strength on the Richter scale of the recent Japanese Earthquake that hit northeast Japan.

9 also appears in phone numbers which are essential all over the world, e.g. 911 in USA. In Singapore 999 for the police and 995 for the ambulance services.

Closer to home, where there has been an election fever for the longest time, this campaign has also been characterised also by the number 9, we have always had the customary 9 day campaign period for eons and until recently 9 single member constituencies used to house the braver of the PAP candidates.

The recent boundary changes have added 3 brave men [when i say brave i mean brave enough to be fielded in an SMC] into the PAP fold and seemingly the magical number 9 had disappeared. But interestingly as if by coincidence the number 9 reappeared in the form of 9 seats for NMPs and 9 seats for NCMPs. :)

On the subject of bravery, this election also saw the opposition display its fair share of brave men. SPP’s Sec-Gen Chiam See Tong joined his Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC team to try to take down that GRC. WP’s Sec-Gen Low Thia Khiang joined his Aljunied team to try to capture Aljunied GRC. This has been described by some as going into the mountain to get the tiger cubs. To go and get the tiger is of course a good thing but we should all remember that a cat has 9 lives. And a tiger is a big cat.

Besides extending the life of a cat, the number 9 also had some powers of coalescence and division. And this time  it was within Socialist Front backyard that the number 9 wrecked havoc.

I had again 9 aging men (myself included) in the council of the Socialist Front. There was a king cat in the mountain of Tanjong Pagar. Prior to the elections, no firm decision was made on going after the kingcat. It was only after our withdrawal that an attempt was made by some renegade members to go for Tanjong Pagar GRC. This last minute attempt naturally ran into problems. Now that the elections would be over, it remains to be seen whether the experience of sitting out this 9 days of election hustings would be a unifying or disunifying event.

Amongst the parties participating in this election, the 9 day hustings also exerted pressure to bring the parties in solidarity with each other.

In the past we had the fallen PAP candidates and walkover PAP ministers who cried. Then its those PAP ministers who were stepping down [Lim Boon Heng], then the last thing i heard was even Khaw Boon Wan was close to tears. We also had a Workers’ Party candidate who cried on his… erm… introduction as candidate. SJP’s Sec-Gen Desmond Lim Bak Chuan also shed some tears due to the stress of the campaign. The sensational Nicole Seah also fell prey to her emotions. As to how many more candidates will be left crying upon the revelation of the polling day’s results is for everyone to imagine.

The pressure of these 9 days also honestly did some good for the country, we have a humbled George Yeo, we have Vivian Balakrishnan finally apologising for his unkind remarks made in parliament, Lee Hsien Loong apologised as well.

If this is anything to go by, I must say that there must be more of such 9 day elections so that certain people can be brought down closer to mother earth.

This to me signals the maturing of politics. This is good for the country. This is how a ruling party should behave. Be willing to admit that you are wrong. Be willing to change and further our nationhood.

As usual, it will be unlikely that a single post on this blog is to come out of my fingers without making reference to SNSD. As explained previously before, SNSD is the acronym for So Nyuh Shi Dae – Girls’ Generation. They are to me the best girl group to have ever walked the face of this earth. SNSD is also made up of 9 members: TaeYeon, Jessica, Tiffany, Sunny, SeoHyun, HyoYeon, SooYoung, Yuri and Yoona.

The trouble with SNSD is that more often than not, Sones like us just cannot seem to get enough of them. SNSD videos are a mix of group shots, panned shots and close up shots of the group. This was the same for live broadcasts of their performances as well as their music videos. The beauty of SNSD is in their sychronised dancing. Given the way their videos are mixed, being able to see the entire action of a song is itself a miracle on its own.

Complete and unedited dance versions of their performances are very rare such that even leaked out practice videos have gained a following.

Samples of the practice videos are at the following links:

Genie (Tell Me Your Wish / I Just Wanna Wish) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKPxeS6uXt8

Oh! [This is the cheerleading song] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7SYWFeaSqc&feature=related

My Best Friend [watch for TaeYeon's mistake] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmaa81tt9Wo

Now practice videos being practice videos, no one should expect them to be dressed to the 9s. These are not performances but leaked videos of their practices. The appreciation is not in the dressing but their dance moves, the choreography, their timing, their poise and gracefulness.

Some Sones were obviously dissatisfied when they started delving into making the videos more interesting and having organised fancam recordings so that they would not miss out on every move of each of their favourite SNSD member.

Some Sones having decided that one screen playing SNSD was not enough, pioneered the use of 9 screens (they wanted to look at all 9 fancams together so they split the screen into ninths – each playing one fancam). Later on some brought the game further, some wanted 9 different SNSD performances of the same song to be put on the same screen, then it was cast, someone mixed 9 videos into a super SNSD HD video sending some Sones to cloud 9 and giving some others sleepless nights.

Maybe I am reading too much,  if SNSD has nine members it would be apt to divide the screen into nine miniscreens for the screensaver. But i could have sworn that it was the Soshi fans did it first, it was only thereafter did the SNSD Daum Screensaver come along, then came the SNSD Woongjin Coway advertisement.

The 9th of March is also Kim TaeYeon’s birthday. And if you take a closer note of Kim TaeYeon and her cheerleader’s garb and oversized jersey in some of SNSD’s music videos, her jersey is always numbered ’9′. Someone said that my adulation for SNSD bordered on insanity and obsession….

Notwithstanding the above, it is clear that the power of 9 works its magic once again. As stated earlier, the number 9 appears not only just in the 9 days of campaigning, there is now the promise of 9 NCMP seats, the 9 parties contesting: PAP, WP, SDP, NSP, RP, SPP, SDA (SJP/PKMS)

but interestingly none of the 9 parties actually fielded 9 members…. the minimum number of candidates each participating party fielded is 7 which was obviously an attempt to qualify for the Party Political Broadcast on TV which required each party to field a minimun of 6 candidates. Now this sets me thinking… and incidentally, the polling day has also been fixed as 7th May 2011. What does that mean of the things that are to come?

On this polling day, it pays for each of us to sit down and think about the things happening around us and draw commonalities from the coincidences and the unexplained.

In any event, since Socialist Front had already decided to take a back seat for this round of elections, this 9 days to me have been a time of firefighting, deep thought, self-reflection and re-orientation. This blogpost is the product of these 9 days of detachment.

It would be heinously wrong for me to assert that I had come up with this post entirely on my own intellect and reflection. It would be apt for me to pay tribute to the original creators of the phrase that lent inspiration to this post.

“The Power of 9″ is actually the phrase used by the Soshified community in tribute to the South Korean Girl Group named So Nyuh Shi Dae – Girls’ Generation a.k.a. SNSD.

Tributes to Gurudev !

Today is Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, India Post will issue two special postage stamps on this occasion. A week long celebration is being organaized all over India and also in Bangladesh. A one month long special philatelic exhibition will be held in Kolkata “ Tagore in Philately” from 9th May.

Tagore Stamp Exhibition will be inaugurated on 9th May by Prof Dr. Bharati Ray at 6.30 PM and will remain open till June 9, 2011at Nandalal Bose Gallery, Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, 9A, Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Kolkata - 700 071.

Tagore Centre, Kolkata

ICCR Nandalal Gallery

Club News

Best Maximum Card Competition (created during 2010)

Maximaphily is the most beautiful and exiting way in stamp collecting. It is one of the eleven recognized classifications of Philately. All types of visitors in the F.I.P. exhibitions find it very attractive, because of the beautiful illustrations on postcards and because the purpose of Maximaphily is to collect exclusively Maximum cards.

A Maximum card is made up of three elements:

1. The postage stamp. 2. The picture postcard. 3. The postmark.

The three elements are joined together in a fascinating way conforming to the following very precise regulations adopted by the International Philatelic Federation (F.I.P.). The meeting of the above three elements having a close visual relation constitutes the Maximum card .

The postage stamp

- It must be in perfect condition.

- Only one postage stamp should be affixed on the view side of the picture postcard. Before 1978, when the “International statute of Maximaphily” was approved, maximum cards showing several postage stamps are tolerated, if one or more of those are concordant with the picture on the postcard.

- In the case where a postage stamp has multiple, secondary or partial subjects, each subject must as far as possible, be dealt with separately.

- The postage stamp (or the souvenir sheet it belongs to, if it is stuck on the postcard) must not exceed a quarter of the postcard area.

- When the same subject is spread out on several se-tenant stamps making a panorama, the set can appear on a single postcard. However, when a subject is isolated on one of the se-tenant stamps only the one on which the treated subject is illustrated should be affixed to the postcard.

- The use of an illustrated postal prepayment impression dispensed by automatic vending machines, affixed on the view side of the postcard, is allowed.

- In general, abstract or symbolic subjects do not suit Maximaphily and are excluded from its field.

The picture postcard

• The picture postcard must be, if possible, on sale before the issue of the stamps or if it has been specially published, it must reproduce an existing document.

• Its size must conform to dimensions accepted by the “Universal Postal Convention”. However, postcards of square or rectangular shape available on the market are accepted, provided that their size allows them to be laid out on a sheet to the A4 format (210 x 297 mm) at a rate of two per sheet. Out of respect for its designer, it is strictly prohibited to reduce the size of a postcard by cutting it.

• The picture must offer the best possible concordance with the subject of the postage stamp or with one of them, if there are several. Mere reproduction of stamp design on a picture post card should be avoided.

• The picture must emphasize the subject of the postage stamp.

• The postcards on the market are accepted as they are. They can have margins and a text directly connected with the subject. Old postcards can have on the view side an area for correspondence. With the exception of these old postcards, the larger the picture is, the better the quality of the maximum card is considered to be.

• All postcards fully reproducing the postage stamp, that is to say with perforation, face value, country name, are forbidden.

• Postcards with multiple pictures as well as ones with holograms are forbidden.

What about the postmark and the time of cancellation?

The pictorial design of the cancellation and the place of cancellation (name of the post office) should have a close and direct connection with the subject of the stamp and of the picture postcard, and its date should be within the validity of the stamp and as close as possible to the date of its issue.

What is "appropriate material"?

The Maximaphily items should conform to the principle of maximum possible "visual" concordance between: The postage stamp, the picture postcard and the postmark. Special attention must be paid to the observance of the three concordances: of subject, of place and of time.

• The concordance of subject is the most important condition to characterise a Maximum card, e.g. the best concordance between the subject of the stamp and the illustration of the picture postcard.

• The concordance of place requires a connection between the name of the place or the locality written in the postmark and the subject of the stamp and the card.

• The "first day cancellation" can only be used when it is in accordance with the above mentioned condition

• For monuments, landscapes and sites the only place giving the required concordance is the one where the monument, the landscape or the site is located.

What is not appropriate material?

Any other material which does not conform to the above mentioned regulations is considered as not appropriate material for this classification of Philately.

Furthermore, the following items cannot be used for maximum cards: collages, cut-outs, private photographs on photo paper, colour or black and white photocopies, photo-montages, drawings, documents specially devised for the stamp issue to be printed privately on photo paper thanks to a computer, digital printouts, illegible postmarks, bigger size or different shapes of postcards: only square and rectangular formats are allowed; all others are excluded.

FIP Maximaphily Commission organizes a Best Maximum Card Competition every year. We at India are also participating this year in this competition. All those interested in participation are requested to send their entries to me by email at ajaymittal1957@gmail.com at an earliest possible. Best three cards will be selected and send for participation in the world competition. You may submit your card by post also at my address given below. A small information about the quantity printed and concordance between the three aspects of maximum card (i.e. Picture Post Card, Stamp and Cancellation) may also be sent alongwith the card.

We are compiling a catalogue of the Indian Maximum Cards issued by Individual collectors. Kindly send me details with scans by email of the cards issued on Indian stamps by any society or individual collectors.

All are requested to kindly send a high resolution scan of the cards issued by them till date with a small information about the card and quantity printed. If available for sale the price of the card may also be mentioned.

As it is not yet decided the location of the Next Competition of the Best MC. There is a possibility that the FIP Maximaphily Commission can first publish all the National Selections for this Competition at their FIP Maximaphily Commission website and then request all National Associations (and/or Delegates) to submit their votes by email or letter.

Any clarifications and/or suggestions regarding FIP Rules and regulations of Maximaphily are also welcome.

With Regards

Ajay Kumar Mittal

FIP Maximaphily Representative from India

D-57 South Extension part-1

New Delhi-110049

+91-9811032311

Two interest-free loans totaling $66,885 that the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority provided in 2007 and 2008 to the campaign committee for a transit levy are illegal and must be paid back, according to a finding by Ohio Auditor Dave Yost.The “finding for recovery” accompanying the auditor’s review of TARTA audit reports for 2008 and 2009 declares that the loans represent an impermissible “use of public funds to support or oppose the passage of a levy or bond issue.” The finding directs Citizens for TARTA to repay the money, and if the campaign committee fails to do so, holds TARTA General Manager James Gee financially responsible.The report noted that, as of the close of TARTA’s 2009 books, none of the money had been repaid to the transit authority.“It’s gratifying that Auditor Yost has validated my complaint,” said Waterville Mayor Derek Merrin, who in January protested to the Lucas County Board of Elections, Mr. Yost, and several other officials about the loans. Mr. Merrin said he discovered the loans by reviewing Citizens for TARTA campaign-finance reports.Mr. Gee, who is the transit authority general manager and the campaign committee treasurer, said the ruling mystified him, since the transit authority in 2008 had obtained an opinion from the Ohio secretary of state’s office indicating such loans were proper, and the loans were also shown repeatedly on campaign-finance reports and other documents without controversy.“We’re just really surprised by this,” Mr. Gee said. “This was disclosed on reports, and through previous audits with previous auditors. We’ve always made full disclosure on everything.”An e-mail that the transit manager cited to support the loans’ legality, however, reveals that the secretary of state’s office may have mistaken the transit authority for a private corporation instead of a public agency.TARTA received the opinion indirectly, through a request to the Lucas County Board of Elections. In the July 9, 2008, e-mail, elections board representative Olga Vallejo advised Mr. Gee that the secretary of state’s office had cited Section 3599.03 of the Ohio Revised Code, which governs political use of corporate funds.“Basically, they informed me that since the Ballot Issue PAC was supported by the Corporation such as TARTA, there is nothing in the code that says the Committee could NOT take a loan from TARTA,” Ms. Vallejo wrote. “This part of the code considers the loan from TARTA to the Citizens for TARTA PAC a contribution until the loan is paid back to TARTA.”TARTA, however, is not a private corporation, but rather a public jurisdiction, which collects a significant portion of its income from its two levies on real property in its service area.Mr. Gee said his office did not question whether the secretary of state’s advice, as relayed by the elections board, was valid for an agency like his.“I don’t know why the secretary of state’s office gave the opinion they gave, but we relied on it,” he said.Mr. Gee then repeated that the loans had been shown in TARTA’s annual financial statements, reviewed by the agency’s hired auditors, for several years without any exception being taken.But he said he did not know if the state auditor’s office, in reviewing the hired auditor’s work, had seen the detailed accounting that showed the loans. A summary report Mr. Yost issued along with his findings made no specific mention of the loans; Mr. Gee said they would be covered in the summary under “accounts receivable.”“In my mind, they are one and the same,” Mr. Gee said. “The contract auditor shared the information about the loans to the [state auditor’s] Toledo regional office in 2008 as a part of the 2007 audit.”Carrie Bartunek, a spokesman for Mr. Yost, said Friday the state auditor was conducting “further research” about the matter and was unavailable to comment.Ms. Bartunek said, however, that the issue was not one of the loans having gone unpaid, but that they were ever granted.“It’s just not supposed to happen at all,” she said.Mr. Yost’s finding was announced Thursday.The matter now goes to the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office, which has 120 days to decide whether it will take action against Citizens for TARTA.While confirming that no payments against the 2007 and 2008 loans had been made by the end of 2009, Mr. Gee said Citizens for TARTA had in January begun making payments of $250 per month. He declined to link those payments’ start to Mr. Merrin’s complaint, since “I don’t know when that was written.”At that rate, the campaign committee would need more than 22 years to pay off the debt.“It has started modestly, but that could change,” Mr. Gee said. “Our intent is to repay quicker than that. The committee needs to fund-raise and develop a repayment plan that meets the auditor’s needs here. … There’s always been the intent to repay. That’s why we’ve shown it as a loan.”Mayor Merrin questioned the loans’ sincerity, and said that regardless, the money needs to be paid back promptly. Repayment could start with more than $21,000 that Citizens for TARTA had in its bank account the last time it filed a campaign finance report, he said.“The TARTA trustees need to do a thorough investigation of Mr. Gee,” Mr. Merrin said, questioning the propriety of having the general manager also be the campaign committee treasurer. “I really, truly believe they [Citizens for TARTA] had no intention of paying it back.”Mr. Gee said the campaign committee had held onto its bank account as capital for organizing fund-raising events.“We didn’t want to drain the account, and have nothing left to continue fund-raising to pay off the rest of the loan,” he said.James Bohn, president of the TARTA trustees, said he believes the transit authority “would have to get its money right away” in response to Mr. Yost’s finding, but he also considered Mr. Gee to have acted in good faith and does not consider him to have been “in the wrong for disciplinary purposes.”“My understanding is that it was all approved by the secretary of state three years ago,” Mr. Bohn said. “I knew the loan was out there. … I’m going to make sure it gets paid back.”Contact David Patch at: dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.

I'm pretty sure my best friend's Mom taught me how to wipe my ass.

As a matter of fact, I'm almost positive. The only thing that seems a bit odd, is that I met my best friend when I was 7.

7 years old seems a bit late in the game to first start learning how to wipe your own ass.

Nadal vs Federer in Madrid

Rafael Nadal defeated Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open and will next meet Roger Federer, who beat Robin Soderling 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Nadal broke Llodra in the opening game of the match, and dominated the match from that moment on. The world number 1 never faced a break point and was able to break Llodra 3 more times.

“I didn’t think I would win like that,” said Nadal. “He’s got a powerful serve and dangerous volley so it’s hard to pass him but in the first set he committed some errors. Winning that first set gave me a lot of confidence.”

Federer was pushed by Soderling, who saved three first set points before finally succumbing to the Swiss in a tiebreaker. The second set a bit easier for Roger but still was not at his best at the Caja Magica.

“Conditions were tough today, I didn’t know we could get such wind in a closed stadium. But I thought I played a great match from start to finish,” said Federer.

"I thought I was pretty much in control throughout the match except obviously in those couple break points downs in the second set, that was the close call," reflected Federer. "I thought Robin played a good at least one and a half sets in my opinion. Especially when it got important he played some of his best tennis, which maybe at times is frustrating. Overall I thought it was a good match against a good player and obviously pleased to be through to the next round."

“I’m excited, I’m playing Rafa here in the next round. I’ve beaten him here in the past, but it will obviously depend a lot on the day—but he’s the favorite on the clay.”

"I think this is a match that many fans and media want to see, especially here in his home country," said Federer. "It's obviously special and nice. On clay it's obviously his territory a bit more, but I’ve enjoyed my time with Rafa on the court, even though I have a lot more time left on the court with more victories."

1. They have nice heads. Heads you can nibble on, steer them by if necessary, cover with kisses. Solo's is so great (probably just because he has less hair) that we can't stop grabbing it and saying, "I love your head!" to which he says, "I'm not! I'm Solomon!" Okay.

2. They put up with a lot. THIS CANNOT BE SAID ENOUGH. They have fluidly adjusted to having power for only ten hours a day, FOR EXAMPLE. We do a lot by candlelight. They love to light candles, (the big kids) they love using flashlights. They make everything more fun. Better.

3. Extension of 2: Recently Kid A and YaYa have become incredibly polite about people talking to them. They say Namaste in response politely, and YaYa even lets people touch her hair. If we are out, it can be twenty times a day. She wants to be so nice, suddenly. She doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I've explained to her that just reaching out and touching her hair is okay, but if they keep on playing with it, she can ease herself away or just ask people to stop. Anyways, it is the sweetest thing to see them becoming these polite people. It can be overwhelming; the amount of people who want to know our names or where we are from or whether our hair is "original" or "duplicate," but they handle it with grace.

4. They love to dance. The dancing that was going on with our Geography Songs when we were doing school the other day was just ridiculously fun. Singing and dancing about Equatorial Africa and the Middle East. How can I not have the best time teaching these kids? Listen. We have rough school days, too. YaYa has a panic button that keeps her from learning sometimes. And Kid A has focus issues. But schooling is like any practice (like meditation or prayer); you have good days and bad days and our good days are like diamonds. But beyond school even, the dancing is hysterical. Imagine walking past a club on the street and having all four of your children break out their best moves. It's awesome.

5. They love each other. With violence, at times. I admit, I sometimes feel that I have a pack of wrestling lemurs, crawling all over each other and tearing the peace and quiet to bits. But I have seen such genuine acts of love from each of them, as they struggle through all the giving that needs to go on with siblings, especially siblings so close in age. I don't think I realized how much giving they do until I went on that trip with only YaYa and saw how different it was for her to have ALL my attention.

6. They love beans. I love having kids who love beans. YaYa loves beans so much that she would write poetry about them, if she could. Lentils, pintos, garbanzos. They love them.

7. Imagination! If you could harness it, it could change the world. They always have something they are pretending. It doesn't stop. The hardest part about it is getting their attention during the midst of a crazy game of pretend. I have to stand there and holler, because they literally can't hear me. It can be dicey, at times, trying to decide whether Leafy's robots are allowed in the animal games. Each person's imagining is so strong that it doesn't leave a ton of room for the other's. I find myself embroiled in these debates about the positioning of pretend lands on pretend maps, whether a certain kind of animal is allowed on a certain kind of island. I enter in enthusiastically, but have to retreat with my arms over my head. The details are too much for me. (You'll be happy to know that in Leafyland, there is a Coffee Island, for grownups.)

8. They are kind to animals. And they know it. They often say, "This dog loves us because we're nice to him and other people aren't." YaYa is kind to everything. She gets heartbroken over a crushed snail, lets ants crawl over her arms (I know!), becomes furious about fly killing.

9. They have a lot of faith in us. It makes us better.

10. They make our games better. If we watch TV, Chinua likes to pretend that he is speaking for the characters, whether they are sharks on Animal Planet, or soccer players, or people on commercials. It's hilarious, and the kids play along and make us laugh. YaYa and Kid A are playing rummy now (yes! rummy players!) and well, I guess I just really want to say that they make life more fun.

 

Note: People are always mentioning that our kids must be a lot of work. ALL THE TIME. People on the street. "Four kids! You must be tired! A lot of work!" The other day, YaYa asked me, "Are we too much work? Is it hard to have kids if it's such a lot of work?"

Goodness. She's been listening. Well, this is my response. Life is so much richer with them. They make traveling richer for us, fun is better, and the quiet moments? They are a lot more precious.

05 K1200S with a Puig windshield and afaik that's the only modthat will matter for this discussion. Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/tom10167/windshield1.jpg In riding position A, which includes standard, fairly upright and every angle below it UNTIL position B, buffeting at 70+ is just awful. It isn't steady at all and the way it hits really resonates through my ears, even with plugs. In riding position B, full tuck, it's almost silent. This is an awful riding position though as your eyes are basically rolled up to see through the windshield. In riding position C, strangely, it is almost just as silent as riding position B. Absolutely no buffeting and it's very quiet. I can hear myself talk when I ride like this, with or without earplugs, even at 80mph. All I really have to do is tilt my head back, but sitting more upright(awkwardly so) helps make it quieter. I have no idea if a Puig windshield is a tall or low one, or what. All I want is something close to the sound and feel of riding position C. What can I do? Also, can someone explain what the fuck is happening that makes riding position C so quiet? I just don't understand what's going on. Me: Right around 6' tall, I believe a 30 or 31" inseam, and a Shoei RF-1100.

Must have own transportation and close to Bel Air
Please respond with Resume and wage requirements.

The nearest bus stop is 2 miles away!!

We serve Espresso Drinks, Pastries, and gourmet food in a Cafe style setting, our customers are a very demanding group.

We have positions for Barista's, food prep, dish washers. If you are a dish washer that can do food prep and have your own car we have some hours for you.

• Compensation: Minimum Wage plus tips in the Front, Minimum Wage in the back
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
• OK to contact me about appearing in CL documentary series

How accurate can it really be?

Few sentences have irritated me more in recent weeks than this, from the jacket of The Procrastination Equation by the psychologist Piers Steel: "If you think you procrastinate because you're a perfectionist, you're wrong." Singling out Steel is harsh, I admit: he probably didn't write that line, and the book itself is great. Even the argument behind that sentence is persuasive: perfectionists are more likely to seek help for procrastination, he argues, because it offends their perfectionism, so researchers mistakenly imagine there's a causal link. But the jacket's tone encapsulates a position that's increasingly prevalent today – in David Cameron's "happiness index", in much coverage surrounding the launch of the (broadly excellent) Action for Happiness movement, and in 100 books on "the surprising science of" this or that. The position is this: that if scientific studies have reached a conclusion on some aspect of psychology, the argument's over. (And, yes, I know I rely on such studies in this column. "Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue" – La Rouchefoucauld.)

For all the near-unchallenged popularity of the science of happiness, though, there are some awkward problems. One has to do with unrepresentative samples: as mentioned here before, too many experiments rely on citizens of white, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (Weird) countries. Then there's the intrinsically provisional nature of science: any conclusion reached might be overturned next week. But there's a more fundamental philosophical problem, too: even the best scientific studies can't fully penetrate the experience of being you.

This is because, as Daniel Dennett puts it, science is by definition "third person": its whole point is dealing with things others can observe, and in procedures they can try to replicate. The place where happiness and sadness happen – your conscious experience of being yourself – is intrinsically first person. You can never perfectly communicate, even to your closest friend, your experience of subjectivity. That doesn't mean scientists can't study consciousness – they do so all the time – but it does mean that to talk about things like happiness, science must translate what you mean when you say, "I feel happy" into something more objective: your responses to a questionnaire, say. (According to one head-spinning philosophical position, the whole external world is ultimately ungraspable, not just other people's minds. After all, everything we know about it comes through our senses – so how could we ever be certain our senses weren't fooling us?)

None of this is to suggest happiness science is worthless: going with the scientific evidence is usually advisable, especially if you're spending public money on policies to promote wellbeing. Nor should it provide solace for pseudoscientists, who peddle what looks like scientific evidence but isn't. Rather, it highlights the possibility of strategies for happiness that are neither science nor pseudoscience – a case made recently for psychoanalysis by the writer Robert Rowland Smith, who suggests that its focus on the unique properties of the client-analyst relationship might place it beyond meaningful experiment. And it shows that while the science of happiness may come close to understanding your mind, we shouldn't forget that it can never quite get all the way. In the final analysis, when it comes to your inner experience, no study (or dust-jacket) can conclusively tell you you're wrong.

oliver.burkeman@guardian.co.uk
twitter.com/oliverburkeman

 WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

Water for Elephants enjoyed its Sydney premier tonight, with the 300m red carpet running down Pitt St Mall.

Reese Witherspoon and her co-star Robert Pattinson (Twilight) were mobbed by thousands of fans and hundreds of media types.

Earlier in the day they did Sydney's famous Luna Park, running with the circus theme.

"I think all I can do is stand back and sort of watch it happen because I'm not used to seeing somebody have so many fans," Witherspoon told the press.

"But he's so gracious about it and he's really understanding that people really take the time to stand and wait for him, so he signs every picture and talks to everybody."

Water for Elephants is based on the bestselling novel by Sara Gruen and directed by Francis Lawrence.

The beautiful love story centres around veterinary student Jacob Jankowski (Pattinson), who joins a circus after his parents are killed in a car accident.

He's soon enough in charge of an elephant named Rosie, which helps bring him closer to the circus's star performer Marlena (Witherspoon).

The film's stars got up close with another elephant at a presser today in Sydney. Siam especially was brought in from Terri Irwin's Australia Zoo for the happening.

Websites

Water For Elephants

20th Century Fox - Fox Movies

Eva Rinaldi Photography

Eva Rinaldi Photographer Flickr

Witherspoon said she was delighted to have been given the opportunity to visit Australia again.

"I've been here before but I haven't been for some time," she said.

"It's meant a lot to me that Australian fans have come out and seen my movie so I'm excited to actually come out and meet them and be there."

She said Sydney's famous Bondi Beach was at the top of her list of places to visit.

"Last time I was here I got to go to a koala sanctuary and I got to go to the Gold Coast and Melbourne - it was really fun," she said.

"I've never been to Bondi Beach, so I think that'd be fun to check that out.

"I just heard it's fun. I want to go have a beer at the beach."

Insiders tip the movie will likely net over $50 million and is in line to pick up a number of awards.

A special thank you to the good people at 20th Century Fox for helping make tonight possible for my life and media skills students and our team. Also a big thanks for security who helped us get some great photos with the films posters at the conclusion of the evening. My students had a great experience with all the excitement, and they are not likely to forget tonight in a hurry. The popcorn that some of the circus performers handed out to media and the fans was appreciated also.

Legendary showman and circus promoter, Phineas Taylor Barnum, would have been proud of the show that Fox put on in Sydney tonight.

This film sufficiently demonstrates that life is the most spectacular show on earth, as they say in the film's tag line.

Stay tuned for our great Francis Lawrence video interview and range of great photos with Witherspoon, Pattinson and dozens more celebrities.

Main Cast

Reese: Witherspoon Marlena

Robert Pattinson: Jacob

Christoph Waltz: August

Paul Schneider: Charlie

In a little more than two years since making his UFC debut, Stefan Struve has steadily risen through the ranks of the organization’s heaviest division. Although Struve insists that he isn’t feeling the pressure, the fact of the matter is “The Skyscraper” is on the brink of becoming a bonafide contender in the UFC's heavyweight division.

An established star on the European mixed martial arts circuit, before making his UFC debut in February of 2009, Struve has since claimed five wins in seven Octagon appearances—including victories over Paul Buentello, Christian Morecraft and, most recently, Sean McCorkle.

Right now, Struve is preparing for his next bout—a heavyweight tilt on May 28th against Travis Browne at UFC 130.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Stefan Struve about, among other topics, the joys of home-ownership, what he's been able to accomplish in the UFC so far and his upcoming bout against Browne later this month.

How are you doing today?

Good. I just finished training; I had grappling this morning with my training partners and had strength and conditioning in the evening and I just came home from my new house—I bought a new house. So, I’m doing really good.

You’ve got a new house?

Yeah, I just bought a new house a couple days ago—I just got the key yesterday.

How does that feel?

It’s awesome; it’s really nice. I bought my house with the money I’ve made in the UFC so far, so it’s been excellent.

That’s got to feel good.

Yeah, it feels really, really good. That’s another reason why I love my job.

The money?

Well, it’s not only the money that makes you happy, but the things that you can do with it; I bought a home for myself and that’s really nice. I’m really thankful for the way my career has gone so far.

Did you think, in the beginning, that you would be able to buy your own home with your talents as a mixed martial artist?

At first, I didn’t think about that. When I first signed my deal with the UFC, I didn’t think things would go this fast. That’s the truth.

Were you surprised to get that call from the UFC so early in your career?

Well, I was young—I was 20 years old—but to be honest, I was doing really, really good in Europe; I won 14 fights in a row and then I lost one and then I won five straight. For someone that’s 20 years old and fighting in the heavyweight division at 220 pounds, I think that’s pretty good, you know? We heard that Dream was following my fights and we heard that the UFC was following my fights and Affliction was following my fights, but when the offer finally came, of course we were very proud and a little surprised. The UFC is the biggest stage there is.

Was there any hesitation on your behalf to sign the contract?

To be honest, there was. At first we thought, if we signed with the UFC, then we would only be fighting three or four times a year. When I wasn’t fighting in the UFC, I was fighting seven-to-nine times a year. I really liked that rhythm, but to be honest, three or four times a year is good enough for me. With the way that I’m getting paid, it’s better because I can let my injuries heal and I can take more time to work on technical training instead of going back to strength and conditioning right after the fight, you know?

At this point, you prefer the three or four fights a year?

I think I will fight three times this year because this will be my first fight in May. I was supposed to fight in March against [Brendan] Schaub, but it got canceled because I had a small injury that I had to let heal and I needed some more time.

Do you think, looking back, it was a positive thing for your career that you got the opportunity to come to the UFC so early?

Yeah, of course I think it was. I was pretty much done fighting lower-level competition in Europe; there were no more big tests for me, to be honest. I’m getting tested in the UFC and I think Travis is another big test for me.

Did you have a “welcome to the UFC” moment, where it all kind of hit you that you were in the major league?

When it hit me? Yeah; fight-week, with all of the media attention and the attention from the crowd and the fans at the weigh-ins at the stage with all of the people in the audience. When I finally stepped into the Octagon I realized that I had to fight in the UFC for the first time and I thought, “Okay, now we’re here and now it needs to happen.” And it didn’t happen [laughs].

Was that at all overwhelming?

Yeah, everything was a little overwhelming; the media, the audience—everything. And then a guy like Junior Dos Santos is standing in front of you—who didn’t really have a big-name back then, but was coming off a big win over Fabricio Werdum—so he felt really good in there. I think I jammed; I couldn’t move, I didn’t do my thing, but losses happen and it made me stronger.

After a loss, do you ever question why you compete?

No, not really; I love my sport and I couldn’t be more thankful for the way my career has gone so far. Of course, after a loss you’re disappointed, but I never think, “Why am I doing this?” That never happens, no. 

How do you feel about what you’ve been able to accomplish so far in the UFC?

I’m pretty proud of what I’ve accomplished so far; I’ve already got five wins—I’ve won five out of my last six—and my only two losses are against guys that are doing really well right now in the UFC. In the fight with Roy [Nelson], there were some things that were happening fight-week that—and you wish that those things didn’t happen—but they happen. For the future, it will be nice to get a rematch with both guys, but there’s no rush; I’m only 23 and, like I said, I’ve very proud of what I’ve accomplished so far and I plan on winning my sixth fight in the UFC in a couple of weeks.

How much better do you feel you are now than when you first came into the UFC two years ago?

A lot, a lot, a lot better. I’ve worked on everything; my ground-game has improved a lot and especially my stand-up—if you look at my fights, I’ve improved so much. I think I weighed in at 239 pounds, and I’m at 260, 262 right now, so I’ve improved a lot.

You’re at 262, you said?

260, 262 or something like that; around 260.

Do you usually walk around that heavy?

No; I got a little heavier. I had some more time off after the fight, so I did more strength and conditioning to get bigger, you know? That was good. I did a lot of technical training after the fight with [Sean] McCorkle; a lot of BJJ and technical kick-boxing. I’ve improved a lot since my last fight.

Do you feel a lot stronger with that added weight?

Yeah. I’m feeling it a lot—especially when I’m hitting somebody with a punch. In the gym, I’m afraid to hit people with full-force, because I know that if I hit someone it’s good-night—that’s a good feeling. On the ground, as well; I’ve got a lot more strength. It’s really good.

What do you think you will weigh come fight night?

Somewhere around 260—I don’t know. When I started my camp, after my fight with McCorkle, I went to L.A. for two weeks and when I came back I was at 280. It’s pretty big, but I didn’t train a lot and I ate a lot of pizza and shit like that in L. A. Like I said, I think around 260.

What motivated you to put on the extra weight?

Look at who’s running the heavyweight division; Brock [Lesnar], [Shane] Carwin, [Cain] Velasquez and Dos Santos—those are big guys for their frames. I need to put more muscle on my frame. On my frame, I can easily go up to 280 or 290, in my opinion, and cut down, weigh in at 265 and weigh 280, 285 in the cage.

Is that something that you would be interested in doing in the future?

Yeah—in the future. I’m getting bigger every single fight and for my next fight, I may even have to cut a little bit before the fight. That’s for the next fight; I’m under the 265-limit right now.

Did you think, when you started your career, that you would ever be that heavy?

Of course I knew that I would get bigger eventually. Especially with the people in the gym, when I was young, they would say that if I did the right things—if I ate correct and kept on training—it will all come by itself. If I continued to do the right things, they said I’d become a monster. I said that sounded cool, but I was 16 years old when they said that, but they had it right [laughs].

I remember, I think it was in one of your first bouts in the UFC, Joe Rogan said that when you grow into your body and physically mature, then you would be a real force to be reckoned with. Now that that is becoming a reality, how confident are you?

I’m really confident for my next fight. Like I said, I’ve improved a lot. My kick-boxing and my ground-game was already really technical, but because I’m getting bigger and stronger right now, I feel that my technique is really starting to work; when I give someone a push-kick or a jab or something, it has impact and I can feel it. Like I said, when I spar, I’m afraid to hit somebody with all of my power, because I know, if I hit someone on the chin then it will be good-night [laughs]. That’s a really good feeling.

What does that mean to you?

[Laughs] To me, it means that Travis Browne is going to have a bad night at UFC 130, that’s for sure.

What problems does Travis pose to you?

He’s a big test; he’s got solid power in his fists and he’s got some powerful kicks. He’s a tall guy, he’s a good striker, but I feel that my ground-game is far ahead of his. He’s got some good wrestling, but I’m not really afraid of wrestlers because my ground-game is good and my guard is good—they don’t really want to be in my guard, in my opinion. You saw that in my last fight, when McCorkle took me down because he didn’t want to stand up with me, so he decided to take me down and after a couple minutes I reversed him and he didn’t have a chance on the ground against me.

Do you feel Travis has anything to offer that you haven’t already seen?

I’m not underestimating him; he’s a good fighter. He’s four inches smaller than me—that’s a lot—but, he’s still 6’7” and he’s got a lot of power in his hands.  In my opinion, it’s going to be an awesome fight. He always comes to fight and I always come to fight; we both love to throw leather. It’s going to be an awesome fight for the fans, for sure. He puts it all on the line and I put it all on the line...I like to be in a brawl and I just like to fight. It’s been too long; I wish I could just close my eyes and be in there [laughs].

What do you think Travis’ game plan will be going into this fight?

I think he’ll want to put pressure on me and, maybe, take me down to try to ground-and-pound me, but I don’t think he will succeed with that [laughs].

Do you have a prediction for how it’s going to end?

I don’t really do predictions for fights, but I always come to finish my fight—it’s the same thing with this fight at UFC 130; I’ll be coming in to finish the fight and he’ll be coming in to finish the fight. Of course I’m confident and I feel that I’m going to win this fight. Either by submission or knock-out—I don’t care—wherever the fight goes, it’s fine with me. I’m going to be in there to finish.

What would a win at UFC 130 mean to you?

A win at UFC 130 would be my sixth win and my third straight, so that’s a good feeling. I want to put another streak together and maybe go up against the bigger boys—we’ll see. There’s no rush; I’m only 23 years old, so I’m going in there without any sort of pressure—I’m just going to fight my ass off and I’m going to do it with a good feeling, that’s for sure.

Assuming you win, where do you see yourself in the UFC’s heavyweight division?

If I win, I’ll be top 10. I think I’m around top 10 now—maybe in it, but maybe not yet. I think being in the top 10 in the UFC for someone who is only 23 years old and fighting in the heavyweight division isn’t that bad. With the future ahead—like I said, no rush and no pressure—I’m just going to keep on giving awesome fights to the fans. When I get bigger and learn more, I’m going to make a run for the belt, but there’s no rush for that. This fight is the first fight that I’ve had coaches for every single thing, you know? At first, we did almost everything in our own gym, but now I’ve got a BJJ coach, I’ve got a strength and conditioning coach, I’ve got a coach for the stand-up, I’ve got new guys to train with. It’s been an awesome camp and I can’t wait to go show how much I’ve improved.

What inspired you to make that move?

All the guys do it that way, you know? I figured that I should give it a try and see how it works. You need people who are the best in their discipline; for the stand-up, ground-game, wrestling, strength and conditioning, nutrition. You need people who know everything about all of those things and it has been really good. I’ve learned a lot about every aspect. Especially for the mental aspect of the game; I’ve learned so much and I know for myself that that’s good. Like I said, I can’t wait to show all of the technique that I’ve learned.

Do you feel that everything is really coming together at this point?

This is just the start, in my opinion. If I can keep going like this for five or six years, then I see myself being one of the best in the UFC. Also, with the strength and the weight that I added, my wrestling has been going very good, I’ve been throwing people around easier than before. Like you said, it’s coming together a little bit, but for me it’s only the start.

What are your goals in the sport at this point?

At this point? Right now, the only goal is to win my fight at UFC 130. For the future, I still have at least 12 or 13 years of competition in me—and maybe ever more. Of course I want to have the belt around my waist at some time. I’m only 23 and doing really good in the UFC, so I see myself with a belt in a couple years.

Is that what motivates you to train every day?

Every single fight motivates me to work hard. It’s my job—I need money—and I get paid for delivering exciting fights. Another motivation is the appreciation that I get from my fans. I’m not a big contender yet; it’s not like people are talking about me fighting for the belt after my next fight or anything, but I get fan mail. I read things on the Internet and people talk to me on Twitter and Facebook—it’s very motivating. People love my fights and there are a lot of people that really appreciate the way I fight—that motivates me, too.

What do the fans mean to you?

A lot. Of course, without the fans this sport wouldn’t be this big. I always want to deliver a good fight and give the fans what they came to see and what they paid for.

Have you thought about what you might like to do in 12 or 13 years when you’re doing fighting?

Well, I can’t see myself involved in anything but sports, so I think owning a gym or anything related to sports; making people better, making people stronger. Maybe something related to nutrition. I want to learn about everything that has to do with my sport. I want to start studying again so I will learn even more about my body. I want to be the best with everything, you know?

Are you excited to see what the future holds for you as a mixed martial artist?

Like I said, I can’t wait for the future, but right now I love my job, I love my life, I love Holland—things are going very well. The future can wait, and I’ll just do my thing. You never know what will happen—you might get injured—so, I enjoy every second of this and I try my best to improve every day.

Despite ample opportunity over the past few weeks, the teams at the top and bottom of the Ligue 1 table have largely refused to create any real separation. The title looks a two-horse race at the moment, but Lyon are still close enough that they'd scarcely consider themselves out of the running altogether. They'll have a massive chance to close the gap this weekend as send-place Marseille come to pay a visit while Lille will look at the tough tasks ahead of their closest rivals and their clash with relegation threatened Nancy as an opportunity to create a bit of breathing room.

Saturday

AJ Auxerre vs, Montpellier

Time: 19:00 CEST/1:00 PM EDT

Auxerre have a chance to put themselves in a much safer position with the teams below them in the relegation battle all facing tough tests in their own right and Montepellier a an hilariously impotent team away from home. Montepellier are playing to stay in the top of the table. That doesn't really seem fair, does it? The Montpellier players should all have to shave off an eyebrow if they lose, just to ensure they have something more tangible than pride to play for.

Pick: Auxerre, 2-0

Arles vs. St. Etienne

Time: 19:00 CEST/1:00 PM EDT

Arles have scored only four goals away this season. Luckily for Arles they're playing at home. Unluckily for Arles they're still Arles.

Poor Arles.

Pick: St. Etienne, 3-1

AS Monaco vs. PSG

Time: 19:00 CEST/1:00 PM EDT

PSG are still clinging onto their title hopes by a thread and they're behind Lyon only on goal difference for the final Champions League spot. Monaco remain just a point off the drop but they have the edge over their felllow bottom-table sides in terms of goal difference. PSG score a lot of goals, while Monaco are a very stingy defensive club. It's the irresistible force meets the immovable object and based on my understanding of physics, the result will be the explosion of the universe due to mathematical paradox. Luckily, this means your mother will never find out you forgot to but her a present.

Pick: Draw, 1-1

Bordeaux vs. Sochaux

Time: 19:00 CEST/1:00 PM EDT

This one's for all the marbles. I mean that literally; the winning team gets every single marble in the entire univers. They're calling it the Coupe du Marbre. I was surprised to find out the FFF had that much sway, but there you go. My nephew Jimmy is going to be really bummed out. He spent all the money he made mowing lawns on a real swell collection of catseyes.

Pick: Draw, 2-2

Brest vs. Nice

Time: 19:00 CEST/1:00 PM EDT

Ha! Get it?

*nudges you in a really irritating manner while raising eyebrows suggestively*

Pick: Brest, 1-0

Caen vs. Lens

Time: 19:00 CEST/1:00 PM EDT

Lens are, in reality, well and truly screwed while Caen can get themselves really close to safety with a win in this game. If I were Lens I'd put eleven men behind the ball and just give Caen raspberries the entire game.

Pick: Caen, 1-0

Lorient vs. Toulouse

Time: 19:00 CEST/1:00 PM EDT

Lorient and Toulouse both have rather vibrant and pleasant primary colors, so I find it interesting that were one to mix them together they would end up with a dull, drab earth tone. All the life, sapped right out of them, the sum of the vivid parts a staid, almost deathly whole.

This has been Philisophical Musings On The Elements Of Design Against The Backdrop Of French Association Football.

Pick: Lorient, 3-2

Nancy vs. Lille

Time: 21:00 CEST/3:00 PM EDT

This is one of those games that will see the vast majority of truly disinterested fans pulling desperately for Nancy to manage the upset, to knock the king of the league in waiting off their throne and simultaneously pull themselves from the depth.

Well too bad, vast majority of truly disinterested fans. You're probably going to get boring, predictable and depressing.

Pick: Lille, 2-0

Sunday

Valenciennes vs. Stade Rennes

Time: 17:00 CEST/11:00 AM EDT

I keep wanting to predict Stades Rennes to lose, just because oh my God be more boring, but the reality is that sometimes boring can be good, at least in terms of results. I mean I doubt anyone thinks watching Arles play could be described as boring, and look how far that's gotten them. The utilitarian in me likes boring. Draws are efficient results. Good on you, Stades Rennes.

Pick: Valenciennes, 18-1

Lyon vs. Marseille

Time: 21:00 CEST/3:00 PM EDT

This should be a fantastic game, but how often do the most intriguing matchups turn out to be all that great? It seems like whenever a marquee game ends up being even slightly entertaining no one will ever shut up about it. So you know what? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this game is going to be awful. Thanks for ruining my mental image of how my Sunday is going to go, Lyon and Marseille. Bunch of jerks.

Pick: Lyon, 2-0

"God does not play dice with the Universe." -Einstein

"Einstein, don't tell God what to do." -Neils Bohr (disputed, but awesome)

Einstein, the brilliant mind behind general relativity and the concept of "spacetime," is making the news again this week. As you all know, gravity isn't some mysterious invisible force traveling across space, it comes about because energy itself -- most commonly in the form of mass -- distorts the very fabric of space.

(Image credit: GNU user Johnstone and NASA's Galileo spacecraft.)

Of course, wrapping your head around this can prove quite difficult. Space, as we all know, is three-dimensional; how do you expect to understand it by drawing a two-dimensional surface?

(Image credit: Today's XKCD.)

I mean, honestly, it's kind of the best we can do. It's pretty easy to imagine what completely flat three-dimensional space would look like; just take a big 3-D grid, and there you go!

But put a mass in there, and then what? Well, think of mass as a high-powered vacuum cleaner. You turn the vacuum on, and it immediately sucks the carpet (or whatever unfortunate thing the vacuum touches) into it, distorting it and causing it to "pucker".

(Or like making a fish-face, right, Kerry Katona?)

Well, mass does the same thing to space. And the greater and denser your mass, the greater the range and more severe the distortion of space!

Now a black hole is an extreme example, and we are (perhaps) fortunate to not have one nearby to study relativity with. But we do have the Earth, which does a pretty respectable job distorting space close to its surface. You feel it as the force of gravity, pulling you down towards the center of the Earth, of course. But the weird, relativistic, distorted aspect of space makes things just a little bit weird.

(Image credit: Wired.)

What do I mean, weird. It means that objects change their shape a little bit thanks to the Earth's gravity, known as the geodetic effect. If you had a gyroscope in orbit, you'd see it start to precess because of this!

But there's more; because the Earth is rotating, there's an extra effect on top of this, known as frame dragging, which means that an object moving with the Earth's rotation would go slightly faster than an object moving against it.

There was an experiment designed in the 1960s to test this.

(Image credit: Resonance Pub.)

But it's only relatively recently that the technology has advanced enough to allow us to build the necessary suspended, low-temperature, precisely smooth gyroscopes necessary to test this. And, as you may imagine, we had to do it in space. The experiment was known as Gravity Probe B.

(Image credit: Lubos.)

Unsurprisingly, the results are in perfect agreement with Einstein's prediction. In fact, the most (pleasantly) surprising thing to me, as a scientist, is that they are honest about their experimental errors; they report significant confirmation of both of these effects, but did not perform as good of a frame-dragging test as they would have liked. (The geodetic effect was measured to an extraordinary accuracy, however, <0.1%!)

So, for those of you keeping track, that's another victory for Einstein's general relativity, making the score about a bajillion to zero.

But there's a reason we keep testing it in new ways: we won't learn anything new unless we find something that general relativity is inadequate for. So we think about the most extreme situations for spacetime in the Universe, like very close to collapsed, massive object: black holes and neutron stars.

(Image credit: Infovark.)

The proverbial "vacuum cleaner" is turned up to an ultra-high setting in this instance, and space is severely distorted. What happens if you bring a second vacuum cleaner in, very close by, and have these two compact, heavy masses orbiting one another close by?

(Video credit: John Rowe animations.)

Well, according to General Relativity, two amazing things will happen:

1. These orbits will be unstable, and will decay over time. These two objects -- whether they be white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes -- will eventually spiral in to one another. And...
2. As they do, they will emit gravitational waves!

Now, the inspiral thing is cool enough as it is. We've actually observed these orbits decaying over time, because we discovered a system of two pulsing neutron stars, and their orbits are decaying!

(Image credit: NASA/Dana Berry, Sky Works Digital.)

Yes, for those of you wondering, the discoverers of this, Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor, did in fact win the Nobel Prize for this. But the gravitational waves coming from this? That's something we've never detected before. It would require, in fact, a huge set of antennae in space, looking for extraordinarily precise patterns that change the distance between them.

Luckily for us, we've already started building them.

(Image credit: Uri Keshet/LISA artist.)

The Laser Interferometer Space Antennae (LISA), a series of three spacecraft orbiting behind the Earth, would be sensitive to these gravitational waves. It was one of the major NASA science goals of this decade, scheduled to be launched in 2015. As a joint venture between NASA and the European Space Agency, LISA was supposed to finally find these gravitational waves, being the only detector designed to achieve the necessary sensitivity.

(Image credit: ESA.)

And then, last month, this happened:

ESA has ended the partnership with NASA because NASA is financially unable to participate when ESA's funding is available (in 2015). To preserve their program, ESA's must solicit a downscaled mission concept that does not rely on the availability of NASA funding, which they are doing.

This is according to Robin Stebbins, NASA's project scientist for LISA. Steinn has more on this, but the gist of it is that, unless something gets done about this over the next six months, the last great unmeasured prediction of general relativity -- gravitational waves -- will go undetected for decades to come. We totally expect them to be there, but there's a reason we do the experiments. If the ESA can't figure out a way to make this work, it will be tragic to see LISA go down.

This is, quite possibly, now the last mystery of classical general relativity, and we were so close to making it happen. There are lots of reasons why it's gone down this way, not the least of which is the James Webb Space Telescope going billions over budget, but I can't believe it's just going to end like this. I wrote about the importance of delivering what you promise about a year ago, and now we're facing the consequences.

Sorry, LISA. Let us know if there's anything we can do to save you!

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Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? The Legend Of The Mighty Soap Trailer When I was a kid I watched HBO relentlessly. Whenever there wasn't reairings of Fraggle Rock, Braingames, Heartbeeps, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome there were lots of short films that played between movies. The actual "program" was called Short Take (anyone remember Recorded Live [1]? Still creeps me out.) and even though I only have a vague recollection of them there was one really odd film about a talking, shrunken head. It was strange even by my 10 year-old standards as the thing somehow was hanging out with a couple of kids, for whatever effed up reason, stuffed it into a soccer ball and was kicked around a field to the sounds of something equating to macabre whimpering. This trailer reminds me of that moment. To that end, there is no other, correct, response to have after watching this trailer other than realizing you need to see this film. It's probably the strangest thing you'll see today but it's worth it. While I couldn’t tell you what the hell is happening I can say with some certainty that the style is a little Tim and Eric with a dash of bizarro, netherworld action. Director Andrew Bond has made something that even those at a Freudian institute would be hard pressed to explain without breaking out into fits of frustration. There is a narrative here, though. From what I can deduce by watching,  I can't understand the vocal track because they're not speaking American, the visuals really are reminiscent of those brainiacs behind the Old Spice commercials (Again, Tim and Eric for those who didn't know) but it's a perfectly apropos comparison. Those ads worked for P&G in the number of units that were moved because of how well the public received them; they were irreverent, funny, creative, but had a purpose. This trailer has a purpose because it's not just content with being strange. It wants to express itself as a story that is pitting the unwashed masses who want to be clean against a bile shooting monster. Sometimes an explanation is too much. It's best to leave the oddness be. [Twitch [2]] The National Parks Project Trailer Moving out beyond the usual nature photographers who simply stick a camera out into a field and expect to capture nature in all its splendor, this project seems like it's something a little more unique. The opening of this trailer is representative of why it's such an evocative piece of marketing material simply because of its plain, white, snow swept mountain ranges. It's not just  a canvas that is waiting for you to give it some kind of meaning. There are no words, no guide about what we're seeing as you focus on the hills that look like ribs jutting up from the ground. This something more than what it appears to be and you can sense it. All the unwashed hippies in the audience ought to be crying at this point at the beauty of it all. Smash cut, we're now on the shore of some lush wilderness. We get close to a tree as the jangling of a guitar slips in and envelopes you in some nature photography that is certainly unlike anything I've ever seen on the Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. I can't exactly put my finger on it but this is a different kind of nature documentary. It seems hipper in a way, with a modern sensibility. And that seems to be the case when the narrator drops in. Literally, a voice of God simply lays it out simply and effectively about why we're here, what we're looking at. That's it about Canadian parks is one thing but when the information scrolls by and tells us that it and it is going to utilize 13 filmmakers and 39 musicians to essentially guide us through this walk through nature my curiosity is even more piqued. What strikes me as I watch this is that it's like something we would expect to come from authors if this was the 19th centuries; writers who looked at nature not as a utilitarian source of power but of an entity endowed with an inherent beauty, as something to be celebrated. This is the 21st answer to Henry David Thoreau or Emerson and it simply looks like it's a movie where you hunker down and let it wash over you. The Elephant In The Living Room Trailer This obviously goes beyond people who own some ferrets. Director Michael Webber has done something genuinely novel here while also creating a trailer that is both ambitious and tense. What grabs you immediately is that even before we know this is a story about people who keep really dangerous pets we get the 911 call and the police officer who fields them. We're not really sure what this is all about, it sounds a little goofy honestly and it does appear to be humorous, but that smile is turned upside down once we hear from this cop who looks deadly serious about his role in playing the part of exotic pet wrangler. He's not so much afraid as he is worried about the possibilities of what could happen. We get quotes from /Film's own David Chen and Michael Moore (always good company to be in) and it's about as an explosive, riveting opening as you're going to get for a documentary all this year. I, honestly, loved how well it pulls you in with not only the kudos, its editing, its pacing, and the ability to emotionally tug at you that all the rest is gravy. Gravy being the one thing that sustains the goodness of this thing because it is flat out enthralling. We get crazies of all kinds and that's just glorious. There's some guy who looks like the wizened, slouchy brother of Captain Lou Albano who is *really* into his lion, some dude who wants to talk about the dangers of legislating controls on the ownership of these beasts, and opinions that straddle the grey lines in-between. I love that we get a shot of some jamoke who is casually and nonchalantly hanging out with his mountain lion in his living room as the scene we get directly following this is of a police officer pumping his shotgun as he slowly walks into some tall scrub. This film shot up to the top of my most wanted list of documentaries based on the strength of the trailer as not only does it make clear what the story is about it smartly stays out of the way for the thoughts that come out of it. The people are allowed to get their opinions out without judgement and without guidance from the filmmakers about how we should think about this. It's refreshing and exciting. Tracker Trailer I honestly wish Australia could have been a good film. To that point, I would have loved to have had a compelling story to go along with the lush landscapes and places we were taken in that movie. Alas, what we got was painfully unwatchable pap that went nowhere quite fast and labored like a sick dog all the way to the end. It's interesting, then, that director Ian Sharp, who hasn't directed anything of note since 2002's blockbuster Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War, might be able to bring some of what Australia could have been to the screen. And, yes, I realize that New Zealand is a wholly independent continent but it's a pretty close facsimile. The trailer is quite precise as it establishes what is happening in the film and that it seems to focus on the relationship between Ray Winstone and Temuera Morrison. It's that focus on the duality of these men that really appeals to me. The first half of the trailer sets up things solidly with not only establishing the persona non grata status of Winstone but explains why Morrison is on the run from Johnny Law. Instead of a good guy/bad guy demarcation there is a whole lot of gray to for both parties as the manhunt is on. As the trailer goes into its back nine, the physical landscape provides a great postcard for anyone looking to be ensconced in a world that seems to be punctuated with sound stage set-ups. The "out in the open" quality of key moments in this story are not only well presented here but have really been appealing to me as of late after seeing how the Coen's used physical landscape in True Grit. There could be some meat on this script if it can be more than just a movie about inequality and Winstone's journey to be accepted in a culture that seems to not want him around. From the looks of it there are some exciting set pieces and interesting directorial choices. It's been a while since I've caught Winstone in something reaching the epic proportions of The Departed and while I didn't get it with 44 Inch Chest there is the distinct possibility this could be something close. Bloodrape Trailer The last time I checked in [3] with this film, I was pretty much blown away by its ferocity. Well, Tucker Bennett, Taeer Maymon, and Zach Shipko are back to melt whatever was left of your face off in a trailer I simply love for reasons that I cannot justify in any coherent, factual way. By all accounts I should be annoyed by the construction of it. The sound is just pounding through the speakers, the visuals are more methed up than a junkie who just found a c-note in the street, there is no direction to it whatsoever, or any clear vision of what they're trying to "sell", but it's the rawness of it all that's so alluring. There isn't any way to talk about this trailer in a manner that breaks down the core components of what makes this a trailer worth mentioning only because you can't watch this and not feel this is either one of the most fascinating things you'll see all week (make note: I'm not saying great, I'm just stating "fascinating") or something that you are completely repulsed by. I happen to fall in the former camp as this isn't just a slapdash trailer that's put together with some snot and invisible tape, you genuinely have a focused piece of performance art that not only is giving you bits of this film's content but it's got an independent style that eschews most everything you would consider necessary to get you interested in a film you've never heard of. I have no doubt some of you will think this is the most obnoxious, attention whore-ing piece of trash you've come across but I would counter that the minds behind this have a clear voice and don't care about anyone else thinks. That indifference isn't punk so much as it is having a vision of what you want and just shoving it out there for everyone to see. From the vampire orgy, the feasting that's being done on humans with blood that seems more pink than red, the music that is damn near bleeding through your speakers, the editing that seems unable to focus on anything for more than mere milliseconds, and the last fifteen seconds that is out to melt what's left of your cerebral cortex with its distorted volume and disjointed narrative that offers no help in deciphering what in the hell is going here, it's all wonderful. I embrace the work for what it is and respect the insane vibe of it all. Elephant White Trailer Um. Ok. While everyone is in white hot anticipation for Kevin Bacon in X-Men: First Class maybe seeing Bacon plying his trade at trying out a British accent would be of interest. I'm not sure what's worse, his attempt or the premise of this film. Chocolate, Ong-bak, The Protector, all films that director Prachya Pinkaew ought to be really proud of but this is just amazing in its average-ness. It's not enough to say we've seen this before in films like Taken or Man on Fire because that would be generous to those films. This is a wholesale, played out, construction that starts off so modestly that you wonder whether this was conceived with the idea of this movie never making it to a large screen; instead, this direct-to-DVD film would probably best be deployed as freebies to those buying a Previously Viewed film at a closing Blockbuster. That, or Antonio Sabato Jr.'s latest. The trailer just doesn't inspire to be anything, really. Of course it possesses the rudimentary elements to be classified as a story, some guy is on the hunt for a girl who may have been kidnapped and is in the sex trade, but as the story is unraveled all we get is gold and red lit scenes where people are acting like this is an action blockbuster that's much too hot to be contained but it's clunkier than an AMC Pacer. There's some pretty bad choreographed fighting, uninspiring heaps of strained dialogue from both Bacon and Djimon, and pathetic running-through-crowded-streets moments that don't even manage to top the gold standard set by Bloodsport. Oh, and there's elephants. A few times. For whatever that's worth to you. For me, it just means disappointment. Operation Belvis Bash Trailer Never before has a trailer felt like having to watch Shoah without ever getting up to pee than this did. I think this will make a lot more sense if I simply let the press release I received on Monday morning set things up: George Bush’s backyard was the backdrop for what turned out to be an unexpected ending to an exciting evening for actor/singer Corey Feldman.  Feldman’s latest film, Operation Belvis Bash premiered on May 1, in Houston,TX, and is the story of a special military operation whose goal is to assassinate Osama Bin Laden.  Just a few minutes after seeing what audiences thought was a purely fictional assassination of the world’s most hated terrorist, they exited the theater to learn that it had happened in real life. “It’s absolutely unbelievable,” commented Feldman.  “I was in New York on September 11, 2001, with Michael Jackson, and then, nearly ten years later, I walk out of the premiere of my latest film, which I had postponed to be able to attend Corey Haim’s Decisions premiere and memorial, to learn that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by a special operation, just like in the film we’d just screened. The timing is simply unbelievable, and whether life imitates art, or art imitates life, now is a time for all Americans to express their gratitude to the brave men and women who serve our country and helped make this happen.” What's here, though, is awful. I watched this with the kind of fascination that a baby gives to someone speaking to them: I don't know what's going on, I don't believe what I'm seeing, and I can't understand why anyone pumped dollar one into a story that seems to be thinner than a stick of gum. Apart from the Soup Nazi, the Iron Sheik, Daniel Baldwin, that guy from the Twisted Sister video, and Corey Feldman in a role that is too bizarre for even me to describe, I am unsure of who anyone is or what it is I'm supposed to be buying into as this film's premise. It's uneven, choppy, and doesn't sell me at all on what a lot of people sunk their time and money into in order to make this. I was amazed by the press release and I'm even more amazed by this trailer. Note bene: If you have any suggestions of trailers to possibly be included in this column, even have a trailer of your own to pitch, please let me know by sending me a note at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com In case you missed them, here are the other trailers we covered at /Film this week: Intruders Trailer [4] - Bravo. In fifty seconds this teaser is able to actually tease a story, not give anything away, while managing to give a sense of the time and place we're in. Page One: Inside The New York Times Trailer [5] - I am such a fan of movies like this and this trailer infuses just enough drama and excitement to get any layperson charged up about wanting to see a documentary about a newspaper. The Ledge Trailer [6] - This plays a little weak. The premise isn't novel so much as it is overwhelmingly silly. I just couldn't shake the feeling this isn't a very entertaining film as it is overacted. Buck Trailer [7] - Living in the southwest I am bombarded by horses and horse related issues on a daily basis but I've never really cared about these beasts until I saw this trailer. I found myself riveted by the premise and who we'll be following on this journey. Hell On Wheels Trailer [8] - I'm unmoved one way or the other by this trailer. The show seems interesting but the attempts at giving me some money shots or reasons to tune in just aren't there. Green Lantern Trailer #2 [9] - This trailer seems to take the best parts of the teaser and the first trailer and, bravo, this actually works for me. Martha Marcy May Marlene Trailer [10] - This trailer got under my psyche and did not relent. It's such a great mix of mysteriousness and evil that I can't help but wonder how soon I can see it. Colombiana Trailer [11] - I would apologize for liking this but I'm in a sweet tooth mood right now and this looks like just what I need: by the numbers, fun, hollow, escapism. The Trip Trailer [12] - We've all heard this musical cue before but it works for me. The tempo is great and so is the trailer. I'm enthralled with the idea of seeing Coogan just be himself again. For my money, it doesn't get much better. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Qeee8D2Ro [2] http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/04/if-you-are-dirty-the-legend-of-the-mighty-soap-will-clean-you.php [3] http://www.slashfilm.com/this-week-in-trailers-trigger-night-of-the-demons-bloodrape-idiots-and-angels-picture-me/ [4] http://www.slashfilm.com/intruders-teaser-trailer-clive-owen-has-a-demon-problem/ [5] http://www.slashfilm.com/page-one-inside-the-new-york-times-trailer/ [6] http://www.slashfilm.com/ledge-trailer-charlie-hunnam-problems/ [7] http://www.slashfilm.com/buck-trailer-life-reallife-horse-human-whisperer/ [8] http://www.slashfilm.com/hell-wheels-trailer-amc-western/ [9] http://www.slashfilm.com/green-lantern-trailer-2/ [10] http://www.slashfilm.com/martha-marcy-may-marlene-trailer/ [11] http://www.slashfilm.com/columbiana-trailer/ [12] http://www.slashfilm.com/the-trip-trailer/

In the age of instant news, when headlines last at most a few hours before being replaced by the next "big story," the death of Osama Bin Laden has unusual staying power. Ever since word started to leak late Sunday night -- first on Twitter, quoting a Congressional aide, then in confirmation from the White House itself -- the press corps, Washington, most of the nation and much of the world, has been riveted. The horrific nature of his crimes, the video of the planes flying into the World Trade Center, the reports of phone calls from airplane passengers to husbands and wives as they faced an awful death, the memory of loved ones wandering lower Manhattan for days searching for the lost. Not to mention the jagged face of the Pentagon and the crash scene in Shanksville, Pa. All those memories came rushing back, to give a fresh, raw quality to the news that al-Qaida's leader had not only been located, he had been shot and killed.

And the questions poured out: how long had the CIA suspected his presence there? (At least 6 months.) How had they discovered him? (Years of painstaking work, tracking down a courier based on a nickname.) If the evidence Bin Laden was in the house was "circumstantial" as White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan noted, why had the operation gone forward? Just how risky was this venture, compared to other operations Navy SEALS are used to carrying out? How could Bin Laden have been living in Pakistan without Pakistani officials knowing about it -- especially since it was so close to Pakistan's equivalent of West Point -- an elite military training academy? Who else was living in the compound? How many were armed when the raid took place? How much and what sort of resistance did they put up? Why didn't bin Laden try to escape, or was there no option to do so? What really went wrong with the "stealth" helicopter that U.S. officials said malfunctioned as it reached its destination? If there was only one person inside the compound using a gun - reportedly the courier - why were we first told it was a 40-minute firefight? What were President Obama and secretaries Clinton and Gates and others looking at in the White House Situation Room in that amazing photograph taken as the raid was underway?

Those were questions for the first and second days, but because it was an operation conducted in secret, and because of its success, more questions popped up by the hour: Why weren't neighbors around the compound in Abbottabad (named after a British major, James Abbott, who helped govern the area when it was part of India in the mid-19th century. See below for a poem Abbott wrote about the city.) Why weren't they more suspicious of a place with barbed wire, unusually high walls and tinted window glass? Had bin Laden ever emerged on the outside, with or without any sort of disguise? Why had the myth persisted so long that he was living in a cave or another remote, rugged location, when he was actually living comfortably in a city just 30 miles from Islamabad? What sort of material did the Navy SEALS, who pulled off the raid, take away? What has happened to bin Laden's three wives who reportedly were in the house at the same time, including the youngest, who was with him when he was found? (They're reportedly in custody of Pakistani security.) What sort of information are they providing? (One is saying bin Laden had been living in the house for at least five years.) How could bin Laden have been operationally directing the al-Qaida network if he had to rely on couriers traveling on foot to make contact with those on the outside?

Of course, the answers to many of these questions are emerging in a flood of news reports - reporters working overtime to get what details they can from their sources.

But still, new questions keep coming: How embarrassing is this episode for the Pakistani government - the fact that U.S. forces could swoop into their country and conduct such a daring operation without their knowledge? (This and the question of whether anyone in the Pakistani government knew that bin Laden was living in their midst, are under investigation, according to Pakistani officials.) How will U.S. relations with Pakistan change as a result, at a time when our country relies on Pakistan to help fight Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan? Will Congress want to reduce the now-billions of dollars in aid this country provides annually to Pakistan? And a different line of questions: Why did the U.S. government -- the Obama administration -- decide to announce that it had captured a "treasure trove" of documents, computer material, hard drives, thumb drives and other potential valuables from the compound, thus giving al-Qaida a "heads-up" that they have this knowledge, and signaling to them the need to change phone numbers, couriers, codes, plans, etc.? Why not leave them guessing about what was retrieved? In fact, why did the administration feel the need to say much of anything about the operation and what they found? Why not keep more of it secret?

And possibly the most enduring questions: What does bin Laden's death mean for al-Qaida and its affiliates? How many are mourning his passing, in private, or in the open, as hundreds of Islamist Salafists -- a group with fundamentalist beliefs -- did Friday in Cairo? Who will take bin Laden's place at the head of al-Qaida? Where is his second-in-command, Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri? For that matter, where is former Taliban leader Mullah Omar? Are reports of a split in al-Qaida accurate? Will Bin Laden's death inspire more young Muslims to join the cause, or will it discourage them from moving toward radicalism? Coinciding with the Arab Spring taking place in Muslim countries across the Middle East and North Africa -- will al-Qaida ever be able to pose the threat it once did? Its confirmation Friday morning that its own founder, Osama Bin Laden, was indeed dead was the acknowledgement many didn't expect. But it was accompanied by a warning that any happiness would soon be replaced by sadness, as it planned to retaliate.

It's these questions, and scores more still surfacing, that will keep this story alive. Osama Bin Laden in hiding has been such a giant presence in American life for such a long time that his death will continue to fascinate and puzzle us.

Will we ever know everything there is to know about him and his "evil empire," the term Ronald Reagan once used to describe the Soviet Union? Probably not, and that's the reason this story will not only outlast the usual short news cycle in American journalism, it'll keep historians occupied for some time to come.

In the meantime, there is some irony in the lines of the simple poem British Major James Abbott wrote about Abbotabad in 1853, when he left it to return to England:

"Abbotabad"

I remember the day when I first came here
And smelt the sweet Abbottabad air

The trees and ground covered with snow
Gave us indeed a brilliant show

To me the place seemed like a dream
And far ran a lonesome stream

The wind hissed as if welcoming us
The pine swayed creating a lot of fuss

And the tiny cuckoo sang it away
A song very melodious and gay

I adored the place from the first sight
And was happy that my coming here was right

And eight good years here passed very soon
And we leave you perhaps on a sunny noon

Oh Abbottabad we are leaving you now
To your natural beauty do I bow

Perhaps your winds sound will never reach my ear
My gift for you is a few sad tears

I bid you farewell with a heavy heart
Never from my mind will your memories thwart

Via New York Review of Books/Wikipedia

This time around, a slightly re-tooled Graham Godfrey was ready.

Ready to show that the changes he made in the offseason were paying off. Ready to pop the glove with the hard stuff.

And after striking out the side in the first inning, he knew that he couldn’t let this great start go to waste.

“It sets the tone for the rest of the game,” said Godfrey. “I think the guys playing behind me picked up on that and they feed off that. It’s a good way to start things off.”

On a sunny and warm Thursday evening at Raley Field, the sombreros were out and the margaritas were flowing as the fans in attendance this Cinco de Mayo witnessed a great pitching performance as the Cats cruised to a 7-1 victory over the Salt Lake Bees.

As for Palmer - Godfrey’s counterpart - he had given up two walks, two wild pitches and one run on a hit in just the first two innings! Palmer pitches were everywhere.

Immediately, a contrast in starting pitching was evident.

The theme would continue the entire game as the Cats would garner a baserunner in each inning and were constantly putting the Bees on the defensive.

Graham Godfrey came out throwing darts and Manager Darren Bush was quite impressed.

“He did a great job,” said a smiling Bush. “He attacked the strike zone, he went at hitters and he made them swing the bats. He had command so he was able to get them swinging and then move the ball around. Great job!”

For the Cats, Eric Sogard lead off Sacramento’s part of the first with a walk. One wild pitch later, he’s on second. After a Steve Tolleson ground out moved Sogard to third, he scored on another wild pitch by Bee starter Matt Palmer to get the Cats out to an early lead.

In the second, Adrian Cardenas ripped a sharp single down the first base line that just got under Efren Navarro’s glove and into right field. Anthony Recker, who had walked to lead off the inning, had to pull up at second as he wasn’t looking at third base coach Darren Bush who was waving him around.

At first glance, it appeared that it would have been easy for Recker to get to third and then have runners on first and third with no outs. Recker knew that the first baseman was an excellent fielder and thought there was a chance he had fielded the ball and was throwing to second to get him out. Adding to that, the shortstop - Andrew Romine - was moving towards second as if he had a play on Recker.

Bush understood why Recker played it safe.

“He went into the bag and looked at the middle infielders to see what they were doing,” said Bush, “and the middle infielder was coming towards the bag so he thought the throw was going to come in there. I’d rather him do that than not go into the bag and try and make a round and get tagged out.”

Moments later, Recker would get caught at third in a rundown on double steal attempt. The Bees caught a break and Sacramento would go quietly the rest of the inning.

In the third, Matt Carson torched a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left center that hit the top of the field house. The rocket must have gone close to 450 feet and gave the Cats a 3-0 lead after three.

“It worked out pretty good you know, I haven’t been swinging the bat real well lately but to get a couple across the plate today, it felt good,” said Carson.

After a quiet fourth, Josh Horton lifted a flailing fly ball that dropped in front of left fielder Chris Petit for a single. He would later score on a sacrifice fly by Carson, who got his third RBI of the day.

The first damage by the Bees occurred in the sixth as Paul McAnulty lifted a shot that drifted over Cardenas in left and bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double. The well-placed hit scored Willits, who had walked to lead off the inning.

The Cats tried to etch some more runs onto the big board in the sixth. Two are out when Peterson walked, took second on his first steal of the season and then scored on a single from Horton. Again, Bush was being very aggressive on the base paths as he waved Peterson home on what appeared was going to be a very close play at the plate. The throw from the third baseman was just enough off-line that Peterson could slide his way around the tag and slide safely into home for the score.

Josh Donaldson, who had been struggling at the plate and already had struck out three times, capped the scoring with a two-run single in the eighth.

Godfrey was pulled after six very strong innings of work. Final line: 6 IP, 2 H, 1ER, 2BB and 7 K’s. As his stats are piling up, he seems to be getting better each game.

Sacramento's bullpen pitched well also as Fautino De Los Santos and Willie Eyre pitched three scoreless innings

Godfrey acknowledged that the coaching staff and the teammates that are playing behind him have attributed to his early success. He also noticed that his delivery was not what it should be and worked on his mechanics in the off-season. The extra work is paying off.

“My mechanics were a little off last year and it affected all my pitches,” admitted Godfrey. “This year, I’ve worked with Emo (pitching coach Scott Emerson) and our pitching coordinator to raise my arm slot a little bit and everything is coming out a little bit better, a little bit harder and that’s definitely helping.”
 

 

It's Friday, folks... Take out your frustrations while following the action in two Game 4's tonight:

San Jose Sharks vs Detroit Red Wings (6:00 p.m. Central on Versus)
I believe that if the Sharks complete the sweep, this would represent the first time that the Predators will have outlasted the Red Wings in the playoffs, correct?

Philadelphia Flyers vs Boston Bruins (7:00 p.m. Central on Versus)
Can the Bruins close out the Flyers in 4? They'll get the chance to do it on home ice tonight.

Bonus Hockey Reading

Canucks and Predators - Game Four Scoring Chances - The Copper & Blue
It's always interesting to get an outsider's perspective on this series, and Game 4 pretty ugly indeed.

Red Light District: Nashville’s hard work not enough
Entry #2 for Understatement of the Year.

Why one scientist is looking at former NHLers brains - The Globe and Mail
No, he's not a zombie. At least, I hope not.

Top-10 Undersized Players in the NHL | Hockey Independent
The Preds place two mighty mites on this list.

IIHF WC Day 8 Thread: Regional Rivals Take Over - Puck Worlds
This morning features a battle of Team USA vs. Canada.

Hockey training resources for skaters and goalies | Hockey Gear HQ
If you're a player or goalie looking to keep in shape over the summer, there are a couple guides worth looking into. Don't just listen to me, Don Cherry agrees...

Lastly, as passed along by Justin Bradford on Twitter, Bloomberg takes a look at the dynamic pricing scheme which is helping the Preds maximize their ticket revenue during these playoffs. Let's hope they get another chance to make this work on Monday!

 

As we all bask in the glow of the big 4-2 victory yesterday in Game 4, the Canucks return home to try and close out the pesky Predators tomorrow night.  What a fantastic feeling it is to be a Canucks fan right now, as this team just seems to have grown so much this season, and even a bit moreso since dispatching the Blackhawks in Round 1.  One of the coolest things about watching this Canucks team from Winnipeg is seeing how important some of the ex-Moose have become.  

Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows, Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler are all major pieces of the Canucks core, and all of them spent time down here in Winnipeg with the antlers on their jerseys.  Arguments could be made that Jannik Hansen, Mason Raymond and even Cory Schneider belong in that group, and current role players like Cody Hodgson, Alex Bolduc, Rick Rypien, Victor Oreskovich and a number of others have spent time on both rosters.  It is very encouraging to know that our farm system is churning out quality hockey players, and that the Manitoba Moose play an integral part to the process.

Speaking of the Moose, Game 5 goes tonight (8:30 ET/5:30 PT) between the Manitoba Moose and the Hamilton Bulldogs at the MTS Center in a series that is currently tied at two apiece.  After losing the first two games in Hamilton quite handily, the Moose have stormed back and taken last two games and now look to head back to Hamilton with the series lead.  Listen to the game live on CJOB here.

 

What makes these two wins even more impressive is the fact that the Hamilton Bulldogs had absolutely owned the Moose this season.  After taking the first two of the 8-game regular season match-ups in October, the Moose dropped the final 6 encounters, including the final two home games of the regular season that cost them valuable points and home-ice advantage.  And after dropping Game 1 (4-1) and Game 2 (4-2) in Hamilton to start this series, an 8-game losing streak against the Bulldogs was staring them right in the face.  

The Moose, however, have proven resilient during these playoffs.  After already storming back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Lake Erie Monsters in Round 1, the Moose came home and held serve in both Game 3 (5-4 win) and Game 4 (2-1 in double OT) to show Hamilton that they won't be an easy out.  So now we have an all-important Game 5 that goes tonight at the MTS Center, and it should be a beauty as they are opening up the upper deck to fill the barn.

• The double-overtime winner in Game 4 was a beauty, as Jordan Schroeder laid out a nifty saucer pass to Mario Bliznak, who roofed the one-timer past Drew MacIntyre at the 11:54 mark of the fifth period.  The goal can be viewed here on Moose TV - you will need to select the video from the collection on the right.  It appears that Schroeder has woken up, as he scored his first goal of the series in Game 3 and then set up the winner in Game 4.
• Eddie Lack stopped 43 of 44 shots in game 4, and Mario Bliznak had a goal and assist to lead the Moose to victory.  Guillaume Desbiens added the other goal.
• While Game 4 was a low-scoring affair, Game 3 was the exact opposite with 9 goals scored.  It also featured the turning point of the series, as the Moose trailed 2-1 with less then a minute to go in the 2nd.  However, the aforementioned Jordan Schroeder scored at the 19:25 mark to tie it up, and then something amazing happened.  Hamilton forward Ryan White took an interference penalty at the 19:59 mark, and with 1.9 seconds left on the clock the Moose scored on a bang-bang play.  Marco Rosa won the draw and Sergei Shirokov hammered it home before the buzzer.  The teams traded 4 goals in the third period, but the Moose took the 5-4 victory.
• The top line of Sergei Shirokov, Marco Rosa and Jason Jaffray each scored a goal, and the trio combined for 7 points in Game 3.  Mark Flood added two helpers, while Alex Bolduc opened the scoring for the second time in the series.
• Game 2 started off well as Kevin Clark scored 2:43 into the game, but Hamilton responded with 4 straight to put the game out of reach.  Chris Tanev managed to score one in garbage time, but the Moose lost 4-2.  Tanev assisted on Clark's goal to finish with 2 points in the loss, and Lack stopped 27 of 30 shots.
• Game 1 also started off well as Alex Bolduc scored 5:10 into the game, but it was the only goal the Moose could muster as once again the Bulldogs reeled off 4 straight goals to win 4-1.  Travis Ramsey and Mark Flood assisted on the Bolduc goal, while Lack stopped 33 of 37 shots in the loss.
• Marco Rosa is tied for second in AHL Playoff scoring with 15 points (5 goals and 10 assists) in 11 games, while Sergei Shirokov is tied for 12th with 9 points (6 goals and 3 assists).

Filed under: Movies

If one were to do a Google photo search for Salim Akil, pictures of his wife, Mara Brock Akil, are just as likely to come up in the results.

For some less enlightened men, such a close association to one's wife might be bothersome. Not for Akil though. For years, the married couple has collaborated as directors, producers and writers on several projects, most notably 'Girlfriends,' the CW sitcom his wife created in 2000 and its spin-off series, 'The Game,' that now airs on BET.

As a matter of fact, Akil, 46, is the first to credit his wife for his success, admitting that the biggest adjustment came when he had to tackle directing 'Jumping The Broom' - which opens in theaters today (May 6) - on his own. Akil shot the bulk of the film, which is about two families who meet at a wedding in Martha's Vineyard, on location in Nova Scotia, Canada. His wife stayed home in Los Angeles, where the two live with their young sons, age 7 and 2. "After working with my wife for so long, it really felt like I was out there alone when she wasn't around," Akil said. "I had a great cast, a great crew, and great producers, but the biggest challenge was to trust myself."



A quick scan of husband and wife's respective IMDB.com pages shows how intertwined their careers are, but it's clear the man of the house is unquestionably the quieter of the two. If his wife is behind the scenes, Akil is even further behind the scenes. But it's a role he kind of relishes, an extension of who he is as a person. "Mara is the more gregarious person, so you've heard a lot more about her, I'm sort of the quiet one," Akil says. "To watch her and her name blossom out there in the public makes me happy because I know she's happy."

As Akil is quick to note, "A happy wife is a happy life."

Akil is just comparably quieter than his wife. In the continuum of black male directors, he is often associated with or compared to Tyler Perry and Spike Lee, two of Hollywood's most outspoken figures. But Akil has always maintained a level of anonymity. He doesn't act in his own projects now and up until 'Jumping The Broom,' he's done very little press or promotion for his work. Even on the set of his own film, where directors often call shots through a megaphone, a reel of behind-the-scenes footage shows Akil walking up to cast members to give direction.

"I actually modeled my character in the film after Salim," says Laz Alonso who plays Jason Taylor, a charming but stoic groom-to-be who must help his family get along with the family of his future wife portrayed by Paula Patton. "One thing I noticed about Salim has under no circumstances, regardless of what adversities we faced, he never, ever lost his cool. He was the coolest guy on the planet."

That cool demeanor was shaped during a rather rough childhood growing up in the Bay Area, where he learned early on how navigate a cruel world. "I literally saw my friends slaughtered - those who weren't were in prison," says Akil, who also has a son, 26, and a daughter, 32, and three grandchildren. "My mom spent some time in prison and my step-dad overdosed, and my dad for the most part wasn't around."

As a writer and director, Akil is very aware of the rich source-material his biography offers. Unlike other filmmakers who have used their lives as screen fodder (Perry's 'Madea' films; Lee's 'Crooklyn'), Akil chooses to keep that part of his life private, largely because he can barely get the details out of his mouth, let alone onto the page. "Emotionally, it's just challenging for me," he reveals. "This is the most I've ever talked about it. It just really becomes uncomfortable [to think about]. I start longing, literally, for brighter days and sunnier days."

He has slightly better memories about the path he took to get to Hollywood. In 1999, a year after he wrapped 'Drylongso,' his first indie film in which he starred and also co-produced, Akil decided to move from his hometown of Richmond, Calif., to enroll at UCLA so he could access the school's film resources. When he wasn't studying on campus, he worked at an outpatient facility for the mentally ill. Though the job weighed on him heavily, Akil managed to keep writing scripts and maintain his filmmaking ambitions.

The person most encouraging of his talent then was a young Mara Brock. The two started dating when he first moved to Los Angeles after a chance meeting at a furniture store. Three months later, she proposed to him.(!) They were engaged for two years before marrying.

During their early years together, they both struggled professionally. But that time was a bit harder for Akil. While Brock got various jobs working in television, Akil said his day job hindered his creative impulses. Although she often told him to quit, Akil was stubborn. "I said, 'That's odd, a black woman asking a black man to quit his job'," he recalls. "I can't quit a job, that just doesn't make sense."

A week later, Akil was fired.

Left with no choice but to follow his passion, Akil started to talk with people about a script he wrote called 'Undertow,' a story about a bi-polar schizophrenic detective. 'Undertow' was eventually optioned by Showtime, but never made it to the big screen. Instead, Akil landed an interview to write for the network's popular 'Soul Food,' a series based on George Tillman's 1997 film. By the show's final season, Akil was an executive producer and had directed two episodes. Later, he went on to direct episodes of 'Girlfriends' and 'The Game.'

These days, Akil is more than adequately skilled in his craft. He's developed a sophisticated touch and is able to tell nuanced stories about the different shades of romance. From 'Soul Food' to 'The Game' to 'Jumping the Broom,' there is a similar thread in all that addresses matters of the heart, specifically relationships between men, women and family. "I had a lot of love from my mom, but the life I was living [as a child] was not normal," he explains. "So now, when I can get into marriage, it's interesting to me."

The stories represented in his films are a symbol of his happiness: "It is me smiling."

His wife, children and the people around motivate him to continue making good work. The couple is preparing to shoot the fifth season of 'The Game,' and planning a remake of 'Sparkle', the classic 1976 film about the ups and downs of a R&B girl group in Harlem.

"We have a finished script that we have turned in the studio," Akil says. No actors have been attached to the project yet. The only names definitely attached are he and his wife. Whether only one of their names is in the final credits or both, Akil has no problem saying they did it together. "I don't question who's running things in our household," he says. "That's the perception people who are powerless need to have. I don't need to have that perception."

 

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Bellator's 2011 welterweight tournament concludes in Saturday's captivating headliner, which pits undefeated Judoka Rick Hawn versus Xtreme Couture hitman Jay Hieron.

The remaining match-ups on the card will be previewed briefly tomorrow, but this collision should be a doozy and called for a more detailed analysis.

It's rare to witness Olympic caliber Judo in the cage, and even more unusual to see it whittled into such a functional kickboxing package in such a short span of time.

Rick Hawn (11-0) has taken to MMA like Tank Abbott to cocktails, avoiding the aches and pains that normally plague singularly proficient fighters early in their career. The Dellagrotte product enters the welterweight finals with a perfect record after narrowly escaping the dangerous Lyman Good by split decision, propelled by his ever improving stand-up, strong top control in the 2nd, and a key takedown to close the fight.

Jay Hieron (21-4) has always been one of the highly respected 170-pounders outside of the Octagon, even though he went 0-2 inside it. He was once headed for a shot at Nick Diaz's Strikeforce belt, but some shenanigans involving medicinal Mary Jane, Armando Garcia and CSAC licensing unhinged the bout.

Hieron took out Jesse Taylor and Joe Riggs instead, then set up shop with Bellator for the welterweight tournament. The bracket favorite had a tough journey to the finish line courtesy of Brent Weedman, who had previously upset Dan Hornbuckle and almost pulled off a repeat. Their semifinal contest went to Hieron by unanimous decision, though the fans did not unanimously agree with the judges.

An in-depth look at how the main event fighters stack up follows in the full entry. 

SBN coverage of Bellator 43

Variables

Judging: There is a list of attributes that judges tend to favor in a fighter, and Rick Hawn has many of them. He's aggressive, he moves forward constantly, he throws big punches, and even one substantial throw or takedown often outweighs any number of unsuccessful attempts. This is like handing your teachers a shiny red apple with a twinkling smile right before they grade your paper.

The Unknown: Each fighter will threaten the other with some unknown elements. Hawn has yet to face a top-shelf wrestler, let alone a wrestler with the submission and striking abilities of Hieron. Conversely, Hawn's unparalleled Judo and Sityodtong striking is a tough union for anyone to accommodate.

Experience: At the elite level, Hieron has a lot. Hawn does not, and "The Thoroughbred" is easily Hawn's steepest test.

Free Movement / Striking Phase

I can't commend Hawn enough for the considerable advancements he's made with his stand-up game. He's displayed a strong grasp of overall fundamentals in a short amount of time; a tribute to his athleticism and malleability.

Against savvy striker Lyman Good, his most capable opponent to date, Hawn was understandably a bit gun-shy and fell back on his takedowns to even things out. In his early fights, Hawn was able to corner and contain his opponents, mashing them into the fence or to the mat where his ground-and-pound followed. Leading up to the Good fight, he showed unnerving comfort in his stand-up and waited for his adversaries to press before enforcing his clinch (shown to the right vs. LeVon Maynard), or more impressively, just beat them standing (see Hawn vs. Rough House scrapper "Judo" Jim Wallhead).

Happy to clinch at anytime, Hawn is somewhat immune to some of the striking tendencies that leave the average guy vulnerable (also depicted in the animation). Hawn's been broadsided with singles and doubles in the middle of throwing a combo, but was still able to recover and fend off the attempt. Whether intentional or not, his uncanny balance and ungodly powerful base have allowed him to get caught out of position and emerge unscathed, or even turn the situation to his advantage.

Lyman Good was the first solid striker that threw Hawn's rhythm off and stung with stiff counters while resisting the clinch, and Jay Hieron should do the same. Though he mixes in low, mid, and straight kicks, Hieron is mostly a proficient boxer with sharp counters and substantial power. Good might be the stronger specimen physically, but Hieron's experience, wrestling background, and tight boxing will yield the same problems that Good presented.

I don't think it's coincidental that Hawn's inexperience in other aspects became more apparent against Good. Forming a dual-pronged attack by adding efficient kickboxing to his Judo foundation was what carried him up to the big leagues, and though he's advanced at an alarming rate, I don't think it's been enough to catch up with Hieron. Jay has also settled nicely into the role of the counter-puncher, and should be able to drill some holes through Hawn's adequate but embryonic striking.

Advantage: Hieron

Clinch Phase

It's fascinating to watch a Judoka of Hawn's status adapt his background to MMA's environment. Where a freestyle or Greco-Roman wrestler has a smaller list of adjustments to make to implement their strengths, the lack of a gi and the preference to close distance and tie up makes the transition more difficult for Judo players.

Along with more intense acclimation comes a smaller range of techniques, as that jacket that was specifically designed for clenching and gripping is no longer there, now replaced by slippery skin.

That's why range and distance is a critical tool for Hawn. In close, his hips are still as deadly as ever, and a subtle ballet of footwork, balance, and momentum unfold in his fierce clinch game. There's a good chance the man could hip-bump the Eiffel Tower crooked.

Hieron was a high school state and JuCo national wrestling champion, but -- just as I feel it's unlikely for Hawn to match his experience standing -- I don't see Hieron matching Hawn's skill in the clinch, especially if Hawn can use the cage to restrict his movement. Hieron can survive if he's very escape-minded, stays away from Hawn's waist and doesn't get trapped against the fence.

However, when directly immersed in the clinch and tangling with Hawn, the Olympic-level Judoka gets the nod. With a gi, without a gi, or even in a clown costume, Hawn has spent more time training techniques in this position than fighters like Rory MacDonald have been alive. The disclaimer is that it's even harder to force a clinch when your opponent knows it's coming and doesn't want to play the game (see Machida vs. Couture), and it's no secret that this is where Hawn excels. Hieron is adept with infighting and can survive in the position for short periods of time, but unless avoided at all costs, it's only playing with fire.

Advantage: Hawn

Grappling Phase

If you re-examine the beautiful throw by Hawn above, but this time, replace LeVon Maynard's clumsy forward-lurch with a fine-tuned double leg, and we have an example of the different kind of threat Hieron brings to the table. I'm not sure Hawn can get away with some of his lackadaisical habits against Hieron and simply make up for it with his strength and skill, especially in a three rounder.

To my knowledge, we've yet to see Hawn on his back in MMA, and Hieron's tenacious top game might be overwhelming if he can impose it.

Hieron wreaks havoc with a litany of catches that are conducive to active wrestlers when shooting, sprawling, scrambling, and clinching. The attempts are usually low risk and maintain or improve position rather than sacrifice it.  Backed by Hieron's agile but hefty base:  D'arce, anaconda, and north-south chokes, arm-triangles, americanas and kimuras all punctuate his arsenal. Jumping for the guillotine is the one maneuver he's pursued in the past that will be ill-advised versus Hawn.

Hieron is also a great scrambler, so normally he's able to break loose and recover if he ends up on the bottom. Hieron clearly has the composure to hold his own in the guard, but as we saw against Lyman Good, one mistake against a potent control-and-pound fighter can cost exactly one-third of the fight on the score cards.

There's a little too much mystery for me to make a strong pick here. Weedman was able to take Hieron down, and I can picture Hawn flagging down the popcorn vendor while a small army of wrestlers attempting double-legs bounce off his legs completely unbeknownst to him. Hieron is much more proven with freestyle wrestling, but if Hawn can stuff the shot and wrap him up, it becomes his world.

With the right timing, Hieron could also nail a shot and test Hawn's guard, but in most scenarios, I see Hawn on top. Even though this is a close one with many unknowns and Hawn might be the favorite in a straight takedown war, Hieron's experience and comprehensive style should put him slightly ahead here, even though I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Hawn can muffle him and ride out the round.

Advantage: Hieron (slight)

Summary

Becoming a well-rounded martial artist is imperative, and Hawn's frightening assimilation in only two short years of pro competition is what carried him to the top so quickly. Being a "complete fighter" is a means to an end, and that end is having the ability to implement a system of tactics to exploit your biggest strength or your opponent's biggest weakness.

This is why I see Hieron negating Hawn's strength by staying elusive and peppering him with precise counters. If Hawn does get him in the clinch, Hieron should be able to escape and punish him on the way in and on the way out, stuffing underhooks and circling away with an array of tight hooks and uppercuts.

As with any MMA bout, Hawn could connect on the feet, score some takedowns or maintain top control, but Hieron has the more expansive inventory and should be smart enough to assemble and adhere to a poignant strategy.

My prediction:  Hieron by TKO

Hawn gif courtesy of Caposa

Hieron gif from Smoogy

Poll

Who wins the Bellator 2011 Welterweight Tournament?

• Rick Hawn
• Jay Hieron

  103 votes | Results

Russell Kashket is aware that the world has tunnel vision, and when they watched the royal wedding, Kate Middleton, her sister Pippa, and sometimes Prince Harry were the only people doting about in that tunnel. But that didn't mean the stakes were any lower for Prince William's attire, which he made, along with Prince Harry's and the adorable little pageboys' suits. Like Sarah Burton, Kashket was sworn to the utmost secrecy about what he was doing.

"In early February the palace contacted me, without telling me, who or what or anything. Then suddenly they said, 'We can't go any further until you sign this contract with His Royal Highness Prince William.' I went back to the factory and asked my dad to draw up some designs for the page boys which he signed 'B Kashket MBE', as usual. Hours later I get a phone call: 'We love the designs. But who's B Kashket MBE? He's got to come down straight down here and sign a confidentiality agreement. Now!' That's how tight [security] was."

Though the pieces were made under a pseudonym in the factory in the interest of maintaining the secret that few people were that desperate to find out, Kashket's lies to his staff may not have been as elaborate as Burton's. However, he maintains that the detail on Prince William's coat, which few people were that desperate to see, is just as elaborate as that on Kate's wedding dress.

"The frock coat that William wore when driving the Aston Martin is the same type of material, pure wool. It's midnight blue with lots of elaborate work on it, all tassels. You couldn't see it but the collar and cuffs are all hand-embroidered like her dress was and just as detailed. It's eighth-of-an-inch Russian braid but it's worsted, so it's the exact same colour shade as the material. But when you get up close to it you go, 'Wow!'"

Aw, that's cute. Apparently we should have all been talking about his and hers appliqués this whole time. Actually, no — WHAT ARE WE SAYING? Kate's appliqués need more press.

Fit for a prince [GQ UK]

Read more posts by Amy Odell

Filed Under: dukes!!!, duchesses!!!, kate middleton, prince william, princesses!!!, royal wedding, russell kashket

Should I report the apparent recurring theft of my (perfectly legal and medically appropriate) prescriptions for controlled substances (written prescriptions, not actual drugs)?

For a chronic medical condition, I take 2 prescription medications that are "Schedule II controlled substances" under Federal (US) and NY state law. I've been taking them for years, with no abuse or other significant problems, and my doctor and I are both comfortable with that. I have a good relationship with my excellent doctor, and with the independent local pharmacy that I use. But:

Four times in the past year, written, completed prescription forms which my doctor has mailed to the pharmacy, which is less than a mile away from the doctor's office, have disappeared. Each time, the doctor's staff assures me they have mailed them; the pharmacy says they never received them. On one miraculous occasion, an envelope that left the doctor's office with 2 scripts in it reportedly contained only one script when it arrived and was opened at the pharmacy. Hmm. I'm inclined to believe that all the individuals I'm dealing with are honest and professional, but clearly, something is going wrong somewhere.

I'm more than a little bit nervous about having my name, address and date of birth out there in criminal hands, together with the information that an array of highly desirable prescription drugs could likely be found in my house at any given time. Plus, each time this happens, I have to go through a lot of extra bother to actually get the damn pills that I need, which doesn't make being sick any more fun. So I want this nonsense to stop.

After incidents 1, 2 and 3, I spoke nicely but assertively to the doctor and the pharmacy management, and they have all assured me that they will watch for my prescriptions and treat them with even more elaborate care than is required for all controlled substance prescriptions. And yet, it happened again.

I would hate to see my doctor, or the good people at the pharmacy, subjected to any more regulatory hell or heightened scrutiny if I report this. And if I do, I don't imagine that, in the future, they would continue to go out of their way to help me as they have in the past. I've worked hard to cultivate these relationships, and I need them.

Additional considerations: switching doctors is not an option. She's the bees knees. I'm reluctant to switch pharmacies, cause my experience has been that most of the others in town are worse in various ways. The best way to handle the scripts would be for me to get them from the doctor when I see her, and take them physically to the pharmacy. I do this when I can, but I'm mostly housebound and sometimes I just can't get out. Since these are "Schedule II" controlled substances, refills aren't allowed; electronic, phone or fax prescriptions aren't allowed. An actual piece of paper is required. I don't have a friend or family member close enough to do this for me on a regular basis, so it looks like I'm going to have to continue to use the mail. Which, like so many other things, sadly does not seem to be as reliable as it once was.

1. What to do? Report or not? If so, to which agency: local police, state Department of Health, Attorney General, feds (which agency?)? Although this is not a major crime on its own, there is a lot of illegal drug activity around and local law enforcement has made it a big focus lately. If someone filled my missing prescriptions, it should be pretty easy for enforcement folks to figure out where.

2. Anyone have any suggestions for a better way (safe, legal, reliable, and maybe even easy?) to deal with getting prescriptions every month? I tried the mail order service that comes with my prescription coverage, but sometimes they are slowwww and I run out of my drugs, which makes me so very much crankier than necessary.

MedicalConfusionFilter: Do I have hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid) and/or reflux, or not? There's at least 2-4 diagnostic gadgets out there for measuring digestive pH. One of them ought to confirm it for sure, no?

Due to a mystery stomach illness I've had for a long time, I've been researching "silent reflux disease" and hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid) since it sure seems like I've got some variant of that. I have been to many many doctors, including the Mayo Clinic in AZ, and tried a battery of things with very little result....but I feel like I'm getting close. I have a bunch of symptoms in line with silent reflux (hoarseness, constant throat clearing, tons of mucus all the time, despite allergy/sinus treatments/exams from ent & allergist).


If there are devices that exist that can provide exact data, and the data seems definitive (I know there are plenty of tests that can have vague results out there unless you get a super-clear positive), I can't understand why some docs have told me the following:

"you definitely have low stomach acid based on this test result, we're treating for that"
(the Heidelberg capsule test, showing a fasting pH of between 5 and 6)

"totally normal examination with no sign of reflux whatsoever" - (Bravo pH test: "Although he had numerous symptoms , his reflux for
duration of the first day had only 10 refluxes. None were longer than 5 minutes. In fact , the longest was 1 minute. The time the pH was less than 4 was 5 and the fraction of time was 0 . 2 with a total DeMeester score of 1 . 1 with normal being less than 14.724 . This was broken down where DeMeester score for day 1 was 1.5 and for day 2 was 0.5.) -

Finally, talking to an eminent doctor who is an expert on silent reflux - "those tests are unreliable, and so are most of those gi tests for reflux, you need a manometry and a much higher dose of drugs" - I have heard that treating silent reflux can be more difficult and resistant than non-silent reflux, tho. But, the tests were a waste of time, then?

Of course I've also had the usual battery of lower gi and barium tests, 3 endoscopies. No esophageal manometry yet, or HIDA scan for gallbladder function, but everything else.

Then one doc said he would treat low acid with ppi's the same as if I had measured hyperacidic.

bwah?


Stuff I've gleaned from my researching you shouldn't have to mention, but feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong -

1. Apparently, having too little an amount of stomach acid can cause symptoms that are much like "hyperacidity".

2. Most people I run across have now heard of the term "reflux" (less often the acronym "GERD", which stands for gastroesophageal reflux disease) and generally believe it refers only to people who typically get frequent heartburn.

3. It is likewise most often assumed that the root cause of reflux is 'too much stomach acid.' In fact it's usually? because the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) has started losing its ability to keep the stuff you have in your stomach where it's supposed to be, for whatever reason. (It's more common in industrialized countries, by far, so it's likely our diets, but it is still uncertain).

4. Why the LES freaks out if you have too little stomach acid, nobody seems to know, either.

5. If lifestyle, diet, & exercise changes don't work - and you don't want to risk surgery - PPI's are generally the band-aid that western docs reach for.

6. Some people will also try anti-depressants, whether due to the doc's belief that stress / actual depression / altering the amount of serotonin in your gut / or damage to the vagus nerve, is the cause.



Ok Me-dical-Filtes, go to town.

'Marooned' on a desert island off the Belize coast, the castaways learn to survive using spearguns, machetes and plastic bags

The signal comes from the front. The helicopter is going down: we have to jump. I step out on to the skid, then take another step into air. Seconds later, I'm in the Caribbean sea, swimming for a small patch of sand between thick mangrove trees on a nearby island. Water fills my boots and makes my clothes heavy which, along with the current, means progress is slow. I wade on to the beach, closely followed by my fellow "survivors".

This is what we've trained for. For the past five days, we've sailed the blue waters around remote Turneffe Atoll, 40km off the coast of Belize, setting up rudimentary camps on deserted beaches to learn the essentials of island survival. The staged emergency exit from the helicopter marks the start of our Isolation Phase, in which our group will have to put what we've learned into practice, unsupervised. With air-con and cooling cocktails, these islands might be paradise. But without such comforts as beds, food, water or relief from the intense heat, these are inhospitable environments where survival depends on our ability to find or produce food, water, shelter and fire from our unpromising surroundings.

We were warned it would be tough. "The whole point is to make you psychologically uncomfortable," instructor Ian Craddock told us on day one. "This is not happy camping." He's a former SAS instructor and a mate of Bear Grylls and Bruce Parry, and the new desert island survival course he's put together is refreshingly light on health and safety hang-ups. ("Here's a speargun – point it at what you want to hit, and shoot".) It is also full of genuine hardships and tests of character. Not to be undertaken lightly.

We're in troubled waters from the start: when we set off from Caye Caulker at the beginning of our week's training phase, the sea is so rough that even hardened captain Papa Joe looks perturbed. We spend our first night on a sandy strip of shore lined with gnarly, sun-bleached tree trunks. Our team is, disappointingly, all male – I've never particularly enjoyed exclusively male company. But it's a good group, and over the course of the week, the eight of us – including an Austrian hypnotist, an American web marketer and an aeroplane engineer whose face peels, bleeds and peels again in the sun, making him look like Freddy Krueger's Welsh cousin – form a tight unit.

We spend mornings on the beach learning how to make and start a fire, how to build a shelter, how to scale, gut and cook fish. Ian demonstrates how to use a machete with a 14-inch blade: it's a vital piece of kit that can help provide food (opening coconuts, for example), water and shelter.

Real survival is a world away from TV survival, he stresses: "There are no fancy tricks, no squeezing water from cow poo. It's simple – all you need to do is stay alive."

We learn techniques that produce small but life-saving quantities of fresh water: if you wrap plastic bags around palm tree leaves, they "sweat" and the water vapour condenses and collects at the bottom of the bag. We find and hack open coconuts for the water and flesh inside.

The sun is relentless, the intense heat exhausting. Water is rationed. Food is basic and limited. But the worst thing by far, an absolute drain on spirits and morale, is the bug situation. Mosquitoes and flies pester us from the moment we landed. They make simple tasks difficult and unpleasant and they disturb our sleep (in hammocks under our makeshift shelter). (There's talk of scouting out a group of islands further south for next year's trips, to reduce the problem.) A few days in, my body is covered in itchy red bumps.

But there's great satisfaction, too, in learning skills that are mostly new to me, and in stripping life down to the essentials. The island demands assertiveness. We have to be alert and think ahead because what we do or don't do has direct consequences on, say, our food or water supplies. And in the moments when the bugs are kept at bay by campfires, I enjoy the beauty of our remoteness. There are pink sunsets that make the tropical sky glow, campfires on sandy beaches under crescent moons, mornings swimming alone in the clear sea.

The best parts of the day come when we are out on the boat and diving to catch dinner. I've never speargunned for fish before but find I have a knack for it, bringing in a good share of the group's evening meals. I engage in epic chases over coral landscapes with parrotfish and snappers.

There's a Last Supper-ish feel to the night before Isolation. Ian has deliberately withheld information so that we're unprepared but we know it will be tough. Not everyone completes these courses; some radio in for an early rescue from whatever torment breaks them.

After the helicopter has dropped us from a height of eight metres into the sea and we've swum to shore, we inspect our survival kit – a dinghy and speargun, plastic bags for collecting water, a first aid kit and two machetes – and survey our surroundings.

We are surprisingly efficient. Four of us build a wooden structure with a roof of palm tree fronds. Others collect firewood and coconuts. We set up plastic bags on green leaves and dig solar stills to start the slow process of collecting water. By early afternoon, we're sheltering from the sun in our roomy "hut".

The speargun turns out not to be much use. We go out on the dinghy but there's no reef close to the island on which to fish. (The fish hide in the mangroves close to the island, Ian later tells us.) We manage to keep fires burning through the night, but the insects are still a major annoyance, and with no beds or hammocks, no one gets much sleep. I spend most of the night by the campfire trying to stay warm, feeding the flames with coconut husks and tree branches.

The following day, the group is sapped of energy. Tony (ex-British army) manages to catch a few small crabs and cooks them on the fire. We eat the minuscule amounts of white flesh, but mostly live, Papillon-style, on coconut. Ian checked in briefly the night before, dropping off a few small fish and a bottle of water as rewards for our good work (a cheat, but a welcome one). But we are all hungry, thirsty, tired, itchy from our bites and drained by the heat. We collect wood to keep the fire burning, but otherwise spend lethargic hours in our shelter.

Time slows, which is both a blessing and a curse. There's time here to think and also to talk. We have long philosophical discussions about memory, sexuality, sport, the history of mankind. The group's camaraderie maintains our vital PMA (Positive Mental Attitude, the top tier in the army's triangle of survival needs). There are filthy jokes, games of hangman and I-spy. Inevitably, conversations find their way back to the cold beers and junk food that await us back on Caye Caulker after rescue. This thought sustains us.

But mostly, Isolation is a test of mental fortitude and the capacity to endure discomfort. Rescue can't come quickly enough.

We keep the fires burning through another difficult night, and early in the morning sit together, chewing on small chunks of coconut, watching through a gap in the mangroves for the small yellow boat that will carry us away from the island. When it comes, we board quickly. Relief passes through our bodies, each one of us bearded, dirty, exhausted, but alive.

• Bushmasters desert island survival courses (bushmasters.co.uk) in Belize cost £1,300pp. The next courses are in 2012 and include 2-11 February, 16-26 February, 1-10 March. It also runs jungle survival courses in the Amazon in Guyana. British Airways (0844 493 0787, ba.com) has daily flights to Belize with connections via Miami, starting from £889 return. For more information, see travelbelize.org

Judd Trump caused a sensation this week when, aged just 21, he rocketed into snooker's World Championship final. So who is this new boy wonder?

Judd Trump can measure, precisely, when and how fast he got properly famous. Just over three weeks ago, on 14 April, he opened a Twitter account with the cheery "Hello twitter!!", swiftly followed by "In nandos tucking into half a chicken!!" (he is fond of exclamation marks. And food.) Initially @judd147t, "part time snooker player, full time international playboi!!" [sic] had some 200 followers – respectable, for a normal citizen. Then he went to Sheffield and played his first game in his second World Championship, which, after a wobbly – and duly tweeted – beginning ("Nervy start but gotta take 5-4 powwow!!"), he won, dispatching the title holder, Neil Robertson. The follower count jumped to 3,000. "I was shocked. And then I started publicising it a little bit, and said I'd love to get up to 10,000, or 20,000, and then one day, after, I think, my semi-final" – a game which, by fearlessly going for shots others might avoid ("If in doubt hit it as hard as you can?!!"), he both thrilled his audience and won – "it jumped from like 10,000 to 25,000, and I was really shocked. I overtook all of the rest of the snooker players." By the end of last week, over 51,000 followers were being informed that it was "time to put a dent in the bank balance in london today!!"

For said bank balance has swelled a lot in that time, too. On 3 April, the 21-year-old won the China Open, pocketing £60,000 and gaining his first ranking title; he didn't win the World Championships, but came a close second to three-time world champion John Higgins, pocketing £125,000. In some ways more important than the money, however, was the sense of a blistering new arrival in snooker, warmly welcomed. "Judd's greatest asset is his game terrifies people. Never seen anyone pot so well. Scary," tweeted Ronnie O'Sullivan, the game's last such arrival (who, incidentally, joined the Twitter-sphere on the same day as Trump). "Judd was by far the better player," said Higgins after the game. "He was playing a brand of snooker I've never seen in my life. We've got a new sensation, which is great for the game. It's just a fantastic feeling." Viewing figures peaked in the UK at 6.6 million, the best for the last five years, in no small part due to Trump's bravura showmanship (and boyband haircut); a total of 27.1 million watched the tournament overall. In China, 30 million people watched the semi-final, in which Trump beat Chinese star Ding Junhui. "The Juddernaut is the future," hyperventilated the Daily Mail, "and that future is now."

Although, right now, the future is late. When it finally pulls into the business centre car park on the edges of Romford, Essex, in a white BMW with a flamboyant spoiler, Trump, his childhood friend Ryan, and his manager Django Fung, a Hong Kong-born businessman in natty narrow trousers and velvet-lapelled jacket, are discussing the afternoon's prospective shopping trip. Fung suggests he might not come along; Trump's face falls. "Come with us?" The openness of his face, looking at his manager, the obvious, implicit trust in an elder, make him look very young. All ignore the journalist in the room.

So what was he up to this morning? He is watchful now, the vulnerabilty contained. "Sleepin'." Absently, he strokes the large, fake diamond-studded watch on his wrist. His tight white Gucci T-shirt is pristine, his belt and the obligatory band of striped underwear just so. He is fit, but incredibly skinny, a broomstick topped by an elaborately teased mop of hair. It's all very self-aware; when I mention that the swell in viewing figures seems largely to have been because of him, he says, "Yeah – I had a lot of people tell me that. A lot of younger kids and that – obviously because I'm more at their age and a little bit different to the rest of the snooker players, with my image and stuff." Image? "My whole hairstyle, the way I dress. Older people like to dress older. I dress in more flamboyant, stylish … " Has he always made this degree of effort? "More so now. I used to be quite laid back and that. But obviously the more you're in the public eye, the more you've got to … dress to impress." (There is also the fact that he simply loves to shop. "Love it. Absolutely love it." He can't wait, when the interview is over, to hit Gucci first, then Harrods.)

It's of a piece with the deliberate showmanship of his play – the supposedly impossible shots, the calculated recklessness of his pocketing, which, as he tells it, are a kind of evangelism. "I think I wanted – not to show off, but try and make [snooker] more popular, whereas other players maybe just want to play the game and don't really care about the fans as much. But I always want to go for certain shots that please the crowd, and stuff like that." Partly this is because it's just "a lot easier with them supporting you than with them against you. You enjoy it more." But also "I've just got the mindset of really wanting to open the game up to new people. I kind of want to create a massive attention around snooker."

He doesn't seem particularly arrogant, nor is there any false modesty. Snooker is almost a lone sport, played in many ways against yourself and in your head; an internal negotiation of skill and confidence practised, for hours, largely alone. Trump is obviously gregarious, as up for a laugh and night out with friends as any 21-year-old, but a lifetime of self-reliance and discipline (in the sport, at least) definitely shows. He hasn't ever had a coach, apart from the worried attentions of his father when he was much younger, and simply doesn't see the need for one. "I've just kind of learnt on my own. I literally know just by playing a shot, by the feel of it – I can tell, straight away. I don't really need anyone to tell me. Other people try and tweak their techniques and that, but I've just been exactly the same all my life, and I'd never change anything."

Trump was born in Bristol; his parents and most of his family come from either Bristol or Cornwall. His father is a lorry driver, and his mother a cook. It was all very "normal, really. Both doing quite normal jobs, nothing extravagant – just do their work, come home, eat, go to bed." He inherited his mother Georgina's shyness. "I've always been pretty shy. Unless I know someone really well" – or increasingly, if he is being interviewed – "I can't keep a conversation going more than 10 seconds, really."

He doesn't remember this himself, but his father has said that he bought him a mini snooker table when he was three, and could instantly tell that his toddler had talent and application; he played his first competitive game at six, standing on a cardboard box, and had his first sponsorship deal at eight. By nine he had been sufficiently noticed for World Snooker to arrange for him to meet his hero, Ronnie O'Sullivan, at the Welsh Open. "It was a bit weird, meeting your hero for the first time." (They have since become quite friendly, and share a manager in Fung). Trump won the national under-15s when he was 10 – "That was when I thought that I might have a future in the game" – and at 13 he beat Mike Hallett, a former world No 6, who, minutes later, saw the boy playing on some swings. "That made me feel a lot better," Hallett has said, wryly. Later in his teens Trump was playing, and winning, 40-50 tournaments a year.

He isn't oblivious to what this has cost his parents. "It was hard work for them. Obviously my dad never really had time out to go and do normal things. He was working all week, and then driving me on weekends. They've never really been on holiday. They spent all their money on me, growing up. So it would obviously be nice to repay that. I don't want to just throw money at them, I want it to be thoughtful. I'll have a think, and ask them, and see what we come up with."

It was a shock, when he turned pro, and moved to Romford (a hotbed of world-class snooker players, it turns out), to start losing games. There were far fewer tournaments at first, six or seven a year, so lots of time to brood on what went wrong. The sports press began to notch him up as a disappointment, an underachiever. Alone, and fending for himself for the first time – "I can just about use the oven. And it is hard, learning to use a washing machine and stuff" – he was, also for the first time, properly lonely. "I would come here" – to Grove Academy, where he practises; in competition season he is here for about five hours a day – "then go home, and just sit at home until the next day." Travelling, especially abroad, he sometimes now pays for a friend to come along, otherwise it is as it was in China last month: "Getting up, getting ready, playing my game, and just going back to my hotel, eating on my own, going to sleep, and that's it."

In China – where snooker is huge, even among the quite young, and he has been a pin-up, frequently mobbed by female autograph-seekers, since he was 17 – he broke up with his girlfriend of a year, a drama student. The way he describes it is somehow simultaneously honestly insightful and oblivious, both to the hurt he might cause, and to the fact that he's effectively diagnosing something fame might do to him if he's not careful. "We were never really seeing each other, because this is her last year at uni and obviously I've been travelling, nearly every two or three weeks, and so it just got to the point where it was like, 'There really is no point.'" It hasn't been too hard, though. "I won China straight away, and then I had the World Championships to concentrate on, and there's been so much attention from other people and that, it was kind of easy to put it to the back of my mind, and that was it, really. It was like a year of being with her was just gone. It was quite strange, because when I split up with my previous girlfriend [whom he had been with for a year and half] it was really hard to get over, for like, a month, but this time there was no emotion, nothing. I just kind of shut it off. I don't know – I could wake up one day and it might sink in, but obviously a year's a lot of time to just shut off, like that." In the meantime, he announced to a newspaper, with little hint of tongue-in-cheek, that "if there are groupies, bring 'em on, the more the merrier. I'm young, free and single."

And for the moment he's enjoying it. He gets recognised nearly everywhere he goes, asked for autographs and pictures; he basks in the attention. Is that what he really wants? He laughs. "Only from girls. No – obviously – when you're growing up, you kind of dream about being famous and that – but when you … I think … I won't mind it for maybe a couple of weeks, but I dunno how I'll take it after that. I think it could get quite annoying, But I'm enjoying it for the time being."

A couple of the elder statesmen of the sport have warned that he has a choice – dedication, sacrifice and world domination – or fun and fame and the occasional good tournament. What does he want? "Both. I think I dedicate myself to snooker – while I'm in season, it's just snooker, snooker, snooker – but when I'm away from it I'm completely the opposite – just go out and have fun." And what's your idea of fun? The answer is immediate. "Driving around in a supercar making as much noise as possible – getting as much attention and as much people looking at me as possible." He's definitely on his way to that particular goal.

• Jenson Button attributes improvement to lessons from girlfriend
• Sebastian Vettel crashes out in morning session

Jenson Button was fastest in practice for Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix after admitting that he had been taking driving lessons from his girlfriend, Jessica Michibata.

Button, who won here in 2009 and was second last year, dominated the dry afternoon practice session on Friday after Sebastian Vettel had crashed out in the rain in the morning session.

The McLaren driver, who parked in the Red Bull pit bay during the last race in China, said: "The missus took the piss out of me quite a bit. She's teaching me how to park.

"She can't drive either. She passed her test two years ago and she hasn't driven since. I have just bought her a car. It's a nice little Mini Cooper cabriolet, which is an awesome bit of kit. Really nice, cream with a hot chocolate roof and hot chocolate seats. They're even more chocolaty now after a couple of drives with her. The passenger seat anyway."

Button said she had been driving him near his home in Guernsey, where the speed limit is 35mph. "It felt quite quick from the passenger seat. Guernsey is the most difficult place to drive as well because the junctions are blind. She did well. I'm very proud of her. She can park better than me."

Button, who last won in China on 18 April last year, added: "I don't night and day think damn I haven't won a race for ages. I go out there and race and I enjoy myself. And if I win ... amazing.

"That's what I want to do. But if it doesn't happen and I have a great race and loads of overtaking moves and good fights, that's good too. It's not as good as winning but it's good. We should enjoy the moment and forget about the past and not look too far into the future. Just enjoy what we have."

Button took advantage of the absence of Vettel – whose car was badly damaged in the morning – to edge past Nico Rosberg in the second practice session. Vettel ran wide on turn eight, a triple-apex left-hander, and crashed into the barriers, severely damaging the front and right-hand side of his car.

Button's team-mate Lewis Hamilton was third, followed by Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber. Felipe Massa, who has won here three times, was sixth. Button, who last year lost out to Hamilton after one of their better battles, added: "There will be a lot of close racing here. I am looking forward to that."

Fernando Alonso had been fastest in the earlier session but was hampered by a hydraulics problem later in the day. The bottom four places were taken by the two Virgin Racing cars of Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Timo Glock, and the Hispanias of Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Tyler the Creator touches down to talk goblins, chillwave and the trouble with saying stupid stuff

Tyler Okonma, better known as Tyler the Creator, 20-year-old frontman of Odd Future, the world's most notorious rap group, is having a fit. He was sitting cross-legged on the table of a boardroom in the London office of his new record company, XL – home to Adele, the xx and Dizzee Rascal – but now he's on all fours, and in raptures.

"Oh, my gosh!" he explodes as a bowl of bacon and syrup is placed in front of him. As he smells the food he emits a raspy gasp that sounds vaguely satanic. "Suck my dick," he says to no one in particular, before tucking into his hearty American breakfast. It is 4pm. "Oooh, this is so fuckin' good," he moans in an impossibly deep voice, the one that has earned him a grievous reputation for rapping about murder, rape and all manner of depraved, disgusting acts. He resents being teased about going vegetarian. "Fuck, no," he says, lifting his head from the plate to fix the Guardian with an "are you mad?" stare. "That shit's gay."

You can't really ignore Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All. Well, you could, but you'd have to not use the internet and not read any press. They are everywhere. There's a good reason for the ubiquity: OFWGKTA are astonishing, both on record and live, where they approximate the combined imagined force of the Sex Pistols, Slipknot and NWA. At YoYo in Notting Hill last week, London's most glamorous – as well as Adele, the xx, Mark Ronson, and Jamie Reynolds of Klaxons – turned up just to watch OF's in-house engineer Syd Tha Kyd do a DJ set. Tyler and OF mates Left Brain and Hodgy Beats were there, sitting in the background, holding court. Suddenly, Syd cut in an OF track and, out of nowhere, the three jolted into life and began moving manically as though they'd been cattle-prodded across the room. Even the none-more-cool crowd went wild, a scene repeated at two rammed OF appearances at Village Underground and the Camden Crawl.

And you should hear their records. No, you really should. For sustained and diverse brilliance, only the Wu-Tang Clan with their numerous side projects come close, and even they weren't this precocious (Odd Future are aged 17-23) or prolific. Over the past 18 months, the eight rapping and recording-artist members of OFWGKTA (a collective that also includes producers and illustrators), have made more than a dozen albums available for free download. Forget "mixtapes", these are fully realised works; sample-free, each meticulously crafted and worthy of major label release. There are two albums by the Jet Age Of Tomorrow, who specialise in light'n'breezy cosmic lounge funk; two collections of by turns psychotic and psychedelic crunk by MellowHype; two albums of hi-tech latterday G-funk by Mike G; some blunted beats and experimental studio play courtesy of Domo Genesis; even a suite of exquisite R&B; with soul-baring lyrics from Frank Ocean.

Then there are the three Odd Future compilations (The Odd Future Tape Vol 1, Radical and Some OF Shit) that have hinted at what OFWGKTA are capable of, and the two solo works that have made it explicit: Tyler's Bastard and Earl by Earl Sweatshirt. Bastard is ghoulish, but it's also rather gorgeous, with its stark piano lines and pillowy keyboards. There is misogynous loathing of the most extreme kind, and there is suicidal despair, all wrapped up in murderous tunes and expressed in that viscous growl, like Rakim with all the nutritional elements removed. In this writer's opinion it is one of the best rap albums ever made, free or otherwise.

Earl is an even more sick (in both senses) attraction, with its buzzing synths like drills in an abattoir made all the more menacing by the almost facetiously pretty melodies. What impresses most is the witty intricacy of the rhymes as the appallingly articulate (and, it has to be said, furiously funny) rapper, 16 when he recorded it, moves from one repugnant scene to another. The group's totemic outlaw figure, the Sid Vicious to Tyler's Johnny Rotten, only blazingly talented, Earl is currently in a facility for wayward youth in Samoa; chants of "Free Earl!" are commonplace at OF gigs.

"He's so good," says Tyler, who has finished eating and is sitting, legs outstretched, on the table. "I want to be on his level one day. That dude's sick. He has such a natural flow; I don't know how he does it."

'I don't know where all the anger comes from. It's just this dark place that I go to when I'm alone. We all do' - Tyler the Creator

What about Tyler: how does he do it? Inspiration for the plaintive atmospheres and mournful violins, he explains, comes from "a bunch of French jazz, old soundtracks, library music, shit with crazy chord progressions and changes in it." He adores Roy Ayers: "Listening to him, it's like, 'How the fuck did he find that?' That shit's tight." There are elements in his productions that rap fans will recognise – the murk of Cannibal Ox, RZA's haunting strings – while others may hear in its billowing synths echoes of chillwave (Toro Y Moi even produced a "chopped and screwed" version of Tyler's track French). "I listen to Washed Out, Beach House and Broadcast," says Tyler. "That's what I'm influenced by. [That's why] the music is a mixture of pretty chords, fuckin' hardcore drums and basslines, and really nice strings."

It was Fader and Pitchfork who first picked up on OF. They were rejected by the hip-hop blogs, and Tyler is less enamoured of the form ("I respect it but I don't really like it"). He seems happier with the notion of OF continuing a legacy of rock radicalism rather than fitting into rap history. When it's proposed that they're signalling one of those seismic moments comparable to Public Enemy in 1987 or Dre and Snoop in 1992, he seems disappointed. When I add names such as the Sex Pistols and Nirvana, making OF part of a bigger continuum, he perks up.

"You mean like how the Sex Pistols and the Doors came along and changed everything?" he wonders. "Oh, I see what you're saying now." He loves Joy Division – Ian Curtis, Hitler and late US comedian Bernie Mac would be his three perfect interviewees – and the idea of Berlin. "I've never been there but I'm expecting it to be fuckin' grimy and scary and dark, but like a really beautiful place once you look past it," he says.

You really couldn't ask for a more pithy encapsulation of the OF aesthetic. But what about those lyrics, Tyler?

"I usually just say what I'm feeling at the time, what I think is cool," he replies. "It's sporadic. It's the first things that come in my head. Like the word 'goblin'," he says, referring to the title of his imminent solo album and first official release. "It randomly came to me. Goblins are little mischievous fucks."

Brought up by his mother, a former social worker, much of the rage in his music is directed at his father, who abandoned him, and at women, for whom he reserves his most chilling put-downs.

"I don't know where that anger comes from," he reflects. "It's just this dark place that I go to when I'm alone. We all do."

Does he not consider the effect his music might have? "I never think of that. I just make shit I want to listen to. Not everyone's got to like it."

Tyler still lives with his mother and he claims she doesn't listen to his lyrics, but she has been seen at OF gigs, getting off on the music. "She just supports her son doing what he always wanted to do, being on the cover of magazines, so she can show her friends," he laughs. "I know if I was a parent and my son was on fuckin' TV, I would look past any negative shit he said and just support my kid."

'They're some of the nicest people you will ever meet. We play, we joke, we have fun. None of us wanted to grow up. This is how we keep our innocence' - OF DJ-engineer, Syd Tha Kid

And yet, for all Tyler's debased language and casual use of the word "faggot" in conversation, he and OF are not feral skatekids rampaging across the States on a diet of pills and "purple drank" cough syrup. He might announce, "I'm bad milk – drink it" on Bastard, and he might lurch around on stage in a ski mask, but actually he's a teetotal non-smoker who doesn't touch coffee.

"I'm a pretty nice dude," he says. "I have fun and people take it the wrong way. Like when I start making fun of people and fucking with them, it's just funny to me."

Is there anything he wouldn't rap about? He pauses for a moment:

"Not that I know of yet."

Has he ever been offended by anything? "Somebody called me a homophobe. I'm not homophobic. I just say 'faggot' and use 'gay' as an adjective to describe stupid shit."

Enter Syd "Tha Kyd" Bennett. She's engineered most of the group's recordings in the guest house at the back of her "upper-middle class" (her phrase) parents' home. Still only 19, she used to be a business student; she also happens to be gay. Does her presence allow the boys to "get away with it"?

"In a sense it does," she says, although she adds that, "Even if I wasn't here, they'd still be saying the same stuff." Asked whether she condones the use of brutal language against women, she replies that she must do; after all, she says, "I mixed it all. I listened to those tracks millions of times."

She argues that "offensive words don't deserve their value, their power", and that they're just words. "He [Tyler] isn't necessarily saying, 'I want to rape so-and-so.' They're just sick, twisted fantasies that he's had, based on girls that have hurt him in the past. A lot of people have sick, twisted fantasies, so why not give them something to relate to?"

She considers her male Wolf Gang members "some of the nicest people you will ever meet. We play, we joke, we have fun. None of us wanted to grow up. This is how we keep our innocence."

Just when you're reeling from the idea of OF as joyous naifs, you read Tyler's Twitter feed, where he's declaring his intention to slap a child at the airport for wearing a Donald Duck hat.

"Yeah, she wouldn't shut the fuck up," says Tyler of his message. "I didn't want her to have it [the hat]. Stupid little bitch. I shoulda socked her ass. See? A six-foot-two black guy talking about socking a seven-year-old Asian kid in the face … that's funny to me!"

Early in my career at the Guardian, Bruce Brugmann, the editor, warned me about certain kinds of stories. “You know,” he said, “you can always find a welfare cheat.” It’s true: if you look hard enough, you can always find someone, somewhere, who’s getting an extra welfare check or scamming the system for a few bucks -- and if that’s what you write about, you start to give the impression that everyone’s cheating on welfare, and that maybe we ought to crack down on the thieving bastards.

 

But the problem with welfare isn’t the handful of cheats -- it’s the fact that most deserving people can’t get enough money to live on. And there are far more, bigger cheaters in the executive suites.<!--break-->

I thought about that when I read Elizabeth Lesly Stevens’ story in the Bay Citizen about poor Wayne Koniuk.

Listen:

By trade, Koniuk fashions artificial limbs for amputees. By habit, he fits prostheses at no charge for people who cannot pay. This has left him a less-than-wealthy man.

 

But he does have one substantial asset: a Divisadero Street building that his father, Walter, an orthotist, bought in 1970 and gave to his only son in 2001 so Wayne could run his business on the ground floor and Wayne’s adult children would always have a place to live.

 

“For eternity,” Koniuk recalls his father saying, “my grandkids will always have a place they can go. No matter whatever happens, that building should stay in the family.”

 

A small problem has come up: Koniuk wants to evict his longtime tenant so his 24-year-old son can have the apartment. And since the tenant is over 60 -- and has done nothing wrong, paid his rent on time and been well behaved for roughly 30 years -- it’s not easy to get rid of him.

 

Koniuk, who himself lives in suburban Belmont, gave a half-interest in the building to his older son in 2007 so he could evict a tenant and move in himself. But under San Francisco’s extraordinarily pro-tenant housing laws, landlords can do this only once per building. 

 

I like that: extraordinarily pro-tenant housing laws.

 

The sob story of the poor landlord even registered with Sup. Ross Mirkarimi, who has never once voted against single piece of pro-tenant legislation:

 

“Vacancy rates are going up because owners have decided to take their units off the market,” said Ross Mirkarimi, a progressive member of the Board of Supervisors. He attributes that response to “peaking frustrations in dealing with the range of laws that protect tenants in San Francisco that make it difficult for small property owners to thrive.”

 

Well: Where do I start?

 

Maybe with the obvious: San Francisco is, overall, an extraordinarily tough place to be a tenant right now -- and an extraordinarily excellent place to be a landlord. Between soaring rents and Prop. 13, virtually anyone who owns rental housing in this city is doing well. The pitiful tales of the poor broke landlord who can’t afford the upkeep are, frankly, mostly tales. I have heard hundreds of them over the years. In every single case, it turns out the landlord was a lot better off than he or she claimed.

 

There’s a good reason for that: San Francisco residential property is immensely valuable. The city’s only 49 square miles, most of it is built up, and almost nobody’s building new rental housing. Yeah, there are dips, but over the past 50 years, property values have gone in only one direction -- and thanks to Prop. 13, if you bought the building more than a week ago, your taxes are less than what they ought to be.

 

There are, indeed, tenants who pay less than market rent, mostly people who have lived in their apartments for a long time and have been protected by rent control -- and have somehow avoided the fate that awaits Koniak’s tenant, Robert Murphy, which is eviction.

 

Murphy pays “only” $525 a month, which seems like nothing compared to the $2,000 or more that Koniak could probably get for the unit today. But keep in mind: That rent was set 30 years ago, when it was more than adequate to cover his share of the landlord’s mortgage, property taxes and maintenance. When Koniak’s dad bought the place, the building was worth a fraction of its current value. I’m pretty sure the mortgage payments didn’t go up (not as many variable-rate deals back then) -- and the property taxes are essentially frozen under Prop. 13. Why should Murphy’s rent go up?

 

That’s the whole idea of rent control -- not to deny landlords a reasonable rate of return on their investments, but to ensure that tenants aren’t punished if property values soar out of control.

 

And let’s remember: Koniak didn’t pay a penny for the place -- he inherited it from his dad. And he owns it free and clear; he confirmed to me when we talked that the original mortgage was paid off long ago. He complained about the cost of maintenance, but read the story carefully -- he gave one of the units to his son, which was lovely but was also his choice. He could have been getting rent from that unit if he wanted more maintenance money. By moving your kids into a building, you become in essence a single-family homeowner. When I have to do maintenance on my house, it comes out of my pocket. That’s just how it is.

 

And Stevens’ line about Koniak being a “less than wealthy man” seems a bit of a stretch. He owns a home in Belmont. He owns (free and clear) a building in the city worth well over $1 million. His mother owns another rental building just down the street, as well as a home in the Sunset. “Over the years,” he told me, “my dad bought up properties in the city, and fixed them up and sold them or gave them to his kids.”

 

And why does he need to evict Murphy? Because, he told me, his son, who is now 24, has moved out of the family home, and Koniak is paying $1,200 a month to cover his son’s rent. If he could just get more money out of Murphy, he said, he wouldn’t evict him -- “I could just use that money to pay my son’s rent someplace else.”

 

Well: Good for Mr. Koniak, paying his 24-year-old son’s rent. Again, though, it’s a choice -- my parents didn’t pay my rent when I was 24. Most parents don’t. I’m glad this not-wealthy landlord feels he can afford it -- but that doesn’t mean a 30-year tenant, a retired union worker who is living on a fixed income, should lose his home.

 

There’s a fundamental misunderstanding in all of this about the relations between a tenant and landlord and how rental housing is, and should be, treated in San Francisco. I’ll give you my bias, first: I believe that in a city with a world-class housing crisis, and that’s San Francisco, housing should be regulated like a public utility. Landlords should be allowed a reasonable rate of return on their investment, but should not be allowed speculative profit -- and should have no financial incentive to evict long-term tenants.

 

That’s impossible thanks to state law, which bars rent controls on vacant apartments and allows landlords to evict tenants whenever they want and sell the units as tenancies in common, or backdoor condos.

 

So the best we can do is use the regulatory powers that we have -- and they ought to start with the notion (well established in law, and not just in San Francisco) that a tenant who pays rent on time and creates no nuisance has as much right to his unit as the landlord does. It ought to be okay for people to rent apartments and live in them for 30 or 40 years -- and know, just as homeowners do, what the monthly nut will be when they retire.

 

I feel bad for Wayne Koniak, who seems like a nice guy and a good human being. I feel much worse for his tenant, who is decidedly NOT rich and will have a huge burden paying market rent in this city right now. In fact, if he’s evicted, I don’t know where he’s ever going to find a place to live. He certainly won’t find a comparable place.

 

Now onto the claim that landlords are holding units vacant because they don’t like tenant-protection laws. First, if that’s true, in this city, and this market, right now, it ought to be a crime -- it’s like a store withholding food and water from local residents after an earthquake because it might be more valuable later. The city has the right in a housing emergency to make laws strongly discouraging landlords from keeping housing vacant. The Rent Board ought to study this, and the supervisors ought to act. At the very least, the city ought to have a special tax on vacant residential units.

 

But I’m not entirely sure how much of that is really going on. Ted Gullicksen at the San Francisco Tenants Union told me it’s pretty rare: “That’s always been a big myth that the property owners put out.” he said. (I remember in the early days of rent control, when landlords insisted that nobody would ever build new rental housing in a city with rent control laws. So San Francisco exempted all new housing from rent control. Didn’t make a damn bit of difference; nobody builds rental housing anyway, because condos are more profitable.)

 

Stevens, who was very nice and polite when I called her and is a professional reporter who has done some excellent work, told me she didn’t want to talk to me for the record but would be glad to respond to comments on the Bay Citizen website. She pointed to a map of census data showing vacant buildings in San Francisco.

 

Gullicksen says his read of the data shows that most of the vacant units tend to be unsold condos; the highest concentration is in the Soma/South Beach area where the new condos have been built (and it’s no secret that a lot of them are vacant).

 

Check it out for yourself. The map function isn’t easy to use, but unless I’m reading the data wrong, the census tract with the most vacant housing is in the Mission Bay area, and the tracts that cover the Mission, the Haight and other tenant-heavy areas have a much smaller percentage of vacancies.

 

Now, there probably are landlords who keep units vacant; as I say, that ought to be a crime, but it isn’t. But it’s a bid odd for Ross Mirkarimi to talk about this situation the way Stevens quoted him, particularly his line about laws that "make it difficult for small property owners to thrive.”

 

Mirkarimi told me that he got involved in the case because Koniak is “a constituent.” (So, by the way, is Murphy.) He reminded me that he’s been one of the best pro-tenant votes on the board (absolutely true). And he told me, for the record, very clearly, that he does NOT favor any relaxation of tenant laws or changes in the restrictions on owner-move-in evictions. “I would never want to change the protections for tenants against evictions,” he said.

 

I reminded him of the bottom line: Small property owners in San Francisco ARE thriving. The vast majority are doing far better financially than their tenants. This myth of the poor starving property owner with the rich greedy tenants is, frankly, so much horsepucky it’s hard to hear it without screaming.

 

In the comments section of the story, Stevens goes further on her interview with Mirkarimi:

 

Mr. Koniuk showed Mr. Mirkarimi the letter demanding $70,000. Mr. Koniuk had offered $45,000. (TBC also has a copy of the letter, and I spoke with the attorney who wrote it). When speaking with me, Mr. Mirkarimi said that "my jaw dropped" when he read the letter. "That letter is negotiated extortion, legitimized," he said, by the tenant/landlord laws as they have evolved in SF. The Koniuk episode "revealed how greed or special interest can shift [power] to the other [tenant] side."

 

Mirkarimi and I went back and forth on this for a while, and in the end, he told me that the statements in the Bay Citizen story “do not reflect my views or my record.” I think that’s true; I think he just got caught up in this one story of this one guy with a situation that isn’t at all the way it looks at first.

 

I mean, "extortion?" Seriously? What’s wrong with Murphy asking for $70,000 to move out? I don’t think that’s anywhere near enough. As another commenter noted:

 

You portray the tenant as "greedy" for asking for $70k but is it fair to do so without also stating the fair market value of the property? $70k on a building worth 2 million doesn't sound so "greedy" specifically when the displaced tenant has to try to find a equivalent unit at market rate; just a guess but that cost per month I'd estimate at close to $3,000/month... do the math $70/3= 2 years at the higher rent. Doesn't appear so "greedy", to me.

 

Here’s what’s fair: Koniak wants Murphy out so he can move in his son (who presumably won’t be paying rent at all). Fine: he should offer his tenant enough money to rent a comparable apartment in the city for the rest of his life. That’s what Murphy has now -- the right to live in his apartment, at a controlled rent, until he dies. And he has a legal, moral and public-policy right to stay there.

 

That way I see it, Koniak wants to buy from Murphy the right to occupy that apartment. He wants to buy the unit for his son. He ought to pay fair market value -- enough to allow Murphy to buy or rent a similar place at a similar monthly payment.

 

The commenters who says that’s not fair because Koniak “owns” the building

 

Don't forget Murphy does not OWN the building, he pays for the privilege to live there; he has no right to it otherwise.

 

are missing a fundamental point. Ownership of residential property in San Francisco is not a single, simple right. It’s a bundle of rights and restrictions. I, for example, own a house in Bernal Heights. I do not own the right to demolish it and replace it with a gas station. (In fact, I don’t have the right to demolish it at all unless I can make a very good case for doing so.) I don’t have the right to drill for oil under the house. I don’t have the right to open a dog kennel in the house. I don’t have the right to add a second unit in the basement and rent it out.

 

If you buy, or inherit, a building with a longtime tenant in it, your rights as an owner are restricted. You don’t have the right to evict that person or raise the rent except under very limited circumstances. Murphy’s right to live in that house is every bit as solid as the rights of my neighbors not to see my house torn down and replaced with a Burger King.

 

That’s been a basic principle of real property law for a long time now. Some libertarians don’t like it, but most of society has come to accept it.

 

It doesn’t matter what Koniak’s dad wanted; he left his son a building with a tenant in it, and thus he left a property with use restrictions. His dad could have gone to his grave dreaming that his son would turn the place into an amusement park, but that wasn’t going to happen either.

 

If all of this makes it tough on the poor landlords, I’m sorry: they knew, or should have know, the rules when they got into the landlord business. And virtually all of them can get out easily by selling the building -- at a profit -- to somebody else who realizes that residential property in San Francisco is, and has always been, an excellent financial investment.

 

Hi David,

I have a question for you.  I work on the 3200 block of Van Ness.  The parking in front of the building is an island in the center of the street, there are spots on each side of the island, and there is a 4-hour limit. Last week I lucked out and found a spot right in front of the building.  Four hours later I went to move my car and somebody four spots down happened to be moving at the same time so I took that spot. 

Well, I got a ticket saying I parked over the 4 hour limit.  Not true, I moved my car 4 spots away.  Is that legal to just move a few spots down and park for 4 more hours or is there a restriction?  Or did the meter maid just have me logged on that block and I got a ticket because they thought I was in the same spot?
 
Not only is the parking in front of the building 4 hours, the parking the rest of the way down Van Ness toward the pier is also 4-hour parking. I want to be sure I understand the law so I don't get another ticket.
 
Thanks for your help!
E. R.
 
Dear E.R.,
Sorry about your ticket.  It's such a drag to spend your hard-earned money on a parking ticket.  Exceeding the posted time limit is a parking violation that 41,932 people were cited for last year and fined $60. You were partially correct in that the parking officer had you logged into that block, and that there is a restriction. The law is that you have to move to another block, not a few spots up or down the block, or even to the other side of the street, but you have to cross a cross street and park on an entirely new block.

The DPT officers used to use chalk (and some still do) to put a mark on your tire and then come back to see if you've overstayed your welcome. People would just wipe it off, or move a few spots, or roll their tires half a rotation to hide the chalk.
 
Now, most officers have handheld electronic tracking computers that will log your license plate as being parked on a specific block. When they come back to that block in 2 or 4 hours, if you are still parked anywhere on that block, you will get a ticket. And, while they're at it, they will check to see if you've racked up a number of unpaid citations, and if so, will order a boot for your car.
 
I know of one crafty DPT officer who will use chalk as a decoy in conjunction with the electronic tracker.  So, you move your car a little to rotate the tire to hide the chalk, and come back to find a parking ticket, and are puzzled as to how they knew.
 
Thanks for writing E.R.. Most people don't know about this law, and many other laws. That's why close to 2 million tickets are given out each year, and also why I thought of compressing all that pertinent information into a user-friendly reference book.  If you'd like your very own with all the rules, tips and tricks that neither your mother, your father, nor your parking instructor told you about, click here.  

 

It's no secret that parking in the city is a bitch. So we've enlisted local parking guru and author of  Finding the Sweet Spot, David LaBua, to dish out weekly tips on navigating the ins and outs of city parking.

This common South American mystery bird has a very unusual nesting behaviour compared to its close relatives

Mystery Bird photographed at Cartagena, Colombia (South America). [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: Kevin Sharp [velociraptorize].

This common South American mystery bird has a very unusual nesting behaviour compared to other species in the same taxonomic group. What is that behaviour? Can you name this species?

About the Daily Mystery Bird:

The Rules:

1. Keep in mind that people live in 24 different time zones, and some people are following on their iPhones. So let everyone play the game. Don't spoil it for everyone else by identifying the bird in the first 24 to 36 hours.
2. If you know the bird's identity, provide subtle hints to let others know that you know. Your hints may be helpful as small clues to less experienced players.
3. Describe the key field marks that distinguish this species from any similar ones.
4. Comments that spoil others' enjoyment may be deleted.

The Game:

1. This is meant to be a learning experience where together we learn a few things about birds and about the process of identifying them (and maybe about ourselves, too).
2. Each mystery bird is usually accompanied by a question or two. These questions can be useful for identifying the pictured species, but may instead be used to illustrate an interesting aspect of avian biology, behaviour or evolution, or may be intended to generate conversation on other topics, such as conservation or ethics.
3. Thoughtful comments will add to everyone's enjoyment, and will keep the suspense going until the next teaser is published. Interesting snippets may add to the knowledge of all.
4. Each bird species will be demystified approximately 48 hours after publication.

You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.

If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at The Guardian, feel free to contact me to learn more.

.

email: grrlscientist@gmail.com
twitter: @GrrlScientist

Santander took more than two months to reply to my complaint after it blocked my account in January

My international student account at Santander's Aberdeen branch was blocked for no reason on 11 January. I was planning to leave Aberdeen that night and, since my account was blocked, I had no funds. I was stranded overnight without money, food or shelter in the freezing cold, while also suffering from ill health. My account was unblocked only the next day close to noon.

I sent a letter of complaint to the Aberdeen branch but it did not respond for over two months. Finally, Santander apologised and credited my account with £60 as a goodwill gesture but, because I am utterly disappointed with the delay in response, I am planning to take this up with the ombudsman. However, the bank will not send me its final response. SU, Aberdeen

This highlights how financial institutions can continue to be difficult even after a complaint is "resolved". Banks have eight weeks to look into your complaint before the financial ombudsman can investigate.

The ombudsman aims to settle most disputes within six to nine months. Cynics might argue that Santander was delaying sending you the letter as a means of preventing an investigation. But this is unlikely as the bank (whether you liked its response or not) has apologised and offered compensation for its original mistake, and you remain well within the ombudsman's six-month time limit from when you get a final decision from the company about how it is going to deal with the matter.

Santander says there was no intention to delay. A spokeswoman added: "We are sorry to hear of the difficulties the reader experienced. He is now in possession of our final decision letter and is able to exercise his right to approach the financial ombudsman regarding this issue."

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@guardian.co.uk or write to Brignall & King, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number

Yesterday’s post didn't even scratch the surface in terms of all the great tales in Alan Shepard's biography: how he viewed himself and his world, how he was viewed by others, and the complex emotional dynamics of the early Space Race.

The amazing author of Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard generously offered an autographed copy of his book for a blog prize, and even made time in his schedule for an interview, so I could satisfy some of the burning questions I had after reading his book.

For example... good grief, are test pilots completely CRAZY?


Test-pilot personalities seem such a paradoxical mix of precision and flamboyance. Alan Shepard claimed to hate the press, but clearly adored the spotlight. Your book was published 5 years after his death from Leukemia. Do you think he would have liked it? Or liked the attention from being the subject of a biography?

Neal Thompson: I'm pretty sure Shepard would have seriously disliked the idea of my book, and probably the book itself, too. And I think one reason no book had been written when he was alive was because he refused to cooperate with any potential biographers, and his friends did the same. Many of the people I contacted early on would say something like, "Al wouldn't have wanted me to talk about this." But I think in time some of those sources realized his life story was an important one that deserved to be told. It is true, though, that he hated the press but didn't mind the celebrity status he achieved.

I think he liked managing the spotlight, and keeping reporters away from certain aspects of his story. The deal with Life magazine helped in that regard, and helped assure that, while he was alive, no one got close enough to tell the real story.

I was blown away by the amount of people you interviewed from every phase of Shepard's life. Most impressive was your in-depth research of WWII, his role in introducing jets to the naval fleet as propeller squadrons were retired, and his crossover into NASA at a time when our culture was in Sputnik-turmoil . Did you have a healthy interest in any of these historical eras before this book?

Neal Thompson: At the time of Shepard's death, I was covering the military (primarily the US Naval Academy and the NSA), so I already had an interest in military stories and, in general, stories about men living big lives. So when Shepard died, and I realized, to my surprise, that no one had yet told his full story, I knew I wanted to dig deep and really get to know who Shepard was.

This was tricky in the beginning, since man of his friends were reluctant to talk about him. But little by little I got through to people, and doors started opening. I also felt it was important to explore some of the lesser known aspects of his impressive life and career, such as his days as a carrier pilot. So much has been written about the space race, so I chose to find a fresh approach that showed not only what he did with NASA, but how and why he got to the point where he was chosen among the first 7 astronauts. To learn about the full breadth of his life, I felt that I had to talk to everybody.

Gordon Cooper called Shepard the "most complex" of the first astronauts, but NASA white-washed the "image" of the Mercury Seven, so we rarely see their multi-faceted humanity. However, his foibles brought him alive on the page for me, I admired how you didn't shun being truthful. While he was fascinating, brave and intelligent – he was also often arrogant, dismissive, and his adultery was no secret. Did you worry at all about revealing the "evil twin" of an American hero?

Neal Thompson: One reason I was drawn to Shepard's story was because his life is so rich with complexity and paradox. He was raised in a religious and disciplined family, but became a renowned rule-breaker, occasional hellion and undeclared agnostic. He was a good father and devoted husband, but not necessarily faithful. He was a top Navy pilot, but constantly battled against the Navy's rules, to the point of almost being court martialed. He was ruthlessly competitive but could also be generous, kind and extremely loyal. In short, he was fascinatingly complex. He was a human being, with exceptional qualities but also flaws. Learning about all facets of his personality made him seem more real to me, and I hope I achieved my goal of showing the man behind the white-washed NASA image of the man.

You absolutely did. He claimed the "Right Stuff" book and film were fiction, and disliked both. I for one am surprised that a separate film has never been made about him… but now that the 50th-year milestone has passed, perhaps someone will greenlight one. Do you think one ever will make his life story into a movie, and if it was made now, who do you picture playing Alan Shepard?

Neal Thompson: In recent Op-Eds that I wrote in advance of the 50th anniversary of Freedom 7, I describe how Shepard represented the iconic, bad-ass test pilot, how he dressed well and drank martinis and smoked cigars, how he was the epitome of Mad Men-era style and cool – he was basically Don Draper in a spacesuit. So, as for playing him on the big screen, how about Jon Hamm of Mad Men? I would love to see a Shepard-focused film some day, especially one that explores his mid-60s fight back from Meniere's Disease to eventually reach the moon.


Oh wow, yeah, how about John Hamm of Mad Men to play Alan Shepard! Check him out!

Elizabeth Rubin

Osama bin Laden’s death in a mansion in exclusive club house territory of retired Pakistani officers has exposed the terrible paradox at the heart of our war in Afghanistan—Pakistan’s hypocrisy and our acquiescence. Bin Laden’s Pakistani hosts, two rich businessmen called Arshad and Tariq Khan who owned the house and were killed with him, hail from Charsadda, 15 miles north of Peshawar. Their uncle was a retired Brigadier. (Arshad was apparently the courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, who led intelligence officials to the compound.) This is not a lawless land. This is highly controlled territory.

We give billions in aid to Pakistan’s military and civilian government. Yet Pakistan is harboring our enemies and even the enemies, one could argue, of its own healthy survival. Portions of our money are being funneled into the variety of insurgent networks whose fighters are killing American soldiers, Afghan soldiers, American civilians, Afghan civilians, European civilians, Pakistani civilians—mothers, fathers, children on multiple continents. Why, asks a US army major, did all his friends die in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province when the real problem is on the other side of the border? Why, asks a twelve-year-old Afghan girl in Kandahar whose family has been wiped out by US air strikes, are you bombing us? How has this come to pass?

In 2006, I traveled through Baluchistan and the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, meeting with many Taliban fighters. I described it at the time as a kind of Taliban spa that offered them rest and rehab between battles in Afghanistan to which they would be returning. But it was more than that. I met Afghan Taliban who’d tried to make a deal with the Afghan government to get back to a life without fighting. One told me he was then arrested by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, the ISI, and blackmailed—they would release him if he would resume fighting and dispense with notions of reconciliation. He rose up the ranks of the Taliban command, traveling freely between Quetta in Pakistan and Zabul, a province in Afghanistan, where he was an intelligence commander for Afghan Taliban fighting coalition forces.

Another young Afghan Taliban I met in Peshawar was involved in the production and distribution of propaganda and recruiting DVDs—beheadings, inspirational music videos, and killings of American soldiers, all set to Pashtun war songs. But after spending hours and hours with him, I noticed his anti-infidel rhetoric beginning to subside, and when the subject of the ISI’s operatives came up, his whole demeanor changed. “Snakes,” he called them. Their first offense, he said, was trying to oust Mullah Omar and create a more obedient Taliban leader—like Jalaluddin Haqqani, an old jihadi we once financed to fight the Soviets but who has now set up shop in Waziristan under ISI protection. (Along with his son Sirajuddin, Haqqani stages the big-media-grabbing attacks in Afghanistan but seems to abide by the rules of his hosts—no attacks against Pakistan. He also runs a virtual kidnapping factory in Waziristan and the Pakistanis have done nothing to stop it.)

Then he said:

I told you that we burn schools because they’re teaching Christianity, but actually, most of the Taliban don’t like this burning of schools or destroying of roads and bridges, because the Taliban, too, could use them. Those acts were being done under ISI orders. They don’t want progress in Afghanistan.

He told me about ISI orders to behead an Indian engineer who was captured (and these orders were later corroborated). “People are not telling the story, because no one can trust anyone,” he told me. “And if the ISI knew I told you, I’d be fucked.”

That was 2006. Since then, just about everyone has learned the rules of the game: The ISI will continue to support the various jihadi groups (like Lashkar-e-Taiba) in order to attack and intimidate India, and get what it wants in Afghanistan—more or less a semi-independent extension of Pakistan. In 2008, American intelligence even proved definitively what Afghans and Indians on the ground already knew: that the deadly attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul was planned with the help of the ISI.

And it isn’t just the ISI that is supporting the Taliban. During my travels through Pakistan, I had a long discussion about the Pakistan Army’s conflicted loyalties with Najam Sethi, the longtime editor of Lahore’s Friday Times. What does it want? Where does it stand? The Pakistani military retains a secular strain, but religion is central to its ideology. Since its inception in 1947, its raison d’etre has been to defend the Muslim world. This mission, however, is constantly undermined by the fact that, while Pakistan was founded as a refuge for South Asia’s Muslims, more Muslims live in India, and most of the attacks by the militant groups it supports have ended up killing fellow Muslims. There is a contradiction at the heart of the Pakistani Army and it’s expressed in what everyone has come to call Pakistan’s “double game.”

The military officers I met—many of them retired, living better than bin Laden, in lavish Latin-American style mansions with pure-bred dogs, English-style cooks, and manicured lawns—spoke to me as if they envied the jihadists’ clarity of purpose, their moral vision. In Sethi’s view, the military also harbors “a degree of self-disgust for selling themselves” to the Americans. They are still angry with the US for abandoning them after the Afghan jihad, and for sanctioning them over the nuclear program. The standard army phrase about their treatment by the Americans was, Sethi said, “They used us like a condom.”

Despite these widely held sentiments and the evidence against a strong alliance, US diplomats and generals have tried to sustain the image of close cooperation.

In 2010, I had the chance to ask Secretary of Defense Robert Gates about the US relationship with Pakistan. He’d just been to the country to urge its generals to go after the jihadists, the Taliban, and the Haqqani network. I asked Gates how he could possibly consider Afshaq Kayani, the chief of the Pakistani army, an ally. “It’s frustrating,” Gates told me. I waited for more, but nothing came. Your silence says a lot, I said. “Well, I was very specific in a couple of my meetings in looking at them point-blank and saying, ‘Haqqani and his people are killing my troops. I’ve got a problem with that,’” Gates responded. And what did they say, I asked. Gates is all control, but he cracked a small smile as he said: “They listened.”

Admiral Mike Mullen has spent the better part of the first two years of the Obama administration—hours and hours of flight time, face time, and phone time—cultivating a strong relationship with Kayani. Up until recently, Kayani’s Wikipedia entry said that he counted Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, as a close friend and ally. That line has now been removed. US officials maintain they don’t think that Kayani or ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha had direct knowledge themselves about bin Laden. But even before Sunday’s assassination of bin Laden, a friend of mine told me that when he recently saw Mullen the admiral seemed puzzled by the breakdown of the relationship. “What relationship?” my friend asked. “[Kayani] was never on your side.”

Or as an advisor to Ambassador Holbrooke told me not long before Holbrooke died: “We see Pakistan as a flawed ally and the Afghan Taliban as our enemy. The truth is the reverse.” It is the Taliban, the advisor suggested, who can be worked with; they who distrust—and in many cases despise—the ISI overlords they depend on for safe havens and support. All along they’ve let it be known through different channels that they want to talk directly to the Americans. The question is how?

Will the revelation that bin Laden and family were dwelling in a newly built Pakistani Army mansion not far from the capital finally change the nature of the strange dance between the US and Pakistan? One wonders how good and smart men and women are taken in by diplomatic friendships, how they allow themselves to believe lies they know to be lies, or worse, settle for the lie because it seems there’s no way out, no creative solution to change the trusted old forms of diplomacy or the definitions of enemy and ally.

Of course at the heart of the problem lies Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. We’d rather our Pakistani army enemy controls it than our Pakistani Taliban enemy. But will we ever know who is who, and can we tell them apart? And so our policy in Pakistan has collided with the Lot equation: How many righteous men must there be for God to save Sodom and Gomorrah, asks Abraham. And when God says fifty, Abraham keeps lowering the number. What if there is just one? How many American, Afghan, Pakistani, European casualties are worth keeping this Catch-22 policy alive?

The killing of Osama bin Laden has created a series of dilemmas for the left. My colleagues have detailed the debt owed the Bush Administration which the current administration juvenilely and churlishly refuses to acknowledge ( here | here). And many on my side are willing “to give the president credit” for doing his duty. According to reports bin Laden’s location has been known to the administration since March with the same degree of certainty that existed on May 1, so I fail to see what credit is really due unless we are saying that indecisiveness is a virtue.

Bin Laden’s death will eventually be seen as the unofficial end of the US assault on al Qaeda. We will leave a war not won and forsake a victory that would make the world a safer place simply because Barack Obama doesn’t have the guts to prevail. What is worse, he wants to give the impression of being serious.

Intelligence is the key tool in fighting any war. Technical means are valuable but the only way you can obtain insights into the enemy’s operations and intentions is through prisoners.

Taking prisoners and getting intelligence from them carries with it three implications: 1) you have a place to keep them, 2) you have a means to extract the information from them in a timely fashion, and 3) you have a plan for what to do with the prisoners when their intelligence value is exhausted.

Even though Obama has backed off his efforts to close the prison at Guantanamo this does not mean he is supportive of its presence. In fact, the easy way to close the prison is to simply stop adding new prisoners while releasing those prisoners held. If you aren’t going to vigorously interrogate the prisoners, because as Leon Panetta reminds us waterboarding does work, why bother taking them in the first place. Lest anyone think this administration will relent on an policy that succeeded in keeping us safe you need look no further than this exchange at Ground Zero between Obama and a member of the 9/11 families group, Debra Burlingame

If you don’t want to watch the video, this is the story:

When the president approached her table, Burlingame said she told him that as a former attorney she knows he can’t tell the attorney general what to do – an assessment the president agreed with, she said.

“And I said, but that shouldn’t stop you from offering your opinion. After all, we wouldn’t be here celebrating today if they hadn’t done their job,” she said. “And they have the hammer of a possible indictment over their heads. Can’t you at least give him your opinion?”

The president replied that he wouldn’t, she said. She added, “And he turned around and walked away.”

As Jennifer Rubin notes

In addition to eliminating the very techniques that allowed us to track down and kill bin Laden, Obama has permitted the Justice Departmentto reopen investigation of previously cleared CIA operatives. Muskaey explains: “ I say ‘reopening’ advisedly because those investigations had all been formally closed by the end of 2007, with detailed memoranda prepared by career Justice Department prosecutors explaining why no charges were warranted. Attorney General Eric Holder conceded that he had ordered the investigations reopened in September 2009 without reading those memoranda. The investigations have now dragged on for years with prosecutors chasing allegations down rabbit holes, with the CIA along with the rest of the intelligence community left demoralized.”

Having a animus against both holding and interrogating prisoners, the administration has developed a novel means of reducing prisoner intake while giving the illusion of actively pursuing al Qaeda. We have simply started killing people who we should be taking prisoner. First, let me say that I do not fault the SEALs for killing Osama bin Laden. In my view he falls into a unique category of prisoner whose continued presence would cause problems far beyond the value of any intelligence he could provide.

According to the Washington Post:

When a window of opportunity opened to strike the leader of al-Qaeda in East Africa last September, U.S. Special Operations forces prepared several options. They could obliterate his vehicle with an airstrike as he drove through southern Somalia. Or they could fire from helicopters that could land at the scene to confirm the kill. Or they could try to take him alive.

The White House authorized the second option. On the morning of Sept. 14, helicopters flying from a U.S. ship off the Somali coast blew up a car carrying Saleh Ali Nabhan. While several hovered overhead, one set down long enough for troops to scoop up enough of the remains for DNA verification. Moments later, the helicopters were headed back to the ship.

The strike was considered a major success, according to senior administration and military officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the classified operation and other sensitive matters. But the opportunity to interrogate one of the most wanted U.S. terrorism targets was gone forever.

The Nabhan decision was one of a number of similar choices the administration has faced over the past year as President Obama has escalated U.S. attacks on the leadership of al-Qaeda and its allies around the globe. The result has been dozens of targeted killings and no reports of high-value detentions.

To say the least, this is not a man who has learned anything about fighting the War on Terror from the death of bin Laden, rather he sees the death of bin Laden as nothing more or less than a monkey that is no longer on his back and it gives him good reason to declare victory both in Afghanistan and in the War on Terror in general.

Our ability to kill or capture terrorists, roll up their networks, and interfere with their operations is being degraded by the lack of fresh information while the administration continues to act like a tee ball team, all the while talking about its “gutsy call.”

I’m continually fascinated by how some people — myself included — fret over relatively small expenses because they seem out of proportion, and nothing winds me up like SMS text messages. These 160-character messages cost cellular carriers literally next to nothing, and yet they’re priced so usuriously that they give new meaning to being “nickeled and dimed.” One researcher even calculated that it’s significantly cheaper to communicate with the Hubble Space Telescope, and there’s a wonderful article that calculates how much it would cost to transmit a 4 MB MP3 via SMS.

Of course, if your thumbs have dents from hundreds of thousands of text messages, the cost is probably immaterial — you’re likely happy paying a fixed monthly fee for unlimited text messaging (and the cellular carriers are still making plenty of profit from you).

No, the people who cringe every time the iPhone buzzes with a new text message are those, like me, who use text messaging sufficiently infrequently that it doesn’t make financial sense to buy even the smallest bundle of text messages.

(From AT&T, bundles cost $10 per month for 1000 SMS or MMS messages, $20 for unlimited, or $30 for unlimited for the entire family. Verizon Wireless charges $5 per month for 250 SMS or MMS messages, $10 for 500 messages, or $20 for 5000 messages. If you don’t choose a plan, you’ll pay AT&T $0.20 per SMS text message or $0.30 per MMS multimedia message; Verizon’s equivalent charges are $0.20 and $0.25. iPhone users in other countries may now commence giggling at us poor U.S. provincials.)

So those of us who can’t stomach coughing up nearly as much for text messages as we pay for far-more-useful 3G data are stuck paying $0.20 to $0.30 per message. Many of us begrudge the cell carriers every penny of it, especially when we never come close to using all the voice minutes or megabytes of data we’re required to pay for as well. It’s not that a quarter is a lot of money; it’s the unholy combination of knowing that the resources consumed cost as close to zero as possible and that the value to us is nearly as low.

If my math is right, sending 160 characters (140 bytes, due to SMS’s 7-bit encoding) via AT&T’s DataPlus plan ($15 for 200 MB) would cost $0.00001 (1500 cents divided by 209715200 bytes, multiplied by 140 bytes and divided by 100 to get it back into dollars). That’s a thousandth of a cent! So an SMS message costs 20,000 times more than the equivalent amount of data via the same carrier.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not arguing from any sort of a Luddite position here. I know full well how to send and receive text messages, and Tonya and I have even spoken with our parents about how texting is now a required 21st century skill, since text messages can slip through when the cellular coverage is minimal or in disaster scenarios when cell networks are otherwise overwhelmed (see “Peering Inside a Mobile Phone Network,” 6 October 2008).

Nonetheless, since there are so few people I communicate with regularly via text message, I’ve started using a service and iOS app combination called Textie. Textie is free, supporting itself via ads interspersed within the messages you view and via direct payments from those who are willing to pay $1.99 to turn the ads off. Although I’ve mostly used Textie on the iPhone, it also works on the iPad, where it has a full native interface, and the iPod touch, neither of which can normally use SMS messaging.

Once you download and install the Textie app, setup involves teaching it your email addresses and phone numbers, since that’s how Textie knows to route incoming messages to your copy of the app, alerting you via push notification, just as an SMS text message would. If another Textie user sends you a message via an unknown phone number or email address, Textie will still deliver it, but via normal SMS or email instead.

After that, using Textie is eerily like using Apple’s Messages app. The main screen listing existing conversations is nearly identical, with the only notable differences being Textie’s Settings button and refresh button at the bottom of the screen. An Edit button lets you delete unwanted conversations and a compose button lets you start a new conversation, messages in which can contain both text and an attached picture.

Within a conversation, the look is just a little different, with Textie going beyond Messages by offering three different text sizes and conversation bubble colors, selectable in Textie’s Appearance settings. And of course, there are the ads, which are custom designed to mingle within the messages and thus don’t bother me at all. If they bother you, they can be turned off for a $1.99 in-app payment. Textie mimics the Call and Contact Info buttons at the top of the conversation, and adds a Load Older Messages button for pulling older messages back out of Textie’s local database. In both the wide-screen iPad interface and the smaller iPhone interface, you can even swipe over any individual message to delete it, as you can see in the iPad screenshot.

Textie’s settings also let you turn off the message preview in push notifications (in case you don’t want others to be able to read the message without unlocking the phone) and display the sender’s verified address for additional identification. I hate getting SMS messages from unknown numbers since people seldom identify themselves. You can also turn message sounds on or off.

One neat Textie feature in the Social Networking settings is the capability to see which of your friends already use Textie. The way this works is clever, and much better than the way many services import your entire address book. Instead, Textie reads and scrambles all the email addresses in Contacts with a one-way hash, meaning it can’t be reversed (for privacy reasons). Then it compares those scrambled addresses with equivalently scrambled addresses for all users on the Textie server and displays a list of those addresses in Contacts that match addresses of Textie users.

You can use Textie to send and receive text messages with anyone who has an email address anywhere in the world, and you can also use it to send text messages to any U.S.-based mobile phone number. Apparently, international cellular carriers generally lack the email gateways that Textie relies on in the United States.

With email, Textie appears to deliver the message from your “sending as” address, but sets the Reply-To header such that replies should go back through Textie. Textie messages to normal mobile phones are similar, in that replies also come back through to Textie even though they appear to come from some random phone number (they include your name, so the recipient knows who the message is from). The very first mobile phone text message someone receives from a Textie user includes some text explaining what Textie is, since recipients were being confused. Subsequent messages to the same number don’t include the explanation.

Overall, Tonya and I have found Textie extremely easy to use and entirely reliable, with one unsurprising exception. While we were on our recent trip to Boulder, I got up early one morning to run the famous Magnolia Road. I didn’t think my iPhone would have good coverage and didn’t want to carry it on a 15-mile run, but it was important that Tonya knew when I started so she could call out the dogs if I didn’t come back in a reasonable amount of time.

When I arrived at the start of the run, up an insanely steep and switchbacked road that climbed to an elevation of over 8000 feet, my iPhone was desperately trying to hold onto a single bar of signal, and when I attempted to use Textie to send Tonya a message that I was starting the run, it failed. Textie was happy to let me retry the message, but since it relies on an Internet connection rather than the SMS network, it stood no chance of working without a data signal.

I switched to the Messages app, sent Tonya an SMS text message for $0.40 ($0.20 for me to send, $0.20 for her to receive) and headed out on my run. I repeated the process when I was done, and with her eventual reply to me, we racked up $1.20 for what was probably less than 400 bytes and fewer words than are in this sentence.

With Textie, the cost of those three sent-and-received messages might have been $0.00012 (Textie messages aren’t quite as small as SMS messages, but they’re so small even the developers haven’t bothered to check, given server compression and other message-related communications). Or, since our AT&T family plan offers free mobile-to-mobile calling within AT&T’s network and free unlimited calling to a set list of numbers, had there been voice coverage, I could have talked to Tonya and others for the entire 2 hour run for free.

So no, $1.20 isn’t a lot of money, until you start comparing it to $0.00006 via Textie. If we both sent and received just 50 normal text messages per month, it would be worth paying $10 per month each for AT&T’s 1000-message bundle, and that’s $240 per year for the two of us, which counts as real money in my book. Especially when compared with the $0.14 that 1200 text messages might cost us via Textie.

$240 for SMS versus 14 cents for Textie. I’ll be using Textie.

 

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Perhaps you may have gotten the idea that the ladies in The Witcher 2 are merely objectified eye candy for the teenage male-adolescent player. Nothing could be farther from the truth, besides the fact that the game is not for teenagers in the first place.

From the first 8 hours or so I've played, the female characters were actually among the strongest and most capable characters Geralt encounters. Then again, all the male characters are either rapists, suffer from a case of excessive bravado, need rescuing, are worse schemers than Wormtongue, or are just obscenity-shouting idiots.

So, courtesy of CD Projekt RED, here is a look at some of the female characters in The Witcher 2!

Triss Merigold

Blessed with radiant natural beauty and flowing auburn tresses that make her impossible to forget, Triss Merigold was once considered a modest if promising student of magic. While it’s true that the mightiest sorceresses still surpass her powers, none can deny her their respect, not after she helped defeat the sinister Salamandra and quell the rebellious Order of the Flaming Rose. The wisdom and courage she demonstrated in these and other difficult situations also gained her a position as a trusted advisor to King Foltest of Temeria.

A native of Maribor, she has known Geralt for a number of years; although still relatively young for a sorceress, she is considerably older than she appears – a trait he shares. During this time, she has had occasion to tend to his wounds… and to his other needs. Their relationship has become a shifting mix of friendship and love. What’s beyond any doubt, however is that they are  completely loyal to each other and to a few close friends like Zoltan and Dandelion.

Triss is definitely pleased about displaying her charms in Playboy. "Women and girls are constantly trying to attract Geralt’s attention. I’m happy to show them that they’re foolish to think they can succeed."

Ves

Fair-haired, girlish of face and shapely of body, Ves would stand out anywhere. But she’s even more
noticeable since she’s seldom seen outside the company of brawny Temerian special forces soldiers.
That’s because she’s a highly valued member of their unit. She may well be the most lethal of all with
a crossbow, and is nearly as deadly with her sword and throwing knives. Hundreds of adversaries who
underestimated her did not live to regret their rashness.

Ves' station in life did not come naturally. Born into a humble peasant family, she knew nothing of the
military life until chance brought her before her commander, Vernon Roche. Seeing immediately that
she was not only intelligent but also unusually determined and naturally patriotic, he chose her for
training, a decision he has never had reason to regret. She has always served with distinction, even in
situations where she had to rely on her beauty and charm rather than her steel.

However, Ves has no wish to be seen or treated differently from her cohorts because of her gender.
"I’m a soldier, not a soft handmaiden or serving wench. When any fool thinks otherwise, I’m always
glad to correct his impression with the edge of my blade."

Sheala de Tancarville

A mere quick glance is enough to see that Sheala de Tancarville possesses remarkable beauty. But even
close examination – if that were somehow possible – would not reveal her true age. Like other highly
skilled practitioners of sorcery, she appears far younger than her years, which are said to span at least a
century. Since she also carries herself elegantly and dresses in the finest fashions, one might think she’d
be surrounded by suitors. However, she cares not for such attention. Unemotional, aloof, even severe
of demeanor, she has come to be known as the Koviri Loner.

Although Sheala also has no interest in politics, barons and kings still seek her out – for their own ends,
of course. Having dedicated her life to study, her command of the elements and knowledge of alchemy
may be unsurpassed. Her abilities are well known among sorceresses across the Northern Kingdoms
and beyond; they respect and even fear her. So it is curious indeed that she has made her way to the
unremarkable village of Port Flotsam.

"Do not annoy me with your questions. What brings me here is no one’s business but my own." Be this
true or not, can anyone as powerful as Sheala avoid being swept into the swirling currents of the day?

Saskia
Saskia is a natural leader. Born the daughter of a poor knight, she was given over at a young age into
the care of a humble but principled peasant family, and thus remembers little of him. Still, he may have
left her an inheritance of incomparable value, her commanding charisma. She also grew into the kind of
beauty men will follow into battle without hesitation no matter the odds - smooth-skinned with shining
hair, dark brows, a compelling gaze, shapely lips and full breasts that perfectly complement her gently
rounded hips and shapely legs.

When civil war swept her homeland, Saskia led a peasant revolt, attracting many followers to her cause,
even non-humans. Clad in full armor, she demonstrated exceptional skill, both with sword and shield
and as a decisive commander, leading her forces to victory over nobles and their trained armies. As her
triumphs mounted, so did her legend grow. Now, one tale says she is invulnerable to fire, another that
she has slain a dragon – a feat unheard of for anyone except a witcher.

Saskia is humble about such stories, saying very little. "They just grow in the re-telling. I’m nothing
more than what you see, a soldier."

Filippa Eilhart

As proud and independent as she is pleasing to the eye, Filippa Eilhart is renowned as one of the most
talented sorceresses in the Northern Kingdoms. Few if any approach her understanding of polymorphy,
perhaps the most challenging of the arcane arts. Among her rare skills, she can transform into an owl,
thus gaining the ability to fly. Like her sisters, she does not show her age, which probably exceeds 100
years.

Filippa's talents brought her to the court of Redania, Temeria`s main rival. Fulfilling her strong ambition
and interest in politics, she rose to a position of influence, becoming the lover of Sigismund, the chief of
intelligence, as well as an advisor and perhaps more to its ruler, King Vizimir. Following his mysterious
death, she gained a seat on the ruling council of regents. Not as detached as Sheala, neither is she
friendly by nature or even particularly agreeable, except perhaps when it will serve her purpose.

"Men, even kings, are so easily swayed by beauty. And women aren`t always immune to each other`s
charms either." Will Filippa continue to shape the destiny of the Northern Kingdoms or fall victim to
her own supreme self-confidence?

I remember when Sketcher’s Shape-Ups came out, and they were so expensive - I remember prices close to $200. I was mildly interested in these shoes, but not -=that=- interested. $200 for a pair of trainers? You’ve got to be kidding me. So when I went to Costco because I needed new trainers, and I saw Shape-Ups for $50 (and found them in my size!), I got a pair and wore them for about a month. Last weekend, while we had a brief sunny episode, I walked to Costco and bought another pair. I’ve now got my “summer” trainers (white with light blue) and my “winter” trainers (black). Laugh all you want, but I haven’t bought new trainers in six years, and the ones I did buy were really inexpensive - I think they ended up being $15 a pair, with the BOGO sale. One pair - my “winter” trainers - died this past winter. The other pair isn’t dead yet, because I tend to wear sandals in the spring and summer; but who knows when the Sketchers may pass through Costco again? In other news, if you’re in the US or Canada…you’ve all gotten your Mother’s Day cards and gifts and suchwhich for your moms, right?

May 5th was the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. manned space flight.

The astronaut was Alan Shepard, and it was a huge deal back in 1961 -- the Russians had beaten the U.S. with the first satellite in 1957, and again with the first manned space flight a month before.

Computers played a huge role in that flight, and Art Cohen was the main mathematician behind them.

As the leader of IBM's Space Computing Center in Washington, D.C., Cohen's team was responsible for all computing support for every Project Mercury flight from 1961 through 1963.

Cohen is now 83 years old, and he retired from IBM in 1988. But he gave us an interview as part of the company's 100th birthday celebration this year.

Things were very different back then, as he explains:

• The two computers that directed the first space flights filled a large room, but only had 1/100,000 as much storage space as today's least powerful iPhone. They also had the processing speed of 3Mhz -- about the same as an early 1980s vintage PC.

• All data about the space craft -- position, velocity, and so on -- was tracked by radar on the earth. The only data sent directly to earth was medical data from sensors connected to the astronaut's body.

• Data traveled from the radar stations to Cohen's team at a blistering fast pace of 1,000 bits per second -- about 1/5,000th as fast as today's wireless connections.

Here's a transcript of the interview, edited slightly for length.

Business Insider: What was the computer system like that you used in the Mercury Mission and how would you compare it with today’s PC or a smart phone in terms of power and storage? 

Art Cohen: We were at something called the Guided Space Flight Center, which was in Beltsville, Maryland. That was the central communication hub for Mercury. And we supplied all the information to the Cape, to mission control and so on.

What we had there were two 7090s. They were second generation computers, transistorized. And at that time NASA was so concerned about transistorized - would it be reliable enough? - that they made us have a duplex system. They felt that tubes were more reliable than transistors because they weren’t sure about transistors.

We had two of these things right next to each other. It took up a whole room. And by room, I mean a large room -- with tapes and DASD and storage units, and so and so forth -- a very, very large set up.

We had 32,000 "words" of storage -- ten-digit words of storage -- that’s what we had.

[Ed: This is equivalent to about 150 kilobytes (kB) of storage on today's computers, which store data in different-sized chunks. Most hard drives today are measured in gigabytes (GB), which are 1,000,000 kB each. Wikipedia articles on the IBM 7090 and 36-bit word length have more background.]

Now you’ve got things you could hold in your hand that are more powerful than what we had. With tremendously more storage. But compared to the world I lived in ... in ‘52, we worked on something called the CPC, the Card Program Calculator, and we had 34 -- get this -- 34 ten-digit storage units. 34 units of ten digits each. But we solved all kinds of problems with that. It was a challenge, but we did it.

So we thought this was gravy. I mean, we had 32,000 units of internal storage -- that was pretty good.

We had pretty sophisticated programs for Mercury. All kinds of mathematics -- orbit mathematics. Orbit mechanics. Differential correction, sliding wire techniques, short arc techniques, re-entry, knowing the positions of all the radar sites, acquisition. We told them where to point the radars and we told the ships where to go for landing.  So it was a lot of complicated stuff that we did we those 32,000 pieces of storage. It’s kind of remarkable when you think about it, isn’t it?

MR: What was the rate of processing?

AC: [After checking] The 50,000 transistors could read and write a the rate of 3 million bits per second.

[That's about 3Mhz, which is about the same as the Tandy TRS-80 -- one of the first personal computers introduced in the early 1980s. Today's fastest processors are over 5Ghz, and benefit from multiple cores and other advances as well.]

It was slow. In those times, it was very fast, and that’s why we used the 7090.

At that time we were always worried -- can you pack integrated circuits close enough, because the heat would build up so badly that there’d be a limitation on how much you could do, how fast you could go.  And we obviously broke that sound barrier, right?

BI: You had to get that data in there, process it in real time, and then send it back.

AC:  Yes, you're absolutely right. IBM had built up in Kingston something called the 7281 which was called the real time channel.

By the way, the data that was coming in from down the Atlantic missile range -- hold onto your hat -- was 1,000 bits per second. The fastest data we had for Shepard’s flight was 1,000 bits per second coming in -- that’s position data coming in and we also were receiving velocity data. 

[By way of comparison, Verizon's 4G wireless network is at least 5,000 times faster.] 

And then later we improved it -- it was a big deal to get it up to 2,400 bits per second. And the radar data was coming in much slower than that.

All that data was coming in fast enough so that the people down at the Cape were able to make decisions.  We drove all the displays at mission control and they were able to make decisions about retro fire, separation from the booster, and all this kind of stuff.  All that was done with the data that we provided to mission control.So it was good enough.

BI: How was the data getting from the rocket back to earth?

AC: We had radars that were actually tracking that thing. They were watching it. And that data was then being sent over this 1,000-bit-per-second line.

MR: So there wasn’t any positioning data coming from the spacecraft to you? 

AC: No. The position data was coming from the radars which were watching the craft. 

MR: Was there any way for Alan Shepard to communicate?

AC: We had voice communication.

MR: How did that work? 

AC: I suppose radio. [In 1962, John] Glenn orbited the earth. Whenever he got near a radar site, there was an astronaut there with voice contact with the astronaut. And then, all of sudden he went over the horizon, and then they lost contact. So, there was a short period of time when there was contact.

It was voice communication to find out how things are, and also, they had telemetry data coming down which was like medical stuff. He was hooked up, and that came to us and we also sent that down to mission control.

They couldn’t bounce signals off of satellites at that time. It was all direct. What they could see is what they could get.

MR: When you see some of the consumer technology today, do you see any technologies that came out of the space program in the 1960s?

AC: You name it.  First of all, we had all the radar sites, and all these sites in the United States where we knew exactly what the latitude and longitude were. That was done by people who were on Mercury. Not IBM, but other vendors who were doing that -- and they did a great job. And that of course helped GPS.

Guys who worked for me then went on to were in charge of the airline reservation system. The Saber and the Passenger Airline Registration System, PARS, came out of that.

The people who developed the air traffic control system, which now has to be replaced from what I understand.  But the one who was in charge of that was a guy that I hired.

Computers are the silent partners behind medicine, particle physics, you name it.  

BI: When the mission was happening, what were you most concerned about? 

AC: We had a great team of people -- and I developed a system where we communicated very well -- whether it be the launch system or the orbit or the re-entry or whatever. That was number one.

Number two, this system was tested at the sub-system and at the systems level very, very well -- very, very carefully. And we used simulation techniques to simulate orbit or launch.  We had data put in so we would think that it was actually real data, and then they would be able to indicate that there’s an abort, and we would get an abort signal or an interrupt, and we’d find a landing zone for that thing.

We had the duplex in case one computer broke down, we had tested out that we could switch from one to the other and it was self-correcting. Even though each computer might be getting data a millisecond sooner than the other, we worked it out so it would all smooth out nicely.

The only thing is that we were a little anxious about were the astronauts. We had met these astronauts. I had never met Shepard, but I met [Gus] Grissom and [Deke] Slayton. The booster, sitting on top of an 83 foot Redstone rocket, with this little capsule and a guy who’s strapped into it, and a tremendous amount of rocket fuel that’s going to send the guy up into space going 5,000 miles an hour, suffering 11 Gs of force. So there was a lot of anxiety about this, but it had nothing to do with the computing.

By the way, this thing started May 2nd, and even before that, we had been prepared for the countdown, then there were weather delays, things happened. So it didn’t go off until the 5th. We were sleeping on the ground. We had people who brought in mattresses and sleeping bags and I was sleeping on top of the console of the 7090 I did damage to the 7090. IBM never fined me for it, but I dented the vent.

MR: How many people were working on your team?

AC: I had about 100 people. We had machine operators, we had systems programming, and they were terrific. I mean, that was key. I mean, the monitor that was handling the real-time channel. But they were really systems people, not necessarily mathematicians...say, off hand, about half of the group [were mathematicians].  At least 50.

MR: What do you think about the state of space exploration today? Is it going private?

AC: NASA can give you a better answer about their plans. Of course, right now the budgetary problems are crippling what they want to do.

I don’t know exactly what the private people -- if it’s just tourist stuff, you know, that’s private enterprise, we can’t really talk against that. But I would think that the government will have to still be involved with any concerns of looking into deep space.  I think that’s important work that I don’t think you would be having private entrepreneurs doing that kind of work. I think that’s important, and I hope NASA will stay in that business.

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See Also:

• The Bull's Case For Research In Motion (Yes, There Is One)
• Weird Timing: The Facebook Exec Who Just Launched The Open Compute Project Is Leaving
• WHOOPS: HP Exec Spills Huge Company Secret On LinkedIn Profile

We all know L.A. is the movie capital of the world but the Big Apple is a close second. Or... it USED to be. It seems its standing might be jeopardized due to tax breaks doled out to places like Vancouver and Pittsburgh... yes... Pittsburgh (see "The Dark Knight Rises"). So, while Steelers Country steals Gotham City from the isle of Manhattan, we take a look at this map we found courtesy of Gawker and Gothamist, and created by Alien Loves Predator, that displays 91 movies shot in the city that never sleeps... with me. Can you name all 91? Check it out after the jump!

Kingston, Jamaica – Jamaican sprint stars will be hard pressed tomorrow (7) to produce wins, at the JN Jamaica International Invitational, an IAAF World Challenge Meeting, as they set about defending their home turf. Several world class athletes are listed, including five reigning individual World champions in Sanya Richards-Ross, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Kerron Clement, Melaine Walker and Ryan Brathwaite. However, most fans will be watching in anticipation the sprints events, where the Jamaicans face very stiff opposition. Campbell-Brown headlines the women’s 200m field.. The women’s 200m event features two-time Olympic champion, Veronica Campbell Brown and World and Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – who is the second fastest over the half lap event this season with 22.69secs – and they present Jamaica’s best chance of a sprint win. Bahamian Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, Americans Bianca Knight and Porscha Lucas, together with Cayman Islands’ Cydonie Mothersill, are also listed in the half lap event. Jamaicans Anneisha McLaughlin and Shericka Williams complete the field. Campbell-Brown, who said it’s good to be back home, is looking to do her best for the local fans. “I like competing at home where the home crowd and the energy is fantastic”, she said, “and as always, I expect to do my best.” Knight predicts the times will be fast. “It’s a great field so I am looking forward to running fast. I am having a good year this season with a personal record in the 400m of 52.55.” “I am very strong right now, and usually run fast at this meet, I also heard the new track is fast, so I am looking forward to running fast come Saturday.” .. and Powell tops the men’s The men’s 200m will see Jamaicans Asafa Powell, the former World 100m record holder, and Steve Mullings, the fastest man over 100m this season with 9.90, leading the charge against American Wallace Spearmon, the fastest by far in the field. Powell said he is going to give his best, and hopefully in the end, “Break my personal best (of 19.90).” Asked why he chose the 200m, Powell said: “It’s not my choice, it’s my coach’s decision, I guess he wants me to get stronger for the 100m.” Mullings on the other hand said, “I am here to work on my 200m race towards the World Championships, that’s about it, I just want to see where I am.” Commonwealth Games silver medalist Lanceford Spence, Canadian Jared Connaughton, Jamaican Marvin Anderson – who has not shown much this season – and young Nickel Ashmeade – who said he wants to run himself back into form – complete the line-up. Jeter vs Stewart in women’s 100m In the men’s 100m, Americans Trell Kimmons and Mike Rodgers – one of three men to run sub-10 this season – Darvis Patton, who won here in the past – Trinidad & Tobago’s Richard Thompson and Antigua’s Daniel Bailey, will all be trying to stop Jamaica’s Yohan Blake – who many believe has what it takes to win – and Michael Frater. Thompson said with the top trio of Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Powell away from this event, “It’s now up to us the second group, to battle it out. “The goal is always to go in and cop the win,” he added. American Carmelita Jeter and Jamaican Kerron Stewart, battled to the line last year, which means another exciting finish is in the making. But as Jeter seeks to defend her title, Stewart, Sherone Simpson and American Marshevet Myers may have other ideas. Stewart said: “I expect the best from myself; I always go out there to give 100 per cent. I always run with my heart. I am going out there to compete, no matter who is in the race,” she said. Trinidad & Tobago’s Kelly-Ann Baptiste, along with Jamaicans Aleen Bailey, Simone Facey and Carrie Russell, are also in the field. Richards-Ross vs Ohuruogu on the 400m American World champion Sanya Richards-Ross and Great Britain’s Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu will re-new rivalry in the women’s 400m. Ohuruogu said she is, “Just looking to go run my own race and get a good time.” The field is a high classed one and based on Richards-Ross anchor-leg performance for USA Red at Penn Relays last week, she is some ways from her best, which means Jamaicans Kaliese Spencer and Novlene Williams-Ross, along with DeeDee Trotter can very well garner a win. Despite the unknown form of Jermaine Gonzales, who had knee surgery last year, the men’s 400m should also be competitive, with the likes of Chris Brown of The Bahamas, Calvin Smith of the USA and Trinidad & Tobago’s Renny Quow. Ricardo Chambers and Allodin Fothergill are also listed. In the middle distances, Jamaica’s Kenia Sinclair in the 800m and Phillip Lagat in the men’s 1500m, are top contenders in their respective events. Sinclair said: “Coming to this meet always produces great stuff. This would normally be my opener, but I opened in Australia at the beginning of March, and I opened with 1:59, so I am hoping to have a season best, or close to a personal best here.” “My performance at Penn Relays showed that I’m in shape to run a sub 1:58, so the plan is, come to Jamaica, perform to the best of my ability and not get beaten in my home town.” In the hurdles event, American Terrence Trammell, Jamaican Dwight Thomas and Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados, will battle in the men’s 110mH, while Jamaicans Vonnette Dixon and Delloreen Ennis are the top contenders in the women’s 100m equivalent. The one lap obstacle, on the men’s side, should be competitive with world champion Kerron Clement, Jamaicans Isa Phillips and Danny McFarlane. Phillips said: “I have not hurdled all season, so I’m just going out to see what I’ve got,” while adding, “the focus is National trials and World Championships.” World and Olympic champion Melaine Walker, fellow Jamaican Shevon Stoddart, along with Americans Nicole Leach and Sheena Tosta are in the women’s one lap hurdling event. On the infield, Americans Adam Nelson and Cory Martin, along with Jamaican Dorian Scott, will battle it out in the men’s Shot Put, while Brianna Glen, the second best in the world this year, Great Britain Shara Proctor and Jamaican Jovanne Jarrett will clash in the women’s long jump. Sheree Francis and High School girl Kimberly Williamson, the second and fourth ranked jumpers this year, are in the women’s high jump. Anthony Foster for the IAAF

As I mentioned on Twitter a short while ago, a couple of the Baltic contest winners who won Baltic beaded book thongs haven't bellied up to the bar to claim their tiny little Baltic on a string. I know! I don't understand it either! But what that means is I have those two to toss back into the contest pool...along with five super special prizes.



You remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that I was making available again in e-book format the first novel I ever wrote, which was rewritten a few years after that? Well, there was enough outcry from folks who wanted print versions that I went ahead and made copies of it available through a print-on-demand place called Lulu. Now, I'll warn you, POD books are pricey, and this one is no different. It's almost ten bucks! That's hugely expensive IMHO, but that's the (literal) price you pay with POD.

I wanted to make sure the book formatted correctly, so I had Lulu send me five copies, which I will now give away. Yes! Super rare signed copies! Almost as spiffy as a Baltic beaded book thong, right? Right.

To enter the contest, you need to reply here with the answer to this question: What is the significance of the name of the hero in Suffragette in the City (his name, by the way, is Griffin St. John)? If you don't know the answer, you can make a stab at it.

You can only enter once, and entries will close at midnight on Sunday night (Pacific Time), so be fast. On Monday, I'll draw five random winners for the Suffragette book, and two winners for the beaded book thongs. And there will be much rejoicing!

Ready? And...go!

Kiwi coach Steve Kearney witnessed New Zealand's latest Anzac Test defeat by Australia, but then insisted: "It seems a bit same old, same old - but I know we're taking steps in the right direction. The effort of the guys to keep hanging in there was a real positive.''
The Kiwis haven't won a mid year test since 1998 and never on Australian soil and once again came close, but not close enough, with their brave defensive effort undone by a string of unforced errors. The toll of extra work finally told when a 10-6 Australian lead was finally augmented by late tries from Billy Slater and Jamal Idris.
"I'm not sure exactly of the completion rate in the second half, but it wasn't pretty,'' said Kearney bluntly. "It was 50% at one stage, and against any team, it's going to be hard work.
"In the second half, we couldn't build any pressure - it wasn't like they were forced errors, we just coughed the ball up.''
But while Kearney was critical of his side's handling, he had no questions about their heart after the first-minute loss of prop Sam Rapira with a dislocated thumb left them undermanned in the forwards.
"I couldn't fault the lads for the way they hung in tonight... they kept turning up for each other,'' he said.
Kearney also criticised an illegal in-the-air tackle by Idris on Jason Nightingale which left the Kiwi wing concussed as "very dangerous''.
Kiwi skipper Benji Marshall said he "really felt we were starting to get on top of them'' when they finally won some repeat possession at the right end of the field when they trailed by four. But he too pointed at poor ball control: "We shouldn't be coughing the ball up that many times, especially when you are representing your country,'' he said. "I made a couple of errors myself so I am putting my hand up for part of the blame.
"I am proud of the boys' effort. They played with great courage, great spirit, no one wanted to let anyone down: the effort was there, but the execution probably wasn't.''
In a game with just two penalties awarded, Marshall said it was "pretty fast'', adding: "We were tired, but let me tell you, they were tired.''
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Noahpinion: >Noahpinion: What I learned in econ grad school, Part 2: My second-year field class was divided into four half-semester portions. Each had its own theme. Broadly, these were: 1) Heterogeneous-agent models, 2) Sticky-price models, 3) Neo-monetarism, and 4) Labor search.... Krusell-Smith models... Sticky-price models... sticky-information models... structural vector auto regressions.... We studied this very interesting paper by Basu, Fernald and Kimball.... We learned some neo-monetarist models.... The neo-monetarist policy response to recessions, I learned, is quantitative easing. Or, as my advisor Miles Kimball put it: "Print money and buy stuff!" (He actually repeated this line four times in a row. When I asked him what he thought of Bernanke's response to the recession, he grinned hugely and said "He printed money and bought stuff!") I also learned that some neo-monetarist models have a role for fiscal policy, but only for a short time after a particularly severe drop in investment. We studied labor search models.... >The field course addressed some, but not all, of the complaints I had... more focus on calculating observable quantities, and on making predictions about phenomena other than the ones that inspired a model's creation.... But... [T]he measure of a good theory is whether it seems to point us in the direction of models that might work someday.... >There were two other big conclusions I drew.... >The first was that the DSGE framework is a straitjacket that is strangling the field. It's very costly in terms of time and computing resources.... This means that what ends up getting published are the very simplest models... biases the field toward models in which markets are close to efficient.... Worse, all of the mathematical formalism and kludgy numerical solutions of DSGE give you basically zero forecasting ability.... >Finally, my field course taught me what a bad deal the whole neoclassical paradigm was. When people like Jordi Gali found that RBC models didn't square with the evidence, it did not give any discernible pause to the multitudes of researchers.... The aforementioned paper by Basu, Fernald and Kimball... it jumps through all the hoops set up by Lucas and Prescott - but I don't exactly expect it to derail the neoclassical program any more than did Gali. >It was only after taking the macro field course that I began to suspect that there might be a political motive behind the neoclassical research program (I catch on quick, eh?). "Why does anyone still use RBC?" I asked one of the profs. "Well," he said, stroking his chin, "it's very politically appealing to a lot of people. There's no role for government." That made me mad! What about Science? What about the creation of technologies that give humankind mastery over our universe?.... [T]here are plenty of smart, serious macroeconomists out there trying to find something that works. But they are swimming against not one, but three onrushing tides - the limited nature of the data, the difficulty of replicating a macroeconomy, and the political pressure for economists to come up with models...

This weekend’s giveaway comes to you from Heather at Sparklehen. Two fabulous 8×8 prints for you to frame and adorn your walls.
Sparklehen sells light-hearted and whimsical creations. Themes vary from animals in teacups to dream-like landscapes with flowery lights! Heather also wanted me to let you know that she has a 3 for 2 offer on all prints!

To enter, leave a comment on this post, inspired by the tea cup print, telling us who you would invite to a tea party.

Entries close at midnight Sunday (UK time) and the winner will be posted Monday night, so be sure to check back and see if this was your lucky weekend!

xlovesx

One morning last week on the way home from the gym I was sitting at a stop light close to our house right next to a PT Cruiser that had a lightning bolt decal running out from the engine, up and across the door. An involuntary noise escaped my mouth, a "PAAAACKKKKOOOWWWW!" And I realized that the lightning bolt was using me as a medium to say hello.

When I got home I wrote this tweet:

Okay. So. Someone driving a PT Cruiser with a lightning bolt decal is exhibiting a certain kind of taste. I'm not saying that my taste is better (well, I guess that's exactly what I'm saying), but it says to me: I proudly own a denim couch. Or: a Native American dream catcher hangs above my toilet.

Anyway, it was just a joke. But as always, someone has to be upset by the joke, and while all of us were sitting around at lunch I brought this up. I was like, some people take their PT Cruisers very seriously, I did not know this, but going forward I will carry this revelation with me and not jump to conclusions when a PT Cruiser pulls up next to me and I can hear Creed on its stereo.

Right then Tyrant goes, "Wait. Stop. What color was it?"

"Maroon," I answered.

"Was the lightning bolt yellow?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "They got the color of the lightning bolt right! Credit where credit it due!"

"And you were at the stop light right over there?" He pointed toward the west side of the house.

"That exact one."

He smiled. "That car belongs to my friend Fernando."

"Shut up."

"I'm serious."

"Shut up."

"I'm totally serious."

"SHUT. UP."

"He lives in my building."

"SHUUUUUT. UUUUUP."

As he pulled out his phone to show me a picture of Fernando wearing giant sunglasses and a shirt unbuttoned to his belly button, he said "Honey, let me assure you that he gets more ass than everyone at this table combined."

MEA CULPA.

by dooce in Daily

© Armstrong Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Originally published by Heather B. Armstrong for dooce.com as Small world. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.