Bye weeks are over which in fantasy means the playoffs are around the corner. For most of you, Week 13 is the last chance to qualify for the postseason or hopefully better position your already solidified playoff berth. While I tend to preach starting the reliables and those on a clear upward enough trajectory, there are also several matchups you'll want to exploit or avoid.
Please check back often as I'll be updating these rankings as news warrants. Best of luck.


Just finished the first chapter of Noel Carroll's The Philosophy of Horror, (which I'm reviewing and researching for my Film & Philosophy grad class), and he offers this interesting reflection on the origins of the horror genre.
Though it's something that can be debated, Carroll marks the middle of the 18th century as the origin point of the horror genre, developing from Gothic novels such as Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764). He doesn't try and make a case as to who wrote the first Gothic novel, just that the major consensus seems that the Gothic novel developed during this time period.
What he finds interesting is that horror's "birth" overlaps the period cultural historians call the "Enlightenment" or "The Age of Reason". This period is thought to have spanned the 18th century, saw the wide dissemination of the ideas of Descartes, Bacon, Locke, Hobbes, and Newton to the reading public (pg. 55).
The Enlightenment, of course, rested on "the immense achievements of natural science", and things like religion or of a supernatural nature were viewed with distrust, because it valued faith and revelation over reason (pg. 55).
1. the idea that the "horror" or "Gothic" genre developed as some sort of "answer" to "The Enlightenment" or "The Age of Reason", a time period marked by reason and science and nature as the end all and be all, whereas horror/Gothic fiction explored emotions, especially violent ones in the case of the main characters. Also, Carroll points out that while a hallmark of The Enlightenment was objectivity, a hallmark of the horror novel is subjectivity (pg. 56).
So, according to this idea, Carroll advances the theory that while a convert of The Enlightenment held a naturalistic conception of the world, the horror novel presumes the existence of the supernatural, at least for fiction's sake. That, in opposition to The Enlightenment's "faith" in progress, horror promoted a regression to a belief in the unseen supernatural, which The Enlightenment had attempted to repress, or at least discourage (pg. 56).
Of course, Carroll points out it's easy to shoot this theory full of holes, because without further, intensive research, there's literally no way to know who wrote what and who read what and why? For example, how do we know who read Gothic fiction and why – can we honestly prove that people wrote and flocked to this new art form in a reaction to the faith in reason of The Enlightenment? No. However, he does indicate that simply the rise of horror – which presupposes the supernatural and something "unknown" – during the Age of Reason, which believed nothing needed to be unknown by man, interesting enough to promote further study.
2. A much easier connection can be made, Carroll says, in thinking how one conceptual birth – The Age of Reason and Enlightenment – helped bring about another, simply in one creating a structure the other could violate. In short, and very paraphrased form: The Enlightenment, with its promotion of naturalistic theories and desire to develop a scientific, natural view of the world, gave horror/Gothic fiction the perfect backdrop against which to develop its "monsters".
In other words, the Enlightenment developed a general idea of what the "natural" world was for the general reading public, which gave room for stories to create monsters and situations that violated that natural world, in essence, helping give horror natural rules to break with its monsters.
Again, Carroll readily admits that more research is needed to support or refute either claim. And, yeah, once again, we're probably splitting hairs here. But still, it provides plenty to think about….
My fascination with ghost stories is directly connected to my fascination with our personal pasts; so many of us are haunted by one thing or another, things that we don't realize affect our choices in life many years later.
For me, RubyOtt—our childhood Adirondack summer camp—is one of those things.
It's straight out of A Haunting: Writer Terri Bruce shares her experiences living in a haunted house — then shares a sneak-peek at her just-released paranormal novel, Hereafter.
I'm a story-teller. I tell stories. It's what I do. So sit back, relax, and let me tell you a story about my house. Is it a true story? Well, I'm going to tell it to you the way it happened and then you tell me if it's true or not.
We moved into our house in a sweltering hot August ten years ago. It was not our dream house. It was a "best we can afford right now"—in the height of the real estate boom—fixer-upper with "potential charm" but no actual charm. The day I first went to look at the house, there was six inches of water in the basement and I joked that it came with its own indoor swimming pool. However, it was still the best we'd seen in our price range and so we bought it.
Our forgetfulness increased. My husband locked himself out of the house three times; each time he had stepped out for a minute and had no recollection of locking the door behind him. Once I came home to find him shoveling snow with no coat on. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was trying to keep warm—he was locked out and waiting for me to come home.
Then the noises began. The sound of a crying child in the hallway when I was in the spare bedroom. The sound of someone in the next room calling my name when I was home alone.
I was home alone. My husband was traveling for business. I awoke in the middle of the night to the light in the hall—visible through the bedroom doorway—tinged a strange, greenish color, a noise, a crashing, clanging, banging, as if someone was throwing pots and pans down the hall stairs, and my bed was shaking, as if it was vibrating in time to someone's cranked-up bass.
I threw back the covers, jumped out of bed, and ran across the hall to the spare room, where the telephone was. I frantically dialed my husband, who thankfully answered his cell. He said, in some confusion, "What are you doing up? Isn't it like one a.m. there?" In a panicked jumble I explained what had happened and told him that I was scared, I wanted to leave and go to a hotel.
The logic of this statement stopped me cold for a moment. I remember very clearly, standing there, blinking in stupefaction, my jaw hanging open. Thinking perhaps he hadn't understood properly, I explained again that there were noises and lights and shaking beds and I was leaving for a hotel.
"Look, honey, I can't talk right now. I'm at a party," he said. "I'll call you tomorrow." Then he hung up on me.
Now, for most women that probably would have been grounds for divorce; however, I wasn't thinking clearly. I was over-tired—it WAS one a.m. after all—I had been frightened (which always puts me in a bad mood) and now I was mad. In fact, I was very mad and since my husband—the target of my anger—was there to choke, my anger sought another target. Slowly, the crashing, clanging, banging noise, which I had apparently blocked out while talking on the phone, filtered back into my consciousness.
Only now it wasn't scary—it was annoying! Annoying as hell! I wanted to sleep, damn it!
"Shut up!" I screamed to the house, the air, the world in general. "Just shut the hell up!" I stormed back to bed, screamed "Shut up!" once more, and pulled the covers over my head to block out lights, noises, and all other sensory inputs. In a minute, I fell back to sleep.
Soon I had the sense the house was puzzled and then finally resigned. My husband and I finally regained our memories—tools and flashlights and keys stopped being misplaced and we stopped getting locked out.
There, nestled IN the wall, hanging on wall stud, was a crucifix. A feeling of dread and horror washed over me—crucifixes are something you hang ON the wall, not IN it. Even to a non-religious person such as myself, putting a crucifix in the wall at the top of the house, as well as one in the basement, seemed to indicate a protection spell of some sort, an attempt to guard against something.
"I think I'll just leave that where it is," my husband said.
Oddly enough, after that day, the black flies disappeared from the third floor, and all has been peaceful ever since.
But my house still doesn't show up on Mapquest.
At that moment, the front door of Mrs. Boine's house opened and two little girls in long pigtails pelted down the stairs, leaving the door hanging ajar.
"Oh, they want their buggies," Mrs. Boine said, her face going soft with fond indulgence.
Each girl threw herself onto a three-wheeled toy—the preschooler version of a tricycle—and continued to cry for Mrs. Boine like a chorus of baby birds at feeding time.
"Okay, I'm coming." The old woman heaved herself out of her chair.
"Grandma's going to push us!" the girls cried in unison.
A car rattled by. Mrs. Boine swore.
Mister MacKenzie appeared in his yard, closely inspecting his lawn, and seeming not liking what he saw. Mrs. Boine raised a hand in greeting. "Yooo-hooo!" she called.
Mrs. Boine dropped her hand with a wistful sigh. "That man," she said with a regretful shake of her head, as if she deeply pitied Mister MacKenzie.
"My mother is just going to have to learn to take care of herself for once," Irene snapped without thinking and then instantly wished she could take back the words.
Terri Bruce's Hereafter available everywhere. Amazon easiest? Just click here for the Kindle Edition: http://amzn.com/B008S6K8GE It's also available in print.


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B Boys - Dudu : Exclusive Gold Vinyl ...
B Boys - Dudu : Exclusive Gold Vinyl LP , Hand Numbered with Exclusive Obi *DINKED EXCLUSIVE 018
DINKED EXCLUSIVE 018 B Boys "Dudu" Captured Tracks Records to just 300 copies
DINKED EDITION 018 £17.99
Exclusive 180g gold vinyl
Exclusive Dinked Obi strip
Hand numbered pressing of 300
Pressure Inside
Ceremonies of Waste
Instant Pace
Another Anthem
On Repeat
Smoke You
Can't Stand It
Asleep/Awake
Taste For Trash
New York's B Boys (Andrew Kerr, Brendon Avalos, Britton Walker) find inspiration in the chaos that surrounds them: the aggressive attitude and sonic lawlessness of the city they live, work, and breathe in every day. Their raw, yet meticulous style is characterized by rhythmic complexity, commanding riffs, and introspective lyrics that are as playful and self-aware as they are cutting. Across two acclaimed releases on Captured Tracks—2016's No Worry No Mind EP and 2017's debut full-length Dada—B Boys explore solitude and self-reflection through sharp, high-energy shouts and melodic mediations. Now, the sprightly sarcasm and acerbic commentary continues on the band's highly anticipated sophomore LP, Dudu. Recorded by Gabe Wax (Deerhunter, Ought, Crumb) at Outlier Inn, and mixed by Andy Chugg (Pill, Pop. 1280, Bambara) to be released on July 26, 2019. B Boys have toured the U.S. and Europe extensively, supporting acts such as Parquet Courts, Merchandise, Shame, Sunflower Bean, and Thee Oh Sees. Influenced by The Clash, Wire, and Talking Heads, Dudu finds B Boys picking up where they left off, pondering quotidien grievances while examining the bigger picture. On tracks like "Cognitive Dissonance" and "Automation," subtle tensions meet agonizing pressure that softly build, then explode. "I Want," featuring Pill's Veronica Torres, is a bright, feel-good critique of capitalism and greed. There's a lot of noise in the world, but what are we actually saying? On Dudu, B Boys take time to laugh, scream and chant their way through the absurdity of it all.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Trae Days
A diary of the days (thoughts and opinions) of Trae; mainly as concerns technology, writing, football, music, liberalism and afrocentrism
Wetin Dey?'s "Da Mix" show as seen by TRAE
Posted by trae_z | Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007
Category: Music (Hip hop) , Socials
I must confess that I've always wanted to do this (a blow by blow account of a music show) ever since I read thisday music festival october 7th & 8th, 2006 and RHYTHM UNPLUGGED Lagos: THE REVIEW...a must read. I hope this rocks and if it doesn't you'd be entitled to a refund of the 10 minutes of your life you're about to spend reading this.
The show which held on the 8th of September (2007) at the Ladi Kwali hall of the Sheraton Hotel Abuja was put together by the Wetin Dey? organizers. Wetin Dey? a 30 minutes television drama with HIV awareness and prevention as its main theme is itself sponsored by the BBC World Service Trust.
I took the original notes for this post with my Nokia…1100! It's crazy the shit we learn to manage so well with. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the event to share. I didn't have a device to make that possible and the digital camera of the chick I sat with wasn't recharged enough.
On the lucky side I got a seat at the front row, which definitely is the best seat at shows from a "fan"atic perspective. With it comes the privilege of seeing the artists up, close and personal with all the energy or lack of it they bring to their act. You also get to touch them if they ever deal out handshakes. Although I didn't bother about that second bit because I was feeling kind of reserved at the night.
The show which was a mixture of music, fashion, talk and drama started at about 6.25pm as against the original commencement time of 4pm, which meant arriving late because I completed watching the 3pm Super Eagles game counted for nothing. If music is my beloved son, football is its twin.
The MC for the show was one of the Wetin Dey? actresses. If you follow the drama you'd recognize her as the wife of the policeman. She did a nice job; humour and class combined in one. The co-sponsors of the show did theirs too by providing free HIV counseling and testing in front of the event venue; though I doubt that a lot of people took advantage of that. Talking about people the attendance was over 100% and incident free. Kind of expected though considering the fact that the audience was a representation of the crème de la crème of the posh/ajebotas Abuja youths.
The performance roaster for the event was almost endless with the artists scheduled to come on stage in the order of their level of success/establishment in the industry. You might disagree with the listing but I think they got it pretty right. And being that the acts were much and time wasn't the deal was that it was to be more or less a song per act. Despite that they were expected (and they did) to throw a line or two about protection against HIV during their piece.
After several upcoming acts had come and gone it was Noree the non rhyming but sweet "baby no dey lie" ABJ crooner's turn. I thought he'd perform his "baby no dey lie" song and wow the crowd but the brother had a new song premiere plan instead. The highlight of his performance was this amusing incident which I suspect was rehearsed. Midway into his act a guy ran on stage to embrace him kneeling down (I guess that's a forgivable lapse on the part of the bouncers as they generally did a good job of protecting the artists on stage) and Nore gave the guy his copy of the show's invitation card, after which the guy did the sign of the cross as if he'd just been blessed by a reverend father and then left the stage.
Seun the sweet voiced gospel artist and FUTH Minna graduate was next. I don't really know the name of his song he did but what the heck, I love all his songs! For me he killed it but judging by the relative indifference of the hall he's got to work on his publicity.
Of all the upcoming (and hitherto unknown to me) artists on parade I felt this swagger heavy guy the most. I didn't get his name but the rap song had the "she go say I be lady" part of Fela's "lady" continuously looped as the chorus. Ingenious! His hypeman was what made his act thick though. The dude was fat as fuck but displayed dance moves from several genres much to the delight of the crowd.
When they were gone the DJ spinned Olu Maintain's "yahoozee" and it got the hall crazy with everyone doing the yahoozee dance. I must say the DJ was great on the night, some others would say he's much better than the over hyped Jimmy Jatt
The yahoozee frenzy didn't last for long as Uche a gospel rock artist (rock artists in Nigeria are endangered species) was due to do her thing. Her song rocked! Pun intended; reminds me of Evanescence's "bring me to life". And the chorus is in…wait for it, Igbo! She's also a dancer and a medical practitioner. Not bad but what was with all the dancing on stage, that's not what rock is about. I could have sworn she attended UNN or UNEC; someone like her was a regular feature at school shows…that's without the rock part though.
When she was done Bemsar the guitar man came on to do his "something good" gospel song. It left me feeling Godly. There was a drama sketch afterwards that featured a few of the Wetin Dey? cast. It was written by an HIV positive guy, evidence of the fact that testing positive doesn't mean one's career goal is done for. There were other breaks where speakers came to talk on HIV related issues, particularly of note was one cute dreads wearing chick. Damn the virus.
Age Beeka came through after the talk. He did some new songs from his forth coming album and as usual brought the whole gyrating on stage thing to his act.
And things could only get better as MI came on after him. The phrase "short but mighty" aptly fits the Chocolate City rapper! He was the first act of the night to have the crowd literarily eating out of the palm of his hands. He talked to the crowd about himself, his music and the circumstances that led to the writing of the two songs he performed: a narrative love song and his conscious intelligent "crowd mentality" hit.
The first part of the fashion parade was then rolled out featuring male and female models. The second part and wrap up came later on in the course of the show. It was my first catwalk live viewing. Nice moves I must say and excellent work with the wrappers, or is it ankara that it's called? Ladies help me out; the designer was a cutie too.
Terry Tha Rapman subsequently came on with AT as his hypeman (AT had earlier on did his own solo, an R&B cover of an American rap song, thumbs down bro). Sadly Terry's performance on the night was as poor as his dressing. His on stage carriage was weak and he made "na beans" and "only for Naija" look like dumb songs.
Sixfootplus the Abuja based hip hop veteran was next. Though I personally feel he has passed his prime he had a great performance and the crowd loved him. AT made his 3rd appearance on stage as Six's hypeman. If OD was there too for his "don't hate" hit I would have puked as AT would have made it a record 4th time on stage. Six had the some Tiv dancers on for "swange" from his 1999 album and then wrapped things up with the more current "e don do me". The sing along chorus value of both songs really enhanced his performance.
After him was 2shotz (With MI of all people as his hypeman! I'm guessing that was an impromptu arrangement) and true to pun rules his performance was too short. He worked the whole hall into a frenzy and then left almost as soon as he came in. Sort of like getting mami wet with the foreplay thing only to slip out before the big O under the pretext of meeting up with wifey for dinner.
Sasha was next. By this time with each act the audience crowded around the stage cheering on, some others taking pictures with their phones and digital cameras and hustling for space with the professional photographers and video camera men. I might not really be into her but I admit she was good, the crowd showed her love particularly 3 boys who were drooling at her through out her time on stage.
Shit was progressively getting bigger, it was Modenine's turn. Sage came on first to do a spoken word intro. I couldn't appreciate his poetry, probably because the noise levels were by now high in anticipation of Modo. Poetry done with it was time for rap; Modo stepped out with Kraft tagging along. He was thoroughly mobbed as almost all the young core hip hop lovers rushed towards the stage. It was the first time that more than half of the audience was up on their feet, I had to stand up too else I see nothing. He did "cry", "Nigerian girls", "Lagos state of mind" and his verse on "stylee" (Modo displaying his new found Lagos love in front of his original ABJ people was…queer) with the crowd rapping along with him word for word. I admit this made me really happy; it's what hip hop is about from a fan's perspective and it's good to see this happening in Nigeria and to our own artists. But what was with Modo's cap, he was switching its position like every single minute. He should have just thrown the damn thing to the audience like top acts do. More than a handful of the crowd were half expecting him to do so.
One hit wonder Weird MC (she solely got rich off "ijoya" and the feature on P-Square "bizzy body remix". I must slap myself for still harbouring hustler ambitions) wrapped up the show. She came in with the P-Square intro, you could have thought P-Square were in the house. I must give it to her though as she bettered Modenine by getting the whole hall standing. She did her "bizzy body" lines, some other nothing-extraordinary songs of hers and then the big hit: "ijoya". She might be a small woman but she packs more than her fair share of energy as she covered all corners of the stage and even the crowd stands. The show ended well after 10pm.
bighead said on 12 September, 2007 14:10
So you went to UNN ehnn? Talk about relating to me. Two gbozaas for all lions in da house!
We have rock artists in Naija now? Ewoo! Aguu ga egbu ha. I'm a rock fan but unfortunately, I'm a serious minority.
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How to get a Nigerian (International e-) Passport; the common sense approach
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text:
→ Beethoven and his Fourth Symphony
Beethoven and his Fourth Symphony
On Friday 25 June Royal Northern Sinfonia will close our season of New Beginnings with a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No.4 conducted by Principal Conductor Designate, Dinis Sousa. Continuing our exploration of the music performed this season, we dug a little deeper into Beethoven's life and this wonderful piece.
Why not have a read and get to know the man and his music a little better?
Ludwig van Beethoven the third (seriously) was born in 1770 and died in 1827. His grandad was also called Ludwig van Beethoven and so was his older brother, but he didn't survive childhood. Grandad Ludwig was a musician and so was his father, Johann, who was a singer and violinist.
Health woes
It's well known that Beethoven went deaf, which had some impact on his temperament and caused social isolation. But this wasn't his only health issue. Throughout his life he suffered liver cirrhosis, hepatitis, jaundice, and colitis.
Unlucky in love
Beethoven didn't have much luck in love. He proposed to three women and was turned down every time. One of them even told him he was ugly. Harsh. His 'Moonlight' piano sonata is also a symbol of unrequited love; dedicated to Julie Guicciardi whom he loved but could not marry because he was a lowly composer and she a countess.
The Curse of the Ninth
Beethoven wrote nine symphonies in his lifetime. Since then, a bunch of other composers followed in his wake and composed nine too – no more and no less. These included Schubert, Mahler, Dvořák, and Bruckner. The pattern has led to the phenomenon known as 'the curse of the ninth'. If you make it to nine symphonies as a composer now, it's likely to be your last…
Early or late?
No, nothing to do with his time keeping. Beethoven's musical output is generally categorised by academics into three periods.
The 'early period' lasted until 1802 and he wrote in the classical style. Basically, like Mozart and Haydn.
The 'middle period' was quite short – from 1802-1812 – but here he started to explore, and his deafness developed.
The 'late period' was from 1812 until his death, and this is when he became even more innovative.
It's not all doom and gloom
There are some more lighthearted facts about Beethoven's life too. Here are our favourites:
Mozart once said of him: "Watch out for that boy. One day he will give the world something to talk about."
He caused a stampede of oxen not long before he died, by walking through a field waving his arms wildly as he composed a piece in his head. To clarify, the stampede did not kill him.
Check out Classic FM's Fast and Friendly Guide to Beethoven:
Beethoven wrote Symphony No.4 in 1806, during that exploratory 'middle period' and so we see (and hear!) a breakdown from some of the traditionally established structures – but not quite to the extent of late Beethoven.
He was offered a hefty sum to write the symphony for Count Franz von Oppersdorff. Some writers think he had actually been working on some ideas that would become the Fifth Symphony, but perhaps knowing the Count preferred the earlier classical style, he offered this instead.
So, about the music. The piece is known for being 'sunny' which means it has sometimes been overlooked compared to the heavier works it was surrounded by (the 'Eroica' and the infamous Fifth) but we think that does it a disservice. Let us know if you agree when you've heard it.
Some key musical points:
It opens with a slow introduction. We have some drama pretty quickly though as the quiet intro is replaced by repeated (really loud) chords and a cheerful first movement. Think of it as hushed anticipation before a sudden arrival.
The third movement is titled Menuetto in most scores, but it wasn't originally. Beethoven simply called it Allegro vivace (Very fast) and his tempo marking was simply far too fast to be a minuet.
Beethoven described his playful fourth movement as 'unbuttoned'…
And it's reception? As usual for Beethoven, opinion has been long divided.
Leonard Bernstein called that slow introduction "mysterious", "tip-toeing" and "reluctant to settle down". Nice. Whereas the less subtle Weber said it was "full of short, disjointed, unconnected ideas." Ouch. It's worth noting though that Bernstein was writing in the 20th century whereas Weber was a contemporary of Beethoven. Opinions change over time, clearly.
Berlioz loved it, claiming the work was angelic. Others including Mendelssohn praised its originality. Some thought it was weaker. Schumann apparently called it 'a slender Green maiden between two Norse giants.' The public at the time were inclined to agree with Schumann and it was played far less often than his other pieces.
We love it, and think it deserves to be recognised as equal to the 'Eroica' and the Fifth. But take a listen and let us know what you decide.


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Q: Sens a option select to mysql database I got a option select with 3 options in it(Open Closed and busy).
Now I want to send my choosen option to my Mysql database.
I got this code.
Here is my function
function editStatus($pStatus, $id){
$id= (int) $id;
$query = mysql_query("UPDATE posts SET status = '$pStatus' WHERE id = '$id' ") or die (mysql_error());
}

Here i call my function
if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {
if(isset($_POST['postcats'])) {
    editStatus($_POST['postcats'] , $_POST['$id']);
    header('location: posts.php');
}else{
    echo "Please set a post name";
    include('addpost.php');
}
}else{
header('location: addpost.php');
}

And here is my form
**

                Status
                <select name="postcats">
                       <option name="Open" value="Open">Open</option>
                       <option name="Busy" value="Busy">Busy</option>
                       <option name="Closed" value="Closed">Closed</option>
                    </select>

                <input type="submit" name="submit" />	<input type="hidden" name="id" value="<?php echo$_GET['id'];?>" />

**

I hope you guys know why it wont send it to my database..

A: You are calling editPost function not editStatus
NOTES

*

*Add error_reporting(E_ALL); and ini_set('display_errors', 1); to catch errors.

*Add die; or exit; after header("Location: ...");

*You are vulnerable to sql injections because did not escape $pStatus.

*mysql_* functions are deprecated. Use mysqli or PDO instead.

A: I'm not sure why it doesnt post to database, are you getting any errors from php or mysql? Also, you should not use deprecated mysql functions, use mysqli instead. And prepared statements to prevent SQL injection. Example below:
if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {
  if(isset($_POST['status'])) {
    editStatus($_POST['status'], $_POST['id']);

    function editStatus($status, $id) {
      // Get the mysql connection
      $mysqli = new mysqli('localhost', 'username', 'password', 'db');

      // Create a new prepared statement
      if($stmt = $mysqli->prepare("UPDATE posts SET status = ? WHERE id = ?")) {
        // Bind the parameters to replace the question marks on the query
        // In the correct order: si (String, Int)
        $stmt -> bind_param("si", $status, $id);
        // Execute the statement
        $stmt -> execute();
        // Close the statement
        $stmt -> close();
      }else {
        return $mysqli->error;
      }
      // Close the connection
      $mysqli -> close();
      return true;
    }
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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IT for retail and logistics
Open banking's next big thing could replace direct debits
Variable recurring payments could fuel the next stage of open banking take-up in the UK
Published: 10 Mar 2022 12:00
The dominant use of direct debit to make payments could diminish when UK consumers are offered more control of recurring payments from July through open banking-based variable recurring payments (VRPs).
Like the cheque before it, direct debit could see a huge decline in use as it is replaced by financial technology (fintech) alternatives.
VRPs will further fuel the take-up of open banking services in the second half of this year, when Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) rules come into force, mandating banks to offer VRP-enabling application programming interfaces (APIs).
According to recent data from the nine biggest UK banks that had to implement open banking, more than five million Brits are now using open banking services, with payments the most popular service.
VRPs will expand the reach of open banking, offering people more control over regular payments that automatically leave their accounts.
The rules were supposed to be launched at the beginning of this year, but banks were not ready, so it was pushed back to July. From then, said the CMA, banks must have VRP APIs available in relation to sweeping services, which automatically move money between consumer accounts, once permission is granted.
For example, a consumer could give permission for money to be moved from a current account to a savings account automatically if there are excess funds, or could move money from a savings account to a current account if funds run low.
VRPs will provide services similar to direct debit, but with more control for the consumer, who can automatically make payments of different amounts to suppliers, and set caps on payments.
"It sounds like it's a very minor change, but it makes a huge difference for corporates receiving money and individuals paying it," said Sean Devaney, vice-president banking at IT services firm CGI.
Direct debit currently enables people to make payments on a certain day each month for a variable amount, but according to Devaney, there are challenges. "As a consumer, you have no control over how much is taken out of your account and in these days of rising energy prices etc, there is a lot of nervousness that people could suddenly have large payments go out of their accounts," he said.
Read more about PSD2 and open banking
The government's Competition and Markets Authority has requested feedback on proposals to increase competition in the UK banking sector.
Competitions and Markets Authority opens up the banking apps market following an investigation into how to create greater competition in banking.
With the EU's Payment Service Directive going into effect in January 2018, banks have no time to waste in preparing for the changes it will bring.
The UK retail banking sector is at the beginning of a journey towards to a more competitive future as new regulation hits them.
Devaney said VRPs will support the gig economy better, as well as pay-as-you-go services such as insurance.
"We also have a much bigger gig economy in Britain than we used to have and for a lot of those people, their monthly income is quite variable and also quite often doesn't come in on the same day every month or week," he added.
VRPs not only allow people to vary payment amounts, which direct debits already do, but enable them to cap how much is pushed out for any given payment. They also allow users to cap the total amount that is paid out over a certain period.
"You are putting a lot more control on payments," said Devaney. "This is particularly important for people who face challenges around how much is going out of their accounts."
Banks are building a set of open APIs that could, for example, allow third parties, such as utility companies or personal finance managers, to utilise them. When consumers sign up to a service, they will eventually be offered a VRP sign-up by the companies they are buying from, similar to existing direct debit sign-ups.
VRPs are part of the fintech-driven open banking revolution. Open banking services were made possible by the European Union's Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2), which came into effect in 2018.
PSD2 enables third parties to access the customer data held by banks via APIs – if customer consent is granted – and offer services using this information. For example, a company, with your consent, could take a payment directly from your account without you leaving its website.
In January 2018, UK banks were required to implement the CMA's open banking regulations. This led to the development of APIs in banking to give consumers more control over their accounts. Through these APIs, third parties and multiple finance firms can use a consumer's data to recommend the best service, including bank accounts. The end goal was to increase competition in a sector dominated by big financial services companies.
Devaney said that so far in open banking, all the development has focused on the CMA order, which has meant the banks have not been able to charge for the use of APIs. But for VRPs, this is a little different, he said. "They will not be able to charge for sweeping, but for other use cases, like bill payments and so on, they are able to charge. Whether they will or not is uncertain."
Huge potential
Kieran Hines, analyst at Celent, said: "VRP has huge potential to bring new propositions for merchants and other businesses when it comes to how to offer customers more choice around how to pay, as well as potential efficiencies in managing in-bound payments."
But he added: "It will take a bit more time yet for the momentum behind this to build, particularly as banks will need to agree commercial terms with any party wishing to use VRP for non-sweeping use cases.
"When it comes to sweeping, I would expect to see a more rapid impact that will enable smaller competitors to offer enhanced services to customers."
New services will be developed after VRPs go live in July. For example, VRPs could support services such as insurance as you go, where customers are potentially making a large number of payments for a service as and when they need it. Devaney added: "If these types of market embrace VRPs, then I see the volumes really shooting up over the next 18 months. It all depends whether banks charge and how much."
NatWest Bank announced recently that it will soon begin pilot testing VRPs with its open banking payments product Payit, which it developed alongside fintech TrueLayer, and plans for a commercial product to be ready by early 2023.
James Hodgson, head of NatWest's Payit, said: "VRPs will revolutionise the way payments are made online and will look to replace current traditional payment methods such as direct debit and card on file.
"VRP introduces a mechanism to authorise future payments within pre-agreed limits, meaning consumers can benefit from a new level of payment automation, while experiencing greater transparency and control over their finances.
"As an early adopter of the new payment method, we are seeing a lot of excitement in the industry, with many customers contacting Payit about VRP."
Read more on IT for retail and logistics
Huge leap to contactless payments in past three years
Contactless accounted for one-third of all payments made in the UK in 2021, research shows
By: Caroline Donnelly
Brighton tourists charged thousands of pounds for fairground ride after Worldpay glitch
Contactless payments accounted for a quarter of all UK payments in 2020
Government departments could cut payment costs ... – ComputerWeekly.com
GoCardless and TransferWise create global network for... – ComputerWeekly.com
Open banking will transform financial services ... – ComputerWeekly.com


text:
Tribe Coaches
LES MILLS LIVE
BODYPUMP: A workout with heritage
by Isabel Fenwick
BODYPUMP has been challenging muscles for decades. From its humble beginnings as a dumbbell class in a basement gym, to the biggest fitness class in clubs around the world, this is the BODYPUMP story.
While some are born into families of businessmen, craftsmen or even fishermen, BODYPUMP™ was born into a family of athletes.
The Mills family has long had athletic blood pumping through their veins. Phillip Mills is the second generation to drive the family business and he believes authenticity is the reason BODYPUMP became so popular so fast.
When Phillip's father, Les Mills, opened the first 'Les Mills World of Fitness' gym in Auckland in 1968, most of its members were athletes. With Les competing in four Olympics between 1958 and 1972, and Phillip representing New Zealand for ten years in track and field – it is no surprise that much of their community was from a sporting background.
Long before the creation of BODYPUMP, when fitness for the masses involved a lot of aerobics and tae-bo, the Les Mills family and its gym, were weight training. It was this athletic style, in an environment full of elite athletes, that people seemed drawn to. Soon a simple, but popular, dumbbell class was offered within the gym.
'' People loved group fitness but wanted something more athletic than the stereotypical 'leotards and legwarmers' class ''
-Phillip Mills
The benefits of strength training on fitness and functionality meant the class quickly became so popular that the amount of dumbbells needed made the whole thing almost unfeasible. This issue created the first step that took a simple dumbbell class towards the global phenomenon that is BODYPUMP today. With his wife Jackie, also a former New Zealand athlete and gymnast, Phillip created a group barbell class as a more efficient system to deliver all the benefits of strength training.
BODYPUMP for every body
It was also during this time that feminism was taking off in New Zealand. Women were chasing strength and empowerment not only metaphorically, but physically as well.
'' We wanted to break the stigma that women couldn't, or shouldn't, weight train ''
-Dr Jackie Mills
Jackie knew weight training was perceived as 'masculine' exercise that created large, bulky, muscular bodies. She had been incorporating weight training into her exercise throughout her gymnastic career and knew that the right type of strength training could create a strong lean body.
BODYPUMP was developed to accommodate men and women, of all ages and fitness levels, by providing a workout that was effective for everyone. The relatively light weights, used for a high number of repetitions, meant this class did not discriminate.
Championing "strong is the new skinny" well before its time, Jackie and Phillip emphasized the gains involved in strength training; from cardiovascular health to joint functionality to hormone responses. This type of training also produced incredible shape, in both men and women, with lean, toned muscles and longevity of results.
Participants soon realized that weight training in a group environment accompanied by great music, and led by a motivating coach, was more fun than a traditional weights workout. With so much goodness packed into one class BODYPUMP quickly shot into the international fitness stratosphere. Other clubs began requesting the rights to license BODYPUMP – first in New Zealand and Australia, then the United States and Europe. Now BODYPUMP can be found in more than 15,000 health clubs around the world.
BODYPUMP learning and teaching
Ensuring BODYPUMP continued as a world-class workout meant living on the frontline of global fitness research and trends. Les Mills grew a global team of fitness professionals, researchers and sports scientists, all dedicated to making sure every BODYPUMP workout was phenomenal. Phillip and Jackie's son Les Mills Jnr also entered the mix. Following in both his grandfather's and father's footsteps, Les Jnr began playing sport internationally. Primarily based in L.A, the style of exercise used to train this next generation of athletes was high-intensity interval training; now known as HIIT. With these new insights, Les Jnr returned home and began working on the LES MILLS GRIT™ Series. Not only did Les Jnr develop and create a new tier of programs, he also shared the research and trends of this style of training (a concept about to take the world by storm) with BODYPUMP.
Although BODYPUMP couldn't take on all the attributes of a true HIIT workout, it could evolve. Encouraging participants to push themselves harder in short bursts (still with moderate to light weights), BODYPUMP had found a way to develop an effective workout without excluding anyone.
With this change in style, a change in equipment was required. Considering equipment was at the forefront of its initial development, BODYPUMP did not hesitate and quickly began experimenting with new designs for a more versatile piece of equipment. From the dumbbell, to the stacked barbell, to the Les Mills SMARTBAR™.
With unique retractable teeth, the SMARTBAR now made weight changeovers fast and seamless, speeding up transitions to ensure participants get the most out of their workout. This new ease of changing weight also encouraged users to increase weights in small increments, pushing their strength and fitness to new levels.
Further enhancements to the program were made as instructors began sharing the knowledge and science behind this style of training –explaining how and why muscles were responding to certain moves. For example, illustrating what 'time under tension' meant or how you could keep your body guessing simply by changing the direction of an exercise. This desire to educate comes back to the authentic foundation that "Les Mills World of Fitness" was built on. For a truly authentic athletic workout it is important to understand how and why something is working for you.
After 25 years of continuous development, with a dedicated team of researchers and scientists now in its squad, it is undeniable that BODYPUMP will continue to evolve and provide revolutionary workouts for years to come.
You can stay in the loop with the future of BODYPUMP by joining the action when the 100th release of BODYPUMP is unleashed on the globe. Find out more here.
QUESTIONING CALORIE BURN by Emma Hogan Learn More
THE GLUTE GUIDE by Bryce Hastings
Fitness View All


North Korea has remained unusually silent as US and South Korea military drills kick off. Does the Kim regime's softer tone indicate it is ready to enter negotiations over its weapons program? Julian Ryall reports.
The joint US-South Korea Foal Eagle and Key Resolve military exercises began on Sunday with nearly 300,000 South Korean military personnel and 11,500 US troops involved in a series of field drills and computer-based tabletop exercises.
In previous years, the commencement of Foal Eagle would have provoked a barrage of propaganda from Pyongyang decrying the drills as a prelude to an invasion of the North and the forerunner of a nuclear exchange.
However, North Korea has suspended its rhetoric this year, warning of a conflict engulfing the Korean Peninsula.
The US is also taking a different approach this year: isn't deploying Rockwell B-1 Lancer bombers based in Guam, and is scaling back the presence of the aircraft carrier strike groups formed around the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson.
"The exercises are much smaller this year, only about half the size of last year, because the leaders of North and South Korea are planning to hold a summit before the end of the month and there has been good progress on the question of a detente in the last few months," Ahn Yin Hay, a professor of international relations at Korea University in Seoul, told DW.
Traditionally, the exercises would take place earlier in the year, but this year's Winter Olympic Games in South Korea changed the schedule.
When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hinted in his New Year's address that he would be willing to send a North Korean team to the games in order to start building bridges with his long-time ideological rival, the South Korean government was able to convince the US to postpone the exercises until after the games had been concluded.
Many were skeptical of North Korea's motives - and plenty remain so - but Kim has visited Xi Jinping in China for talks and is scheduled to meet Moon Jae In, his South Korean counterpart, before the end of April.
There is also a broad agreement in place for Kim to meet US President Donald Trump this spring, which would mark a dramatic diplomatic about-face for two leaders that just a few months ago were hurling insults at each other.
"North Korea wanted us [South Korea] to cancel the military exercises entirely as a prerequisite for face-to-face talks between the leaders, but neither Seoul nor Washington could accept that demand," said Ahn.
"But the feeling is that this is compromise acceptable to both sides - and even Kim said that he understands that the South needs to carry out training drills when he met with Moon's representatives."
Ahn said that there is growing optimism in South Korea that this time the North has come to the negotiating table with a genuine desire to end the political stalemate on the Korean Peninsula, but added that it is "too early" to completely trust the North.
"They have made promises in the past only to break them immediately," she said. "But this time I believe that the regime has been caused such pain by the sanctions, and in a short period of time, they realized that there was a real threat to their system and that they need a way out."
Daniel Pinkston, a professor of international relations at the Seoul campus of Troy University, told DW that the "blood-curdling rhetoric" of previous years is taking a back seat this time around because diplomacy appears to be making headway.
"I do believe there is a desire to open a dialogue and channels and to go down the path in the near term," he said. "And if they are open to dialogue, then propaganda is counterproductive because it is about sowing fear, ratcheting up political pressure and causing panic in Seoul and Washington."
Pyongyang has not, however, missed every opportunity in recent weeks to claim that its enemies are preparing to invade. Late last month, the South Korean military accepted the first new F-35A Lightning fighter after it rolled off Lockheed Martin's production lines in Fort Worth, Texas. A total of six of the aircraft are due to be delivered to the South this year, with 40 more on order and South Korea considering purchasing an additional 20.
After the hand-over ceremony, North Korean state media said the purchase of the fighters "gets in the way of the ongoing peace momentum" on the peninsula, adding that "dialogue and confrontation can never co-exist at the same time."
The North also objected strongly after the purchase of 90 Taurus air-launched cruise missiles by the South. A joint German-Swedish weapon, the Taurus gives South Korea the ability to hit targets anywhere in the North, but the deal was denounced by state media: "Seoul should put a complete stop to a 'combat with dialogue' attitude, which will end in failure."
At present, the signs are that bilateral and even multilateral talks will indeed take place, bringing the nations of the region back together. It remains to be seen, however, whether agreements can be reached that will conclude with nuclear weapons being removed from the Korean Peninsula.


Melanie Sauerland is an assistant professor at the section of forensic psychology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Her research deals with factors that have an impact on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and the reliability of alibis.
Children are poor witnesses. Or are they?


You can buy Cinema Secrets WO050 - Clown Nose - Medium at 3 stores. At Newegg.com the price is only $10.32 for Cinema Secrets WO050 - Clown Nose - Medium. You can also buy Cinema Secrets WO050 - Clown Nose - Medium at UnbeatableSale.com for $10.32.
I'm surprised of colors Cinema Secrets WO050 - Clown Nose - Medium. Looks much better than on images!


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text:
This is an apology? This is an outrage!
Look how he has his face in a shadow as though evil
As some of you may know, I recently won a landmark decison that determined three things concretely for blogs:
1) The format does not determine the content - professionalism and intent of criticism does. (Not all blogs are diaries, not all blogs are news;some are though. Some contain news. Some do not.)
2) The intent detrmines defamation. If constructed as a news story that is well researched and contains substantial fact OVER opinion - the criticism can not be considered defamation.
3) If a picture is posted on a public website, invasion of privacy can't be claimed if a site links to the picture with criticism. The court essentially said, "The Plaintiffs undoubtly would NOT have filed suit had my article been praise for Bidzirk or its owners"
So that the page can make some search engine ranking, Kevin Elwell has posted a half hearted smug apology of sorts on his website; called Bidzirk vs Smith. This is an effort to further demean, demoralize, and trivialize my writing and to play down a major loss that he knows will become part of journalism legal history. His loss is mostly due to his improper conduct and his client's malicious intent behind the litigation.
I've held off writing about his blog for some time now mostly because it was intentionally started to trash the things I write about here.
• 30% of the news on this website has been about the iPhone over the last year.
• The opposing attorney also knew that I had taken a job with AT&T as an iPhone rep (Probably because I mentioned it here.)
Earlier in the year, the plaintiff attorney for Bidzirk started a blog on his website:
He wrote two trolling entries filled with misstated facts:
Other Things You Can Do With $600
Guess he didn't hear all the rave reviews the iPhone was getting as the most revolutionary phone ever released, somewhat justifying a premium. I will be honest and say the iPhone has changed my life. I mean that. I am much more organized, have my music everywhere I go ... before I never carried my iPod and phone together. I also have easy access to the internet which I use a lot ... I mean a whole lot ... I mean like way more than I ever used the internet on a daily basis before. I'm always verifying things I see and facts I state, I'm constantly referring to diagrams of Apple computers that I don't have to bring out a bulky laptop to see, I use Google Maps on a daily basis, I enjoy being able to tell anyone what the weather is going to be.
Second, guess he also didn't care to mention the $200 price drop.
Third, he mentions getting a Samsung Blackjack instead for $79 and then mentions a contract tie down for the iPhone. The Samsung Blackjack is a very difficult phone to get used to, it doesn't have nearly the quality internet experience, and doesn't hold even 1/4 the songs with the highest media card available for it (that you must purchase separately for around $60-$80). The Samsung Blackjack is ONLY $79 if you take a 2 year contract. Otherwise it's a recently reduced to $299 price. At the time he wrote the piece the Blackjack was $349 without contract.
He wrote another troll piece entitled, iPhone Mania: Lemming Alert
There's no need for my commentary on this piece I'll let you read it on your own:
The iPhone is released today - so what? Does this device have what practitioners need to stay in touch with the office? Absolutely not. Will this device help you control overhead and communications costs? Absolutely not. Will it allow web surfing as fast as depicted in television advertisements? Absolutely not. Any lawyer that utilizes one of these phones as a business contact solution is nothing but a victim of advertising. The iPhone does not support synchronization with Outlook or Windows Server applications. You can't receive your office email on this thing - a fact which by itself makes the phone useless to attorneys. It costs about $600, which is roughly eight times the price of Samsung's BlackJack through AT&T - and the BlackJack handles Windows applications, office email, plays songs (a 2GB microSD card will hold about 800 songs which, let's be reasonable, is all that decent people need anyway), works on the 3G network, supports bluetooth, calendars, stores photos and, oh, makes and receives phone calls as well. Save your money, and get something with some utility for your law practice. The iPhone is neither helpful nor necessary.
Who are "decent people"? The iPhone "works" on 3G networks, just not at 3G speeds. Using the Samsung Blackjack Ars Technica determined that 3G drained the battery 15% to 20% faster. It's also hypocritical to say this when; Greenville, where this attorney and I live and do business - THERE CURRENTLY IS NO 3G NETWORK FOR AT&T!
Here's his latest entry which is nothing more of an attempt to save face, belittle me further, and be belligerent to the court. I say this pretty much seals up the "grossly improper conduct" that Judge Herlong mentioned in my ruling.
It's been a while since I posted here; I have simply been too busy to spend time blogging. Lately, however, my silence has been interpreted by some as unprofessional, and so if for no other reason than that, it's time to post again. As many already know, I represented the plaintiffs in BidZirk v. Smith, a case in which my clients sued Philip Smith, a blogger. BidZirk is an eBay dropoff store, and Mr. Smith had an unpleasant experience with the company. He posted a story in which he described his experience with BidZirk, which was fine. What wasn't fine was Mr. Smith's use of BidZirk's logo in his blog. BidZirk asserted a claim for trademark dilution under the Lanham Act, and BidZirk's principals asserted claims for defamation and invasion of privacy.
During the course of the litigation, Mr. Smith either neglected or ignored deadline after deadline, and was given second, third and fourth chances by the Court. At one point in the case, Mr. Smith had failed to respond to certain requests for admission, which under normal circumstances would have resulted in the facts contained in those requests being admitted for purposes of the case. These admissions would have normally had the effect of sealing Mr. Smith's fate, because the facts thus admitted would have established his liability. BidZirk moved for summary judgment on this basis. Then, I made a serious error. I filed a notice of lis pendens on Mr. Smith's condominium, for the purpose of preserving the availability of that asset to satisfy BidZirk's expected judgment. This was an aggressive move, and in hindsight was too much so. Arguing that an expectation of judgment equates to a claim directly involving the title to real property took the lis pendens statute beyond its intended use. The lis pendens was on the books for approximately six months, when it was withdrawn pursuant to the Court's instructions. The Court denied BidZirk's motion for summary judgment.
The Court was hostile to BidZirk's claims from the beginning. The case was referred for pretrial handling to a federal magistrate, who attempted to be fair to Mr. Smith, but also understood that the rules apply evenly to both sides, represented or not. Mr. Smith failed to respond to BidZirk's written discovery requests, and the magistrate eventually granted a motion to compel, with specific instructions to Mr. Smith to answer certain interrogatories, RPODs and requests for admission. Mr. Smith did not serve responses as ordered, but instead sought an extension of time to answer, which was granted. The Court's order relating to this extension of time stated clearly that if Mr. Smith did not respond as ordered in the additional time allowed, he would be sanctioned.
Instead, Mr. Smith filed a paper in which he stated "I deny and defy the Court's order," usually a sure-fire way to earn the Court's contempt. The Court ordered a status conference not with the magistrate, but with the district judge himself. I assumed that the district judge had gotten wind of Mr. Smith's in-your-face refusal to obey a Court order, and that the matter had been 'kicked upstairs' for resolution. On the appointed day, I appeared in the courtroom fully expecting to be witness to the district judge's bollocking of Mr. Smith. Instead, I was excoriated for the better part of 90 minutes, while the judge excused every bit of Mr. Smith's conduct, overruled the magistrate's discovery orders and suggested to Mr. Smith that he make an oral motion for summary judgment. The Court granted the motion, and sanctioned me for filing the notice of lis pendens.
The Court wrote that "in essence, this is a case in which the plaintiffs have sued Smith because he published articles on the internet critical of the plaintiffs' business." This is not what the case was about. BidZirk's claim was for trademark dilution; specifically, the negative association BidZirk's trademarks acquired through their connection with Mr. Smith's blog. There are three defenses to infringement liability under the Lanham Act - (1) non-commercial use; (2) comparative advertising; and (3) use of trademarks in "news reporting or news commentary." There is a 4th Circuit case directly on point (PETA v. Doughney, 263 F.3d 359 (4th Cir. 2001)) regarding the unavailability of the non-commercial use defense on websites that include any connection to commerce, such as click-through ads. Mr. Smith's website includes click-through ads. Respecting the comparative advertising defense, Mr. Smith's posting on BidZirk was not comparative advertising, and he never claimed that it was.
Accordingly, Mr. Smith's only defense to infringement was the argument that his posting was "news reporting or news commentary." The Court found that Mr. Smith's piece was news, arriving at that decision by reviewing the content of the posting. The Court also said that Mr. Smith's intent in posting the article was revealed in the article itself. BidZirk contended all along that determining whether Mr. Smith's posting was news requires an examination of his intent in publishing the piece. BidZirk contended, and the record supported, the notion that Mr. Smith did not set out to write an informative piece on BidZirk - rather, he attacked BidZirk after he had a bad experience with the company as a customer, not as a newsgatherer.
The problem with the Court's approach is that it involves judges in the critical evaluation of what is published, when the only proper inquiry is why it was published. We cannot allow the 'bloggers as journalists' debate to devolve into a situation in which courts weigh whether certain published information is newsworthy. Such is not the function of the courts. BidZirk proposed a test (set forth in its brief to the 4th Circuit) pursuant to which the putative news reporter's intent at the beginning of the newsgathering process is evaluated. If the blogger's intent is to gather facts and compile a story for the purpose of informing readers, it is news. If a story is compiled using facts that were gathered for a purpose other than news reporting, it is not news for purposes of 15 U.S.C. 1125(c)(4)(C). Remember that the context in which this test would be employed is extremely limited - the only question presented in BidZirk v. Smith was whether Mr. Smith's infringement of BidZirk's trademarks was excused by the character of the posting as news, a term which the Lanham Act does not define.
Several commentators have cited BidZirk v. Smith as a triumph of free speech over evil corporations concerned only with their reputations. However, the case was not about free speech, it was about trademark infringement. Had Mr. Smith published the same story, not using BidZirk's trademarks, BidZirk would not have sued Mr. Smith. BidZirk's issue with Mr. Smith was never about what he said on his blog, it was about his insistence on publishing BidZirk's logo. This may seem like a small thing, but it is the difference between lawful and unlawful use of another's property. If you owned a 20-acre yard, and a stranger insisted on standing on a six-inch wide spot at the very edge of your land, you would probably initially say to yourself that it's no big deal. If you looked out your kitchen window every morning and saw the same fellow standing there, trespassing on your six inches of grass, day after day, you would eventually say to yourself that enough was enough. After all, whether you own 20 acres or just the small space where the stranger is standing, a trespass is a trespass, and property owners are entitled to exclusive use of their property.
The same is true here. Mr. Smith's infringement continues every day that the posting is available on the internet. Infringement is infringement, whether it's the Nike swoosh on 1000 billboards or Philip Smith publishing BidZirk's logo on his blog. The net effect of BidZirk v. Smith, aside from the comment mill's First Amendment high-fiving, is to weaken trademark protection in this country. The stage is now set for the next incremental diminishment of property rights, with the test to be applied tasking judges to review the content of stories to determine whether they are newsworthy enough to be entitled to infringe their subjects' trademarks. This thought should give pause to anyone who writes a blog.
I learned two things in this case. First, don't try to expand the limits of the lis pendens statute in South Carolina. Second, don't ever try to tell a judge what s/he should be angry about. I pursued what I believed to be a plausible theory of the case. The Court didn't see it BidZirk's way. Time to pick up the next file and continue doing my work. I had hoped to get through my entire career without being sanctioned, and I am upset with myself that I failed in that regard.
I did not know Mr. Smith prior to the BidZirk v. Smith case, and I still do not know him. I respect Mr. Smith's tenacity in publishing his views. This case was about BidZirk's trademark. It was not about muzzling Mr. Smith. Congratulations to Mr. Smith for surviving a tough lawsuit. I apologize to him here, publicly, for filing the notice of lis pendens; it is a mistake that I shall not repeat. I wish Mr. Smith luck in the future, and hope that I, he and my clients can move on to better and more productive things.
I'm moving on with a lawsuit for harassment, breach of contract, defamation, and malicious litigation.
I want to assure everyone reading this that:
This is no apology especially after costing me 10's of thousands of dollars in lost income, 100's of hours of lost time and depression, and countless lost opportunities.
I have to say this:
KEVIN ELWELL YOU ARE THE MOST INSINCERE & SMUG PERSON I HAVE MET. SHAME ON YOU!
Unlike your comment, I know you VERY well - everybody does. This was no apology; it was a whine. Judge Herlong needs to see this - and oh - thanks for helping me make my case for antagonizing, embarrassing, and harassing "things Bidzirk did to me" even stronger with this post.
He's outright contemptuous with lies regarding the "way things went down". I know he has to portary it that way though ... a lawyer was beaten by a Pro Se litigant - it's embarassing to him and he knows it.
Judge Catoe only compelled me to answer the questions because he felt he HAD to give the attorney something. Obviously Judge Herlong understood that his questions WERE ALLL ridiculous - the majority of chastisement was NOT over the lis pendens; it was over his conduct and the "grossly improper behaviour" during the course of this litigation.
"Mr. Smith's posting on BidZirk was not comparative advertising, and he never claimed that it was."
Yes it was a comparitive study. I stated in the article that I had been to several similar businesses, done extensive online research, and in just about every instance, I found similar things happening at OTHER EBAY DROPOFFs.
I also want to make it clear that i never discouraged anyone from visiting Bidzirk. Everyone was already avoiding the business anyway for 3 reasons:
1) That kind of business has failed in just about every form where I live and is failing nationwide.
2) There were no repeat customers once they saw how they got shafted after their first payment.
3) Most people are competent enough to sell on eBay or know a friend or relative that will do it for them.
My article actually fit ALL 3 of the Lanham Act protections. It only has to fit one to be protected speech:
(1) non-commercial use ( My website can hardly been considered a money maker - I lose money here and write to inform educate and because I have always had a passion to write and to educate. )
(2) comparative advertising ( It was a comparison and contrast to other eBay dropoffs which suffer the same issues with customers nearly universally )
(3) use of trademarks in "news reporting or news commentary." ( Yep, that's what i did, reported a news story, and then commented on that news story. )
"Mr. Smith's infringement continues every day that the posting is available on the internet."
No it's NOT ... it was ruled as NOT infringing by the courts.
May I repeat:
The Plaintiff attorney (KEVIN MORGAN ELWELL) forced me to reveal trade secret information regarding an invention of mine and also forced me to reveal several of my clients personal information. One subject of a completely unrelated article that I posted was contacted and prompted to say something bad about me. Instead, he contacted me and I posted his letter on my website.
The Plaintiff attorney (KEVIN MORGAN ELWELL) was chastised very firmly for asking me 3 separate invasive, irrelevant, and antagonizing questions. (The MAJORITY OF YOUR CHASTISEMENT WAS THIS NOT THE LIS PENDENS!)
I answered ALL the courts requests ON TIME, IN ORDER, AND AS SUGGESTED I SHOULD DO with consulting advisors to me about this case.
Judge Catoe:
"This court finds several of the plaintiff's requests are irrelevant, vague, overly broad, and unduly burdensome"
"Two of the discovery requests appear to have been made for no other purpose than to antagonize and embarrass the defendant"
These are the questions meant to "antagonize and embarrass" me that were "irrelevant, vague, overly broad, and unduly burdensome" that Kevin Elwell speaks of that I refused to answer or did not answer on time or as requested.
These questions were:
Do you have a high school diploma?
Do you consider yourself intellectually superior?
This litigation has depressed you, are you sure you are not depressed because you are unmarried, have no children, have a junk title car, and live in a rundown condominium?
Please turn over the entire contents of your hard drive for all your computers?
When asked for clarification "all 158 GBs"?
Reply by Kevin Elwell, "Yes all 158GBs"
District Judge Herlong OVERRULED Judge Catoe saying the whole process of interrogatory, admission, and deposition were completely improper on the part of the Plaintiff. This is where he gets the FINAL SUMMARY statement in my ruling:
Quote from District Judge Henry Herlong:
"… the court finds that based on Elwell's grossly improper conduct, he should be sanctioned"
Paul Douglas said...
That's a disgrace. I can't believe the way he treated and spoke to you. Shame on him. I'm hoping very much that you win the counter-suit, he can't get away with that. All things being fair of course, there's no way you can lose - as his post and this one can show.
Your win was a fluke. You should quit while you are ahead. You aren't Erin Brockovich. Find some other thread to pull on - this one is all out
11/13/07, 4:00 PM
Wow. How could he think any of those questions (at the end of your post) had any relevance to the case, even if the court was plied with copious amounts of LSD?
What a screwball.
Instead of attacking a fine, decent person(Elwell) I suggest you buy a dictionary to check your spelling, or, in the alternative, get a life.
Kevin Elwell is someone I have known for years. He is a fine man and I hope he remembers the words of my late grandfather:"Never get insulted when you are kicked by a jackass."
In order to get a life I will have to find a new one since Kevin Elwell has stolen the last two years of my life and his clients caused me to be fired from my job and his clients took the only asset I had access to.
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text:
Remembrance: Leonard Knight's Salvation Mountain
Salvation Mountain, the art installation, near Niland, Calif., on the Salton Sea.
Aaron Huey
Knight at Salvation Mountain.
Knight patches holes in the mountain created by rain. He fills each hole with homemade adobe and straw, then paints it after it has dried.
Knight applies an adobe and straw mix to the mountain. The adobe comes from the mountain's hillside and dries as hard as cement. The hay is donated by local farmers.
Knight makes repairs inside the "museum."
Knight spent about three decades building the religious installation.
Knight paints a peripheral mound covered in flowers, one of his common themes.
Knight's tree of life, which he painted on one part of the base of the mountain.
Children visit the inside of the "museum," a bee-hive like structure made of telephone poles, car tires, windows, hay bales and adobe.
Around the edges of the mountain are several peripheral structures and sculptures, as well as art cars and trailers painted with scripture.
Paint donated by visitors for the expansion and repair of the mountain.
One of Knight's many art cars covered in scripture. He used to drive them in parades in the valley.
Visitors at the mountain.
A portait of Knight when he was 77 years old.
Knight's paint brushes.
By Andrew Katz
February 13, 2014 9:56 AM EST
Folk artist Leonard Knight, creator of Salvation Mountain, died on Monday afternoon in San Diego. He was 82.
It took Knight about three decades to paint and personalize the famed art installation in the desert of Niland, Calif., near the Salton Sea. Knight used adobe, straw and thousands of gallons of paint to personalize it with religious murals and technicolor Bible verses.
The site, which draws thousands of spectators every year, was Knight's life project. Volunteers have been working to protect and maintain it since he was placed in a long-term care facility in late 2011.
Seattle-based photographer Aaron Huey met Knight seven years ago and returned to Salvation Mountain several times since then. He remembers the artist:
Leonard's single mission in life was to spread the message that "God is Love" and though it references the Abrahamic "God," his mountain truly transcended any individual faiths. He brought countless people together to marvel at both the mountain and his message. Living at the mountain full-time in the back of an old painted firetruck with no belongings beyond his clothes and a few coolers, he could be found surrounded by visitors every day of the week spreading his message of "Universal Love." Though Leonard shrugged off the title of "artist," his work—his single masterpiece—will surely be counted among the greatest pieces of folk art ever created.
I met Leonard seven years ago and his impact on my life has been immense. Leonard made me want to throw away all of my things. My computers, my phone, my career, my ego—and to help him build his mountain of mud and paint. Instead, I helped him carry a dozen hay bales up the mountain and promised to come back again. I returned a dozen times over six years to help him build, to photograph his work, and to try to better understand his humble genius. I had never met a man of such singular, unflinching vision and to this day I can say he is one of the most incredible people I have ever met in all the world.
Your message lives on, Leonard. Travel well my friend.
Where Is Alibaba Founder Jack Ma?


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- Fitness Tips -
What is Protein Pacing?
Many professional athletes eat protein at regular intervals of the day — but protein pacing is beneficial for everyone.
By Lauren Bedosky | October 2017
Q | I've been hearing about protein pacing. What is it, and will it help me get fitter?
A | Protein pacing involves eating an optimal amount of protein at regular intervals throughout the day — not just at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
"What we are finding is that the timing of when you provide nourishment to your body, using protein as the anchor, is critical to our overall health and physical performance," explains Paul Arciero, DPE, director of the Human Nutrition and Metabolism Laboratory at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
He notes that protein pacing isn't just for pro athletes; it's beneficial for everyone. A 2014 study in the Journal of Applied Physiology, for example, demonstrated that protein pacing, both on its own and paired with an exercise program, is an effective method for reducing fat and overall body mass in overweight and obese adults.
If you go too long between meals (the one exception, of course, is nighttime fasting), your body transitions from maintaining or building lean muscle mass to breaking it down for fuel, Arciero explains. This is especially damaging if you're working toward a fitness goal.
"When people forgo eating a healthy source of protein before or after they've exercised, they've defeated the purpose of the exercise," he adds.
Adequate protein intake is critical for repairing tissue and protecting vital organs. For fitness buffs, it's essential for maintaining a healthy level of lean body mass, which can easily be depleted if they're counting calories.
With that in mind, Arciero recommends eating four to six meals per day. While the meals don't have to be equal in volume, he suggests eating 0.12 to 0.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight every three to four hours — roughly 20 to 40 grams of protein for a 180-pound person at each meal.
Twenty grams amounts to about 3 ounces of cooked meat; a single serving of most higher-quality protein powders also contains 20 grams of protein.
Whenever possible, prioritize whole foods, he adds. Examples include a small chicken breast or salmon fillet; three or four large eggs; 1 to 11/2 cups of cooked black beans, chickpeas, or lentils; and 1 to 11/2 cups of whole-fat Greek yogurt. (Learn more about your protein needs at "Protein Power: What You Need to Know".)
This originally appeared in "Expert Answers" in the October 2017 print issue of Experience Life.
Lauren Bedosky is a Minnesota-based health and fitness writer.
Photography by John Mowers
Choosing a Plant-Based Protein Powder
By Lauren Bedosky
The best option might be a blend of pea and rice proteins. Here's why.
- Nutrition -
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Research suggests that the USDA's protein recommendations intake may be too low for most active people.
Learn How to Make a Whole-Food Protein Smoothie
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By Gina DeMillo Wagner
You need protein to build muscle, manage your metabolism, and support tissue repair. But how much? What kind? And can you get too much? We answer your top-12 questions about protein.


text:
Item - The Home, v. IV, no. I, July 1857
The Home: A Fireside Monthly Companion and Guide for the Wife, the Mother, the Sister and the Daughter — v. 4 no. 1
Mary Howitt (Work, pages 5-6)
Motherless (Work, page 6)
Aims and Ends (Work, chapters I-III (conclusion), pages 7-10)
The Children's Night (Work, pages 10-11)
Maternal Influence (Work, page 11)
What A Poor Man's Wife Ought To Be (Work, page 12)
Flowers (Work, pages 12-13)
The Little Dancer (Work, page 13)
He or She? (Work, pages 14-21)
To Mrs. C. F. Wright (Work, pages 21-22)
The Beautiful (Work, page 22)
Discipline (Work, pages 23-28)
Two Records of a Bereaved Mother (Work, pages 29-32)
Parental Duty (Work, page 32)
Home (Work, page 32)
The Deserts of Africa (Work, pages 33-41)
Household Duties of House-Wifes (Work, pages 41-43)
Forgiveness (Work, pages 43-44)
A Good Wife (Work, page 44)
The Ten Dollar Piano (Work, pages 45-46)
A Mother's Influence (Work, pages 46-47)
Children's Teeth (Work, pages 47-48)
How To Secure Peace At Home (Work, page 48)
Do-As-You-Like Principle (Work, page 48)
Also includes: Editor's Department (including the departments "Hints for the Nursery" and "Recipes").


text:
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FEDERAL CHARGES About Firm Our Cases
Federal Defense Attorney Explains Conspiracy as a Federal Crime
Many defendants believe they can be charged with a crime only if they actually carry out illegal activity personally. The reality is, this is not the case. Federal law punishes conspiracy, which means that a defendant could potentially be charged and convicted simply for making a plan with others to violate the law.
A defendant could also be convicted of all offenses committed by co-conspirators, so if you are involved in a conspiracy in any way, you could be on the hook for everything done by the people who you are working with.
Being charged with conspiracy can have serious consequences. You could face a very lengthy prison sentence and be left with a criminal record. Federal conspiracy charges are more serious than state charges and you need to understand how such cases are investigated and how prosecutors can prove the case against you if you are accused of a conspiracy offense.
Determining how to respond during an investigation and how to deal with charges is complicated, but working with a federal criminal defense lawyer will help you to get the best possible outcome so you can reduce the chances of being convicted of a serious offense. You need a lawyer familiar with federal laws on conspiracy so your attorney can work with you to develop the most strategic response to navigating the federal criminal justice system.
LV Criminal Defense can help. Federal criminal defense attorneys at our team know conspiracy laws inside and out and we have successfully represented many defendants accused of conspiracy or other federal crimes. We will bring our considerable legal knowledge of the federal penal code to your case to help you prepare a response to charges and fight for the best outcomes possible.
To find out more about how our legal team can represent you if you live in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, or California and you have been accused of a federal offense, give us a call today.
Federal Laws on Conspiracy Crimes
The federal laws that define conspiracy crimes and impose penalties for these offenses are found in 18 U.S. Code Chapter 19. There are three different statutes within this section that address different aspects of federal conspiracy crimes. They include:
18 U.S. Code section 371: This is a broad statute that punishes any attempt to commit an offense or to defraud the United States. According to the relevant statute, you can be charged in any circumstances where you and at least one other person conspire to commit a crime against the United States, to defraud the United States, or to defraud any U.S. agency for any manner or any purpose. You can be convicted only if any one of the people involved in the conspiracy actually do an act in furtherance of the conspiracy. If any action is taken to carry out the conspiracy, all parties involved can be fined and imprisoned for up to five years. This means even if your co-conspirator is the one who acts, you could still be imprisoned. However, if the offense you are conspiring to commit is a misdemeanor offense, the maximum penalty you could face is the sentence that could be imposed for the misdemeanor, which may be less than five years imprisonment.
18 U.S. Code section 372: This statute addresses the crime of conspiracy to impede or injure an officer. Under this statute, if two or more people conspire to prevent a person from accepting or holding an office, trust, or place of confidence, those people can be charged. They can be charged whether they used threats, force, or intimidation to prevent someone from accepting or holding an office, trust, or place of confidence. Defendants can also be charged for using any means to induce any officer of the United States to leave the place where his duties are performed, or if defendants cause injury to an officer's person or property while that officer is lawfully discharging his duties. Finally, anyone who attempts to or actually injures, molests, hinders, or impedes public officials from the discharge of their official duties can also be charged. The maximum penalty if charged is six years of imprisonment, and/or a fine.
18 U.S. Code section 373: This statute makes it unlawful to solicit a crime of violence. If you have intent to cause someone to commit a felony involving threats of physical force or use of force, and you take actions that suggest that intent or you engage in activities likely to result in unlawful conduct, you can be charged. The statute explains that it is an affirmative defense if you voluntarily prevented the commission of the crime and completely and voluntarily renounced your criminal intent. However, it is not a defense to prosecution if the person who was solicited could not carry out the violent crime.
Remember, the prosecutor has the burden of proving every element of each of these offenses if the prosecutor brings charges against you to try to convict you of a conspiracy offense in violation of federal law.
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Federal Laws on Conspiracy to Distribute Drugs
In addition to the general laws prohibiting conspiracy in 18 U.S. Code Chapter 19, many other federal criminal statutes also criminalize specific types of conspiracies. For example, federal drug trafficking laws, laws prohibiting drug distribution, and laws prohibiting unlawful prescribing of controlled substances all make clear that defendants can be charged with these offenses for conspiring to violate laws on controlled substances even without direct involvement with the unlawful narcotics.
18 U.S. Code section 846 stipulates that anyone who conspires to commit offenses defined within the controlled substances act can be penalized as if he had committed the underlying offense.
A defendant can be charged with conspiracy as soon as any overt action is taken in furtherance of that conspiracy, so if you make a plan with any person to manufacture, distribute, or traffic narcotics, you could be charged if that person takes any steps towards carrying out the scheme.
Penalties you face for conspiracy to distribute drugs will vary depending upon the type of controlled substance you conspired to distribute and the amount of the substance in possession of you or your co-conspirators. In some cases, violating controlled substance laws could result in decades of imprisonment or even life in prison, so you should expect to face serious consequences if you have been accused of conspiring to distribute drugs.
Federal Laws on RICO Conspiracy
Defendants can also face harsh penalties if they are charged with conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). RICO penalizes unlawful activities, such as acts of violence of trafficking in controlled substances, that are carried out as part of a pattern of organized criminal activity.
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is found in 18 U.S. Code Chapter 96. This Chapter defines prohibited activities and specifies criminal and civil penalties that can be imposed.
In 18 U.S. Code section 1962, prohibited activities under RICO are defined. This statute makes clear that it is unlawful to conspire to violate any of the provisions of the RICO statute, including laws prohibiting threats to collect unlawful debts. Criminal penalties could include 20 years in prison or more under 18 U.S. Code section 1963, so the stakes can be very high when charged with involvement in a RICO conspiracy.
Federal Laws on Conspiracy to Kidnap
Conspiring to kidnap is also a serious federal offense that can lead to decades of imprisonment. The federal statute on kidnapping, 18 U.S. Code section 1201, specifies within Section 1201(c) that whenever two or more persons conspire to violate anti-kidnapping laws and any one of those individuals does any overt act to carry out the plan, each of the co-conspirators can be punished by up to life in prison.
This means if you discuss kidnapping a child for ransom and one of your co-conspirators purchases duct tape to silence the child when the kidnapping takes place, you could potentially be sentenced to a lengthy period of imprisonment for your role in the plot.
A federal defense lawyer can help you to understand, specifically, what kinds of penalties you could be faced with for involvement with a conspiracy to kidnap based on the plot you hatched and the actions you and your co-conspirators have allegedly undertaken.
Federal Laws on Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice
There are several federal laws that prohibit and criminalize obstruction of justice, most of which are found within 18 U.S. Code section 73. Statutes that define crimes that are considered to be obstruction of justice include 18 U.S. code section 1510, which deals with the obstruction of criminal investigations; 18 U.S. Code section 1511, which criminalizes obstructing state or local law enforcement; 18 U.S. Code section 1512, which criminalizes tampering with witnesses or informants; and 18 U.S. Code section 1513, which makes it a crime to retaliate against a witness.
Within these statutes, federal laws make clear that those who conspire to violate the law can be charged for the underlying offense.
For example, 18 U.S. Code section 1512(k) stipulates that any person who conspires to commit an offense under the relevant code section will be subject to the penalties that are prescribed for the commission of the obstruction offense. The exact penalties vary depending upon what types of actions were taken in order to tamper with or silence the witness, so you should talk with your attorney about possible consequences you could face upon conviction.
Federal Laws on Arson Conspiracy
Conspiring to commit arson can also result in imprisonment under statutes within 18 U.S. Code Chapter 40. In fact, 18 U.S. code section 844(i) specifically prohibits using fire or explosives for purposes of damaging, destroying, or attempting to damage or destroy, vehicles, buildings, or other real or personal property.
18 U.S. Code section 844(n) goes on to specify that any person who conspires to commit offenses in chapter 40 can be subject to the same penalties as the individuals who carried out the unlawful acts. There is one exception, though. While the death penalty could be imposed for certain unlawful acts under 18 U.S. Code Chapter 40, a co-conspirator who does not himself engage in conduct that could result in execution cannot be sentenced to the death penalty under conspiracy laws.
Under 18 U.S. Code section 844(i), the offense of arson – or using fire or explosives to damage buildings, vehicles, or other real or personal property – can result in between five years and 20 years of imprisonment in most cases and can result in a fine.
However, if any person, including a public safety officer, is hurt because of the arson, the penalty could include between five and 40 years imprisonment. And, if anyone is killed, the penalty could be life imprisonment – or death for the person who actually set the fire.
While conspiring to commit arson couldn't result in a death sentence for you if you weren't the person who actually committed the unlawful act of arson, your involvement in a conspiracy could still lead to life imprisonment if someone is killed because of the crime.
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Getting Help From a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney
Conspiring to commit a crime can result in life-changing penalties when you face federal charges. If you want to ensure that you do everything possible to minimize the chances of a guilty verdict and resulting prison sentence, it is important that you get the right legal help. You should reach out to LV Criminal Defense for assistance navigating the federal criminal justice system and fighting conspiracy charges.
Our firm has represented many defendants charged with federal crimes. We serve clients in Utah, Nevada, California, and surrounding areas and we know federal laws inside and out so we can provide the assistance you need to fight for acquittal or negotiate the most favorable plea deal possible.
To find out more about how our firm can help you to try to protect your future when you've been charged with a federal offense, give us a call today.
Federal Conspiracy Laws
Conspiracy to Distribute Drugs
RICO Conspiracy
Conspiracy to Kidnap
Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice
Arson Conspiracy
Help From a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney
LV Criminal Defense,
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Copyright © 2019, LV Criminal Defense.
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text:
Basemental: New small urban festivals ditch the corporate music vibe
by Will Meyer | Oct 17, 2016
Kindling (Facebook photo)
A few years ago, Valley musician Mike Parham came back from South by Southwest (SXSW), a music festival in Austin, Texas, and described it to me like the Wild West —somewhere between an underground music festival and a business convention.
Some see SXSW as their ticket to success, but just as many musicians and critics see it as a textbook example of bloated corporate influence – the place where DIY first kissed Davos. Straddling a line between art and commerce that has become blurrier over the years, large festivals have become "branded experiences" out in the middle of nowhere, detached from local communities rather than a celebratory embrace of them.
In direct — and sometimes intentionally political — contrast to SXSW, some festivals have emerged in small cities to focus on carving out cultural space, building community rather than turning a profit. Valley musicians — myself among them — have played a few of these cultural experiments.
It has always been my view that creating alternatives to dominant capitalist models is one sharp tool to resist the hold they have on cultural life, and so many other spheres of society. By demonstrating that "another world is possible," these festivals are creating a different paradigm.
The Easthampton-based fuzzy-shoegaze-pop outfit Kindling headed to the famous boardwalk town of Asbury Park, NJ to play The New American Music Festival in September. The fest was created by Don Giovanni Records, a label recognized as much for its DIY politics as its roster. In a WXPN interview, Don Giovanni founder Joe Steinhardt called the festival industrial complex "the antithesis of what music culture — of what culture — really is." NAMF was billed as a "pro-weirdo" event designed to make space for punks, queers, and escapees of corporate sponsorship. Stephen Pierce from Kindling said that "we all come from a background in DIY / punk, and [the NAMF] feels like home to us. Festivals like NAMF or Smash it Dead or Ladyfest are crucial — they underscore the heartbeat of underground music."
Hadley psych rockers Carinae headed to Portland, ME to play the Waking Windows festival on Oct. 1. A few days later, I bumped into festival organizer Peter McLaughlin at a show in Boston, who told me that "something special happens" when you bring together a "dense concentration" of creative people, sparking a "certain magic." When speaking of the bottom line, he was blunt, saying that "we'd rather pay the artists fairly and lose money than curate the festival in a profit-focused way."
My own band Bucket just got home from the 7th annual installment of the O Positive festival in Kingston, NY, a small city along the Hudson river. The festival was created on a genius premise: "bartering the art of medicine for the medicine of art." In exchange for playing, the four of us had teeth cleanings, massages, acupuncture, chiropractic work, haircuts, and medical consultations, and the health care providers had access to music and art.
Gage Lyons played at both Waking Windows and O+. I think he sums it all up nicely: "Both of these festivals felt like they were a part of the community that was already there, rather than importing a purchasable cultural product … [Bonnaroo or ACL or SXSW] have to import all of this art and infrastructure to a neutral or vacant space … In contrast, real people in their own communities are creating their own space, meaning, and experiences."
"It's getting harder to ignore systems of oppression and profit" he adds. "Artists don't live in a neutral bubble where morals and politics don't matter."
Now that Kindling is back in town, catch them at the Laughing Dog Bike Shop in Amherst this Saturday at 7 p.m. with Dirty Dishes, Infinity Girl, and Landing. All ages; donations encouraged.
Basemental appears twice monthly. Contact Will Meyer at wsm10@hampshire.edu.