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Chapter 3: Approaching films from different cultures
Rossellini and Neo-realism
Chapter 4: National Cinemas in Europe
Chapter 5: Decentring the Hollywood domination debate – Japan and South Korea
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Tag Archives: Ken Loach
The Golden Dream (La jaula de oro, Mexico-Spain 2013)
(from left) Juan (Brandon López), Sara (Karen Martinez) and Chauk (Rodolfo Domínguez) in THE GOLDEN DREAM
This terrific film comes to us with a glowing recommendation from Ken Loach. Its writer-director Diego Quemada-Díez began as a camera assistant on Loach's Spanish-set Land and Freedom (1995). His work in different roles in the camera department has featured in two further Loach productions plus films by Spike Lee, Alejandro Inarittu and Fernando Mireilles among others. What he has learned from close contact with these leading directors is evident in this his first feature-length film.
'The Golden Dream' is about America, though the direct translation of the film's title is the Golden – or 'Gilded' – Cage and it may refer back to a well-known Mexican song and later film about migration to the US. The current film has been described as a 'poetic road movie', though it is for much of the time a (freight) train movie. It takes three teenagers on a journey from Guatemala into Mexico where they attract a fourth traveller a young 'Indian' in Chiapas. The group includes a confident young man who makes himself leader and a similarly confident young woman who binds her breasts and cuts her hair to pass as a boy. After a setback, one of the original trio heads home but the others continue 'jumping' freight trains that they hope will take them all the way north to the American border and eventually to Los Angeles. Inevitably they will have adventures, suffer great losses and learn things about themselves. I don't want to spoil enjoyment of the narrative so I'll simply say that not all of them get to America and the other adjective to go with 'poetic' used in the synopsis is 'severe'.
The poetry is in the images. This is a photographer's film in the sense that meaning is carried more by the images than the dialogue. It's not that I remember many specific images as such (even though many are striking), just that the story seems to flow so smoothly. The credited cinematographer is María Secco.
The three teenage leads are very good indeed (none have film experience as such, but all are 'performers' in some form of community arts) and the story is not romantic or sentimental. The travellers experience both the warmth and solidarity of the rails – and the violence and duplicity of those who prey on them as migrants. I enjoyed the musical performances in the film as well – these add to the quasi-documentary feel and the chief lesson learned from Loach is the strategy of filming the story 'in sequence' and briefing the cast only about the events of the day's shoot in advance so that the actions/re-actions feel natural rather than 'performed'.
Peccadillo Pictures distributes the film in the UK. It's certainly worth seeing on a big screen if you can find it:
This film would make a very good companion piece to Y tu mamá también (Mexico/US 2001), a rather different form of 'road movie' discussed in some detail in Chapter 3 of The Global Film Book.
Posted in Mexican Cinema
Tagged Ken Loach, migration, Realism, road movie, youth picture
The Angels' Share (UK/Fra/Bel/Italy 2012)
The four young offenders at a whisky auction in 'The Angels' Share' (l-r: William Ruane, Jasmin Riggins, Paul Brannigan and Gary Maitland)
The 'Sixteen Films' crew have triumphed again, winning the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes and chalking up a significant box office success with The Angels' Share. Sixteen Films as a company was formed by Ken Loach with producer Rebecca O'Brien and writer Paul Laverty to make Sweet Sixteen in 2002, but the partnership between Loach and Laverty goes back to Carla's Song in 1996. Rebecca O'Brien missed out on that film but she was with Loach on earlier productions going back to Hidden Agenda in 1990. The West of Scotland and Scottish culture has featured in six of the groups films in all (My Name is Joe in 1998, Ae Fond Kiss in 2004 and Tickets in 2005 alongside Carla's Song, Sweet Sixteen and the current film.) I think it's fair to say that while the earlier films were all located in a recognisable urban Scotland and dealt with aspects of contemporary urban Scottish culture, none have 'played' so openly with ideas about Scottishness (without losing track of a strong central narrative).
'The Angels' Share' refers to the small amount of liquid which is lost during the long process of maturation of whisky. With whisky as the centrepiece and four young working-class Glaswegians deposited in the Highlands, clad in kilts and carrying bottles of Irn-Bru, Loach and Laverty are clearly teasing us with thoughts of Whisky Galore and Trainspotting – as well as several films by Bill Forsyth including Local Hero and Comfort and Joy. Some reviewers seem to think that comedy is something new for Loach. They've already forgotten Looking for Eric but, more importantly, they've forgotten that dramas set in believable working-class communities often feature comic characters and comic sequences. Ricky Tomlinson, later star of The Royle Family sitcom on TV, started making us laugh in Loach's Riff-Raff (1991). In most cases, however, laughter in a Loach film co-exists with tears and pain, not least in a film like Kes (1969). And it still does in The Angels' Share. The difference is perhaps that the obvious pain is contained within the first part of the narrative so that the second part becomes closer to a conventional 'caper movie' narrative – and the film's resolution is quite different in feel to something like Kes. In fact it could almost be described as upbeat.
Outline (no spoilers)
The protagonist in The Angels' Share is Robbie a young Glaswegian with a violent past, once more in court but this time offered a way out via 300 hours of 'community payback' because he is about to become a father and the birth of his child might bring him to his senses. (Robbie is played by Paul Brannigan, a very talented non-professional who obviously has great potential as an actor.) Robbie does try to change, keeping off drugs and trying to avoid fights. He makes good friends of three other young offenders on the programme and forms a bond with his supervisor (the wonderful Jon Henshaw) who is lonely and missing his own family. It is by chance that Robbie discovers that he has a natural talent, a 'nose' for whisky, and this will lead him into a seemingly crazy scheme to make money. But to do so, he needs the support of his three willing but not necessarily accomplished fellow miscreants.
The film narrative is cleverly thought through and encapsulates several political observations that we might expect from Loach and Laverty. A 100 minute film perhaps does not have the length to allow the gradual development/transformation of a character like Robbie, who does seem to go from extremely violent youth spaced out on drugs to astute schemer and smooth operator rather quickly. On the other hand, because of its subject material, the film does have the possibility to engage with debates about Scottishness and representation as outlined above and this makes what is otherwise a seemingly 'light' comic tale into something else. In interviews, Loach and Laverty have spoken about the waste of young people's talents and the disease of unemployment in the increasingly unequal society that is modern Tory Britain (and which the SNP in Edinburgh can only ameliorate but not radically alter). Here are young Glaswegians who have probably never tasted whisky, the national drink of Scotland, and who never visit the beautiful landscapes of their own country (from which their own families may well have been 'cleared' by rich landowners a hundred and fifty years or more ago). That same whisky (and the rivers and glens used for game hunting) is now valued by collectors who can pay extraordinary sums of money for something created by craft workers who don't receive the remuneration that is their due. In this analysis, stealing the angels' share seems a just venture if the proceeds are recycled in the Scottish economy.
One of the most important debates in Scottish film culture focuses on the representation of what is termed 'tartanry' – the romantic attachment of a Highland past that is commonly found in Hollywood's celebration of Braveheart or Rob Roy. In fact, much of the mythology is a creation of romantic novelists and Victorian gentry – and it has little meaning for the Scottish working-class of the central lowlands, whose culture has been derived from mining and heavy industry. Whisky has an ambiguous position in this context – ironically, I read a magazine article on the boom in the Scottish whisky industry only a few days before seeing the film. Unfortunately a new distillery in the highlands will only create around 150 jobs – whereas the closure of factories and shipyards loses thousands. For readers outside the UK, it's worth pointing out that Irn-Bru, bottles of which play a key role in the narrative are iconic in Scotland as the brand is claimed to be one of the few local products to match the popularity of Coke and Pepsi.
The Angels' Share was released in the UK and Ireland by the Canadian mainstream distributor e-One. They have followed the usual practice on Loach's films of a limited specialised cinema release starting with 73 screens. After four weeks the film is still going strong, passing $2 million. It opens this week in France and Belgium where Loach is usually guaranteed a bigger audience than in the UK. The biggest box office winner from Sixteen Films has so far been the Palme d'Or winner, The Wind That Shakes the Barley (boosted by a massive Irish box office response) but The Angels' Share might top it.
I enjoyed the film very much but I probably need to see it again. There have been the usual silly certification problems about the way that working-class Glaswegian youths use profanities – often as words of endearment as much as hostility but fortunately the film got the '15' Certificate it needed. I should warn anyone who isn't familiar with Loach-Laverty that some of the early scenes are disturbing (and emotional) before the caper elements take over but what follows will I think attract a new audience as well as satisfying existing fans. I'm intrigued as to how an American release will deal with the profanities in the subtitles which will surely happen for that market. Here is the trailer to whet your appetite (it gives away more of the plot than I have done, so be warned):
Posted in British Cinema, Comedies
Tagged Ken Loach, Paul Laverty, Scottish Cinema, social realism
Ken Loach: Black Jack (UK/France 1979)
Jack and Tolly look for some evidence. (Image from DVD Beaver)
Black Jack is one of the least known of Ken Loach's early films, appearing as the only cinema feature between Family Life (1971) and Fatherland (1986). During that long period, when Loach should have been establishing himself as a major international filmmaker, he was confined to television and then in the early 1980s almost kept off screens of any kind (as he would be again in the late 1980s). The television years were by no means wasted as John Hill points out in Sight and Sound, October 2011 and Days of Hope (1975) was, I seem to recall, shown on cinema screens in France.
So how did Black Jack come about and why was it generally forgotten for such a long time, only recently appearing on a BFI DVD? The DVD includes a Loach commentary and he has also spoken about the film in Graham Fuller's book, Loach on Loach (Faber 1998). He explains that although the second of Kestrel Films' releases, Family Life, had been a flop in the UK, it had attracted attention in France. Tony Garnett, Loach's partner in Kestrel Films, thought that with the right property another film release could exploit this French interest. However, the UK film industry in the 1970s was in dire straits and the prospects of finding investors for a feature production were poor. Then Garnett discovered that a 'children's film' stood a chance of attracting public funds via the National Film Finance Corporation. Kestrel Films were then able to embark on an adaptation of a novel by Leon Garfield that Loach knew from his own children's reading. The story was changed in two crucial ways. First, 'Jack' was made into a Frenchman and second the location was shifted from Sussex to North and East Yorkshire. Clearly the casting of Jean Franval was supposed to help the film in France, but I haven't been able to find any evidence of French money in the production – or whether or not the film played in French cinemas. The film did appear at Cannes where it won the Critics' Prize and it is listed with various alternative titles suggesting that it went to both North America and across Europe – I suspect that a subtitled version might have worked well.
The story is set in the 18th century, 1750 to be precise. 12 year-old Bartholomew ('Tolly') finds himself unwittingly helping a giant Frenchman, 'Black Jack', escape the hangman's noose and is then forced to accompany him in fleeing from York. On the road Jack and Tolly become involved in rescuing a young girl, Belle, who is being sent to an asylum so that her unseemly behaviour will not threaten the marriage arrangements of her elder sister. Eventually, the three companions end up travelling with a fairground troupe with Belle's fate being fought over by her father, the men who run the asylum and a blackmailer, all determined to get her back.
When the film was released (by a small independent distributor, Enterprise Films) I'm afraid that, despite being a Loach fan, I stupidly dismissed it as a 'children's film'. I should have known better. Watching the film now, three points are clear. First, it looks terrific and demonstrates just how well cinematographer Chris Menges' approach fitted in with Loach and Garnett's vision. Second, it is clearly part of the overall 'project' of Kestrel Films and the broader spread of Loach's work – and it also relates to other radical attempts to rethink 'period drama' during this period of British Cinema. Third, wonderful though it is, it doesn't quite hold together – or perhaps it just has a couple of problems. But it's still absolutely worth seeing.
The main problem, as Loach admits, is that there just wasn't enough money to re-shoot scenes or to spend the necessary time on aspects of post-production. The sound mix is certainly a problem – at least on my old TV – but DVD Beaver (the bible on such matters) says it is OK. Loach tells us that the mix was done one weekend and there really wasn't enough time. In casting the film, Loach and Garnett relied on the local performers that they had found in South Yorkshire around the time of Kes and who were subsequently used on other Barry Hines scripted projects. Some critics have objected to the 'modern' working-class accents of South Yorkshire being used by characters from rural North and East Yorkshire in the 18th century, but the accents worked for me – I simply couldn't hear them well enough in the mix.
It is the hesitant speech of what I take to be mostly non-actors which coupled with Menges camerawork (using natural light, I think) that gives the film is naturalistic qualities. The interiors were shot on 35mm and the exteriors on 16mm and this works well. As with Kes, Menges brings to the image something that is simultaneously 'realist' but also 'magical' and perhaps 'romantic'. Certainly it feels different compared to the more observational, but 'immediate', style of Barry Ackroyd seen in most of Loach's later films in the 1990s and 200s. I was pleased to go back and discover a paper I'd forgotten about by Deborah Knight entitled 'Naturalism, narration and critical perspective: Ken Loach and the experimental method' (part of the collection edited by George McKnight, Agent of Challenge and Defiance: The Films of Ken Loach, Flicks Books 1997). Knight tries to rescue Loach from the critical attacks from both right and left. The attacks from the right are not surprising and shouldn't really trouble us, but Loach certainly deserves to be defended from Colin McCabe and those Screen theorists who held to the notion of the 'classical realist text' and how it is inevitably a bourgeois form. This isn't the place to discuss that debate in detail but it's interesting that Knight traces the development of naturalism back to the novels of Emile Zola with their direct exposition of social ills in the industrial regions of North East France and how they influenced British novelists like Arnold Bennett and George Meredith. She then traces the influences through to the so-called 'Angry Young Men' of 1950s writing in Britain and the New Wave films of Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson and Karel Reisz. Loach, she argues is in this tradition. What McCabe sees as a weakness – the the influence of the realist literature of the late 19th century – she sees as a strength and she argues that it is one of three distinctive features of British 'naturalist' drama. It's partly that the realist novels discussed contemporary social issues, but also that they focused on working-class and lower middle-class characters – ordinary people living through social changes. Secondly she picks out the emphasis on dialogue in British Cinema, partly influenced by the theatrical tradition, but also by the celebration of regional voices through various forms of popular entertainment. And finally she emphasise the importance of location shooting. This latter has always struck me as related to a general enthusiasm for documentary in the UK since the 1930s.
The attempt to offer a more socially-committed historical drama ties Black Jack to films like Comrades (dir. Bill Douglas 1986) and Culloden (dir. Peter Watkins, 1964). In terms of literary adaptation it follow Tony Richardson's Tom Jones (1963) and precedes Michael Winterbottom's radical take on Jude (1996). In terms of British genre cinema it has links to Witchfinder General (dir Michael Reeves, 1968) and Rob Roy (dir. Michael Caton-Jones, 1995). All of these films, set at different times from the 17th to the 19th century, represent the rural regions of Britain in interesting ways and to some extent offer the possibilities of the picaresque and action-adventure found in American genres like the Western. Black Jack stands out because, despite the title, it has a pair of twelve-year-olds at its centre. Whether this makes it a 'children's film' I'm not sure. I think that contemporary audiences of children would need some support in engaging with the story, which is very loosely structured, but the younger characters are both entertaining and affecting. The social commitment in the film resides in its drive to expose the conditions of the asylum and its central role for the 'marginalised' in society, e.g. the travelling fairground people. 'Authenticity' is always a tricky issue with historical films, especially those that suggest a form of realism. Black Jack features a pair of highly literate young apprentices (with no suggestion where they may have learned to write quite sophisticated letters, although Tolly does have an uncle who captains a ship). It's the relatively large sums of money that are quoted that struck me as odd but perhaps this is intended to make it easier for audiences without the historical knowledge to follow the plot points easily.
Overall, Black Jack is well worth exploring. It's perhaps surprising that Loach has not made other films set in the 18th or 19th centuries – periods of enormous social change and various forms of radical politics. He has made 20th century historical dramas of course, not least The Wind That Shakes the Barley, and we'll try and look at some more of these in due course.
Posted in British Cinema
Tagged historical drama, Ken Loach, naturalism, Yorkshire film
Ken Loach: Route Irish (UK/Fra/Bel/Ital/Spain 2010)
Fergus looks down on the Liverpool waterfront from his sparse modern flat.
I'm not sure why I didn't see Route Irish on its cinema release. Watching it now on DVD is not ideal but I can see that this is a complex work that feels very different but nonetheless shares elements from several titles across Loach's back catalogue. It isn't an easy film and seems to have almost been designed to alienate a casual viewer. Certainly it has fared very poorly in the UK (opening at No 27 on only 22 screens) and it's interesting that the IMdb entry for the film carries few 'external reviews' from the usual critics and a pretty thin collection of 'user reviews' and bulletin postings – mostly condemning or praising the film on the basis of its politics or its status as a 'thriller'. As usual for a Loach film, Route Irish opened on many more screens in France (126) for a Top 20 entry in Week 1 – but the screen average was still disappointing and this looks like being the least successful Loach-Laverty film for some time. Thanks to pre-sales, however, Sweet Sixteen Films is unlikely to lose its shirt.
Route Irish is about a metaphorical 'journey' taken by the lead character Fergus Molloy (Liverpool actor Mark Womack, mainly seen on British TV). As Loach points out in an interview, Fergus does not seek redemption as in a Hollywood movie. Instead he attempts to make some connection with the man he used to be. It's virtually impossible and there is no happy ending. Fergus is an ex-soldier, once in the SAS. It is 2007 and for the last few years he has been working as a security contractor in Iraq running his own team but now he is back in Liverpool, unable to leave the country after a night-club incident and the confiscation of his passport. He is distraught when he hears that his best friend Frankie (played by the Liverpool comedian John Bishop), who he persuaded to join him on the team, has been killed on 'Route Irish', the most dangerous road in Iraq between the airport and the 'Green Zone'. Frankie's funeral sees the highly sceptical Fergus begin to ask questions, not believing anything of what he hears about Frankie's death – especially from the men who run the security operation. He has one lead – a mobile phone that Frankie had left with a mutual friend for safekeeping and which carries photos and short video clips.
The phone provides a narrative device that allows the audience to 'witness' scenes from the security work in Iraq (filmed on location in Jordan). Fergus gets an Arabic and Kurdish translation of dialogue from a Kurdish refugee in Liverpool – recalling the use of refugee characters in Ladybird, Ladybird and Carla's Song. We also experience flashbacks as Fergus discusses being a soldier with Rachel, Frankie's girlfriend (who might have known Fergus first). In fact, the film begins with quite a subtle use of flashback which I didn't immediately twig – as Fergus looks out across the Mersey, leaning over the rail of the ferry he hears the last messages that Frankie left on his phone. Cut to the title and then back to two young men larking about on the same ferry. The image is slightly degraded but the production can't afford to present an image of 30 years ago, so it is only later that we get confirmation that this was indeed Fergus and Frankie as teens bunking off school and dreaming of travels overseas.
The 'action' of the film has been described as 'Bourne-like' by some critics and derided by action fans. It has also been suggested that it is a distinct change for Loach. Most of this commentary is nonsense of course. There is no attempt to compete with Hollywood on action scenes. Yes there are explosions and violent, brutal actions but similar things have happened in films throughout Loach's career. The difference for me is Fergus as a lead. Womack plays him, successfully in my view, as severely emotionally damaged, barely under control, never sure when he is lying, fooling himself or being coldly honest. Often the characters at the centre of Loach films – scripted by Paul Laverty or the earlier ones by Jim Allen – have some form of warmth, some charisma, some sense of hope. Fergus has a difficult relationship, dependent on violence, with Rachel. One of the few times he laughs is when he is watching another ex-soldier, his friend Craig, playing for a blind football team. The image of Fergus laughing as Craig, wearing an Everton shirt, blunders into another player is very affecting. (Loach, a big football supporter, made one of his best TV plays in 1968 about supporters of the Golden Vision – Alex Young, Everton's centre forward in the early 1960s.)
So, what are the politics of Route Irish that so enrage/bore some reviewers? I think that there are a couple of lines of dialogue that don't quite work – Fergus remarks that Iraqi families 'turned over' by British and American soldiers will end up supporting Al Qaeda. This doesn't seem to fit with Fergus. He is a political animal only in the way that he represents the damage done to the men who have served. His actions in the film are driven by guilt and revenge – and by this desperate attempt to re-discover something of what he and Frankie had before they became soldiers. In the process of doing this, Fergus reveals the political points that Laverty and Loach want to make about the futile British 'mission' and the damage done to Iraq and its people. In this respect, Route Irish feels like an honest film about a shameful period of British history in which British troops were asked to fight an illegal war and then, with private contractors (making huge profits), to clear up the mess. The look of the film is cold and bleak and although Liverpool has appeared in several earlier Loach plays and films, here there are few shots (the ferry apart) that are recognisable and none that romanticise the city – everything is presented by Chris Menges in a very different style to the Kestrel Films productions such as Black Jack in 1979.
The original Press Conference from Cannes in 2010:
Tagged Iraq, Ken Loach, war film
Ken's Jubilee – Into the Sixth Decade of Loachian Cinema
Susannah Lenton (script supervisor), Ken Loach (director), Barry Ackroyd (cinematographer) on the set of 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley', © Sweet Sixteen Films
Ken Loach was 75 earlier this year and he is currently being feted by the BFI with a re-release of his best-known film Kes (1969) (from Park Circus) and a première for his 1969 documentary made for Save The Children Fund and London Weekend Television. The latter has never previously been screened after the charity objected to the stance Loach and his collaborators took towards what they discovered in its children's homes. The whole BFI programme at 'BfI Southbank' runs from now until October – see the details here.
Loach, a grammar-school boy from Nuneaton began his career post Oxford University as an assistant director in live theatre before moving to the BBC as a trainee television director in 1963 (see Lez Cooke's entry on Screenonline). Since then he's directed an impressive array of 'television plays', fiction features and documentaries over nearly 50 years. In that time he's received mostly grudging praise for his output with only a handful of films singled out for acclaim – mostly those where the class politics are easier to overlook or the subject matter is closer to mainstream concerns. Perhaps what gets up the noses of so many commentators is Ken's utter refusal to compromise in any way. Which is of course why some of us admire him so much.
I don't like one or two of Loach's films as much as the others but I still admire him for making them and I don't doubt his commitment to the cause – these films (I'm thinking primarily of It's a Free World) make me think again about my own politics. There is plenty else to admire too: the lack of interest in mainstream American filmmaking but the evident pleasure in being a respected filmmaker across many parts of Europe for one and the loyalty to close collaborators for another. Loach doesn't like the idea of being an auteur and he recognises the importance of his relationships with producers and writers – no more than a handful of each associated with over 50 titles.
Loach is not a cinema stylist – someone for whom meaning is associated with extravagant camerawork or mise en scène. He does have a style of course. It involves casting an appropriate performer (not necessarily a film actor) for a specific character role defined by region, class etc., developing a naturalistic performance and filming it with an observational camera. As he said on a recent BBC Radio 4 interview, Loach believes in cinema as the 'art of the possible'. Unlike other artists the film director and his/her crew can never have complete control, they can only try to complete the scenes in the time possible and within the budget restraints. Ken Loach films always come in on budget and they don't lose money because they have been pre-sold to meet the budget target. Is Loach a great filmmaker? For me, anyone who can make emotionally engaging films about real social issues to a strict budget on a consistent basis and maintain working relationships and a personal politics in line with socialist principles in the face of film industry opposition is a great filmmaker without question. Ken is the man!
We are starting to post some of our previous work on Ken's films with Keith's comments on The Wind That Shakes the Barley as the first example.
Our earlier post on Looking for Eric includes some discussion.
You can view some of the lesser known of the Loach films on Loach's own YouTube Channel here and learn more about Sixteen Films on the company's website, including the current 'in production' title, The Angel's Share.
Posted in British Cinema, Directors, People, Politics on film
Tagged Ken Loach
Looking for Eric (UK/Fra/Bel/Sp/Italy 2009)
Posted on July 3, 2009 | 14 comments
Steve Evets as Eric the postie
The last Ken Loach film before this one (It's a Free World, 2007) was released first on television in the UK and it dealt with the new brutalism of capitalism with its exploitation of migrant labour. For me it was the least enjoyable of the Loach team's work in recent years. Looking for Eric is a return to mainstream Loach territory and a very enjoyable movie for a cinema visit. However, I guess that in the circumstances it is perhaps a little too 'comfortable' – although it has its moments in exposing current political issues. Perhaps it is the 'happy ending' and the football focus that has led some critics to see the film as a departure, a mainstream breakout film. I don't think it's either.
If you know Loach, I think that the two other films Looking for Eric most resembles are Raining Stones (1993) and My Name is Joe (1998). Raining Stones, written by the late and very great Jim Allen, is also set in Manchester with another well-meaning but hopeless working-class man this time caught in a spiral of financial doom. It is also one of the bleakest and funniest films to come out of the UK. My Name is Joe is a romance (one of Paul Laverty's early scripts for Loach) bringing together a man seemingly trapped by his demons with a sensible woman from social services and set in Glasgow. If you've seen either of these films, you'll not be surprised by what happens in Eric. Laverty has become a skilled scriptwriter and the whole thing works very well – although audiences will be puzzled by some of the relationships in Postman Eric's dysfunctional family. (I'm grateful for an IMDB poster for explaining at least one plot point.)
Looking for Eric features a Manchester postman (brilliantly played by Steve Evets) who is helped out of his crisis of self-confidence by the appearance of the ex-Manchester United footballer Eric Cantona (playing himself – who could possibly impersonate him?). This is woven into the plot quite cleverly so that we understand why 'little Eric' might imagine himself talking to his idol. Don't believe all those stories about this being a big departure for Loach. In 45 years he's used all sorts of surrealist touches – remember the on-screen football score when the PE teacher pretends to be Bobby Charlton in Kes?
Cantona was famous in the UK for both his fantastic football skills and his assured way of dealing with the media via a series of wonderfully gnomic utterances – don't leave the cinema before the end of the credits or you will miss Cantona's most famous press conference. The film isn't really about football, even if there are a few minutes of Cantona magic in video clips of his famous goals. Watching United usually gives me the same pleasure as root canal work at the dentist's, but even I would admit that Cantona was a genius on the football field. Now he's an actor and he brought the initial idea to Loach and Laverty. Cantona the alter ego offers sensible advice to Eric, both in terms of his relationship with his ex-wife and his problems with his stepsons. His most important advice is that Eric must rely on his teammates – the other posties who do care about him. What we see in the film is the 'saving' of little Eric when he takes the advice offered. The warmth of feeling and the humour in the film is there in most Loach-Laverty films, but in this case there does seem to be something that might be called a happy ending. However, along the way we do get a firm and convincing message about how solidarity and collective action is the way to solve problems.
I must mention Stephanie Bishop's performance as Eric's ex-wife, Lily. Loach's films always feature inspired casting and Kathleen Crawford, based in Glasgow, has worked as casting director on the last few Loach features. She's done a great job. All the cast are Mancunians, or at least Lancastrians, as far as I can work out. Stephanie Bishop has no previous credits but I thought she was terrific. As Loach says on the film's website, casting an actor like John Henshaw opens up so many possibilities because he can switch from serious drama to broad comedy in a flash. He matches the performances of Ricky Tomlinson in previous films. He becomes the team leader of the posties – most of whom are played by comedians from local Manchester clubs. Overall, the policy of 'local casting' means that we do believe that all of this could happen in a 'real' community.
Only one negative came from the screening – the print. You can never tell with digital prints whether the fault was in the original footage, the conversion to digital or the projection itself and the computer, but several sequences were presented in a way that made me feel like I was watching the film through a pair of old tights. Since Barry Ackroyd's cinematography is usually one of the pluses for a Loach film, this was a real disappointment. Still, it couldn't prevent my enjoyment. If you have a choice, try to see the analogue print.
As usual, this Ken Loach film opened earlier and wider in France where it will end up earning considerably more than the £1 million it has so far earned in the UK.
Posted in British Cinema, Film Reviews, Melodrama
Tagged Eric Cantona, football, Ken Loach, social realism
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This magical 68 minutes of delirious cinema is the second of Steve McQueen's five film series Small Axe. Each film tells a story about 'West Indian' characters and communities in London during the period 1968-1982. Lovers Rock has the simplest narrative of the series and is written by McQueen with the novelist Courttia Newland. A […]
Roy Stafford
Satyajit Ray, May 2nd 1921 to April 23rd 1992 January 14, 2021
This year sees the centenary of one of the really great film-makers in World Cinema. The question is not whether to celebrate this but whether we will be able to do with the films he wrote and directed in their original format, 35mm prints. Will the pandemic allow audiences to visit cinemas to enjoy these […]
keith1942
Small Axe – Mangrove (UK 2020) January 11, 2021
'Mangrove' refers to the restaurant opened by the Trinidadian Frank Crichlow in North Kensington in 1968. Crichlow had previously run El Rio, a café around the corner. The café had attracted attention by the police because of allegations of drugs being used there. Crichlow was determined that The Mangrove would become a respectable restaurant serving West In […]
Small Axe – An Introduction January 9, 2021
Small Axe represents a major development in UK film and TV, or 'filmed entertainment' as it might usefully be termed, both as a production and as a major contribution to UK film culture. The five separate film narratives created by a team led by Steve McQueen comprise over 400 minutes of stories about London's West […]
Heading South (Vers le sud, France-Canada 2005) January 7, 2021
This is the third cinema fiction feature by the French auteur Laurent Cantet. I recently wrote about his film L'atelier (The Workshop, France 2017) and this blog also carries entries on Ressources humaines (France 1999) and Entre les murs (The Class, France 2008). Heading South is both a slightly different kind of production and one […]
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Family ·burnout
Caregiver burnout: How to combat the emotional and physical toll
BYKristine Gill
May 11, 2022, 7:47 PM UTC
How do you prevent caregiver burnout?
Lack of sleep, irritability, and increased anxiety can signal oncoming burnout for caregivers—those who provide critical support to a loved one with a chronic illness or disability. According to the National Alliance for Caregiving, 9.5 million Americans fit this category as of 2020. For some, caregiving has taken such an emotional and physical toll, that new or worsening symptoms don't trigger warnings about their own wellbeing.
But there are ways to combat these symptoms and to head off the effects of severe burnout if you know what to look for.
Caregivers are tasked with a seemingly endless to-do list: providing meals, administering medication, and offering mental stimulation and companionship. With a job description that broad and relentless, exhaustion seems inevitable.
The Well Spouse Association is a New Jersey-based organization connecting caregivers through support groups. Its focus is on the 6 million Americans caring for a spouse or partner, which brings with it unique challenges.
"Anxiety and depression is common for all caregivers, but for spousal caregivers you're also losing the person you would turn to if you were experiencing anxiety and depression," says Laurel Wittman, board president of Well Spouse.
Most caregivers find Well Spouse when they've reached the end of their ropes, but the nonprofit aims to assist people before they've reached a breaking point.
Signs of caregiver burnout
Caregivers face high levels of stress and often report feelings of anxiety and exhaustion, both physical and mental. But Wittman points to a feeling of numbness as an indication of burnout, the point at which routine stress comes to a head and caregivers feel as if their efforts don't make a difference.
Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can often accompany these warning signs, Wittman says, including flashbacks and hypervigilance (a state of intense alertness that's exhausting to maintain).
"You're always waiting for that other shoe to drop," Wittman says.
Jason Resendez is the incoming president and CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving. The organization is focused on research, advocacy, and innovation in the caregiving space.
Resendez points out that caregiver burnout can present in a variety of ways, and may also include withdrawal from friends and family, loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy, feeling blue, cranky, hopeless, or helpless.
In addition, caregivers might notice changes in their appetite, weight, and sleep, and increased frequency of illness. A burned-out caregiver might drink more alcohol or use sleep medications. At its extreme, this burnout can lead to thoughts of self harm or harming the person you care for.
"Long-term stress of any kind, including caregiver stress, can lead to serious health problems, including depression and anxiety, immune issues, and higher risk for chronic diseases," Resendez says. "For example, high levels of stress, especially when combined with depression, can raise your risk for heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or arthritis."
To handle these feelings, Wittman suggests finding a support group.
"I've never had to explain anything about my situation," Wittman says of the support group she belongs to. "My friends and family all want to understand, but I still have to explain things to them that I wouldn't have to explain to other caregivers."
Wittman said the groups gave her a safe space to talk about the difficulties of caregiving in a way that didn't make her feel like she was violating her spouse and a language to use when talking about her role.
If there isn't a local support group in your area, you might find one online, says Resendez.
"Facebook has been a tremendous resource for finding and building community and sharing stories or venting," Resendez says. "You could post at 3 a.m. just about your stress and you'd get a response—not saying here's a solution, but I recognize that too and that's happened to me."
Self care for caregivers is extremely important, Resendez adds. That might look like a daily 30-minute walk outdoors, or finding time to engage in a hobby.
Resendez suggests combating feelings of numbness and helplessness with a list of daily goals and tasks that make the job more manageable.
"It's finding things you can do today that are not fixing my partner's problems but is one way to stay organized and keep moving forward," he says.
He also recommends looking for caregiver courses at local hospitals, or at a local agency on aging. Many communities have adult daycare and respite services, which Resendez says can offer caregivers a break. Wittman points out that Well Spouse holds several respite events throughout the year.
Caregivers should also learn to ask for and accept help from friends and family, Resendez says.
"Make a list of ways others can help you," he says. "Let helpers choose what they would like to do. For instance, someone might sit with the person you care for while you do an errand. Someone else might pick up groceries for you."
Going into the midterm elections, caregivers should consider supporting candidates who understand that their roles as caregivers are crucial to society, he adds. "Care is infrastructure, care is critical," he says. "Care makes everything else possible."
Finally, search out a counselor or therapist—even a clergy member—for support. Virtual appointments have made fitting in therapy more convenient for time-pressed caregivers.
"Professional support can help people reframe their thinking and it can give them a place to go, on a regular basis, where all 50 minutes is for them," Wittman says.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Notice that we never change the chemical formula of any product or reactant when trying to balance a chemical equation.
A balanced equation is essential to known the stoichiometry for the chemical reaction.
Stoichiometry - Relationship between quantities of matter that participate in chemical reactions.
How much of this, plus how much of that gives how much of something else?
The balanced chemical equation tells us that two molecules of water in the liquid state react to form two molecules of H2 in the gas state and one molecule of O2 in the gas state. The Hoffman apparatus allows us to trap the gaseous H2(g) and gaseous O2(g) in separate volumes. By examining these volumes and using Avogadro's law we can see the stoichiometry of the chemical equation.
Avogadro's Law: The volume of a gas is directly proportional to the number of molecules in the gas.
In this example there is twice the amount of H2 gas and O2 gas, as predicted by the stoichiometry of the chemical equation. These integer relationships between gas volumes were some of the earliest proof we had that matter existed in discrete packages called atoms and molecules.
That is, we use 2 moles of H2O and 571.6 kJ of energy to make 2 moles of H2 gas and 1 mole of O2 gas.
Now let's say we want to do the reverse, that is, convert H2 gas and O2 gas into water and energy.
The stoichiometry tells us that combining two moles of H2(g) with one mole of O2(g) will give 2 moles of H2O(l) plus 571.6 kJ of energy.
So, we take a balloon that is filled with only H2 gas. There will be some O2 molecules in the air outside the balloon but we will take no care in making sure that there will be stoichiometric amounts of H2 and O2 gases together when we start the reaction.
Next let's take a balloon that is filled with the correct amount of H2 and O2 gases according to the stoichiometric ratio of 2:1 from the chemical equation.
When I start the reaction in the H2 only balloon I won't get the maximum abount of H2O and energy (released in part as sound) because the stoichiometry isn't in the best ratio.
When I start the reaction in the 2:1 H2 to O2 balloon I expect to get the maximum amount of H2O and energy (released in part as sound).
Thanks to Amadeus Avogadro we know the volume of a gas is directly proportional to the number of molecules in the gas (or the number of moles). Thus to get the correct stoichiometry when working with gases we can simply adjust the volume of each gas to match the stoichiometry of the reaction (as I did with the second balloon). Generally, however, equal volumes of different compounds in the solid and liquid state do not necessarily contain the same number of molecules, atoms or moles.
When working with solids or liquids it would be nice to have a scale or device that easily measures the number of moles. In practice, however, the starting point for chemists is the mass of the reactants, not the moles. Therefore we need to convert between mass (easily measured) and moles (not so easily measured). Let's look at a few examples.
What mass of oxygen will react with 96.1 grams of propane?
Second, convert the mass to moles. Note that the molecular weight of propane is 44.1 g/mole.
Baking soda (NaHCO3) is used as an antacid. It neutralize excess HCl secreted by the stomach.
How many moles of HCl are neutralized per gram of NaHCO3?
Try this one on your own: Which neutralizes more HCl per gram, NaHCO3 or Mg(OH)2?


We offer a unique partnership, with tailor made logistic solutions, specialized to your industry needs whether it is road, air or ocean freight. We have coverage in more than 180 countries.
Through our quality control and sourcing locations we offer added security and support to our customers that manufacture or procure products in overseas markets.
Amidst complex business challenges and cut throat competition, one aspect that can turn the tide in your favor is a customized supply chain management! This is an important function that requires the services of international moving company with proven expertise. Partnerlog Group (PLG) fit the bill perfectly! We are a premium international freight logistic company specializing in full-service, client-specific solutions.
PLG caters to a wide range of industries, importers, and exporters. We are committed to ensuring our customers' needs for quality shipping, logistics and marine services are met effectively. With our professional team working round the clock in more than 180 countries and 6 continents, we deliver on what we promise. Our objective is to help our valued clients run seamless, cost-effective operations with fewer people and less time. To that end, we offer unique end-to-end international logistic solutions to meet distinct needs and expectations. Equipped with years of experience and cutting-edge infrastructure, our highly skilled team goes the extra mile to guarantee your supply chain management is hassle-free. Be it air freight, sourcing help, LTL trucking or quality control, we are a 3PL logistic company that you can count on to add value to your brand.
In conjunction with our global network of professional alliances, we at PLG also provide top-notch international relocation services for your family, your business or your products. We have a team of diligent and highly trained professionals that strive hard to deliver exceptional customer care from departure to arrival. In a bid to make your move efficient and error free, our techs work with you on a one-to-one basis, listen to your concerns, and handle all the nitty-gritty details minutely to find the best solutions for your moving needs.
With PLG in charge, you are in capable hands. We have the right infrastructure, the right equipment, the right components and the right team for a smooth long distance move. To top all, we are one of the most affordable moving companies that promise to give you value for money.


Well I haven't gotten back to the encaustics yet, but I have been slowly cleaning, sorting, rearranging and getting into playing with possibilities.
I have joined an ATC (Artist Trading Cards ) group to get me moving creatively...even though I have made ACEO's before and sold them on my etsy site...I haven't traded them.
There is something very freeing about doing art just for the sake of it, without worrying about selling it.
just am having fun playing with possibilities. These are still in process by the way.
Speaking of process art, which is what my work as an art therapist is all about, and what primes the pump creatively. Last week I attended Patricia's Creative Process open group, ( my friend and partner in the Creative Arts Studio, and fellow art therapist).
She shows a film of an artist for inspiration....and then participants do art in response or influenced by what they saw in the film. She showed a film about Betty La Duke who is one of my favorite, contemporary woman painters. This oil pastel drawing is what came through for me that day.
when I got back home.
unconscious, as well as embracing the spaciousness that has come with me no longer working everyday working at Santa Rosa J.C.
I forgot how much I love working in oil pastels and just letting what wants to come through to come through.
So far, I haven't gotten back to the mandala I created at the retreat...but I will soon. Ahh, so many directions that call me, no wonder, I am so busy even though I am not working in a traditional manner any more.
I can hear the juiciness of your creativity leaking out everywhere! What a wonderful model you are for allowing things to unfold and be born without resistance.
I can't wait to see the new level this will take you to in your creative expression. How exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


text:
Q: How to use `export` with buffer handle? Exporting the data of a table before deleting it work like a charm.
Example :
OUTPUT TO VALUE("C:\mytable.d") APPEND.
EXPORT mybd.mytable.
OUTPUT CLOSE.
DELETE mybd.mytable.

However, I've yet to make it work when using a buffer handle instead.
The following exports an integer instead of the data deleted.
DEF INPUT PARAM hlTableToDelete AS HANDLE NO-UNDO.
...
OUTPUT TO VALUE("C:\" + hiTableToDelete:NAME + ".d") APPEND.
EXPORT hlTableToDelete:HANDLE.
OUTPUT CLOSE.
hlTableToDelete:BUFFER-DELETE().

Which syntax is needed for command export to work and actually export the data of the buffer handle?

A: EXPORT only works with static buffers.  There is no EXPORT method on buffer handles.
To get equivalent functionality you will need to write some code that loops through the field list.
Something along these lines should get you started:
/* export data like EXPORT does
 *
 * makes no attempt to handle LOB data types
 *
 */

function exportData returns logical ( input bh as handle ):

  define variable bf as handle    no-undo.                                      /* handle to the field                          */
  define variable f  as integer   no-undo.                                      /* field number                                 */
  define variable i  as integer   no-undo.                                      /* array index                                  */

  do f = 1 to bh:num-fields:                                                    /* for each field...                            */

    bf = bh:buffer-field( f ).                                                  /* get a pointer to the field                   */

    if f > 1 then put stream expFile unformatted field_sep.                     /* output field separator                       */

    if bf:extent = 0 then                                                       /* is it an array?                              */
      put stream expFile unformatted
        ( if bf:data-type = "character" then                                    /* character data needs to be quoted to */
          quoter( string( bf:buffer-value ))                                    /* handle (potential) embedded delimiters       */
         else                                                                   /* and quotes within quotes!                    */
          string( bf:buffer-value )                                             /* other data types should not be quoted        */
        )
      .
     else                                                                       /* array fields need special handling           */
      do i = 1 to bf:extent:                                                    /* each extent is exported individually         */
        if i > 1 then put stream expFile unformatted field_sep.                 /* and a field separator                        */
        put stream expFile unformatted
          ( if bf:data-type = "character" then                                  /* see above...                                 */
            quoter( string( bf:buffer-value( i )))
           else
            string( bf:buffer-value( i ))
          )
          field_sep
        .
      end.

  end.

  put stream expFile skip.                                                      /* don't forget the newline! ;-)                */

  return true.

end.

A: A shorter version of Tom's routine that handles extent fields and normal fields with the same code path.
function exportBuffer returns logical ( input bh as handle ):

  define variable bf as handle    no-undo.
  define variable f  as integer   no-undo.
  define variable i  as integer   no-undo.

  do f = 1 to bh:num-fields:

    bf = bh:buffer-field( f ).

    do i = if bf:extent = 0 then 0 else 1 to bf:extent:
      put stream expFile unformatted
        (
          if bf:data-type = "character" then
            quoter( string( bf:buffer-value( i ) ) )
          else
            string( bf:buffer-value( i ) )
        )
        (
          if f = bh:num-fields and i = bf:extent then
            ""
          else
            field_sep
        )
      .
    end.

  end.

  put stream expFile skip.

  return true.

end.

https://abldojo.services.progress.com:443/#/?shareId=5d5643554b1a0f40c34b8bed
I would only use the proprietary export statement format if really, really, really, really needed, in any other case I would use the built in serialize methods (write-xml / write-json). Apart from escaping special characters correctly they also export all data in formats that the whole world understands.

A: This was helpful!
On my tests I figured out that this code does not work with the IMPORT command with DATETIME fields; this was the code I used to format it the way IMPORT expected:
CASE FieldHandle:data-type:
    WHEN "datetime" THEN
    DO:
        OutStr = STRING(FieldHandle:BUFFER-VALUE,"99-99-9999THH:MM:SS.SSS").
        IF OutStr <> ? THEN
            OutStr = SUBSTRING(OutStr,7,4) + "-" + SUBSTRING(OutStr,1,5) + SUBSTRING(OutStr,11).
        PUT STREAM snapshot UNFORMATTED OutStr.
    END.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Design is my profession but photography is my obsession. My profession keeps me constantly engaged with technology and research, so I readily admit to being an unashamed tech geek. However, my heart's passion and inspiration lies in the wonders of the natural world. This is why you will see that much of my photography porfolio is centered around nature's beauty, whether that be a fleeting sunset, a silent landscape or one of those rare, special moments of communion with wildlife, natures very breath.


D epartment of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (H. Reychler), 2Department of ENT (Ph. Rombaux), Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels.
Intraparotid facial nerve schwannoma: case report and literature review.A68-year-old female presented with a right parotid mass and partial frontal peripheral facial nerve palsy. Pre-operatively, the mass was thought to be benign. Surgical intervention consisted of parotidectomy with sacrifice of the facial nerve due to the nerve's involvement in the tumoural process and its intrapetrosal course. Immediate nerve reconstruction was performed by an interposition graft of the great auricular nerve. Pathological examination revealed a schwannoma of the facial nerve. Review of the literature on this rare parotid gland tumour is reported.


I love Annie's Deluxe Shells with Cheddar. Except I don't love the price, organic or not, 2.49 seems a lot for a box of mac & cheese.
Jeff came home with Trader Joe's mac & cheese lately, which is fine but I am so over those mini "elbow" macaroni noodles. I think they're basically useless. But alas, the price is nice at 99 cents a box.
Well every once in a while my brain kicks into gear and today it went from 1st to 5th. I dumped the useless minis and used my own beautiful shells!
It worked. I got clever with my cheddar today.


text:
Difference between revisions of "PBCore RDF Hackathon"
CaseyDavis (Talk | contribs)
SIGN UP HERE: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R4cSuYCrkQWx0IJZzBrWu_vc9_TSK_5Z-SqQY8ZwYqY/edit?usp=sharing
Please also fill out this form: http://goo.gl/forms/nAvL52W9MI
<br>Please also fill out this form: http://goo.gl/forms/nAvL52W9MI
'''>>> When, Where, What time?'''
>>> When, Where, What time?
Date: Friday & Saturday, February 7-8, 2015
Time: ~8:30am-5pm (with option of continued work throughout the conference at the same location)
Location: 4104 Northeast 73rd Avenue, Portland, Oregon, 97218
hashtag: #PBCoreRDF15
1 What will be the format of the event?
1.1 Friday, February 7
1.2 Saturday, February 8
2 Summary & Background
3 Working Groups
3.1 Intellectual Content Working Group
3.2 Intellectual Property Working Group
3.3 Instantiation Working Group
3.4 Essence Track Working Group
3.5 Documentation Working Group
4 Suggested Reading & Preparation
5 Need more info?
What will be the format of the event?
In advance of the hackathon, participants are asked to fill out this form so that we can get a sense of the experience and skills of those who plan to attend. On the first day of the event, we will begin with welcome and introductions, review the agenda, and then break into groups to work on a variety of tasks. Groups may be identified as those working on intellectual content, intellectual property, technical, etc.
The days themselves will be structured something like this. Coffee/tea will be provided. Lunch is on your own.
8:30am – Welcome, introductions
9am - 9:45am - Discuss and determine the domain and scope of the ontology
9:45am - noon - Review of existing ontologies (DC terms, MODS, EBUCore, etc.). Snacks and coffee to be served.
Noon - 1pm – Lunch on your own.
1pm - 2pm - Generate a comprehensive list of terms in the ontology. Snacks and coffee will be served.
2pm - 4:45pm - Begin developing the class hierarchy and defining properties of concepts.
4:45pm - 5pm - Review and wrap up.
8:30am - Review progress to date; introductions of new participants
8:45am - noon - Continue working on class hierarchy and properties
noon - 1pm - Lunch on your own
1pm - 3:00pm -- Define the facets of the properties (value type, allowed values, number of values/cardinality, and other features)
3:00pm - 4:30pm -- As a larger group, review progress and suggestions of smaller groups
4:30pm - 5pm -- Return to smaller groups, make suggested edits, finalize documentation
Summary & Background
The PBCore RDF Ontology Hackathon is occurring out of a growing need for PBCore users to express their metadata in RDF. A number of PBCore users contribute to and are part of the Project Hydra community, a collaborative, open source effort to build digital repository software solutions at archives institutions. Hydra is built on a framework that uses Fedora Commons as the repository for storing metadata. Many users are seeking to update their Fedora repositories to the latest version (Fedora 4), which requires that metadata be stored in RDF. This is where the need for a PBCore RDF ontology comes in.
PBCore is a metadata schema for audiovisual materials. Its original development in 2004 was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with a goal of creating a metadata standard for public broadcasters to share information about their video and audio assets within and among public media stations. Since its conception, PBCore has been adopted by a growing number of audiovisual archives and organizations that needed a way to describe their archival audiovisual collections. The schema has been reviewed multiple times and is currently in further development via the American Archive of Public Broadcasting and the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) PBCore Advisory Subcommittee.
The Schema Team is working on an updated version of PBCore (PBCore 2.1), the changes of which will consist of minor tweaks and bug fixes, and is expected to be released in March 2015. Other Teams on the Subcommittee are working on PBCore outreach, education, documentation, and a new website.
Participants should sign up for a working group. On the days of the event, these sections will be filled with suggestions and links to documentation created by the working groups.
Intellectual Content Working Group
Casey E. Davis, WGBH, @caseyedavis1
Intellectual Property Working Group
Instantiation Working Group
Essence Track Working Group
Documentation Working Group
Suggested Reading & Preparation
Sign up for a Code4Lib wiki account (if you don't already have an account)
Sign up for a WebProtege account: http://protege.stanford.edu/
Review PBCore Schema: http://pbcore.org/elements/
Read this awesome Ontology Development 101 publication: http://protege.stanford.edu/publications/ontology_development/ontology101-noy-mcguinness.html
Read about RDF on the W3C website: http://www.w3.org/RDF/
Review existing ontologies
EBUCore: http://www.ebu.ch/metadata/ontologies/ebucore/index.html
MODS: http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/modsrdf/
BIBFRAME: http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/
DC Terms: http://dublincore.org/documents/2012/06/14/dcmi-terms/?v=terms#
FOAF: http://www.foaf-project.org/
If you have questions or need more information, feel free to contact Casey Davis at casey_davis [at] wgbh [dot] org.
Retrieved from "https://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php?title=PBCore_RDF_Hackathon&oldid=42368"


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Georgia, With a Clear Rout, Shows Gap From Remainder of College Football
Yet, the player most essential to the Bulldogs' two championships was someone not even Georgia wanted.
Bennett, who grew up in speck-on-the-map Blackshear, Ga., didn't have a scholarship from a Football Bowl Subdivision school, so he headed as much as Athens in 2017 as a walk-on, intent on working his way into the starting quarterback job.
A yr later, Justin Fields, the highest quarterback prospect within the country, showed up and people fealties to the varsity he grew up rooting for didn't mean much. Bennett desired to play. So off he went to a Mississippi junior college.
"After I left, I assumed it was deuces out endlessly from U.G.A.; I didn't think I used to be coming back," Bennett, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 190 kilos, said on Saturday. "I sort of knew once I pulled the trigger that, hey, I'm not here at Georgia just to hang around and be on the team and have some footballs in 30 years. I would like to play ball. I would like to do what I believe I can do."
When Bennett returned a yr later, he did so only when Georgia offered him a scholarship on signing day to maintain him from going to Louisiana-Lafayette.
Georgia still didn't know what it had.
The offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who arrived just because the coronavirus pandemic hit, was attempting to parse through a crowded quarterbacks room, looking for reps for Jamie Newman, a transfer from Wake Forest, J.T. Daniels, a transfer from Southern California, and a pair of prized freshmen, D'Wan Mathis and Carson Beck.
Rout


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text:
New oil auction causes Brazilians to rally against offshore exploration
by Joseph Earnest October 22, 2013
Newscast Media RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazilians have rallied in the port city of Rio de Janeiro to protest against a government auction that grants state-run petroleum company Petrobras the right to develop an oil field.
Protesters marched on the headquarters of Petrobras on Monday, after the oil consortium - consisting of Petrobras, Shell, Total and two Chinese firms - won the right to explore a massive offshore oilfield that could contain 12 billion barrels of oil near Rio de Janeiro.
Peaceful demonstrators have been calling for the nationalization of Brazil's oil industry, as well as the cancellation of the auction.
The oil consortium was the only bid made at the auction consisting of 10 other participants, the government said.
Petrobras holds a 40 percent stake in the consortium, with Shell and Total each accounting for 20 percent and Chinese firms CNOOC and CNPC holding 10 percent each.
The protest comes as 90 percent of employees at Petrobras participated in a strike last week, affecting 42 oil platforms and a number of refineries.
40,000 Petrobras employees are further demanding a wage increase as well as changes to company plans to contract out some of its services to private entities.
Critics also highlighted the slowing economy and delays in exploiting offshore oil as trends that would loosen rules to favor more businesses during the next two to three years.
Despite mounting opposition, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said the deal is an economic opportunity for Brazil.
"The great wealth that was deep in our sea, and was recently discovered, starts to awake. It awakens bringing more resources, more jobs, technology, sovereignty, and, above all, more future to Brazil and to all Brazilians," Rousseff said.
Brazil has recently discovered billions of barrels of oil in offshore reserves - mostly in deep, pre-salt fields off its southeast coast - though technological hurdles pose significant challenges in reaching the stores. Add Comments>>


This weekend, we were graced with a warm and sunny day, here in Maine.
It seemed silly to sit inside on a Saturday and do work, so we opted for a day trip to somewhere neither of us had been in a long time. Maybe the glorious metropolis of Portland, or perhaps Freeport to check out all the shops? Instead, we decided to shoot North up to the picturesque home of schooners in Camden. It was only 10 o'clock by the time we were ready to go, so we packed a lunch of brats and brews for later.
We were careful to pay attention to the directions and not our music, this time, as the shortcut to Camden is a little tricky, but ends up saving about half an hour in the long run (for you Mainers, you take US HWY 1 to HWY 90 East ). Upon arrival, we felt our hearts hit the ground… G O R G E O U S! Camden is located where the mountains meet the sea, and boy, what a handshake. Their Main Street is only paralleled by Disney's Main Street, USA. The quirky shop signs stand out against the red brick buildings which are perfectly complemented by the surrounding homes in elegant colonial or federal style. We quickly found ourselves a parking spot and leapt onto the sidewalk to begin our great expedition.
Although we weren't hungry, we walked into a handful of restaurants along the way, and found a couple super cute holes-in-the-wall (more details at the end). Most of the meals were fairly-priced, but definitely marked up for the season. A thorough examination of the culinary scene allowed us to allot the rest of our time to the shops and boutiques in the area. One of our first stops, and probably our most favorite, was a leather goods boutique that carries our best-loved handbag brand: Dooney & Bourke. The owner and his son run the shop themselves, and are very polite, without being intrusive. They allowed us to go behind the counter and look through every bag, without ever trying to push a certain collection, or sale on us. We left the store delighted with their professionalism, and look forward to returning this Christmas. A few of the standouts were a Collins Toni Satchel for her and the Alto Briefcase for him.
Before continuing down Main Street, we took a detour to swing by the public library. It has to be one of the most enchanting places we've seen. A delicate mix of old and new, perched on a hill above the harbor, the library creates a picturesque view amidst an array of picnic tables. As you descend the double staircase, your downhill gaze is met by a stone amphitheater tucked into a Narnia-esque forest. Mind you… this library, yes, library… that looks like fairies carved it out of the pinetrees, is nestled just between downtown and a residential neighborhood. Being the "aw, shucks" kind of people we are, we whipped out our camera and took pictures galore. Yet, somehow, we don't have enough? It's etched in our memories, though. We meandered around the pathways to the docks where a multitude of elegant schooners were parked for the day. Walking up and gazing upon the size of these ships made the 65ft schooner in Boothbay look like a dingy.
As with any tourist hub, the tchotchke shops were in full bloom. You know what I'm talking about - the "anytown, USA" on a neon ultra-stiff t-shirt, displayed next to the Christmas ornament display and countless early-2000's postcards collecting dust from last season. We breezed past them, in search of true, unique retail. Approaching the South end, we took a turn down Bay View St. Known for their small restaurants and many private marinas, we had a hunch that there would be something good around the corner. As luck would have it, our hopes were fulfilled. Insert a white brick craft shop, a bench swing in the window, and a gust of pine drifting out the doors pulling our noses inside. Swan's Island Co. is somewhat of a local company, with production only a few miles North of Camden. The woman working there was very knowledgeable of the work that goes into their fine woven blankets, throws and pillows. Many of them are in soft hues of blue and Nantucket red, creating a New England atmosphere anywhere they're placed. We spent well over half an hour wandering about the shop and feeling all the blankets… definitely will be returning again!
The rest of the day was spent weaving into antique stores and trinket shops with no real direction. It was fun, and gave us an excuse to escape the heat and enjoy the modern convenience of air conditioning. With the afternoon coming to an end, we felt it would be a smart idea to head back and get a snack along the way to avoid the sudden influx of tourists. For all the years we have been visiting Maine, we've been missing out on Camden's slice of heaven. If you ever find yourself longing for an adventure...you know where to go.


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Petrol in diesel Hayle TR27 At the Dover service Station in 31 Turnpike road, we took care of a misfuelled Toyota Yaris and drained the diesel out of the car in less than 40 minutes.
Petrol in diesel Penzance TR20 We were asked for help at the Newtown Services garage in Newtown with one of their customers misfuelling their Vauxhall Corsa. We came as fast as we could and in less than 30 minutes, we had drained the contaminated fuel.
Petrol in diesel Portleven R13 A man going to Breage filled his Ford Ranger with petrol and it broke down a few miles away from Gables Services at Gables Fore street where he had his car filled. The driver called and we had his car back on the road after 53 minutes.
Petrol in diesel Helston TR13 A car broke down at Falmouth road when it was filled with petrol at the Tesco Helton at Clodgey lane. After 30 minutes of driving, we reached the poor guy. We worked as fast as we could and the car was fixed after 43 minutes.
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text:
Define the role of advocacy and how it can impact healthcare policy
Criteria for Format and Special Instructions
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In this course, the students will have the opportunity to identify a healthcare policy concern and community healthcare concern which can be improved with a change in policy, ordinance or the language in existing law. The outcome would be the potential for improved health for a population group. Students will present a proposed solution or change to an elected official, and provide an analysis of the project. While students are not responsible for ensuring the implementation of their identified solution to the healthcare policy concern, the student is required to meet with an elected official to present the concern and proposed resolution. The purpose of this current assignment is to identify the community-based healthcare policy concern and provide an extensive evidenced-based foundation for proposing a policy change to an elected official.
The paper (excluding the title page and reference page) should be at least 6, but no more than 10 pages. Points will be lost for not meeting these length requirements.
Title page, running head, body of paper, and reference page must follow APA guidelines as found in the 6th edition of the manual. This includes the use of headings for each section of the paper except for the introduction where no heading is used.
A minimum of 6 (six) appropriate research-based scholarly references must be used of which 2 may be empirical evidence from state and county website data… (Check with your instructor regarding .org or .gov sites). Required textbook for this course, dictionary and Chamberlain College of Nursing lesson information may NOT be used as scholarly references for this assignment.
References are current – within a 5-year time frame unless a valid rationale is provided and the instructor has approved them prior to submission of the assignment.
Ideas and information from scholarly, peer reviewed, nursing sources must be cited must be cited within the text of the paper as well as appearing in the reference list with correct APA format.
Criteria for Content
1. Overview of healthcare policy: This section introduces healthcare policy. It should contain the following elements:
• Define healthcare policy in general and its implications for the nursing profession
• Define the role of advocacy and how it can impact healthcare policy
• Explain how the role of advocacy is consistent with the responsibilities of an advance practice nurse
2. Identification of selected healthcare policy concern: This section provides foundational information regarding the student-selected healthcare policy concern. It should contain the following elements:
• Specifically identify the selected healthcare policy concern
• Description of the impacted population group
• Provide a comprehensive description of the selected healthcare concern by including:
• How frequently does it occur?
• What impact does the selected healthcare concern have upon the community and population group?
3. Description of student-identified solution to the selected healthcare concern: This section presents a comprehensive picture of the student-selected solution to the selected healthcare concern. It should contain the following elements:
• Identify, with specific detail, the solution to the student-selected healthcare concern
• Identify the following areas:
• What would be the positive outcome if the solution was implemented?
• What changes would need to occur in the community to foster implementation?
• What changes would need to occur in the population group to foster implementation?
• What measureable actions will demonstrate a positive outcome if the solution was implemented?
• What might be 2 (two) challenges to implementing the proposed solution and how can each of these challenges be avoided or resolved?
4. Identification of elected official: This section identifies the elected official that the student will present the selected healthcare concern and its solution to. It should contain the following elements:
• The name of the elected official (Orange, California)
• The position of the elected official
• Explanation of why this individual was selected
5. Conclusion: This section provides a comprehensive and concise review of the key elements of the assignment.
The case assignment for this course will be a 5-8
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My father was in the military, so I never really had a hometown. Now that I've been in Omaha for 22 years, I guess I would consider this it. I spent one summer cutting grass around the base's above-ground bomb storage bunkers. After that summer, the program heads deemed the job unsafe and a security risk, so they never offered it again.
After high school, I attended this small graphic design and advertising school. I met the owner of Turnpost Creative Group at "Meet the Pros" and negotiated a part-time schedule for while I was still in school.
Less than a year into my career, I made a mistake on a print job and we had to reprint. Because it was my mistake and we were on a tight deadline, I offered to pick it up from the printer and deliver it to the client. I got the home address of our client, went to the print shop, buckled the prints into the seat and started driving. Unfortunately, I started driving in the wrong direction. I went to South Dodge instead of North Dodge, and had to drive all the way back across town. I offered to pay for the mistake, resign, whatever they wanted me to do. Ultimately, the prints were delivered to the client, and my boss laughed it off and told me to learn from it.
I learned to slow down, be thorough and do things right the first time.
The reprint only cost $1200, but $1200 was my entire life at the time.
There were four of us – two bosses, two designers – and we wanted to get into industries we were really passionate about. All of us were cyclists and loved mountain biking, so we created little portfolio pieces and went to Chicago for a mountain biking trade show. Within an hour we realized how naïve we had been; no one was interested in buying or setting up a relationship with an ad agency or design firm. It was a stumbling block but also a lesson learned in strategy.
It just so happened it was Halloween weekend and my 21st birthday, so we turned it into a fun vacation.
After about thirteen to fourteen years at Turnpost Creative Group, I started as Senior Art Director at Swanson Russell and later was promoted to Associate Creative Director. At this point, the world of advertising got larger. I was servicing more national clients and honing management skills, and I helped launch a hospital, digital library and many products into the world of ag.
Work aside, I believe in travel and getting away, especially to the outdoors. My wife and I take our Jeep to Colorado as much as possible. Exploring backcountry, not seeing a single person for days … it's become our means of centering and resetting.
John Vogel saw the Do Space RFP before I did, and he dove in; he really saw the potential of the project. I was blown away by what he put together, and his words alone got us through the first round. Then we really took the bull by the horn, pulled a team together and started identity work. When we hung everything on the wall the weekend before the pitch, though, someone commented that it felt too similar to recent work by an area agency. We decided to scrap everything. We worked all weekend, I pulled two all-nighters, and everyone really worked their assess off. I think it was because we all really believed in the mission of the project: to provide access to technology and resources to everyone. We all rallied behind that. In the end, our enthusiasm showed, and we won the business.
You can see our work on 72nd and Dodge.
Advertising-related awards don't do much for me. I just enjoy solving problems for our clients. Focusing on ideas and executing them in a way that offers solutions for our clients are my greatest accomplishments. I also once won an award for a cooking contest in the office. That was pretty big. I think it was for chili.
Words to live by: Be good.
I've served on the advisory board at The Creative Center and in recent years, I've helped with MTP portfolio reviews.
Advertising-related awards don't do much for me. I just enjoy solving problems for our clients.


Sussex Steam Shows Ltd are pleased to announce our new venue for our 2011 Rally for Sussex Steam Engine Club at the grounds of Wiston House in West Sussex.
The Rally will be held over the weekend of Sat 2nd &Sun 3rd July 2011.
Could we come too? I'm sure the Foden & Aveling would love a weekend away!
PS - looks like a great venue!! Well done.
Mike and Neil, yes you can come! We'll hopefully be posting out entry forms soon.
Ah good, the weekend before Ardingly.
Yes it is Andy. what have you got.


text:
Q: Changing packet routing policy on Ubuntu server I'm using Ubuntu server on a router and I'm facing the following problem. If one person starts a download that is able to take all the bandwidth, it does. Which means, all other people start experiencing problems using the internet.
Is there a way (with iptables, tc or whatever) to make the router give higher priority to packets from connections with lower bandwidth? So that this high bandwidth downloads won't overtake other connections.

A: You can tc to shape your traffic. For example, you can set a limit on the allowed download/upload speed to each IP address in the network. There are several queuing options to allow different configurations. Maybe, you can try to use the SFQ (stochastic fair queuing).
For more details, you can look at the advanced Linux routing website and see man tc.


"All the vendors' solutions are roughly the same, it now comes down to price." For suppliers, hearing this from customers is usually a sign of trouble. In B2B markets, it could simply be a negotiation ploy. Often it is a smart procurement manager who uses a phrase like this to try to set the stage for negotiations. Alternatively, it could be the legitimate perception of the customer, often caused by suppliers confusing customers by focusing on collateral and messaging filled with features and very little value. In either case, for unprepared suppliers, it can result in eroding prices and margins.
In reality, rarely are all competitors' solutions the same. There are usually meaningful differences in the way suppliers' solutions impact a customer's business. This is particularly true across segments of customers with varying needs, behaviors and operating characteristics. These differences in needs, behaviors and operating characteristics often drive a wide range of total cost of ownership (TCO) or value across various solutions.
Value selling is certainly not a new idea. As early as the 1950's and 1960's, marketing academics wrote about and advocated for quantifying and communicating value. Yet, surprisingly few firms in business markets can quantify and communicate their value. A recent survey of 2800 companies showed that roughly 60% need improvement in selling value. Not surprisingly, this is up considerably from before the recent recession. The recession, along with the growing importance of procurement in the buying process, has uncovered the shortcomings that many companies have in being able to quantify and communicate their value.
Why can't companies consistently communicate value to their customers? Based on research as well as experience on both sides of the table, as a supplier and buyer, what follows are 5 key lessons for implementing value selling.
Total cost of ownership (TCO), as the term is used in purchasing, means quantifying differences in the short and long term impact of not just the direct purchase price, but also all the costs and benefits associated with acquiring and using alternative offerings. For B2B marketers and pricing professional, this should sound very similar to value or economic or financial value.
"We've tried value selling tools and the sales organization wouldn't use them." This is not an unusual complaint. There are a number of important design criteria for creating usable and helpful value selling tools. Some of these are fairly obvious and some may seem counterintuitive. However, the ability to have the field sales organization adopt and readily use value-selling tools comes down to getting these design criteria right. Tools need to be simple, easy to use, and accurate.
Having a simple value calculator or ROI tool is necessary, but not sufficient. While some customers may not challenge the assumptions and calculations, many customers will. In this case, it is important to be prepared with evidence to support assumptions and claims of value. Obviously, the level of evidence required will vary depending on things like industry practices, the size of customer expenditure, the risk involved in the purchase decision, and how much of the value created is to be captured.
Depending on the structure of your business and the industry selling practices, there may be a variety of groups involved in communicating value to customers. These groups can range from key account executives to sales representatives to field based marketing people to reimbursement managers in the healthcare industry. In practice, within any of these groups, there are probably individuals that are doing an outstanding job of communicating value today. Often, these are the same individuals that may have already created their own "homebrew" value selling tools. An important part of the buy-in and change process will be to identify and involve these individuals in the efforts.
Finally, and this may be the most important lesson, the senior leaders of the sales and marketing organization need to be the owners. While an effort to improve a company's value selling capabilities may start in other parts of the organization, in the end, the owner must be the leaders of the business. In his book on transformational change, John Kotter outlines eight key elements of a successful transformational change effort. One of these is establishing a strong guiding coalition. A strong coalition of leaders from both sales and marketing will be necessary to help make the transition from selling on features to selling on value.
As the front line in defending value and prices, the sales team can be the difference between victory and defeat. As Cervantes, the famous Spanish novelist said, "…to be prepared is half the victory." Help your sales team be prepared and give them a chance at victory. Your sales and margins will benefit.
This post is an excerpt from an article I published on value selling. For a copy of the article, please email me.