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The Marvel-Industrial Complex
by James Rocchi
"Pity the land without heroes!"
"No, pity the land that needs them." —Bertolt Brecht, Galileo
As inconceivable as it seems, 2008's Iron Man was, at the time, a mortgage-the-farm gamble for Marvel Comics, who was tired of watching film studios like Fox (The X-Men, The Fantastic Four) and Sony (Spider-Man) profit from films made out of their four-color pulp universe. By founding Marvel Studios, the long-existing comic-book company rolled the dice—and won, resulting in a long string of hit films including, most recently, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Between Iron Man and Avengers 2 came financial rewards almost beyond measure, including Disney buying Marvel lock, stock and armor for $4 billion in August 2009.
Some of the Marvel films have been good, and some of them have not. Much as any reasonable human can discern and evaluate the difference between a Joel Schumacher Batman film and a Christopher Nolan one, people of goodwill and good nature can equally state that, let's say, Captain America's solo films are better than those of Thor, and then name their precise reasons as to how they arrived at that conclusion.
This, then, is not a critique of the Marvel films, although it will discuss some of the intrinsic structural problems that plague all superhero films, and the Marvel movies specifically. Nor is it a discussion of whether or not "superhero fatigue" exists or not, although it will look at how, and where, money is spent on these films as they are bought and sold both domestically and internationally. The simple question which we have to ask—which we I think we're obligated to ask—is: If these movies are the biggest thing in American pop culture, what does that say—openly, obliquely, or accidentally—about American culture itself?
Long before the idea of caped-and-cowled superheroes, human beings created, responded to, and re-mixed stories of beings more powerful than mere mortals: gods and shape-shifters, giants and witches, aliens and elves and ogres. Some of these stories are the foundation of fairy tales, some the foundation of religions. If anyone doubts the common ground between the storytelling shapes and tropes of religion and those of superhero movies, take, for instance, the confusion and uproar over the civilians hurt and left un-rescued in the final battle of Man of Steel, all of which boiled down to a modernized riff on an old question: Why does Superman let bad things happen to good people? And there's another one-word example of how permeable the boundaries between religion and comic books are, and how narrow the margin between superhero and god: Thor.
I often look at the action-film landscape and sort entries into two categories, which I think of as "Pre-Enlightenment" and "Post-Enlightenment." In the pre-Enlightenment model, the template is religion: We human beings look up to the sky for the special people and wait for them to save us. In the post-Enlightenment, the hero comes from ordinary humanity and steps up to do the job that must be done. Think The Avengers vs. Die Hard, or Man of Steel vs. Battleship.
The idea that the Marvel films are an appeal to people's hard-wired desire for stories about people better, stronger and faster than they are isn't necessarily a bad thing. At the same time, they don't serve as a model for inspiring people to do more in the face of crisis than watch, worship and wait to be saved. It isn't just boring dramatically; it's perilously close to social conditioning.
Ideologically, the Marvel movies are a model of stasis and messaging. The big conflict in Marvel's team-based films invariably boils down to a simple struggle: survival vs. annihilation, with annihilation always coming in the form of the alien, the extra-dimensional, the inhuman. Part of this is sheer strategy: There are no Chitauri warriors out in the pool of ticket-buyers who might be offended by the film's representation of their people and refuse to buy tickets. But it's also phony and hollow, like pro wrestling writ very, very large. And the representatives of authority—whether plutocrats like Tony Stark or the massive paramilitary organization of S.H.I.E.L.D.—are always proven right.
While many people would demur by arguing that Captain America 2 possesses what passes for deeper political meaning in the Marvel movies, allow Grantland's Alex Pappademas to puncture that puffery with a slim needle of fact: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier books Robert Redford as the heavy and makes a few halfhearted allusions to our own imperiled civil liberties, and everyone calls it a ''70s political thriller' with a straight face, forgetting that actual '70s political thrillers seldom excused government malfeasance by blaming it on defrosted Nazi agents."
While Pappademas's brusque swat speaks truth, it doesn't go far enough. The point of Marvel's cloak-and-dagger skullduggery with S.H.I.E.L.D. is a familiar line of argument and entertainment we've become perilously used to: the plot where an unscrupulous, power-hungry arm of the intelligence apparatus is thwarted in their plans…by a scrupulous, public-service-minded arm of the intelligence apparatus. Again, the status quo remains intact. Even Ultron's put-down in Avengers 2—"You Avengers want to save the world, but you don't want to change it"—gets neutered by the follow-through: Ultron's idea of change is killing humanity, and so the status quo of mere survival is ringingly endorsed above annihilation—which is really not that much of a choice. I do not expect $100 million movies to constantly, deliberately, and explicitly speak to the real world; at the same time, I do not want $100 million movies that constantly, deliberately, and explicitly decide to have nothing to do with the real world whatsoever. You can make the argument, as many have, that the Marvel films, with their emphasis on urban destruction, are just the result of us coughing up some psychic equivalent of a hairball after 9/11—but if that were the case, shouldn't the aftermath of destruction be more important than the destruction itself? Where is the catharsis in seeing the endless repetition of destroyed urban areas with no aim in sight beyond spectacle?
There was a minor bit of blockbuster-director in-fighting prior to the release of Avengers 2, as Joss Whedon made a sideswipe at a clip from the upcoming Jurassic World that showed some fairly stiff interactions between Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard; Whedon noted aspects that he perceived as "'70s-era sexist" in the clip. Though Whedon has since recanted and apologized for it, his slam is illuminating—not for what it says about Jurassic World but, rather, for what it says about his own film. Of the 10 costumed combatants on the side of good in Avengers 2, only two are women; only one is not white (unless you count The Vision, who is beet-red). And the newest character in the bunch, War Machine, dates to 1979, and is least involved in the action; the next-newest, Wanda Maximoff, dates to 1964.
If you're creating 2015 on-screen versions of characters created during the Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter administrations, inevitably, you are going to carry along a disconcerting amount of baggage about race and gender. It's worth noting that compared to the film version of the X-Men—mostly inspired by the '80s and '90s versions of that franchise—the Avengers look like the cast of Mad Men next to the X-Men's Benetton-ad-with-superheroics tent of outsiders from all backgrounds.
Of course, it's one thing to blame the long-lost writers—often drunk, on deadline and in many cases before the first Beatles LP—who created these characters for their retrograde notions of gender and race. What's equally intriguing are the slights, slurs, and stupidities committed out of whole cloth in supposedly more-enlightened 2015. Jen Yamato of The Daily Beast summed up the new film's approach to Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow: "The result is an overdue character exploration for Black Widow that still manages to reduce the baddest bitch in the MCU to a shell of a superheroine who's sad she can never be a complete woman." The "sterilization" Yamato alludes to is a totally head-scratching addition to her story on Whedon's part, one that's desperately out of place in a PG-13 film aimed at kids. This raises an unfortunate question we have yet to answer: With their murders, mutilations, and wholesale urban destruction, are the Marvel films aimed at kids who are desensitized to violence, or at adults who are desensitized to being treated like children?
Once, in another professional life, I was waiting to interview the cast of The Avengers, and since waiting is all you do on those days, I was walking around, chatting, and looking at the various ancillary spin-offs being promoted in their own side-rooms as I and other interviewers waited for our appointed time to go through the sausage factory's process.
In one of the adjoining hotel rooms where various pre-interview holding areas were being maintained, there was a room full of all the Avengers toys you could want: action figures, Quinjets, Hulk Hands, etc. I took a look at the Captain America figures because I wanted to confirm a suspicion of mine, which I did by looking at the fine print: "Made in China."
Most action blockbusters are, of course, made with an eye toward kids—not just films, but ancillary spin-offs and such. And in our current age, you don't just have to sell merchandising to kids; you can also look to selling stuff for "kidults," that curious consumer class we have that now not only loves popular culture but also wants to literally buy into it (Iron Man headphones, anyone?).
It is, at the same time, incredibly depressing to contemplate how toys celebrating Captain America—the defender of liberty, Jimmy Stewart with a shield—aren't being made in a democracy, never mind actually in America. Instead, foreign labor without freedom works to build the bricks of our self-image as freedom's protector. Imagine someone who worked in that Chinese toy factory—not able to vote, without environmental protections, without the ability to collectively organize—snapping Captain America together so he could be put on a container ship and sold off the racks at Target, and you begin to wonder what kind of political and pop-cultural land mines we're burying for ourselves with the contradictions between fictional American heroics and real international capitalism.
Also fascinating is the outcry over the fact that Marvel is slow/reluctant/disinterested in making toys and merchandise for girls based on the Avengers and other Marvel properties. Actor Mark Ruffalo himself took to Twitter and implored the powers-that-be: "Marvel, we need more #BlackWidow merchandise for my daughters and nieces. Pretty please." When equality and representation mean an equal amount of slave-labor toys imported in the name of maximum profit for boys and girls, it's difficult to see that as a victory; when you have consumers complaining that a multi-billion-dollar corporation isn't targeting them with the same laser-precise aim they devote to other customers, it's safe to say that the desire to be sold things has been safely and finally democratized: an equality of avid consumerism, with being left out the only worry.
One of the most interesting things about the Marvel movies is how avidly loved they are—to the degree where disliking one of them is made to feel less like dissent and more like treason. Or, as Manohla Dargis said in her Avengers 2 pan in The New York Times, "The most relevant thing about a movie like this is that its quality is almost entirely irrelevant. It was created to crush the box office, entertainment media and audience resistance, and mission, you know, already accomplished. In an age of lock-step entertainment, pushback isn't just immaterial; it is also suspect."
Some film fans, tired of seeing "news" coverage of popular film reduced to either speculative theories about as-yet-unmade movies or the sanctioned release of images from as-yet-unmade movies (which, to the gratitude of SEO-savvy movie-site managers everywhere, also create speculation), have suggested that maybe we already have enough of these films and don't need more. This desire is called "superhero fatigue," and it's being derided by those supporting the current comic-movie boom.
That support seems built on two faulty premises. The first is the suggestion that Hollywood has always had phases of mania and increased public interest. Second, there really aren't that many comic-book films; advocates, like the example sarcastically provided by Devin Faraci at Birth.Movies.Death, look at cyclical storytelling enthusiasms and prior movie "gluts" to mock those who feel tired of having so many comic-book movies: "It's enough to make you long for the days of 1957, when only about 61 notable Westerns were released in theaters…"
The flaws underpinning both those arguments are interconnected. Though comparing the budget of a 1957 Western in the last gasps of the studio system to that of a 2014 franchise comic-book film is theoretically impossible, it's still easy to spot the differential: 1957 Westerns like 3:10 to Yuma and The Tall T were made far more cheaply than Avengers 2's 2014 $250 million budget. (Adjusted for inflation, in fact, a 2014 $250 million production budget equals $29 million in 1957; Avengers 2's 1957 budget is actually closer to that of 1963's notorious Cleopatra, which cost $31 million at the time.)
That kind of expenditure can't help but have a distorting effect on the other films a studio chooses to make. Paraphrasing Dwight D. Eisenhower on the military-industrial complex, every superhero film shot is a rom-com unmade, an indie un-financed, a female-led or original action film hurled in the trash to make way for putting together the $100-million-plus needed to make and the additional $50-million-plus to market a movie whose biggest purpose is reconstituting four-color characters who date back, in many cases, as far as…well, Dwight D. Eisenhower. George Clinton, in an interview with Greg Tate (included in Tate's collection of essays Flyboy in the Buttermilk), explained what it was like being on Sony when Sony had Michael Jackson: When you have one artist selling 30 million records for the record company, it's a lot easier for the record company than it is to have 30 artists selling 1 million records. The question remaining is what happens to everyone who isn't Michael Jackson, or doesn't like Michael Jackson, or who has to get fired to maintain Michael Jackson's contract. In case anyone doubts this last one—superhero films, after all, make money that profits the studio everywhere—please note that Warner Brothers last year announced a slate of 10 comic-book films in October 2014 …and then, in November 2014, announced over a thousand layoffs to save $200 million annually. Considering each of their superhero films will cost close to that figure, that should scare every studio as a canary-in-a-coal-mine proposition. I cannot say with any certainty how this trend will end, but at this point, I can't help but think that the Marvel-DC movie competition might end the same way the Cold War did: Whoever goes less broke last "wins."
Umberto Eco's 1962 essay "The Myth of Superman" isn't just illuminating as a demonstration of what one of the world's finest minds was thinking about superheroics as a message and medium in that time; it's also worth reading for how much he noted at the time is still true today. To Eco, comics were a model of serial storytelling as commodified for a mass audience: Create the illusion of change in individual stories, but maintain a state of storytelling stasis, ultimately, so new readers can join the next installment even as regular readers marvel at the story leaps and jumps in each issue while noticing that the big red reset button is always being hit.
This is also the model for the Marvel movies, although with the reality of real-world contracts and aging actors in the mix. As Whedon himself noted in an interview, the serial-stasis model of comic-book storytelling affects these films, often to their detriment: "It's very unlikely your heroes are not going to make it through [to the end]. So what are the stakes? How do you raise them?"
The answer, at this point, is that you don't raise the stakes, you just repeat them: Each film sees a crisis that ends in the status quo that will start the next movie, again and again. (As for people stating that the Marvel-comics universe is not static—Thor is now a woman! Falcon is now Cap! Iron Man is even more of a jerk!—well, let's check in in a year or so and see if that's still the case; smart money says that, given comics traditions, it will not be.) And The Walt Disney Company's success with copyright and copyrighted characters—even successfully lobbying to expand and extend copyright claims in 1998—suggests that we can get ready for future "phases" of Marvel movies after this one ends. Or, more cynically, they'll announce a new phase of movies as soon as this phase starts not doing well; the neatest trick Marvel ever pulled was getting people to care more about the next movie in its minute details than they care about the actual quality of the film in front of them, with too many movie "news" websites willing to haul their promotional water for them.
So when future eras look at our pop-cultural time through the Marvel movies, what will they see? They'll see that our most modern tales of heroism were not that different from our millennia-old tales of worship. They'll think our biggest concerns as a culture were not inequity, global warming, or corporatist fascism but Chitauri warriors, self-aware artificial intelligences, and other made-up CGI boogeymen. They'll think we really liked white guys, or that we liked them a lot more than we did women or people of color. And they'll think—actually, if they go out to a few landfills, they'll know—that we loved to celebrate our heroes more by buying their cheap, plastic merchandise than we did, apparently, in actually considering if those heroes were supposed to mean anything besides slave labor and shareholder profit. And they'll know we liked repetition and stasis about characters we liked more than we were willing, apparently, to try anything new. Back in 2008, Iron Man was a huge risk that went on to make money; after seven years of Marvel movies and who knows how many more yet to come distorting and distracting the way we make and see movies, there's now a lot more than just money on the line.
NathanaelHood
AndyHoglund
MichaelSicinski
The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"
Anonymous By Force
BRAVO!!!!!
VyceVictus
The central question posed about our current cultural headspace reminds me very much of the 80's cinematic landscape, particularly in regards to (Soviet) boogeymen, gluts of merchandise, and idolizing white guys who represented our capitalistic status quo. Icons like Rambo, Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, Maverick, or even MartyMcFly are emblematic of all those factors to varying degrees. Not to mention of course Batman, the first and big comic book blockbusters, at the tail end of the decade.
Perhaps its truly no wonder then why 80s childhood iconography like Transformers, GI Joe, Battleship, or even that upcoming Pixels movie about 80's video game characters have gained such prevalence in movies recently, since the current scene is reflective of that one.
jamesrocchi
Vyce,
I don't think the since-the-'80s rise of paramilitary entertainment is coincidental; never mind the heating up of the Cold War and Reagan-era posturing, it's also worth remembering that Reagan-era regulations broke down the wall between toy ads and programming, overturning a ban on cartoons based explicitly on toys.
I don't think they spell the doom and gloom of our culture, either — butI do see a lot of money that could be spent elsewhere going to a lot of these things, and I'd like them to be better.
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It's just a movie. If these types of movies are cannibalizing your more mature types of cinematic fare, I suggest you become a film maker. For an obviously talented and educated person, your article comes off sounding whiny.
J. Thunder
Great article. The fatigue I feel from these MCU movies is the fact they're released so quickly. We don't have time to miss these characters because the next installment is being promoted right away. I remember so many people stating Winter Soldier was going to be a dark chapter in the MCU with major repercussions, but that was neutered somewhat when film websites posted Chris Evans on set for Age of Ultron scheduled to release the following year. Not that I expected Captain America to die in The Winter Soldier, but I felt anything major was going to be short termed. As a kid growing up during the original Star Wars trilogy era, it felt like a punishment having to wait three years for the next installment, but that made seeing them more special. Avengers 2 just didn't have that because I've been seeing these characters in one stand alone movie after the other since the last Avengers movie. I understand the Marvel powers have to maintain this schedule for a variety of reasons, but it has its drawbacks. This is technically Robert Downey Jr's sixth appearance as Tony Stark (if you can't Incredible Hulk) in 7 years and it feels like there aren't any new dimensions to explore in that character by the time of Avengers 2. Downey himself feels like he's going through the motions now.
I thought Avengers 2 was alright overall, but like all the other MCU movies, I don't feel the need to see it again in the theater. By the time of Winter Soldier, I decided to take the hyping and early positive reviews from certain film sites and bloggers with a grain of salt.You were right about how a few of them come across as PR for Marvel offering stealth press releases as news coverage. I get that for a number of these writers they grew up as comic book fans and can't get over that rad feeling of "OMG they're finally bringing Character X to the big screen!" It bleeds into their "reporting" and I could understand it to some extent for the early years of the MCU, but after The Avengers (where I'll admit bringing those various characters and worlds together was an impressive effort) that level of breathless giddiness is getting tiring for someone who just wants to read a news story. It wouldn't be so bad if some of these writers didn't project such a snarky and dismissive attitude towards non MCU properties. I remember watching a video on YouTube where some people from a number of film sites were talking about DC's plans for an expanded universe. One of the panelists, a blogger blurted out "Some of these movies DC has planned will not be good!" He might be right, but I felt that came across as obnoxious and acting as a shill for "the other team."
Thanks again for taking the time to write this,
R.A. Bartlett
"In the post-Enlightenment, the hero comes from ordinary humanity and steps up to do the job that must be done. Think The Avengers vs. Die Hard, or Man of Steel vs. Battleship."
I mean, is Battleship the best example to use? Besides being generally terrible, it has the same "reducing the adversaries to an amorphous hive mind as to not to be political" maneuver, but still manages to glorify the millennial concept of the American military. (at the expense of intellectualism, notice had spazzy and cowardly the scientist is)
On that note, last year we finally had a movie break through the superhero and wizard ranks and top the American box office. It was "American Sniper", a very polarizing film who's critics accuse it of racism and glorifying a sociopath. Maybe we're better off with films that make us face that part of our culture, if only to know what to act against. Maybe the politically secular action of the Marvel films retard our ability shift the cultural mores. But what the superhero craze says about us is that we crave, in the reptilian parts of our brains, something fantastic and didactic, and visceral, but don't want to deal with the messiness from fighting Muslims or Communists. Much how online dating is the best way to put yourself out there in a society shifted by feminism*, there's a sense we're engaging in a less "real" way, but possibly also a less myopic one.
*Of course, dudes can still be completely gross and entitled through online dating, just like superhero films can still be politically problematic. But the potential for a safety net is much stronger.
Livingstone_Returns
Really interesting essay, and I'll be chewing over it for a while. But there is one thing I'm not sure of, and I think it's the idea of the Marvel heroes as the gods who come down and save us from above- that is, the idea of the almost anti-role model, where you are supposed to trust in a savior because ordinary people can offer and achieve nothing. I turned this one over in my head for a while, and thought about why it didn't work. And I think it's that usually, in that kind of story telling, the hero is quasi-divine, beyond reproach and emulation, and not at all human. Versions of Superman fall into that category. And so does a certain strain of mythologizing about the founding fathers- viewing certain members of them as divine Law Givers, whose works only succeeded because they were the angels of democracy, unparalleled geniuses, etc, etc.
The marvel heroes are mostly very flawed people with extraordinary gifts, some inborn, some accidental. It's not the extraordinary gifts that make them the heroes, but the choices they make about them. And I don't think those kind of stories operate at a remove. They may adopt mythic qualities, but they're meant to be aspirational, not a soteriology. Captain America may be honorable and courageous, but those are both qualities available to ordinary people, and it's not the super powers that make him so- that's kind of the whole point of his character. Tony Stark, billionaire genius, but also neurotic, full of hubris, and frequently put in stories that strip him down to the bone- resiliency and redemption are pretty strong themes with him. Thor is the outlier, I grant you, but you could pretty much go down the line of marvel heroes and see the ways they are reflections of very human struggles, albeit in epic relief.
It's an important difference in how the stories function, I think, and the only way to put the marvel movies so firmly in the pre-enlightenment category would require placing all stories with supernatural/paranormal characters in that same category. And I don't think that works.
The other thing that's been kicking around in my head had to do with the toy issue. This paragraph in particular:
"When equality and representation mean an equal amount of slave-labor toys imported in the name of maximum profit for boys and girls, it's difficult to see that as a victory; when you have consumers complaining that a multi-billion-dollar corporation isn't targeting them with the same laser-precise aim they devote to other customers, it's safe to say that the desire to be sold things has been safely and finally democratized: an equality of avid consumerism, with being left out the only worry."
It's powerful, and it's a good point, except that….the thing is, there's already an equal amount of slave-labor toys imported in the name of maximum profit for boys and girls. The same factory churning out the Iron Mans for Disney to sell to little boys are churning out Frozen dolls for Disney to be sold to little girls. So if we just acknowledge that yeah, it's slave-labor toys all around, being left out is actually a pretty big worry. When a certain part of culture is packaged as "for white boys only" at the same time it is considered mass, normalized culture, with which everyone must engage? It may only be one part of a much larger systematic problem, but it certainly is worth talking about, because it perpetuates the exact same kind of exploitative systems at the root of everything else.
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MrBobert
American films released in 2014: 210.
Of those movies, how many were "Non-Superhero" films: 205.
Relax, the Supes aren't taking over theaters or sapping movie Studio resources. In fact, two of those flicks were produced by a company that only makes Superhero flicks.
And your various points regarding the MCU's reluctance to change the status quo, the lack of diversity in the ranks, and the percieved mishandling of its lone female Superhero betrays an either misunderstanding of the text or outright refusal to engage it.
I was led to believe that this article was well thought out and reasoned. It was apparent almost from the get go (citing BATTLESHIP as a superior example was a BIG MISTAKE) that wasn't the case.
jammamon
I don't believe they are sapping studio resources either. It's just that i'd rather live in a world where the masses watched something better, rather than this kind of movies. Why should we accept this rushed money grab as the norm?
You must look at how many were made before by those same studios.
TheRealTimewarp
and then there's looking at the cast moving into Civil War and yes I know James pointed out about how it's all about the next film but I think it's still important to the topic. There's Scarlet Witch and Black Widow (two women), War Machine and Falcon (two black guys), Vision (A robot) and then Captain America (the only white guy on the team). Still it doesn't matter who they are, it doesn't matter that these guys are black or white or male or female but that they are interesting characters.
Do I think Marvel have made mistakes? Absolutely, I'd be an idiot to suggest they haven't but at the same time I think they've done right by having a mix of something that appeals to hardcore marvel fans but is accessible to the average movie-goer. The cameos and easter eggs are just gravy for the fans of the comics. Basically I'd say it's not that guys like James hate the MCU, I'm mature enough that I can handle someone not liking something I like what I can't stand is that the way they talk it's like it really bothers them that there are people who do like the MCU.
I really hope that isn't the case. It's as if they believe for them to get what they want, what we want has to go away and it's made even more annoying when almost everyone who tries to argue the opposite is dismissed as a fanboy.
For me, super-heroes are all about how powerless the average person feels these days confronted with larger forces at play, such as corporatocracy, surveillance, etc combined with the consistent message of the media that "you are special and unique".
Those two conflicting factors come together to produce the super-hero mentality, a kind of depressed ego, very antisocial and almost autistic in its expression. Unable to shape the world around him and completely cut off from political processes, the average person turns to these kinds of "total control over reality" fantasies to find release.
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Great article. It's good to take a step back and look past the entertaining popcorn factors of these movies and ask ourselves these questions.
dantebk
Sorry, but this article is incredibly condescending and reductive. I am not speaking as an enraged fanboy, but as someone who tries to live and act with empathy for other people. Somehow you managed to see these movies without becoming a mindless cog of the evil machine, and, impossible to imagine, others have also escaped this trap.
Almost everyone I know goes to and enjoys super hero movies, including myself, and they all, believe it or not, enjoy other forms of entertainment as well. They read books, they watch documentaries, they watch dramas, they read magazines, they read blogs and news sites. And, hold onto your hat, the majority of them are engaged in the world, they vote, they care about causes, they give to charity, they volunteer, etc.
But not every moment of a person's time needs to be spent worrying about a better society. It's okay sometimes to take a break and relax. If someone wants to spend two hours on the weekend watching The Avengers instead of The Act of Killing, I'd say that's not the end of the world. In fact, it's not an either/or proposition. I've seen both! Crazy.
The subtext of this article is "I'm worried that all the people who aren't as smart as I am will be negatively influenced by the only form of culture I'm assuming those dummies ever see."
I'm here to say: Don't worry so much. We're fine.
Lekan
You are speaking as an enraged fanboy.
parapa
Escapist pop culture can still reflect positive values that might have some remote resemblence to actual human life.
Die Hard is a great comparison point here, with an average person who's forced to action and decides to make a difference, even when he's clearly outmatched. Even aside from being much more relatable on a thematic level , it makes for a way more dramatically interesting story than if he was an invulnerable super-god.
The Lethal Weapon films emphasize family and are willing to make real-world political statements (Lethal Weapon 2 is anti-apartheid, 3 is about gun-control, 4 is human trafficking).
These are all "dumb" summer escapist blockbusters, but they are also willing to be about something other than setting up the next cross-promotional tie-in.
True although I'd say Age of Ultron let us down by taking a character like Ultron and ending with him copying the same scheme as Loki. Another disposable army of lackeys, another big doomsday weapon the Avengers have to stop. The fight against Ultron should have been more personal and more then that should have felt less about defeating Ultron and more about proving him wrong, that the Avengers are needed to save the world and are ok with it changing.
The problem is that you are contributing to these ills and he explained how.
How? Because we decided we wanted to enjoy a movie? This is the problem nerd culture has with guys like you, you always want to make it out to sound like we're selfish jerks ruining the world just by getting our own way. I mean in the article James states that when one of these movies are made they take away from another type of movie being made but what were the chances of Disney making those types of films as well?
I can deal with a critique on Superhero movies, I agree in fact it's gotten to the point where it's like some guys in the industry believe there's only one idea of how these movies should work but it doesn't mean Superhero movies need to go away, just shake things up with the stories. He also states the quality of the films are not important but I'd say quality is extremely important and it means the difference between Winter Soldier and The Dark World.
I understand being annoyed because a movie you want to see isn't being made but that's not my fault for being a Marvel fan. Of course it doesn't matter what I say to you, I'm just a fanboy right?
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Great article but this has happened before, the superhero genre will go trough a minor crash, then we will still see movies but nothing major, also Hollywood will always spend money on blockbusters, you are incredible naive if you think that without Super Heroes we would get more movie diversification, is either super heroes or transformers.
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TcMc
The idea that it is possible to dominate populate culture these days is risible. There are as many different niche markets as their are characters in Avengers: Age of Ultron. So given that your initial premise is utter BS, the rest of the article becomes a non-starter. You really need to get out more buddy.
Marcus Ditzel
Look up in the sky:
So the marvel movies are dangerously close to socially conditioning people to wait for a chosen elite of authority figures to come and save them in times of crisis…. That's a little hard to swallow. Each of the avengers, with the exception of Thor, I suppose (since he really is a magical chosen one who got his powers through birth right) created their heroic identities and elevated themselves through determination and creativity, often flying in the face of authority when they saw it as morally dubious.
The Retro Normative Paradigm:
If you're going to make an Avengers movie you're going to have to use the avengers, who are products of their time. In future installments they are attempting to pick a more diverse cast of people but it just wouldn't have made sense to do the first one with a significant number of lesser known heroes or new creations because they wouldn't have been the Avengers. Blaming Joss whedon for the racial and gender backgrounds of the characters is a bit of an odd decision since he didn't create the characters and has a long history or preferring female protagonists and diverse casts. I'd say that your point was not true for all super hero movies, and that you are only focusing your attention on the Avengers because it is the only film for which your points seem valid.
Merch and morals:
You may well be on the money here, I don't really mind the merchandise unless selling it brings the film's integrity into questions. as far as I can tell, nothing has been shoehorned into captain America so that I will buy a toy of it. I've never noticed the films making a special point of peripheral equipment in the way that 80's cartoons did.
Super hero Fatigue and Exhaustion Of Excess:
Oh please. All of the problems with super hero films are the same as action films in general. You could call it Sci-fi fatigue and site alien, predator and other 80's alien flicks and the points would be just as apt and just as wrong. Action heavy plots produce visceral excitement but if the action is not justified it can be to the detrement of the plot. That's true of every story genre ever and the point at which you think the action becomes over done is a matter of personal taste. Saying that the gut of super hero films is somehow more harmful than the glut of westerns because they cost more is just absurd and arbitrary. The culture was still just as preoccupied with the abundance of westerns and (while I like a ood western) there were scores of interchangeable hero's journey narratives that have less originality than the worst of super hero films. (excluding green lantern.)
Infinity Bores:
This is just a plain misstatement of facts. The continuity of the marvel movies is moving forwards and changes are happening all the time. Not even in the same way as the static dynamic of the comics. The films have only been going for a few years. If a status quoe has been established by the end of Avengers one, then it has only been the case for a year or two, tops. Since the events of captain America 2 and the T.V. show S.H.I.E.L.D has collapsed, and rather than being a government sanctioned group, under Nick Fury they are now a team unto themselves. When the Civil war gets underway the team will go through shifts and schisms which will last for multiple films, if not indefinitely. Isn't it a bit early, after the one crossover to accuse a franchise of reverting to a default position after each installment, since one example does not make a pattern? Maybe after 3 Avengers films, if the team are still together and nothing new is happeneing you could accuse them of jogging on the spot but right now, they just formed for the first time.
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Butter Battle Pacifist
I've gotta call bullshit (Predictably–look at my avatar). Diversity is the key to prosperity everywhere from the animal kingdom to a stocks portfolio. What else has Disney released in the last couple years? A ZILLION MOVIES. Everything from nature documentaries to cartoons to oatmeal-bland family dramas. And that's just under their main production umbrella. What about all the companies they run, as they run Marvel? Since they used to own Miramax, Pulp Fiction was a Disney release.
Our culture will not be ONLY comic book movies. Ever. Not even mostly. Superhero budgets are not directly opposite indie films and documentaries on a teeter-totter. That's a concept that works for clickbait pseudo-intellectual thinkpieces on the internet, but it holds very little water in real life application. Just watch the damn movie or don't and try not to Britta all over everything.
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Sorry, columnist, but you really have no ability to read symbolism. You are an elitist who considers it fair and safe game to denigrate pop culture, and you are not intelligent enough to analyze it properly.
Jimothy Russells
"Every superhero film shot is a rom-com unmade"
You say that like it's a bad thing.
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Andrew Cotter
The few good points you attempted to make in this piece were compromised by the incredibly mean-spirited tone of the article. You state at the beginning that this wasn't a critique of Marvel films, but a look at what the films say about our society as a whole. You fairly quickly veer off into a broad indictment of the films and their popularity, and just kinda forget about the initial (supposed) focus of the article. You finally try and tie it all back at the end with that pithy little summary, but even that is just a veiled complaint about the films. The idea was a good one, but you can't allow personal bias to steer a discussion the way you did here. Better luck next time.
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Movie Mezzanine is an online publication dedicated to covering the medium that connects us all, one film at a time. With writers stationed around the globe, we offer a uniquely diverse perspective on cinema, both old and new. To learn more about us, go here.
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Find a Residential Engineering Service for your Amite County, MS Engineering projects.
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Every weekend, many guys look for stag entry clubs in Delhi to go out and enjoy themselves. Stag entry discos and pubs in Delhi are in high demand because many guys in Delhi either do not have a girlfriend, or can't convince her to go out late at night.
Without a female companion, getting inside the best clubs in Delhi can be difficult. However, there are certain ways of doing it.
Don't go hunting for the best night clubs at peak hours on Friday or Saturday night. Instead, use your Facebook profile to search clubs and events in advance.
Many clubs and pubs in Hauz Khas Village and Connaught Place have stag entry restrictions. These restrictions help to ensure the safety and security of the club and its attendees.
Artist: To get on the artist's guest list, contact the artist. Briefly explain why you would like to see his/her performance and request a spot on the guest list. Facebook event pages can help you to find the name of the performing artists. Just look them up and message them through their Facebook profile or fan page.
Host: Events at night clubs are hosted by promoters and entertainment companies. You can get on the host's guest list by filling a guest list entry form on their website or on their Facebook page. Some hosts leave their contact numbers in the event description, you can simply message them to request a spot on the guest list.
Club: If you know someone at the club itself, then it's really easy to get in. Just ask the person to put you on the club's guest list and enter hassle-free.
Note: Some night clubs close guest list entries by midnight or once the club gets jam-packed.
Nightclubs in Delhi like Kitty Su, Priveé and many others conduct competitions before a big event. You can follow their Facebook and Twitter accounts to participate in these competitions and win a free-entry into the club.
All you have to do is answer a few simple questions about the club, or the performing artists to stand a chance at winning the competition.
Ticketed events are easiest to enter. Just purchase a ticket online on the club's website, or through their ticketing partners. Many clubs in Delhi offer full cover on their tickets, letting you enjoy food and drinks for free.
Conclusion: Not all Delhi clubs and pubs organize competitions, or throw ticketed events every weekend. Therefore, a guest list spot is often the most simple and cost-effective way to enter Delhi night clubs.


Is it possible for a nation to embrace all manner of modern ways without losing its soul?
This is the question asked by Tom Hebert.
Hebert was a member of Nigerian Peace Corps from 1962 to 1964. His last assignment was as National Tour Manager for the University of Ibadan's Shakespeare Traveling Theatre, which played in 23 Nigerian cities and towns.
He learnt much of this sensibility from his Peace Corps experience in Nigeria.
"I was struck with the care that Nigerian taxi cab drivers gave to their cars mostly small four-door British-made Morris Minors." Tom Hebert said.
He said that back in 1960s, potholes on Nigerian roads are large enough and could swallow cows. Yet the taxis all looked new and spotless. The drivers were like horsemen and like a good horse, the cars seemed to love to work.
Hebert fully understand how strong Nigerians are attached to their beliefs one afternoon when he was taken in a cab ride through a village in Ibadan. The driver swerved to the right, smacked and killed a chicken. The driver got down, went to where the dead chicken was, mumbled something and touched an amulet hanging around his neck.
When Hebert asked the driver what has just happened, the driver told him he had just made a blood sacrifice to the great god Ogun, the Yoruba's god of war and thus of iron, like the one his cab was made with.
That if their better angels had the edge then former colonial nations could prosper.
He also said that if not for terrible political geography of a nation created by a colonial master and corruption of Nigeria, the country could now be another South Korea in the making.
He went further and said, with its population of 174 million and Gross National Product of $1 trillion, and despite swerving leadership, bureaucratic rigidity and defective judicial system, Nigeria sometimes seems like a country ready to take off.
Tom Hebert is a writer and public policy consultant living on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.


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text:
Everything's starting to fall into place
Published: 9:00 AM January 4, 2010 Updated: 10:54 PM October 10, 2020
Chris Lakey Norwich City 1, Wycombe 0: Norwich City's first league visit to Adams Park could play a major part in the outcome of their season, but events elsewhere over which Paul Lambert had no control - allegedly - may also have helped swing things in their favour.
Norwich City's first league visit to Adams Park could play a major part in the outcome of their season, but events elsewhere over which Paul Lambert had no control - allegedly - may also have helped swing things in their favour.
While City were battering poor old Wycombe into submission, Charlton were twiddling their thumbs after their match at Walsall was postponed because of an icy pitch - five days after City's game there suffered the same fate, albeit just an hour before kick-off.
Wycombe's pitch was immaculate, thanks to under-soil heating and despite the regular presence of the London Wasps rugby team and their guests.
Cue "I told you so" comments, with Lambert having a wry smile at the prospect of Addicks' boss Phil Parkinson being blamed, just as the City manager had inexplicably been a week ago.
With Charlton redundant - and I suppose we should be thankful to Walsall for that - it meant a City win would take them into the second automatic promotion spot on goal difference, and when Korey Smith scored on 77 minutes they got exactly what they wanted.
Charlton have drawn their last three games, City have won their last three - and you wonder how the exchange of places will affect the Londoners, who started the season with six straight wins but have now been overhauled first by Leeds and now by City.
Okay, it's only the start of the second half, but Charlton are now the chasers. Football's played with the boots and upstairs, between the ears.
And what about Colchester, who were eagerly anticipating the visit of City in less than a fortnight's time, but are probably a little more wary now after a 7-0 humiliation in the FA Cup at managerless Championship strugglers Preston on Saturday?
Ironic, isn't it? Seven goals shipped and your next home game is a potentially explosive game against City. How will that affect their minds?
Then there was yesterday's FA Cup tie at Old Trafford, where Leeds shocked the champions with a 1-0 win. Will their extended stay in the competition hinder their league ambitions?
The next round is on January 23, before which Leeds have three fairly comfortable games, but even with an eight-point lead they can't afford a slip.
Can City overtake Leeds? Such has been the relentless surge over the past four months that few would bet against it. In the first week of September, City were 10th, a month later it was seventh, and by the start of November they were fifth. A month ago City had moved into third - and now they're second.
While it may all be hypothetical, it would also be surprising if Charlton, Colchester and Leeds came out of their respective weekend assignments totally and completely unscathed: there will be a knock-on effect somewhere down the line.
And, meanwhile, City will be watching, comfortable in the knowledge that they really do look invincible at the moment.
Wycombe escaped with just a one-goal defeat not because they played well, but because City were an inch or two away from hitting a hatful. Simon Lappin's left foot and Chris Martin's right had goalkeeper Scott Shearer stretching left and right and knocking on the chairman's door afterwards demanding a New Year bonus. When he was beaten, by Martin, the crossbar came to his aid.
It took Wes Hoolahan's perfect pass into the path of Korey Smith and a blast of the teenager's right foot to settle the issue - 60 seconds after Matt Phillips had gone within inches of giving Wycombe an undeserved goal, only to see his effort come back off the inside of Fraser Forster's right-hand post.
But in future years, when people look back on City's first league trip to this part of the Chilterns, the scoreline will go nowhere near to explaining the game.
Wycombe had a few moments: the excellent Russell Martin had to usher the breaking Jon-Paul Pittman away from goal before emerging from their tussle with the ball - a job very well done - while Scott Davies somehow put a free header well wide.
But they didn't compare to Hoolahan's left-footer which flew just over, Simon Lappin's free-kick which Scott Shearer did well to save and the Scotsman's shot which whistled wide, Russell Martin's dipping half-volley from wide right which was tipped over; Darel Russell's shot which was wide; Chris Martin's free-kick which came off the crossbar and then an effort which was tipped over.
Breathless stuff. And in the second half City were even more dominant.
Grant Holt had a goal disallowed - not much argument as he practically pushed the ball in with his hand - before Chris Martin and Shearer continued their own personal battle.
That Shearer came out on top was unfortunate on the City striker, who continues to grow in stature almost by the game.
Russell Martin got in on the act again only for Shearer to tip his shot over while Holt might have done better in a one-on-one - but this was Shearer's day, even if he did need a bit of help from right-back Lewis Hunt to keep out Holt's back-heel after another flurry of nerve-jangling activity.
It was cracking, attacking football served up in front of 2,000 City fans who turned Adams Park into a subsidiary of Carrow Road for the afternoon.
The only fear was that while the law of averages says a shot must go in before 4.45pm, it doesn't always work out that way.
Would City somehow contrive to come away empty-handed? Or worse? The latter was certainly on everyone's minds on 76 minutes when Phillips broke into the area on the right. Forster came, Phillips clipped it past him and there followed one of those heart-in-the-mouth moments when everything stops.
The ball headed goalwards. It seemed to take an age to get there. Then it hit the inside of the post. Then it came out again. Then Forster grabbed it with those massive hands of his. And we breathed again.
It proved a costly miss: a minute later Chris Martin had the ball down the left, gave it to Hoolahan who, instead of having a jink and a crack at goal, saw Smith running in from just outside the area. By the time he got to within 12 yards of goal, the ball had been squared to him. On a plate. Smith buried it. City fans went wild. Paul Lambert went wild, the straight arm thumbs up salute a sign of solidarity with the fans.
When Lambert came to Carrow Road he wanted the players and fans on his side, he said. He's got both.
Whatever next?

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Singapore Incubator JFDI.Asia Announces The Roster For Its First 2013 Accelerator Program
Catherine Shu	@catherineshu / 7 years
JFDI.Asia (AKA Joyful Frog Digital Incubator), the incubator program that seeks to "innovate in Asia, for Asia," just announced the eight startups that will be part of its accelerator program. The competition, which pushes teams to take an idea to investment in 100 days, begins on Feb. 21 at JFDI.Asia's new purpose-built facility in Singapore.
The eight startups, which have each already received an initial investment of $24,000 SGD, have a chance of winning $600,000 SGD or more at the Demo Day which will mark the end of the program. Each startup will get six minutes on stage to showcase their product in front of an audience of early-stage investors. The focus of JFDI.Asia's program is "less about brilliant ideas than it is about focused execution." Each team must accomplish three things: focus on a real-world problem that is worth solving, show that its solution fits the problem, and then prove that there is market demand for that solution.
Most of the teams are using mobile tech, reflecting the importance of feature phones and other mobile devices as the main way many Southeast Asia users get online. The current roster includes:
AskAbt, from India, a platform to manage real-time crowdsourced queries
Collabspot, from France and Philippines, a customer relationship management platform
DayTripR, from Singapore and New Zealand, an online data collection utility
DocTree, from Singapore and India, software for medical practice management
Duable Chinese (讀able), from the USA, seeks to make Chinese language learning fun and effective
FashFix, from Singapore and Malaysia, helps fashionistas turn their wardrobes into blog shops
My Fitness Wallet, from Singapore, are working on a health and wellness platform
Referoll, from Singapore and Vietnam, have a business that recruits participants for research studies
(Many of the teams are using temporary names and JFDI.Asia says it might add one or two additional teams before the boot camp begins).
This year's teams were picked from an application pool of 262 teams. JFDI.Asia incubated 11 startups in its 100 day program in 2012, seven of which raised follow-on funding and are still trading, a good success rate compared to the 14% rate reported for other early stage startups in Singapore. Funding raised by the seven teams totaled $3.3 million SGD and continues to increase.
According to JFDI.Asia, more than 30 percent of the participants in the program are Singapore citizens or permanent residents, up from 20 percent in 2012. About 10 percent of entrepreneurs taking part are women, double the number from last year. The average team size is just over three people and include the "'holy trinity' of a 'hacker, a hipster and a hustler'" to span the key skill sets of coding, design and business.


Candidates must be boarded in EM, IM or FP with at least two years ED experience. 2019 EM grads are also welcome.
This superb medical center is part of a larger health care system in the state. It is a 214-bed community medical center with a Women's Center, Imaging Center and a Diabetes and Wound Care Center. The ED sees a fairly standard community-hospital patient mix with an annual census of 27K, with a 14% acuity level.
New physicians will work clinically 120 hours a month and will be able to create their own schedule for a 1,440 hour clinical full time level. Physicians work 12 hour shifts and enjoy great coverage resulting in 1.9 patients per hour. The ED is very high-functioning with 18 treatment bays, trauma suite, bedside ultrasound and strong team of APPs and nursing staff.
Compensation includes a clinical salary of $250 an hour with a very generous sign-on and relocation bonus.
Located in the tri-state area of eastern Kentucky, the region is undergoing a major revitalization campaign and features a terrific college town atmosphere.


NEWS: You Don't Have To Be 'On' Social Media To Be A Victim 'Of' Social Media. And Don't Take The Bait.
TECH: Twitter and two-factor authentication.
APPS: Beauty Clinic Plastic Surgery – are you kidding me? Nope…here's the story.
Always answer a question with a question.


text:
De kapucijnen of minderbroeders kapucijnen (Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capucinorumin het Latijn, OFM Cap. afgekort) is een kloosterorde in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk. Samen met de observanten en minorieten vormen ze de drie 'Eerste Ordes' van de franciscanen.

Geschiedenis
De orde ontstond in 1525 op aansturen van Matteo de Bascio en kwam voort uit de hervormingsbeweging van de observanten die wilden terugkeren naar de oorspronkelijke eenvoud van de franciscanen. De regel die  Franciscus van Assisi in 1209 had ingesteld wilden ze in ere herstellen. In 1528 verkreeg de orde de stichtingsoorkonde van paus Clemens VII (1523–1534). Ze mochten weer de strenge regel van Franciscus volgen, de baard dragen en de spitse kap, de "cappuccio", waaraan hun naam is ontleend.

In 1574 gaf paus Gregorius XIII de orde officieel toestemming om zich ook buiten Italië te vestigen. Hij beschouwde de kapucijnen als bij uitstek geschikt om door hun woord en voorbeeld (verbo et exemplo) het protestantisme te bestrijden. Vanuit hun vestiging in Frankrijk, waar in 1580 al twee provincies konden worden opgericht, kwamen in 1585 de eerste kapucijnen naar de Nederlanden.

In de lage landen
In Vlaanderen zijn er kapucijnenhuizen in Antwerpen (provincialaat), Brugge, Herentals, Meersel-Dreef en Ieper. Zij hadden missies in Canada, Congo en Pakistan. Begin 2018 telden de Vlaamse kapucijnen 42 leden.

In Nederland zijn er kapucijnen sinds ongeveer 1630. Volksprediking en catechismus onderricht waren hun voornaamste taak. Vanaf het begin werkten ze ook in de derde wereld. Het Emmausklooster te Velp (1645) tussen Grave en Ravenstein is het enige kapucijnenklooster dat ononderbroken in Nederland kon blijven voortbestaan. Daarnaast huizen er vandaag ook kapucijnen in 's-Hertogenbosch (provincialaat), Tilburg. Ze waren ook aanwezig in Glanerbrug bij Enschede, Oosterhout (Sint-Oelbertgymnasium), Nijmegen en Langeweg.

Bekende kapucijnen
Broeder Cesare Bonizzi
Rainiero Cantalamessa
Valeer Claes
P. Constantinus
Hugo Gerard
Père Joseph
Seán Patrick O'Malley (kardinaal)
Pater Pio
Franciscus Titelmans
Johannes Evangelista van 's Hertogenbosch
Marcus van Aviano
Laurentius van Brindisi
Felix van Cantalice
Lucas van Mechelen
Paulus van Parijs
Koenraad van Parzham
Karel Verleye
Max Wildiers

Literatuur
Pater Hildebrand, De kapucijnen in de Nederlanden en het prinsbisdom Luik, 11 dln., 1945-1956

Externe links
Kapucijnen wereldwijd
Kapucijnen in Nederland
Kapucijnen in Vlaanderen

 Kapucijnen

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Clinical Data Ware Houses are established sources for research and quality management. The open source data warehouse software i2b2 enjoys good reputation and wide-spread use in the international medical informatics community. We developed a novel infrastructure to allow queries to be distributed asynchronously between i2b2 data warehouses.


16 July: We won the Cricket Corporate Premier League and the next day it was planned we will be going somewhere.
First things first, the drinks were bought. 5 crates of Budweiser, 2 Vodkas and next important thing on our mind was the trip destination. Mussorie was finalized. It was our cricket team's trip, though some people couldn't make it but we 8 were raring to go. The itinerary was ready weeks before and going by it, our trip would only be a Beer and Bath trip.
2 Taxis were hired for the 8 guys and on the evening of 9th August at 10 PM we left from our office in Gurgaon with all the energy. The trip was awaited with huge anticipation and finally it began.
The beers started as soon as the cabs started moving. Our first stop was Lajpat Nagar Metro Station to pick the guy who didn't come to office that day. So in one cab there were 5 guys and in other were 3 which also included me but the other cab was the happening one. Then we stopped at Mohan Nagar, on the outskirts of Delhi for our Dinner and it was delicious.
The dinner was followed by more beer. And I was handed my first one. I'm a not a beer guy moreover, I don't drink much, I prefer Whiskey and Vodka but in an hour I gulped it down. We were heading smoothly towards our destination and then a loo break was unavoidable after all the beers that were being consumed. It was my chance to change the cab and board the more entertaining cab. The fun began, I started enjoying more, laughing and opening up. I'm a bit of an introvert and take time to gel perfectly. I was handed over a Vodka now and with everyone a bit drunk started the round of discussions.
Among all the hoopla, I felt asleep and woke up after an hour and took another stopover around 3 in the morning at a small dhaba at a place I don't remember. We ordered Tea and after that we were sitting in the middle of the highway(Yes, i mean it) and doing crazy things for fun.
After half an hour we were back in the cabs and zipping past numerous dhabas. At around 4.30 we reached the holy city of Haridwar. It was raining, which in some time turned to drizzle and we were heading for a holy dip in the mighty Ganga.
I wish, more details were added to this. A bit more.
Details like? Though it's just a start and lot more will follow.


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Description:        Material Design Lite version of Sage WordPress starter theme. Contribute on GitHub
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Author:             mZoo.org
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced nominees this morning for the ceremony, which will take place on Feb. 24. "Roma" is also in the running for best leading actress (Yalitza Aparcio), original screenplay (by Cuarón), cinematography, production design, foreign language film, sound editing, sound mixing, and best supporting actress (Marina De Tavira).
The other films with the most nominations were "A Star is Born" and "Vice," both with eight, "Black Panther" with seven, and "BlacKkKlansman" with six. "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Green Book" each received five nominations.


As ever we were fortunate to benefit from a generous donation from the Jim Liddell Memorial Dinner. This annual fundraising gentlemen's dinner was first organised as a Ferry Fair fundraiser by the late Jim Liddell, a long standing supporter and committee member of the Ferry Fair. Following Jim's death, a group of his friends decided to continue the tradition and re-named the event in Jim's memory. Over the years the Fair has benefited to the extent of £35,000. These dinners are organised every year by the Jim Liddell Memorial Fund Committee under Chairman Derek Milne and we were fortunate enough to receive £3,000 from them in respect of the 2015 dinner. Thanks to all who contributed via the Dinner. This year's dinner is on Friday 3rd June, and is already a sell out.


Business Plans for new and existing businesses are written with intense care. But, do we revisit this document periodically as our business proceeds. After we invested all that effort, do we take the time to review the path we described in the plan? Are we proceeding along the predicted path? Without doubt we have deviated. Recognizing those deviations is critical to managing the business.
Why did we deviate? Capturing the reason for change is critical to good management. We must recognize that our original Business Plan was based on many assumptions and guesstimates. So when we deviate from our plan, we begin to learn the realities of the business situation. The defects in the original plan can be overcome by acting logically on the real world situation. When we do so we should record the decisions and the reasons for action. As time goes on we will make numerous such decisions. Without a record of the why, when and how we came to those critical decisions, we will not be able to review our actions and learn lessons for the future.
Businesses that ignore the lessons learned from their management actions are bound to fail. As we move forward, know where we've been and decide where we are going. The path is not always a straight line. It consists of twists and turns in response to problems and errors in judgment.
Running a business is a matter of trial and error. This does not mean matters are out of hand. Only that we have learned to respond as each challenge emerges. As time goes by, we get better at making effective responses. But, remember, when we sit down a year from now to lay a plan for the next year, will we remember the critical decisions we made that allowed us to get thru this year? You bet we will! We logged each such decision and the reason why we acted.
Thus, we reduce the probability of repeating past errors. In fact, our plans are better and the number of decision events decline year by year. The log is the diary our business decisions. And a review in retrospect allows us to do better in the future.
Keep on top of your business and it will be there for years to come.
Innovation begins with "I" !


Introducing the 2019 Chevrolet Tahoe. It features four-wheel drive capabilities, a durable automatic transmission, and a powerful 8 cylinder engine. Top features include rain sensing wipers, leather upholstery, a power seat, an automatic dimming rear-view mirror, an outside temperature display, power moon roof, a trailer hitch, and 1-touch window functionality. Power adjustable pedals allow the driver to optimize his or her driving position, enhancing visibility, comfort and safety. Third row seats provide an even greater maximum passenger capacity. Enjoy your favorite music via the stereo system, which includes a CD player with MP3 capability, steering wheel mounted audio controls, and 9 speakers, providing excellent sound throughout the cabin. Chevrolet ensures the safety and security of its passengers with equipment such as: dual front impact airbags, front side impact airbags, traction control, brake assist, a security system, onStar, and 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS. Safety and maximum capability are assured via self leveling rear suspension, which maintains optimal driving geometry. We know that you have high expectations, and we enjoy the challenge of meeting and exceeding them! Stop by our dealership or give us a call for more information.


The town of Judevine will come to life this weekend at the Vine Theater, and every inhabitant of the small New England village will be inhabited by one man.
Brian Rickel, an actor who teaches theater at Grossmont College in El Cajon, adapted and stars in the San Diego premiere of "Judevine: A Solo," playing 14 characters in the solo play.
Rickel's script is adapted from "Judevine," a play and a set of narrative poems by Vermont-based author David Budbill, which explores the stories of two dozen ordinary residents in the fictional Northern Vermont town of Judevine.
Rickel said he's excited to introduce the local community to Budbill's writing.
To adapt the play and poems into a solo show, Rickel pared down the number of characters from 24 to 14 and wrote a treatment that would allow him to play the roles with a minimum of props and scenic elements.
Among the play's characters are a couple who lead solitary lives named Raymond and Ann; Tommy, a young military veteran struggling in return from war; Grace, who is jealous, bitter and angry; Lucy, a mentally ill woman, and Jerry, the man who protects her; Laura and Edgar, who share an abiding passion; and the colorful Antoine, a French Canadian who loves women, beer and life.


Many of us struggle at times with low self-esteem, and can find it challenging to see our strengths. Instead we may shift our focus to our perceived weaknesses. Others may find it easy to list their strengths, but may be reluctant to think or talk about them in fear of seeming arrogant or vain . However, in order to maintain a balanced view of ourselves, it is absolutely okay to acknowledge what we do well. Knowing your strengths and living a life more focussed on them, whether at work or in our leisure time, is a key to finding happiness and maintaining positive self-worth. So let's think about strengths in more detail in this blog.
"What adversities have I overcome?
What do other people say they like about me?
What are some attributes I like in others that I can see in myself too?
Or you can ask a trusted member of your family or close friend to help you. Sometimes they can see your strengths more readily!
Remember too that a perceived weakness can actually hold a hidden strength. I remember doing a counselling course early in my career, and in the first session the teacher asked us to reflect on a strength as a counsellor and a weakness. For most of us, it turned out that these were two sides of the same coin e.g. being empathetic and understanding had a flip side of sometimes being overly sensitive about things in life.
It can be helpful to ask yourself if your choice of work is bringing out your strengths, and if not, it is never too late to seek a change for the better. Acknowledging your strengths daily can help lead us to a more fulfilling life for yourself, with a greater sense of purpose.


text:
Q: Torsion and Coherent Sheaves Let $X$ be a smooth curve defined over a field and $F$ a coherent sheaf on $X$.
I would like to show that $F/F_{t}$ is locally free, for $F_{t}$ the torsion subsheaf of $F$.
Since $F$ is coherent it is enough to show the stalk $F_{p}$ is free as an $(\mathcal O_{X})_{p}$-module for all $p$. How do I see that a torsion-free module is free in general in this case?

A: This is a consequence of the structure theorem for modules over principal ideal domains: note in particular that the local rings at all points of a smooth curve are such.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Quest School was founded in September 2003 to provide a specialist school for pupils with autism.
Children and young people with autism have specific and distinct needs, and they and their families deserve an education that is right for them.
At Quest School, the pupils always come first and we strive to help them reach their full potential, to maximise their opportunities to access and integrate into mainstream community life to the greatest possible extent, for the benefit of themselves and their families.
The Quest School is committed to providing a fully inclusive environment, which recognises and meets diversity of need. Each pupil is valued as being special and unique, with their own rich mix of abilities, strengths and talents. Whilst recognising that they all have difficulties to overcome, we are committed to enabling them to get the most out of life.
We create a positive, caring environment, where self esteem is high and the children are happy, stimulated and motivated to learn.
We set high expectations for ourselves and our pupils, always promoting personal growth and responsibility.
We offer our pupils a full and wide ranging educational experience, whilst maintaining a clear focus on skills that are essential for their personal development and well being, such as communication, behaviour and independence skills.
We have a distinctive teaching methodology, based on fundamental principles of behaviour science, and a curriculum specifically designed for our pupils'individual needs.
We provide personal and individualised plans for all our pupils, with input from a team of professionals, comprising Teachers, Behaviour Consultants, Speech & Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists. Teaching is delivered in either 'one to one' or small group teaching sessions, and is implemented by highly skilled and trained staff.
The Quest School, a 'non-profit making' registered charity, is governed by a Board of Management and supervised by an independent Board of Trustees.
We are proud of what is being achieved at Quest, and feel privileged to belong to such a special, supportive and successful community.
Quest is an exceptional school where our son is thriving. He has never been happier and neither have we.


text:
The cup that cheers
It's International Tea Day. No, I didn't know there was such a thing, either. But now I do it occurs to me, sitting here sipping my morning cuppa, that the humble char is actually quite significant. As an emblem of Britishness.
Our love of tea virtually defines us. We drink gallons of the stuff. There's a song about 'stopping for tea' and the tea-break has been a source of comfort to workers and strife for employers for centuries.
But that blend of leaves infused in boiling water is a lot less British than you think. Tea can be 'China' or 'Indian' yet grown in Sri Lanka or Kenya. There's not a lot British about that!
Or is there? Because at the end of the day that's what defines us as a nation, isn't it? Whether it's language (those terms like entrepreneur that the French haven't got a word for Mr President) or saints (Google St George if you don't know where he came from) or clothes or food (our national dish? chicken tikka masala, apparently) we seem to specialise in taking what's best from other cultures and celebrating and assimilating it.
We don't threaten to build walls. That was the Romans. (Ok, we voted Brexit but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that was about Brussels bureaucracy than bolstering our borders.)
Britain traditionally seems to have made a virtue of diversity, not unity.
And long may it continue.


text:
Q: Visual Basic - Checkbox states Okay so what I want to do is whilst one Checkbox is checked and in this instance 'Addition' will be checked > whilst it is checked how would I make a pop-up saying "You cannot select more than two values at once" or something so they can't check two boxes and crash the program. Here is my code:
    Private Sub CheckBox1_CheckedChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles CheckBox1.CheckedChanged

    Dim Addition As String
    Dim Subtraction As String
    Dim Multiplication As String

    Multiplication = CheckBox3.CheckState
    Subtraction = CheckBox2.CheckState
    Addition = CheckBox1.CheckState

    If Addition = CheckState.Checked Then
        'label icon of the current calculation sign
        neum.Text = "+"
        'label icon of the current calculation sign
        Me.CheckBox2.CheckState = CheckState.Unchecked
        Me.CheckBox3.CheckState = CheckState.Unchecked
    End If

    If Addition = CheckState.Unchecked Then
        neum.Text = " "
    End If
End Sub

A: The code you've written should work if you declare Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication as booleans instead of strings.
Dim Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication As Boolean

Alternatively, since you only reference one of the variables one time, you could get rid of them completely. (With the approach you're taking, you need similar handlers for CheckBox2.CheckedChanged and CheckBox2.CheckedChanged, but there is no reason for each handler to examine all the CheckBoxes; only the one it is handling.
If CheckState.Checked Then
    neum.Text = "+"
    Me.CheckBox2.CheckState = CheckState.Unchecked
    Me.CheckBox3.CheckState = CheckState.Unchecked
Else
    neum.Text = " "
End If

As commented above, Radio Buttons are the preferred control for giving a user a list of choices of which they may select only one. Here's a code suggestion for that approach:
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    'You don't have to do this with code
    'You can manually set the "Tag" property in the designer instead
    RadioButton1.Tag = "+"
    RadioButton2.Tag = "-"
    RadioButton3.Tag = "*"
End Sub

Private Sub RadioButtonChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
Handles RadioButton1.CheckedChanged, RadioButton2.CheckedChanged, RadioButton3.CheckedChanged
    neum.Text = Sender.Tag
End Sub


Hige Five, developers of Computer Music's Make Music Now series of iPhone/iPod touch apps, have just released their latest creation, Aura Flux, for iPhone and iPad.
Aura Flux is a universal iOS app that enables you to create elaborate ambient soundscapes via an intuitive node-based systems. Each node is loaded with its own sound, editable in terms of pitch, trigger rate, volume and decay. Added, postitioned and triggered using multitouch, nodes interact with each other in a 'network' to generate incredibly intricate rhythmic and melodic patterns. Everything is automatically kept in key at all times, but while it's impossible to hit a bum note, the user is nonetheless given a very high level of musical control, making Aura Flux a great tool for serious and casual musicians alike.
"Aura Flux was designed to be as simple, fun and as powerful as possible," says developer John Whitmore. "You can dip in for five minutes or get lost in it for hours.With Aura Flux we've developed a completely new interface that gives the user more control, at the same time radically simplifying the process of creating detailed and organic ambient music. We've also included a ton more sounds and options that really free the user to unleash their creativity"
"For the most part Aura Flux is about building visual structures made up of connected nodes that interact with each other to create music," adds designer David Newman. "Once you have a structure in place, you can sit back and listen or get in there and tweak to hear the subtle differences. The way in which the nodes are connected and their individual settings contribute to the way the sounds are played back, and often small tweaks can result in big changes in sound. The result is a constantly evolving soundscape with rhythms that come in out of play - in a way that's vaguely reminiscent of the music of Steve Reich, Philip Glass or Steve Hillage."
Aura Flux is available on the App Store now for a bargainous £1.19. We'll be reviewing it fully in a forthcoming edition of Computer Music, but for now you can find out more on the Hige Five website and check out the video below.


text:
import Ajv from 'ajv';
import { Injectable } from '@angular/core';

@Injectable({
  providedIn: 'root'
})
export class SchemaValidatorService {
  ajv: Ajv.Ajv;

  constructor() {
    this.ajv = new Ajv({
      allErrors: true
    });
    this.ajv.addFormat('password', '.*');
    this.ajv.addFormat('code', '.*');
    this.ajv.addFormat('binary', '.*');
  }

  /**
   * Validates schemas of a specified type
   */
  validate(schema: any, model: any): any[] {
    const valid = this.ajv.validate(schema, model);

    if (!valid) {
      return this.ajv.errors;
    } else return [];
  }
}


text:
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Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting is the think tank arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
You can find investigative reports on macroeconomics written by economists belonging to our company and research papers concerning public policy and management published in our Quarterly Journal of Public Policy & Management.
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The Japanese Economy in Fiscal 2019 and Fiscal 2020
1.Current State of the Economy —Slim economic growth from weak rush demand ahead of the tax hike 2.Outlook for the Econo...
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text:
Congressman Jim Clyburn talks insurrection, security at inauguration
by: Shawn Cabbagestalk
Posted: Jan 8, 2021 / 03:40 PM EST / Updated: Jan 11, 2021 / 08:49 AM EST
AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. (WJBF) — In just a few short days, Joe Biden will assume the highest office of the land. Now the Chairman of the Inaugural Committee is speaking out about the insurrection and how security will look on January 20.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said that he knew the certification would be a difficult process but, he blames the chaos at the Capitol on a breakdown in leadership. "I saw people very close to the building. No security on the steps. It was just like it always been so it's very clear that there was a total failure of leadership. And I want to emphasize that. It was as if they were getting their leadership teachings from the President of the United States," he said.
He wants Republicans to invoke the 25th amendment or he wants to have a vote on impeachment. Clyburn says it's the quickest way for Trump to be removed from office even though we're close to the next inauguration. "Most of us just thought that after impeachment was over, it then had to go over to the Senate for a trial. There is not enough time to get that process done. Now I'm hearing that can be short-circuited with a vote of the Senate."
Aiken Bureau Chief Shawn Cabbagestalk also asked questions about how security will look for inauguration day.
Shawn:
We've learned from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies that no public tickets will be available. How are you guys planning to deal with the inevitable crowds and also how will protesters be handled?
Congressman Jim Clyburn:
"Now I've got some close personal friends as recent as last night, asking me for tickets to the inauguration, the ain't going to be no public tickets to the inauguration. We have been saying we are going to run this inauguration much like we ran our national convention. Now after this, it may be even less people. So please, I want all my friends here in South Carolina who are also enamored with this new president, let's stay home."
Last month you said on NBC News that President Trump needed to be at the inauguration for a peaceful transfer of power. After the situation that happened in Washington recently, do you still feel the same way?
"Yes, I do. As he prepares to leave the White House, I hope he'll stop by the inauguration and do what presidents do demonstrate leadership put country first."
How does the insurrection factor into security for January 20?
"Big time. Big time. I'm calling upon the powers that be not just in the District of Columbia, but Maryland and Virginia. I would hope those governors will start putting the players in right now. Do what it takes to activate the national guard. Don't wait until the 20th or even the 19th, put them on notice now so they can get things straight with their families, their business straight, and say to them, you're going to be on active duty."
More CSRA News Stories


Some days, it seems that new machine learning applications are popping up everywhere you look in the news. In this author's opinion, the search market seems to have anointed machine learning as the new hotness. This is a fascinating realization, because anyone who has spent more than a couple years deploying search in the enterprise knows that machine learning has been used and applied in exciting and unique ways for years and years.


text:
Category : Uncategorised
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When Misha lost her fifth baby tooth, she understood that she was going to die one day.
She couldn't say why it was this tooth in particular that had caused this revelation, but there it was, plain as the bloody molar in her palm: the truth, plucked out into the open from a place where it had been hiding, snug, and dark, and safe. To make way for something else that was, as yet, unknown, but coming – ready or not.
She was fond of this tooth. It had been loose in her mouth for what felt like forever, and she had dedicated many happy hours to it, unable to resist the urge to wiggle it with her tongue until her jaw ached and her mouth tasted like pennies.
'Stop it,' Misha's mother had said in the park, when she caught her staring fixedly into the distance, her mouth working with obscene concentration. 'You look strange. You don't want people to think you're strange, do you?'
Not being thought strange was very important in Misha's house. Her parents talked about it as if they believed they were under constant surveillance; it dictated the clothes Misha wore, and the time she went to bed, and the questions she was allowed to ask them, even in the car with the windows shut and the radio on. Sometimes, it made Misha feel like a celebrity; she simply could not be seen at the shopping centre in a pink jacket that clashed so horribly with her bright red Minnie Mouse t-shirt – she was far too important for that. But most of the time it made her feel afraid, and by the time her fifth tooth finally fell out, she had already learned the unspoken rule that meant she was always absent on school photograph day, and her mother made them walk the three miles home if a police car drove too slowly past their bus stop, and family holidays ended abruptly if they saw a man in a dark jacket more than once.
Her tooth came out one afternoon at school. Brown and gory, with its surprising root like a shark's tooth. She carried it home and presented it to her mum, who knew from looking at her that this was no time for the Tooth Fairy. Without a word, she took Misha upstairs to the master bedroom. She brought down a cardboard box that was hidden behind the hats and scarves in the top of their wardrobe. Misha watched, breathing shallowly, as her mother withdrew a little metal tin and opened it. Nestled inside, tucked up tenderly in a bed of tissue paper, were her other four baby teeth, to which Misha's mother now added this one – the biggest and lumpiest and best loved of them all. They looked like dead things, Misha thought. They looked private, and indecent, and like they shouldn't have been kept.
'There,' said Misha's mum. 'I'll keep them nice and safe.'
Misha looked at what else was in the shoebox. If she had been hoping for baby photos – which the other children sometimes brought in for 'Show and Tell' – she was disappointed. Instead, there were some shells she remembered collecting from the beach at Formby, and a purple bow that had been cut from her favourite dress when she'd outgrown it, and some drawings she'd made of the house they used to live in and had been so sad to leave. And there, underneath, in another little tissue paper parcel, was a lock of hair; silky and fair and utterly unlike Misha's.
'That was your father's baby hair,' said Misha's mum, and took it from her.
There were lots of things that Misha wanted to ask. But the unspoken rule told her that she would only be allowed one question, and so she prioritised, and said, 'What will happen to my teeth after I die?'.
Until the words were out of her mouth, Misha didn't realise that she had been hoping for a comforting lie. Another mother, she thought, might have hugged her and said, 'You're never going to die, sweetheart. Don't worry. Your dad and I will look after you.' But hers didn't. She put away the shoebox, carefully tucking it in behind the scarves and sliding back the wardrobe door.
Then she looked at Misha, and said, 'I suppose they'll stay here. Unless somebody finds them, and takes them away.'
A few weeks later, Misha was allowed to host her first ever birthday party. Perhaps her parents felt she needed cheering up; or maybe it was just the least strange thing and had to be done, given that her class teacher had expressed concern about Misha's newfound obsession with how soon various people and animals were going to die, and what would happen to their bodies.
They were about to start a game of pass-the-parcel, when Misha found herself caught up in a conversation about babyhood. Her friend Sapphire had been a huge baby, Sapphire's mum was saying – nine and a half pounds! – which made Sapphire grin like it was a great achievement on her part, and the grown-up women exchange knowing grimaces.
'How much did you weigh when you were born, Misha – do you know?' asked Sapphire's mum, and Misha shook her head, suddenly ashamed.
'Mum says I was a very happy baby,' she said, to appease her audience. 'The first time I looked at her I smiled, and that's how she knew that I was hers to keep.'
The atmosphere in the room changed then. Misha knew that she had broken the rules, and when she saw her dad's face she was afraid that he was going to stop the party and send everyone home.
'Come on then, let's get on with the game!' he said, too loudly. He stopped the music so that everybody got a present except Misha, which the other parents chose politely not to notice. Inside, Misha felt something wobbling, and when she swallowed there was a lump in her throat that hurt her. She worried that she had lost another tooth without realising, and got it lodged there. When it was time to blow out the candles on her cake, she wished that she was dead already, and buried somewhere quietly in the ground, where she could stay very still, and no one would watch her for mistakes.
At school they started watching her, too. Misha stayed inside at playtime and drew pictures. All smiley, happy families: Mum, Dad, Misha. Mum, Dad, Misha. Once, she forgot to draw Dad's glasses, and had to race back during dinner break to ask to put it right.
'I just forgot,' she mumbled to her teacher, bending low over the page and pressing as hard as she could with the pencil. His frames were black, but all the crayons had been packed away. Mrs Lingley looked up a number on her phone and called it.
The day before they moved again, Misha waited until her parents were outside loading up the van, and climbed up on her mum's sewing chest to retrieve the shoe box. Underneath more tissue paper and the lock of hair, she found a photograph of some other children playing, taken from a distance, and a map with places circled on it, but these she discarded. She took her five teeth from the little tin and carried them out into the garden, where she buried them. She told herself a story in which they would grow, like trees, into other children – into brothers and sisters who would have hair and eyes like hers, and who she would be reunited with one day. But really, she just wanted to leave a piece of herself behind in this place that had been her home; perhaps to be dug up by some future archaeologist, when she herself was long gone.
'You are a very special girl,' said her mum, squeezing her leg from the front seat as they drove away, the streetlights burning like birthday candles as they flashed past them in the dark. Misha wondered if she meant 'different', which was bad, or 'precious', which was good, but she didn't ask.
In another town, she would grow into a woman who holds onto things too tightly, who would frighten people with the sort of longing it is difficult to disguise, whose friends would talk about 'needing a break from'. But for now, she was seven years old, and still the age when adults think your wounds are soon forgotten if you cease to mention them. The space in her mouth would not be empty for long; already she could feel a sharp point emerging, and she imagined she was a snake shedding its skin, the new, grown up Misha rising from where it has always been; waiting, inside herself. Coming. Ready or not.
Enjoyed Ready or Not? Try Abi Hynes' another short story The Ghosts from Kathmandu.
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