As we celebrate sweeping, life-affirming dreams for humanity today, I'm also thankful for smaller, individual ones. My kids are both starting a new year in college, and my husband has just begun new, fulfilling work. And I'm pondering that artsyletters is almost a year old!
While my business won't fund those college educations, I feel blessed with the feedback I've gotten from customers this past year. I've sold work to college professors, history teachers, librarians, writers & poets, artists, high school students, mothers and grandmothers and husbands – folks from across the country and even across the ocean. And I've only just begun!
Multiply that, and you can imagine what my studio (and the rest of the house) looks like this week.
I've hand-stamped the blocks with oil-based printing ink, then decorated with a dip pen and India ink (and some gold on the smaller ones) .
I've just sold three collages out of the blue, so I'm hoping to finish up a few more framed pieces to add to the mix. And I need to get back to blinging up some bookmarks, packaging notecards, putting together magnets, sprucing up booth decor… Who needs sleep?
Wishing you a moment to pause today and think about dreams big and small, with gratitude for those who have risked their own lives to make life better for others. And I wish you an outlet for your own creative dreams, no matter the size!


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text:
Acute embolic stroke in a patient with atrial fibrillation after electroconvulsive therapy
Hideaki Suzuki, Takehisa Takano, Miya Tominaga, Kazumasa Suzuki, Yutaka Kagaya
Although patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) have an increased risk of embolic stroke, some clinicians hesitate to provide anticoagulation therapy for these patients during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which is widely applied for the treatment of intractable depression, bipolar disorder, and catatonic schizophrenia, because of potential intracerebral hemorrhage. We report on a 77-year-old female depressive patient with AF treated with aspirin but not on anticoagulation therapy because of poor compliance who developed embolic stroke 1 day after the last ECT. The CHADS2 score of this patient was 2 and included the age and hypertension. The present case suggests that anticoagulation therapy should be considered for patients with obvious risks of embolic stroke when they are subjected to ECT.
e12-e14
Journal of Cardiology Cases
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jccase.2010.01.004
10.1016/j.jccase.2010.01.004
Dive into the research topics of 'Acute embolic stroke in a patient with atrial fibrillation after electroconvulsive therapy'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Electroconvulsive Therapy Medicine & Life Sciences 100%
Atrial Fibrillation Medicine & Life Sciences 71%
Stroke Medicine & Life Sciences 55%
Catatonic Schizophrenia Medicine & Life Sciences 28%
Cerebral Hemorrhage Medicine & Life Sciences 17%
Bipolar Disorder Medicine & Life Sciences 15%
Aspirin Medicine & Life Sciences 14%
Suzuki, H., Takano, T., Tominaga, M., Suzuki, K., & Kagaya, Y. (2010). Acute embolic stroke in a patient with atrial fibrillation after electroconvulsive therapy. Journal of Cardiology Cases, 2(1), e12-e14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jccase.2010.01.004
Acute embolic stroke in a patient with atrial fibrillation after electroconvulsive therapy. / Suzuki, Hideaki; Takano, Takehisa; Tominaga, Miya; Suzuki, Kazumasa; Kagaya, Yutaka.
In: Journal of Cardiology Cases, Vol. 2, No. 1, 08.2010, p. e12-e14.
Suzuki, H, Takano, T, Tominaga, M, Suzuki, K & Kagaya, Y 2010, 'Acute embolic stroke in a patient with atrial fibrillation after electroconvulsive therapy', Journal of Cardiology Cases, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. e12-e14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jccase.2010.01.004
Suzuki H, Takano T, Tominaga M, Suzuki K, Kagaya Y. Acute embolic stroke in a patient with atrial fibrillation after electroconvulsive therapy. Journal of Cardiology Cases. 2010 Aug;2(1):e12-e14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jccase.2010.01.004
Suzuki, Hideaki ; Takano, Takehisa ; Tominaga, Miya ; Suzuki, Kazumasa ; Kagaya, Yutaka. / Acute embolic stroke in a patient with atrial fibrillation after electroconvulsive therapy. In: Journal of Cardiology Cases. 2010 ; Vol. 2, No. 1. pp. e12-e14.
@article{a5ff9dca8f3f48438d5d6203591e4d45,
title = "Acute embolic stroke in a patient with atrial fibrillation after electroconvulsive therapy",
abstract = "Although patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) have an increased risk of embolic stroke, some clinicians hesitate to provide anticoagulation therapy for these patients during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which is widely applied for the treatment of intractable depression, bipolar disorder, and catatonic schizophrenia, because of potential intracerebral hemorrhage. We report on a 77-year-old female depressive patient with AF treated with aspirin but not on anticoagulation therapy because of poor compliance who developed embolic stroke 1 day after the last ECT. The CHADS2 score of this patient was 2 and included the age and hypertension. The present case suggests that anticoagulation therapy should be considered for patients with obvious risks of embolic stroke when they are subjected to ECT.",
keywords = "Anticoagulation, Atrial fibrillation, Electroconvulsive therapy, Stroke",
author = "Hideaki Suzuki and Takehisa Takano and Miya Tominaga and Kazumasa Suzuki and Yutaka Kagaya",
doi = "10.1016/j.jccase.2010.01.004",
pages = "e12--e14",
journal = "Journal of Cardiology Cases",
T1 - Acute embolic stroke in a patient with atrial fibrillation after electroconvulsive therapy
AU - Suzuki, Hideaki
AU - Takano, Takehisa
AU - Tominaga, Miya
AU - Suzuki, Kazumasa
AU - Kagaya, Yutaka
N2 - Although patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) have an increased risk of embolic stroke, some clinicians hesitate to provide anticoagulation therapy for these patients during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which is widely applied for the treatment of intractable depression, bipolar disorder, and catatonic schizophrenia, because of potential intracerebral hemorrhage. We report on a 77-year-old female depressive patient with AF treated with aspirin but not on anticoagulation therapy because of poor compliance who developed embolic stroke 1 day after the last ECT. The CHADS2 score of this patient was 2 and included the age and hypertension. The present case suggests that anticoagulation therapy should be considered for patients with obvious risks of embolic stroke when they are subjected to ECT.
AB - Although patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) have an increased risk of embolic stroke, some clinicians hesitate to provide anticoagulation therapy for these patients during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which is widely applied for the treatment of intractable depression, bipolar disorder, and catatonic schizophrenia, because of potential intracerebral hemorrhage. We report on a 77-year-old female depressive patient with AF treated with aspirin but not on anticoagulation therapy because of poor compliance who developed embolic stroke 1 day after the last ECT. The CHADS2 score of this patient was 2 and included the age and hypertension. The present case suggests that anticoagulation therapy should be considered for patients with obvious risks of embolic stroke when they are subjected to ECT.
KW - Anticoagulation
KW - Electroconvulsive therapy
U2 - 10.1016/j.jccase.2010.01.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jccase.2010.01.004
SP - e12-e14
JO - Journal of Cardiology Cases
JF - Journal of Cardiology Cases

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Nicolaas Bastert (Maarsseveen, 1854. január 7. – Loenen aan de Vecht, 1939. április 18.) holland festőművész, rajzoló. Elsősorban tájképeiről híres.

Életútja
August Allebé, Marinus Heijl, Petrus Josephus Lutgers és Charles Verlat tanítványa volt az Amszterdami Szépművészeti Akadémián (). 1879-ben az antwerpeni Királyi Szépművészeti Akadémián () tanult, s ugyanekkor tagja lett az amszterdami Arti et Amicitiae művészeti egyesületnek, valamint a Hollandsche Teekenmaatschappijnak. Bejárta Franciaországot is Geo Poggenbeek társaságában. 1931-ben tagja lett a festőművészeket tömörítő Szent Lukács céhnek. Tanítványai voltak többek között Constantia Arnolda Balwé, Leo Kurpershoek, Marie van Regteren Altena és Eva Emmelina Seelig.

Jegyzetek

Források
 Nicolaas Bastert

További információk

Holland festők
1854-ben született személyek
1939-ben elhunyt személyek

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Type I interferons (IFNs) may play a role in the natural improvement of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) during pregnancy, RNA-Seq study suggests
Posted by: RNA-Seq Blog in Commentary July 10, 2017	1,690 Views
Specialty Pharmacy Times – by Lauren Santye – Type I interferons (IFNs) may play a role in the natural improvement of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) during pregnancy, new findings suggest.
In the United States, an estimated 1.5 million individuals are living with RA. Many pregnant women will find that their symptoms go into remission during pregnancy, whereas others may see their symptoms worsen or experience no change at all.
Little has been understood about the changes in gene expression induced by pregnancy in women with RA and healthy women. This is because few studies have been conducted and the lack of pre-pregnancy samples available at baseline.
In a study published in Arthritis Research & Therapy, investigators hypothesized that there is an overlap between pregnancy-induced changes in gene expression among women with RA who improve during pregnancy and among healthy women, and differ from changes among women with RA who worsen during pregnancy.
RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) generated global gene expression profiles from 11 women with RA and 5 healthy women before pregnancy and at the third trimester.
By the third trimester, 8 pregnant women with RA showed an improvement in disease activity and 3 worsened. The investigators used differential expression analysis to identify genes demonstrating significant changes in expression within each of the RA and healthy groups, in addition to between the groups at each time point.
"Most of the pregnancy-induced biological changes that we observed in both RA groups were also present among healthy women, suggesting that those were most likely normal pregnancy-related changes," said lead investigator Damini Jawaheer, PhD.
Next, the investigators examined and compared the biological changes that occurred by the third trimester among women with RA who improved with women whose conditions worsened.
The results of the study showed that the expression of a small number of genes differed between the 2 groups of pregnant women. For women who experienced an improvement in RA, the expression increased; however, when RA worsened, the expression decreased.
Network graph showing associations between proteins encoded by genes with contrasting changes in expression from the pre-pregnancy baseline to the third trimester between RA women who improved and those who worsened. The nodes in the network represent proteins encoded by genes. The edges represent known as well as predicted interactions between the proteins, suggesting that they are part of a common functional network. Proteins that were not joined in the network are not shown. Variations at the levels of transcripts or post-translational modification are also not shown. Nodes with unknown 3D structure are shown by smaller size
Most notably, was that the gene cluster was influenced by IFNs, suggesting that type I IFNs may play a role in the natural improvement of RA during pregnancy.
"In our pilot RNA-seq dataset, increased pregnancy-induced expression of type I IFN-inducible genes was observed among women with RA who improved during pregnancy, but not among women who worsened," the authors concluded. "These findings warrant a further investigation into expression of these genes in RA pregnancy and their potential role in modulation of disease activity. These results are nevertheless preliminary and should be interpreted with caution until replicated in a larger sample."
The investigators plan to continue their research to determine what causes the natural improvement of RA during pregnancy to help develop safer treatments for patients with RA.
Source – Specialty Pharmacy Times
Goin DE, Smed MK, Pachter L, Purdom E, Nelson JL, Kjærgaard H, Olsen J, Hetland ML, Zoffmann V, Ottesen B, Jawaheer D. (2017) Pregnancy-induced gene expression changes in vivo among women with rheumatoid arthritis: a pilot study. Arthritis Res Ther 19(1):104. [article]
gene expression IFNs pregnancy RA Rheumatoid Arthritis Type I interferons	2017-07-10
Tagged with: gene expression IFNs pregnancy RA Rheumatoid Arthritis Type I interferons
RNA-Seq links thirdhand smoke and gene expression in humans
Single-cell RNA-Seq yields new knowledge on the development of asthma
RNA Sequencing furthers our understanding of how life begins
New small RNA Sequencing method reveals the first example of cooperation between a plant virus and an insect virus


Lots of wonderful furry, fluffy, or fuzzy Siberian Huskies are homeless and in search of families. They don't ask for much. The biggest demand is love! They give SO much in return.
GRATITUDE: Our experience has been that rescued fur babies are grateful to their foster families and subsequently the families who adopt them and express that gratitude with love, lots of lovin'.
HEALTH: Our dogs' routine veterinary care and vaccines are up-to-date. They are current on (but not limited to) testing, basic vaccinations, and worming. Females are spayed, males neutered. All are microchipped. All of our dogs have been tested for heartworm disease, Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasma. If they have tested positive, they have been treated. If they have known medical conditions, they have been treated. We disclose all medical information and give adopters the medical records.
KNOWLEDGE: We tell adopters everything we know about the animals' personalities and behavior traits we observe while the dogs are in our foster care. We encourage questions because the more applicants know about a pet before adoption, the better the match and the better the chances of ensuring our pets get permanent homes.
INTERACTION: We not only allow but encourage applicants to spend time getting to know the pet(s) before adoption. We cannot "hold" a pet for any adopter, but applicants are welcome to spend time at every event with whatever dogs are available. We require interaction prior to adoption between the applicants' current dogs and our homeless pet.
NEED: Last, but not least, these pets are homeless and searching for loving families and homes, where they will never again have to worry about how to get their next meal or if they will wake up in the morning and see a face they recognize.
APPLY: There are two applications for adopting dogs. One is for folks who have never adopted from Pet Harbor before, the other for folks who have.
APPROVAL: This involves our processing the application by checking all applicable references (vet(s), people who know your pet experience firsthand, landlord, homeowner association, local shelter check). We engage in a back-and-forth Q&A with applicants. The more we learn about applicants, the better equipped we are to help make successful matches between humans and pets. Then we visit the home and family. Then, if approved, we issue an approval email describing the next steps (the meet-and-greet and contract-signing processes).
MEET & GREET: Meet the pet(s) if you haven't already. This almost always occurs at adoption events. Most events are held near Fredericksburg, Virginia. The entire potential adoptive family must meet the pet before adoption. That includes all human and canine family members, not feline family members.
Adhere to a prescribed schedule of updating us throughout the life of the dog so we can know how happy the dog is!
dogs age 9 and up, $100.
BE PATIENT: Wait, if required. Animals recovering from treatment for heartworm or other diseases cannot leave our organization until the veterinarians assure us their health allows it.
ENJOY!: Welcome the new family member. Give him/her lots of love and a permanent home.
KEEP IN TOUCH: Our adopters give us a call or drop us a line and photograph every now and again to let us know how they and their new family member(s) are happier every day. We require updates for the life of the pet. The update schedule includes updates 24 hours after adoption, one week after adoption, one month after adoption, etc., and annually after the first year.
Fill out a Dog Adoption Application.
The application is given to our Applications Processing Dept.
Pet Harbor management emails the applicant and relays questions. There usually is a bit of back and forth here.
Screening, such as vet check, landlord check, etc., if applicable, are conducted.
Home ownership is verified, where applicable.
If in an area where we intimately work with a shelter or pound, we do a shelter check.
We visit the home. If applicants have no pet, the home visitor will bring a dog (not an available Pet Harbor dog).
The data is compiled into a presentation for Pet Harbor's Board of Directors.
The board discusses and votes.
An email is sent indicating approval or rejection.
If approved, we will discuss with the applicants what dog(s) fit their home and make arrangements for them to meet.
Every canine and human residing in the home will meet the Pet Harbor dog(s).
If the applicants choose to adopt, they will sign a contract.
Click to see a listing of the pets we have available or call us at (703) 583-HSKY. We are happy to discuss with approved applicants what dogs are available at that time. We work with applicants in an effort to make the right match.


text:
Q: Buildpack": Failure: (ID: 224c5ea3) Failed to run /bin/build: couldn't find runtime version from runtimeconfig.json Hi Am trying to deploy a test project using Google Cloud Platform with Buildpack deployments. However, the deployment process fails, even though the runtimeconfig.json has runtime version defined. Is there something that is missing from the json file. The file is automatically generated by the dotnet (setting GenenerateRuntimeConfiguration=true in .csproj file). Has anyone encountered the same problem and found any workarounds?
Step #0 - "Buildpack":   cat /workspace/bin/TestServerConsole.runtimeconfig.json
Step #0 - "Buildpack":   {
Step #0 - "Buildpack":     "runtimeOptions": {
Step #0 - "Buildpack":       "tfm": "net6.0",
Step #0 - "Buildpack":       "framework": {
Step #0 - "Buildpack":         "name": "Microsoft.NETCore.App",
Step #0 - "Buildpack":         "version": "6.0.0"
Step #0 - "Buildpack":       },
Step #0 - "Buildpack":       "configProperties": {
Step #0 - "Buildpack":         "System.Reflection.Metadata.MetadataUpdater.IsSupported": false
Step #0 - "Buildpack":       }
Step #0 - "Buildpack":     }
Step #0 - "Buildpack":   }
Step #0 - "Buildpack": Done "dotnet publish -nologo --verbosity minimal --configuration R..." (7.695605258s)
Step #0 - "Buildpack": Determining entrypoint from output directory bin and project file TestServerConsole/TestServerConsole.csproj
Step #0 - "Buildpack": === .NET - Runtime (google.dotnet.runtime@0.9.1) ===
Step #0 - "Buildpack": Found runtimeconfig.json file: TestServerConsole/bin/Release/net6.0/TestServerConsole.runtimeconfig.json
Step #0 - "Buildpack": Using runtimeconfig file "TestServerConsole/bin/Release/net6.0/TestServerConsole.runtimeconfig.json"
Step #0 - "Buildpack": Failure: (ID: 224c5ea3) Failed to run /bin/build: couldn't find runtime version from runtimeconfig.json: &dotnet.RuntimeConfigJSON{RuntimeOptions:dotnet.runtimeOptions{TFM:"net6.0", Framework:dotnet.framework{Name:"Microsoft.NETCore.App", Version:"6.0.0"}, Frameworks:[]dotnet.framework(nil), ConfigProperties:dotnet.configProperties{SystemGCServer:false}}}
Step #0 - "Buildpack": --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step #0 - "Buildpack": Sorry your project couldn't be built.

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text:
Q: Connect extremal points of contour lines I'm trying to mark and connect the maximum points in a contour plot in matlab.
If I take this simple example:
x = -2:0.2:2;
y = -2:0.2:3;
[X,Y] = meshgrid(x,y);
Z = X.*exp(-X.^2-Y.^2);
contour(X,Y,Z,'ShowText','on')

It gives the contour curves bellow, and the black line and red circles is what I would like to plot.

I've tried searching for the indices of maximum values for each row in Z, then plotting the corresponding X and Y values.
This didn't give me the correct values in my original problem.
What I'm looking for is whether there is a way to extract these values from the figure/data automatically.

A: The data for the contour lines can be extracted from the call to contour. The first returned value is the contour matrix which can be parsed to give you the points of every every contour line. Then it's just a matter of logistics to find the "maximum" point, which you really seem to mean the point along the contour with largest y value:
x = -2:0.2:2;
y = -2:0.2:3;
[X,Y] = meshgrid(x,y);
Z = X.*exp(-X.^2-Y.^2);
M = contour(X,Y,Z,'ShowText','on');

inow = 1;
maxpoints = [];
while inow < size(M,2)
   % column at inow contains level value and number of points in contour line
   level = M(1,inow);
   nvals = M(2,inow);
   % extract coordinates of the corresponding contour line
   xvals = M(1,inow+1:inow+nvals);
   yvals = M(2,inow+1:inow+nvals);

   % find max y value along the contour
   [ymax, ind] = max(yvals);
   xmax = xvals(ind);
   maxpoints(end+1,:) = [xmax, ymax];

   % increment index
   inow = inow + nvals + 1;
end

% filter points as necessary
inds = maxpoints(:,1) > 0; % contours to the right
keeppoints = maxpoints(inds,:);

% plot them
hold on;
plot(keeppoints(:,1),keeppoints(:,2),'o-');

The maxpoints array we constructed has size [ncontours, 2] and contains the coordinates of the "maximum" points. You need to filter these if you only want to work with some of the visible contours. Here's the result:

As you can see, the precision of the line is only as good as the precision of the contour lines themselves. You can increase the accuracy by making your data more dense and consequently your contour lines smoother. The above with 0.02 step instead of 0.2 in the meshgrid call:


text:
2018 ASTRO: SABR-COMET: Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy for Oligometastatic Tumors
Posted: 10/30/2018 12:42:04 PM
Median overall survival was 41 months for patients treated with SABR compared to 28 months in the standard treatment arm.
Progression-free survival was 12 months in the stereotactic radiation arm compared to 6 months for those who received standard radiation therapy.
Just 9% of patients who received standard treatments experienced serious adverse events (grade 2 or higher), while 30% of those in the SABR arm did.
In the first randomized, phase II clinical trial of its kind, researchers have shown that an aggressive form of high-precision radiation therapy can increase survival in patients with oligometastatic tumors. These findings were presented by Palma et al in the plenary session at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.
The multicenter trial studied patients with a variety of oligometastatic cancers, treating them with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), also known as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), which is a form of high-precision cancer therapy that delivers substantially higher doses of radiation to the tumor site in just one or a few treatment sessions.
"Traditionally, when a patient had a cancer that spread to other parts of their body—such as to their bones or brain—they were considered to be incurable," said lead study author David Palma, MD, PhD, a researcher at Lawson Health Research Institute, the research institute of London Health Sciences Centre, in a statement. "But there's a theory—called the oligometastatic theory—that if a patient only has a few spots of cancer returning, those spots could be killed with radiation or surgery to improve their survival. Now, we've been able to show, for the first time in a randomized trial, that high-dose radiation can effectively treat these limited recurrences, and we've been able to increase survival by a median of 13 months."
SABR-COMET
In this randomized, phase II, open-label study called SABR-COMET, Dr. Palma and his colleagues enrolled 99 patients from four countries (Canada, Scotland, the Netherlands, and Australia). Each patient had been treated for cancer but the cancer had returned, with tumors appearing in as many as five different places. All patients had good performance status (ECOG 0–1) and a life expectancy of more than 6 months. Patients had been diagnosed with a wide range of cancer types, most commonly breast, lung, colorectal, and prostate. In most patients (n = 92), the cancer had spread to one to three new sites.
Between February 2012 and August 2016, the patients were randomly assigned at a 1:2 ratio into two treatment arms: palliative standard of care treatments (SOC), and SOC plus stereotactic radiation therapy for all metastatic lesions. The median patient age was 68 years (range = 43–89), and 59% of the patients were male. No baseline patient characteristics were significantly different between the two treatment arms. Median follow-up time was 27 months.
Median overall survival was 41 months (95% confidence interval [CI] = 26 months, upper limit not reached) for patients treated with SABR compared to 28 months (95% CI = 19–33 months) in the standard treatment arm (stratified log rank P = .09). This phase II trial was designed to look for a signal, defined as a P value less than .20, as an initial comparison of these two treatment groups.
Progression-free survival was 12 months (95% CI = 6.9–30 months) in the stereotactic radiation arm compared to 6 months (95% CI = 3.4–7.1 months) for those who received standard radiation therapy (P = 0.001).
"We were surprised and quite pleased. We didn't expect survival benefit to be quite so long for patients with metastatic disease," said Dr. Palma, also a clinician-scientist at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.
Being treated with stereotactic radiation resulted in more negative side effects than standard treatments. Just 9% of patients who received standard treatments experienced serious adverse events (grade 2 or higher), while 30% of those in the SABR arm did (P = .022). The most common negative side effects were fatigue, dyspnea, muscle and joint pain, bone pain, or pain not otherwise specified. Three patients in the experimental arm died due to adverse events—one from a pulmonary abscess; one from subdural hemorrhage after surgery to repair a SABR-related perforated gastric ulcer, and one from radiation pneumonitis.
"Stereotactic radiation therapy needs to be delivered carefully and by an experienced team, and there is a small risk of very serious side effects, as well as mortality. But overall, for patients whose cancers have spread, and who are not expected to survive otherwise, the overall survival benefit of SABR appear to outweigh these risks," said Dr. Palma.
There were no differences between the two treatment arms in quality of life measures. Scores on the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: General (FACT-G) questionnaire at 6 months following treatment were similarly high for both patient groups (82.5 for SABR vs 82.6 for standard therapy, P = .992). Patients also reported similar quality of life outcomes on the physical, social, functional and emotional FACT-G subscales (all P > .4).
SABR-COMET-10
In some cases, patients developed additional lesions during the trial. When this happened, noted Dr. Palma, the additional tumors could sometimes be successfully ablated. Because they were able to successfully treat a greater number of sites in these patients, the research team is now planning a follow-up study that will enroll patients with up to 10 metastatic lesions, called SABR-COMET-10.
"We don't know the upward limit of how many tumors can be treated with SABR," he said. "The concern is the amount of radiation exposure a patient can tolerate. We don't know yet what the safe boundaries are. We've been very conservative, as this is a new technology."
Nearly half (46%) of the patients treated with stereotactic radiation were still alive after 5 years, compared to 24% in the control group, said Dr. Palma—a result that he believes will encourage physicians to consider SABR as a treatment option.
"Ultimately, the question of whether an oncologist will offer this treatment as the standard of care for [patients with oligometastatic disease] will be up to that oncologist," he said. "At the very least, physicians should be considering this as a treatment option for their patients."
"Stereotactic radiation therapy can increase how long these patients live and how long they live without their cancer coming back, and it doesn't seem to have a detrimental impact on their quality of life," he concluded.


text:
Main Player — iPhone
Switching Display Modes
The lower portion of the main player screen can show four different things:
Skip Buttons
Episode Title List (shown only if podcast has more than one episode)
Driving Mode (cover artwork), or
Sleep Timer (must be enabled in Preferences first)
You can switch between the displays by swiping up or down on the bottom half of the left edge of the player screen. There are three small, faint horizontal bars to identify the area.
The round set of skip buttons allow you to move forward or backward by fixed increments, in either seconds or minutes. Skip buttons (versus sliders or scrubbers) allow you to navigate within long audio without losing your context. For example, if you skip ahead too far, just skip back, and skip ahead again with a smaller increment. By default, the skip increment is in seconds, but tapping the clock symbol in the center of the dial switches from skip-by-seconds to skip-by-minutes. Skip-by-Minutes is indicated by a red background and a red clock hand.
The skip button values can be changed in the Preferences area. You can change the seconds and minutes of each button. You can also change the sec/min label suffix (for example, to "s" and "m").
Episode Selector
The Episode Selector display shows a listing of episodes available for the selected podcast. Simply tap on a episode title to play that episode.
"What do the little symbols mean that I see on the left of the Part Selector items?"
There can be one or two symbols on the left side. The upper symbol denotes the play status of the audio: a red circle means the podcast has not been played or marked as seen, a blue and white pie shape shows how much of the audio has been played, and a black circle indicates the item was completed. The lower symbol denotes the download status of the audio file: A miniature download symbol (arrow pointing down) means the audio file is currently being downloaded, a paper/file symbol means the audio file is available to play.
Driving Mode
Driving Mode provides an easier/safer way to pause or skip forward/backward while in the car. While in Driving Mode, tap on the cover image to play/pause, and swipe left or right to skip forward or backward. The default skip value is 30 seconds for both directions, but this can be configured in the Preferences area. By default, only the cover image on the lower half of the screen is used for Driving Mode controls, but there is a "Full Screen Controls" preference to make the entire screen active.
Use the Title Area for Shortcuts to Episodes
Swipe left or right in the upper title area to go to the next/previous part. You can also double-tap the title area to jump to the management listing of all parts/chapters/episodes. There, you can do things like view podcast information, download files, and delete files.
Shortcut Drawer
The quickest way to change podcasts is through the Shortcut Drawer. This can be opened using the button on the left side of the title area, shown with three small stacked squares.
The Shortcut Drawer keeps all your podcasts close at hand on the main player screen, sorted by more recently played. The artwork of each podcast is shown, simply tap on one to start playing that podcast wherever you last left it.
The Shortcut Drawer also provides an easy mechanism to check for new episodes of all your podcasts. Just pull down on the list and release. Podcasts with new episodes will be shown with a red dot with a white center.
Adjusting Playback Speed
Tap the Star button at the bottom of the screen to get to the speed adjustments. Tap on the rabbit to increase the playback rate, and the turtle to decrease it.
"What are the actual playback speeds?"
The values for the speed controls are: 0.6x, 0.7x, 0.8x, 0.9x, 0.95x, 1.0x, 1.1x, 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, 2.0x.
The Sleep Timer must be enabled in the Preferences before first use.
You can also adjust the default settings for the sleep timer in the App Preferences.
To start/stop or adjust the Sleep Timer, swipe up or down on the lower left side of the main screen until you see the Sleep Timer controls (as shown below). Adjust the timer amount, or hit the Ep. End button to have the timer expire at the end of the current episode. Whe the sleep timer expires, it will stop the audio, and create bookmarks at the beginning and end of the sleep time period. You can add time to the sleep timer any time the sleep timer is operating, and up to a minute after it expires, by shaking the device.
© 2015 Freshmowed Software


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Smyler Tabbed as New Chair of Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
Monday marks a new era in Pennsylvania gaming. Denise Smyler will take over as chairperson of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. She is succeeding David Barasch, whose six-year stint as PGCB chair ended last week.
Gov. Tom Wolf (D) made the announcement last week, picking the commonwealth's former general counsel to head one of the state's highest-profile public agencies. Wolf also tabbed Nedia Ralston to fill Barasch's seat on the board.
PGCB members are limited to two three-year terms.
Smyler, who was first appointed to a three-year term on the board in October 2019, managed her own law firm for more than 16 years before joining the Wolf Administration in 2015.
At last Wednesday's Gaming Control Board meeting, Smyler thanked Barasch for leading the board in a "steady and even-handed" fashion.
"I've learned a lot from David," she said. "He's always been a friend, but as the chairman, I was in awe of how well he could navigate all of the difficult issues that have been presented, especially under the COVID 19 restrictions."
O'Toole: PGCB Benefited from Barasch's Experience
Barasch was honored with a resolution commending his service to the board at last week's hearing.
His six years at the helm of the board coincided with a rapid expansion of gaming statewide. That included the legalization of video terminals at truck stops, as well as the launch of mobile sports betting and iGaming. In addition, the state has also opened two new casinos, with another preparing to open next month.
In a statement, PGCB Executive Director Kevin O'Toole said the state and the agency were served well by Barasch's deep experience during his term.
At no time in the history of this agency were those qualities more important in a Board Chair than during the past year of unexpected and unprecedented disruptions to the gaming industry due to COVID-19," O'Toole said.
At the end of last week's meeting, Barasch noted that his term with the board was a "challenging but extremely rewarding" opportunity, and was proud of the work the gaming board accomplished during his term as chair.
Before taking over as chair of the gaming board, Barasch's career as a public servant included serving as Pennsylvania's Consumer Advocate, the deputy secretary for the state's Department of Revenue, and as the US Attorney for Pennsylvania's middle district.
"This concludes a legal career for me that has spanned 47 years, hard to believe, in both state and federal government as well as in private practice," he said. "I think it's kind of fitting that I'm finally retiring from public service, where I first started my career."
Wolf Appoints Staffer to Penn. Gaming Board
Ralston comes to the board having most recently served as the director of Pennsylvania's Southeast Regional Office, a position she's held for more than six years.
Before that, she was the deputy finance director for Wolf's gubernatorial campaign in 2015.
"Nedia has been a great asset to the commonwealth over the years, and I am confident she will continue to be so in her new position," Wolf said in a statement.
Ralston's public service experience includes serving on the board of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Community College of Philadelphia.
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Week 9 Injury Report — Thursday


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By one of the most transcendent poets of his generation. Darwish composed this remarkable work at the apex of his creativity, but with the full knowledge that his death was imminent. Thinking it might be his final oeuvre, he summons all his poetic genius to create a luminous work that defies categorization. In stunning language, Darwish's self-eulogy inhabits a rare space where opposites bleed and blend into each other. Prose and poetry, life and death, and home and exile are all sung by the poet and his other. On the threshold of im/mortality, the poet looks back at his own existence, intertwined with that of his people. Through these lyrical meditations on love, longing, and Palestine, reflections on violence and historical tragedy, and existential musings, the poet bids himself and his readers a poignant farewell.
Mahmoud Darwish (1941–2008) is one of the most celebrated and revered poets in the Arab world. His collections of poetry include: Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?, A River Dies of Thirst, Mural, The Butterfly's Burden, Don't Apologize for What You've Done, Like Almond Blossoms or Beyond, If I Were Another, Unfortunately, It Was Paradise, The Adam of Two Edens, and In the Presence of Absence (forthcoming). In 2001, Darwish was awarded the Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize.
Sinan Antoon is an Iraqi poet and novelist. His co-translation of Darwish's poetry was nominated for the PEN Translation Prize in 2004. His works include The Baghdad Blues, I'jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody, and The Pomegranate Alone. He is an assistant professor of Arabic Literature at New York University.
Zafer Tawil is a virtuoso on 'oud, violin, and qanun, and a master of Arab percussion. Zafer has performed in concerts across the country, including performances with numerous musicians ranging from Sting to Arab music virtuosos Chab Mami, Simon Shaheen, Bassam Saba and George Ziadeh, to avant-garde composer/ performer Elliot Sharpe. He was a featured composer and performer in acclaimed director Jonathan Demme's Oscar-nominated film Rachel Getting Married and is composing and performing for Demme's next film project, Zeitoun, based on Dave Eggers' book about Abdulrahman Zeitoun's post-Hurricane Katrina odyssey. Zafer has worked on many collaboration concerts involving classical Indian and Persian music as well as Arab/jazz fusion. He has held workshops on Arab music at many institutions and universities across the United States. A native of East Jerusalem, he resides in New York City.


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The debut album from Portland's Greylag is out now on Dead Oceans and it's an affecting record. Recalling the best bits of America's rock past, even dipping a toe into the waters of the post-grunge Northwest, Greylag -- Andrew Stonestreet, singer and from West Virginia, Daniel Dixon on guitars and from Northern California, and Texan Brady Swan on drums -- have produced a remarkably human record in an era where everything seems prepackaged. The album is organic and direct.
Check out the surging and nearly anthemic "Yours to Shake" to see what I mean. It's a rolling current of emotions that nearly unleashes at a few points around Stonestreet's vocals.
By the time we get to "Arms Unknown" there's a bit of a Led Zeppelin III influence creeping through, along with a nod in the direction of Red House Painters. The blues tradition pops up on "Mama" with some highly effective percussive flourishes by Swan.
"Burn" gently charms, equal parts Nick Drake and Neil Young. "Black Sky" channels a bit of Mark Lanegan and some more Zep -- think "Battle of Evermore" without Sandy Denny -- to make an affecting slow-burner.
But it is album closer "Walk the Night" that really captivated me as a first-time listener of Greylag. The cut pegs a near-Elliott Smith-like melody to vocals in the style of Nick Drake. This is a really magical piece of music.
Greylag by Greylag is out now on Dead Oceans.
Follow Greylag on their official website here.


I brought such a pile of magazine tear-sheets with me to Tinos to read during my two weeks of R&R. And in the middle of them, somehow, I found very old notes (like from 11/14/2002 old!) about a speech I heard Warren Buffet give at the McDonough School of Business. I am not sure how these notes go into this pile, and I am not sure how they survived the last 16 years (!!) but they are timeless and still so very relevant today.
Do work you love and are passionate about.
Always follow the front-page test: if you don't want your words or actions on the front page of the Washington Post, don't say or do the thing.
Think about who your heroes are.
Don't marry for money, especially if you're already rich!
Your life's success is measured by who loves and respects you.
There is no such thing as "business ethics." There's just ethics.
Don't pay attention to the economy. Focus on what is knowable and what is important.
Don't be envious, it only makes you feel bad.
Run your business like it's your only asset and you can't sell it for 100 years.
What you are later in life is determined today. Have good mind and body habits.
There are a lot of things you can't control – but you can control the type of person you are.
I spend my life in the field, and the start to this year is no different. By the end of January, I will have visited 30+ stores that carry Alchimie. From every visit, from every interaction, I learn something new – what is working with my brand, what we can do better, and more.
AP: How long have you been working with Walgreens?
MC: I started with Walgreens on June 27, 1994, so a little over 23 years and six months.
AP: Please tell me how you started with Walgreens, and why?
MC: Before Walgreens, I had worked in the retail industry for 6 years and I loved the retail business. When my husband made the decision to retire from the U.S. Navy, we left Japan, and I came ahead to Texas, while my husband completed his last six months aboard a ship. When I arrived in the Spring, I made several friends who worked for Walgreens, and I decided to apply. When they placed me in Beauty Care, I knew I had found my home.
AP: To you, what does Walgreens stand for?
MC: For me, Walgreen's represents stability. The company is devoted to studying their clientele, and providing the types of product that will sell in any given location.
AP: Have you always been in the same store? If so, why?
MC: No, this is my second store. In 1998 a District Manager (DM) from Chicago was sent to work in Houston. He heard about my performance and he came to my store and ask me if I would work for him to run the beauty department in one of his new store that was going to open on May 4 of 1998. I was glad I accepted the offer, because I had achieved and accomplished and received recognition awards for my hard work under his watch until he retired. I know I made him proud. Besides these two stores, I was actually sent by my DM to many other stores to help out in beauty departments. When Walgreens started expanding, I was sent with the District Beauty Supervisor to help set up beauty departments in the new stores. I was also sent to some existing stores to help the beauty departments set up for Christmas and help others do the resets.
AP: In your own words, please describe your position to me?
MC: Sales and Customer Service: I promote best selling products to exceed my targets. I share success stories and learnings with other stores to enhance their performance, inform team members and leaders how to insure store success in beauty. I engage with customers in conversation about their beauty needs and exhibit a sincere concern for the customer. I am to offer tactful, informed, and personalized advice, tips, and product suggestions based on customer's beauty needs and desires. I do demonstrations and makeovers. Most importantly perhaps I think about the long term, and offer extra customer care to build relationships and enhance customer loyalty to inspire the next purchase and repeat business.
AP: What is your favorite part of your job?
MC: Making people feel beautiful about themselves inside and out.
AP: How do you consistently make your goal? What are your tips for success?
MC: I consistently make my goal by planning ahead, monitoring and printing out my daily departments sales, and focusing on the goal to stay on top. I mix up the displays, do event tables, and keep the merchandising interesting for my customers. Also, I play with my outfits: I like to color coordinate my outfit to match with my theme. It attracts customers' attention and it's a great conversation starter.
AP: How do you self-motivate every day?
MC: Loving what I do and my customers appreciating what I can offer is the key for my positive attitude.
AP: What are the keys to your positive attitude, regardless of traffic in the store?
MC: Passion and drive are the keys for my self motivation everyday. I truly love what I do.
AP: What would be the one suggestion you have for Walgreens corporate?
MC: My suggestions for Walgreens is to do more beauty training and keep us up to date with all the new beauty trends. For me, knowledge is power. Also better incentives would be helpful, including recognition for top sales, extra customer care winners. I would love to be invited to the headquarters in Chicago to receive an award before my 25th year. This is on top of my wish-list: to get flown somewhere again, all company expense to receive a recognition award and be on the Walgreens World Magazine one more time.
AP: What are the words of wisdom you have for your fellow beauty team members?
MC: Do what you love and love what you do. Don't be an expectation, be an inspiration. Own it, Love it, Live it. Care. Win Together. Inspire.
I got away this past weekend – to a magical, beautiful place filled with soul and serenity – Tulum, Mexico. It was the perfect spot to rest my body and resource my mind.
Listening to the waves of the Caribbean Sea, I read a book that I have been carrying around with me for over a year – A Beautiful Success by Jacques Courtin – of Clarins fame. This is his story, his family's story, his brand's story. Established on March 15, 1954, Clarins began with a weight-loss device and a body treatment Institute. The first Clarins product was the "Tonic Body Treatment Oil," a product that is still sold today. From an assortment of body products that complemented the Institute's treatments, Clarins expanded to a full range of facial products, makeup, and fragrance. Combining the best of nature with the best of science, combining at-home products and treatment centers, Clarins came to represent "serious beauty." A great example of what I want Alchimie to become!
While this book can't be reduced to one-liners, there are some great ones, which are relevant beyond the world of beauty, and worth remembering on a daily basis.


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National Museum of the U.S. Air Force to Reopen July 1
June 11, 2020 Warbirds News Aviation Museum News, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
After temporarily closing on March 15 to protect the health and safety of visitors, staff and volunteers, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, along with the National Aviation Hall of Fame, will officially reopen to the public on July 1.
While the museum is excited to reopen, our top priority is the health and safety of our visitors and our entire museum family. Therefore, we've carefully developed reopening guidelines following the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the State of Ohio, local health experts and peer institutions across the country.
In order to achieve the highest public health standards, cleaning procedures have been enhanced throughout the museum, including an increased frequency in the disinfecting of high-traffic areas and surfaces. Hand sanitizer stations are now available in each gallery and new directional signage is also in place. In addition, plexiglass sneeze guards have been installed at all of the cashier stations in the Valkyrie Café, Museum Store, Air Force Museum Theatre, and simulator rides.
To better protect the public, all visitors will be directed to enter the museum via a new entrance to the right of the traditional entrance. Visitors ages three and up will be required to wear masks during their visit to the museum.
CLICK HERE TO READ FULL STORY
Photo Credit: The XB-70 slowly moving under cover once more. (NMUSAF photo by Don Popp)
Story Credit: http://warbirdsnews.com/


Talia indulges her sexual pleasures, turning her life into a twisted mess. Sleeping with Alex is dangerous and reckless, and she craves that excitement. Loving Will is comforting and safe, and she needs that stability. Why can't she get everything she wants from one man?
Alex has everything he wants. He loves the power that comes with his job, and fooling around with his boss provides the illicit kink he needs. He's in charge and trusts no one.
When Alex's case forces them back together, Talia discovers she still craves both her former lovers. Can only one love her enough to satisfy her twisted desires and provide the stability she needs?
Will loves Talia, and he's willing to give up everything to be with her. Their future hinges on her answer to one simple question. But when he leaves his life behind to pursue her, he's confronted with choices he didn't expect.


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The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, commonly referred to as "Section 504", is a non-discrimination statute enacted by the United States Congress. The purpose of the Act is to prohibit discrimination and to assure that disabled students have educational opportunities and benefits equal to those provided to nondisabled students. An eligible student under Section 504 is a student who has, or has a record of having, or is regarded as having, a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities such as learning, self-care, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working, and performing manual tasks.


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Kool Kats of the Week: WOLVERTON Co-Writers Michael Stark and Terrell T. Garrett Get Adventurous in Turn of the Century London Where the Science of H.G. Wells Goes Head to Head with the Mysterious
by Melanie Crew
Michael Stark, former screenwriter for Disney and Universal Pictures and current purveyor of rare horror and sci-fi books (Burnt Biscuit Books) "in the shadows of Pinewood Studios," and Terrell T. Garrett, screenwriter, reside south of the Atlanta Airport, a.k.a. "Hillbilly Hollywood." Having written several screenplays together, they decided to take an artistic leap and are currently in the process of producing their first comic, "WOLVERTON: THIEF OF IMPOSSIBLE OBJECTS, along with artist Derek Rodenbeck. Initially slated for the big screen but not quite making it past Hollywood's current aversion to original works, WOLVERTON was revived as a self-published comic book and labor of love for Stark and Garrett. This action-packed story entangles Jack Wolverton, gentleman thief, within a wicked supernatural web, and "Only he can save the world's most powerful artifacts from getting into the wrong hands." While their tale takes place in turn of the century London and Wolverton holds H.G. Wells' science in high esteem, as opposed to the superstition-riddled occultish general population, "Wolverton isn't exactly steampunk," tweeted Stark. "He's more Schvitz Punk!" The premier issue is finished, however, Stark and Garrett made a decision to add four previously cut pages back in before it goes to the printers, so all you retro-fabulous turn of the century comic-loving kiddies will have more action-packed goodness when it hits the shelves!
Stark and Garrett's home-grown labor of love is being crowd-funded by a Kickstarter campaign, in part to cover printing costs (28 full-color pages with a 5000 copy run!), but also to put feelers out to gauge interest in their project. They are offering many enticing perks for backers, including digital and hard copies, exclusive signed prints and the chance for a few lucky folks to get drawn and/or written into the action. So come on out and be a part of WOLVERTON history and snatch up an adventurous perk or two via the Kickstarter campaign available through July 6! Check out the full range of rewards here!
ATLRetro caught up with Michael Stark and Terrell T. Garrett to gab a bit about their upcoming comic, writing for the Hollywood machine; and why going with crowd-funding made sense for this project. While you're takin' a gander at our little Q&A, why not take a peek at the teaser trailer and a wee history of WOLVERTON here.
ATLRetro: How did you and your co-writer, Terrell T. Garrett, come up with the idea of "Wolverton?" What inspired the tale and why set the story in turn of the century London?
Michael: I had an old script about a gentleman thief that I pitched to Sean Connery's company before he did ENTRAPMENT. I wanted to dust it off, but Terrell yawned, finding the trope a bit old-fashioned. So, out of the blue I blurted out: "What if we set it in Edwardian England and he only stole magical objects like the Monkey's paw?" Suddenly, my writing partner leaned in, very interested, and we knew we had a great idea.
(l-r) Co-Writers Terrell T. Garrett and Michael Stark
Can you tell our readers a little about the creative team behind WOLVERTON?
Michael: I was making a good living writing in Hollywood in the '90s without actually having anything produced. Those days have changed. The new normal is free options and free rewrites which is why I started looking at trying a different format. Our artist, Derek Rodenbeck, was an army vet whose testimony of overcoming great tragedy with his art really moved us. We think we found a very talented, young man.
Terrell: I'm currently adapting Alistair MacLean's novel, FEAR IS THE KEY, for the big screen. In fact, most of the stuff I've written has been in the screenplay format except for a few short stories here and there and a novel that I'm working on at a glacial pace. I'm also a new father.
What is it about the "gentleman thief" trope that inspires you to create a character like Jack Wolverton?
Michael: We were getting known in Hollywood for writing wild set pieces. I wanted to do something that mixed action with the wit and sophistication of a Preston Sturges or an Ernst Lubitch film. The Gentleman Thief trope fit both worlds perfectly.
We see that you and Garrett worked together on several screenplays, and that you've optioned a few to Universal and Disney. Comics and film are similar in that they both rely on dialogue, action and visuals to deliver an awe-inspiring story. As a screenwriter and now a comic book writer, what would you say are the biggest differences between the two, and the challenges of each?
Artist Derek Rodenbeck
Michael: I thought it would be pretty easy to transpose the script into comic book format. I was dead wrong! Especially because modern comic books like modern screenplays have far less text in 'em than when I was a kid. So, even after we basically locked the book, I'm still calling the letterer and asking if we can fit in a new bit.
Can you tell our readers what drew you to screenwriting, and who would you say are your most inspirational screenwriters/films?
Michael: Thank God for PBS in the 70s. I saw a Francois Truffaut and Luis Bunuel film festival when I was 10 years old and knew then I wanted to be a screenwriter. Not a director 'cause I looked lousy in jodhpurs. At NYU, I mentored under three Academy winning screenwriters: Ring Lardner JR (MASH, WOMAN OF THE YEAR), Waldo Salt (MIDNIGHT COWBOY, SERPICO) and Ian Hunter, who could tear apart and fix just about anything.
Terrell: I knew I wanted to be a filmmaker when I saw JURASSIC PARK when I was 14 years old. Something about the collective awe in the theater and seeing all the names in the credits made me realize I wanted to be a part of the movie magic. My favorite screenwriters and filmmakers who inspire me are Walter Hill (ALIEN franchise), James Cameron, Jane Goldman (KICK-ASS), Frank Darabont (THE MIST), Dan Gilroy (NIGHTCRAWLER), Joe Carnahan (THE GREY), Bryan Fuller (HANNIBAL TV series), Jon Spaihts (DOCTOR STRANGE, PROMETHEUS) and Diablo Cody (JUNO).
Of course we have to know, as a native Long Islander, what made you fly south, and what is it about Atlanta that's kept you around for so long?
Michael: That is a very long and surreal story, but basically I was given a month to live a decade ago and went on a spiritual journey that ended up with this nice, Jewish kid from Long Island becoming a minister in a small, rural GA church. That of course would make a good screenplay, but I strictly believe in never writing about your own life. Oh, yeah, I didn't die BTW.
Most kids (and now adults, as the guilty pleasure no longer carries the negative geek stigma) can't wait to get their grubby little hands on the coolest of the cool comics. What comics were your favorite growing up and what are your favorites now?
Terrell: I grew up reading Chris Claremont X-MEN comics and the '90s issues of THE NEW MUTANTS. PREACHER and Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN blew my teenage mind. These days, I'm enjoying Alan Moore's PROVIDENCE, Brian K. Vaughan's SAGA and Matt Fraction's ODY-C.
Michael: Team Marvel and mind warping EC reprints. Now anything by Alan Moore.
WOLVERTON began as an original screenplay and was then regenerated into a comic book. Can you tell us a little about that process and whether seeing it drawn on the page in color helps visualize how it will look on the big screen?
Michael: The screenplay was a director's wet dream with action scenes that were beyond hyper kinetic. Derek did a great job capturing that energy on the page. Even Wolverton's hair is constantly in motion.
Any plans to take the tale back to Hollywood after its success as a comic book?
Michael: Well, there was just a huge bidding war over a friend's graphic novel, so, yes! Hollywood is more interested in acquiring existing material than original screenplays. Maybe they'll come to us this time if the comic book is successful.
Why a Kickstarter campaign for WOLVERTON? What are the advantages of taking the crowd-sourcing route?
Terrell: We chose Kickstarter because it just felt logical. A lot of creatives have used the crowd-sourcing platform and have found success, especially in the realm of comics. We figured it was worth a shot. Not only to hopefully cover the cost of printing, but to see if people would be interested in our little story.
You've put together some great bonuses for investors, ranging from digital and hard copies to exclusive signed prints and the chance to get drawn into the action (Exciting!). What can folks looking to invest via Kickstarter expect to get when they back your comic?
Terrell: Backers can, firstly, expect a fun adventure story full of cool visuals, sparking dialogue and great characters. Secondly, for the backers who dish out a little extra, they can expect to see their likeness or the name of their business in comic book form or own exciting and original artwork. Thirdly, they can know that they invested in a story with little risk, and have contributed to the dream of a brand new father.
Can you give us five things you're into at the moment that we should be watching, reading or listening to right now— past or present, well-known or obscure?
Terrell: Nonfiction Book: MIND HUNTER: INSIDE THE FBI'S ELITE SERIAL CRIME UNIT by John E. Douglas. Podcast: LIMETOWN. Podcast: THE BLACK TAPES. Science Fiction Book: RED RISING by Pierce Brown. Novella: "Agents of Dreamland" by Caitlin R. Kiernan.
Michael: I'm cycling through John Ford westerns and Jeeves and Wooster books at the moment. I'm not sure what I'll spit out after that combo meal. Although, Terrell and I already wrote a script about Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in Victorian London. That may be our next comic book.
Any advice for writers and/or artists out there on putting together and publishing their own comic books?
Terrell: Treat the artist as your collaborator. Be patient with the process. Never give up.
Michael: Who knew sticking it to the man – the man being Hollywood – would be so damn expensive. Many people I went to film school with are now editors at Marvel and DC. Some even started their own publishing companies. I knew if I asked for their advice, they'd probably talk me out of it and I didn't want to be talked out of it.
Getting back to why we're here chatting you up, WOLVERTON, and the comic book's Kickstarter campaign! Without giving too much away, what can you tell our readers a little about the comic?
Michael: Here's how we pitched it to Hollywood. In turn of the century London, Jack Wolverton, gentleman thief, specializes in stealing the arcane, the accursed and the occult. With war about to break out, only he can stop the world's most powerful artifacts (The Monkey's Paw, The Hope Diamond and the Portrait of Dorian Gray) from falling into the wrong hands! Think Indiana Jones meets Pirates of the Caribbean.
And last but not least, how many issues are planned and how can our readers snag up their very own copies?
Michael: We are printing up 5,000 copies and you can get a copy before anyone on the planet does by backing us now. If the ship carrying them through the high China Seas isn't attacked by pirates, expect a summer release.
All photos courtesy of Michael Stark and Terrell T. Garrett and used with permission.
Category: Kool Kat of the Week | Tags: Alan Moore, Alistair MacLean, bryan fuller, Burnt Biscuit Books, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Chris Claremont, comic book, comics, Dan Gilroy, Derek Rodenbeck, Diablo Cody, Disney, Ernst Lubitch, francois truffaut, Frank Darabont, gentleman thief, hillbilly hollywood, ian hunter, James Cameron, Jane Goldman, Jeeves and Wooster, Joe Carnahan, John E. Douglas, John Ford, Jon Spaihts, Jurassic Park, Kickstarter, Limetown, luis bunuel, Michael Stark, my parents basement, Neil Gaiman, Pinewood Studios, preacher, Preston Sturges, retro comics, Ring Lardner JR, Sandman, Sean Connery, steampunk, Terrell T. Garrett, The Black Tapes, Thief of Impossible Objects, turn of the century london, Universal Pictures, Waldo Salt, Walter Hill, Wolverton, x-men
Kool Kats of the Week: Monster Movie Madness Ensues as Mark Maddox and Jim Adams Let Loose the Creatures of the Night, Sending Chills Down Your Spine with MONSTER ATTACK!
Posted on: Feb 3rd, 2016 By: Anya99
Award-winning illustrator, Mark Maddox teams up with jack-of-all creative trades, Jim Adams (actor, radio personality, NERDVANA podcast co-host, Project iRadio PR liaison), to let loose upon the unsuspecting public a monstrous creation, their podcast MONSTER ATTACK! via Project iRadio! Their beastly baby aired its first episode on January 11, 2016 (catch it here), diving head first into the monster madness that started it all for these two monster kids [William Castle's spine-chilling, THE TINGLER (1959), starring Vincent Price, and Douglas Hickox/Eugene Lourie's THE GIANT BEHEMOTH (1959)]. MONSTER ATTACK! airs weekly and covers topics that run a gory-fying gamut from scary creatures that go bump in the night, to old-school sci-fi, to radioactive monsters, mad scientists and more! Take a listen, get your bones a rattlin' and catch the craze that is, MONSTER ATTACK!
Jim Adams and Mark Maddox
Maddox, monster kid, artiste extraordinaire and recipient of a Rondo Award (2011's Artist of the Year) and Pulp Factory's "Cover of the Year" award, hails from Tallahassee, FL and his artistic seed has spread like wildfire! He's illustrated many a magazine cover [SCREEM MAGAZINE ("Star Wars: The Force Awakens"; "Universal Monsters"; MST3K's 25th Anniversary Issue; "American Horror Story"); HORRORHOUND MAGAZINE; LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS; UNDYING MONSTERS; MAD SCIENTIST MAGAZINE, just to name a few], book covers, films [Warner Brothers' 3D Blu-ray of HOUSE OF WAX, Cortlandt Hull's DVD THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA UNMASKING THE MASTERPIECE] and so much more! Maddox has also become an officially licensed artist through the Vincent Price estate, having illustrated a vast library of Vincent Price book and magazine covers. If you haven't caught a glimpse of Maddox's artistic endeavors, you may want to haunt on down to your local purveyor of monsterific lit, or catch him at one of many classic monster conventions, including Atlanta's own Monsterama, Louisville, KY's Wonderfest and more!
Adams, New Yorker by birth and Atlantan at heart, began co-hosting Project iRadio's "Nerdvana Interviews" in 2014. He has been a professional actor for 30-plus years, was a morning wake-up show radio personality for twenty years, and dabbled in newspaper reporting. Adams is a fixture in the metro Atlanta theatre scene, having served on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Theatre Conference and served as the Senior Artistic Director for the Canton Professional Theatre. He is a devout monster movie matinee fanatic and is a true monster kid, boasting having once owned a collection of classic and modern monster/horror films that exceeded 1,500 titles. Adams can also be found lurking around classic monster and horror conventions, camera and microphone in hand, seeking his prey as the next charming victim for his Project iRadio interviews.
ATLRetro caught up with Adams and Maddox for a quick interview about their love of classic monster movies, their take on classic and modern special effects and tales from their monster kid childhoods. While you're reeling in on our little Q&A, catch MONSTER ATTACK!'s second episode, "The Werewolf" here!
Jim Adams and Veronica Carlson
ATLRetro: Congratulations on "The Premiere" episode of your new Project iRadio podcast, MONSTER ATTACK!, which aired January 11, 2016. Classic monsters and "monster movies" in general are right up ATLRetro's alley and we're pretty excited to have a podcast devoted to old school monster flicks and those who dreamed them up. Can you tell our readers how you two partnered up to put together this show?
Jim Adams: Mark and I met at the first Monsterama convention in Atlanta two years ago. His table was located next to Veronica Carlson's table and I was heading to speak with her when I spotted a print from the movie INVASION OF THE SAUCERMEN. As a kid, it was one of my favorite films, and I stopped to purchase the print. As we talked about the film and many others, it became pretty clear that Mark and I grew up appreciating most of the same monster movies. A few weeks later, Mark was a guest on my podcast, NERDVANA, and we blasted through the entire hour without taking a breath, talking about our favorite films. But it was the following year at the next Monsterama convention that we began talking about doing a podcast together. The idea took form and we recorded our first show just before Christmas.
Mark Maddox: Jim and I had met at a couple of conventions and realized we had a rapport when it came to talking about films. He had a common affinity for classic horror films and the idea to do a podcast came from that. We seemed to work well together talking about them.
In the premiere episode, you both discussed your first taste of monsters in film land, with Mark's being William Castle's spine-chilling THE TINGLER (1959), starring Vincent Price, and Jim's being Douglas Hickox/Eugene Lourie's tale of a giant dinosaur radiating London in THE GIANT BEHEMOTH (1959). Although these were your first tantalizing tastes of terror, can you fill us in on your favorite classic monsters and why?
J: For me, my favorites have always been the classics – vampires and werewolves. I loved THE WOLF MAN with Lon Chaney Jr., and it still remains one of my all-time favorites. Fred F. Sears' THE WEREWOLF (1956) is also one I really enjoy and it is the subject of our second MONSTER ATTACK! podcast. Vampires have always been favorites as well. I am a huge fan of the Hammer films featuring Christopher Lee, although the best vampire film, in my opinion was THE BRIDES OF DRACULA with David Peel playing the vampire. The Count Yorga films are also ones I enjoy watching very much. Bela Lugosi's DRACULA (1931) has a warm place in my heart. I don't have much use for some the contemporary takes offered like the TWILIGHT series. I think they sometimes forget that vampires are monsters, not love interests. I am not a fan of what I call "90210 with fangs."
M: My first favorite monster as a child had to be Frankenstein's Monster, by far – the film version. The flat head and makeup along with his strength just captivated me. I first saw him on the cover of a magazine fighting The Wolfman and my love for monsters was set. From there, it spread to King Kong, Dracula and on and on.
Which classic monster and/or movie would you say is the most neglected and what do you think makes them worthy of attention?
J: The original THE MUMMY with Boris Karloff is a work of absolute genius. The horror is very subtle, but powerful. I love the lighting and set design and Karloff's performance the very best of his illustrious career. To many folks, the film may be too "talky" compared to the action-packed horror films of today, but true film lovers should be able to appreciate the incredible artistry The scene where the Mummy first reveals himself to one of the archaeologists is absolutely one of the best horror scenes I have ever witnessed.
M: I think Bela Lugosi's DRACULA and Boris Karloff's THE MUMMY are both neglected. A lot of people would say they are both slow and not much happens. Bull! They are just incorporating the same kind of techniques that would later be used by Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch – the kind of pacing that brings its own tension. The settings for Dracula and Lugosi's portrayal are both so weird that it's like a broken arm that's been set. Everything looks all right, but there is just something that feels wrong. I think the film has been dismissed too quickly by people.
Can you tell us a little about some of your favorite "monster kid" memories?
J: The one I tell a lot is one that happened watching an OUTER LIMITS episode entitled "The Architects of Fear." I was eight years old and the monster was the most frightening thing I had ever seen. My bedroom at the time had several maps on the walls. I loved maps as a kid, and during the night a fly got stuck one of them. The sound it made was exactly like the sound the creature made on the show, and I was panic-stricken. It was about four or five years later before I dared watch that episode again, but I decided to take a chance. When the monster appeared, my body physically shook. It was almost 20 years before I saw "Architects" again. I purchased the episode on VHS and when I watched it, it still bothered me a bit. I cannot think of anything that affected me quite as powerfully as that one did.
M: One of my favorites was the night that I found out the local TV station was going to show a double-feature of FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) because I had never seen either one. Another was my mom letting me stay up on a Wednesday night to watch KING KONG (1933) and I was ecstatic. A couple memories that Jim and I have in common are one, checking out the new TV GUIDE every week and looking to see what "Monster Movies" were going to come on that weekend. The other was going to the newsstand and seeing the latest copy of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. (Note: One of Jim's also included going to the neighborhood drug store and watching for the latest Monster Model releases by Aurora and Revell.)
Despite the invasion of modernized and extreme terror tactics, what do you think it is that keeps generation after generation returning to classic monster movies? What is it about these films that continue to draw you to them?
J: There is true artistry to them. I love that we can do so much today with special effects, but sometimes having that luxury creates lazy or sloppy filmmaking. I believe anyone who looks at these classic monsters – even the low-budget ones – cannot help but be blown away by the love the filmmakers poured into them. But, on another note, even the bad ones are just so damn entertaining to watch. Even today, watching the old films I grew up with for our podcast, I find myself re-experiencing those wonderful times growing up with optimism and youthful exuberance from my childhood.
M: Classic films have a lot of dedicated people working for them – writers, directors, actors, technicians, etc. I think that quality is what makes people return to them. With modern horror films, the ones that say something new (THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, CABIN IN THE WOODS, and HOSTEL) were all different than their predecessors and that's why they succeeded. The old films always had the backing of the major studios which helped with the quality. Even the "B" pictures were of high quality
In "The Premiere" episode you discuss the special effects in films like Edward Ludwig's THE BLACK SCORPION (1957) (Willis H. O'Brien – special effects supervisor) and Eugene Lourie's THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953) (Willis Cook/special effects; Ray Harryhausen/animation). The techniques and art of "old school" special effects has influenced many modern SPFX artists. What do you consider the pros and cons of the advent of computerized SPFX and the more hands off approach to filmmaking? And what is your favorite "old-school" special effect that you think should be used more often in modern film-making?
J: As I said earlier, sometimes I find that filmmakers get a little sloppy and lazy with access to CGI and other computerized effects. I love practical effects because they seem more realistic and I think using those effects helps the performers deliver a better performance. I also believe that the best "scary" movies leave something to the imagination. The human brain will fill the gaps with far more frightening imagery than any effect can. Films like ALIEN (1979), the original THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951), and IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958) have shown that. I also miss really good stop-action effects. Done well, I believe they can really sell a film. Films like MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961) and any of the other Ray Harryhausen films are still favorites of mine and are always enjoyable.
M: I think that if it is handled well, you should use whatever tool in the toolbox you have to get the job done. That does not mean you use that tool when it is not necessary. Filmmaking is still about storytelling. JURASSIC PARK (1993) needed its special effects to make the dinosaurs seem alive. Some films overuse computerized effects at the expense of the story.
Mark, it's no secret that your artistic resume and portfolio is quite prolific with your art spanning the covers of SCREEM MAGAZINE; HORRORHOUND MAGAZINE; LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS; MAD SCIENTIST MAGAZINE (and so many more!); your illustrations being used for Warner Brothers Blu-ray releases; and your Vincent Price magazine and book covers leading you to becoming an officially licensed artist through the Vincent Price estate. Can you tell our readers what drew you to your art and why this particular subject matter? And who would you say is your greatest inspiration/influence and why?
M: I loved comic books, monster movies and science fiction. I would draw the things I loved, and the things I loved were my muses. The muse fed the wish to draw, to create more of what I loved. When it came to films, the love of films made me want to draw and the drawing made me love films even more. As far as my influences, the first person who made me want to draw was Dr. Seuss. But the person who really made me want to become an artist, because I loved their work tremendously and still do to this day, was Jack Kirby. That moved me from comic book art to realistic art, portraits and realism with people like James Bama, who did the Doc Savage covers and stills does great Western art to this day.
Jim, we see that you've been in radio for quite some time, having been a radio personality in the metro-Atlanta area
for a couple decades and now with the invent of podcasts, began co-hosting Project iRadio's "Nerdvana Interviews" in 2014. Project iRadio not only has brought underrated and almost unknown subjects to light with its podcasts, but it's made it easier for fans to access knowledge and information delivered by a wide range of industry professionals. What do you hope to achieve with MONSTER ATTACK! and what do you want our readers and your audience to take away from the show?
J: I am so excited about the future of Project iRadio, especially with the incredible hosts we have. After seeing the success of horror writers like Brian Keene, James Moore, Jonathan Mayberry and the others on the network, it appeared there was a need for a look at old horror as well as the new, and that's where Mark and I fit in. I would love to see MONSTER ATTACK! open up that world to a new generation of fans. Jess Roberts, founder of Project iRadio, is about half my age and he recalls how he fell in love with the older films when he first watched THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954). There are several generations who have never watched any of these magnificent films and maybe listening to the podcast will help whet their appetites to try them out.
We hear that you were going to initiate a Patreon for subscribers and funding for Project iRadio. Can you tell us a little about that effort?
J: I'm a rookie at Patreon, but from what I have been told, it is a terrific vehicle for helping the network grow and expand. Right now, we are all doing what we do out of love, but bills have to paid and the overhead of maintaining a large podcast network has to be met. Patreon allows those who love what we do help take some ownership in this incredible adventure. I'm still being educated about some of the incentives we will be offering in the near future. You can visit our Patreon site here.
Can you both tell our readers something about yourself that they don't know already?
J: Wow, that's a tough one. There is not too much I am private about except my beliefs. I consider myself a very spiritual person – not religious, spiritual. I believe this is one incredible adventure that will set the table for the next adventure to follow after I physically leave this planet. I do believe that energy will come back for another round, and I am a big believer in the concept of "soul families."
M: I'm taller than Jim. No, seriously I am an artist first, and then I'm a motivational person. I believe that somehow I would be involved in motivational speaking or therapy if I weren't an artist.
And of course we want to know what's up next for both of you. Any exciting plans in the near future?
J: If MONSTER ATTACK! succeeds, we would love to launch another podcast where we can talk about all of our other favorite films and TV shows that don't fit into the category of old monster movies.
M: A lot more art, a lot more podcasts – even ones that will cover films that are not horror films and hopefully a lot of conventions. You never really know where life is going to take you, but it's going to be exciting!
All photographs are courtesy of Mark Maddox and Jim Adams and used with permission.
Category: Kool Kat of the Week | Tags: Bela Lugosi, Brian Keene, brides of dracula, Christopher Lee, classic monsters, creature from the black lagoon, David Lynch, david peel, fred sears, Hammer Films, horrorhound magazine, house of wax, invasion of the saucer men, Jack Kirby, james a. moore, James Bama, jess roberts, jim adams, jonathan mayberry, Jurassic Park, Lon Chaney Jr., mad scientiest magazine, mark maddox, MONSTER ATTACK!, Monsterama Convention, mysterious island, nerdvana, outer limits, patreon, Project IRadio, pulp factory, Ray Harryhausen, Rondo Hatten Award, screem magazine, Stanley Kubrick, the giant behemoth, the mummy, the phantom of the opera unmaking the masterpiece, The Tingler, undying monsters, Universal monsters, Veronica Carlson, Vincent Price, wonderfest
Kool Kat of the Week: Brian Lonano Explores the Ins and Outs of Goblin Lovin' With His Latest Short Film GWILLIAM!
by Aleck Bennett
Atlanta filmmaker Brian Lonano has been garnering raves on the festival circuit for humorous horror short CROW HAND!!!, which makes all of us at ATLRetro laugh like crazed lunatics every time we see it. Now he is on the cusp of bringing us another heaping helping of the hilariously bizarre with GWILLIAM, a tender tale about the love between a man (William Tokarsky of TOO MANY COOKS and YOUR PRETTY FACE IS GOING TO HELL) and a goblin (an animatronic puppet). But he needs your help! That's why he's running an IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign, promising an insanely inventive and perfectly perverse variety of rewards for donors.
The short film has long been the weird nephew in the motion picture family. Since theatrical exhibitions largely abandoned the "selected short subjects" of days gone by (aside from, say, Pixar's commitment to the form) in favor of more movie trailers and before-the-show advertisements, it's been a constant struggle to get short films in front of large audiences. Sure, film festivals routinely devote chunks of programming to shorts, but the audience is always limited to the people in attendance. In recent years, however, that has changed. Say what you will about the Internet's impact on the film industry, one thing is indisputable: it's provided makers of short films with a platform that allows more people to see their work. That, in turn, has had an impact on television programming. Animated TV series have used the "two cartoons in one half-hour" format for a long while now, but some networks—most notably Cartoon Network and its [adult swim] programming block—have embraced the 11-minute episode as a standalone entity. And [adult swim] has taken that short film format into live action, with series like Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim's multiple offerings (such as TIM AND ERIC AWESOME SHOW, GREAT JOB! and CHECK IT OUT! WITH DR. STEVE BRULE), YOUR PRETTY FACE IS GOING TO HELL and that twilight zone of weirdness at 4:00 a.m. where things like TOO MANY COOKS show up.
Brian Lonano – SXSW
That's where we cross paths with Kool Kat of the Week Brian Lonano. Lonano has been making short films for a decade now. His nine shorts have screened at festivals from SXSW to Fantasia International Film Festival, from Canada to Cambodia. And here in Atlanta, he's been shown at the Atlanta Film Festival and the Buried Alive Film Fest. (He's done promotional bumper shorts for many festivals around the world as well.) His shorts are typically a deft mix of wacky comedy, horror or sci-fi tropes and inventive practical effects.- a combo no better seen than in last year's CROW HAND!!! His 10th film, GWILLIAM, is currently in preproduction, and to raise the funds for this endeavor (because while the Internet is a convenient platform, it's really hard to monetize it), Lonano has turned to the new audience that the Internet has provided for assistance via this IndieGoGo campaign.
ATLRetro caught up with Brian Lonano to ask him about the campaign, his history in short films, what GWILLIAM is all about and what's on the horizon.
ATLRetro: You've got nine short films under your belt in the past decade, including the inspired THE TRANSMISSION and the utterly berserk CROW HAND!!! What first drove you to dive into filmmaking?
I grew up watching films that featured a lot of special effects and puppets. I am a big fan of Jim Henson, Tim Burton, Spielberg and classic STAR WARS. JURASSIC PARK came out when I was 10 and I wanted to make movies ever since. I became obsessed with seeing any and every movie that Industrial Light & Magic did the special effects for. I didn't have a camera for a long time so I drew comics and made puppets. As I get older I seek out more bizarre film oddities like HAUSU, THE VISITOR and A FIELD IN ENGLAND. Those kinds of films coupled with what I grew up worshiping keep me inspired to make movies.
You're not only known for your short films, which have screened all over the world, but you've also been recognized by the industry for your commissioned work for festivals and television, something our readers might not immediately know about. What does Brian Lonano do when he's not dreaming up weird short films?
My full time job is working at a post-production facility that processes dailies for TV shows and movies that shoot in town. The commissioned work I make is mostly for film festivals. I would direct a short film called a bumper that advertises the film festival and I would more or less have creative control which is great. I'm very grateful to film festivals that show my work so when I'm asked to make a bumper for one, I put a lot of effort in making a kick ass bumper to show how bad ass the festival is.
It's a tale as old as time: a man and a goblin in love. What attracted you to this story, and just how disgustingly screwed up can we expect the end result to be?
GWILLIAM came about from a drawing my brother did back in 2011. He was drawing a picture of this weird little man—it just looked completely wrong in the best way possible. We laughed about the picture and decided we had to name the weird man. So we asked ourselves, what's a gross name that would fit this monstrosity? And we decided on Gwilliam. After that we came up with a strange story where a different man was prowling at night and has an encounter with Gwilliam…I'll leave the rest to your imagination. I'm excited about how gross this movie is going to be because it's not gore centric like my previous film CROW HAND!!!. It's a whole new kind of disgusting.
The preliminary sculpt you've shown on the website is impressive even in this early stage. Who's behind the design of the Gwilliam puppet?
The sculpt of Gwilliam is actually created by Splatter Cinema super team Blake Myers, Luke Godfrey and Nick Morgan. They will be responsible for making the creature puppet for the film.
I see designer Rachel De Urioste mentioned in the IndieGoGo campaign. What she's bringing to the table? Rachel De Urioste is a local artist, fabricator and designer and she's designing the GWILLIAM perks for IndieGoGo. She designed the crow totem that was featured in CROW HAND!!!. When we were on the festival circuit with CROW HAND!!! I asked Rachel to make some plastic versions of the Crowtem so I could plant them in theaters and see if anyone would pick them up. I loved the idea of something tangible to take away from the movie. CROW HAND!!! is so short that I wanted to make a big impact with the promotion of it. So with GWILLIAM I wanted to make a new prize to give out to potential donors. If I was giving to a campaign, I would want something cool like a toy. I think people gravitate towards tchotchkes like that.
The variety of rewards you're offering investors range from the innocuous (digital downloads, credit listing) to the utterly depraved (a Gwilliam sex doll???). How did you come up with these ideas?
I brainstormed ideas for prizes with Rachel and my wife/co-producer Victoria Cook. We all agreed the totems from CROW HAND!!! were a great idea and we wanted to take it a step further. Rachel had never dabbled in designing toys and I am a big fan of Archie McPhee's novelty finger puppets so I thought a Gwilliam finger puppet would be a great prize to give out. As I said earlier, if I was donating to something, I would want to get a cool toy. Rachel is making full painted Gwilliam finger puppets but she is also making rainbow editions of the Crowtem and Finger Puppet as well as solid color Gwilliams (we're calling it the ROY G BIV collection) and even glow in the dark finger puppets! The blow up is another prize we all came up with. The doll would be life size (meaning Goblin size) and the goal is make it a functioning doll. We wanted our campaign to stand out and I figured weird finger puppets and blow up dolls would do the trick!
You've lucked up in nabbing William Tokarsky fresh off the TOO MANY COOKS brouhaha, but he's also popped up in projects ranging from THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE to YOUR PRETTY FACE IS GOING TO HELL. How did your paths cross, and how did you know he was the right man to romance a goblin puppet?
William was very easy to get in touch with. I sent him a message on Facebook asking if he would be interested in working together on a project. We agreed to meet in person and I gave him the script to read. I didn't say much about it until he read it. Thankfully, he was laughing at the script and said he would absolutely be a part of it. So far working with William has been terrific. He's easy going, very funny and a great team player. I look forward to shooting so I can direct him.
On the local front, you've worked with the Buried Alive Film Festival as a judge, you've shot a great bumper for them, and you've had your shorts exhibited there as well. Any hope you'll be bringing GWILLIAM to BAFF screens in the future?
If the film is completed in time I would absolutely love to screen it at BAFF this year. But because I am friends with Blake and the whole team (and they are also working on the film), it would be an out of competition entry. I love screening my work here because the audience gets what I am trying to do and they all seem to really enjoy it!
CROW HAND!!! from !ROBOT HAND! on Vimeo.
All photos courtesy of Brian Lonano and used with permission. Aleck Bennett is a writer, blogger, pug warden, pop culture enthusiast, raconteur and bon vivant from the greater Atlanta area. Visit his blog at doctorsardonicus.wordpress.com.
Category: Kool Kat of the Week | Tags: Adult Swim, Archie McPhee, Atlanta Film Festival, Blake Myers, Brian Lonano, Buried Alive Film Festival, Cartoon Network, Crow Hand, Eric Wareheim, Fantasia International Film Festival, GWILLIAM, Indiegogo, Industrial Light & Magic, Jim Henson, Jurassic Park, Luke Godfrey, Nick Morgan, Pixar, Rachel De Urioste, Splatter Cinema, Star Wars, steven spielberg, SXSW, tim burton, Tim Heidecker, Too Many Cooks, Victoria Cook, William Tokarsky, Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell


text:
Q: Blending Three Images into Graphics Context Using Alpha Blend Mode kBlendModeOverlay Does kCGBlendModeOverlay not work exactly like Photoshop's Overlay blending mode? I'm trying to overlay three images into a graphic context via:
[uiimageGreen drawAtPoint:CGPointMake(x, y) blendMode:kCGBlendModeOverlay alpha:1.0];
[uiimageRed drawAtPoint:CGPointMake(x, y) blendMode:kCGBlendModeOverlay alpha:1.0];
[uiimageBlue drawAtPoint:CGPointMake(x, y) blendMode:kCGBlendModeOverlay alpha:1.0];

In the end, if I overlay just two of the three, the result is much closer to my desired output color in places where both images intersect. Adding the third image, however, causes the first-drawn image's color to be dominant in the resulting mix of colors. (e.g. in the above code, green comes out dominant, when the result should actually be white)
Do you get the same result if you try?

A: Well, I didn't have Photoshop accessible here, so I couldn't double check, but it turns out I wanted kCGBlendModeScreen ...and that works as desired. It's my flawed memory that apparently doesn't work as desired.
All is well again. :)