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Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN - #723
There is an ephemeral grace to Alfonso Cuarón's Y tu mamá también that makes it easy to reduce to something simple and small, but that when chased after, reveals deeper meaning and an artful construction of a movie that at times feels like it has no construction at all.
At it's most basic, Y tu mamá también is a road trip and a coming-of-age story, both fairly standard and oft predictable genres. At its most grandiose, Y tu mamá también explores erotic identity, political engagement, and the biggest, darkest theme of all: death. It does most of this with a light touch, never once pushing any of these elements so far forward that they dominate. The underlying themes of the eroticism never overtake the erotica itself. More than anything, this is a sexy movie, but like, say, Bernardo Bertollucci's The Dreamers, a sexy movie with meaning.
The Dreamers is a good comparison for another reason. That movie is a tribute to the French New Wave, and Bertollucci channels the techniques of 1960s cinema through a youthful story of sexual and political awakening. So too does Cuarón adopt the style and the spirit of those influential filmmakers to create something that is free and spontaneous and at its most virtuoso moments, a celebration of moviemaking itself. Released in 2001, and hinting very little at the director's smart sci-fi blockbusters to come (namely, Children of Men [review] and Gravity [review]) in terms of scope, Cuarón already exhibits the casual mastery of technique that would be so impressive in those later films. Working with frequent collaborator Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life [review]), he orchestrates long, unbroken scenes that rarely call attention to themselves. They aren't used to deliver action, but rather are mostly used to probe the environment, to expose the details of the characters' world by moving away from them and looking around. The one exception is the unforgettable dance sequence between actress Maribel Verdú (Pan's Labyrinth [review], Tetro [review]) and, almost literally, the camera lens. Her eyes locked dead center, she dances like someone is watching, locking in the audience, seduction through control. Though much is made of her young co-stars, this scene alone explains why the actress got top billing: she's the star.
Oh, but of those younger men. Y tu mamá también introduced the world at large to Diego Luna and Gael Garciá Bernal; these talented performers would go from Y tu mamá también to separately work with directors as renowned as Spielberg, Gondry, Korine, Jarmusch, Van Sant, and Almodovar. Here they play recent high-school graduates and best friends in Mexico, with Luna taking the role of Tenoch, the son of a rich politician, and Bernal playing Julio, the average son of a middle-class family. The boys are restless during their final summer before college, and spend most of it getting stoned and trying to get laid. It's at a wedding that they meet Luissa (Verdú), the Spanish wife of one of Tenoch's cousins. The horny pair invites her to go to the beach with them, promising to show her a beautiful cove so idyllic it's been nicknamed Heaven's Mouth. The locale is pure invention, but they haven't a hope of luring the older woman to go its shores, so that really doesn't matter.
Except, circumstances change for Luissa, and when she finds out her husband has been cheating on her, she decides to go with them after all. Their naïveté amuses her, and she takes advantage of their eagerness to please by probing them about their sexual adventures (such as they are) while they drive toward the coast in search of paradise. As they reveal more about what they do or do not know--and as she shares with them in equal measure--a sexual tension builds up, one that will eventually find a release.
This in itself would be enough for most filmmakers, but not for Cuarón. Co-written with his brother Carlos, Cuarón's script for Y tu mamá también never forgets that there is more going on all around the three travelers. There are regular references to political unrest throughout Mexico, and even glimpses off it along the roadway. The travelers pass police checkpoints and people getting arrested, but remain mostly oblivious to the lives being altered within their view, carrying on with their sex talk as if somehow separate from the changing world. This in itself mimics most existences, we all drive on more concerned with our own situation than that of our fellow man. Yet, Cuarón mixes these macro details with the micro. The vacationers also drive by various rites of passage: a car full of newlyweds, a girl having her quinceañera, and a funeral procession. No matter how isolated the transitional experience of two teenage boys and an older woman may feel, the world carries on.
Which also fits the Nouvelle Vague ethos, particularly that of Jean-Luc Godard, who in movies like Masculin Feminin and La chinoise [review] would use the experiences of young people as a springboard to explore other things, to detail the political climate of his era, and expound on his own radical ideas. You could also say similar things of Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude [review], another film about a young man having an affair with a (much) older woman set against political turmoil. Cuarón goes so far as to give Ashby's movie a shout out. Y tu mamá también opens with Tenoch having sex with his girlfriend under a Harold and Maude poster.
Not that the reported protests and massacres ever interrupt or invade the getaway; rather, they are representative of the things that these three voyagers are putting off, the seriousness they will ignore and avoid as long as they can in much the same way they--and all of us--put off death. Cuarón regularly reminds us of this unavoidable fate, as well, with the narrator breaking in to tell us about different traffic accidents that happened in spots along the highway when the car passes. This voiceover interrupts regularly to inform us of things we would not otherwise know, filling in details from the past and present and even the future about all the characters. Rather than being overcompensating narration, however, it adds a poetic quality to Y tu mamá también, evoking the style of South American literature. In terms of presentation, it also calls to mind Godard again, the way Cuarón tweaks the sound, turning the volume down on the main audio to give his off-screen speaker the dominance. (It's probably no coincidence that Luissa's cheating husband is a writer, and his encouragement of Tenoch's own literary aspirations gives us cause to wonder if maybe it's this boy eventually turning their excursion into something more.)
In the end, though, these things all dissipate. Like sea foam, as Luissa might put it. It's the connection she makes with the boys, and the things they share, that we will remember. Even if--or perhaps because of--their coming together also eventually drives them apart, we can assume it's also something they can never forget, and perhaps the finality it engenders is because it's a time of life that can never be replicated. They will always be remembering, always looking back, even as the next road opens up before them.
Included in this set alongside Y tu mamá también is a 2002 short film by co-writer Carlos Cuarón. Though far lighter in tone, You Owe Me One is a fine companion to the main feature, and perhaps should be watched as a lead-in for a full night of programming. The lark features an oversexed family going about their clandestine business on what we can assume is an average night in their home. The laughs are genuine and unforced, with Cuarón lacing together his scenarios with smart cues derived from the story itself. Double the pace, and this would be a screwball comedy, but as it is, it's genial and fun.
Labels: alfonso cuaron, bertolucci, carlos cuaron, godard, hal ashby
THE PALM BEACH STORY - #742
There is nothing sillier in love than trying to treat romance as a practical thing, yet that is exactly what the young married couple at the center of Preston Sturges' 1942 screwball rom-com The Palm Beach Story attempt to do. Or more precisely, what Gerry (Claudette Colbert, It Happened One Night [review]) attempts to do when her marriage to Tom (Joel McCrea, Foreign Correspondent [review]) hits rocky times. It's from such complications that Sturges prefers to draw his laughs. He is not concerned about the paradise most other love stories promise. On the contrary, he opens where those films usually end, a title card declaring that the newlyweds lived happily ever after...followed by a second that asks, "Or did they?"
It's not that Gerry doesn't love her husband, she does; it's that Tom is a dreamer with a $99K scheme to build airports suspended over major cities like tennis rackets, where planes would land on metal strips. Tom and Gerry (hey, wait a minute!) have faith in the plan, but no one else does, and Tom's pursuit of the dream has left them broke, to the point that their landlord is renting their apartment out from under them. The potential tenant, a near-deaf sausage tycoon (Robert Dudley), takes pity and gives Gerry the money she needs to pay the bills. His gesture also gives her an idea: leave Tom and find a millionaire willing to tie the knot. She can tell him Tom won't grant a divorce until he gets his $99 thousand, thus getting her husband everything he wants. It's a twisted O. Henry variation.
For much of The Palm Beach Story, this cockamamie plan takes a backseat to other comedic business, the best of which is Gerry's long train ride to Palm Beach. She is adopted by a group of besotted rich men on their way to hunt. Calling themselves the Ale and Quail Club, these fellows kill more bottles of booze than they do birds, and wreak havoc by shooting up the train. Sturges-regular William Demarest (a.k.a. Uncle Charlie from the 1960s television show "My Three Sons") stands out as the most vocal hunter, his emphatic declarations of "Bang-bang!" providing the 1940s equivalent of an SNL catchphrase.
It's actually when Gerry is running from these drunk gunman that she meets her would-be second husband, the mega-wealthy J.D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee, also in Sturges' darker marriage comedy, Unfaithfully Yours [review]). Hackensacker is endlessly patient and eternally pleasant, and he becomes smitten with what looks to him like a lost little girl, buying her a new wardrobe and taking her the rest of the way to her destination on his private yacht. Things get complicated once they return to dry land. Tom is waiting for them, having never signed on to Gerry's plot, and they also run into Hackensacker's hot-to-trot sister, the Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor, The Maltese Falcon [review]). Once Gerry insists Tom is her brother, things only get screwier from there.
Sturges has always had a light touch, but it's also very precise. Famous for directing his movies by acting out all the dialogue for his actors, there is not a word in The Palm Beach Story out of place, nor a scenario that falls flat. The dialogue comes fast, but it's also smooth, so the witticisms and turns of phrase ring clear. His command of language is only equaled by his command of his performers. Time and again, Sturges was able to make the most of Joel McCrea's whitebread mannerisms, making him both the everyman and a parody of the same; Vallee is likewise uptight and strange, an early depiction of the eccentric millionaire. (Between him and the alcoholic hunters, and factoring in Tom's aspirational endeavors, there is much we can hash out here about class and the American Dream, were we so inclined. Maybe another day....)
It's the ladies whom the writer/director lets cut loose, which is kind of his signature (see Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve [review], or Veronica Lake in Sullivan's Travels [review]). Mary Astor is a hoot as the five-time divorcee on the prowl for her next husband. She is a gossip and a troublemaker, and though she knows she is overbearing, the Princess has absolute faith in her own charm. "I grow on people," she tells Tom. "Like moss."
The star of the show, though, really belongs to Colbert, who is genuinely charming and winning in all the right ways. Her earnestness often turns to devilishness, but that can also give way to genuine sympathy and concern for the man she loves. You can believe in her belief she is doing the right thing, and forgive her for being so blind.
Gerry's misguided mission does, after all, gives us all the zany plot turns and clever gags that lead to Sturges' preposterous ending. The conclusion of The Palm Beach Story is amusingly self-aware, and just plain funny--and once again, a kick in the crotch to all those other fairy tales. Sturges doubles the love, gives us the second happy ending, but then wonders again, "or did they?" I guess it's up to how romantic you are whether or not you shoot back, "They did?!"
On a side note, in Criterion's great tradition of reaching out to current artists and illustrators to design their covers, The Palm Beach Story's cover and interior drawings are by famed Canadian cartoonist Maurice Vellekoop. Check out more of his work at his website.
Labels: sturges
BITTER RICE - #792
NeoRealism meets noir in Giuseppe De Santis' 1949 crime drama Bitter Rice.
The bulk of the story is set in the rice fields of Vercelli, a place nomadic workers travel to for 40 days at a time to harvest the current crop and plant the next one. It's at the train yard the day the workers are supposed to ship off where two thieves hope to mix in with the crowd and get away with stolen jewels. Except one of the pair, Walter (Vittorio Gassman, Big Deal on Madonna Street), has been made and the cops are on scene to nab him. He makes a run for it, leaving Francesca (Doris Dowling) with the loot. With the help of Silvana (Silvana Mangano, The Decameron [review]), Francesca gets a job with the rice crew--albeit an illegal one, since official contracts have all been handed out already. Silvana is experienced with the system, and is also experienced manipulating people. We are introduced to this spitfire when she is dancing in the train yard to a jazz tune playing on her portable record player. All attention turns to her. Like many a femme fatale before her, Silvana knows she is desired and takes the power that comes with it.
Only, the femme isn't all that fatale. Or nearly as experienced as she thinks. Though she quickly susses out the truth about Francesca and why she is running away, Silvana is not prepared for the consequences of getting tangled up with dangerous people. When Walter comes looking for Francesca, he sets his eyes on the new girl. Silvana immediately forgets the cautionary tale that Francesca spun for her, about how Walter got his hooks in her and she can't escape. He is a manipulator himself, and an abusive one at that. By the end of Bitter Rice, the women will have switched places. Francesca will learn the value of hard work, while Silvana will learn the downside of chasing a quick score.
There are many twists and reversals to be found as Bitter Rice progresses. The jewels change hands, Silvana tries to get Francesca kicked out of the camp, they make up and become friends--it's both melodrama and pulpy crime. A handsome soldier, Marco (Raf Vallone), proves to be equal parts conscience and romantic distraction. And there is another heist yet to be planned.
Giuseppe De Santis creates a seductive amalgam of post-War Italian cinema and contemporary Hollywood Bs. His premise is rooted in reality, even if his plot is thoroughly hardboiled. Bitter Rice opens with a radio correspondent addressing the film-going audience and laying out all the details about Italy's rice production and why the industry relies on women to do the picking (small, fast hands). The director could have easily made a film about the conditions of the migrant workers and the politics of the system, but rather than make a polemic, he uses the unique setting as his foundation. Rather than let the romantic quartet of criminals and their opposition be the sole focus, he lets the film breathe, moving away from their machinations to show us other characters. Bitter Rice has a large cast, and its narrative is brimming with life. We first see this early on, with the first of many beautiful tracking shots executed by De Santis and cinematographer Otello Martelli (a regular collaborator of Rossellini and Fellini, he shot both Paisan [review] and La dolce vita [review], among others). While seeking out the source of Francesca's music, the camera pans across the train cars, and in every window, we catch glimpses of an individual existence. Each passenger is given action and purpose.
So, too, are the ladies that form the workforce at the rice fields. Several emerge as key players and return again and again. We see a lot of them in another elaborate, uncut take, as men come to the work site to catcall, and the ladies answer back, generally giving as good as they get (though, amusingly, Francesca is noticeably annoyed, as separate as ever). Again and again, De Santis will choreograph this kind of sequence to show us the full crowd, and to create a very real backdrop for the rest of his plot to play out.
Infused in all that are little nuggets about workers' rights, fair treatment, class structure, and just general proper community behavior. Francesca initially takes to the work out of opportunity, but she bonds with the other women and comes to appreciate what it means to stick her hands in the soil and make something grow. Thus, when Walter starts to focus on the rice itself for his next crime, she can't go along. She offers the age-old justification: when they stole from people who could afford it, it was okay, but stealing from people who toiled over something and leaving them nothing to show for it is despicable. (Never mind that several tons of rice doesn't seem like the easiest thing to go fence. Walter doesn't strike me as the type of guy who thinks things through.) While Mangano gets the showier performance--and with it, a different kind of attention from the camera--Dowling makes a more subtle transformation. With her perfect posture and dark eyes, she could be misconstrued as overly arch, but it fits Francesca, who begins the picture completely on guard, but ends it in a more empathetic place, yet without surrendering any of her strength.
The final half hour of Bitter Rice is an exceptional orchestration. As the workers plan to celebrate their last day with a wedding, Walter and his new gang put their scheme into motion. De Santis jumps around, taking in all the action, building tension, and then releasing all of his players to their fate. It's quite riveting, and ultimately satisfying. Crime, as per usual, doesn't pay, and virtue is rewarded, but that reward is hard earned. The final image of the film encapsulates all these things, with ultimate respect being paid to the more sustainable values, the things that Silvana once knew but has rebuked, and that Francesca has come to anew.
This disc provided by the Criterion Collection for purposes of review.
Labels: fellini, film noir, giuseppe de santis, Neorealism, roberto rossellini
THE NEW LAND - #797
For many, The New Land will be where Jan Troell's two-part Swedish immigrant story set in 19th-century America really starts to take off. In many ways, The Emigrants [review] was merely preamble to get us here.
Released in 1972, a year after the previous entry, The New Land picks up the story of the Nilsson family almost immediately after the final scene in The Emigrants. Karl Oskar (Max von Sydow) has claimed a patch of riverside Minnesotan land as his own, and he's bringing Kristina (Liv Ullman) and the kids, along with his younger brother Robert (Eddie Axberg), to start transforming it into a home and farm. The work will be hard, but it ends up being rewarding, and the Nilssons become part of a growing community of Swedish transplants.
Of course, the more people that come from the old country, the more the problems previously left behind that start to catch up with them. Believers in the Orthodox Church, for instance, begin to introduce the same pressure to believe along accepted lines back into the community worship. The new arrivals also start to assimilate well, though not always in the best way. One man takes a Native American as his wife, while also taking on the inherent racism that white Americans felt toward the "savages." Troell doesn't layer it on too thick, but he definitely sees the irony in the land of the free that denies freedom to others via the easy adoption of Manifest Destiny.
Much of what we see the Nilssons go through is fairly standard for this kind of tale. The building of the farm goes as expected, with the occasional setback, but mostly with positive progress. What sets The New Land apart is the core relationship between Karl Oskar and Kristina, who definitely strain at times to maintain harmony as they grow old together, but who genuinely try to be there for one another. As more kids keep coming, for instance, Kristina has trouble taking her pregnancies to term, and there is much to explore in what that means for their union and also how it tests their faith. Likewise, how that faith changes over time, with the notion that God helps those who help themselves taking precedence over leaving things entirely up to His will.
The weird thing about the ongoing additions to the family being so prominent is that Troell never gives any of the children an identity, and it's never quite clear how many there are. They appear only rarely, and are mostly out of sight throughout The New Land. Troell doesn't give the kids much thought or importance, which becomes abundantly clear as we see the parents aging at much more rapid pace than their progeny. Over a decade passes in this half of the story, yet none of the kids ever seem to become teenagers who could help work the land, even as their mother and father become stooped and frail.
In terms of side characters, Troell is far more interested in Robert and the dysfunctional fraternal relationship between him and Karl Oskar. Midway through the first act, shortly after the farm is on its feet, Robert and his buddy (Pierre Lindstedt) set course for California in search of gold. The younger man returns some years later, looking worse for wear but boasting much success--something Karl Oskar has a hard time believing. Through a set of intriguing flashbacks, Troell shows us the reality of the boy's journey. These slices are immediately separated in style from the main narrative. There is a minimum of audible dialogue in Robert's story, the director instead choosing to let music and sound effects take charge of the montage. Rhythmic percussion sets the pace for quickened storytelling, with the oddness of the audio perhaps intended to represent the hearing problems Robert suffers due to a beating he took when he was a farmhand in Sweden. As we discover, the younger brother got a much harsher dose of wilderness living than Karl Oskar, yet he still can't quite prove himself to the elder sibling.
Troell also uses music to underscore some violent sequences in the film, though to a much less convincing effect. The Native Americans pushed out of Minnesota tried to reclaim their land through both legal means and, eventually, force. The preacher Danjel (Allen Edwall) and his family are attacked and killed, and Troell enlists composers Bengt Ernryd (the I am Curious... series) and Georg Oddner to drop a hallucinatory organ dirge on the scene, which creates an odd, dreamlike effect, calling back to a bad vision Kristina had about Native men invading her home earlier in The New Land. The music adds an almost horror-like element to the grisly murders, even as the performances fail the material. Let's just say the Swedish actors don't make the most of their death scenes.
This violence is followed by a somewhat plodding final act. The breaking of the peace casts a shroud of death over everything, and the Nilssons are pushed along the path to the inevitable. I don't think Troell intended to juxtapose the heinous retaliation of the American government toward natives with Kristina's ruined health, or to suggest that her illness is the result of bad karma; rather, it seems he's intending to convey what a difficult life all the immigrants had chosen, how the conditions were far from the idyll the fanciful reports of the infant country conjured in their minds, but yet perhaps worth the struggle regardless. The whole film yellows from this literary jaundice, looking as ill as it did in the seasick portions of The Emigrants.
This is maybe the downside of the chosen dramatic structure. As the goal of the characters is to merely keep living, the film can only follow them until they don't. The movie ends, but it's a fade out that covers years. Life is nothing if not anticlimactic. Even so, there is still a sense of accomplishment, and the feeling of experience shared. Which is basically what we signed up for when hitting play on The Emigrants and The New Land, so in that, Jan Troell is very successful.
This disc was provided by the Criterion Collection for purposes of review.
Labels: jan troell
THE EMIGRANTS - #796
"The greenest fields lie furthest away."
This is going to sound facetious, but it's apt: Swedish director Jan Troell's 1971/72 dual-header is essentially what we'd get if Werner Herzog were hired to direct The Lord of the Rings.
Two very long (3 hours and up!) interconnected movies, neither of which is entire unto itself, detailing a long trek through unforgiving nature and an impossible but worthy goal. No magic, no fantasy, no indulgent effects showpieces; rather, harsh living, insurmountable odds, and an indifferent universe all plotting against people banded together to get from one end of the globe to the other.
Based on a book by Vilhelm Moberg, this ambitious adaptation by Troell (Everlasting Moments [review]) follows the Nilsson clan in the mid-19th Century as they pull up stakes in Sweden and head for America in search of the myth of a better life they've read about in newspapers and pamphlets. The journey begins with The Emigrants, which is essentially the events leading up to their decision to leave, their trip across the ocean, and then their further delving deep into the American heartland, destination Minnesota, to lay new stakes in the New World. Once they get there, the film is done, and what happens next is for the concluding volume.
Max von Sydow (The Seventh Seal [review]) leads the cast as Karl Oskar, a farmer who can't catch a break. One year the snow kills his crops, the next year a heat wave. He is married to Kristina (Liv Ullmann, Autumn Sonata [review]), and together they have three children--though that number will shift as the story carries on, both regressing and progressing. Fed up with what he considers cursed soil, Karl Oskar plots with his younger brother, Robert (Eddie Axberg, My Life as a Dog [review]), a slow-witted farmhand, to make the move. Though, as Karl Oskar is warned, once he has decided on this journey, he will discover he has far more relatives than he had previously realized. Kristina's uncle Danjel (Allan Edwall, Fanny and Alexander [review]) has been leading his own Christian congregation, one separate from the dominant church, and he and his followers have been persecuted for it. He wants to go along and bring the faithful with him.
So it is that a rather healthy-sized group sets off to sail the Atlantic for a better tomorrow. The build-up comprises the first third of The Emigrants, and the sailing the second. Unsurprisingly, the passage the Nilssons can afford is not the best, and they are crammed into the hull of a ship with little food and no real ability to cope with the seas and disease. A much smaller group lands on the American shore, and the final third of the film goes along with them as they head by train and river for Minnesota, seemingly finding what they have been looking for.
Troell is content to let the story roll at its own pace, and his presentation is unadorned and naturalistic. Conditions are severe, and we feel the drudgery and the disappointment as things grow progressively more difficult and take more time. The nausea that dominates the ocean voyage practically comes through the screen. Try not to feel a little green around the gills yourself. Troell wants to re-create the time with a rigorous and exacting attention to detail, down to the small talk and diversions. The only bits that don't come across as believable are the hairstyles, which change not at all over a 10-week voyage, and some of the American accents of the people they encounter upon landing. But those are pretty insignificant nits to pick.
Unsurprisingly, The Emigrants can be a bit of a struggle to watch, but not an unrewarding one. Though the pacing is slow, Troell packs the script, which he co-wrote with Bengt Forslund, his collaborator on Here is Your Life, with plenty of personal conflict, be it the difficulties of marriage or the clash of ideas, as opposing views of religion and rational thought criss-cross within the group. (In one excellent moment of ironic piety, we discover a reformed wanton woman (Monica Zetterlund) has gained the honest to goodness moral high ground without remotely tempering her personality.) These are brought to life by a fine cast, with the expected exceptional performances by von Sydow and Ullmann. He plays Karl Oskar as a man tripped-up by his own vanity (the American will is strong in this one!) but who generally wants to do what is right; she gives Kristina a foundation of concern and compassion, tempering her motherly instincts with a practicality her husband sometimes lacks. He is the dreamer, and she is the one who often has to find each dream's shape.
So, strap in when you have a full night ahead of you, and maybe prepare to take a break when the intermission pops up midway through each feature. For as much as a commitment as these two can be, when you get to the end of The Emigrants, you'll want to know what happens next.
Onward to The New Land…
Labels: herzog, jan troell
JELLYFISH EYES - #787
For decades now, going back to at least the 1980s when I was a kid, Japanese popular culture has steadily gained influence around the world. Anime, manga, and video games have become predominant art forms, with an aesthetic that eventually could be seen in American comics, cartoons, and movies. Perhaps the only modern movement to have more of a foothold is hip-hop--which itself has never been afraid to borrow from across the Pacific. Take a look, for example, at Pharrell Williams' video for the song "It Girl." Set to an anime backdrop featuring cute cartoon girls and colorful settings, the clip was produced by renowned artist Takashi Murakami, whose "superflat" fine arts brand has always borrowed from all of the above to create energetic pop art that has permanently altered the visual landscape.
Given the buoyant nature of Murakami's creations and its source material, it's only natural that he'd experiment in different media. So it was that he moved into feature-length motion pictures in 2013, directing Jellyfish Eyes, a sci-fi children's adventure designed as a perfect vehicle for the artist's visionary imaginings.
Jellyfish Eyes is a bit like a live-action Pokemon. It tells the story of Masashi (Takuto Sueoka), who after losing his father in a tragic accident, moves to a new town with his widowed mother. The night before his first day at school, the nervous boy stumbles upon an odd looking mini-monster whom he calls Jellyfish Boy. Like Elliot luring E.T. into his home with Reese's Pieces, Jellyfish is enamored of Masashi's chee-kama, a snack stick made from cheese and fish. Though surprised at first by the rubbery pink-and-white goblin, Masashi discovers his new pal is playful and fun, and so he adopts him as a pet, carrying him everywhere in his backpack. Even to school.
It's in class that the boy discovers that all the kids in his new home have a creature like Jellyfish Boy. They also have small iPhone-like devices they can use to control them, and they have secret tournaments where their avatars fight. Unlike Masashi, they did not find their creatures by accident, but they were given to them by the mysterious scientific cabal running a nearby lab. Masashi's uncle Naoto (Takumi Saito) works there. It's through him that we discover that Jellyfish Boy is an escapee from the program that created the creatures, which are code-named F.R.I.E.N.D.s, a rather unruly acronym that stands for "life-Form Resonance Inner Energy Negagive emotion and Disaster prevention."
That's right, disaster prevention. Through means that aren't entirely clear, the children and their F.R.I.E.N.D.s can stave off or harness other-dimensional bad energy. Energy that four black-cloaked rogue scientists in Naoto's company want to take advantage of. It's because of them that Jellyfish Boy has escaped. And it's going to be up to Masashi and his little buddy to stop an even bigger monster from taking the town.
Jellyfish Eyes mashes together a variety of influences, including Godzilla [review] and countless anime series about young boys being pushed into a noble destiny by virtue of their command of something special (think, for instance, the teenage pilots operating giant mecha in Neon Genesis Evangelion). Girls get their due here, too, as Masashi's first ally is Saki (Himeka Asami), who has the largest F.R.I.E.N.D., a hairy combo of Sweetums from TheMuppets and Spike Jonze's take on the Wild Things. Murakami does fall a bit on familiar tropes, as the girl is of course the voice of reason among the bloodthirsty boys, but then, Jellyfish Eyes is lathered in genre trappings. The cloaked masterminds look like wizards out of a horror movie, while Naoto is caught in a cautionary sci-fi tale. In a clever twist, he ends up having to fight a F.R.I.E.N.D. that is an exact replica of himself. It all comes down to Jellyfish and Masashi, however. Like Pikachu before him, Jellyfish turns out to be as important and powerful as he his cute and diminutive. And Masashi will have to give up everything in order to save the world.
It's all rather fun, but not entirely unique. The arc is familiar, and Murakami's screenwriters don't add anything to the genre. It's really only Murakami's colorful designs, and the exquisite digital animation that brings them to life, that distinguishes Jellyfish Eyes from any number of similar features. (Stephen Chow's terrible CJ7 comes to mind [review]). Each F.R.I.E.N.D. is different, there are no two alike, and they are distinctively Murakami. Jellyfish Boy flies using the pink artichoke leaves on his head; he coos like a kitten when happy, snorts like a bull when triumphant. The action in the fight sequences is fast and energetic, and viewed in high-def, one can really appreciate the craft with which Murakami's team brings it all together.
That said, Jellyfish Eyes still is little more than a trifle. The same movie made with a less revered practitioner at the helm wouldn't have likely been imported around the world, much less added to the Criterion Collection. It doesn't have that certain something special, it just is what it is.
Which I suppose is enough, especially when Murakami ultimately delivers his message of peace and understanding. The children eventually learn to respect nature, not to use living things as violent toys for their amusement, and to get along with one another rather than compete. (In one tremendous set-up near the climax, one schoolboy leads his entire class in a coordinated attack, sending their swarm of F.R.I.E.N.D.s up against the big bad.) And like the aforementioned Godzilla, Jellyfish Eyes cautions against using science irresponsibly.
In all that, it may have more resonance with younger audiences; as an older fellow, it failed to charm me into that childlike state the way a more equipped filmmaker like, say, Hayao Miyazaki can. Jellyfish Eyes is basically a well-presented diversion--particularly in this package. The transfer is top-notch, and the sound design takes full advantage of the multiple speakers. Special effects fiends will also enjoy the pair of documentaries looking at the making of the movie and its invented stars.
Labels: anime, hayao miyazaki, spike jonze, takashi murakami
I KNEW HER WELL - #801
1960s New Wave cinema certainly loved the emerging ideal of a modern "it" girl and the travails she suffered on the way to adulthood, as the swinging lifestyle revealed perhaps how the cultural revolution had not necessarily turned as far as it could have (or should have). Joining the titular actress in Varda's Cleo From 5 to 7 and Goya in Godard's Masculin feminin, Stefania Sandrelli's Adriana from I Knew Her Well is another young lady whose liberation comes with consequences, whose choices don't always add up, and yet who deserves more. She charms the audience more than perhaps she charms the predatory men who promise her access to bigger and better things. So much so, she often looks directly at us, a knowing look in her eye, self-reflective, daring her observers to judge her harshly or, at least, with a greater moral authority than she already judges herself.
Released in 1965 and both directed and co-written by Antonio Pietrangeli (The Visitor [review]), I Knew Her Well is a portrayal of a segment of time, though it is itself unconcerned with time's exactness. In terms of narrative, the hours and days are immaterial. We move from episode to episode with little orientation. There are breathers here and there, such as when Adriana leaves Rome to visit her family in the country--our only real hint of her origin--but otherwise we are caught up in her beguiling endeavors. She goes from party to party, man to man, auditioning for modeling jobs and for paramours, finding a laugh in almost everything, attracted to life and the people in it as much as they are generally attracted to her. All set to a pop music soundtrack, an early use of a contemporary tunes to drive the story, the jaunty ballads acting as a kind of Greek chorus, the way they do so often in life.
Adriana's goals seem simple, and also relevant. For lack of a better description, she wants to be famous, and if she can't pull that, she wants to at least have a good time. There are steps to this. When we first meet her, she is working in a beauty parlor in a seaside town, saving money to buy some publicity. The girl manages to travel a lot, and she manages to get herself to the right parties. Pietrangeli and his director of photography, Armando Nannuzzi (Mafioso [review]), follow her, observing how she acts in the different locations. She makes eyes at a movie star, dances with a musician, stomps away from her lecherous agent, the would-be pimp that he is. The camera doesn't keep a consistent distance, but there are noticeable visual shifts. Those aforementioned close-ups come at more emotional junctures, an implied intimacy with the audience. At other times, our own lustful gaze turns to melancholy and pity, as Adriana turns away from us, lounging mournfully during bouts of loneliness or regret.
But then, one might also consider that she turns away from herself. In one striking scene, both sides of Adriana's life are encapsulated in one relationship. She is on holiday with a writer (Joachim Fuchsberger), a fussy individual who is his own unique character. Tellingly, this man won't dance or swim, and he refuses to let Adriana listen to the radio. He's no fun, but his stiffness forces introspection. He belittles and rebukes her, and then makes up with her quickly, psychologically diagnosing her as someone who is constantly seeking the companionship of others to avoid having to be herself. He ends by saying this may make her "the wisest of all," and he's not exactly wrong. If Adriana were alive today, she'd have a hell of an Instagram account.
And probably a similar list of terrible lovers. She is the target of carnivorous husbands and bosses, leering old men and groping boys, opportunistic publicists and agents, con artists and thieves. The only sweet and genuine person she encounters is the one who isn't an intellectual--the unsuccessful boxer Lunk (Mario Adorf, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum [review]), whom she meets briefly, has an honest exchange with, and then abandons. She doesn't see the effect she has on him, but we do. It's a sweet scene, but also illuminating. From it, we can extrapolate just how much better it would be for Adriana if she realized how wonderful she can be when all pretense is gone.
There is no pretense in Sandrelli's performance. The actress, who can also be seen in the Pietro Germi films in the Criterion Collection, is a natural presence on screen. She is effortlessly alluring, inviting the audience to watch, revealing her inner character through glances and gestures, particularly the ones that play against what she may be saying or doing. She was born to be a star.
Though narratively I Knew Her Well brings to mind the aforementioned Godard and Varda efforts, in terms of setting, the Italian film draws earned comparisons to its country-fellow, Fellini's La dolce vita [review], particularly for its depiction of life in Rome at the time. Though Adriana is several steps down in status from the movie stars and players of that earlier effort, we know that Marcello and Sylvia are out there somewhere on the periphery. Too bad they couldn't take Adriana under their wings and teach her how to deal with the hangover of all this excess a little bit more; then maybe I Knew Her Well wouldn't have such a shocking ending. Its tragic nature is strangely unsettling, and ends up being hard to shake, nearly blotting out the humor and the joy that marked so much more of the film.
I Knew Her Well is sumptuous and seductive. Though it seems long forgotten, this hidden gem of mid-60s cinema has been unearthed at last. It is as bright and dazzling a bauble as you're likely to find, but also provocative and daunting. It twinkles with story. Don't hesitate to seek it out.
The disc was provided by the Criterion Collection for purposes of review.
Labels: antonio pietrangeli, fellini, godard, pietro germi, varda


Immerse yourself in a sphere of sounds, making meditation an experience rather than a learning process.
Befriend your mind and gain a new sense of perspective, guided by Leo's voice.
From 1-minute short meditations to 45-minute sound baths, you decide!
Conducted breath work to keep stress levels in check.
A new type of mindfulness to inspire & evoke the calm in us.
One a day for 8 weeks with simple but original mindful meditations created by Leo.
See meditation through different lenses with a new theme each week.
Sit back and let THIRD EAR take you and your mind on a journey. You are the passenger.
How can THIRD EAR serve you?
musical note that it naturally vibrates at.
Hi, I'm Leo! I was born in Switzerland and am a sound meditation teacher based in London. My early years were spent between Switzerland and Asia where I was exposed to cultures that subtly shaped my path. This along with my studies in, and love for, music developed into sound meditation ... and THIRD EAR!
Leo teaches in some of London's leading yoga studios and gives workshops internationally. He has been featured widely in the press, appearing in VICE, Huffington Post, Daily Mail and Evening Standard to name but a few.


The refreshing and exciting flavor of these drinks will get charge you up. Some of these drinks are even rich in nutrients, what could be better? So if you want to order Chaat Masala to give your drinks the robust touch.
2 of the most famous Biryani's every Pakistani loves.
Whether it's a family dinner, a wedding or any occasion none of it is complete without biryani. It is an absolutely loved dish by South-Asians specially Pakistanis and Indians. They could have biryani for lunch every day and simply not get bored of it. How many other dishes can we say this about?Of course not many.
Snacks are a part of every region and culture in the world but the South-Asians have a very specific taste for snacks. South-Asians cook these snacks at home every day out of desi ingredients, which are tricky but loved by every South-Asian. Their cuisine has a very unique taste with a combination of variety of spices and sweets. Majority of these snacks are relished in common among India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. So if you're a South-Asian here are some foods that you would love for a snack.
Jaggery Powder isn't a rare ingredient to use in desserts around the world but the way it's used in Pakistani desserts makes it very unique because it's not just used in replacement of sugar but it is one of the main ingredient that contributes to the whole flavor of the dessert. These desserts are served on different occasions and festivals in Pakistani household also as after dinner desserts. So out of many of these desserts we have chosen 5 to share here.
Pickles are in very common use in South-Asian countries. They are known as achaar in this region and are served in combination with other food as a taste enhancer and are eaten in all parts of the day.
Every time guests turn in uninformed we all go through the struggle of deciding what to serve them quickly.
Sweets and desserts are loved all around the world but in Pakistan the love for desserts is exceptional. Read to find out which are the 10 most loved desserts in Pakistan.
The best chutney combinations to blow you away!
Good food embodies the spirit of opening your heart and home to your family, friends and neighbors. And what better way to do this than having delicious chutneys to pair with your favourite fried items.


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25 Charterhouse Square, London
GLOBAL MARKETING AGENCY
25 Charterhouse Square, near Clerkenwell, is the new London base for global marketing agency Anomaly. The 18,700 sq ft space on the 5th and 6th floors, with 360 degree views over the London skyline, was designed by architectural practice Barr Gazetas, who worked closely with office fit-out contractor Morgan Lovell on the project, with much of the furniture sourced from Andy Thornton Ltd.
INFORMAL & INSPIRING
The design brief from the Anomaly leadership team was simply that they wanted it to be informal and inspiring, to celebrate casual working and be anything but normal or bland. The space contains 75% informal working areas, which allows all 140 employees to choose the way they work on a daily basis, dependent on mood, task and interaction with others.
VERSATILE AREAS
The project consists of an arrivals lounge and fully operational bar, a client-facing pitch room, open-plan office space, lounge areas known as "edges", meeting rooms of varying sizes, edit and photography suites, a design studio, an auditorium, a library and coffee bars.
LIVELY & UNCONVENTIONAL
The furniture is an eclectic mix of new, repurposed and vintage pieces which blend together to create a lively and unconventional environment. Large Draper's units and Hardware store shelf units from Andy Thornton are filled with books and décor pieces, to create a homely feel in the lounge areas.
HARDWARE STORE SHELF UNIT
LARGE DRAPER'S SHELF UNIT
LARGE REFECTORY TABLES
Two of the huge Andy Thornton 2.5 m long Brooklyn refectory tables and four benches, in industrial-style cast iron with reclaimed pine tops, provide shared workspace for group activities.
BROOKLYN REFECTORY TABLE
BROOKLYN REFECTORY BENCH
INTIMATE MEETING ROOMS
In the smaller meeting rooms, Andy Thornton Soho side chairs are matched with black Inox table bases for more intimate collaboration.
SOHO SIDE CHAIR
INOX TABLE BASE, BLACK
In the airport-style lounge areas, Andy Thornton supplied a mix of sofas, lounge chairs and coffee tables with panoramic views of the city below.
MACHINIST BAR STOOLS
Andy Thornton Machinist's bar stools in grey-finish steel with patina teak tops have been used along the length of the tiled workstation and in the bar area.
MACHINIST'S BAR STOOL
DIVERSE CULTURE
It's hardly your everyday city centre office fit-out. The office environment plays such an important role in creating and promoting a certain culture, which is why this space had to meet Anomaly's objective of attracting and retaining employees who challenge the norm.
The space supports the company's ongoing growth in Europe, while cementing its culture and providing a home for Anomaly's diverse, entrepreneurial and creative thinkers from all over the world.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Metagenics is the Practitioner Only division of Health World Limited – the leader in research and development of Natural Medicine supplements for Natural Healthcare Practitioners in Australia and New Zealand. Health World Limited and Metagenics have invested in cutting edge manufacturing technology and equipment in order to expand production of the highest quality Natural Medicines. This level of commitment ensures that Health World Limited produces products that you and your patient can trust for quality and effectiveness.


After you have finished upgrading the vSAN hosts, you can perform the disk format upgrade.
If you enable encryption or deduplication and compression on an existing vSAN cluster, the on-disk format is automatically upgraded to the latest version. This procedure is not required. You can avoid reformatting the disk groups twice. See Edit vSAN Settings.
Verify that you are using the latest version of ESXi hosts.
Verify that the disks are in a healthy state. Navigate to the Disk Management page in the vSphere Web Client to verify the object status.
Verify that you have enough free space to perform the disk format upgrade. Run the RVC command, vsan.whatif_host_failures, to determine whether you have enough capacity to complete the upgrade or perform a component rebuild, in case you encounter any failure during the upgrade.
Verify that your hosts are not in maintenance mode. When upgrading the disk format, do not place the hosts in maintenance mode. When any member host of a vSAN cluster enters maintenance mode, the member host no longer contributes capacity to the cluster. The cluster capacity is reduced and the cluster upgrade might fail.
Verify that there are no component rebuilding tasks currently in progress in the vSAN cluster. See Monitor the Resynchronization Tasks in the vSAN Cluster.
(Optional) Under On-disk Format Version, click Pre-check Upgrade.
The upgrade pre-check analyzes the cluster to uncover any issues that might prevent a successful upgrade. Some of the items checked are host status, disk status, network status, and object status. Upgrade issues are displayed in the Disk pre-check status text box.
Under On-disk Format Version, click Upgrade.
Click Yes on the Upgrade dialog box to perform the upgrade of the on-disk format.
vSAN performs a rolling reboot of each disk group in the cluster. The On-disk Format Version column displays the disk format version of storage devices in the cluster. The Disks with outdated version column indicates the number of devices using the new format. When the upgrade is successful, the Disks with outdated version is 0 (zero).
If a failure occurs during the upgrade, you can check the Resyncing Components page in the vSphere Web Client. Wait for all resynchronizations to complete, and run the upgrade again. You also can check the cluster health using the health service. After you have resolved any issues raised by the health checks, you can run the upgrade again.


Booking.com: Hotels in Anento. Book your hotel now!
Located in Anento, Hostal los Esquiladores provides a terrace. The property has a bar, as well as a restaurant serving Spanish cuisine. A tour desk can provide information on the area.
Located in Daroca, Daroca Alojamientos has accommodations with a tennis court, free WiFi, a 24-hour front desk, and a tour desk. The property was built in 1940 and has accommodations with a patio.
Located in Daroca in the Aragon region, Casilla del Pinar has a terrace and mountain views. The vacation home features garden views and is 22 miles from Calatayud.
Featuring accommodations with a terrace, Casa Rural L´Amparo Cat Sup is located in Navarrete del Río. Guests benefit from a patio and a grill.
27 properties found in Anento.


Bia Fire Hall is a Alarm and Safety Equipment Stores business in Lower Brule, SD.
Bia Fire Hall, a stable growing company under Alarm and Safety Equipment Stores, is being run by Alan Lien, Manager Full Name Report. Since , their sales have been favorable and consistent at Unknown. Company location coordinates are: 44.06065,-99.69555.
It can be reached by dialing (605) 473-0405 Full Phone Report, and you could get in touch with their sales team in 302 Gall St, Lower Brule, South Dakota SD 57548. Visit their website at: bia.gov to know more about the company's history, products and services, as well as frequently asked questions and privacy policies.
You can learn more by checking their classification codes: SIC – 5999 and NAIC – 9221600. Call the hotline stated above for faster transaction and queries. Bia Fire Hall would like to hear from you.


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Evansville crime spree: store burglary, stolen truck, and a package for Taylor Swift
Matthew Fetscher, 35, fled his parents' home after his parents called police, reporting that their son had stopped taking his medication.
Evansville crime spree: store burglary, stolen truck, and a package for Taylor Swift Matthew Fetscher, 35, fled his parents' home after his parents called police, reporting that their son had stopped taking his medication. Check out this story on courierpress.com: https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/2019/01/01/bizarre-new-years-eve-crime-spree-evansville/2458786002/
Michael Doyle, Evansville Courier & Press Published 2:34 p.m. CT Jan. 1, 2019
Matthew Fetscher(Photo: Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office)
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- An Evansville man was arrested on New Year's Eve after a bizarre early-morning crime spree that included two burglaries, theft of a vehicle and a package addressed to pop star Taylor Swift.
Matthew Fetscher, 35, fled his parents' home around 6:30 a.m. after his parents called police, reporting that their son had stopped taking his medication and that they feared for his safety.
While officers spoke to the family, an alarm was tripped at Bucks and Jakes Outfitters on Pearl Drive. Surveillance video at the store matched Fetscher's description.
At about 7:15, Fetscher returned to his parents' home briefly, then stole a white Ford pickup belonging to Evansville Water and Sewer Department and fled again before officers could arrive.
At 7:55, a home invasion was reported at the 2200 block of West Columbia Street, where again, a man matching Fetscher's description stole a handgun from the home and left in a white Ford pickup.
At 8:20, a Vanderburgh County sheriff's deputy found the Ford abandoned in a ditch near Broadway Avenue and Alta Vista Road. Inside the truck was the stolen merchandise from the sporting goods store.
At the same time, officers responded to a call at a nearby address of a man with a pistol on the homeowner's front porch. The homeowner recognized the man as Fetscher and said he left several packages on the doorstep. One of the packages was addressed to Fetscher himself; the other was addressed to Taylor Swift.
Fetscher fled the house on foot and was apprehended nearby roughly 10 minutes later.
Just over a month ago, Fetscher was arrested in Daviess County driving a stolen car. Police made the stop after the vehicle's OnStar system shut the vehicle down on I-69 near Elnora.
Fetscher remains in Vanderburgh County Jail on no bond for charges of theft, burglary and criminal mischief.
More: Evansville teen works to help elderly neighbors | Hidden Heroes
More: Famous Franco brings new Italian restaurant to Evansville's East Side
More: EPD: Man shoots himself at Eastland Mall while in bathroom
Read or Share this story: https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/2019/01/01/bizarre-new-years-eve-crime-spree-evansville/2458786002/
EPD: Man tried to bribe police to avoid jail
Old Burger King razed, Chick-Fil-A coming
EPD: Man drove at more than 5 1/2 times alcohol limit
On his 90th birthday, it's all in a day's work for barber
Burton elected president of City Council, 6-3
EPD: Drunk man caused crash on Lloyd Expressway


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Music as an expression of protest against class and racial divisions- part 4 of 4
Gordan Stosevic Slovenia//1:21am, Dec 14th '21
This led to him being indicted in 1957 for contempt of Congress, as was the case with many other prominent figures including the famous screenwriter Dalton Trump and the artist Will Gere Sieger who were sentenced to prison, which was later be overturned, but he was banned from traveling because of being blacklisted. Many argue that Sieger remained a staunch communist and critic of capitalism for the rest of his life, committed to his ideals, never renouncing his strong leftist views. However, Sieger later in the years, responding to criticism that he was a Stalinist apologist, increasingly sought to distance himself from his communist past, sharply criticizing the Soviet regime under Brezhnev, while in the 1980s holding concerts in support of Polish anti-communist Solidarity union led by Lech Walesa. He experienced complete self-devaluation in 2009 when he had the "honor" to sing at the inauguration of military interventionist Barack Obama. Sieger is remembered for putting the song We Shall Overcome back on the repertoire, which was also performed by Guy Caravan in 1959, and later at Woodstock '69 by Joan Baez. The song is considered the unofficial anthem of the American civil rights movement in the 1960s, based on a gospel refrain by a black Methodist priest and composer, Charles Albert Tyndley. Sieger is most associated with the legendary Woody Guthrie, the American folk singer, musician and songwriter, one of the most influential figures in the development of American music in the 20th century. A man whose communist worldview will be an inspiration to many in the United States to openly oppose McCarthy's madness and witch-hunting. His This Land is Your Land will become a kind of alternative anthem of the United States, a song that is his major work.
The already mentioned Joan Baez also has an important place in the annals of politically engaged art. Baez is synonymous with rebellion, protest and reaction in society. A woman who sticks to the maxim, that in engaged art silence is not gold. It is proof that artists are most dangerous when they are loud. Born into a Quaker family that had a major impact on her worldview. Her engagement succeeded in mobilizing large masses of young people who leaned towards counterculture in the 1960s, when some of the most radical changes in Western capitalist society took place. In 1963 she performed the song We Shall Overcome at the Washington March, led by Dr. Martin Luther King. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she was active in the anti-war campaign, visiting North Vietnam in late 1972. Unfortunately, as in the case of Pete Sieger, Joan Baez publicly supported the candidacy of military interventionist Barack Obama. Interestingly, many of the politically engaged artists, musicians, and songwriters in their lifetime distanced themselves from any connection to the Communist Party of the United States and its activities. Even those who in any way were in contact with its members in the early years, such as the example of prominent country singer and artist Tex Ritter, the founder of the Country Music Association, who in an interview with the New York Times in 1970 in about the beginnings of his career and contacts with progressive leftists in New York will state:
"In those years in New York I got to know the communists quite well. I knew them. They listened to my songs. I used to call myself a folk singer. In those few years it came to a point where it was very difficult to say, where folk music ended and where communism began. "That's when I stopped calling myself a folk singer."
However, unlike the repentant communist Sieger and the liberal Baez, another artist, and above all a pedagogue, teacher and political activist, became a martyr of the military junta regime in Chile, led by General Augusto Pinochet, who overthrew the first socialist President-elect Salvador Allende. The great human rights activist and one of the symbols of the revolutions in Latin America, Victor Jara. The man with a big heart and a clear mind, who spoke publicly on behalf of Salvador Allende about Chile as a country of socialist values and prosperity of the Chilean people. But the CIA and its spy agents in the form of Chicago Boys-type economic emissaries did not think so. On September 11, 1973, with the help of the far-right opposition and the army, they staged a coup that brought Army General Pinochet to power, while in a violent coup they assassinated the legitimately elected President Allende, who had taken office three years earlier. The coup in Chile, part of Operation Condor in South America, killed hundreds of associates and supporters of President Allende, including Victor Jara, as well as the world-famous poet Pablo Neruda, who was believed to have been killed a few days later in Argentina where he is on the run. In the years to come, the regime of Augusto Pinochet liquidated tens of thousands more who opposed his repression, paying the price of freedom with blood. Victor Jara as a victim of the altar of freedom left his young life which he previously dedicated to the young Chilean generations who today after almost half a century as people in old age speak only in superlatives about the great humanist and freedom fighter Victor Jara. Victor's opus with anti-colonial charge and revolutionary enthusiasm, among others, being the great revolutionary names such as Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Camilo Torres. Songs that still boil the blood of many subjugated peoples from the Panama Canal to the Land of Fire.
Another musician, no less valuable than Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, is certainly the little-known Sixto Rodriguez, an American folk singer and songwriter born in 1942 in Detroit, Michigan. This remarkable musician, whose career took a turn for the worse after his two albums were released in the early 1970s, was marginalized by the American radio stations, not so much because of his rejection of his music, but because of his sharp criticism of American capitalist society both as a musician and as a songwriter. Until, almost three decades later, he was "accidentally" rediscovered in the Republic of South Africa by two of his admirers who would later initiate his search and find in the United States. A few years after his discovery, he was re-promoted in the media through the documentary Searching for Sugar Man, an Oscar winner in 2013, as well as the prestigious BAFTA of the same year, plus a special award at the prestigious Sundance Festival a year earlier, and many other awards and nominations. However, what is most significant in the work of Sixto Rodriguez is that his music was generally accepted in the time of Apartheid in South Africa, where in the midst of total media darkness and horrific persecution by the regime, copies of his albums Cold Fact and Coming from Reality appeared, in the lyrics of which many recognised his sharp critical narrative of the social character of American society. Many of his songs became anthems against the apartheid regime in South Africa. Unaware of the fact that he is popular in South Africa, where Rodriguez is considered more popular than Bob Dylan, disappointed by the response of the American public to his work, he withdrew from the music scene and lived a completely normal life, sometimes accompanied by hard physical work for bare survival. Rodriguez was fully aware of all aspects of the poorest in society, so he did not give up his political engagement. On the contrary, he continues to point out all the anomalies his community encounters and is actively working in the field of working class education in Detroit, which is increasingly falling into a stalemate that culminates in the collapse of the automotive industry and the dismissal of thousands of workers. He even participates in a political campaign to enter the city government, from where he could act more effectively. Among his greatest admirers and followers of his work is the name of Steve Biko, a South African anti-apartheid activist and African socialist, leader of the Black Consciousness Movement - BCM. A movement through which Biko seeks to organize the majority black population in the fight against the regime of white immigrants. After the riots in Soweto, he was arrested and beaten to death, becoming the most famous martyr of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. In his honor, in 1980, Peter Gabriel dedicated the song Biko to him.
Also worth mentioning is the engagement of the Beatles member John Lennon, who on many occasions publicly criticized the policy of interventionism in the world, following the example of the Vietnam War, but also the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Some of his songs like Working Class Hero; War Is Over; Power to the People; Imagine and Give Peace a Chance left an indelible mark on the history of music, but also on politically engaged art. When it comes to social and political engagement in music, one can not fail to mention the many musicians around the world, devastated by military conflicts, countries in which, after the rejection of colonialism, internal ethnic conflicts continued to threaten peace, welfare and prosperity of their citizens. In the area from Kingston to Mogadishu and from El Ayun to Soweto, we witness hundreds of names who with their creative work in music in the form of politically engaged art, managed to be corrective but also initiators of social change, by rejecting colonialism, condemning imperialism and a critique of the capitalist world order. Almost everyone, without exception, called for an organized struggle against the ruling structure of the bourgeoisie and its political lackeys. In the end I would mention only a few names, starting with the inimitable Bob Marley, a man whose whole life was reduced to civil protest, as well as representatives of the anti-colonial music wave such as Fela Kuti, Ali Farka Toure, Habib Koite, Rocia Traore, Amadou and Mariam, and the band Tinariven, whose leader Ibrahim Al Habib is a notion of an anti-colonial fighter. Most of them belong to the free peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Mauri, the Sahara and the Tuareg, who never allowed themselves to be subjected to the yoke of foreign invaders and foreign interests. No less important to mention are the lesser-known Aziza Brahim, Mariam Hassan, Naim Alal and Tiris, who bravely support the revolutionary struggle of the Polisario movement for the liberation of Western Sahara by the Kingdom of Morocco, which has occupied this territory, as well as the free state Azavad. The struggle continues today, as evidenced by countless music performers, fierce critics of the existing capitalist system. The members of the group Yorum Grup are the biggest witnesses to that, even giving their lives for freedom, going on hunger strike to death. In 2020, bassist Ibrahim Gekcek and vocalist Helin Bölek passed away. In February 2021, the famous Spanish rapper Pablo Hassel was arrested again for "insulting" the royal crown and glorifying terrorism, acts for which a Spanish court sentenced him to 9 months in prison.
However, the struggle continues until the final victory and the attainment of freedom. Because, as the great German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel would say: "The one who merely flees is not yet free".
Sanchita Kundu India//5:54am, Dec 22nd '22
Legacy of Revolutionary Thomas Sankara
"Our revolution is not a public-speaking tournament. Our revolution is not a battle of fine phrases. Our revolution is not simply for spouting slogans that are no more than signals used by manipulators....
Steven Sahiounie USA//8:19pm, Nov 20th '20
The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum: Will it save Libya or destroy the country?
The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), organized by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and led by Stephanie Williams, former US Charge d'Affaires in Libya, opened in Tunis on November 9. At....
Japhy Barrea. Challenge//8:38am, Jul 14th '21
Cuban anti-government protests: legitimate or deceiving?
Anti-government demonstrators hit the streets of Havana over the weekend protesting Cuba's diminishing resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, among other shortages. The island nation is seeing a sharp....
Gabriel Martinez//1:50am, Sep 23rd '22
Ideological work in the new era of socialism in China - Part 3
… click here to read the previous partIdeological work and class struggleThe struggle between bourgeois ideas, with all their effects, and the ideas of the proletariat, represented by Marxism, is a long-lasting....
Ian Beddowes Zimbabwe//12:52am, Sep 19th '21
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY
In Part 1, we examined briefly the historical conditions in which the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) was established in 1921, by militant white workers following the First World War and the Great....


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Tag Archives: Elizabeth Greengass
Beowulf: An Epic Panto
December 1, 2021 ReviewsBeowulf: An Epic Panto, Catherine Chibnall, Charles Court Opera, Craig Fuller, David Eaton, David Hulston, Dominica Plummer, Elizabeth Greengass, Emily Cairns, Jennie Jacobs, Jo Palmer, John Savournin, Julia Mariko Smith, King's Head Theatre, Kirsty McLean, Matthew Kellett, Philip Lee, Stewart J Charlesworththespyinthestalls
Reviewed – 30th November 2021
"a refreshing change from all the Dick Whittingtons and Christmas Carols on offer this holiday season"
The latest seasonal offering from the Charles Court Opera is Beowulf, billed as an "epic panto." It has just opened at the King's Head Theatre in Islington, and is sure to please fans of the Company's work. For those new to the Charles Court Opera—come ready to watch a show that is as subversive as it is entertaining. The cast of six take on Beowulf with just the right amount of energy and enthusiasm and, true to the traditions of panto, provide plenty of moments for the audience to join in the fun.
The first of several surprises awaiting the audience is watching what writer and director John Savournin has done to the original story. This Beowulf takes a radical departure from the Anglo Saxon text to bring us a sensitive, compassionate hero and a kick ass fashionista princess who doesn't need any help protecting her kingdom, thank you very much. The next surprise is that it's still in verse a lot of the time (if you can call doggerel poetry). The text goes into battle at every opportunity armed with outrageous puns and double entendre. The Charles Court Opera's Beowulf is a singing, dancing, updated panto that is an alluring, full throttle parody of every monster story you've ever loved to hate. It also has a happy ending. Last, but certainly not least, this show is full of themes that will resonate with LGBTQIA audiences everywhere.
That's not to say that the production is totally flawless. Beowulf does get off to a slow start as the performers, heavily cloaked, file on stage. The weightiness continues as the cast intones the first lines of the poem—in Anglo-Saxon. Then we meet the main characters, and suddenly everything becomes lighter—and a lot more fun. As Beowulf reverts to modern English, we discover that Beowulf has only arrived at Princess Hrothmund's hall to play hero because of family pressure. Sound familiar? In reality, our hero is a chill guy who's more into making friends than monster slaying. More importantly, his best friend Wiglaff is in love with him, and is trying to find the right moment to declare himself. Writer Savournin adds a greatly misunderstood monster in Grendel (who is also looking for friends—and his missing father). This Grendel just needs the right hero to come along to take him camping. Yes, this Beowulf is delightfully camp, and the cast make the most of it. Matthew Kellett (Beowulf) makes a sympathetic anti-hero, but the stand out performances come from Emily Cairns as Wiglaff, and Jennie Jacobs as Grendel's Mother. Philip Lee as Grendel and Julia Mariko Smith as Princess Hrothmund strut their stuff in flamboyant costumes, (designed by Stewart J Charlesworth) despite the formidable competition from Grendel's Mamma. The quality of the singing is so good that it does make one wonder from time to time if the production has escaped from a major opera house only to re-emerge in a small, dark pub theatre. And it is a pub theatre sized show, so there are also moments when one feels Savournin needs to rein in his enthu-siastic company (and his imagination) before the whole thing goes off the rails—but what the heck, it's panto. Of course he can throw a dragon into the mix if he wants to.
The Charles Court Opera's Beowulf is a refreshing change from all the Dick Whittingtons and Christmas Carols on offer this holiday season, so don't hesitate to take the family (or the office party) to the King's Head for a show that hits all the right notes. You'll never see Beowulf quite the same way again.
Reviewed by Dominica Plummer
Photography by Craig Fuller
King's Head Theatre until 8th January 2022
Tender Napalm | ★★★★★ | October 2021


Half-Assed Ecology: 20kWh week inside, and fish have been moved!
The fish are outside! How great is that! I put one in on Friday to confirm it wasn't toxic water, and it survived till Monday, so they all got moved last night!
Not great for them; they are pretty freaked out. I'm trying to quickly source some structure to place in their tank so that they can feel safe and relax a bit. But they're out there! Huzzah!
The tank they were in was unable to keep up with the bioload, and for the last 2 weeks was cloudy from high nitrites and nitrates (and likely, as well, ammonia). But they soldiered on through it! So now it's about sourcing a cheap source for pellets, and ensuring the filter is getting enough water through it, which doesn't look like the case right now.
The indoor part of the setup, with 1 heater and 3 filters, 1x4' T5HO fluorescent light, and a supplemental light for the plants growing in the filter, takes 20kWh of electricity per week.
In Manitoba that's about 7 cents/kWh, so, quick math says about 30$ so far.
We've been enduring a heat wave that has kept temperatures quite high here, so the heaters in the IBC have not been going hard to maintain temperatures. I'll get a monitor out there ASAP.
Interesting note from the transfer process: fish don't like to be netted, brought into the air, and then put into a bucket that is just barely bigger than them.
Also, some fish can make a 3 foot jump from 10" of water.
Me with a lot of water on me. Those guys can SPLASH.
See the tails (a little beat up) in the middle of the pic? They're in the IBC!
This is them pretending they're flounders and lying on one side to keep an eye on me.


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STAR WARS: Recapping Resistance Episode 12: 'Dangerous Business'
Posted by JJ Goodman | Jan 24, 2019 | Latest News & Rumors, Star Wars, TV News | 0 |
Dangerous business? More like boring business. Star Wars Resistance is trying very hard to be something. As the season grinds on, however, it seems more and more like it doesn't know what, exactly, it's trying to be. Resistance episode 12, 'Dangerous Business", hasn't helped its cause.
Image: Disney
Kaz does his best to help out around Yeager's garage, trading his services to Acquisitions shop owners Orka and Felix for parts for the Fireball. His task? Kaz must run the shop while they are away for a day. It goes about as well as you'd expect. Unfortunately. I want to like this show so badly, and it showed promise with the mid-season trailer. Sadly, Resistance episode 12 still hasn't delivered in the second half of the season.
Resistance Episode 12: Tired Jokes and Little Substance
While Kaz is working, a shady customer by the name of Teroj Kee comes in asking about a "phase connector". When Kaz refuses to sell it to him, Kee of course tricks Kaz into leaving the shop. Resistancee episode 12 devolved from there. Tired jokes involving a less-than-originally named creature called "Bitey" ensue. So too does more of Kaz running around screaming. It seems the writers have a very shallow well to which they go when it comes to their storytelling.
Admittedly, Resistance episode 12 did pick up towards the end. After Kee steals the phase connector, Kaz sneaks onto his ship. There Kaz discovers that Kee was secretly working for the First Order, and it was it that wanted the phase connector. We learn that it is a piece of heavy duty mining equipment used to break apart asteroids. Consequently, we're drawn to the conclusion that the technology might have something to do with Starkiller Base. (Perhaps this is also intended to lead up to The Force Awakens and the cross-over of the two timelines.)
Kaz Comes Through for the Resistance
Kaz, with some quick thinking, brings the ship down to deprive the First Order of its prize, and… that's it. End of Resistance episode 12. Yes, it ties to the First Order. Yes, we got to see BB-8 in action. But for a Star Wars show, Resistance unfortunately continues to rely too much on superfluous material and fails to hold the viewers' attention to the main story line.
However…. we did see glimpses of what's to come in episode 10 and the mid-season trailer. Enough with clichéd storylines and tired comedy – get on with the show already.
Star Wars Resistance airs at 10:00 pm, Sunday nights on the Disney Channel.
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JJ Goodman
Lawyer by trade, writer by passion. Author of 'The Deep Space Chronicles' series available at Amazon.com, a rambling blog at jjgoodman.blogspot.com, and musings on all things 'Star Wars' and more here at That Hashtag Show.
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Caring for Each Other—and Ourselves
Jenny O'Grady May 19, 2021 Campus Life
This week, Erin Weeks will graduate from UMBC with a degree in biology, a minor in psychology, and her mind set on the next steps of her career.
She will also be closing out one of the most challenging years of her life. During the pandemic, she not only had a baby, but also juggled caring for her mother while completing her final year at UMBC.
"I feel so accomplished—I am excited!" says Weeks, who looks forward to taking part in Commencement with her family, including now almost one-year-old Joshua, Jr.
"I've been working towards this degree for almost 9 years. So, it is surreal to actually be crossing the finish line. My family is happy and excited, as well. Everyone keeps telling me how proud they are that I kept pushing and didn't give up."
Although the promise of vaccinations and the gradual returns to pre-COVID-19 ways of life loom large, many in the Retriever community are, like Weeks, continuing to balance caretaking with their work and schooling. And more and more—whether they're caring for children, providing assistance for aging parents, or balancing life with chronic illness—are turning to each other and resources offered by UMBC for support.
Erin Weeks (center) with her son, Joshua, Jr., her partner, and her mother. Photo courtesy of Weeks.
The Parental Balancing Act
Marshall Denise Turner is both a graduate student in UMBC's master of arts in teaching program and an administrative assistant in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics—as well as the mother of a 7-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. Finding time for her studies, while also assisting her daughter with school, has been difficult.
"The academic bar is a lot higher now than it was when I was a child, and I was extremely worried because my daughter was not at standard reading level as her kindergarten year was drawing to an end," she says. "I even faced my own mental distress while trying to figure out the technological, research, and writing expectations of me as a graduate student. I cried many tears during this time because I could not seem to catch a break."
Turner has relied on UMBC's preschool both for her toddler, and for her daughter, who Turner enrolled in an academic support class there. While it cost more to do so, she said, it was worth it "compared to the mental struggle of trying to balance everything with no break in sight," she says. Doing so has also helped her weather the challenges of being a student herself, she says. As tough as it's been, she's proud of how resilient she's become.
As the mother of a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old third grader with special needs, Adrienne Wheeler has learned it's okay to accept help that is offered—and just as helpful to ignore unsolicited advice from well-meaning folks who could never truly understand her unique challenges.
"I realize that the intent is helpful but it's very diminishing for someone to think they've hit upon the solution…as if I haven't been mulling the questions for nigh on almost a year. It's eroding," says Wheeler, a business specialist with UMBC's Maryland Institute for Policy, Analysis, and Research.
"The most helpful work resource I've had is my set of coworkers…they know what's needed day-to-day, they're generous with the time they have, and they give me much-needed grace."
Adrienne Wheeler
What she does find helpful is the community she's found through her family and her colleagues at UMBC, she said. (And escaping reality via her beloved comic books when she has a rare moment to herself.) She was also very happy when the pre-k at the Y Preschool at UMBC daycare re-opened this spring.
"The most helpful work resource I've had is my set of coworkers…they know what's needed day-to-day, they're generous with the time they have, and they give me much-needed grace," she says. "My sib, Alynn, has also been with me throughout this whole thing. They've driven in from Pittsburgh almost weekly for the last 10 months to help my son with school, my daughter with hugs, and me with everything else."
Mutual Understanding
Although each situation is ultimately different, many have found similarities among their circumstances as caregivers. Both Matt Fagan, assistant professor in geography and environmental systems, and Joanna Gadsby, instruction coordinator and reference librarian, have two kids. Both are extremely grateful for the community pods that give their children chances for socialization—and allow them a bit of catch-up time.
Matt Fagan on campus before the pandemic. Photo by Marlayna Demond '11.
Despite the upsides of their situations, or maybe because of those positives, both Fagan and Gadsby took on roles with a faculty-focused caregiving advisory group in Fall 2020 to try to make things easier on their UMBC colleagues as a whole. (A similar group has been formed to focus on staff issues.)
"The teaching is just hard. It's hard to have very specific hours that are set and you can't be with your kids. So if your wife has a work emergency, you can't help. It's a big imposition on one's partner, and it's just hard," says Fagan, who is in third-year review for tenure but is also trying to carve out time with his kids, ages 4 and 6. That means relying more on his teaching assistant, offering more virtual office hours, and maintaining an active discussion board.
Headshot courtesy of Gadsby.
Gadsby, who has kids in second and fourth grade, has been teaching library instruction and a first-year seminar class. The experience has made her think a lot about how much she "used to outsource for so many kinds of tasks," she says.
"I'm not just doing my job, and making sure they are doing okay at school, and checking on my parents. I'm also the person who is saying, 'Did you eat today? Did you drink enough water? Did you get up and take a break? Did you talk to another human? Have you been outside?'" she says. "Normally there are so many more people in our life checking on those kinds of things. Like, 'Did you participate in class? Did you check on that last assignment? Did you go back to the checklist? Did you ask a friend for his notes?' It's exhausting. Now I'm doing what like 25 other people used to do."
Through their advisory committee, Gadsby and Fagan and others have held listening sessions to better understand how caretakers on the faculty could help each other. They're also conscious that although vaccinations will begin to open up opportunities, it will take a while for folks to recover from how the pandemic has affected families.
"As hard as everything's been, I still feel really privileged to be on this committee," said Gadsby. "We've been able to work at home. The kids are able to stay home. We've got a pretty good community, so we're doing okay. And I wanted to be able to do something to try to ease the burden of anyone else right now. It's just so much."
Making Time for Self Care
Before the pandemic, Katharine Scrivener was often pretty quiet about her chronic illness at work. But when COVID-19 struck, and work as we knew it turned on its head, she found herself compelled to speak up for herself and others.
Scrivener, the assistant director of alumni and development communications, recently joined a staff-facing caregivers group in order to share her experiences. She hopes that those in her shoes might find care and community just as other types of caregivers may.
Katharine Scrivener with Officer Chip at a pre-pandemic Giving Day on campus. Photo courtesy of Scrivener.
"I'm not sure I had ever really thought about the fact that I could apply the term 'caregiver' to myself because I don't think it's talked about in that way, even though it really rightfully should be," says Scrivener, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 16.
"And I think part of that is I've never found a community at work of people with similar circumstances. And even until this committee, I don't think I knew very many people at UMBC who maybe dealt with something like this. And so it's really validating to know I'm not the only one who feels this way or struggles with these things. And I feel I have a sense of connectedness and community I didn't have before."
As UMBC begins to plan for return to campus, Scrivener says she hopes the community will learn from the pandemic experience about how best to leverage technology to make the working experience more equitable for those with chronic illnesses. She also hopes to continue to confront ableism as she encounters it.
"I would tell other caregivers that they're doing a good job…It's so important to hear that."
Erin Weeks
"I'm really hopeful that we will continue to be acknowledged and recognized as a part of all of this work that we're doing about return to campus and flexibility and caregiving and inclusion, and that we can really affect some change," Scrivener says. "On the one hand, I'm grateful this conversation is happening now. On the other hand, I think I'm a little disappointed it had to take a global pandemic to really look at the fact that remote work and flexible schedules are doable and beneficial to a lot of people."
Celebrating Successes
With her diploma almost in hand, Weeks is ready to celebrate with her family. But she's also reflecting on what it has taken to make it through her final year. Patience. Support from her partner. And making the most of whatever free moments she could find to take care of herself—either by taking a walk, or getting some frozen yogurt.
It's important, she says, to "lean on each other," and celebrate the resilience born of this moment.
"I would tell other caregivers that they're doing a good job," she says. "It's so important to hear that."
UMBC is offering a number of resources for caregivers of all types. Join the myUMBC Moms and Parents group to connect and share resources. Or visit the Resources for Parents and Caregivers website for additional caregiver resources.
Header image by Marlayna Demond '11 for UMBC Magazine.
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Q: Android Tilting-Mind blowing So here is my code if someone be kind enough to help out.
I want the orientation values to be displayed but all I get is 0.0 0.0 0.0 so I dont know whats going on I dont think its my phone becasue it fairly modern (HTC One V)
 package ple.x75;

 import android.app.Activity;
 import android.content.Context;
 import android.content.pm.ActivityInfo;
 import android.hardware.Sensor;
 import android.hardware.SensorEvent;
 import android.hardware.SensorEventListener;
 import android.hardware.SensorManager;
 import android.os.Bundle;
 import android.widget.ImageView;
 import android.widget.TextView;
 import android.widget.Button;
 import android.view.View;

 public class MainActivity extends Activity
{

private ImageView img;
private SensorManager mSensorManager;
private float[] mAccelerometerReading;
private float[] mMagneticFieldReading;
private float[] mRotationMatrix = new float[16];
private float[] mRemapedRotationMatrix = new float[16];
private float[] mOrientation = new float[3];

// Register the event listener and sensor type.
public void setListners(SensorManager sensorManager, SensorEventListener mEventListener)
{
    sensorManager.registerListener(mEventListener, sensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER),
            SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_NORMAL);
    sensorManager.registerListener(mEventListener, sensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_MAGNETIC_FIELD),
            SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_NORMAL);
}

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

    SensorManager sensorManager = (SensorManager) this.getSystemService(SENSOR_SERVICE);
    final Button btn_valider = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button);
    final TextView txt1 = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textView);

    final SensorEventListener mEventListener = new SensorEventListener() {
        public void onAccuracyChanged(Sensor sensor, int accuracy) {
        }
        public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent event) {
            switch (event.sensor.getType()) {
                case Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER:
                    mAccelerometerReading = event.values.clone();
                    break;

                case Sensor.TYPE_MAGNETIC_FIELD:
                    mMagneticFieldReading = event.values.clone();
                    break;
            }
            if(mAccelerometerReading != null && mMagneticFieldReading != null &&
                    SensorManager.getRotationMatrix(mRotationMatrix, null, mAccelerometerReading, mMagneticFieldReading))
            {
                SensorManager.remapCoordinateSystem(mRotationMatrix,
                        SensorManager.AXIS_Y, SensorManager.AXIS_MINUS_X, mRemapedRotationMatrix);
                SensorManager.getOrientation(mRemapedRotationMatrix, mOrientation);
            }

        };
    };
    setListners(sensorManager, mEventListener);
    btn_valider.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener()
    {
        public void onClick(View view)
        {
            if(mOrientation != null)
            {
                final CharSequence test;
                test="Results: "+mOrientation[0]+" "+mOrientation[1]+" "+mOrientation[2];
                txt1.setText(test);
            }
            else{
                final CharSequence test;
                test="Results: Apparently Nothing...";
                txt1.setText(test);
            }
}
 });
}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Jetblue airplane tailfin / rypson/iStock
Steven Slater Pleads Guilty To Felony, Misdemeanor
by Molly Fergus • Oct 20, 2010
Despite all the Facebook fans, late night talk show appearances, and general folk hero status bestowed upon Steven Slater late this summer, the disgruntled flight attendant owned up to his digressions in a New York court yesterday.
The fed up JetBlue employee infamously quit his job August 9 by yelling a few obscenities, releasing the plane's emergency landing chute, stealing a beer, and fleeing onto the tarmac at JFK. Slater immediately rocketed to Internet stardom (more than 200,000 people still like his Facebook fan page) and was heralded as a symbol for the working class, someone who finally made the dramatic exit many public-facing employees wish they had the gall to pull off.
Well, it was a nice ride while it lasted. Slater pleaded guilty to both second-degree attempted criminal mischief (a felony) and fourth-degree attempted criminal mischief (a misdemeanor) in front of Judge Patricia Hirsch.
As part of the plea deal, Slater must go to a year of counseling and treatment. If he completes the year to the judge's satisfaction, he'll only be charged with the misdemeanor; if he doesn't, he could spend up to three years in prison.
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