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Никола́й Васи́льевич Успе́нский (31 мая 1837, село Ступино, Тульская губерния — , Москва) — русский писатель. Двоюродный брат Глеба Успенского.
Скончался 21 октября 1889 года на одной из улиц в районе Смоленского рынка. Похоронен на Ваганьковском кладбище у могилы Левитова.

Биография
Николай Васильевич Успенский родился в 1837 году в семье священника в селе Ступино Ефремовского уезда Тульской губернии. Сначала будущий писатель учился в духовной семинарии, а затем в Медико-хирургической академии и Петербургском университете, который, правда, не закончил.

Литературная деятельность Успенского началась в 1857 году, когда в журнале «Сын отечества» был напечатан рассказ «Старуха». Позже Николай Успенский, сблизившись с Некрасовым и Чернышевским, стал сотрудником «Современника». В 1861 году по совету и при поддержке Некрасова Успенский ездил в Париж и Италию, где знакомился с западноевропейской жизнью. В этом году Успенский, резко настроенный против самодержавия, «обманувшего народ», был наиболее близок к революционно-демократическому лагерю.

После конфликта с Некрасовым, Успенский порвал и с «Современником». В дальнейшем пробовал быть учителем (1862 год преподавал в Яснополянской школе Л. Н. Толстого (однако разругался и с ним), затем в Оренбурге и Москве) и продолжал писать, печатаясь в «Отечественных записках» и «Вестнике Европы». В 1864 году писатель проживал в усадьбе Тургенева, с которым также со временем рассорился.

После 1874 года, жил на разных квартирах в районе Армянского переулка, где обычно собирались писатели «московской темы». В то же время был дружен с известным художником А. К. Саврасовым и литератором и москвоведом И. К. Кондратьевым.

В 1878 году Николай Васильевич женился на 16-летней дочке священника, однако овдовел уже в 1881 году, а с 1884 года писатель стал бродяжничать с дочкой, часто голодая. Однако Успенский продолжал писать, временами публикуясь в «Русском вестнике» и бульварном «Развлечении». Кроме этого, он играл перед уличной толпой на музыкальных инструментах, распевал куплеты и частушки, разыгрывал целые сцены с маленьким крокодиловым чучелом, от лица которого произносил монологи. В одиночестве Успенский злоупотреблял алкоголем, а в октябре 1889 года покончил жизнь самоубийством, зарезавшись в переулке. Некролог был напечатан лишь в декабре того года в «Историческом Вестнике». Другие крупные издания некролог не печатали. Похоронен на  (23 уч.).

Творчество

Ранние рассказы Успенского («Старуха», «Поросенок», «Грушка», «Змей» и др.) посвящены изображению дореформенной деревни и отражают радикальные демократические настроения писателя, его идейную близость к революционно-демократической интеллигенции. Показывая в этих рассказах забитость, бесправие и неразвитость крестьянской среды, писатель выступал против крепостного строя и либерализма («Хорошее житье», «Сельская аптека»). Глубоко реалистический характер рассказов Успенского, раскрывавших истинное положение крестьянства, обеспечил им широкий успех. Наиболее выдающимся рассказом был «Обоз» (1860), посвященный жизни неграмотного и забитого крепостного крестьянина.

Правда, показанная Успенским, и глубокое сочувствие писателя народу обусловили высокую оценку рассказов революционно-демократической критикой. В статье «Не начало ли перемены?» Чернышевский приветствовал Успенского, сумевшего «глубоко заглянуть в народную жизнь и так ярко выставить… коренную причину её тяжелого хода».

В дальнейшем Н. В. Успенский написал ряд рассказов и очерков, описывающих провинциальную среду («Уездные нравы»), знакомое ему духовенство («Работник», «Бурсацкие нравы» и др.), учительство, студенчество («Студент», «Межедворов» и др.) и фабричных рабочих (пьеса «Странницы»), не оставляя однако и деревенской тематики. Большинство новых произведений писателя успеха не имело, в особенности в силу того, что они потеряли свою остроту, стали описательными.

Наиболее художественно ценные повести Успенского 1860-х — «Фёдор Петрович» (1866), «Старое по-новому» (1870), написанные о буржуазии и земстве в деревне, прошли незамеченными. Народническая критика (Скабичевский) резко выступала против Николая Успенского, произведения которого были чужды народнической идеализации общинных «устоев». Постепенно Николай Васильевич стал «забытым писателем», творчество которого, как одного из «шестидесятников» и соратников революционно-демократической реалистической литературы, снова привлекло к себе внимание лишь после Октябрьского переворота 1917 года.

Значение в литературе
Основное значение очерков Успенского определяется их правдивостью, силой критического реализма, свойственной им. Наиболее ярким средством художественной характеристики, каким располагал Успенский, был язык его героев. Писатель очень умело воспроизводил многообразие оттенков разных говоров, охотно прибегал к сказу (напр. «Поросенок», рассказанный деревенской просвирней, «Грушка» — торговцем, «Хорошее житье» — целовальником, и т. д.). Очерки Успенского подчас подымались до уровня тонко написанных новелл, избегая прямой, голой тенденциозности, выражая идею прежде всего показом самой жизни. Так, в «Хорошем житье» он обличает кабатчика, не говоря от себя ни единого дурного слова о нём. У Успенского мы находим ряд рассказов, где он прибегает к шаржу и гротеску («Обоз», «Змей» и др.). Это были зародышевые формы того же рода, какой нашёл себе место в творчестве Щедрина, в его «Истории одного города», в «Сказках». Как и Щедрина, Успенского толкало к гротеску остро ощущавшееся просветителем противоречие между действительной и разумной жизнью. Гротескные сцены и образы Успенского не имели, разумеется, силы и глубины щедринской сатиры, так как при всех достоинствах своих очерков писатель всё же редко шёл дальше натурализма и шаржа.

Произведения
 1858. Рассказ «Старуха». Опубликован в «Современнике».
 1858-1859. «Очерки народного быта». Опубликованы в «Современнике». (переиздание при жизни — 1875)
 1861-1864. «Рассказы Николая Васильевича Успенского».
 1876. «Повести, рассказы и очерки», в 3 томах.
 1883. «Сочинения, повести, рассказы и очерки» в 4 томах.

Маленькие рассказы неоднократно публиковались во многих изданиях.

Библиография изданий
Н. В. Успенский. Из прошлого: Воспоминания...— Москва, 1888.— 250 с.
Николай Успенский. Повести, рассказы и очерки.— Москва: Гос. изд-во худож. лит-ры, 1957.— 656 с.

Примечания

Ссылки

Русские писатели XIX века
Зарезавшиеся
Похороненные на Ваганьковском кладбище

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Home > All Articles >
Ha to star in fashion biopic
It seems like actor Ha Jung-woo is the busiest figure in the Korean film scene this year. According to local media reports yesterday, the actor, painter and filmmaker will team up with director Son Young-sung, whom he worked with in his 2011 film "The Client."
The project is based on the life of pioneering Korean designer Andre Kim (1935-2010), who paved the way in the local fashion industry in 20th-century Korea.
In order to appreciate the late Kim's contributions, Ha and Son plan to depict the challenges he faced as the first male fashion designer in the country.
In the meantime, Ha is readying the release of the film "Kundo: Age of the Rampant," in which he plays a butcher who takes revenge against corrupt government officials of 19th-century Joseon Dynasty.
By Kim Hee-eun, contributing writer
k-enter
Julien Kang was not on drugs: police
Sixth album launch for Kim Dong-ryul
After legal battle, MC Mong to return
Taetiseo members cry over Jessica
Jessica says she was ousted from GG

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Today marks the anniversary of the death of poet Sara Teasdale.
Four years ago, our family hung its first bird feeder, which wasn't even a real feeder at all. It actually was an empty two-liter soda bottle filled with seeds, onto which I'd attached the simple $5 accessories needed to transform it into a feeder. And I tried to imagine what, if any, actual birds would be drawn to this clunky contraption. But as it's been said, "if you feed them, they will come." And did they ever.
Black-capped chickadees, to start, but then all manner of sparrows, songbirds, and finches followed, an overflowing of unexpected feathered friends who transformed our drab backyard into an constant source of delight and discovery. And it all began with a humble recycled soda bottle.
10 Recommended Kindle ebooks for $2.99 or Less!
Prices on these ebooks should not change before June 30, 2012.
Paperback: U of Iowa Press, 2011.
L.S. Klatt's recent collection of poems Cloud of Ink, a winner of the 2010 Iowa Poetry Prize, is a delightful and far-ranging collection of poems that reflects on, and whimsically revels in, humanity's place in the deeply-interconnected web of nature. Granted, the poems are rarely straightforward and at times plunge into the surreal. Consider the lines from which the book's title is drawn, from the poem "Andrew Wyeth, Painter, Dies at 91": "A giant squid rises out of the hayfield, &the barn/ is compassed in tentacles/ then a cloud of ink." The same poem is also a fine example of Klatt's mastery at reappropriating lines and images from other work into his poems; Flannery O'Connor, Emerson, Darwin, Audubon, Picasso and Oliver L. Austin, Jr.'s Birds of the World all supply material with which Klatt deftly weaves together his own images, and the above poem's title was drawn from Wyeth's obituary in the New York Times. I imagine, however, that most readers will – like myself – not be able to pinpoint these reused images until they come to the poet's notes at the end of the volume. Klatt excels at forging language into rich, multi-layered images that demand that the reader pause, re-read and reflect on their meanings. It suffices then to say that these poems require some work, they are like paintings in a gallery, which the viewer might gaze upon for hours on end only to discover a minute detail tucked away in a corner that would escape notice of anyone who gave it a mere moment's glance.
for they show us what is enough.
Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors in Flight.
Paperback: Princeton UP, 2005 [Reprinted 2010].
I have been a bird watcher all my life; my mom has a deep love for birds and when I was a boy, she was always pointing out different kinds of birds to me. We were never birders in the sense of going on bird watching tours or traveling specifically to see particular birds, but with living on the East Coast while most of our extended family was in the mid-west, we did travel quite a bit – even driving from coast-to-coast in the summer of 1980 – and wherever we went, we were always on the lookout for birds. Given this informal schooling in birdwatching, there are many birds that I can identity at a glance. However, I have always struggled to distinguish various types of hawks and other raptors when we see them soaring through the air. I can say, generally, "That's a hawk," but rarely can identify the bird with any more specificity than that.
Thus, I was delighted to stumble upon Jerry Liguori's superb and helpful book Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors in Flight (now available in a new reprint from Princeton University Press). Although a relatively slim volume, and quite specific in the content on which it focuses, it is a profound and amazing work, especially when one considers that the author has taken all the photographs in the book himself over the course of two decades, collecting shots of all the major raptors in a number of key angles that are crucial for distinguishing species.
And silent sank and soared to sing.
And listened longer than I did.


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By Lynn R. Mitchell Virginia Politics
Virginia leaders and advocates from across the Commonwealth released the following statements Tuesday following an announcement by Governor Terry McAuliffe, Dominion Resources and AGL Resources about the economic benefits of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Dominion, AGL Resources, Duke Energy, and Piedmont Natural Resources announced a joint venture to build a major natural gas pipeline, an energy superhighway, through parts of Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Approximately 48 miles of the pipeline will run through Augusta County. Construction of the pipeline will create 8,800 jobs, produce $1.42 billion in economic activity in the Commonwealth, and generate $14.6 million.
After completion, the project will support 118 jobs per year, produce 37.8 million per year in ongoing economic activity and generate $233,000 in additional annual state tax revenue.
Chris Saxman, Executive Director, Virginia Foundation for Research and Economic Education (FREE)
"The Atlantic Coast Pipeline will create thousands of jobs, bring new businesses to communities across the Commonwealth, and expand our economy's use of clean, abundant natural gas. I applaud Governor McAuliffe, Dominion Resources, and AGL Resources for working to bring this transformational project to Virginia."
Senator John Cosgrove, Chesapeake:
"This project will bring clean, affordable and abundant energy to communities across Virginia, including Hampton Roads. I am eager to work with Governor McAuliffe, Dominion and AGL to see this project completed safely and responsibly, and to begin to realize the enormous jobs and economic growth potential that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline offers our great Commonwealth."
Senator Louise Lucas, Portsmouth:
"Governor McAuliffe continues to deliver on his promise of bringing new, good jobs to communities across the Commonwealth. I am confident that this project can be completed in an environmentally safe manner that respects local concerns, and that all Virginians will benefit from the lasting jobs and economic impacts that it will bring to our Commonwealth."
Delegate Mark Sickles, Fairfax:
"Good family-wage construction jobs in the short term will lead to lower heating bills, a reduced carbon footprint and permanent manufacturing jobs in the long term–another huge advance in Governor McAuliffe's mission to diversify the Commonwealth's economy. Congratulations to all who worked so hard to win against four competing alternatives and good luck in the days and months ahead as decisions are made to make the underground natural gas pipeline a reality."
Delegate Lionell Spruill, Chesapeake:
"I applaud Governor McAuliffe's goal of making Virginia the manufacturing hub of the Mid-Atlantic, and for pledging to leverage the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to achieve it. Growing our economy in the face of federal cuts will require bringing new industries here, and this pipeline will be an outstanding asset as we work to bring manufacturers here who need access to clean and abundant natural gas."
Delegate Roslyn Tyler, Sussex:
"The Atlantic Coast pipeline has the potential to create thousands of good jobs across the Commonwealth, including in Southside rural communities that need them. I am thrilled that this project will help all of us work together to build a new Virginia economy, while expanding our use of natural gas, which has half the carbon emissions of coal. I look forward to working with Governor McAuliffe and these companies to realize the promise this project has to offer for our region."
Doris Crouse-Mays, President, Virginia AFL-CIO:
"This new project and the real long and short-term economic benefits it will bring fit perfectly with Governor McAuliffe's plan to build a new Virginia economy. We look forward to working with him and these companies to help get the Atlantic Pipeline built safely and responsibly, and attract the next generation of Virginia job creators who will benefit from its operation here in Virginia."
Barry DuVal, President and CEO, Virginia Chamber of Commerce:
"Today's announcement will improve Virginia's economic competitiveness in the global marketplace and help diversify our economy. The new abundance of natural gas will empower Virginia businesses to expand as well as help recruit new businesses and manufacturers to the Commonwealth."
Brett A. Vassey, President and CEO, Virginia Manufacturers Association:
"The VMA supports Dominion Resources and AGL's pursuit of environmental excellence and public safety with this new pipeline. This fuel and critical infrastructure will help rebuild US manufacturing competitiveness and spark the development of Virginia's Port Zone."
2 thoughts on "Business community, public officials support Atlantic Coast Pipeline"
Gov. Terry McAuliffe supports proposed natural gas pipeline | LynnRMitchell.com says:
[…] The project also has support from West Virginia Democratic Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and North Carolina Republican Governor Pat McCrory. Governor McAuliffe was joined by Republican Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Bill Howell as well as a number of elected officials from both sides of the aisle making this project a bipartisan effort (see Business community, elected officials support Atlantic Coast Pipeline). […]
Calvin T. Lucy, Jr. says:
As a Dominion Va. Power retiree who spent years in the field with customers, I don't recall many people objecting to the wide, clear-cut purchased rights-of-way required for our high voltage transmission lines that brought folk their bulk electricity. Lots of people raised gardens, kept the grass mowed and considered those areas their personal property. That 48 inch pipe is going to be treated very carefully when "planting" it, and the deep dirt over it will grow all kinds of things over time. You just can't build anything on it. Life is full of "choices".


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Q: How do you compute the dual norm of an induced norm on a subspace of a finite-dimensional $\ell^p$-normed vector space? Say you have a finite-dimensional vector space $V$ with an $\ell^p$ norm on it. In general, the norm induced on a subspace $V_s$ of doesn't have to be another $\ell^p$ norm, so the unit sphere in $V_s$ using this induced can be some strange shape.
Given $V_s$ and a norm $||·||$ induced this way on it, how can one compute an expression for the dual norm $||·||_*$ on $V_s^*$, the dual space of linear functionals on $V_s$?
I understand that this norm must satisfy the relationship $||w||_* = \text{sup }\frac{w(v)}{||v||}$ for $v$ in $V_s$ and $w$ in $V_s^*$, and that this means I need to find the intersection of the unit sphere in $V_s$ with the direction specified by $w$. However, I'm not sure what a good strategy might be to actually find an expression for the dual norm in this way. I thought that some implication of Hahn-Banach might help to pave the way forward, but after some research I still haven't seen anything obvious.
I do have a hunch that for the case where the norm on $V$ is $\ell^1$  or $\ell^\infty$, and hence where the unit sphere for induced norm on $V_s$ is some sort of polytope, that the unit sphere on $V_s^*$ will be the dual polytope exchanging faces and vertices.

A: An exact solution can be found here using the Hahn-Banach Theorem: http://math.unl.edu/~s-bbockel1/928/node25.htm
Using this, you can show that $V^∗_S$ is isometrically isomorphic to $V^∗/S$°, where $S°$ is the subspace in V∗ for which $s(t)=0$ for $s$ in $S°$ and $t$ in $S$. – Mike Battaglia Jul 21 at 4:06

A: This is a fairly general case of the Legendre transformation, I guess. I don't really see that it should be that much simpler than the general case (but I'm not an expert).

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The R513 road is a regional road in County Cork and County Limerick, Ireland.

It was formerly the trunk road T50.

References

Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2006 – Department of Transport

Regional roads in the Republic of Ireland
Roads in County Cork
Roads in County Limerick


Each course is licensed for a 12 month period for the licence type you select, starting as soon as you click to order.
To read our licence agreement please click here.
You are under no obligation to renew your licence after your initial 12 month period.
If you do decide to renew your licence, your renewal fee will remain fixed at your initial licence price.


Let's create clarity to make 2014 an exceptional year… which it will be when your self-discipline to execute is in check each and every day.
It's this time of the year where you can become very effective at managing the company. February is an absolutely great month to really focus and get down to reviewing the detail of the business.
Here's a short checklist for the month of February. Spend one (1) week on each topic and ensure it is fully completed. Look at the extreme detail. Leave no stone or corner unturned.
1). Do an individual employee review pointing out the strengths the employee brings to the company, re-visit the vision of where and how the company is moving forward and what training the company is investing on the employee this year to assist the employee to better themselves which in turn assists the employee to move forward in their career. Make sure this is a positive upbeat one-on-one meeting.
2) Review the internal processes specifically to ensure that ALL steps are tight and being followed by everyone to complete the "circle" of processes. Complement individual employees where they are executing the processes well. Remember, if your business is not "steady", somewhere the processes are not being followed. Fix that.
3) Sit down and make detailed notes regarding supplier relationship improvement. Schedule a morning meeting with your supplier to review strengths, what is working well and discuss together where improvement can be made in the relationship, so each of you can move forward this year. Bring solutions to the table that you believe will work for both of you. Don't demand; discuss. Remember, in a good business relationship, it always must be a win/win relationship and strategy or it won't pass the test of time!
4) Review your monthly financial productivity objectives. Break them down into daily objectives and review together with the entire staff discussing them in the context of operating as a TEAM. Again, ensure this is a positive, upbeat meeting.
Opportunity is knocking hard this year telling you that 2014 is the year for your business to really pull ahead. Don't waste February. It's a great month to pull the team and the processes together, which in turn sets the base and tone of how the entire year is going to fall out. It's the detail that counts. It will be your "actions" not words, that will define this year for you and your company. Make it happen!!


Are we all the same? Are we able to reinvent ourselves?
These are questions that many people ask themselves when they live in a tight knit community. Are we all on a conveyer belt of life following a lead or can we personalize our choices to lead happier and more productive lives?
In order to maintain happiness living in a group you must find individual satisfaction and follow your dreams.
Women need to personalize their own journeys and balance their individual goals with their family responsibilities.
A working woman helps to support her family by sharing the financial demands of running a household with her husband. Working women serve as role models to their children, and a new level of respect for the value of a dollar is introduced into the home.
A career needs to be a good fit. The working woman wants to feel successful and accomplished, excited to go to work. For some women, their career choice encompasses a skill set they never knew they had.
Proper guidance and mentorship with a Propel career advisor can uncover a "you" that you never knew existed.
In her book Mindset, Carol Dweck encourages her readers to remove their limitations and labels. Once a woman puts her mind to something, it can be achieved. This mindset attitude leads to growth and even change that can foster a great outcome.
Jenny was career-minded from an early age. Over the course of the pregnancies of her two children, Jenny completed a Master's degree in Education. Although teaching was her initial career choice, Jenny was always interested in the criminal justice system.
Jenny was divorced and was left to support two children. She reached out to Propel, understanding that they were a supportive organization in the community. Jenny hoped that through coaching she might be helped to find a way to another career that might take her on a different path.
Ellen Ades, Propel's life coach, spent some time with Jenny, and helped assess some of her skill sets and interests. Together they decided on a Paralegal Certification program at Pace University.
Jenny attended the program for five months, four days a week, two to three hours a day. She was able to balance her school schedule with her parental responsibilities. Her parents were very helpful and supported her decision to seek guidance from Propel.
After receiving her Paralegal certification, Jenny worked for a law firm in Brooklyn. Recently, she began working in Long Island at Salem, Shor, and Saperstein LLP. Her work revolves around estate planning, elder law, and real estate. Jenny finds her work exciting and she even hinted at possibly going to law school one day to advance her career.
Jenny referred to The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins. The book is a self-help guide to enriching your life and removing doubt. She recommends this read to anyone afraid to make a change.
"If you remove the fear, you can do anything!" exclaims Jenny.


Heart failure (HF) is a debilitating condition that has profound implications for individuals who are affected in terms of life expectancy and quality of life. The Enhancing Quality HF pathway creates a process in which strong clinical leadership, benchmarking and collaborative learning is used to identify and reduce variation in heart failure care. Measurement helps to improve quality of care and patient experience in hospital and in the community.
In 2015 Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network (KSS AHSN) launched the delivery of new monthly heart failure dashboards and reporting that enables commissioners and providers to improve patient services and reduce unwarranted clinical variation across the region.
The Enhancing Heart Quality programme has merged with the National Heart Failure Audit in the acute trusts for the purpose of data collection and robust monthly dashboard reports are now produced at hospital and trust level. The reports provide services with detailed evidence to utilise for business planning, benchmarking and commissioning.
Aligning with the Best Practice Tariff and the Acute Heart Failure guideline, the collaborative learning approach to drive forward quality improvement focusses on improving patient outcomes and reducing variation in care. This led to six key fields from the NHFA being chosen to make up the care bundles and four fields which will be reported on for information only. In the community services the measures have been aligned with NICE Quality Standards and in addition, information will be reported on to demonstrate the complexities and symptoms of the patient group.
Please refer to our Resources for more information on the programme.


Mr. Szilagyi is President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Catalyst Capital Advisors, LLC. He is Head of the Advisor's Executive Committee, Investment Committee and Risk Management Committee. Mr. Szilagyi is responsible for the oversight and strategic direction of the Advisor and the investment program for the Funds. Mr. Szilagyi assists on the portfolio management of Catalyst Funds on a macro level and oversees the Sub-Advisors on Sub-Advised funds.
He is also responsible for monitoring the Advisor's and the Funds' compliance with regulatory policies and procedures. Additionally, Mr. Szilagyi is Managing Member of AlphaCentric Advisors, LLC., an investment advisory firm, since 2014; President of Rational Advisors, Inc., an investment advisory firm, since 2016; President of MFund Services, a mutual fund management and administration company, since 2012; President of MFund Distributors, a mutual fund marketing company, since 2012; and President of Abbington Capital Group, LLC, a management consulting company, since 1998. Mr. Szilagyi was President of USA Mutuals Advisors, Inc., an investment advisory firm, from 2011 to 2016. He was also President of Cross Sound Capital, LLC, a hedge fund management company, from 2011 to 2013; Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Lloyd Global Asset Management (Americas), LLC, from 2006 to 2010; Executive Vice President of Business Development for Integrity Mutual Funds, Inc., from 2003 to 2006, and Executive Vice President of Corporate Development for Orbitex Financial Services Group, from 1998 to 2003. Prior to 1998, Mr. Szilagyi was active as a consultant and investment banker in the financial services industry.
Mr. Szilagyi received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from New York University's, Stern School of Business. Mr. Szilagyi also carries a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
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text:
EMMA (AND THE SURROUNDING AREA)
film • make • write • edit • collect
THE MAN IN THE BUSHES
HOW TO BUILD A TERRARIUM
DESCRIBE THIS PHOTOGRAPH
RIVER WISDOM
ANALOG TRAVELOGUE
GAS STATIONS OF IRAQI KURDISTAN
Czech New Wave
Intimate Lighting: Overlooked Treasure of the Czech New Wave / December 5, 2013 by emma piper-burket
Daisies drew me into this Czech-film-world I am currently living, but there is another film I have come across recently that has made an equally strong impression. It is Ivan Passer's 1965 contribution to Czech New Wave- Intimate Lighting (Intimní osvětlení).
The story follows two childhood friends, Bambas and Petr, who are musicians. Bambas lives in the countryside in a house which he built, with his wife, children and in-laws. Petr is a soloist, living in Prague, who comes to town with his beautiful and semi-feral girlfriend, Stepa, to perform at a local concert. There is not much action in the film, but in the course of the 70 odd minutes, a beautiful atmosphere and mood is woven through simple scenes and minimal dialogue. We understand the characters and their world fully.
In typical New Wave fashion, the production was not complicated, filmed on location rather than in a studio, and using mostly non-professional actors there is a feeling that we are truly catching a slice of life, with all it's awkwardness, humor, absurdities and beauty. Intimate Lighting makes no overt political statements, yet it was banned in the Czech Republic for 20 years after it was made. Passer explains in a lovely interview with Olivier Père in 2012 that, "The Communist Party would even tolerate if the filmmakers argue with them about politics, but they really hated when you ignored them. My film ignored them totally."
It is somewhat difficult to track down a copy of Intimate Lighting. It was released on DVD by UK distributors Second Run Films in 2006. Graeme Hobbs writes upon the film's release: "It is appropriate to think of Intimate Lighting as the memory of a visit. Conversations cut across each other, children disrupt mealtimes and a meeting between two old colleagues has to take place among the confusion of preparations and events of the day." This description is quite apt, upon watching it, we truly feel we come to know the characters. In that same interview with Olivier Père, Passer touches upon this theme, elaborating on his motivations and intentions with the piece:
"I met a guy who saw Intimate Lighting sixty times. When I make a film I like to have an emotional target, I like to imagine what state of mind the audience should leave the theatre with, and in this movie I was hoping they would like to come back because they liked the characters. We visit our relatives, our friends, we know what they are going to say, to do, but we like them. I thought that is how my movie should be, and it did happen."
It is a beautiful way to think about a film- as an old friend or relative, and this is reflected in the film itself. The characters are familiar yet captivating in the banality of their familiarity.
So there it is. A (long-winded) film recommendation, from me to you.
Czech New Wave, Films December 05, 2013
© 2018 Emma Piper-Burket


Really not too much to say aside from this: Enjoy, and leave a review on Amazon if you'd like to help me get more people into the Saga of Six Friends!
Bringing Ragnarok, Book 2, is fully edited and complete!
Phew! Well, I set out to write, edit, and publish Book 2 of Bringing Ragnarok in no more than six months. And I'm proud to say: Objective achieved.
Book 2 definitely goes a little darker and edgier, with much of the action taking place in and around major battles. In 1944, Eryn heads out to the Western Front, helping to coordinate a German counteroffensive against one part of the American advance to the Rhine. 2041 sees Kim, Timur, and Patrick fighting with the Missoula Regiment against an all-out Deseret assault in eastern Idaho. And 2147 carries Yarielis and Loucas further on their escape from Toff pursuit into The Belt, which is essentially the 22nd Century's space-version of any mineral rich, poorly controlled area in the developing world.
In the six-book saga I'm writing, I felt it was necessary for Book 2 to be somewhat of a reality check after Book 1's more adventure-oriented theme. As the characters are getting more involved in their new times, they're starting to see and experience the consequences of prior events. This functions as a bit of a maturing process for them, and sets up the stage for Book 3 to go down a different path, focusing more on exploration and diplomacy (with intermittent battles).
One advantage of the Saga mode, being an early form of historical fiction and/or fantasy, is that each book in a series should actually go in a different direction. In the old Icelandic Sagas, for example, the story typically traces the adventures of several generations of a family, from father to son (and sometimes mother to daughter). So rather than follow the normal, modern convention of having a plot structured to present slowly rising action, a dramatic culmination, then (briefly) the aftermath, the Saga is more focused on presenting a fictional and stylized history of a person's life and experiences. Key battles and other plot events take place at scattered points throughout the narrative, structuring the overall course of the character's life (or a family's), rather than having that life be structured by the will of the storyteller.
In any event, Book 2 has more Norse gods talking about the nature of the metaverse, more things going boom, and I hope a little more insight into the perspective characters. But if you liked Book 1 more than Book 2 at the end, never fear! In Book 3, things get a little brighter. Darkened only by certain unavoidable philosophical discussions (note: people who deal with a lot of boredom, like soldiers and astronauts, talk about deep matters more than you might think. Philosophy is much more appealing when there's nothing more interesting to do - hence history's ascetics, hermits, and other folks who keep far away from society in order to better understand how it works.
Oh, and as for publication date - uh, well, still going with "By December 31st" because I don't actually know how long it'll take to get through Amazon's approval queue, once I hit the publish button tomorrow or Saturday. Should be hours, but could be days. On the off chance you are eagerly awaiting the sequel, I'll post a Dev diary update with the link to the book live on Amazon US.
Well, once again, I've gotten bad about blogging. But, while I've slipped with the Dev Diary updates, I've kept working on the actual thing that matters, the manuscript for Bringing Ragnarok, Book 2.
Took a few more days into December than I'd originally planned, but that was more out of a desire to slightly expand and rewrite a couple of the later chapters than discovery of major issues. Book 2 ended up being about 25% longer than Book 1, coming in at a bit under 160,000 words as compared to 120,000 for Book 1. The tone overall is, necessarily, a bit darker and grimmer than Book 1, but hopefully not so much so that it puts readers off.
I actually tend to structure the meta-plot a bit like a symphony, with themes shifting and action rising and falling according to a rhythm of sorts. So while Book 2 is thematically more battle-focused, Book 3 will shift tone again towards exploration (physical and intellectual) and understanding, setting the stage for another more action packed Book 4.
As for actual publication, I haven't chosen anything more specific than 'by the end of December', as I'm not entirely certain when the copyediting will be done and I'll finish any necessary corrections. I'm holding out hope of being done and published before December 31, but just don't want to make any promises just in case something goes strange. It's been quite a rough year on the home front around Broken Wagon Farm, so we're not taking anything for granted until 2018 is dead and done!
On Book 2, I have to say that I'm very excited to publish, and having garnered a number of good ratings on Goodreads and Amazon (more is better, so if you are reading this and enjoyed Book 1, please leave a review and/or rating! It significantly enhances visibility) has been particularly encouraging.
Since December is looking to be a slower month in terms of the amount of formal writing work, I'm hoping to spend some time making maps and appendix materials for each of the three Threads. For 1944, I've got some sketches of big-picture stuff, policy reforms and military reorganizations taken by the Beck government, which would have had quite a task on its hands had it, unlike our reality, actually been able to make Operation Valkyrie a success. For 2041, I want to put together some maps of Post-America, and include some atlas-style sketches of the different successor states to the USA, which broke up (formally) in 2031. And for 2147, I have some diagrammatic maps of Inner Sol, and more descriptions of places and players in the political-economic mix. And history, of course. Lots of timelines and the like.
Of course to actually get this done will require some focus, at a time of the year I tend to have trouble with that. And this year, there's the whole Brexit fiasco occupying my attention. I'm Cascadian, and follow US presidential politics best, but the UK comes as a close second, because in my globalist dreams, all the postcolonial remnants of the British Empire would unite in some kind of loose democratic federation. Anyway, I've found the whole Brexit drama to be high theater, years of ink spilled and negotiations... had... all so that in the end the EU could offer a deal that wasn't quite good enough, so that the UK politicians could say they did all they could, and then force a situation where a second referendum or general election would almost certainly nix the whole thing before it could do any real damage.
But we'll see! The performance seems to be headed down to the wire. Still, I always welcome a chance to put a theory to the test, mine being that inertia will prevail, where it can.
Won't in the United States, though - sorry to all the milquetoast old white liberal types who think some old hack like Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren or even Bernie Sanders is the right choice for 2020. The UK already lost its empire, so the dynamics - while mirroring in many ways, remain quite different.
But hey - my Timeline to 2041 assumes that the USA goes into inertia for the rest of the '20s...until the greater earthquake begins.
Well, life has gotten in the way of regular Dev Diary-ing the past few weeks, so I figure I owe anyone stumbling across the site (or, I can hope, checking in on Bringing Ragnarok Book 2 progress) a quick update.
In fact, 1/4 of Book 2 is now with my beta-reader, fully edited to my standard and ready for some external and objective evaluation. The next 1/2 or so has gone through both digital and paper edits, and just needs a few day's work to get that ready for evaluation. Leaving the last 1/4 or so still to go through the full process.
Fortunately, having now physically read and annotated more than 2/3 of the draft, I'm actually feeling a bit excited about publishing at the end of December, because Book 2 is where I think the story really starts to come together. Book 1 is intentionally vignette-y, with chapters growing longer as the narrative proceeds, to evoke the sense of confusion and general weirdness that most new recruits or draftees experience in the early stages of their integration into the military world. Book 2, while still fairly vignette-y, settles down into more of a distinct pattern/rhythm as the Six Friends start to grasp the 'rules' of their new reality, and begin to act on the world intentionally instead of simply experiencing things as they happen.
Part of the reason why I continue to advertise on the term litRPG is that I think this new genre's audience, or at least part of it, will appreciate the effective 'level-up' process that each character goes through as they figure out how to survive in the middle of a war. I don't make this explicit or overt, but it is buried in the narrative as a part of each character's arc. I like to integrate video game metaphors in my writing (and there's a lengthy discussion of war in the context of Starcraft early on), which probably restricts my audience somewhat, but also makes Bringing Ragnarok more approachable to the digital-generations.
Anyway, to sum up - still on track for publication by end of December, 2018. With ongoing encouraging news from my sales, Kindle Direct pagereads, and Goodreads ratings, I'm really starting to hope that this project will earn me a basic living income (minimum wage, at least!) once I can get Book 3 out in Summer 2019, or at the latest by the time Book 4 is published in Winter 2019. Busy times, but busy is how you break in to this world.
Oh, and if you happen to be a Book 1 reader who already read the thing and liked it - please rate and/or review on Goodreads, Amazon, wherever! I'm starting to get a sense of who is reading and in particular who is actually liking the Saga, and I am increasingly hopeful I can turn this into a sustainable business. Six Books done by 2020 is the goal, and then I can start on the next series... that I'm already planning out on paper (because that's how I roll).
Finally - this past week marked the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, that ended the First World War. I wish it had been the War to End all Wars, and not simply a prelude to something worse - and I'm not only referring to the Second World War. The self-inflicted damage to the European-dominated world system in 1914-1918 is still resolving itself. Just as explosives from both conflicts continue to emerge from under fields and development projects, killing people decades, now a full century later, so do the social and political struggles continue, in an age where thousands of nuclear weapons are under the control of right-wing fanatics who want to make them more usable, and the climate is rapidly shifting to a new 'normal', with no mitigation likely before the present world system finally collapses and is replaced in the '30s or '40s.
Book 2 is now 1/3 edited, and the wordcount has slowly crept up above 141,000. For reference, Book 1 came in at just over 120,000, so I'm already pushing a 20% length increase. Which isn't a bad thing, just worrying: Compressed wordcount induces parsimony in the narrative. Which is a fancy way of saying, when I have a word limit, I get more creative about my word use.
Fortunately I suspect there are several longer passages that can be significantly cut without losing any of the effect or impact. I simply have a tendency to let a character's train of internal thought go on a bit too long, have them mentally narrate a few too many paragraphs of backstory. Which, while many readers are quite tolerant, I want to avoid as a bad habit. As much as I work to create a 'real' world, where what happens is informed as much as possibly by underlying mechanics that are rooted in much of the best of what I've encountered, in the years working on a doctorate, in the many academic disciplines I've investigated.
I could write an actual 'history' for each of the three main Threads, and publish it as a pseudo/fictional history. And by could, I mean that I am capable of sitting down and writing a whole lot of background material into a reasonably interesting technical narrative. In fact, one long-term ambition of mine is to actually do something like that, including supported 'faked' research materials.
At the moment, though, I sketch most of this sort of thing out with pen and paper, often in that pleasant couple of hours after dinner when my mind is wandering towards sleep already. The dreams come easier then, and I am getting in the habit of actually writing it down so I can reference it as I type.
2020 - After two years of increasingly bitter partisan rancor, The United States Presidential Election sees the first return of overt political violence directed by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups against "illegals", which increasingly means anyone not of their ethnic background. Turnout in crucial 'swing' states remains low, and the vote count is further marred by substantiated allegations of foreign interference, resulting in an escalating series of lawsuits that carry the drama well into 2021, where an openly-partisan Supreme Court decision invalidates huge numbers of votes in several vital states.
2022 - A year into the most severe double-dip recession in modern American history, D.C. remains paralyzed by partisan infighting, leaving the States to fend for themselves. Many larger states like California and Texas begin to establish independent foreign relations in order to seek trade agreements that can evade Federal rules and reconnect these states and their home companies to trading markets abroad.
2023 - An escalating series of clashes between Chinese patrol vessels and ships from the Philippine and Vietnamese navies brings a sudden and overwhelming Chinese response, with elements of the People's Liberation Army Navy and Air Force launching strikes against naval and aviation assets in both nations. The United States, despite longstanding guarantees of protection, is too paralyzed to effectively respond, resulting in several aerial and naval clashes but no serious conflict, as many had feared. However, China remains the de-facto controller of the South China Sea, and other nations, while publicly decrying the move, quietly accept the situation.
2024 - The next United States Presidential Election is held in a time of economic stagnation and monetary inflation, leaving vast swathes of the American electorate unemployed or underemployed. Thankfully, violence like that seen in 2020 does not recur, however the collapse of both major political parties across much of the US West results in the first Contingent Election in US history, where a 3rd Party candidate promising non-partisan reform is ultimately selected by Congress after no candidate obtain 270 Electoral College Votes.
2025 - After a minor border dispute spirals out of control, Russian troops simultaneously occupy key districts in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. NATO is unable to respond, with the US now declaring Europe beyond its sphere of influence. A new European joint force is deployed to prevent further hostilities, and along with the simmering conflict in Eastern Ukraine brings a new 'Iron Curtain' falling across Eastern Europe.
2028 - The current U.S. President runs for re-election, and due to a stabilizing economy and international situation is expected to win re-election against two challengers from the far-left and far-right. On August 26th, 2028, while attending the Party's Presidential Nominating Convention in Miami, Florida, Nuclear weapons detonate almost simultaneously and without warning in Miami, Los Angeles, and Newark, killing tens of thousands of American civilians as well as all members of the line of Presidential Succession down to the Secretary of the Treasury, who narrowly escaped being killed in San Francisco when a U.S. Navy Destroyer spots and shoots down a pair stealthy cruise missiles approaching the area from the Pacific Ocean.
2028 - The 2028 Attacks, which subsequent investigations show were launched by a rogue Air Force officer (James Hollahan) running what amounted to small death cult within the Air Force, results in two rival claimants for the Presidency: Carolyn Pilsudska, Secretary of the Treasury, and Timothy Connor, Secretary of Defense - a close friend and political ally of Hollahan, who himself is soon tapped to be next Secretary of Defense himself. Hollahan-Connor claim to have evidence that Pilsudska was born in Warsaw, Poland, and not the United States, seeking to invalidate her claim.
2028 - On September 1, 2028, United States submarines fire twelve nuclear missiles, a total of three dozen warheads, at suspected nuclear facilities in Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan. China and Russia denounce this use of nuclear weapons before investigations can conclude, and media reports indicate that while Pilsudka and Connor agreed on the timing and magnitude of the strikes, neither accepted the right of the other to take action.
2029 - In January, China announces the discovery of the wreckage of an American-made stealthy cruise missile off the coast of California. Returned to China by a submarine observing U.S. Navy exercises in the area, the revelation is immediately claimed to be a hoax by the Connor government.
2029 - On March 15, several dozen United States Air Force Stealth bombers accompanied by unmanned drones fire hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles at sites operated by China's Second Artillery Corps, which maintains control of China's nuclear arsenal. Alleging a plot by China to attack the United States, the Connor government - which ordered the strikes - claims it was acting in self-defense.
2029 - On April 23, the People's Liberation Army Navy announces the blockade of the American military facilities in Okinawa, which was used as a staging base for many of the forces that attacked China's nuclear arsenal. The Connor and Pilsudska teams both claim that this will not be tolerated, but the Connor team now maintains control of access to the Pentagon. Pilsudska, escaping what appears to be an attempt to arrest and contain her, flies with a Secret Service detail to Seattle, Washington.
2029 - On May 30, PLAN forces engage and defeat a fleet of four United States Navy aircraft carriers moving to counter the blockade. Swarms of anti-ship ballistic missiles as well as land, sea, and air-launched cruise missiles are assisted by several dozen conventional submarines acting as mobile mines, who identify the locations of two of the Carriers at the start of the battle, launching torpedoes and calling in the rest of the Chinese forces to engage. In a furious and mutually costly battle, the U.S. Navy is forced to retreat after the U.S.S. Carl Vinson suffers catastrophic, near-fatal damage, and the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy receives severe damage to its flight deck. Covered by U.S.S. Enterprise and U.S.S. George Washington, the U.S. Navy moves to secure its key base on Guam and the naval supply lines leading back to Pearl Harbor.
2029 - On June 13, the Pilsudska team announces that they hold the Connor government to be illegitimate under the Constitution, and call on all willing governors and military commanders to refuse orders from D.C. California, Oregon, and Washington are the first to comply, and a group of western governors concerned about the possibility of further escalation impacting their civilian populations propose a Constitutional Convention to reform the Federal Government.
2029 - on July 4, units from the 82nd Airborne Division under the direct orders of Secretary of Defense Hollahan, who now in effect holds 'President' Connor as a puppet, land throughout the California Central Valley with orders to secure the state capital at Sacramento, and the California governor. Who responds by ordering all California National Guard units able to mobilize and not engaged in the relief effort in Los Angeles to move to Oregon and join with other Guard and regular military units whose commanders have chosen to back Pilsudska.
2029 - on July 9, advance elements of the 82nd Airborne Division encounter a militia unit holding a bridge over the Sacramento River in Redding, California. This unit, whose members are largely drunk, fire on the advancing vehicles, thinking them to be part of the California Guard. Before local commanders can sort out the situation, orders come down from Hollahan to treat Redding as under enemy control, and to seize the bridges supported by artillery strikes, which subsequently devastate much of the town and spark the first skirmish between American military units, when a CNG battalion covering the retreat engages the 82nd Airborne's advance elements, thinking themselves under attack.
2029 - on September 25, Pilsudka loyalists defeat an attack by several brigades from the 82nd Airborne and 3rd Infantry Divisions under Hollahan's control, using the rugged terrain and narrow mountain passes to inflict heavy casualties, while preventing air support from making it over the mountains. In the wake of this victory of the California, Oregon, and Washington National Guard Units supported by a Stryker brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division and aviation assets from the Navy and National Guard, Pilsudska claims all military forces in the Pacific to be under her command.
2029 - on October 22, Pilsudska forces seek to push back through Redding on their way to liberate Sacramento. Hollahan orders a nuclear strike to halt their advance, one missile with three warheads launched from a silo in North Dakota annihilating the remains of the town in a nuclear firestorm. Pilsudska orders a nuclear reply to match, a single warhead launched from a ballistic missile submarine outside of Puget Sound that detonates over the Sacramento International Airport, where Hollahan's forces have established a major base.
There you have it! A nice, depressing look at, I'm afraid, a plausible future leading to Post-America. As you go out to vote this coming election day, keep this dark future in mind.