To display the most relevant entries to you in priority,
vote for the stories you are interested in
(  )
and reject those that you are not interested in
(  )
craigslist | women seeking men in amsterdam -
4 hours and 3 minutes ago
I'm one of those women who are totally in control by day, but love having my lover take the lead at
night. Take me out to a fancy restaurant and tie me down afterwards. Make me scream in ecstacy and
squirm in agony. You know how to make a woman surrender to pleasure. I'm not looking for a formal
master-slave relationship, just some who recognizes his masculinity and loves to play. Please
provide a picture. I would prefer that you be young and not smoke.
|
craigslist | women seeking men in paris -
4 hours and 12 minutes ago
Hey..
I've caught myself several times reading these ads, but I must admit that I'm a bit lazy to answer,
it's definitlely easier to write one. Here it goes.
My motivations are not that extravagant, I'd like to meet someone with whom I could share
interesting things and above all, to learn and develop different ways of looking at the world.
Since I don't suffer from the feminine usual discursive mania and don't have a particular passion
for the sound of my own voice (which is nevertheless actually very pleasant), I've realized that my
so interpreted connivance allows people to design my character as they want. It's very interesting,
for sure, anthropologically speaking. I get the chance to learn with an acute subtlety the most
diverse perspectives and angles with which humans can interpret things. But one day it becomes
monotone, I get bored and leave. People don't understand, they ask why, and I ask them: why didn't
you ask before...? Timing.
So... Sharing... Would be infinitely better.
Ah. Important distinction. I can speak a lot, when pertinent and in a context of dialogue.
Besides, about me... I study, I work when I have to, I've lived in several countries, travelled a
lot, met lots of people from the most different backgrounds, I cry in every classical concert I go
and in the end of most romances, copiously. I'm quite elegant and good looking, of course it
matters. And I passionately love surprises.
Hope you're not as lazy as I am... :)
Cheers!

|
DCEmu Forums:: The Homebrew & Gaming Network :: PSP Dreamcast Nintendo DS Wii GP2X Xbox 360 GBA Gamecube PS2 Forums - Dreamcast News Forum -
4 hours and 29 minutes ago
Newly released for Apple Iphone
LUXE City Guides Mobile –
Paris 1.0.0
Category: Travel
Price: $9.99 ( iTunes)
Description:
Compulsory in-flight reading – Vanity Fair
The world’s coolest guidebook publisher – The Times, UK
LUXE City Guides have achieved near cult status – The New York Times
Time is short, right? If you only have a few days in a city who wants to read pages of yawny blah
about topography or mean average rainfall, and endless, flabby conservative suggestions aimed at
offending the least number of readers? Wouldn’t you rather have solid, hyper-opinionated and
informed perspective from real people who really live in the city themselves? Yes, so would we.
Shazam! Seven years and 31 cities later, we’re now famous for our take no prisoners attitude,
cutting straight through the padding to get to the good stuff and keeping it that way
– LUXE Mobile guides come with a year’s free updates downloadable
direct to your iPhone - so, no matter when you buy your guide or travel, you can be sure you are
always up to date. Now is that nifty, or what?
At LUXE we’re aware that everybody is different, some people like maps, some people say
schmaps! That's why our iPhone guides come with optional downloadable maps - this keeps the app.
size smaller and download time to a minimum, but also gives you the freedom to choose. (If
you’d like to have the maps, once you've downloaded your LUXE guide, simply open the app. and
hit the Download Maps button - ta-dah!).
So, what’s the LUXE City Guides recipe?
1. RESIDENT EDITORS who really know their city.
2. A minimum of 25 RESIDENT CONTRIBUTORS per city who are passionate about where and how they
live.
3. Staff editors who ACTUALLY FLY TO EACH NEW CITY THAT WE COVER to personally re-check the entries
– no other guide on the planet does this.
LUXE City Guides are distilled from the enormous collective energy and expertise of scores of
urbane, enthusiastic and professional people – resulting in entries from
fun to fab, gritty to pretty, and quaint to quirky. Short, snappy, tightly edited and
highly-curated, LUXE guides are a very personal take on a city, more like a travel companion
– the next best thing to having a friend who lives in the city.
Colloquial, irreverent, spicy, and always on the ball – from mom & pop
caffs to Michelin-starred eateliers, from a bargain manicure, best walk in a park, or a humble
hamburger, to handmade luggage or exclusive private after hours tours of the city’s wonders.
We use the same criteria for all our selections – do we love it, or do we
not? We choose only the best, so you choose only the best – it’s
really that simple.
Cities change on a day to day basis, which is why LUXE City Guides are works in progress built on
first hand experience and gut instinct, and we love to hear feedback from our readers
– it’s oxygen to us. Stacked with personally researched dining,
drinking, spa, beauty, unique by-the-hand shopping itineraries, plus our famous specialist Advanced
Shopping section for exquisite handmade and bespoke wares, as well as activities, services and
personal, highly trusted specialists who’ll help you to experience the city from a totally
in-depth perspective. LUXE City Guides are everything you need and nothing you don’t.
FREE updates – all year round at the click of a button
On and Offline maps – our optional downloadable maps mean you can choose
to download them direct to your iPhone, or choose live browsing, or both!
Clickable websites and touch-call phone numbers
Fully text-searchable with hyperlinked cross references
Easy to personalise – the My Faves option builds your own selection of the
very best of the best
Easy to plan – the My Itins option builds your own itineraries
10 City Guides available with over 20 more coming soon
LUXE City Guides – smart stuff for busy people.
LUXE
City Guides Mobile – Paris
More...

|
digg -
5 hours and 38 minutes ago
Here's the latest. A Siamese cat named Amanda, owned by Debbie Girting from Beaver, Pa., nurses her
two newborn kittens and an orphaned litter of puppies.

|
Montreal Classifieds at eClassifieds4U: Free Classified Ads in Montreal -
6 hours and 23 minutes ago
Charming Maltese puppies available for any body who is willing and capable of providing them with
enough care and love, they are up to date on their shots, they are vet checked, All papers are
available, they are very friendly with children and deserve lots of attention.they will be the best
companion you have ever dream of.they will be coming along with all their papers and some
toys.contact to get one now for your love ones and those that you care about that much.
Serious inquiries please
|
DCEmu Forums:: The Homebrew & Gaming Network :: PSP Dreamcast Nintendo DS Wii GP2X Xbox 360 GBA Gamecube PS2 Forums - GP2X News Forum -
7 hours and 4 minutes ago
Newly released for Apple Iphone
Jet Ball Free 1.0
Category: Games
Price: Free ( iTunes)
Description:
Jet Ball Free is a powerful breakout game packed with stunning visuals, 10 free levels and lots of
fresh ideas. Probably the most challenging block-breaker in the app store, made by people who
really love arkanoids.
*** Full version of Jet Ball is available in the app store ***
Destroy all static and moving bricks and obstacles to win the level. Touch and move left or right
the pulsing circle under the pad to control it. Touch anywhere higher with another finger (use
multi-touch) to release a ball, launch a rocket or shoot with plasma gun.
Shining blocks contain bonuses that can seriously change the situation. Green power-ups will help
you to cope the task – such as ball splits, rocket launcher, plasma gun,
fire ball, acid ball, magnet, shield and so on. Try to avoid red power-downs, that can speed up
balls, decrease board size, make balls flight trajectory unpredictable or even explode the
board.
- bright, impressive graphics, nice visuals
- online leaderboard and lots of achievements with OpenFeint
- dynamic game play - balls move really fast
- 10 free levels
- more than 20 different power-ups and power-downs
- more than 60 different bricks and obstacles, rectangle and round bricks, exploding bricks and
plasma-star bricks
- original soundtrack and sound effects
- 3 difficulty levels to fit all gamers
- current game auto save
- background iphone/ipod music is possible
The perfect choice for all fans of arcade games such as arkanoid or breakout!
Jet Ball Free
More...

|
Cinematical -
7 hours and 7 minutes ago
My favorite film this year so far is Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer (224
screens). It has received generally favorable reviews and some respectable box office, but I'm not
sure how many people love it the way I do. Speaking to other critics about it, I generally hear
complaints about the plot, which comes from a novel by Robert Harris. And there's usually some
comment about Polanski's current situation, under house arrest in Switzerland since September 26 of
last year, which -- to be frank -- has absolutely nothing to do with the film.
What I love about The Ghost Writer is not necessarily its plot, but the way Polanski zeroes in on the movie's lead character, the
unnamed ghost writer played by Ewan McGregor, and uses his visual, physical environment to make
things uncomfortable and off-kilter for him. Every frame is set up in such a way to increase
paranoia, from big moments like being followed in a car, all the way down to a tiny moment when his
bicycle temporarily slips in a gravel driveway; not even his footing is solid.
Filed under: Columns,
400 Screens, 400
Blows
Continue reading 400 Screens, 400 Blows - Polanski's Ghost
Permalink | Email this | Comments

|
Planet Ubuntu -
8 hours ago
It is mothers day in the middle east and although I live
in Germany I still would like to honor this day and the 2 mothers in my
life. It is sad I am expressing my feelings on mothers day, I think this blog post should have
been out a looooooooong time ago.
To mom number one:
Sorry for not being the best son out there, and sorry for not showing
my gratitude enough. You really had a hard time raising me and my
brothers. Sadly I was not always the good big brother, else it would have reflected on my 2
brothers behavior. I miss you a lot and I am sorry I can not
visit Egypt as often as I would like to. After dad passed away you had a
hard time keeping us together but u managed and I am very proud of you. Your determination to
provide us with a very good life and putting us before everything else is an inspiration. I love
you and miss you…
To mom number two:
I think I should start by saying “Hi Nini”. I love you and I hope you know
that… Again I might not show it but I really do… You always were there for me and
got me out of every crappy situation I got into. You and Bob taught me so many things, that there
is nothing I do that I can not derive from something you helped me out with. I know my appearance
and lifestyle does not make you happy but I am working on it to make you proud of me. I owe you
so much and I cant express how much you mean to me…
You 2 are the best mothers any1 could wish for…
P.S: My mom taught me “if and else” conditions, when I was 13 or 14 based on her
pascal experience and my aunt bought me my first programing book “Visuall C++ in 21
days” which took me a year back then (I was 15). So if you like my work then it kinda
derives from their help and support. So a nice commt to them would be appreciated and a nice
mothers days gift.

|
Micro Persuasion -
12 hours and 30 minutes ago
Recently Edelman Digital launched a brand new web site,
which features rich insights from across the organization as well as interviews with different
people inside and outside the firm. Definitely check it out. One of the cool things we're running
are interviews.
For one of the first installments, my colleague, Blagica, conducted an interview
with me on some of the latest trends. It's follows beow and on the new site...
Blagica Bottigliero: Let’s start with the basics. Your last
name. Is it pronounced like the Russian currency? I’ve heard multiple versions, so help us
set the record straight.
Steve Rubel: Actually it isn’t – it’s pronounced
Roo-Bell, rhyming with “blue bell.”
BB: As a lifestreamer, you spend quite a bit of time online digesting
content. How much time per day do you spend doing this? How do you break up your day to consumer
such a large amount of data?
SR:I would say that on average I spend two-three hours a day
“studying.” How and where I fit this in really depends on my schedule in a given
week. If it’s a particularly heavy week and I am traveling or in lots of meetings,
it’s whenever I can steal a few minutes during the day. If it’s a
“normal” day then it’s often over breakfast, lunch or at night when I get home.
But I make it a commitment to keep current since our teams and clients look to me to help them do
the same.
My workflow here, however, has changed a lot over the last few years. Until fairly recently I was
a heavy user of Google Reader. Now, however, I find myself relying more on Facebook, Twitter and
reading email newsletters from my favorite blogs. Also, I am increasingly using my mobile device
to consume much of it as well.
BB: In the last few weeks, you’ve put a stronger emphasis on
utilizing Facebook as your epicenter for news and communication. With Facebook’s history of
sharing its TOS, along with concerns around privacy, do you think more users will shift their
attention to Facebook? The addition of Facebook’s new settings come in handy, but do you
feel that users don’t feel like adding privacy settings to every single action?
SR: Facebook is at a pivotal moment in its history. All of the data
points are trending up – time spent (a staggering seven hours/month in the US), total users
(400M worldwide), mobile use (100M users), traffic patterns (one of the top drivers of views to
news/broadcast sites), etc. This makes it impossible to ignore.
What’s more, I believe we have passed a key tipping point where a network effect takes
over. Randall Stross summarizes this nicely in his New York
Times column, comparing it to similar situations like Microsoft Windows. So I don’t see
the train slowing down here in any way.
Still, there’s no doubt many have privacy concerns. Facebook needs to make this easier to
manage so that an individual can really more easily separate personal and professional circles
– if he/she chooses. The settings they have now help. But they have a long way to go.
The other trend to note is how businesses are starting to use Facebook as a hub. There are more
than 1.4M Facebook Pages. Some 700,000 are small businesses. This also creates a network effect
the way that Google did with Adwords. Also, I have noticed that more brands and movies are
prioritizing their Facebook page in ads over their own web site. This is controversial, but in
many ways it makes sense.
BB: You just created a fan page on Facebook.
How will you decipher information that appears in this stream versus your blog?
SR:I have been on Facebook since 2007 when they opened it up to all
users. At first, I was skeptical of their prospects for success. I saw a scenario similar to what
AOL did back in the 1990s – e.g. a walled garden. So while I have been on Facebook for
years and I was engaged there, I didn’t see a real opportunity, at least for me, to use it
to connect professionally with our customers.
However, the statistics I mentioned earlier and my own use recently have evolved my thinking. I
began to see that, professionally, there is a real opportunity there for any business to deeply
engage their customers in a way that perhaps is not as easy to do elsewhere – and to build
thought leadership. One key reason is that clearly people I care most about like our clients are
spending time there. It’s easier to go where the people are than to get them to come to
you. What’s more, it’s a broader audience than the people who subscribe
to my blog or
follow me onTwitter.
So as of right now I am largely creating exclusive content there. I am finding Twitter is better
for link sharing but that Facebook is more ideal for short bits of insights that spark a larger
conversation. My blog will probably evolve into just a place for essays. But I am syndicating the
posts into Facebook as well. It’s all evolving right now.
In short, I believe that Facebook will become my primary content platform in the next few months.
But I will continue to do it all. As should businesses that have stakeholders scattered on other
networks like Twitter.
BB: Your opinions on Google Buzz are pretty strong. What do you think
they could have done differently at launch? Do you think it was wise they launched the tool in
Gmail?
SR: Google Buzz suffers from complexity because they only tested it
within Google, which has a very tech-savvy engineering driven culture. Facebook and Twitter are
simple. You get it right away. Buzz feels like something Google is forcing on millions of users
to catch up in an area it’s not strong in – social. It would have been better if they
launched in in beta or Labs.
Still, I see Buzz remaining an important niche player for the time being. But I would never count
Google out. They can get it right.
BB: It seems that there are new tools popping up every second.
Whether it’s checking in at a local bistro with Foursquare or taking a picture of a sunset
and sending it to a larger network via Yfrog, there is a hefty amount of information to keep
track of. Will there come a time where a mini social ‘revolt’ will occur?
SR: I feel there’s way too much focus in marketing on the
venues and the technologies – even in the recessionary climate. Businesses must focus first
on their stakeholders and the trends and then figure out how to leverage the technologies. Many
still go about it in reverse.
In terms of the consumer, I believe we’re already seeing a winnowing down. Facebook is tops
for the broadest group. Twitter is loved by a smaller, yet arguably more influential crowd. And
YouTube meanwhile sits in the middle. The others, even FourSquare, are more niche.
In the end there’s only so much time in a day and everyone will need to make choices on
where to invest. I see Facebook being the big winner and Twitter sitting in neutral for now. The
others may eventually just become features of the big sites rather than stand alone entities.
BB: In the 90s, consumers may have sent a complaint via written
letter or email to one of their favorite brands. Today, it may be a Facebook status message,
YouTube video or tweet. What do you think this says about consumers’ expectations when it
comes to corporate two-way dialogue?
SR: I don’t see it being an expectation around dialogue as much
as it is power. People now know they have it and that some businesses will bend over backwards to
meet the legitimate gripes in real-time. This creates a virtuous or some would argue a vicious
cycle that just exacerbates the situation further.
This means that every business needs to understand what they will address and when – with
the expectation that it will scale.
BB: With web sites incorporating tools like Facebook connect, video
and real-time tweets, do you see social media being more ingrained in a digital strategy, instead
of being an after-thought?
SR: Yes, I believe that we’ve passed an inflection. Everyone is
looking at the data and the hype in the media and they realize that this is where our time and
attention are flowing so they need to front-load social networking into their budgets. This is
not just limited to consumer marketing but b2b as well.
BB: You are a big gadget fan and need to be connected a good portion
of your day. How do you plug in? What is your go-to gadget that you can’t leave home
without?
SR: Without a doubt my mobile phones. I switch back and forth between
the Blackberry (a client) and the iPhone depending on what I plan to do in a given day. There are
days or even weeks when all I use is a mobile device. I often travel without a computer –
sometimes for 10 days at a time and internationally as well. It’s amazing what you can do
with these devices. And both fit the bill nicely.
BB: You are a man on the move, visiting many up and coming tech
start-ups. ExacTarget recently purchased CoTweet. Do you see more consolidation happening?
SR: Absolutely, I believe that integration between various systems
will be key – especially for those providers who serve enterprise customers. It’s no
different than how we saw similar consolidation in the desktop/enterprise software markets and
for web-based platforms in the early 2000s.
BB: I know you are a big Yankees fan. If you could be a Bat Boy for a
day, would you do it?
SR: Wow, I definitely would. I would love to travel with the team and
and ask Derek Jeter all kinds of questions about his work ethic and efforts to be a better
ballplayer every day. That’s what I hope to do too in my field. Jeter is a rare yardstick
of professionalism and quality in a sports word that increasingly lacks such role models. And I
find lots of metaphors in sports to inspire me in business.
BB: What is your newest tech obsession?
SR: I would have to say any tools that I an use for free that give me
data. My favorites are Google Insights and Ad Planner, Facebook Insights and YouTube Audience
Insights.
Image credit: Laughing Squid
Permalink |
Leave a
comment »


|
"Bloody-Disgusting" -
13 hours and 28 minutes ago
Ah, the Full Moon/Troma days. I miss 'em, which is why I feel a little love for Michael Muscal's
stoner comedy/horror feature Little *ucker, which features a funny little
man-in-a-rubber-suit monster. Scripted by debuting writer, Jonathon Miller, based on Justin Paul
Ritter's original concept, Little *ucker stars Mark Ellis and Maxx Maulion as Lloyd and Chuck, best
of friends and hopeless stoners. They share an apartment and work together at an exterminating
company. While conducting their daily duties, these best buds discover a small ominous creature in
a warehouse. After overcoming their initial fear, they embrace the lovable misfit and decide to
bring him home. Chuck and Lloyd quickly learn that their little buddy is a true party animal who
shares their deep love for weed. What they dont know is that the creatures need for weed keeps his
savage instincts at bay! Visit the official website and check out the trailer below.
|
MacUpdate - Mac OS X -
14 hours and 5 minutes ago
DeepSleep Widget 1.5 DeepSleep will allow your Mac laptop or desktop to sleep
without using any power or drain the batteries. It saves everything to disk and stops using power
completely. When you wake up your machines by pressing the power button, DeepSleep will restore
everything and wake up just like you left it. It takes a little longer than normal sleep but it is
a great battery saver when you know you won't be using the computer for a while. Give it a try, you
will love the convenience and the extra battery life!
- Extends the battery life on your MacBook.
- Saves power when you are not using your desktop Mac.
- Compatible with "Password on wake" feature.
- Easy to use Dashboard Widget.
WHAT'S NEWVersion 1.5:
- Better compatibility with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
REQUIREMENTS
PRICEFree
DEVELOPER axonic
labs
DOWNLOADS2769
DOWNLOAD NOW
(210 K)
More information
|
Comics Should Be Good! -
14 hours and 30 minutes ago
Here is the latest in our year-long look at one cool comic (whether it be a self-contained work,
an ongoing comic or a run on a long-running title that featured multiple creative teams on it
over the years) a day (in no particular order whatsoever)! Here's
the archive of the moments posted so far!
Today we take a look at Dirk Schwieger's Moresukine...
Enjoy!
Dirk Schwieger's graphic novel from NBM Publishing, Moresukine, gets its name from the way
Japanese people pronounce the type of notebook Schwieger sketches in - a Moleskine notebook. As a
result, the graphic novel is printed in a mock-up of a Moleskine notebook.
This is a fun and interesting collection of stories by Schwieger of what happened when he allowed
people on the internet to make him do tasks when he moved to Japan.
Schwieger kept a blog where he challenged his readers to come up with things to do while he was
in Japan, and he would do them - no matter what they were (granted, of course, that they had
something to do with living in Japan, and not, like, "Watch every season of M*A*S*H* on DVD!").
Schwieger would then write up the assignments as online comics, and now his online comics are
collected into this graphic novel. Often, the assignments would basically end up being "tell us
about THIS part of Japan, Dirk!"
Schwieger has a nice, clean style of art that makes the stories easy to follow, and the stories
themselves are delivered by Schwieger nicely.
Here is a sample assignment (from the book's site here)
The rest of the book is basically just like that - while some of the assignments include staying
in one of those pod hotels, visiting one of the infamous "love hotels" and eating the potentially
poisonous fugu (this one is featured on the cover).
The book has an extra section where Dirk challenges OTHER comic book artists to talk to a
Japanese person in whatever city in which the cartoonists live and report back about the
conversation. The results are often amusing - and feature comics by James Kochalka, Ryan North
and others (Ryan's is particularly amusing).
So yeah, Moresukine is a fun, well-written, well-drawn book. Go check it out!
(NOTE: This is basically what I wrote when the book first came out - BC).

|
John H Armstrong -
18 hours and 9 minutes ago
Almost every day a new person, someone I have never met or corresponded with, writes me an email in
response to my blogs or one of my books. I do my best to answer such writers if the tone and spirit
of their correspondence is gracious and invites a thoughtful reply. The only exception is when
person simply wants to trash me personally and or attacks my work in a way that offers me no real
room for cordial conversation. In such a case I will usually provide a short answer that expresses
my inability to respond to such a letter since there is no room for dialog and mutual respect. I
desire dialog and mutual respect and always offer the same back wherever I can.
Harshly negative responses once deeply troubled me. I still struggle with this kind of criticism.
It leaves me feeling fragile and defenseless. It is humiliating. I was too sensitive while I was a
pastor, and I have had a hard time dealing with the same kind of thing over the last nineteen years
as the president of ACT3 and as a published author. Everyone who teaches and writes invites
criticism. I expect it. What I did not but have finally come to expect sadly, is the angry person
who simply wants to tell me off or makes a “case” for why my life and ministry is a
disaster. I recall the late Vance Havner saying that every minister needed “the heart of a
saint and the hide of a rhinoceros.” I am quite sure I have neither in abundance but I will
press on praying for them both till my numbered days are finished.
 A few days ago
I receive a very interesting email regarding my posts last year on the late Keith Green. While I
never knew Keith I loved him and feel he was, as I said at the time, the “real deal.”
He made more than a few mistakes but they were made because he was young and filled with real zeal.
Such zeal frightens folks, but some people need to be frightened now and then. Lethargy grips far
too many of God’s people, and the church will never be bold and obedient until the prophets
are heard. Keith was a prophetic voice. But he was more, as I noted in my articles. My
“new” friend wrote the following to me (slightly edited by me):
I have to admit that I had not heard of you until recently. For this I am sorry. I just came
upon a couple of articles you have on your blog site about [the late] Keith Green. I thought these
were wonderful. I'm 49 years of age and was raised in the heart of the Jesus Movement at Maranatha
Church in Portland, Oregon. Maranatha Church, along with Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California,
were probably the first two Jesus Movement "mother" churches of the late 1960's. I was there as a
child among all those converted hippies. This experience gave me a broad context that some who have
only heard about these events—but who weren’t actually
there—or some who have since seen [the more recent] copies of real revival, do
not have. I later bumped into Keith Green hearing him for the first time at Jesus Northwest. I'm
thinking this was around 1977. This was amazing stuff. But like you I was concerned all along the
way—deeply concerned to the point of considering writing him a letter but
figured he'd not have gotten it—a big mistake I now realize. I remember seeing
how strident he was at a concert that I attended in Vancouver, Washington. He was right on with
what he said but when he apologized in the last article that came out before his death it was as if
Keith had finally figured out grace. "I'm sorry if I blew you away with my lack of love,” he
wrote. I loved that humility. It was like a glow came over him—and then I saw
what I had seen at Maranatha—zeal with love; with so much more love than zeal.
To get rid of the darkness we can rail against it or we can turn on the light!!
I still love Keith Green. His music seems so different than his teachings, or at least the words
that I recall—his music isn't angry. Thank you for publicly calling Keith
Green's former teachings into question—it's a very good thing to hear. I am sure
that it is going to be hard for some people to hear this message since many never saw the zeal with
love that I got to see at Maranatha—it was either a dry church or the passion of
Keith Green for so many people in that context.
Rev. Armstrong I really do appreciate your writing. It was fun to read what you said. I want to
thank you for your measured and balanced approach to Keith Green. It is so sad that he wasn't able
to live to be a fully grown-up Christian. I wonder, along with you, what would have happened if he
had lived and matured. I suspect that he would have been a very sweet man who taught the love of
Jesus and more or less ignored the condemnation of those who at one time he had said were playing
church. After all what's the point eventually? It seems to me that it is much better to be an
example of balance and to be [more] like Jesus in the world. One former Foursquare pastor told me
one of the greatest things I've ever heard as a Christian: "The most releasing day was when I found
out I wasn't the Holy Spirit." I love that thought so much—I imagine Keith Green
would have really figured that out too had he lived a little longer.
After I received this letter I wrote the author and asked permission to print an edited
and anonymous version of his words to me. He wrote back another thoughtful and engaging letter.
This reflects something of the breadth of readership on this site. It is a breadth I intentionally
cultivate and desire. I welcome readers like my friend. Here is what he wrote in his second
letter:
Thank you also for taking the time to write to me after I wrote to you. [You may use my thoughts
anonymously.] One thing happened at the Keith Green Vancouver, Washington, concert that a friend of
mine remembers but I don't is that apparently Keith got down on his knees during the concert,
raised his arms to the heaven and proclaimed "Oh praise IT.” This was his commentary on the
"I Found It" public relations campaign [directed by Campus Crusade for Christ across America] going
on at that time. That was so funny [also insightful and courageous] but I've never heard it
mentioned by anyone. A friend told me this story and said he was there with a friend whose father
was on the national "I Found It" board. He said this guy wasn't amused!! That incident sums up
Keith Green and his biting commentary on the times. He was really unvarnished.
Thank also for telling me about your site(s) and your new book. My vision has been to [move in the
direction of] so much of what you are doing in your speaking and writing. I'm not sure when or
exactly how those doors will open but I hope I'm ready when/if they do. It's exciting to talk to
you and hear and see what you are doing. I'm one of those odd Christians who is a Democrat
[something like] the teacher and author Tony Campolo but I am sometimes saddened by what I hear,
not necessarily from him but from the other people on the Christian Left [who are evangelicals] . .
. I wish they would build bridges with the Christian Right. The hard thing for the Right I think is
that they just don’t know the difference—they just don't understand
compassion in a [real] works kind of way and I believe we can teach them by being sweet to them. I
think bridges can be built. My dad was a pioneer in migrant-rights worker movement back in the
1950's and then worked in the War on Poverty thus I feel so blessed to have seen what can be done
to change people's lives by such action— something I think my friends on the
Christian Left are trying to do—but honestly I don't quite understand either
extreme among Christian evangelicals. I think of something that shocked me when I really realized
it. At the end of the age, when we stand before the Lord, he is not going to ask "How many people
did you lead to me?" This was shocking to me as a born again guy who has always been taught that
bringing people to the Lord was the critical thing, which I do still believe. But Christ is going
to ask us about our involvement in social justice. I was hungry and you fed me. It's such a
shocking difference in spiritual priorities from what I usually hear in church. This is rather
weird isn't it?
Thanks again. It's really fun to meet a new person who is insightful and is looking to teach and
lead Christians into thinking and to balance. If there's anything I can do to help you let me know.
I look forward to seeing more of your work and thoughts in your writings.
I hope this is the beginning of a relationship even if it is only via the Internet. This is not a
virtual friendship any more than Christians who exchanged letters in centuries past, and never met
face-to-face, had real friendships for the kingdom of God. I welcome my new friend into the circle
of those who know and love me. I need his insights and his prayers. I need your insight and prayer
too if I am to do a better job in my work for the whole church.

|
Comics Should Be Good! -
20 hours and 19 minutes ago
This year's Emerald City Con was... an extraordinary experience.
Truthfully, I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around some of it. Doing our Artist's Alley
table as a fundraiser for the Cartooning Class was very much a last-minute, spur-of-the-moment
decision, we weren't organized about it at all... and I was very moved, and a little awed, at how
well the kids came through. Not just the current students but many of our grads, as well.
The experience could be summed up in this exchange between our friend Lorinda and myself. At one
point, I shook my head and muttered, "This is so amazing... I mean, teaching, it's like putting a
note in a bottle and throwing it in the ocean, you never really know how it's going to work out."
Rin replied, "Well, you sure had a lot of bottles come back this weekend."
We took a lot of pictures and I think I'll just run those for you and talk a little bit about
each one.
*
This is what it looked like before we opened.
And another.
This is the last time we would experience quiet until Sunday evening. LATE Sunday evening. My
ears are still ringing a little.
Outside, the crowd was milling around panting to get in.
Clearly, convention security was going to be overtaxed so the stormtroopers thought they'd assist
with crowd control.
And then we were off....
This may give you a little bit of an idea of the swarms that descended once the doors were open.
Saturday, in particular, was Hell Day.
Fortunately, we had a great crew. I honestly don't know how Julie and I ever used to do this by
ourselves. It takes a teenage metabolism to keep up with the Saturday hordes at a convention.
In the rear we have Rachel, Aja, and that's Katrina under the mop, with our friend Rin in the
front. Rachel decided to be Rogue again this year, as you can see. Katrina wanted to dress up too
but couldn't decide on an outfit (she'd brought a couple.) This is the one she started with, a
character of her own named Connor, but Connor only lasted till noon or so.
Once again this year, we won the lottery by having awesome neighbors. One one side we had Jeffrey
Ellis and the crew from Cloudscape
Comics, a small-press artists-collective outfit based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
I bought their anthology book EXPLODED VIEW partly to say thanks for putting up with us but it
turns out that I really like it.
It looks a lot like a grown-up version of what we do in class, actually -- every member of the
group contributes a few pages' worth of work and then there's bios in the back. Same basic
format, just with real production values. A lot of good stuff in here.
On the other side we had Two Percent Solution.
They do a raunchy humor self-published book and a podcast as well.
I'm so embarrassed I can't remember their names -- I know I introduced myself at some point, but
I couldn't really hear them very well. The echo chamber in the hall, once the crowds were in,
made it nearly impossible to converse on Saturday. But they were great, swore up and down they
loved being next to us and claimed we brought them a lot of extra traffic. They were especially
hilarious about pretending to almost-swear in front of the kids but they never actually did.
Since we were doing a for-real fundraiser, and thus actually accepting money, our setup changed a
little this year.
The idea was that we had students on the left, alumni on the right. As people would approach, the
kids would offer them a giveaway book, and if they stopped, then they'd volunteer to sign it.
Ben, Marie, and Eileen, working hard.
Then Katie or myself would explain about the budget shortfall and collecting for donations, and
add that anything over $10 got you a custom sketch from an alum. More often than not, they'd at
least stop and admire the sample sketches we had up, and put a couple of bucks in the box.
Here's a customer getting The Spiel. Marie, especially, was really good at explaining to people
what we were doing.
Many did in fact commission sketches.
Once we were set up it went fairly smoothly despite being a bit cramped, up against the wall as
we were.
That's me and my boss, Katie. For the last seven years I've exhorted my various supervisors at
school to come to the convention and really see how hard the kids work, but this was the
first time anyone took me up on it. It really was a lot of fun having Katie there as she knew
nothing about comics, conventions, or geek culture in general. But she adapted quickly. Watching
her take in the experience was a lot of fun, and by the end of her day there she was a complete
convert. At one point Katie was even speculating on the possibility of doing this kind of thing
more often and wondering what other shows there were that we could attend as a class. The
Stumptown Festival in Portland, especially, was a possibility we talked about quite a bit. (Katie
was also interested in hearing about WonderCon and APE, but I told her, "Baby steps. I'm only
just now getting to a place where I think I know how to get us to THIS show.")
The alumni were kept very busy sketching all day both days.
Fortunately they love to draw but my GOD they worked hard. I wish I'd gotten more shots of their
work, it was of an extraordinarily high level, especially the high school kids. I was so proud of
all of them and the way they've all kept learning and growing as artists, years after leaving my
charge.
I did get a few. Here's one of Aja's.
And this is one of Katrina's custom commissions. She asked the lady what she wanted and the woman
said, "Well, I like octopuses." (Yes, I know it's octopi but that's what she said.)
For a second I thought Katrina was going to be stuck but then she blew out this caricature of the
woman herself with an octopus on her head. Yeah, the kids are THAT good.
Some people were kind of crass about it. This mother, especially, was really annoying. First she
wanted to know what she'd be getting for her ten dollars.
It takes a special kind of chutzpah to haggle with a sixteen-year-old volunteer over your
CHARITABLE ACT.
Katrina rather helplessly pointed to the samples, but it developed that this woman wanted to see
the actual sketch before she would pay for it.
And this woman wanted something special, too-- a caricature of her two boys... an action pose of
the two of them in their martial arts class. Geez lady, demanding much?
Here's Katrina working on the commission -- I cropped her out, but cheapskate Mom is hovering
just out of frame, watching like a hawk to make sure she gets her money's worth.
Katrina was amazingly diplomatic about it. I thought Rin was going to go ballistic on the woman
and I had to squelch a few sharp remarks myself. She deserved some kind of smack.
The two boys with the final product. I think they were a little embarrassed over how their mother
treated Katrina.
Fortunately, the finished product satisfied everyone and we got the ten bucks.
But most of our visitors were much nicer. You remember Rachel's shot of the X-Men at the beach?
Guess who got that one.
Yeah, that's Matt Fraction, proud new owner of Rachel's X-Men Beach Party. This may be my
favorite photo from the show. Only in comics do moments like this happen: my former student
Rachel, the world's most ardent fan of the X-Men, posing with Matt Fraction, current writer of
the X-Men comic, who's just told her that her cartoon is brilliant, that he would love to do a
scene of the team at the beach and that she's caught all their personalities perfectly.
Matt was great with all the kids. He signed autographs, talked with them about comics, and
generally was awesome. Here he is signing an autograph for Emma.
It was only a couple of minutes out of his day but I know how hard it can be to
get away from your table when you're working a show, and it really meant a lot to the students to
have a pro take such an interest. Even my students, whose comics fandom usually begins and ends
with manga, know who Iron Man and the X-Men are. They were thrilled that he stopped by.
Michael Alan Nelson also visited our table briefly.
The kids loved him too, though they had only the vaguest idea of who he was -- I explained he
worked for Boom! Comics and I think many of them had the idea he worked on the Muppets or
something, since that was always where the line was over there. I enjoyed getting to meet him at
last -- I interviewed him here a while back, but it was via e-mail and we'd
never met in person. I am a big fan of his Fall Of Cthulhu series, and I got
Swordsmith Assassin at the show as well, since Chip Mosher sent us the first issue for
review and I liked it quite a lot, I'd been meaning to pick it up for a while now... though I
forgot to ask Mr. Nelson to sign it. Too busy chitchatting.
I was mostly at our table all weekend, but Julie got out some. There was no way she was missing
Leonard Nimoy.
She was actually in panels for most of Saturday, she also went to see Wil Wheaton and Stan Lee.
Of them all, I think Julie was the most impressed with Nimoy's, she said he was "inspiring."
As for me, well, I was enjoying my time at the table because it was turning into old home week.
We had many visitors from past classes -- Amethyst, Jessica, Shane, Andrew, and Jay, among
others. Some I hardly recognized because they're, you know, adults now. (The
last time I saw Jay he was a scrawny little soft-spoken kid. Today he's in his twenties, six feet
tall and ponytailed, very outgoing with an infectious laugh. And of course his voice is an octave
lower.)
Some even volunteered to put in some time sketching for us, which melted me. Lindon popped up out
of nowhere and immediately wanted to put in some table time. Of course I agreed.
A lot of the kids dressed up this year, too. Saturday Lindon was in street clothes, but Sunday
she was Pikachu.
I took this one just because it made me laugh.
That's right, Pikachu supports Cartooning in schools!
This is Lindon and Devon. I shot this because when Lindon has her head down -- even today, she
always draws with her nose to the paper like that, it can't be comfortable but she always has to
get way down there -- anyway, it tickles me because it looks like Pikachu is sitting at the
table.
Lots of parents volunteered time too.
That's Marie, Ben, and Eileen, under the watchful eye of Gus' mother Marilyn. She looks a little
annoyed, not because of the three kids but because her own son has abandoned his post again.
I get three kinds of students -- the ones who want to write, the ones who want to draw, and the
ones who just want to geek out and be surrounded by comics. Gus is one of the geeks. He will
produce drawings if you lean on him, but for him the point of being at a con is to get
cool stuff. All I ask of the kids is to put in a ninety-minute shift at our table on the
day they attend, but Gus could hardly bring himself to even do that much, he'd brought money and
it was burning a hole in his pocket. First it was Leonard Nimoy's autograph -- even if you
brought your own item for him to sign it was still a wince-worthy forty dollars -- and then he
negotiated an advance on his allowance to go buy some comics.
Marilyn has always been one of my favorite parents and her reaction to this was completely
charming. She ordered Gus to stay at the table and do his job. Then she went off to go
get her son's comics herself. Naturally, not being an expert, she consulted me.
"Randy's Readers," I told her. "He's your guy. He sells comics that aren't collectible, just in
average shape... his market is people that don't really Collect with a capital C, but only want
to read comics. If I ever get a chance to take a break I was thinking of stopping over there
myself, to be honest."
Marilyn agreed that was the place to go and the girls were exhorting me to take some kind of a
break, and Marie wanted to come too, so off we went.
Marilyn explained that Gus wanted war comics. "So violent," she said, ruefully.
Gus did the tank for the group poster. He's all about the war comics.
I laughed. "Well, I grew up on blood and thunder myself, it's not all that damaging really. The
key is that there has to be a story, I try to make sure they aren't just doing a videogame
shoot-'em-up. There's a fine old tradition of war comics that did great stories, Sgt. Rock,
G.I. Combat, Unknown Soldier.... we'll find him some of the good stuff."
Marilyn perked up. "Yes, I know Gus liked that Unknown Soldier book you loaned him. I
was going to try and find some of those."
I brought this to class to show the boys that even hardcore shoot-em-ups still had to have a
STORY. For Gus it was love at first sight.
Mission defined, we now moved with a clear purpose. Once we were at Randy's booth Randy himself
stepped in and was very helpful, explaining to Marilyn that there was the Unknown Soldier series
from Star-Spangled War Storiesand then there were the ones in his own book.
"What's the difference?" Marilyn wanted to know.
"Later ones are probably cheaper," I told her, smiling. "But I don't think Gus will care that
much, he'd enjoy any of them."
As for me, in showing the various war series to Marilyn I stumbled across this one and decided I
couldn't pass it up for six bucks.
Sorry, Gus, I got this one.
Our Army At War #269, a reprint of stories featuring work by Joe Kubert, George Evans,
John Severin, Russ Heath, and even Mort Drucker (!) I could spend hours just looking at the
pictures in this one.
I also fell for a couple of Superboy Giant reprint collections from my childhood that
I'd been trying to replace for a while. Mostly these days I'm a trade paperback guy, but
nostalgia can still get me.
Marie said curiously, "I know who Superman is, but I never heard of Superboy."
"It's like Smallville, only he actually wears the costume," I heard myself say, and
suddenly felt a hundred years old as i realized there's probably two generations of schoolkids
now who know Smallville as 'their' Superman the way I think of Bates-Maggin-Swan
Bronze-Age Superman as 'mine.'
When we got back I told Gus he had the coolest mother ever. "At your age I'd have killed
for a mom who said, 'you finish your work, I'll go make sure you get your comics.' That's unheard
of."
Gus blushed, grinned sheepishly, and gave his mother a hug. Marilyn beamed and said, "I have my
moments."
There wasn't time for me to do a whole lot of shopping -- there never is -- but Rin found a
dealer who had a big box full of graphic novels and trades for $5 and I fell for a couple of
those, too.

Empire is one of those late 1970s Byron Preiss productions where he was deliberately
trying to move comics into a bookstore market -- about twenty-five years too soon, it turned out,
but he produced some handsome books when he was trying. This one was an original piece by Samuel
Delany and Howard Chaykin, hoping to scoop up some of that newly-minted SF audience that Star
Wars created back then. I'd never actually read it and I've always been curious about it.
Holliday I've never heard of, but I'm always up for a Western comic, and for a $5 trade
paperback it's hard to go wrong.
Most of our shopping, though, we tried to do in Artist's Alley itself as much as possible. We
like to support the creators. Julie picked up the new Muppet book from Boom! where Amy Mebberson
was -- you should pardon the expression -- doing a BOOMing business.
Possibly the most popular artist at the show this year.
She was kept busy all weekend. A lovely lady, she was great with all the kids that came up to her
and sketched Kermits and Animals and Miss Piggys till her hands were raw, most likely. I don't
think a single kid went away empty-handed.
And I made it a point to pick up a bunch of stuff from Camilla d'Errico on Sunday morning. I was
able to catch her a few minutes before the show opened, when it was actually possible to have a
conversation.
Camilla's a favorite with my kids.
Camilla has been a great friend to my students for many years now... they don't remember her name
but they all know the Awesome Manga Lady From Vancouver. I bought about $25 worth of stuff from
her because A) I can use it in class and B) she deserves to be rich and I do what I can. She had
a line all weekend but I did get to chat with her for a few minutes on Sunday morning. Largely on
what became the typical Sunday conversation topic in Artist's Alley, "Great to see you, sorry I
didn't come by earlier, we were stuck at the table.... My God! Wasn't yesterday hell? How many
people did YOU get?" Everyone loved the increase in business but hated fighting through the
crowds on Saturday.
Sunday afternoon I did get around a little bit. I got a couple of books signed from Kurt Busiek
and Len Wein, and I had a flattering couple of minutes with Les McClaine, original artist on
The Middleman. He saw my badge and said, "Hey, Greg Hatcher! I love your column!"
Seriously. I was shocked speechless. I spluttered and fumfuh'd and blushed like a schoolgirl,
finally managing to choke out that I was a huge fan of his, that my students and I all adored
The Middleman. This pleased him, and we agreed that it was a shame it didn't last but it
was great to have something that cool exist at all.
And I got to say hi to Pete and Rebecca Woods, from Periscope Studios. We hadn't seen Rebecca in
about six years, she hadn't come to ECCC in a while, so it was great to catch up. Rebecca
immediately wanted to know how Brianna was doing, since when Bri was my student years ago she
practically camped out at the Periscope Studios table, and Rebecca happily adopted her. I told
her that Bri wanted desperately to come this year but she had finals up at Bellingham, she was in
college up at Western. Then we had a mutual groan about how old we are getting.
Because Bri couldn't make it to the convention this year, we wanted to at least let her know she
was missed.
When I got the idea to recruit additional Cartooning alumni to do charity sketches for our
fundraiser, my first two thoughts were Brianna and Nadine. They're both in college now, and
they've kept up with their comics work as well. They were pretty amazing in the seventh grade,
and they've only gotten better.
Here's what Bri was doing when she was in my class...
...and here's a more current piece.
Sadly, Brianna had finals or she'd have been there with bells on, she assured us.
Nadine had finals too but she did make it down, which delighted me. She was probably the single
most gifted student I've ever had. Her serial "Mermaid's Touch" still gets gasps of awe when the
kids go through the old books.
In fact, when Katrina joined my class when she was in middle school, she was so inspired by
Nadine's work that she took the same pen name, "KittyBell."
|
Cinematical -
20 hours and 37 minutes ago
Any rodeo fans out there? Having been exposed
to the culture a little during my trips to Vegas while the Professional Bull Riding circuit was
in town. So I was curious to learn a bit more about it from Meredith Danluck who has made a
documentary about it having its world premiere
at this year's South by Southwest Film Festival,
Cinematical: The mythos of the cowboy is something suggested during the opening
monologue. But what is the idea of the modern cowboy that all these guys are chasing that is
either in sync or contradicts the Old West paradigm that we fall in love with as little
boys?
MEREDITH: I think these guys arent necessarily "chasing" the idea of the cowboy,
but rather are cowboys. Growing up outside of the ranching community, the mythology of the cowboy
was propped up mainly by whatever Hollywood dictated; courtesy, pride, strength etc. These guys
grew up with those values. I think, like with any archetype, there are evolutions of the
characteristics that maybe on the surface seem contradictory. Winning a million dollars might not
make sense with our idea of a cowboy, but once you strip away all the superficial layers, the
core is the same.
Filed under: SXSW, Interviews
Continue reading SXSW Interview: 'The Ride' Director Meredith Danluck
Permalink | Email this | Comments

|
U2Torrents.com’s U2torrents news feed -
21 hours and 10 minutes ago
A new torrent has been uploaded to U2Torrents.com.
Torrent: 5763
Title: 2001-07-21 Torino, Stadio delle Alpi"Violence Is Never Right" 2silverdisc
Size: 0.99 GB
Category: Elevation
Uploaded by: bonozitoun
Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2001-07-21 Torino, Stadio delle Alpi
====================================
General Informations :
====================================
Name : Violence Is Never Right
Tour : Elevation Tour
Leg : Leg 2 - Europe
Date : 07.21.2001
Country : Italy
Town : Torino
Place : Stadio Delle Alpi
Type : Audio
Support : Silver CD
Manufacturer : Ultimate Sound
Num. cat. : US 49/50
Barcode : 21072001
Taper : Chris Voynet
Material : Danish Pro Audio 4061 > Sony TCD-D8
Performance : Live
Source : Audience
Integral : Complete
====================================
Lineage cda > EAC > WAV > DbPoweramp > fLAC LEVEL8 > Md5summer > U2T
INCLUDED ON Torrrent Cover art , fa
great audience sound , Taper Chris Voynet
do not reencode to mp3
Please:
Thank you not to reseed,
I'll uploder on other tracker (dime ,...)
and other sites, thanks in advance
====================================
Setlist :
====================================
Disc 1 (07/2001)
1. Introduction / Elevation
2. Beautiful Day
3. Until The End Of The World
4. New Year's Day
5. Kite
6. Gone
7. New York
8. I Will Follow
9. Sunday Bloody Sunday / Get Up Stand Up
10. In My Life / Stuck In A Moment
11. In A Little While
12. Desire / Gloria
13. Stay (faraway, So Close !)
Disc 2
1. Bad / 40
2. Where The Streets Have No Name
3. Mysterious Ways / Sexual Healing
4. The Fly
5. Bullet The Blue Sky
6. With Or Without You / Love Will Tear Us Apart
7. One
8. Wake Up Dead Man / Walk On / Hallelujah
9. Pride (in The Name Of Love)
10. Out Of Control
====================================
Discs Contents
====================================
CD 1 & 2 : Torino - July 21th, 2001
====================================
Review :
====================================
AchtungBootlegs.com / 02.28.2007
====================================
don't sell, trade and share only.
Enjoy
Bonozitoun
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can use the URL below to download the torrent (you may have to login).
http://u2torrents.com/torrents-details.php?id=5763&hit=1
Take care!
Live U2
_________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: Please do not reply to this email account it is NOT monitored.
Please visit the U2torrents.com Help section at http://www.u2torrents.com/help/ for helpful
information or to Ask a Question.

|
Guardian Unlimited -
22 hours and 2 minutes ago
The Piano by Jane Campion (1993)
If I hadn't seen The Piano when I did, I may never have made a feature film. I've been
making little films since I was eight – I begged my father to buy me a
Super 8 camera after he took me to see Doctor Dolittle with Rex
Harrison – but for a long while I thought I wanted to make documentaries. I
found cinema incredibly inspiring, but I wasn't hearing any voices that felt like my voice in
that world. It was a bit like being a singer and hearing wonderful music, but feeling there was
nothing in your range. When I first saw The Piano I suddenly felt, my goodness, this is
something I could do. It was almost a lack of confidence, before. But seeing the film, the power
of its imagery and the delicacy of the way that emotion was handled in it, it felt in tune with
who I was as a person and who I was as a filmmaker. It made me see film as a possibility for
myself.
I first saw it in a cinema on the King's Road with the man who was to be my husband. We'd only
recently met. At that point I knew I very much wanted to have children, and here was a film
exploring the relationship between a mother and a daughter. I was excited, but my boyfriend
didn't really get it at all. He found it slow and uninspiring. Still, I remember in that moment
feeling an incredible connection with the film.
It's really influenced me in a lot of specific ways, beyond giving me the feeling I could go out
and do this. It has sunk in at a very deep level. There were shots in Bleak House that
were directly inspired by The Piano. The way the humvees move across the desert in
Generation Kill, these very still, tranquil shots – they're very like
the shots of the piano on the beach. Even more recently, in Nanny McPhee, there are
silhouette shots that are very like those of Holly Hunter being carried in across the waves. Anna
Paquin who played the little girl is now in True Blood with Alex Skarsgård,
who I cast in Generation Kill. She's so, so brilliant in the film and is now working
with Alex. I love that.
It's been really interesting to me revisiting the film now that I've had children. It plays very
differently, I've found other layers in it, about that closeness and the language between a
mother and a daughter. They're a bit young now, but I look forward to the day when I can sit down
and watch it with my daughters. I think they'd get a huge amount from it.
Susanna White's next film, Nanny Mcphee and the Big Bang, is released on 26 March
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media
Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

|
Guardian Unlimited -
22 hours and 4 minutes ago
The French four-piece talk to Hermione Hoby about ants, surrealism and creeping success
In a bar in the Opéra district of Paris, brothers and guitarists Laurent Brancowitz and
Christian Mazzalai – also known as one half of French band Phoenix
– are reflecting on a cover version of the band's single, "Lisztomania".
"It would... bring a tear to the eye of an SS officer," says Brancowitz, shaking his head with
wonderment. Later, speaking from New York, singer Thomas Mars agrees: "We all had tears in our
eyes when we watched it." Google "PS22 Chorus Lisztomania" and you'll find a video of an American kids choir whose members
look and sound like they've never loved a song so much in their lives.
It makes perfect sense that a bunch of elementary schoolchildren should have made such a
brilliant cover. As Brancowitz himself explains, the band's fourth studio album was written
without ties to a record label or manager because "we wanted to do something like kids again.
That's always what we're looking for."
The album's reception last year suggests they found it. As you might guess from the title (in
their words, "an equally glorious and stupid" one), Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a record
blessed with a breezy playfulness, though its songs are meticulously crafted. Ten years on from
their debut, the album has earned Phoenix two rather different badges of distinction: a Grammy
for best alternative album, and the perhaps even greater accolade of being the most blogged-about
band of 2009 (according to website the Hype Machine).
The band also has a fearsome reputation as a live act, something you can judge for yourself on
the Observer's live album giveaway (see panel, left), an exclusive recording of the band
performing in Sydney a few weeks ago.
They could be forgiven a spot of bumptiousness, then. Instead, they seem genuinely surprised that
their London Roundhouse dates later this month sold out so fast. Brancowitz jokes that "there's
been a lot of resistance from your little island; we feel like Napoleon trying to invade". Mars
agrees: "It's a mystery in the UK. I feel like it's a love and hate relationship. Most of the
things we were listening to come from the UK. But maybe before we weren't in sync with the era we
were living in..."
Brancowitz has another theory as to why this album has been such a success: "It was the album we
made with the most humility. The good things we do are the product of luck and not from our
personal songwriting genius." So modest! "No, but it's true," he protests gently. "It takes a lot
of courage to admit it. It's a long, chemical process. We just sit and a few thousand tries
later..."
That slow-burn approach to songwriting (they took two years to make the album so "a few thousand
tries" perhaps isn't too outrageous an estimate) is mirrored in the steadiness of their rise.
Gradual success has been, as Mazzalai puts it, "a pure pleasure at every step".
When I ask whether their inclusion of musical "naffness" (Alphabetical, their second
album, betrayed a penchant for 70s soft rock, for example) has been a conscious thing, Brancowitz
replies with a typically rococo turn of phrase. He concedes it's semi-conscious, but is, he says,
always based on "an instinctive ravishment".
Such un-English wording possibly accounts for the charm of their (English) lyrics. As Mars
explains: "We like doing lyrics that are cryptic and abstract, we leave out all the in-betweens,
everything that makes sense. That's impossible to do in French, because every word betrays what's
going on. In English you can put all these pieces together and create this weird, poetic thing."
He pauses. "It's very like French surrealism in a way."
As that mental leap from truncated English to French surrealism indicates, the band remain
utterly Gallic, despite their formative diet of My Bloody Valentine, the Smiths and any other
British band that, as Mars puts it, have "something about them that makes me lose my balance".
The two brothers, plus Mars and bassist Deck D'Arcy (all four are in their early 30s), grew up in
the conservative Parisian suburb of Versailles, a place where, Brancowitz says, "it's really easy
to be a rebel without a cause – you don't have to have a very crazy haircut.
It's very Catholic, so there are a lot of families of old nobility..."
"They're scary," adds Mazzalai.
Scary though it may have been, there's no question that being four kindred spirits in what they
paint as a cultural wasteland has gone a long way in binding them together. "Alone we are poor,
but together..." Mazzalai trails off.
Brancowitz, a man of many metaphors, continues: "You know ants? They have very minimal tasks but
in the end they build these very complex structures. That's the same for us. Really, I don't
remember taking creative decisions, they just happen."
They also insist they're "really bad musicians in terms of technique". "I don't even know how to
do a scale," claims Brancowitz, prompting Mazzalai to add: "We don't know how to play with other
musicians. I tried with friends to do sessions a few times and it's always a disaster."
Touchingly, Mars echoes many of these sentiments when we speak later. While the other three live
in Paris, he's now based in New York with his film director girlfriend Sofia Coppola, who is
expecting their second child in May. His relocation hasn't put any distance, musically, between
him and his bandmates though.
"On our own we are not really great," he tells me. "It's not that I don't believe in my friends
but the four of us have this thing, this balance of us all together."
Accounting for that balance, Brancowitz says: "Thomas has a very abstract vision of everything,
and Deck is more of a mathematician – when there's a decision about harmonic
complexities, he's there. He knows every equation."
There's a certain indulgent affection to the way they talk about their bassist, I suggest. "Ah,
but we're all weirdos," smiles Brancowitz. Mazzalai takes up the theme: "We're all fascinated by
mathematics, we love it. But you know," he adds with a shrug, "even beats are mathematical
– it's mathematics that makes people dance."
This is as perfectly Phoenix-like a sentiment as there can be. Cerebral precision and mindless
abandon are an irresistible combination – and those jiving elementary school
kids aren't the only ones to know it.
Hermione Hobyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use
of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

|
Mashable! -
22 hours and 58 minutes ago
Attention baseball fans, the date that is no doubt etched
in your brain — the start of the 2010 Major League Baseball Season — is fast
approaching. To get you ready for April 4 (when the Boston Red Sox will take on the reigning
World Series champion New York Yankees at Fenway Park) we’re pitching you five handpicked
iPhone apps that will hit a home run with baseball fans.
If you are partial to America’s national sport — and let’s face it, it’s
almost unpatriotic not to be — then these apps are an absolute must for your iPhone or iPod
touch. However, in case we’ve struck out and missed any of your faves, then do let us know
in the comments below.
1. MLB at Bat 2010
Although criticized for its $15 price tag, MLB’s official iPhone app is a great all-rounder
for fans, and an even better option for fans that have a paid-up for MLB.TV because, with
portable access to your MLB.TV account, you can watch live streaming games on the go. As with
last season’s offering, anyone can use the app to listen live to games, as well as get a
virtual idea of what’s happening at the park with MLB’s blow-by-blow Gameday updates.
The app also offers scores and stats, as well as some in-game highlights and a video library
that’s searchable by both player and team. If you really can’t stretch to that $15,
then a free “lite” version (MLB.com At Bat Lite) offers real-time MLB scores,
schedules, news and standings — but no audio or video — that will keep you informed
through to the end of 2010 World Series.
Cost: $14.99
2. FanGraphs Baseball
If you’re the type of fan that can rattle off ground ball to fly ball ratios and stolen
base percentages like Rain Man reciting phone numbers, then quite simply you will love this app.
Claiming to offer the most detailed player statistics available on an iPhone app, FanGraphs will
let you look back and analyze every major player in baseball history, as well as look forward
with live win probability graphs based on game data for the 2010 season.
Favorite players can be tracked with full, live box scores that link through to past stats, every
play can be analyzed to see how it impacts the game, and there’s even up-to-date advanced
fielding metrics via FanGraph’s “Ultimate Zone Ratings.”
Cost: $2.99
3. Ballpark Envi
It could be argued that the stadium is as much a character in baseball as the opposing teams or
the crowd. A celebration of the nation’s ballparks is offered in one neat little app
— Ballpark Envi — spanning baseball’s geography as well as its history from
Shibe Park to the new Yankee Stadium. Browsable by team, or by American and National League,
every current Major League baseball stadium is detailed with stadium pics and slide shows,
seating charts (super useful for booking tickets) as well as the ability to see the park’s
location on a map.
Whether you want to glimpse Dodger Stadium’s wavy roofs on the outfield pavilions or the
orange foul poles of the Mets’ new Citi Field this app will give you an insider glimpse of
America’s amazing ballparks with all their quirks and characteristics.
Cost: $0.99
4. iScore Baseball Scorekeeper
If you consider a baseball scorebook will set you back $5 at the absolute minimum (and more if
you buy it at the park) then the $10 price tag for this app does not seem quite so steep. There
are a dearth of 99 cent alternatives available in the App Store, but for looks and an intuitive
interface (the app works on an “interview” premise asking you for all the data it
needs to build a complete picture of the game) the iScore Baseball Scorekeeper is the champ.
As well as appealing to those hardcore fans that like to sit and score every game, this is also a
good option for those new to baseball scorekeeping – you don’t have to learn all the
abbreviations and symbols and iScore offers a full set of tutorial
videos to get you using the app like a pro.
Cost: $9.99
5. Baseball FanMisery.com Index
Apps
If you want to keep your favorite Major League Baseball team in your pocket then FanMisery.com
offers an Index App for each and every MLB team. Working on the basis that being a fan is in fact
misery (the agony of defeat and all that jazz) the apps make sure you are kept as absolutely
up-to-date as possible with a comprehensive set of stats, opinions and news drawn from national
and local papers, broadcast media and blogs.
One nice touch is that if a blog or news source you follow isn’t currently included in the
indexing, the developer (Discover Motion) will add it in for you on request — just the kind
of helpful option that warms the cockles of an iPhone owner’s heart.
Cost: $2.99 each
More iPhone resources from Mashable:
- 10 Essential iPhone Apps for
Runners
- 10 Best iPhone Apps for Dog
Lovers
- Top 10 iPhone Apps as Judged by
Mashable Readers
- 10 Fun iPhone Apps for Beer
Lovers
- Mashable’s New iPhone
App: Download Today!
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, spxChrome
Tags: Baseball, iphone, iphone apps, Lists, sports


|
Support Forums : Thread List - Plugins -
1 days and 1 hours ago
Hi,
I was trying to make PhpStorm shortcuts behave like ReSharper's. I've been using ReSharper for
severeal years now and I like PhpStorm. Now I'd like to use the same shortcuts, of course. So,
I'd like to use "Ctrl+R, R" for renaming a variable and so on. I did not find a keymap
"ReSharper" but only the keymap "Visual Studio".
The problem is that the keymap "Visual Studio" is different from the real Visual Studio with
ReSharper.
Some examples:
* "Visual Studio" has "Refactor Rename" as Shift+F6, while real ReSharper uses "Ctrl+R, R".
* "Surround with..." command can be invoked with "Ctlr+Alt+T" in the KeyMap "Visual Studio" while
in ReSharper the shortcut is "Ctrl+E, U".
I'd really love to have ReSharpers keymap.
Thanks,
Felix
|
Engadget -
1 days and 1 hours ago
 Keep your eyes
tuned to this post -- because at 5:00 PM ET, we'll be starting The Engadget Show
live, with Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab and OLPC Project, Dr.
Richard Marks showing off Sony's PlayStation Move, commentary from Joystiq editor
Chris Grant, plus much, much, more! You seriously don't want to miss
it!
Of course, if you're in NY we'd love to have you attend the show in person at the Times Center.
It's absolutely free! We'll start handing out tickets at 2:30PM, open the doors for seating at
4:30PM, and the show itself starts at 5PM. There will also be giveaways from Sony
after the show, but you obviously have to be here to participate! All the info about attending
can
be found here.
Can't make it? We forgive you, and there's a live video stream that can be found after the break.
In the spirit of awesome, we've enabled tweeting directly to the live stream! To be a part of The
Engadget Show broadcast, just include the hashtag "#engadgetshow" and watch for your tweet on the
ticker at the bottom of the screen. One thing to note, The Engadget Show is a family program, so
any single instance of swearing or trolling will force us to turn off the
ticker... and it won't come back on. So, keep it clean and have fun!
Click "read more" for the stream!
Continue reading The Engadget Show Live with Nicholas Negroponte, PlayStation
Move, and Joystiq's Chris Grant
The Engadget Show Live with Nicholas Negroponte, PlayStation Move, and Joystiq's Chris Grant
originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Mar 2010
15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of
feeds.
Permalink |
| Email this | Comments

|
Mashable! -
1 days and 1 hours ago
Justin Bieber remains an immutable force of Twitter trend power, taking the top slot again for
the third week in a row. Tweeters also showed their love (and/or disdain) for a number of other
pop singers, and celebrated a few holidays this past week.
Thanks to our friends at What The Trend, we have yet another interesting stats-eye-view of the Twitterverse.
Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart below.
Beyond Justin Bieber, Follow Friday, and Music Monday — the reigning trend champs —
St. Patrick’s Day made an appearance as people tweeted their revelry, and Lady Gaga crept
up on the list with the premiere of her new video on
Vevo and a tour in New Zealand.
The Jonas Brothers hung tight near the middle, while circle enthusiasts everywhere tweeted
vigorously about Pi Day on March 14th, spurred on no doubt by the charming Google doodle that commemorated the occasion.
If you own a TV or computer, you probably know that March Madness is upon us, and
bracket-related tweets have been flying around the web all week, landing the term at number
seven.
Rounding out the chart are two more singers who made some news this week. Demi Lovato, the 17
year old actress/singer, stirred some buzz with her admission that she’s dating a Jonas
Brother, and Chris Brown, the career-stunted R&B singer, reached out to his fans on the web
for some help on making a comeback.
Strangely, tweets about the ongoing South By Southwest
(SXSW) conference — one of the most talked about topics in tech and a favorite of the
Twitter community — did not reach critical mass to make this week’s list. This is
likely due to the lack of big announcements or product launches from the conference this year.
You can check past Twitter trends in our Top
Twitter Topics section as well as read more about this past week’s trends on What The Trend.
Top Twitter Trends This Week 3/13 – 3/19
RankTopicTop Index This
WeekChangeDescription#1Justin Bieber1Justin
Bieber’s new album My World 2.0 comes out on March 23rd & his fans are excited. He also
appeared on Z100.com, QVC, and GMTV in the UK.#2Follow Friday1Follow Friday is a tradition where
people tweet people they believe are fun/interesting to follow (on Fridays).#3St. Patrick’s
Day2NEWPeople are tweeting "Happy St. Patrick’s Day" and showing their Irish spirit.#4Lady
GaGa22Lady GaGa is currently touring in New Zealand.#5Music Monday2Music Monday is a tradition
where users recommend music they appreciate every Monday.#6Jonas Brothers7Mentions of the Jonas
Brothers.#7March Madness1The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division 1
Men’s Basketball tournament started this week.#8Happy Pi Day2NEWMarch 14th is Happy Pi Day!
Pi is, roughly, 3.14. And today is 3/14. And March 14 is also the birthday of Albert Einstein#9Demi
Lovato3March 13 2010, "Jemi" is confirmed. Demi Lovato admitted to dating Joe Jonas in an interview
by Billy Bush. Many people are tweeting their opinions about this new couple. Joe Jonas and Demi
also recently released a new song, "Make a Wave."#10Chris Brown1NEWSinger Chris Brown asked his
fans to help revive his
career. They have been obliging with a variety of trends.
Tags: justin bieber, Top Twitter Topics, trends, twitter, twitter trends, What The Trend


|
Cinematical -
1 days and 2 hours ago
I love blues mixed with oranges. I have ever since I watched Jawbreaker for the first
time, and was desperately jealous of Julie and her funky bedding. And, lucky me, I've been able to
enjoy this combination all over the place these days. It's a popular modern color combination, and
has become a beloved contrast in Hollywood's world of film-tweaking. However, as blogger Into the
Abyss points out, it's overtaking Hollywood.
Abyss writer Todd Miro has shared a pretty excellent account of how this teal-orange phenomenon
came to be, and some of mainstream cinema's worst offenders. He explains how Oh
Brother, Where Art Thou? was the first feature to get scanned into a computer and put
through a Digital Intermediary (DI) process, which allows filmmakers to control the color of every
element in a film. This lead to complimentary color theory (where flesh tones thrive with teal)
being implemented in many big-screen flicks, no genre being safe -- the horror and gloom of
Wolfman, the superhero ways of Iron Man 2, the digital wonder of Tron 2,
the retro laughs of Hot Tub Time Machine, and the prize for "one of the worst examples of
unchecked teal and orange stupidity" --
Transformers 2.
So, keep an eye out next time you pop a disc into a player or hit the cineplex, you may just find
yourself drowning in a sea of teal and orange. If you've noticed the phenomenon before, what flicks
do you find to be the worst offenders?
Filed under: Fandom, Tech Stuff
Permalink | Email this | Comments

|
Comics Should Be Good! -
1 days and 2 hours ago
It's another Jacques Tardi-drawn comic! All hail Tardi! (And hey! I get to break out the
Not-Safe-For-Work warning! Just so you know!)
Yesterday, I looked at an adaptation by Jacques Tardi of a book written in the 1970s. Today, we
look at a comic that actually came out in the 1970s and is now back in print! It all works out!
You Are There was written by Jean-Claude Forest, who is best-known for this (well, the comic on which it
was based), and drawn by Monsieur Tardi.
Kim Thompson translated this sucker, and Fantagraphics published this bad bear. You will be charged no
more than $26.99 for this, which isn't bad considering it's 163 big-ass pages chock full of grand
Tardi art.
This is a very strange comic that doesn't completely work. Forest, channeling his inner Mark
Twain, wrote in an early book edition about You Are There: "No one should see in Ici
même a pamphlet, a satire on our society or the men who represent its political
regime. Nor did I have any specific intention of mocking man's attachment to property. If this
attachment leads to grotesque situations in this book, it does so no more than politics, law,
groceries or fornication; it serves through its ramblings a story, a plot whose basis lies
elsewhere and was intended, so far as I was concerned, to speak of something entirely different."
If that's so, it's too bad, because You Are There works best as an absurdist critique of
society and politics. It's a rambling, occasionally surreal look at a man who is crazy only
because a crazy society says he is; who then is really insane?
Perhaps Forest meant it as a love story, and there is a romance at its heart, but
the romance is just as odd as the rest of the book, so it's unclear what, exactly, Forest was
saying with this comic.
The situation is certainly interesting: Arthur There, the protagonist (and hence the title of the
book) lives in a place called Mornemont, which, as we learn early on, was once a vast tract of
land of which he is the sole heir. Over the decades and centuries, however, Mornemont has been
subdivided into smaller plots of land, each owned by a different family. Arthur is embroiled in a
lawsuit to get all the land back, but in the meantime, his one victory has given him ownership of
all the walls and the gates through them. He lives in a narrow shack built on one of the walls
and makes a living by charging a toll every time someone wants a gate open, gates to which he has
the only keys. Throughout the book, he rarely comes down off the walls - the residents, he
believes, would kill him for trespassing. His lawsuit to reclaim the rest of the land, however,
continues throughout the book. In Paris, the president fears that he's going to lose the
election, so he begins making plans to hole up somewhere and plan his triumphant return.
Naturally, he picks Mornemont, but the reason he does is clever and changes Arthur's life quite
significantly.
Ultimately, this is a story of a man fighting against the forces of conformity, as Arthur
desperately tries to remain his own man. Everyone wants him to change, and even if some of the
things that happen in the book are in his own mind, he clings to a dream when a lesser (or,
perhaps, saner) man would have given up on them. He falls for Julie, who's the daughter of one of
the couples living on "his" land, and their relationship is bumpy, to say the least. Julie is a
bit crazy, too, in a different way than Arthur. She has what we might categorize as Tourette's,
with no internal filters to stop her from saying whatever's on her mind or doing whatever's on
her mind.
Arthur's behavior is the polar opposite of Julie's, as he keeps everything inside
him. This provides the very odd climax of the book, at which their personalities have switched
places, to a degree. Julie believes in nothing, while Arthur believes in everything, so when
they're on a row boat, about to escape from their pasts, suddenly things are different for both
of them. The final image of the book, a surreal summation of events in the book, becomes a
comment on what men will do to change their lives. It's not a particularly happy ending, but it
is a logical ending.
The one thing you must deal with as you commence reading the book is that, even with a fairly
standard narrative, Forest writes oddly. Apparitions appear for no reason. The scene shifts
quickly in the middle of a page with no narrative tags to show it. Julie and Arthur often appear
to be saying simply what's on their minds and not actually talking to each other. Julie's
frankness about nudity and sex is unusually disconcerting (not because she likes sex and being
naked, but because of the way she's so aggressive about it, especially in public). There's a
strange, detached tone to the book, so even when serious things are occurring, Forest presents it
absurdly, making it difficult to penetrate the author's intent (if, indeed, he had any). It's a
complex work that keeps the reader at arm's length, which makes it hard to love.
Tardi, however, is stunning. The strange world of Mornemont and its walls are fully realized,
with astonishing detail that makes Arthur's desires even more concrete. The warren of homes and
barriers along which Arthur runs provide a surreal backdrop for Arthur's fantasies, which Tardi
simply places in the panels with no preamble, integrating the hallucinations so well into the
"real" that they occasionally catch us off guard.
It's a beautiful evocation of how Arthur sees the world. The stolid governmental
world crashes against the private lives of the politicians, a theater of fluid sexuality and
vice. At the end of the book, Tardi turns the tenants of Mornemont into costumed caricatures,
medieval archetypes, and fools, who attack Arthur's home because they're tired of his lawsuit.
Tardi pulls out all the stops, with the army moving in and the homeowners turning riotous and the
two worlds crashing together. The absurdity of Forest's script is brought to amazing life, from
Arthur's odd gatekeeper outfit to Julie's unabashed sexuality - at one point she sucks her thumb,
and it's a creepily erotic sight. It's a tremendous work of art, heightening the weirdness of the
narrative very well.
I would recommend You Are There because it's a thoughtful look at the pressure of
conformity and what drives a man mad. But it is a difficult comic, because Forest isn't
interested in making too much sense, even though it's fairly easy to figure out "what happens."
Tardi is fantastic and makes the book even wackier, which isn't a bad thing. I have to warn you
about it, but it's definitely worth a look.

|
Phoronix -
1 days and 2 hours ago
OpenGL 3.0 was announced in the summer of 2007 and since then we have seen the subsequent releases
of the 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 specifications. Just last week there was even the release of OpenGL 4.0.
The proprietary Linux graphics drivers have picked up support for these latest industry standard
specifications, but it hasn't been smooth sailing in the open-source world...

|
Engadget -
1 days and 2 hours ago
 If you recall,
about a month ago Sprint tweeted
that it was working on delivering Android 2.1
upgrade for its HTC Hero and Samsung Moment in early Q2 this year. An optimistic guess
would be April, right? Funnily enough, Techie Buzz has heard that two eager customers
managed to squeeze a more precise date out of Sprint over a phone call -- end of March or even March
26th. Don't go reaching for that champagne just yet, though -- a self-proclaimed Sprint employee
shared a recent internal memo on XDA-Developers forum, revealing that it's "actively
working on having the Android 2.1 platform available to our Hero and Moment customers over the
coming weeks," and that "more information coming in April." Oh Sprint, you do love playing with our
little minds, don't you?
Sprint to release Android 2.1 update for Hero and Moment 'over the coming weeks' originally
appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:27:00
EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Android
and Me, Techie
Buzz | XDA-Developers | Email
this | Comments

|
|
What is Matoumba?
A website that sorts everyday the most relevant information to you.
Vote for the news and Matoumba will learn your tastes and the information that you like the most.
It is all FREE!
|