The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Too often I forget about the unconditional love of God. This line from today's reading from Isaiah puts it front and center for me. Unconditional is a powerful word. No strings attached. No price to pay. No grudges. God does not deal with us the way most humans relate tot others. God looks at our present. and love us. God promises to be with us always, to help us on our way. Nothing you or I can do will every separate us from God's love. God is love. God can only love. God's loving me does not depend upon my loving in return. I may give up on the love of a person who just doesn't want anything to do with me. God never gives up on me. God lovingly waits for me.
Recalling these truths have made my day! Thank you, Lord!
"Not as man sees does God see . . ."
". . . The Lord looks into the heart."
How consoling these words from the first reading for this Sunday from 1 Samuel! How true! It is certainly true in my own life when I often judge others by appearances without even knowing their motivation for doing something, saying something or not doing or saying what "I would say." How easy it is to fall into the judgmental trap.
I take great comfort in knowing that when I am at the receiving end of another's judgments, God does not judge me harshly. God sees my intentions even if no one else does. I pray that I may refrain from judging others. Instead of judgment, I will try to remember to pray for the person I am tempted to judge. Instead of discouragement, will try to share my heartfelt intentions with God, who knows my heart, and rest secure that in the end, that is all that matters.
Easy to write. Difficult to do? Maybe, but with God's grace, I will try.
I am changing our style tonight, since today the President of the United States met Pope Francis for the first time. The news report is that the POTUS' report of the meeting was very different from the report of the Vatican about the two leaders. Now, at this point in history, who would you believe? Hmmmmm.
I am tired of the spinning of the political leaders which just take us away from the true peace Christ came to give. I wonder if that is what the conversation was like in Rome today? I would hope so.
Jesus knew all about her. He waited for her by the well so that he could speak with her and help her. It is as simple as that. This well-know story from the Gospels gives me much to pray about. I put myself in her place. I have a "history." I have something I thirst for and need every day of my life. Like the woman at the well, I carry my jug with me, hoping that I will be able to come home with it filled. Sometimes my jug contains security, sometimes understanding, sometimes the desires that motivate me to be what God has called me to be. Still, I need to set all this aside and let Jesus sit with me. I need to let Jesus understand me more than I understand myself. I need to let go of my control of life. I need to let go of my searching for security, understanding and all of my deep desires. I have been searching for them in all the wrong places. No matter what I do, I continue to thirst greatly.
I need to set the jug down and go to the real SOURCE of all I truly desire: Christ Jesus, Himself. Just as Jesus knew all about her, he knows all about me. He waits for me each day, each night. Thank you, Jesus. Please fill my bucket. You are the only bucket list I need.
This week has been a busy and a challenging week, as far as listening to God is concerned. The graces pouring forth from Sacred Scripture accounts of Joseph and his brothers, Lazarus the beggar at the rich man's gate, Jesus and his consistent predictions of his coming Passion ------ all connected with me in some way.
I saw myself being called from judging others to forgiving others. I was reminded that I am called to live my life to the fullest, trying to miss fewer and fewer opportunities of God's grace. I wonder how many times Jesus has called me to follow him as a disciple, carrying my own cross and somehow, like his followers, missed the point that Christ was trying to make with me.
I pray that I will be more open to these graces in my life. I thank God for the patience poured out upon me while God waits for me to "get it." I would rather live the resurrection moments of "Aha! I did it! I got it! I welcomed this costly grace from God!" It is at time of wishing and hoping and dwelling upon my "should-a, could-a, would-as" that I hope to remember that these learning curves are part of the dying I need to do as I work on my selfishness and other faults.
What am I thirsting for?
I love this image of Liz Lemon Swindle's work Drink and Never Thirst. It is such a beautiful meditative interpretation of the meeting of Jesus with the Woman at the Well. The expression on the woman's face speaks of grace, love, compassion and the finality of knowing that she has just met someone who would change her life forever. The assuring hand clasp and the bent posture of Jesus, speaks of the gentleness and goodness he showered upon her.
I hope to sit a while today to let the Lord touch me, knowing everything about me, as he did of the woman at the well. Still, he loves me, he searches me out and he offers me a drink too. This drink is spiritual --- satisfying my longing for fulfillment and unconditional love. Once I meet Christ and let him become the center of my life, I will never thirst for false fulfillment and satisfaction. I will never be thirsty for these things again.
The trouble is that I know this and often forget what Christ is trying to tell me here. I fall away from my resolutions and go thirsting after other things, forgetting what the Gospel teaches me.
I pray for the grace to do better this Lent. I ask the unnamed woman at the well, to intercede for me.
Lent is going very well this first Friday of the season. I smile to myself as I write this, because it is always easier to kick off Lent than to stay focused and loyal to the things God is asking me to change about myself during this time. But God is so very good. I just had a conversation with a young man who lives in real poverty, relying on people for most of his needs. He is a modern day Prodigal Child. As we talked, I could not help but think of the unconditional love that Christ told us about in the parable of the Prodigal Child and the self-emptying unconditional love of Jesus on the Cross. I pray that his person will be able to reap from the graces of God's love for him. I am sure that you, dear reader, know others like him, who are discouraged and burdened by life. Let us pray and fast today, not only for the first Friday in Lent, but for all who bear a very heavy Cross in life. May the graces flowing from Christ's Passion be their help and peace.
Today we have accepted the blessed ashes on our foreheads to remind us of the journey we commit ourselves to make for the next 46 days. Let us pray that these ashes may take us deeper into our relationship with Christ. When they are washed off and no longer visible to others, may we internalize what we have witnessed to when we accepted them today. A blessed Lent!
The empty tomb signifies the truly awesome reality that we always have hope because the Lord, Jesus is alive after becoming incarnate, living on this earth, suffering, experiencing torture and dying in one of the most inhumane ways possible. HE IS ALIVE!
I know that Lent begins on Wednesday. I am preparing to enter into Lent grateful for the gift of the Resurrection, for without this great gift, we would not have Lent, or even a Christmas for that matter. We celebrate and enter into these very important days because he is RISEN. That is why he came. That is why he took on our human nature and suffered. That's why he allowed himself to die on the cross. He redeemed us by going through the cross and death to Resurrection and glory. No one made God decide to do this. God simply loved each of us, just as we are. He put terms on his dying and rising. He did not say "Okay, if you live perfectly and love me consistently in your life, I will redeem you." No, he redeemed each of us --- all of us.
So Lent for me is something I simply want to live out of love too. I go beyond the "have to" things of Lent, such as fasting and abstinence, to the why I choose to do these things. I see them as symbols of repentance for the times I have not consistently loved God, even though I know how much God loves me. I see them as invitations to go deeper into this Lenten Season, to live more fully this year, the invitation God extended to me in Jesus more than 2,000 years ago. I find this invitation expressed in various ways in the Christian Scriptures: "Go, sell what you have, give to the poor and come, follow me," "Love one another as I have loved you," and " Do good to those who hate you . . ." I see Christ speaking to me through the Church today too, as I am called to live the Gospel without getting caught up the politics of our age. I wish everyone who reads this, a beautiful Lenten Season. Let us pray for each other.
The movie The Son of God opened in our area the other day, just in time for the beginning of Lent 2014. How important it is for us to keep the life, suffering and death of Jesus before our eyes. I hope this Lent will be a rewarding one for all who read this. Rewarding? Yes, in a way that brings each of you and myself closer to Christ who came, lived, suffered, died and rose from the dead, so that we would live eternally. If Lent does not bring me closer to Christ, what good is it? I hope I don't treat this Lent like shopping days before Christmas . . . the great countdown to Easter with not much else to invest in. God is giving me the grace. May I be spiritually conscious, and willing to take that grace and run with it.


text:
import eventHub from '../../eventhub';
import Disposable from './disposable';
import Model from './model';

export default class ModelManager {
  constructor() {
    this.disposable = new Disposable();
    this.models = new Map();
  }

  hasCachedModel(key) {
    return this.models.has(key);
  }

  getModel(key) {
    return this.models.get(key);
  }

  addModel(file, head = null) {
    if (this.hasCachedModel(file.key)) {
      return this.getModel(file.key);
    }

    const model = new Model(file, head);
    this.models.set(model.path, model);
    this.disposable.add(model);

    eventHub.$on(
      `editor.update.model.dispose.${file.key}`,
      this.removeCachedModel.bind(this, file),
    );

    return model;
  }

  removeCachedModel(file) {
    this.models.delete(file.key);

    eventHub.$off(`editor.update.model.dispose.${file.key}`, this.removeCachedModel);
  }

  dispose() {
    // dispose of all the models
    this.disposable.dispose();
    this.models.clear();
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Need help with engine and transmission combinations.
Anyone remove their metal floor completely?
Hola! I finally got me a bus!
Hello to the Skoolie family!
Hello From Los Angeles/Kansas City!!!
Should I buy this bus!
New to forum & looking for converted bus to purchase!
Long wait but finally got my Bus!
Hello! Proud new Skoolie owner!
Think I may have caught the bug!
Looking to start a skoolie adventure!
OMG! I own a bus!
School District Director looking for expert advice!
Hi from NJ, full-time living/Do I buy this bus?
My journey is about to begin!!!
Any Skoolies around Charlotte, NC?
Academic Enrichment Program Administrator with 2 Busses to care for.
New to skoolie forum posts keep getting removed?
Baby buslifer here! Total N00b!
40 is old enough for crazy ideas, right?
Greetings from someone who has started the first steps towards skoolie life!
New to Skoolie and looking for help!
House on the market and bidding on a bus!
Looking for help in Austin!
Newbie, looking for a short bus!
Sold the house and the bus is ready!!!!
Trying to set myself free!
What is the exact length of this bus bumper to bumper?
New bus. Need advice. Need help in Los Angeles area.
Finally bought a bus and joined!


text:
package com.jcabi.jdbc;

import java.sql.ResultSet;

/**
 * Handler that does nothing (and always returns {@code null}).
 *
 *
Useful handler when you're not interested in the result:
 *
 *
new JdbcSession(source)
 *   .sql("INSERT INTO foo (name) VALUES (?)")
 *   .set("Jeff Lebowski")
 *   .insert(new VoidHandler());

 *
 *
This class is thread-safe.
 *
 * @author Yegor Bugayenko (yegor@jcabi.com)
 * @version $Id$
 * @since 0.1.8
 */
public final class VoidHandler implements JdbcSession.Handler<Void> {

    /**
     * {@inheritDoc}
     */
    @Override
    public Void handle(final ResultSet rset) {
        return null;
    }

}


Just hanging out above the world.
It's a view that very few people will ever get to see firsthand: Legs dangling in free fall above the Earth with nothing but empty space between you and the planet's blue surface 250 miles below.
If you're an astronaut on a spacewalk, however, this vertigo-inducing perspective is something you'll need to get used to, and fast.
NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough shared his unique perspective with people on social media after he ventured outside the International Space Station for a spacewalk on March 24.
Spacewalking, which involves donning a bulky spacesuit to leave the relative safety of the Space Station, is one of the more dangerous activities an astronaut can take part in while in orbit.
Astronauts use tethers to move around outside of the laboratory, and even simple tasks, like using a wrench or removing and replacing experiments, can be strenuous in the extreme environment. Even moving your hands in the bulky gloves attached to a spacesuit can be difficult.
That said, NASA mission controllers monitor the astronauts the entire time they're moving around outside the station, giving them instructions and helping them through difficult tasks as needed.
A spacewalk selfie of Shane Kimbrough snapped on March 24.
Kimbrough stepped outside for his walk with European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet in order to perform some maintenance on the orbiting outpost. The two astronauts were outside for about 6.5 hours in total.
This is only the start of a series of spacewalks planned for the Space Station in the next week.
Kimbrough and NASA's Peggy Whitson will also head out into the vacuum of space for another spacewalk on March 30. And on April 6, Whitson and Pesquet will leave the airlock for the last spacewalk in the series.


This week, Cocktail Maestro Norm Owen enlightens us on the easily-overlooked element of a great drink: Bitters.
"Bitters are the salt and pepper of your cocktail," says Norm – in other words, the spice that brings it all together.
If you are building a bar, there are 3 essential types of bitters that to have that will take you a long way: Angostura bitters, Orange bitters, and Peychaud's bitters. With these three you should have what it takes to tackle most classic cocktails.
There's one cocktail where bitters takes centre stage. Norm calls this one a "genius" cocktail. Great before your Thanksgiving dinner!
Shake and shake in a cocktail shaker full of ice. Strain into a coupe and garnish with a sprinkling of nutmeg. Enjoy the spiced goodness!


A special formulation featuring turkey protein plus barley for normally active adult dogs that may be sensitive to corn and wheat.
ANF® Advanced Nutrition Formula Adult Turkey Meal & Barley - Sensitive Skin Formula covers the nutritional needs of an adult and healthy dog, of any breed and size. It is also a very tasty and palatable food.
A 50lb dog should be fed about 3 cups.
Turkey Meal(29%), Barley, Ground Brown Rice, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Ascorbyl Palmitate), Beet Pulp, Natural Flavors, Brewers Yeast, Salt, Dried Egg Product, Lecithin, Fish Meal, Flaxseed, Chicken Cartilage (source of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate), Fish Oil, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Methionine (essential Amino Acid), Ferrous Sulfate (source of Iron), Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Biotin Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboavin supplement (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate (source of Iodine), Menadione Sodium Bisulte Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite (source of Selenium).
Adult Turkey Meal & Barley is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance.


This article is about how anyone can help the food pantry in your town.
Working in an NGO is quite a challenging job, but there are lots of benefits in this job. The most beneficial part is the satisfaction you get in return and your positive contribution in the society. One must work for the betterment of this society either by joining an NGO or by volunteering for it.
There are many issues facing schools in third-world nations, including disease and teacher pay. It only costs $8,500 to build a school in a third-world country. Learn more about this option and consider the reasons for helping students overseas in this way.
It's nice when people do things for you. As they say pay it forward and here are a few ways that you can pay it forward.


Evangelist Roger Carswell has a burden to reach the lost with the good news of the gospel. He is also deeply concerned that Christians should have a love for those without Jesus. In this carefully crafted devotional journal of 52 readings, he has brought together a selection of Bible passages, prayers and hymns designed to help us all cultivate a soul winner's passion.


text:
Ebony and Guitar String Wood Wedding Ring
Ring size 5 5 1/4 5 1/2 5 3/4 6 6 1/4 6 1/2 6 3/4 7 7 1/4 7 1/2 7 3/4 8 8 1/4 8 1/2 8 3/4 9 9 1/4 9 1/2 9 3/4 10 10 1/4 10 1/2 10 3/4 11 11 1/4 11 1/2 11 3/4 12 12 1/4 12 1/2 12 3/4 13 13 1/4 13 1/2
5 5 1/4 5 1/2 5 3/4 6 6 1/4 6 1/2 6 3/4 7 7 1/4 7 1/2 7 3/4 8 8 1/4 8 1/2 8 3/4 9 9 1/4 9 1/2 9 3/4 10 10 1/4 10 1/2 10 3/4 11 11 1/4 11 1/2 11 3/4 12 12 1/4 12 1/2 12 3/4 13 13 1/4 13 1/2
This bentwood ring is made of a single piece of ebony wrapped around itself for strength and inlaid with an electric guitar string. Strong but light, and made to last a lifetime. Please note: There may be a slight gap visible in the guitar string inlay.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
UCLA Professor Judea Pearl on Jewishness, Israel, and BDS
Judea Pearl is an Israeli-American professor of Computer Science and statistics at UCLA, the director of UCLA's Cognitive Systems Laboratory, and a Turing Award recipient recognized for his contributions to the field of artificial intelligence by his invention of Bayesian networks, a "calculus for probabilistic and causal reasoning." Professor Pearl and his wife Ruth are the co-founders of the Daniel Pearl Foundation in the memory of their son Daniel Pearl, a Jewish-American journalist who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. The Foundation seeks to use Daniel Pearl's life as a symbol to promote journalism, East/West understanding and to combat hate. Professor Pearl writes frequently on issues of Jewish identity, supporting Israel, and the BDS movement in such publications as the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, Forward, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.
What does being Jewish mean to you?
Well, I'm glad you started with a simple question. [laughs] Okay. I'll give you some background. My wife and I have edited a book dealing with this very question. It's called I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl. We asked 150 Jewish thinkers what each one them means by saying, "I'm Jewish." And the common denominator came out clear and crisp. It was nice to see that my definition of being Jewish coincided with that of the great thinkers of our time, like Amos Oz, Shimon Peres, Thomas Friedman, Rabbi Schulweis and others. To me, being Jewish means to identify with the past, present and future of a collective of people who happen to call themselves Jews. So now you have a circular definition. But it doesn't scare me, because I'm a part-time logician and I know that circular definitions have their roles.
The key point is that this collection of individuals who happen to call themselves Jews also have a story to tell which is rich, unique and breathtaking. The story begins with Abraham and Moses and Mount Sinai and Joshua and ends with Herzl and Ben-Gurion. And this narrative is what keeps them together. They are united not in hate of others, but by commonalities among themselves and, naturally, by the desire to share destiny. Most successful societies start with uniting narrative of this sort, and ours happened to be a beautiful one. It was beautiful up to about 1850 and from then on it became doubly beautiful with the evocation and awakening of Zionism, which made the whole history attain a new meaning: "We had a thriving civilization, then we were displaced, and finally we came back to our homeland with pride and joy and success." So this is what makes us Jewish. The narrative I just talked about became the main store of our intellectual resources. When we speak in metaphors, our metaphors are drawn from our heritage. And we consequently have a common language. We teach those metaphors to our children, they help propagate that narrative across generations, and that's what makes us a national collective.
Nationalism has come to ill repute in the 20th century, especially after the rise of the Nazis and the anti-colonialism movement. But, Jewish nationalism can pride itself on defying all the teachings of postmodernist political science. It proved that nationalism can be a positive uniting force that unleashes constructive energy, collaborative energy, and an amazing success story that one can be proud of. And that's why we are hated so intensely, especially by intellectuals on the extreme left. These pseudo-intellectuals will never forgive us for defying their textbooks. Their textbooks were written at the height of the anti-nationalism period, which did not allow for a nation of peddlers and beggars to lift itself from the margin of history to become a world-class center of art, science and business. And, because they are not very creative, these intellectuals are still stuck with their obsolete textbooks and refuse to forgive us for proving them wrong. They can't get it into their skulls that a people returning to a land in which its collective memory was shaped and authored has nothing in common with the "white colonialist settlers" that their textbooks villainized so intensely.
Why is Israel an important part of your Jewish identity and Jewish identity generally?
Because once we agree that our cohesive force is our historical narrative, we must also agree that Israel is the culmination of that historical narrative. On two counts: first, the dream of returning to Zion has been the engine that kept us hopeful and resilient through eighty generations of traumatic existence in exile. And second: Israel currently symbolizes the fulfillment of that dream and provides us with pride, cultural resources and intellectual currency to enhance our cohesive narrative. It makes this narrative a living reality that every Jew can identify with. So currently Israel is the symbol of our unity. If you take away Israel from the Jewish psyche, you take away Jewishness. I know this is not something that all Reform rabbis will agree with, some think that Tikkun Olam and dancing with Linda Sarsour can replace our history. They are mistaken. They sadly misunderstand what will become of American Jewry if Israel is gone. They don't realize that this will be the end of American Jewry as a religion, as a collective, as a cultural movement – everything will end because Jews will not have the cohesive force and the symbol of historical continuity that Israel currently provides. With this in mind, I venture to I make a prophecy, and I hope it will not come to fruition, that if Israel goes down, American Jewry and world Jewry will go down as well – it will be the end of Jewishness.
So do you believe that Jews have a duty to support Israel politically?
[Laughs] Do you have a duty to support your tomorrow? No! You can commit suicide! But do you want to survive? Not as an individual, but as a collective. It is more a sense of mission than a duty that I have. So, yes, I have this sense of duty. I cannot demand this sense of duty of all Jews – I cannot demand it, for example, from Noam Chomsky or from Jews for Jesus. They disavow their Jewish heritage and still insist on calling themselves Jews, which is confusing, but fine. I would gladly invite them to attend my grandson's Bar Mitzvah, but not to teach in the Center for Jewish Studies.
By the way, Jews for Jesus are more pro-Israel, hence more Jewish, than Jewish Voice for Peace. As a result, I find myself more comfortable with Jews for Jesus than with Jewish Voice for Peace. Unlike the former, Jewish Voice for Peace are laboring to dismantle Israel – our strongest uniting force — thus committing a collective suicide of all Jews.
Yes, I do have a sense of mission. Whatever skills, knowledge and stature I have, I feel that I partly owe them to my heritage and I want to give that part back for the preservation of this marvelous tribe which I'm proud to be part of. And why am I proud? First, because it's a very accomplished tribe, and second, it serves a very important function in the intellectual history of mankind. Jews were always the scouts of civilization. Always questioning authority and promoting chiddush (innovation). Actually, the very presence of Jews among their gentile neighbors represented the idea that there is no absolutism. Whatever your priest preached this morning, there is an alternative narrative to it, and it is embodied in the Jew. That was the role of Jews throughout history, and that's why they were hated. People don't like alternatives. We are still serving this role in the intellectual making of mankind and I'm proud to be a part of it because this is what science is all about: Search for alternatives, question authority and insist on understanding things your way.
What is your view on Students for Justice in Palestine and the BDS Movement at UCLA and on other college campuses?
[Laughs] I assume this is not a loaded question! It's just a question that came to your mind! Well, these two are special kinds of racist movements that need to be handled with their own weapons. They are racist movements because they deny us, Jews, rights that they grant to others; the right to exist. They say so explicitly, despite of what this guy [Robert Gardner] wrote in the Daily Bruin last week [laughs]. He knows very well that "Palestine free from the river to the sea" is a death threat. And the proof that the guy means it too is that he would never say that Jews have a right to a state of their own. You can coerce him to say perhaps that he disagrees with Louis Farrakhan, but he would never say that Jews deserve a state. He essentially said, "No, don't worry! We wouldn't kill you! We would just strip you of your sovereignty, and let you survive statelessly at the mercy of your benevolent neighbors" [laughs].
BDS is a racist and genocidal movement which should be named for what it is. And it's not named so because we Jews want to appear as inclusive and respectful people. The BDS ideology can be defined by one word: "Zionophobia." — an irrational fear of Zionism and an obsessive commitment to delegitimize Israel in any borders. Zionophobia should be exposed as one of the 21st century's greatest threats to mankind. And I say mankind, not only Israel, because the technique that they are perfecting now will be used in the next decade against other hated groups. The technique is simple: Pose yourself as a political activist . . . "Just criticizing the policies of Israel! Just protesting the occupation. etc, etc.." while working incessantly towards the elimination of Israel. This deceitful technique makes BDS racist of the first degree, and it should be fought, like all racist movements, by exposure.
No! More than exposure – by fighting words. Unfortunately we, Jews, weren't trained to use fighting words. It's time to do so now, because our existence is at stake. It's time for us to acquire fighting words. And I am proposing the one and only effective fighting word that I could find – "Zionophobia." The word "anti-Semitism" has lost its punch 20 years ago, and the word "anti-Zionism" sounds like a legitimate political opinion. The word Zionophobia, on the other hand, describe precisely the ideology promoted by Professor Makdisi and Professor Gelvin at UCLA – and I mention them by name because exposure is essential in the fight against Zionophobes. Why I like the world Zionophobia – because it rhymes with Islamophobia and hence it has an element of irrationality, and an element of bigotry, it has all the elements that they attribute to Islamophobia and that they are trying to stick to Zionism.
Indeed, one of the sad accomplishments of the BDS movement is turning Zionism into a dirty word, so dirty that even Jews are sometimes hesitant to use without some qualification. We must reclaim the Z-word as one of the most noble words in the English language. And we should do so not only through comeback but also through pushback. We can only reclaim Zionism and the beautiful miracle it represents by shaming the Zionophobes, i.e., by exposing their bigotry to the light of universal norms of decency and morality. Ordinarily, listening to a racist defiling your heritage and maligning everything you cherish would make you feel low. But when you get the spine and the idea that you deserve the right to shame back, you become proud of who you are. So I'm shaming back Professor Makdisi and Professor Gelvin for being Zionophobes. I'm sure they would not take it as an insult but as a badge of honor. I bet they are actually proud to be called Zionophobes, as revealed in their writings and in their teachings! So, let me congratulate them personally for the honor, with all the ugliness and moral deformity that the word Zionophobes conveys.
Why do you think that opposition to Israel on college campuses is on the rise?
There are many reasons, but the main reason is because our professors were educated on obsolete anti-colonialist textbooks. Colonialism is gone. We don't have true colonialism today except for the Falkland Islands and maybe Cyprus where the Turks still control the island. So, colonialism is gone and our poor professors have lost their bully — the bad guy they got used to blame for all the ills and maladies of our planet. And what do you do when you lose your one and only bad guy? You invent one! And who do you choose as a surrogate? The weakest and most defenseless candidate! Namely, Israel!
That is how Israel, with her seven million defenseless people became the easiest prey for the intellectual elite in this country. And I keep on saying "defenseless." Look at her. Seven million human beings who, for 70 years, have not enjoyed one hour of normalcy. Besieged by all its neighbors. Under constant and explicit threats of extinction. Under the shadows of 150,000 rockets in the hands of Hezbollah aimed at her civilian centers. Isn't that defenseless? Plus, world opinion being so blind. And the Jewish community being so divided. We are truly defenseless. Our villain-seeking professors have picked on the weakest candidate to replace colonialism, and are now too embarrassed to admit their mistake. Plus, we have an occupation on our hand – namely, a territory that our neighbors force us to control against our wish. All this contributes to a hostile anti-Israel atmosphere on campus. It's so easy to depict Israel as a bully, as Goliath, and our neighbors as Davids, especially to uninitiated, uninformed and gullible students. Most students in our schools are liberals, like me, which should make them critical and inquisitive. Unfortunately, they are being educated and brainwashed by Zionophobic professors who dominate Middle East education in the UCLA history department.
Why is BDS not an acceptable way to protest Israel?
I would never say that I am against BDS because it's "non-academic," or because they do not boycott Iran with the same fever. That's not my style. I'm fighting BDS because they are denying Jews a right which they grant to all other national collectives – like Mexicans and Palestinians – the right to a homeland. They even deny the Jewish people the right to peoplehood, and the right to define itself. That's what makes BDS racist, and that's why I'm speaking against them, not their tactics. By objecting to their tactics we confer legitimacy on their aims.
Have you ever personally felt uncomfortable, singled out, or unsafe as a Jewish professor at UCLA?
I wish I was. Had anybody talked against my Jewishness or against my Zionism, I would have gotten a stage to expose his or her racism! Currently, I don't have such a stage on campus. The only conduit I have to communicate with UCLA students is through my columns at the Jewish Journal. The campus stage is managed by the Daily Bruin editors, who rush to interview Professor Gelvin each time an anti-Israel hostility breaks out on campus, and quote his Zionophobic views as oracles of wisdom. Yes, I wish someone would speak against my Zionism because that would give me a microphone to expose the bigotry of the Zionophobes among us. So far, they seem eager to avoid the exposure.
Oh, sorry, on one occasion I did feel discriminated against, and this was in an interview with the Daily Bruin. It took place after I received a scientific prize, the Turing Award, and they did a story about me, about my background, and about my scientific accomplishments. When I told them that I am a product of Israel and that the first memory I have from the conflict was sitting in the shelter and being bombarded by Egyptian warplanes, they changed it into something like "he recalled the Israel-Palestinian conflict over territorial boundaries." Imagine this, Israel war of independence, against five invading armies, resulting in 6,000 dead Israelis, reduced to a "border dispute"! I called the editor – "It wasn't a borders dispute," I said "it was a war of annihilation by intent. I was there, and I remember the genocidal rhetoric. Where did you get the idea that it was about borders? There was no one there to negotiate boundaries, because the Arabs rejected the UN partition plan together with the very idea of a Jewish state in ANY boundaries." It did not get me anywhere. For some reason the editors insisted on inserting this idiotic "territorial boundaries" into my narrative, and forbade any mention of Arab states, perhaps to minimize Arabs' embarrassment over their annihilation-intended attack of 1948. It shows you how distortions produced by an industry of lies manage to penetrate the mindsets of well-meaning people. I wouldn't blame the DB editors for being stupid or anti-Israel – these are dedicated editors like you! But look what happened to their mindsets, and their credibility as journalists once they were put into a PC-pressured environment. I bet they were duped into this "territorial boundaries" fib by peer pressure, or perhaps by a student of Gelvin or Makdisi. In short, they chose to distort my personal narrative, including historical facts, to parrot a slogan of political correctness. I cannot forgive the Daily Bruin for that "territorial boundaries" comedy, unless they issue a public apology. Was this a case of discrimination? Yes. They would not do it to a professor from any other country.
Can you describe the work of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, why you started it, and why it's important?
It so happened that Danny came to symbolize the aspirations of many communities – journalists, because of his courage and integrity; Jews, because of the message of identity he conveyed in his last words; Muslims, because of his campaign for dialogue and mutual understanding; musicians, because he used his music to inspire friendship. So we have here four communities that could be empowered by one symbol. The Foundation's aim is to leverage this symbol in order to fight the hatred that took Danny's life. To this end we developed programs that appeal to all four communities – dialogues with Muslims, Journalism education for youth, promoting free press, running worldwide concerts, and strengthening Jewish identity. This is what he have been doing in the past almost twenty years. And now that we reached 80, both me and my wife, we are looking for young people like you to take over and continue to promote the ideals that Danny came to symbolize.
So I'll see you at Daniel Pearl World Music Day at UCLA, when the UCLA orchestra plays on Oct. 10, Danny's birthday.
Grayson Peters is a third-year Political Science student pursuing a minor in French. In addition to his role as columnist for Ha'Am, he is a Managing Editor for The Generation: UCLA's Foreign Affairs Magazine published by the Burkle Center for International Relations. Active in local politics, Grayson serves on the board of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council, an elected advisory body to the city of Los Angeles, and chairs its Transportation and Safety Committee.
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How Will 'Captain Marvel' Play Into that 'Avengers: Infinity War' Ending and 'Endgame'?
"Captain Marvel" will be set well before the "Avengers" movies, but don't think that means it won't tie closely with "Endgame"
Phil Hornshaw, Phil Owen and Ross A. Lincoln | January 13, 2019 @ 12:40 PM
(MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD for the ending of "Avengers: Infinity War." If you've made it this long without being spoiled then you might want to leave.)
Watch the second "Captain Marvel" trailer here.
When Brie Larson's Captain Marvel enters the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2019 just two months ahead of "Avengers 4," she's potentially going to have a big impact on the story left hanging at the end of "Avengers: Infinity War."
Sure, "Captain Marvel" won't take place at the same time as "Infinity War" or any of the other current Marvel movies — instead, it's hopping back in time by a couple of decades. But we have every reason to believe the film will serve as a direct lead-in to the battle with Thanos, thanks to the post-credits scene in "Infinity War."
Also Read: This Obscure Marvel Hero May Be Key to 'Captain Marvel' and "Avengers 4'
Taking place just after Thanos completes his Infinity quest and eliminates half of all life in the universe, the scene features Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) driving around a major city just as people begin to disappear. As Hill fades from existence, Fury scrambles to activate a device he's apparently been carrying with him the whole time: a boxy, souped-up 1990s pager. Fury manages to send a signal just as he himself disappears, and as the scene ends we see a pixelated version of Captain Marvel's star symbol flashing on the pager's display.
So it's very likely that the Captain Marvel's stand-alone film will provide some major hints as to how the Avengers will be able to recover from their crushing defeat and bring back all their dead friends.
There's a lot of info to go through here, but we'll start with the basics of what we know about the film and the Captain Marvel character from the comics.
Also Read: 'Avengers: Infinity War' -- That Crazy Ending Was Part of Doctor Strange's Plan
Mar-Vell — art by Jim Starlin
There isn't a ton of known information about what will happen in the movie version of Captain Marvel's story — Marvel has kept details tightly wrapped — but we do know some key items. The film is a prequel that takes place in the 1990s and will center on human Carol Danvers, who will be played by Brie Larson, as Danvers becomes Captain Marvel. Danvers will be mentored by the alien Mar-Vell (believed to be the role Jude Law is playing). Nick Fury will appear. And the plot concern the Skrulls, a race of powerful, shape-shifting aliens with green skin, wrinkly chins, pointed ears, and an interstellar empire.
We got our first look at the flick in action, thanks to the trailer that Marvel dropped on back in September, and even more in the just-dropped second trailer, but they're still clearly keeping their hand close to the vest because it's pretty light on plot details and doesn't appear to contain anything that would provide much in the way of insight into how "Captain Marvel" will set up "Avengers 4."
But there is one small detail that does nod to the ending of "Infinity War" — a shot of Nick Fury's pager that he uses in the post-credits stinger, but before it gets outfitted with all that cool extra tech that allows him to contact Captain Marvel. But that's really the only link that we got from the first trailer.
Also Read: Here's The Comic Book Character We Think Annette Bening Is Playing in 'Captain Marvel'
The big thing, for us, that we took away from that second trailer was a brief appearance by Annette Bening's as-yet-unrevealed Kree character. We have a guess about who that character is — Phyla-Vell, one of the crazier cosmic characters in Marvel lore. But we don't know what that might mean for the story yet. We'll speculate a little more below.
In the comics, Carol Danvers wasn't the original Captain Marvel. Instead, it was Mar-Vell, a Kree warrior and hero among his people. The Kree are the blue-skinned people we saw in "Guardians of the Galaxy," including Ronan (Lee Pace), who will also have a role to play in "Captain Marvel" since it takes place well before he died.
Mar-Vell was part of a white-skinned subspecies among the blue-skinned Kree, so he could blend in on Earth. As such, he was sent to Earth to observe humanity's progress and assess if they are a threat to the Kree. But while he was there, Mar-Vell engaged in some super-heroics, causing humans to misinterpret his name and dub him "Captain Marvel."
Also Read: 'Avengers: Infinity War' -- We Need to Talk About What Happened With Vision
Carol was an Air Force pilot tasked with investigating Mar-Vell, but befriended and later fell in love with him. During a battle with Mar-Vell's enemy, Yon-Rogg, Carol was caught in the explosion of a Kree device that infused her DNA with Kree DNA. That gave her a number of special powers like what Mar-Vell has, including flight, strength, durability and the ability to absorb energy.
As for the Skrulls, in the comics they're frequently at war with the Kree, as the two alien cultures have similarly powerful, similarly expansive interstellar empires.
Notably, neither Captain Marvel nor Mar-Vell are involved in the comics story that most closely resembles the plot of "Infinity War": A six-issue 1991 miniseries called "Infinity Gauntlet." But looking through the comics (Thanks, Marvel Unlimited!) beyond the "Infinity Guantlet" storyline, there are several concepts that could easily connect Captain Marvel to the action.
Also Read: 20 Big Things We Learned From the 'Avengers: Infinity War' Director Commentary
First, Thanos and Mar-Vell have a ton of history in the comics. Mar-Vell was enlisted to stop Thanos' nihilistic plans in the comics, and was given the mantle of Protector of the Universe by a cosmic guardian entity called Eon. His capacity as Protector of the Universe allowed Mar-Vell to get a powerful artifact, the Cosmic Cube, away from Thanos after he used it to take over the universe. When Thanos briefly left his body as a cosmic, astral projection, Mar-Vell used the opportunity to nab the cube, return time to a point before Thanos took over, and destroy it.
The Cosmic Cube has a counterpart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: the Tesseract, AKA the Space Infinity Stone (though it's not an Infinity Stone in the comics).
Captain Marvel #33, art by Jim Starlin
Second, Mar-Vell was also involved with Titan, a major location in the movie version of "Infinity War," where he helped powerful beings known as the Eternals fight off the moon's world computer, ISAAC, which was corrupted by Thanos.
Also Read: 'Avengers: Infinity War' -- Here's What Happened Next in the Comic Book Version of the Story
Mar-Vell eventually died of lung cancer on Titan, too — and in the comics, Thanos' spirit appeared to lead Mar-Vell to the afterlife. Carol later took over the mantle of Captain Marvel after originally calling herself Ms. Marvel.
All of this certainly sounds pretty relevant to the aftermath of "Avengers: Infinity War." It might even explain not only why Nick Fury contacted Captain Marvel, but also why he hasn't contacted her sooner. After all, "Infinity War" is definitely not the first world-threatening cataclysm the MCU's Earth has faced.
Perhaps Mar-Vell was the reason that Thanos didn't go after the Infinity Stones before the start of the MCU — specifically, Thanos may have had to wait until after Mar-Vell's death. And hanging out with Mar-Vell, Carol Danvers probably would have heard about his exploits fighting Thanos, and she might know how to deal with him.
Annette Bening as Phyla-Vell, should that bit of speculation turn out to be true, could also play into Thanos beginning his crusade and/or Carol having the ability to reverse his finger snap. Though it's tough to guess exactly how, but we took a look at some of the possibilities here.
Also Read: Everything That Happened in 'Avengers: Infinity War' May Have Been Part of a Cosmic Test
It could be that Captain Marvel was lying dormant to conserve her power to deal with Thanos. Or maybe she's been off Earth, looking for a means of dealing with him, and detailed a specific scenario that would warrant calling her back home — people fading to dust around the world for no apparent reason, which is what sparked Fury's distress call, is certainly very specific.
There's another aspect from the comics that could come into play with Mar-Vell and Carol Danvers, and would dovetail with some of what was depicted in "Ant-Man and the Wasp," as well. That movie ends with Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, getting trapped in the strange alternate dimension the "Ant-Man" movies refer to as the "Quantum Realm." There's no direct parallel for that place in the comics, but there is a mention of something that looks and sounds awfully similar in the comics, which was brought to our attention thanks to an obscure superhero from the '80s named Quasar.
In the Quasar stories, the character uses powerful objects called Quantum Bands to travel to the "Quantum Zone," which is a sort of side-dimension that allows Quasar to quickly travel across the universe. He uses his bands to create a passage into the Quantum Zone, and then from there, can pop out wherever he wants in the universe. Quasar's not much of a part of the Marvel Comics world and so highly unlikely to pop up in the MCU, but he was the Protector of the Universe after Mar-Vell — and it seems possible given the setup of the Quantum Realm and Mar-Vell's role in "Captain Marvel" that some of Quasar's abilities could be part of Carol's deal.
Also Read: 'Avengers: Infinity War': Here's Why Thanos Waited to Go After the Infinity Stones Himself
In fact, if Carol got the Quantum Bands or some other version of Quasar's ability to pop into the Quantum Realm, it would give her a way to travel the universe, and maybe even through time. That would match up with some set photos from "Avengers 4" and a hint from "Ant-Man and the Wasp" that suggest time travel could be part of the way the heroes try to take on Thanos in the second half of his story. It would make a lot of sense that the "Ant-Man" movies set up the Quantum Realm, with "Captain Marvel" giving Carol a way to make use of it, just in time for "Avengers 4."
You can read more about Quasar and how his powers may have a role to play in the aftermath of "Infinity War" here.
On top of all that, we found another little detail that we think could be very important, involving the Soul Stone. The Soul Stone's appearance in "Infinity War" was very unusual for the MCU because it was completely out of left field — its location was never before hinted at, and we never saw its effects hidden in some other form, like we did with others like the Space Stone, Time Stone, Mind Stone, and Reality Stone.
The detail we found particularly intriguing is the planet on which it's located, Vormir. In the comics, Vormir is a really, really obscure reference — it's never actually been depicted on the page as far as we know, and the only thing it's known for is being the home of lizard monster called the Star-Stalker that the Avengers battled in a handful of issues in the the early '70s.
Also Read: 'Avengers: Infinity War' -- Here's Why Spider-Man Took Longer to Disappear Than Everyone Else
The most compelling detail about Vormir itself is that it's located in Kree space in the Large Magellanic Cloud — which would put it square in the part of space that is very relevant to "Captain Marvel."
Sort of tangentially interesting is the story of the Star-Stalker, from Avengers #124. The Star-Stalker spends most of that issue giving a lengthy monologue to the Avengers explaining how it got to Earth, and its story involves a visit to a nameless prison planet where the Kree exile a bunch of pacifist political dissidents. The planet is described as "without sunlight, minerals or vegetation" — that sounds an awful lot like what we see of Vormir in the movie, which is a planet experiencing a permanent solar eclipse and very much has the vibe of a place that's all sand and salt water.
Here's a panel depicting this prison planet, for reference.
Those Kree dissidents, by the way, are known as the Priests of Pama, also a pretty obscure name in Marvel lore. It would make sense for the Soul Stone to have some accompanying priests, if Marvel Studios wanted to go there.
Also Read: 'Avengers: Infinity War' - The Infinity Stones Could Have Their Own Agenda
This is all just speculation, of course — educated speculation, but still speculation because it's probably going to be a while before we find out anything more concrete about how "Captain Marvel" fits into this incredibly upsetting tale.
Speaking of which, we have some ideas about that — at least in regards to how "Ant-Man and the Wasp" and "Captain Marvel" will impact the story being told between "Infinity War" and "Avengers 4," as well as how some other plot threads from "Infinity War" will play out. Our "Captain Marvel" discussion you just read, but we've got plenty more. Click here for our discussion of the whole Vision situation and whether he's really dead. Click here for a closer examination of Doctor Strange's actions in "Infinity War," and how losing this fight might end up being the key to winning it later. And, finally, here's our run-down on how the comic book version of these events played out.
The home video release of "Avengers: Infinity War" also introduced a lot of new information about the state of the MCU. Here's everything we learned from the "Infinity War" director commentary, and why Red Skull is probably pretty happy about the Thanos situation. We also learned why Spider-Man lingered a bit after Thanos' snap; that you don't have to be "worthy" to wield Thor's new "Stormbreaker" axe; why Thanos didn't go after the stones years ago; and why Thanos didn't just double the universe's resources.
All 61 Marvel Movies Ranked, Including 'Shang-Chi'
This year will end up bringing us five (5) new Marvel movies, but somehow we're just getting started. "Shang-Chi" is the second after "Black Widow" -- let's see how it stacks up against all the previous theatrically released Marvel movies, both inside and outside the MCU.
61. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"
Just a nightmare. A total nightmare. There have been a number of bad superhero movies, but from the talking gas cloud the filmmakers cast as Galactus to Jessica Alba's dye job, this one transcends bad.
60. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"
A totally chaotic stir fry of nonsense that tells the story of how Wolverine got his claws. Features an early version of Deadpool (also played by Ryan Reynolds) whose mouth is stapled shut, which should tell you all you need to know about it.
59. "Elektra"
That five minutes when they tried to turn Jennifer Garner into an action star went about as well as it should have.
58. "X-Men: The Last Stand"
Just a total mess, incoherent from the word "go." After losing director of the first two X-Men films Brian Singer to the first Superman reboot attempt, replacement Matthew Vaughn gave way to eventual director Brett Ratner, who might have killed off the superhero genre entirely were "Spider-Man" not blowing up the box office.
57. "Fantastic Four" (2015)
There could maybe have been a good movie in here somewhere -- the cast (Michael B Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara) certainly warranted one. But this Frankenstein of a film is a behind-the-scenes horror story, and you can see it in the totally disjointed final product.
56. "Daredevil"
This was basically "Early-2000s: The Movie," with Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell and Michael Clark Duncan as the main players. The cherry on top of this turd sundae was that damn Evanescence song.
Tim Story's first "Fantastic Four" is just sort of there, challenging you to remember it exists. With Chris Evans, who played the Human Torch here, going on to embody Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that gets tougher every year.
54. "The Punisher" (2004)
This is the Punisher as a straight revenge thriller, and it's not bad. Thomas Jane performs admirably, but the whole thing is missing that extra something that would have elevated it beyond standard genre fare. Setting it in Tampa didn't help.
53. "Spider-Man 3"
Maybe the bad outweighs the good here, but Emo Peter Parker's dance number remains one of the greatest single moments in any comic book movie, sorry, haters.
52. "Howard the Duck"
A notorious flop at the box office and, yeah, it's not exactly "good." But now, 30 years removed from its premiere, "Howard the Duck" is pretty fun as a relic of the '80s.
Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr. star in a low-rent '80s grunge C-level classic. This one's all novelty value.
50. "Ghost Rider"
For a movie starring Nic Cage about a dude who rides a Harley and turns into a flaming skeleton, this is a surprisingly mundane movie.
49. "The Amazing Spider-Man"
We may never figure out what went wrong with Marc Webb's Spider-Man duology, but his choice of Andrew Garfield to play Peter Parker is still brilliant. It just sucks that this movie doesn't really make any sense.
48. "X-Men"
The beginning of the current wave of theatrical superhero movies, "X-Men" was kind of a cheapie and it showed. Novel at the time, now it just comes off as unremarkable mid-budget action fare as Fox was merely sticking its toe in the superhero waters. Timid.
47. "The Incredible Hulk"
It's sometimes hard to remember that this one counts as part of the MCU, since it placed Ed Norton in the Dr. Banner role since inhabited by Mark Ruffalo in the "Avengers" films. It's also hard to remember because it's generally not memorable.
46. "Thor"
The fantasy Marvel movie is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who covers the whole movie in canted angle shots and theatrical stylings. It's pretty boring, also, but at least it looks cool.
45. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
More of the same impossible-to-follow hack-n'-slash plotting from the previous movie, offset by Andrew Garfield continuing to be awesome and Jamie Foxx going way over the top as the big bad.
44. "Thor: The Dark World"
"The Dark World," in contrast to the first "Thor" movie, is certainly not boring. If anything, it suffers the opposite problem, going so hard and fast that it loses substance.
43. "Blade: Trinity"
Starring a pre-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds basically playing a vampire-slaying Deadpool, throwing out one-liners like his mama's life depended on it, this may not a "good" movie, but it sure is fun.
42. "X2: X-Men United"
A big step up from the first "X-Men" both in production values and quality, it still lacks much in the way of energy. Which is inexcusable when you've got Alan Cumming as the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler all over your movie.
41. "Spider-Man"
Sam Raimi truly assembled the prototypical superhero movie with this first entry in the "Spider-Man" franchise, in 2002. Like "X-Men" before it, "Spider-Man" is a bit underwhelming today, but unlike "X-Men" it was proud of its nerd roots.
40. "X-Men: Apocalypse"
Could have been a bizarre ironic summer classic if it were structured like a real movie and had any character development whatsoever. Instead it's just a shot of visual adrenaline that I'll probably want to revisit at some point -- but not when I'm sober
39. "Avengers: Age of Ultron"
"Ultron" is frustrating for what it lacks -- chiefly the feeling that it's advancing the overall story arc of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But as with the first "Avengers" movie its weaknesses are overcome by great character work.
38. "The Avengers"
The story is a total mess, relying heavily on moviegoers' memories of previous MCU films (if you didn't remember or know coming in what the Tesseract was, hoo boy). But the novelty of the Marvel's first big superhero team-up was irresistible, and director Joss Whedon balanced his ensemble expertly, giving everyone plenty to do so none of them ever fades into the background.
37. "Blade"
Pure B-movie trash, which is fine because that's precisely what it aims for: bloody, crass, awesome. Blade, by the way, remains the only black comic book character besides Shaquille O'Neal's "Steel" to get his/her own movie, though Marvel's "Black Panther" is slated for a 2018 release.
36. "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance"
For the sequel, they tapped the "Crank" director duo known as Neveldine/Taylor. It was an inspired choice, because "Spirit of Vengeance" was exactly as nutty as you'd hope a PG-13 comic book movie would be. Shame that it was apparently stressful enough to break up the tandem of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.
35. "Captain America: The First Avenger"
A lot of folks like to complain that all superhero movies are the same. But this was actually a pretty good World War II movie, too.
34. "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Plot-wise, it never really adds up to anything, but the strength of the cast and the bizarre world they explore more than make up for it.
33. "The New Mutants"
It's an absolutely serviceable little piece of entertainment, and there's a lot of novelty in its overall strange vibe. But after years of delays and reshoots you can definitely feel the hand of the focus group a bit too much.
32. "Blade 2"
Beloved nerd Guillermo del Toro took over for this one and ramped everything up to 11. More vampires, more blood, more people getting sliced up -- and of course baddies whose jaws can split open and swallow a person's head whole.
31. "Big Hero 6"
Disney Animation Studios made a Marvel movie, and it's really sweet. Sure, it's the kiddie version of Marvel, but that doesn't prevent it from being a wholly satisfying experience.
30. "Captain Marvel"
It's fine, but "Captain Marvel" feels like a movie from before Marvel Studios really hit its stride in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Right now it's a movie that seems very much out of place.
29. "Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2"
An improvement on the first film, and an absolute delight from moment to moment -- but it never quite coalesces into a coherent whole because so many subplots distract from the core story and rob it of its emotional impact. Would be a top 5 comic book movie if it had just reigned in the plot.
28. "Iron Man"
It was Robert Downey Jr.'s reemergence on the big screen, and he's flawless in this origin story that takes Tony Stark from billionaire playboy weapons manufacturer to billionaire playboy other-things manufacturer.
27. "Avengers: Endgame"
This movie is, frustratingly, far from perfect. In fact, it's kind of a huge mess. But it's also awesome and thrilling and hilarious and contains some individual moments that are perfect. I wish it was better, but with everything required of a movie that exists to wrap up 21 movies' worth of story arcs, I'm glad it's as good as it is.
26. "Hulk"
In 2003 the modern wave of superhero movies was still in its infancy, and Ang Lee -- still the best filmmaker to do a comic book movie -- got experimental with "Hulk." And what he made was an incredible melodrama with visual stylings meant to ape comic book panels. It didn't sit well with audiences, but "Hulk" remains one of the most compelling and interesting Marvel movies to date.
25. "The Wolverine"
This was, like, just a legitimately enjoyable melodramatic action movie. Sure, it turns into a video game boss battle by the end, but for most of its running time it's just an actual movie.
24. "Punisher: War Zone"
Whereas the previous "Punisher" movie was melodramatic and contemplative, this one is just murderous. And it's awesome.
23. "Venom"
How can anybody resist the pull of Tom Hardy doing comedy? This movie knows exactly what it's trying to be, and what it's trying to be is dumb and fun and nothing else. And it is extremely fun.
22. "X-Men: Days of Future Past"
Its time travel logic is a bit iffy, but "Days of Future Past" is still tremendously entertaining because, while epic, it's not overly serious. As "Back to the Future" taught us long ago, you can get away with a lot of logical leaps if you strike the right tone.
21. "Iron Man 2"
Swaps Terrence Howard for Don Cheadle, while Mickey Rourke breaks cars with laser whips. Who knows what was going on in this movie, but it was almost OK anyway.
20. "Deadpool"
In the angsty and angry times we live in, "Deadpool" is perfect. Aggressively violent and flippantly meanspirited, it's the exact emotional release we needed.
19. "X-Men: Dark Phoenix"
The main series "X-Men" movies have never achieved any sort of greatness, but at least "Dark Phoenix" ends the whole thing with one of the best efforts of the bunch. And that sequence on the train in the third act is easily the best action sequence of these movies.
18. "Spider-Man: Far From Home"
It's frustrating that it doesn't really deal with the immense fallout from "Avengers: Endgame," but it's still as visually creative as any movie in the MCU, and Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio is an all-timer of a villain. Dude goes all the way out in this.
17. "X-Men: First Class"
The first "X-Men" movie that could be described as "fun." It's basically two movies crammed into one, story-wise, but director Matthew Vaughn's touch is so breezy and enjoyable that it totally works anyway, thanks in large part to a brilliant cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy.
16. "Shang-Chi"
There's some amount of "bit off more than they could chew" with this one because there is so much stuff we've never heard of that needs explaining -- the classic origin story problem. But the action is unbelievable, and probably the best and most interesting we've seen in the MCU in that regard. If they can hold on to director Destin Daniel Cretton I bet the second movie, unburdened from those standard first movie issues, is gonna rip.
15. "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
Not quite the best "Spider-Man" movie, but still an absolute delight, with a cast full of scene stealers. Michael Keaton as the Vulture makes for one of the best Marvel villains ever.
14. "Deadpool 2"
While you may get whiplash from the "Deadpool" sequel's occasional very serious and emo scenes, the rest of the movie is thoroughly delightful, somehow managing to be even funnier -- and more hilariously violent -- than the original.
13. "Ant-Man"
"Ant-Man" represented a first for the MCU by being a straight-up comedy. And it's a very good one, with a cast that's perfectly suited for it. Aside from Paul Rudd who plays Ant-Man himself, Michael Pena is the true standout as Scott Lang's best friend and former cellmate.
12. "Ant-Man and the Wasp"
It's ever so slightly frustrating that this one doesn't fully integrate into the "Infinity War" situation, but even so it's thoroughly a delight. Evangeline Lilly is so good at the Wasp that I'm retroactively irritated that she didn't don the suit in the previous "Ant-Man" movie.
11. "Doctor Strange"
If it weren't hamstrung with all the requisite elements of an origin story, "Doctor Strange" might have been the best Marvel movie ever. That's the power of the astonishing visual imagination on display here. People love to talk about the nebulous concept of capturing some long lost childlike sense of wonder though the magic of cinema -- "Doctor Strange" is one of the only movies I've watched as an adult that really accomplishes that.
This is a movie that fully understands its main character and taps into what made him such a captivating figure for so long. Yeah, Peter Parker's a superhero, but he's also a college kid working a minimum wage job to make rent while also taking university physics classes. Peter buckles under the pressure, something we can all relate to.
9. "Iron Man 3"
As far as I'm concerned this is the "Iron Man" movie. Somehow, Shane Black was able to infiltrate the MCU and make a legitimate Shane Black movie with all the wit and raw humanity you'd expect from him. It carries exactly the sort of authorial identity we should want all these movies to have.
8. "Thor: Ragnarok"
A thorough delight. This might be the most fun we had at the movies in all of 2017, and so we can't help but love it.
7. "Captain America: Civil War"
Multiply the two previous best Marvel movies by one another and you get "Civil War." It packs the sort of emotional payoff all the disconnected Marvel movies can't really provide. And as an action film it's easily the best of the superhero genre.
6. "Avengers: Infinity War"
You could certainly make the argument that "Infinity War" does not really hold up on as a complete movie on its own, because it kinda begins with the second act. But I don't care. The culmination of this ten-year shared universe experiment should stand on the shoulders of the movies that came before it. The fact that it packs such a profound emotional punch, however, is what really makes it work.
5. "Black Widow"
Natasha's long-overdue solo is held back a little by some fully unnecessary trademark Marvel CGI nonsense, but otherwise this film has a vibe that is fully it's own thing. It does away with the Marvel house style, aside from in two big action sequences, in favor of a low-key indie look that feels so much more intimate than any previous MCU flick.
4. "Black Panther"
It's held back a little by being saddled with standard "origin movie" issues -- introducing audiences to the world of Wakanda isn't a quick and easy task, and it could use an extra 15-20 minutes to flesh out the supporting characters -- but still manages to be the most substantial superhero movie ever. It's kind of amazing that Disney let writer/director Ryan Coogler make this overt a political statement -- it's the most openly political mega-budget movie I've ever seen . Also, while I'm listing superlatives: Michael B Jordan delivers the best performance ever in a superhero movie. Good lord.
3. "Logan"
James Mangold's small-scale western is a game changer for the entire superhero genre, daring to defy pretty much standard by which you expect these movies to operate. It's just a great movie by any normal standard. Where "Civil War" elevated the genre, "Logan" opts instead to be something else entirely and we're all the better for it.
2. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"
The best superhero movies, and movies in general, are the ones that are truly most human. And "Spider-Verse," despite being animated, despite the wacky cast of Spider-People, despite the outlandish premise, is as real as movies get.
1. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
The Russo brothers, who made their entrance to the MCU directing "Winter Soldier" before taking the reigns on "Civil War" and, eventually, 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War," really impressed with "Winter Soldier." It's a classic spy thriller with a superhero twist. And Robert Redford as the bad guy is a really nice touch.
Decades of big-screen Marvel adaptations demand a long, ranked list. This is that list
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text:
package edu.fmi.nn.backpropagation.view;

import edu.fmi.nn.backpropagation.model.NetworkConfiguration;

public interface ViewCallback {

	void onClearClicked(final NetworkConfiguration configuration);

	void onApproximateClicked(final NetworkConfiguration configuration);
}


text:
Banks were nationalized in Pakistan in?
Right Answer: C. 1974
Where the biggest Salt Mine located in Pakistan ?
Who among the following was a poet of the Italian Renaissance?
Which is the Oldest University in the World?
Which country is the largest producer of solar energy in the world?
The World Snooker Championship 2013 was won by?
8 March is observed internationally as?
Which country is the world's largest producer of cobalt, a chemical element?
How many founding members OIC has at the time of its establishment?
The largest country by area in Africa is?
OIC changed its name from Organisation of the Islamic Conference to Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in?
The airplane was invented by __________ in 1903.
The headquarter of NATO is located in?
headquarters of the multinational company Nestle is in ?


Having breakfast in bed has always been a good way to pamper someone... to say "I love you", "I'm sorry", "The kids are out... let's...". We all need that moment when nothing in this world can bother us or stop us from loving and having a good time with our +1... or ourselves !
Marilyn knew how to spoil herself.. apart from diamonds she would also enjoy a nice breakfast in bed!
So... I bet you all have already tried the Room Service at the hotels and posted a picture saying "voilà my little auto gift today: Breakfast in bed!". What about doing it too at home? Why should we travel and wait for this "Room Service" moment to make it happen if we can order it now here in town?
Ptit Dej Ô Lit has thought about us and they offer the same (if not much better) in-bed breakfast selection that you could find at a 5 stars hotel, the only difference is that you will enjoy it at your OWN BED!
It's very simple... check out their site www.ptitdej.ch and order your breakfast! They deliver 7/7 in Geneva.
I was surprised to see that they also offer Gluten Free and Bio breads... and what about the champagne? why not? Don't let the bad weather ruin your free day and start a sparkling sunday!
Pancakes, omelets, pains au chocolats and a selection of bakery by Cartier Versoix... who can resist to their famous madeleines aux amandes???
And last but not least... was happily surprised to see that they even have the Uzume bracelets to offer you! Start the day happy, relaxed, spoiled and always with a positive attitude... that will be the key for a successful day!
I hope you like it... have a wonderful breakfast!
Eat, Drink, Dance, Walk, Run, Laugh, Learn, Love... Love and become a real GenevaHolic! Far away from the "boring" picture people can have about our city, Geneva offers a wide range of activities, places, events...and many things to talk and discuss about. The main goal here is to make all the GenevaHolics proud of their city!
Join this blog and get the latest posts!


I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to leave a comment either here or on my 4shared - it really is wonderful to read through them and know that what you have done has been appreciated.
I'm glad everyone is enjoying the scripts because I'm certainly having fun writing them. I hope to have some more up soon.


text:
Many enemies as a writer, many enemies as a Jew
Portnoy's Complaint
Philip Roth	Writer
11. A dry period (1962 – 1967) 611 01:39
12. My friends in New York 543 04:00
13. How I wrote Portnoy's Complaint 769 02:24
14. Portnoy's Complaint 599 02:56
15. Many enemies as a writer, many enemies as a Jew 570 01:44
16. Farce 462 01:35
17. Every American writer has to write a book about baseball 478 02:20
18. David Kepesh 492 00:58
19. Prague, Kafka, and more... 703 07:16
20. Enter Zuckerman 470 01:31
Portnoy's Complaint was published in... I believe it was February 1969, and it was a sensation. It was an experience unlike any I was ever to know in the future and unlike anything that had happened to me in the past, really, and I would go so far to say that out of my contemporary's, none... none of them has met with… no book of theirs has met with such a reception, though many of them have written excellent books and they've been well received, because this was a scandal and my whole education… nothing in my education prepared me to be a scandalous writer. I thought I was going to be a serious writer and I didn't… but the moment I became comical and free-wheeling in this way, I became a scandalous writer. And if certain Jewish organisations or eminent Jews had been irritated by Goodbye Columbus, this was a disaster in their terms. This was the… this was the anti-Semitic book to end all anti-Semitic books. Gershom Scholem, the... the Jewish scholar and who's now dead, denounced the book in the Haaretz, the Israeli paper, as the book that all the anti-Semites have been waiting for, for years.
So that was pretty much the tenor of the criticism. But... it hardly… it didn't get criticism only, it was... it was wildly received and made me so recognizable that I completely lost my anonymity in the street here in New York and after two or three months to about… two or three months after the publication, I left New York to avoid being so visible. I... I didn't like walking down the... street with people pointing at me or calling out to me, 'hey Portnoy', and so on. I didn't… I didn't like it, maybe I should have. And I was... I was thrilled to be successful in this way and the book became number one on the best seller list, but I was not thrilled to be visible in this way, and so I... I left and I really never… I really didn't return for 20 odd years.
The fame of the American writer Philip Roth (1933-2018) rested on the frank explorations of Jewish-American life he portrayed in his novels. There is a strong autobiographical element in much of what he wrote, alongside social commentary and political satire. Despite often polarising critics with his frequently explicit accounts of his male protagonists' sexual doings, Roth received a great many prestigious literary awards which include a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1997, and the 4th Man Booker International Prize in 2011.
Title: "Portnoy's Complaint"
Christopher Sykes is an independent documentary producer who has made a number of films about science and scientists for BBC TV, Channel Four, and PBS.
Tags: Goodbye Columbus, Haaretz, New York, Gershom Scholem
Date story recorded: March 2011
Date story went live: 18 March 2013


The 'gin clear' waters of the chalk streams that lead into the River Itchen, the River Test and others, bring nutrients and give life to a rich variety of plants and animals such as 'Nasturtium officinale', known to us simply as watercress. This pungent leaf was to be found across rural Hampshire and Dorset and harvested from beside these streams and rivers by the local working men and women to supplement their diet. When food was sparse and the cupboard was bare, it was eaten raw or within two slices of bread to form a sandwich. Full of vitamins and minerals, watercress consumption was able to give those on a poor diet a boost in essential nutrients and children were encouraged to eat it to help them grow.
Commercial production of watercress established in the early 1800s and Alresford, near to Winchester, established itself as the centre of watercress production. The railway line arrived in 1865 and connected this little market town to central London. The demand for watercress was such that crops were harvested, tied into neat little posies and then shuttled off to London to be sold at Covent Garden Market within hours. The 'Watercress Line' still runs today albeit a short route from Alresford to Alton, for tourists and enthusiasts, and with both vintage diesel and steam engines!
I had the pleasure of travelling the Watercress Line on a visit to the annual Watercress Festival, in Alresford. Not your usual 'park and ride', signs took me from Winchester to the village of Ropley and on to a huge field before taking a short walk to Ropley station. There I boarded a glorious steam train and huffed and tooted all the way to Alresford where the passengers spilled out onto the platform and onto the festival. The streets were lined with local businesses, food stalls and activities. It was fascinating to learn about how this water loving plant grows as well as seeing it being used in lots of different ways. Cabinet Rooms favourites The Gourmet Grilled Cheese Company were doing a roaring trade and so were Long Barn lavender growers and Winchester Distillery!
Paul Bowler, Winchester Distillery's main man, moved to Alresford to larger premises so that he could make more gin and be near to an essential ingredient; watercress! In fact, his new distillery is situated right next to the watercress beds and he is given permission to stride out and gather a handful whenever he needs to. Yes, Paul's 'Twisted Nose Gin' contains watercress and its bittersweet, peppery properties give his gin a little kick and mineral freshness. And why 'Twisted Nose'? Its name, 'Nasturtium', means just that!


I don't write very much on this blog and I don't like to dirt the Planet with my personal life, but this can have an impact on my participation to Mozilla, so here I am.
At the very beginning of the new year I'll start my Ph.D. studies in Melbourne, Australia. This is a big move, since I'll be away from both Italy and Europe in general, although it'll be for just three years. I don't plan for this move to change anything in my committment to Mozilla and the work I'm doing, apart from the fact that I won't be able to organise and participate to events in Italy and I'll probably have some problems coming to Mozcamps in Europe.
Besides these two things, I'll continue my translation work and my work in the Mozilla Italia community. What I will be able to do on the other side, I hope, is to strengthen Mozilla's presence in Australia. Melbourne is a big city with two important universities and I'm sure there will be plenty of occasions to organise interesting activities in town.
I don't know how many Mozillians there are in Australia but I'd love to get in touch with you all guys if you're reading me, especially if you're from Melbourne. If you've never see them, I'll bring a Firefox OS phone with me so you can play with it. I'm also planning to make it my main phone there, so I'll be able to help with QA and bug reporting coming from a daily usage.
I also hope that, when I'll have settled down, I'll be able to help any Mozillian who'd like to come visiting or organising something.
Since it's the 30th of December already (at least here in Italy), let me wish you all a happy new year!
9 commenti per "New Year, New Life (a.k.a. Moving to Australia)"
Hi, and welcome to Melbourne. 🙂 There are a few of us Mozillians in Melbourne – check mozillians.org. Also make sure you sign up to the (currently pretty low traffic) community-australia mailing list.
Nicholas nethercote lives in Melbourne.
Also check the Mozilla Reps project, and update your profile with at least the Skype account.
You're right, I forgot about Mozillians. I checked the Reps website already, but it looks like I'll be the only Rep in Australia.
Cameron: I'll make sure to join the community-australia mailing list.
Cool! Which university will you be at?
I'll be at Monash University, Clayton campus.
I will soon be going you guys too.


Kingmoor Parish Council serves the villages of Cargo, Crindledyke and Stainton and represents residents on matters affecting the Parish.
Within this website you can find contact details for the Parish Councillors together with details of all future meetings, the agendas for those meetings and the minutes of our previous meetings.
There is up to date news on issues affecting the village and links to useful websites.
Please use the contact us page if you have any questions regarding the work of the Parish Council, if you have any concerns you think the council should be aware of or where it can help or support you.
Kingmoor Parish Council would like to inform you that contacting the parish Clerk by using the contact us page or emailing clerk@kingmoorparishcouncil.org or carrying out work on behalf of Kingmoor Parish Council may result in you leaving personal information.
Your personal data will be kept in compliance with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Kingmoor Parish Council will not pass your personal data to any other individual or organisation.
It should be noted under the Financial Regulations & Governance which Kingmoor Parish Council are bound by, that some personal information is required to be minuted and available in the public domain.
If you are concerned with any interaction with the PC with regard to your personal details please contact the Clerk. Please see the council's Data Protection policy and privacy notice under policies and documents.
The Parish Council consists of elected (unpaid) Councillors and 1 (paid) professional Clerk. Together we deliver local services and represent your local interests.
You can read and download minutes of previous Parish Council meetings from May 2015 as well as agendas for all future meetings.
Read about the process for Kingmoor Parish Council and planning applications as well as seeing a list of all current applications.
If you have any issues or questions about the council or issues that you feel should be raised then please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kingmoor Parish Council is in an area which comprises beautiful countryside, farming land and industry and has always been key to the social and economic development of the city.
Past copies of Parish Magazine "Eden and Lyne Buzz"
Parish Councillor Vacancy There is a vacancy for a parish councillor at Kingmoor Parish Council As a councillor, you can become a voice for your community and affect real change. Councillors are community l ..
Declaration of uncontested poll 2019 Notice of uncontested election and the list of elected Parish Councillors for Kingmoor May 2019 ..
The Annual Parish Meeting will take place on 16th May at 7.00pm at Rockcliffe Community Centre followed by the Parish Council Annual Meeting at 7.30pm. All are welcome to come along to both meetings. ..
Kingmoor Parish Council and Rockcliffe Parish Council have purchased a Tommy (6ft aluminium sculpture) to permanently remember the men and women who have given their lives in conflicts over the last 100 years. The Sculpture was unveiled on Friday 5th October and can be found in the foyer of Rockcliffe Community Center. ..


text:
FantasyA Lesson in First ContactEscape of the Fire DemonHorrorThe Dead Man Who AppearsThe VegetariansScience FictionGarden SpotAction/
SuspenseStatue of LimitationsSummersetToo Hot to Dance HumorUnited EarthSpeak No Evil Part 2
Doom of the GodsSisters of the CovenThe LoserClimbing Olympus MonsDrowning in the skyYou Say I'm a Waste of Space, But I'm Really Just a Waste of Time
Silken SummerTifaScarletHot Tea
Movie ReviewsMovie Reviews Book ReviewsAnimal FarmVideo Game ReviewsFinal Fantasy 13-2
Interview with David K. Montoya Pt. 1!
A Fine TaleImmortalityGhost CatSecret GardenShell huntersRushing WindsThe Sun Will Shine 59′ Wagon
Reaper Rick
Reaper Rick is an avid movie lover who has never quite gotten over the terror he experienced as a young child when he watched his first horror movie on the big screen back before most of you were even born. He really enjoys good movies and really hates bad ones.
By: Reaper Rick
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Greetings all, it's Reaper Rick back at you again this issue. You may have noticed in our last issue the powers that be brought back that hack, Moviegoer Grim, to do the Movie Reviews. Oh, sure, people with money can go out and spend ten or twelve bucks to see a new movie several times a month, but some of us ain't that lucky, you know? I mean, the economy tanked not over long ago, remember? I live on a fixed income, after all, and can't even afford NetFlix anymore. Well, I am not going to alter my reviews just because they changed The World of Myth back to a monthly publication and the owner didn't think I was up to working every month. Hey, it's not as if I was dragged back to that place with the padded walls or anything, you know? Thanks for nothing, boss. I hardly ever hear those voices anymore. What? Oh, okay…
So anyway, this issue I am going to do a Horror/Monster movie retrospective review. Some of these movies were likely released before most of our readers were even born (at least one of them came out before I was born), but that does not mean they aren't worth watching, even in this day and age. Some of the best actors in the genre appear in these movies, so sit back, grab a bowl of popcorn and enjoy!
We are going to use the Way Back Machine quite a bit this issue, and first of all I want to go back a full 80 years to 1932 (and yes, that is before I was born—but just barely) to discuss the movie, "White Zombie." This classic starred Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, and Joseph Cawthorne.
A young couple travel to Haiti to be married, and are invited to have the ceremony performed at the home of a local land owner, but he has an ulterior motive for this seemingly kind gesture. He and the young woman were on the same ship from the United States to Haiti, and as he came to know her the land owner decided that he must possess her. Meanwhile, Bela is a mysterious and odd fellow (no surprise there) who runs a sugar cane mill staffed by workers who are all zombies.
Don't forget that this is 1932, and these zombies are not the undead brain-eaters we recognize as zombies today. In fact, these zombies are not dead at all, but are merely under the mind control of Lugosi, who secretly fed his enemies—as well as some healthy workers for his mill—a special powder of his own design which puts them helplessly under Bela's control.
Our land owner (not surprisingly) wants the future husband out of the way so the fair maiden might be his own, but doesn't have the stomach to actually kill the young man, so goes to see Lugosi for a dose of his 'special' powder. Bela agrees to his request, but the evil mill owner has some ideas of his own for the young woman.
Remember that in 1932 'talking motion pictures' had only been around for a few years, and many of the actors in the new 'talkies' got their start in silent films. Thus, many of the stars in early talking motion pictures still used exaggerated facial expressions and elaborate arm and hand motions to make their emotions more understandable to the audience. This was no longer really necessary, however, since dialog was introduced (even if the dialog was not all that well written), but I suppose some habits are hard to break. "White Zombie" is such a film, which makes this horror movie somewhat comical when watched today, but it is still worth a view. Bela Lugosi is at his best in this early classic, and I give "White Zombie" Three Stars .
Now we're going to move forward in time some 25 years to 1959, and look at one of director Roger Corman's early film efforts. "A Bucket of Blood" starred Dick Miller (his one and only leading role, but he went on to be a well-known character actor), Anthony Carbone, Ed Nelson, and John Brinkley. Actually, a number of the male actors in this movie went on to become recognized character actors in the 1960s and 1970s. And oddly enough, although the title would indicate a fair amount of blood-letting to be seen (like, maybe a whole 'bucket' full), there is nary a hint of blood, save for a smear of such on a pancake skillet.
Anyway, most of the action in this movie takes place in a beatnik coffee house called the Yellow Door. (The film is in black and white, however, so we never really know what color the door actually is). Within the Yellow Door poor excuses for poets spout their gibberish to guitar or bongo music, while drug addled adults (the precursors of the 1960 hippies) drink coffee, purchase drugs, and reflect on how bad their lives are. And artists (who are also apparently drug addled) show their paintings and sculpture at the coffee house. Plus, there are a couple of Narcs at the Yellow Door, searching (while undercover as 'real' beatniks) for drug dealers.
Walter Paisley is a somewhat emotionally underdeveloped bus 'guy' at the coffee house, and he deeply admired all of the artists who slithered their way through the coffee house. Unfortunately for Walter, some of the patrons treated him as if he did not fit in with their pompous attitudes of themselves.
In order to fit in with his imagined friends, Walter tells everyone that he is going to create a 'great' sculpture, and goes home to his flea-bag hotel room and opens up a ten pound cube of soft clay. After he tries for several minutes to create a bust of a young lady he loves (from afar) at the Yellow Door, and fails miserably, he freaks out due to his artistic ineptitude and slams a knife through a paper-thin wall in his room. And how weird is this?—his landlady's cat was trapped in the wall and Walter skewers the poor feline with his steak knife. Bummer.
Walter tears part of the wall down and removes the dead cat (which is now stiff as a board, even though it only died a few moments before), still with the knife sticking out of its side. He sets the furry corpse down on the table where the cube of clay still reposes, and has a masterful idea. In case you haven't figured it out yet, this movie (although perhaps unintentional) is more of a comedy than a horror flick.
So Walter covers the dead feline in wet clay and when it dries, he takes it down to the Yellow Door to show everyone his mastery of sculpting. Oddly enough (except in this movie) everyone loves his work and they want to see more. He allows this temporary success to go to his head and claims he has more sculpting projects in mind, but when his pseudo girlfriend wants to see what else he has, Walter again freaks out. There aren't any more cats living in his building that he can kill and cover with clay, so he kills a female model and does the clay thing to her. Everyone is really impressed—she looks so lifelike. But now, in order to keep up the appearance that he is an actual sculptor, and to keep his new adoring fans appeased, Walter must keep killing people and covering them with clay.
Again, while this movie was originally presented as a horror flick, over several decades the poor dialog, rather stiff actors, and funny situations seems to have turned it into a semi cult classic of comedy/horror. This is a great popcorn flick and well worth a weekend rental for some good laughs. I give "A Bucket of Blood" Three Stars for gruesome humor .
Back inside the Way Back Machine for a moment, we move forward a mere two years to 1961, and look at another Roger Corman film (this one quite a bit better than the last one of his movies I reviewed). This time Corman tackles Edgar Allen Poe's classic story, "The Pit and the Pendulum," and got author Richard Matheson to write the screenplay. This movie starred the great Vincent Price, along with John Kerr, Anthony Carbone ("A Bucket of Blood), and the scream queen of 'B' movies, Barbara Steele.
This movie takes place in 16th Century Spain, and Price plays Nicolas Medina, whose father Sebastian was a famous torturer for the Spanish Inquisition. Medina's wife, Elizabeth, dies suddenly—supposedly from fright—after becoming fascinated with Sebastian's torture chamber, deep within the bowels of the Medina castle. When Elizabeth's brother arrives to find out how and why she died, he finds that Vincent is close to a mental breakdown, as he feels that he may have buried his wife alive. But did he?
As usual with Roger Corman and American International pictures, Corman uses a lot of stock outdoor footage of a dark castle on the edge of a towering cliff, along with crashing waves and lightening for an eerie effect, but if you can get past that, the overall scenic design is done very well.
This movie is an amazing look at a man's slow descent into insanity, and no one is better than Vincent Price to show how it's done. The one scene that depicts this descent graphically has Price moving slowly down a spiral stone staircase, as he attempts to locate his (dead?) wife. Before he starts down this staircase he is depressed, confused, and teeters on the edge of sanity, but as the viewer follows his progress down into the darkness, he changes, and literally spirals down into madness.
The end of this movie is a surprise shocker—and, yes, we finally get to see the pit and the pendulum in action—and is well worth a weekend rental. I feel Nicolas Medina is one of Price's best horror roles, and I give "The Pit and the Pendulum" a full Four Stars .
Okay. With one more two year jump forward in time, we come to 1963 and yet another Roger Corman film, where he teams up once again with Richard Matheson, American International, and Vincent Price. But in this movie we also get to see several more amazing genre actors share the silver screen with Vincent.
Corman brings another Poe classic to the big screen, and this time it is "The Raven." Along with Price, this movie starred Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court, and a very young Jack Nicolson. This effort, however, is a spoof of horror movies, and with this cast it's a movie that should not be missed.
The film starts with Price reciting Poe's poem, "The Raven," through the opening credits, and we then find Price reading an ancient volume of forgotten lore, on a bleak December night, as he laments the loss of his wife, Lenore. Suddenly there comes a tapping, as if someone gently rapping, rapping upon his chamber door. Anyway, he opens the chamber door and there's no one at the door, because the tapping is coming from a window. He opens the window and a raven flies in. It turns out the raven is actually Peter Lorre, who has been transformed into a bird by a spiteful Karloff.
It turns out that all three of them are magicians, and Karloff is the current head of the Sorcerer's Guild, who turned Lorre into a bird for challenging him to a magical duel. Lorre obviously lost the duel and went to Price to turn him back to a human. Price manages to do this, but Lorre sees a picture of Lenore and informs Price that his supposedly dead wife is very much alive and living with Karloff. Vincent decides that Karloff must have somehow captured Lenore's spirit and vows to free her. As they are preparing to leave, Jack Nicolson shows up (as Lorre's son), so they all travel to Karloff's castle.
Once there, it becomes apparent that Karloff has lured the other magician to his castle to steal Price's magical hand manipulations, but they are evenly matched as far as their magic goes, and so decide on a magical duel to the death to see who is the more powerful. The duel itself is a marvelous comedic display, and while the special effects are decidedly weak, considering the fact that this movie was made almost fifty years ago they did the best they could.
The entire movie is filled with sight gags (mixed with the occasional surprise scenes of horror), together with some pretty funny dialog. In one scene Lorre even uses the Vulcan hand sign for 'Live Long and Prosper' in one of his magical spells—several years before it in appeared on Star Trek. But the main draw of this movie is seeing these four iconic actors on the screen together. For an amazing cast and an overall funny movie, I give "The Raven" Four big Stars . This is another great popcorn movie and well worth a weekend rental.
Basically, you can have fun with all four of these movies, and if you have never seen any of them, they are highly recommended. And, I guess that's it for the Reaper this issue. Hopefully I'll see you next time. Not next issue, of course, since apparently I am not mentally capable of producing a decent movie review every month, but I should be back in two months. If I'm still walking around free by that time. Later…
- Let The Contributor Know What You Think!
Copyright © 2012 The World of Myth All Rights Reserved


Shouldn't a 'community empowerment bill', designed to help people get involved with and improve their communities, be all about clarity and plain English?
Conservative MSP Cameron Buchanan conceded as much, saying, "We shouldn't be using fancy words for these things, because it does disadvantage people."
Councillor David O'Neill, President of council umbrella group Cosla (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities), admitted, "We do use language which excludes people from the discussion," with North Lanarkshire Councillor Harry McGuigan, Cosla Community Well-being and Safety Spokesman, also suggesting that, although 'experts' had been consulted, "We hadn't consulted with the real experts – the people living in that community experiencing what life is actually like in that community."
Indeed. Discussions about community empowerment, delivered in the kind of gobbledygook that only a handful of people, none from the community in question, can understand, can only exclude people, surely?


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