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Linda McDonald, Writer
Mother Nature Naked
Old Bones in the Sky
New Mexico magic
All Elvis All Technicolor All the Time
Artsy-fartsy - We're still in the dark
When darkly lit films first came into being, it was because the people shooting horror or crime stories were underfinanced. Not enough lights were available. The lighting designer cleverly used the few instruments s/he had to light only one side of the face, leaving the other half in mysterious shadow. Kudos to creativity. They not only scared the viewers (their intent), but made it look intentional.
Skip several decades ahead. Now cameras are technically capable of shooting in low light settings, so night scenes begin to be a staple of TV and movies. I'm as in love with them as the next person. The scary walk through the forest at midnight, the perp lurching around the backyard - fun stuff.
But now I'm beginning to wonder if this darkness has become Standard Operating Procedure for TV, especially. I realize some dramatic license is allowed and even encouraged, but since when do business offices have no lights? From the old Law and Order franchise to Blacklist, apparently these CEO's, FBI operatives, etc., operate with only 25 watt desk fixtures--never with the standard overhead flourescents that we've all come to know (and hate, granted) in real life. People sit at their desks, talk on the phone, and receive visitors in light levels comparable to reading in bed under a sheet with a flashlight.
And who had any ideas that our courtrooms can no longer afford lights? Again, from L&O to the Sprint Kevin Durant commercial, why are they in darkness? Isn't a murder trial dramatic enough without turning out the lights? These people are harming their eyes trying to read legal files at this level, and they're hurting mine trying to see what's happening. In The Judge, you had to squint to make out Robert Downey's face. Is verisimilitude an artifact of the past? Even the judges look sinister.
At the bottom of this beef, of course, is the irritation that it will likely take several replays to see what is actually going on in many shows. In Game of Thrones, their dark dungeons and cave settings sometimes offer only moving slits of white/gray against blackness. When it takes a full minute to be sure whether it's Cersei or Tyrion we're looking at . . . come on, guys.
There's nothing wrong with my eyes, by the way. But sometimes my heart does a little flutter from one scene to the next as I ask myself: Have I grown full blown cataracts in the last 60 seconds?
What I'm Sick to Death of. . .
Booze hound stars selling liquor on t.v. commercials. Really, guys? How many DUI's do you have among yourselves? And yet there you are, young girls on your arm, or sitting at the bar exchanging conspiratorial nods with the bartender, as if there's only a few in this world who understand the deep secret meaning of chilled vodka. (Here's the real secret: Vomit on your shirt.)
I liked it much better when movie stars and athletes didn't hop on the bandwagon to add to their fortunes from commercials. Jennifer Garner pours on the same charm and acting chops she used in Alias to sell me frequent flyer miles. Diane Keaton, fashion rebel and offbeat actor, now hawks cosmetics like a cheerleader on ecstasy.
Perhaps that's where the real rub comes in. We realize, even though of course we know this full well, that it is all an act. Robert deNiro can turn on the same passion for a commercial product as he did for The Godfather. McConaughey looks just as slick in his car ad as he did playing the Lincoln Lawyer.
And I'm not even going to name all of the "mature" actors who are assuring us that we, too, can get a reverse mortgage that will solve our retirement problems, a magical drug for osteoporosis that will send us onstage dancing, the best yogurt on the planet. And my personal favorite, all our gorgeous stars who apparently use boxed, home hair color rather than a personal hairdresser. Who knew?
Somehow I want to cling to the notion that helping companies make more money is not as inspiring to an actor as a great script. That the millions that athletes earn each year might be enough without selling insurance and sodas and three hundred dollar shoes.
But we live in the Land of Never Enough . . . and also, luckily, Home of the Free - to record programs and fast forward commercials, to hit mute when the electronic salesmen barge into our living rooms, to discover that amped up volumes of frantic car commercials do not have to be part of our psyche. What a gentler America at our fingertips. Oops, did I just do a commercial?
"You can't Make This S____ up!"
Within the category of "You-Can't-Make-This-Stuff-Up" lies a classic scholarly debate. Does art imitate life or Does life imitate art? It's sort of the "chicken or egg" of people who like to talk about where book (and other creative) ideas come from. My recent experiences make it wonkier than ever for me to know on which side of this argument I land.
Since my debut novel, Crimes of Redemption, came out at the end of 2012, a couple of fascinating things have come to life that have prompted comments from readers and friends. First, there was the question of whether or not it was believable that a character like Albert Raeder, a popular patriarch of his small city, would or could hold Gayla Early captive in his basement for two years. I had certainly done my homework, watched a number of documentary shows on places like the Discovery Channel, and knew it had been done (and that it was suspected to be under-reported).
The original seed that started the novel, in fact, had been a man calling into a t.v. show saying he had been tortured for two weeks by a man he had killed to make his escape. Since, as most writers, I really wanted to get this right, you can imagine how confirming the national news stories since I finished that manuscript (2 ½ years ago) have been. Gone beyond that, really. The girl who was kept over 15 years in a backyard shed, having her captor's children, even working an online business for him? And more recently, in Cleveland, the three women locked inside a man's house for over 10 years before finally being heard by a neighbor who initiated their rescue? You can't make this stuff up, right?
Another eerie coincidence connected with the book happened right in my own Oklahoma western plains backyard. Two cars that had been buried in Foss Lake with the remains of five different people were salvaged. One had been there since the 1950's, the other since the 1970's. I won't go into more details for fear of creating something of a spoiler, but those of you who read Crimes of Redemption know that more than confirms the possibility that a car could lie buried underwater and unnoticed for a matter of years.
I will continue to use my life experiences and research as a basis for everything I write. But I'm also thinking that if you do your homework, then "make something up" in good faith, the universe just may eventually pop up and tell you--hey, you got that right!
The Divine Miss 'M' Interview 2013
Dennis Maley did this interview spring of this year. What a smart ass I sound like. . .
DM: OK so you have a publisher now, and a snazzy headshot, and a new book out, Crimes of Redemption that's available at Amazon. Is this a guy book? A girl book? That probably doesn't exhaust all the possibilities... take it from there.
LM: Crimes of Redemption boasts no gender bias. Even dogs are in this story. A drifter, Gayla Early, is accused of beating to death Albert Raeder, the town's most important citizen, although she claims he held her captive for two years, and she killed him only during a desperate attempt to escape. But Raeder's good ole boy buddies aren't about to buy that and are ready to railroad her right into prison.
Only a town curmudgeon with her own ghosts, Willie Morris, believes her. Then, even as evidence mounts against her, the local sheriff, Tommy Maynard, begins to suspect she may be more victim than murderer. The three of them eventually form an unlikely alliance that changes their lives forever.
DM: Contemporary, right? Genre?
LM: The sheriff is a Vietnam vet, around 50, so it's a few years earlier than now. It's a psychological suspense novel.
DM: I'm imagining Tommy Lee Jones starring, set in Alpine, Texas. What rating is the movie going to get?
LM: The settings are all Oklahoma, except a bit in Texas. It's probably an "R". Jones is one of my favorite guys to watch, but he's a little grizzled for the sheriff now. Ten years ago . . .
DM: What catastrophe was averted in your life that prodded you into writing?
LM: Are you secretly a lawyer?
DM: Your reviews at Amazon are embarrassingly good. What's going on there?
LM: See me later.
DM: Your publisher did the cover art? The cover says "Innocence Came Calling." What do you know of innocence?
LM: Not nearly as much as I used to. (I do like the cover, though!)
DM: Do you think your acting experience informs your writing? Seems like it ought to make your characterizations and motivations sharp. Am I all wet?
LM: It helps in stepping inside their heads, I think. Also I can hear the rhythms a little better in my mind, perhaps, than someone who hasn't spoken a lot of dialogue out loud. And I have never thought of you as all wet, Dennis.
DM: What books would you buy kids that are marooned on a desert island?
LM: Scouting Manuals? Self Help books? Pick-up Sticks?
DM: Influences? Any new or used authors that have grabbed your oeuvre and turned it on its head?
LM: No one is grabbing it that I know of, but I have been reading Pete Dexter, Arnaldur Indridason, and Mark Twain.
DM: Current projects? Anything in the works? Literature? Film? Stage?
LM: I'm starting to work on a sequel for COR, but it's only in the embryonic stages. Just finished a thriller set in SW Texas. Getting ready to act in Mrs. Mannerly at Carpenter Square Theatre in OKC starting in late February through March.
DM: Do you have any advice for other writers? Anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
LM: I make it a rule to write a minimum of 10 minutes a day, which usually turns into at least a half hour, or three. John Grisham said if you aren't willing to commit to a page a day, you probably won't finish your book. You would have 365 pages in a year. I kinda like that, and it's worked out that way for me.
I love the feedback from my readers so far. It's been positive and supportive and I haven't even paid them any money yet.
Thanks to Denis. His website is http://www.maleybooks.com
Aunt Bea and the Viking God
As I arrived that November morning, the chill that went through me wasn't just the wintry blast that'd blown in around midnight. As I surveyed my destination, I realized there are few creepier sites than a school building at dawn. A lone yellow light illuminated one end, where a handful of parked motorcycles gleamed in the moonlight.
My steps echoed down the dim hall which led to the designated room. A tripod with a posterboard read: Motorcycle Safety Instruction Class. Inside, round tables had been arranged for the participants. Ten guys were already there. All wearing do-rags. Some to cover their gray hair, some to cover their baldness, with designs from shooting flames to the Confederate flag on them. I could hear snippets of conversation, "Deadwood" and "Sturgis" echoing in the air.
The first thing I smelled and heard was leather. The tight scrunch as conversation ground to a halt while Aunt Bea entered the room. They looked at me like I was surely the donut delivery gal, but the instructor, looked up and called me by name--my first clue that I might be the only estrogen in the room.
Let me say, in my defense, that I nearly ran right then and there. I had an intuitive flash, probably similar to those felt by people right before they're run over by a tank. A few more guys came in and it became official. Aunt Bea had just crashed a meeting of the Sons of Anarchy.
The conversation quickly built back to a witty repartee. Get acquainted sorts of questions, like "When do you lay down your bike?" My answer--Never. I don't want it scratched even worse--was not offered up by a single soul. Then I got it. They were talking about avoiding decapitation by sliding your bike under careening trucks during thunderstorms. When somebody began to expound on the joys of hydroplaning on the interstate, I felt my stomach clutch.
I wasn't even on a real motorcycle, but a Genuine Buddy 125 Scooter, very similar to a Vespa, and had been riding illegally for a year--long overdue to get a motorcycle endorsement on my drivers license. I quickly discovered my only uniqueness (other than gender) in this class of unlicensed compadres: I could read aloud without pausing between words. We took turns reading the basics I had already memorized from my Buddy Handbook and the official State Motorcycle Safety Manual. Interestingly, some of the guys who'd sojourned to South Dakota through rain and sleet didn't know the five steps in checking your bike before you got on, things I had committed to memory. But I suspected this was no time to brag.
Before the break between the writing and driving tests, the Viking God arrived, like a walking redwood tree. His brown sheep's-wool-lined jacket and pants added even more bulk to his 6'4" presence. Under his black-slitted eyes was the pock-marked scowl of an ancient warrior about to pillage a village. His arms were abnormally long. I imagined him riding his hog, knuckles dragging the highway. And dirty blond hair braided down the back to his waist. If he'd been wearing one of those operatic bronze helmets with horns, he would have looked perfectly at home at the bow of a Viking ship, setting sail to slaughter new worlds.
Driving to the driving strip in back of the building was my first participation in a motorcycle parade. Our bikes sparked to life with the force of an exploding hydrogen bomb and we drove to an asphalt track which immediately made me think of a desolate Mexican airstrip. If two rows of orange cones hadn't dotted the surface, I would have sworn it was a runway for drug traffic. But I quickly discovered the traffic cones marked our first maneuver. Apparently, we were to weave in and out of the cones. Looking down one row of bright markers, I thought, "It'll be tight, but you'll do fine."
We all listened to the Viking's foghorn instructions, which were impossible to hear over the snarling motors revving up again. Observing the first rider, however, I became dreadfully enlightened. Weaving back and forth down the single row of cones was barely half the fun. Actually, we were to weave back and forth between Row 1 and Row 2, making a figure eight, an extremely tight one. Quickly counting the cones, I determined that I would have to execute a total of--wait for it–20 hairpin curlicue turns. Something acidic exploded in my stomach. And way down there just beyond the last cones, Viking King stood, hands on hips, his breath assaulting the cold morning air like steam blasting off a train.
So long doomsday story short, let's put it this way. If we'd been bowling, I would have won. No cone was left in its original place, and many had been taken out completely. By the time I got to Viking King, I was just grateful I still had the bike under me, and not dragging one of the hateful orange doo-hickeys alongside.
Speechless, mouth hanging open, he motioned me close, so I could smell his sausage breath. "You've never ridden before at all, have you?"
A squeaky voice I didn't recognize surfaced. "Yes I have."
He snarled. "Oh come on. You don't have any experience, do you?" He made it sound like I'd sneaked into a cock fight without paying.
"As much as the online ad said I needed. I've got 500 miles."
He smirked, folded his arms and pointedly looked behind me. I turned to observe the wrecked obstacle course."Well," I pointed out, deciding to defend myself with a touch of humor, "I didn't realize we were in training for the Shriner Circus."
Now maybe he was a Shriner, I don't know. But I can say he did not like the reference, nor any challenge whatsoever to his authority. "I can see already, you're going to make it a long day." His eyes promised pain. "I don't like long days."
I sucked my pride up off the asphalt and humbly asked, "Can I give it another go, Sir?"
He actually grinned. Apparently, this was closer to the lowly sucking-up he liked. "Sure," he said, expansively spreading his arms. "Go to the back of the line and try again." Luckily for me, I was not the only disaster. Several of the guys who hadn't ridden for years knocked over cones, and one went over on his bike. They were also shamed and given their comeuppance.
Then, a moment of sheer magic. I actually made it through the maneuver the second time without crashing a single cone. I drove up to him, barely suppressing a victory cry. "Was that okay?" I asked with a proud grin.
He shook his head at me, as though I'd not only fallen off the watermelon truck, but it had also run over me. "Sure, if your foot was allowed to touch the ground when you turn."
"Oh. I can't do that?"
He put his hands on his hips. "It's just going to get harder and faster. You get me?"
"But I paid my money already. . .." It was lame, but true. I was getting the idea loud and clear that I was out of my league, but figured I should at least be able to try to do what they were expecting. Maybe there would be a low grading curve. "I want to at least try."
He dropped his head sadly, as if I had just volunteered for a lobotomy.
"Alrighty. Moving on to the next maneuver."
Actually, this part looked like fun. It was a "go slow, then go fast" kind of test around large curving lanes on the runway. What, I quickly discovered, they failed to allow for, or give a crap about, is that scooters can't be downshifted. You simply accelerate or brake. This exercise illustrated that motorcycles can be controlled by shifting from high gear to low. On a scooter, there is zero finesse in this area. You can stop on a dime, but under 10 mph you're in danger of tipping over. So there goes the foot on the ground. Again.
Red-faced, he motioned me back over. He looked like a man who needed his midday allotment of raw meat. "Harder and faster. Did you not hear that? Even harder and even faster after this." I decided it might not be the best time to bring up the gearshift differences between motorcycle to scooter. Then he delivered the coup de grace. "You know, I've had to call ambulances out here. People have been hurt that bad."
Since it wasn't clear if he meant bike accidents, or if he had actually lifted students over his head and thrown them onto the tarmac, I resisted comment. Then I remembered something creepy from grade school history. Vikings beheaded their enemies. My mental red danger flag popped up before my eyes and started shouting. From that point on, I was paralyzed by panic. My quick descent into unobliterated shame would only be funny to sadists who like to listen to actual recorded tapes of 911 calls.
Sent home in disgrace, with frozen fingers, I could only stare at my beautiful honey-colored scooter for the next few months and tear up remembering my utter, complete, ignominious failure. I was doomed. So, several months later, just as I was pondering whether to ride illegally or sell my beloved Buddy, I was stunned when the universe took charge of my situation. A friend introduced me to the educational programs of the Rider Down Foundation and enrolled me in their motorcycle safety class. I was grateful but told myself to be prepared for another round of humiliation.
Imagine my shock on arrival to discover two of their instructors were women. More than half the class were female, too. A lot of them had ridden behind their partners forever and were apparently ready for those hogs to rumble between their own legs. Had I stepped into an alternate universe? The teachers actually encouraged you, coached you, gently guided you through the dreaded curlicues. Shouts of "You can do it!" filled the air.
Yes, you guessed it. I now ride legally. Got that big "M" on my license. I can stop and go, do figure eights, and turn circles in a box. By day's end, I felt like Cleopatra riding her barge down the Nile. All of us couldn't have been more proud than if we'd been crowned Miss Harley Hogs of America.
Most of my fellow students had their guys watching the entire event from the sidelines, mingling around their own bikes. It was, and surely will remain, the only time I have been cheered and whistled at by an audience of bikers in black leather jackets as I rode triumphantly off the training tarmac. I wanted to cry. Vengeance and joy were mine. Who needs the Viking beheader when you've got dozens of clapping Marlon Brando's out of The Wild One?
Now I must admit, I'm starting to feel the urge for change. Now that I'm all legal, I'm considering a different look from my drab driving gear. Something a little more uptown perhaps. Anybody know where to locate a candy-apple-red leather riding jacket in a plus size?
Note: The Downed Rider Foundation is an outstanding nonprofit organization which supports injured riders and their families through money and personal support. I feel eternally grateful to them for their upbeat style of instruction and making this one of the greatest experiences I ever had.
What's sex got to do with it?
You don't need me to tell you what makes a great romance. The plot will contain obstacles to keep the lovers apart, right? Then, against incredible odds, they find their way back together, even if they have to battle across continents. And in the end, it's sex happily ever after.
Wars in faraway lands, a family's vehement disapproval, illnesses/injuries to a lover--are just a few devices that work beautifully to keep people apart. The harder the universe conspires against our lovers, the more we root for them to find each others arms (and sex happily ever after).
Of course, it's not only about the sex (although, what's not to like?). But good love stories have emotional growth, too. Usually, for example, each lover has a trait that the other is lacking. A successful, buttoned-up man is entranced by the free spirit of a fun but irresponsible woman. He needs some of her looseness so he can learn to enjoy life. And she is attracted to his solid grasp of the world, as it helps to ground her, because it's hard to always be flying around. Then they have love and sex happily ever after.
Okay, so that's how the stories go. What if, however, a romantic story doesn't end with sex happily ever after? What if sex were, for whatever reason, totally off the table?
After almost a century of the mind as the new frontier, people now view intimacy and love in new lights. We are having conversations about our softness, our willingness to be vulnerable with one another, our need to empathize with others, and how that is satisfying, wholehearted love--no matter the age, gender or sexual preference.
What if a man falls for a woman who, he discovers, is midway through having a sex change? (See television series, Hit or Miss.) A smitten Irishman faces belittlement if his mates discover their secret. Yet, even though he's uncertain if or how sex could happen, he's still crazy for her.
What happens when someone falls in love with a person with the AIDS virus? Or the full blown disease? What if the object of love were partially paralyzed with no sexual function?
In my debut novel, Crimes of Redemption, two characters who have survived sexual abuse love one another, but are so scarred they struggle with letting anybody into their lives again.
Yet, whether there is physical consummation or not, all lovers have to traverse emotional deserts and mountains to find each other. Walk on the razor's edge of vulnerability and openness with one another. It takes real courage to travel those lands, too.
In those moments when we truly open up our heart to another, are there many braver acts than that? How about ending up with wholehearted love? That truly could be forever after.
All the dead horses. . .
Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah
You Can Lead a Horse to Water. . .Or Can You?
Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah sits on a cliff 2000 feet above the powerful Colorado River. Its name comes from the dozens of wild mustangs who, in the 1800's, died of thirst within sight of life-saving water below.
There are two versions of this story.
A military installation at the top of the cliff had to be abandoned at some point during the 1800's. During the U.S. occupation of this land, the wild mustangs who ran the canyons at will had been contained in a corral at the top of a cliff (the point of view from which the picture was snapped).
Here the story diverges.
Version I: The corral gate was left open as the military departed, but the mustangs had grown so used to being contained there, that they did not know enough to leave. They starved of thirst there, only a couple of thousand feet from water, which they must have smelled as it drifted up the arid cliffs.
Version II: Someone forgot to leave the gate open as the military departed and the mustangs were accidentally left to die.
I find myself haunted and still slightly obsessed by their hideous deaths. All those long, slender bones found in the corral years later. Their dying howls echoing in the canyons below. The more I think on it, the more difficult it is to see clearly which is the darker cruelty here: the imprisonment of the horses' bodies or the brainwashing of their minds.
Don't we all face similar dilemmas in life? When and why do we accept the locked gate instead of knocking down the corral fence? And how damaging is it to allow ourselves to accept, without investigation, a limited view of what we can do and be?
IF YOUR HEAD IS ENSCONCED IN QUICKSAND. . .QUICK, GO SEE A PLAY
My mother passed away during the weekend of Tiananmen Square. For those too young to remember, I'm talking about the first weekend in June, 1989. Chinese rebels were staging a protest that shocked the world. Numb from her death, I sat, watching the story unfold for 24 hours. I was drawn to the t.v. for reasons I couldn't grasp. But I watched, mesmerized. The iconic photo of the time (at right) shows a lone young man who walked into the path of the tanks that had been assembled to force out the protesters. Millions of us watched breathlessly as the tanks, at what seemed the last possible moment, crawled to a stop.
I cried. Actually, bawled is a better word. Something about that simple act of bravery halfway around the world set me free. Something cracked open inside. Whether it just let loose the tears I'd been stuffing, or my emotions were jump started, I don't know. But it was healing. And it was about both Tiananmen and my mother, who had just braved over eight morphine-laced weeks in the hospital before dying.
Those memories came up after a friend recently told me she could not possibly go to a play that was about grief and loss. Her husband had died less than a year earlier, and she felt she could not endure the experience. I am respectful of her wishes. But I couldn't help asking myself, Why would she pass up an evening in the theater which explored and illuminated the very experience she was going through? We go to support groups and pay bookoo money for grief counselors, so it's not like we don't want to talk about it. We look at letters, pictures, videos of our loved ones, play those special songs over and over, so it's not like we don't yearn to relive our feelings again and again.
So why do we assume that seeing a story that deals with loss will be a bad experience? Why can't drama help us along as well? Is it because we're afraid we'll leave depressed? Or fear the feelings that might get churned up? Afraid others will not accept our tears or whatever else comes up?
When people we love die, there's no quick fix. No feel-better-fast mainline to administer, no amount of mind-altering drugs to keep our sadness at bay. Even if we mourn without chemicals, we can use denial to keep all those awkward, unfamiliar feelings tamped down. But at some point, we must do something, else our heads become so ensconced in quicksand, we forget how we got there. We can't remember we were supposed to pull out at some point. Then we hurl everything out inappropriately. Don't we use the counseling/support group thing for this very purpose? To start the healing.
The theater for thousands of years has helped us to see that we aren't alone in whatever we're going through. Greed, joy, love, ambition, guilt, treachery, courage, daring, and yeah, grief. As audience members, we see some character in mourning make an ass of herself. Or another character's anger jumps out of their grief inappropriately. My God, how reassuring that others have felt that way, acted that badly. Isn't it confirming to see others "live" through it with the same awkwardness as we feel? Depressing? I would say more enlightening. Even reassuring.
Another friend of mine recently said that over the years, she had never found drama to be depressing. She couldn't remember ever leaving the theater feeling downtrodden or hopeless. I feel the same. Playwrights have always left me something curious to chew on, something that has helped me discover more about who I am and why I feel the way I do.
In fact, most dramas illustrate how we rise to the level of whatever is thrust upon us. Along the way, the seed is planted that we not only make it through, but our lives are deepened and enriched by the experience. From the Greeks to Shakespeare to Edward Albee we glimpse who we are through the characters and stories onstage. Theater is not didactic. It implies. It suggests. It nudges.
When my mother died, a true event on television helped me feel my feelings. Later, plays and movies helped me understand the loss (still do, in fact). A play, however, may be as true a picture as you will ever find of how emotions work. Because no one tries harder than writers to get it right. They endlessly observe how real people act and react. Scenes are rewritten dozens of times to include every true nuance possible. What richer venue is there to glimpse ourselves in the mirror with compassion and understanding?
If a Dog Has a Man's Head in His Mouth
There may be no textbooks on how to raise children, but history bulges with rules, how-to's and warnings on everything else in women's lives. Apparently we gals have been unruly, or at the very least, unpredictable since Lot's wife, against strict orders, turned around to check out what the rumble of falling buildings behind her was all about. (This strikes me as rather a common sensical response on her part--wouldn't it be like not staring with jaw dropped as the Murrah Building fell to the ground?)
Anyway, I'm sure everybody remembers where her curiosity got her that day. For ignoring the order from on high Lot's wife was unceremoniously turned into a pillar of salt. Biblical vengeance with a flourish. Even in Sunday School, this story struck me as just plain mean, but the lady who taught us apparently didn't question goosestep obedience.
Which brings me to a Mormon tidbit I read recently in a column from my hometown newspaper, The Cordell Beacon. It's a 19th century edict from Brigham Young to the women of the Latter Day Saints religion.
"If you see a dog run past your door with your husband's head in his mouth, do nothing until you have consulted with the prophet."
Wow, now that's taking the load off our shoulders. How cavalier. It's like, "Relax, ladies. We got this." I would, no doubt, be one of those meddlesome wives who would want more specifics, such as, "Do I chase the dog and try to retrieve the head so the prophet can reattach it?"
"What if the dog comes inside the house with my husband's head in his mouth? Should I grab the shotgun if the dog looks like he wants my head as well?"
"What if the dog only has my husband's finger or foot in his mouth and not the entire head?"
"If the dog is rabid, shouldn't I shoot him so he won't run by my door with my children's heads in his mouth?" Cujo does Salt Lake City .
"What if the prophet is out of town? Or out of the country??" (Back then, no phone, much less e-mail. Yikes! How long should the wife wait for the prophet's return?)
"When should I ready the kitchen for the incoming commiseration casseroles?"
Now I'm not here to bash the Mormons. God bless 'em. They strike me as gentle, loving people. And they send their children all over the world on missions of service, an act that grows tolerance of those who are not just like us. We could sure use some more of that.
This just happens to be the latest laughable example I've read of women being commanded over the ages to tamp down their instincts, stuff their feelings, and do as they're told. So I'm thinking, "If it's not okay to respond to the murder of a loved one, what should she do about picking out kitchen curtains? Should the prophet design her quilts? Can she wipe the nose of her little girl?" Is this any more extreme than the edict? I think not.
And why do men ask for all this decision making? Imagine all that high blood pressure from attending to, in this case, multiple wives who are waiting, toes tapping with impatience, for further instructions? Isn't this a recipe for early heart attack? Or stroke? Guys, you might want to think this through again. It's women, in this new millenium, who are seeing an upsurge in cardiac events. With power, apparently, comes clogged arteries.
But what I really want to know is, what happened to those ladies who disobeyed the prophet's edict? Maybe I am brutally mixing up my metaphors here, but what if they were turned into pillars of salt? Wait a minute, wait a minute. Is that what formed Salt Lake?
Crap! I'm still alive with a stake through my head.
I definitely plan to write on my novel today, but the unruly committee in my head, which clanks through the halls of my cerebral cortex drooling like the walking dead, has other plans. And they've got the portable medieval rack and scythe to back it up. They're B-movie horror cliches in black hoods who've got Spielberg as producer and Wes Craven directing, so the screen's gonna be blood-sopped before the opening credits stop rolling. Oh yeah, it's serious now. I'm gonna need my warrior woman armor today, and an AK-47 with silver hollow points to stop their scorched-brain policy.
Yesterday, I cleaned my house (which happens with the regularity of a balanced budget) because--LIE #1--if everything's just so, without a dust-bunny film draped over the furniture, I can then begin to write funnier-longer-better. . .add hyphenate of your choice. I'm not alone in this tactic. You know who you are. I know people who have stopped writing in order to clean their bathrooms with toothbrushes, like speed freaks mainlining steroids.
Here's a fun one. I have scoured Oklahoma City, like a serial killer searching for prey, so that--LIE #2--I can have the exact purple-inked pen I need for inspiration. (Ink may also be green, or brown, or a new color that is unavailable from any pen company anywhere.)
LIE #3--I need to do more research first. The rational part of my brain fights to break through, saying "Why don't you use all the stuff you've already got?" This is a particularly effective argument because what couldn't use more research, for god's sake? ANSWER: The sequence you've spent 30 hours Googling and 15 minutes writing on. Try getting off your fat ass and string a few words together. Your mother would be so proud.
LIE #4--I can't write because I don't know what I want to write about. LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE!! We don't write because we already know what we want to write about. We write so we can discover what we want to write about. Gotcha on that one, huh?
So if you're still with me here, I'd like to know which of your own lies you believe. Maybe I can add them to my own list. Please leave a comment. What are the lies you tell yourself to keep you from doing the one thing that you love with a passion, the one thing that makes you feel truly alive, the thing that sets your free? I await your replies, which will, ironically, keep you from writing your own stuff.
Linda Lee McDonald
I live comfortably poor in Oklahoma City, have a backyard garden in constant need of a weedeater manicure, am visited by birds every day when they bathe in my mixing bowl birdbath, and am blessed with my two rescue dogs, Jake and Roxie, who save me every day of my life.


text:
Witnesses to a World-Transforming Event
There's Something About Mary, part 1
There's Something About Mary – which was the title of a 1998 Ben Stiller movie that has nothing that all to do with what I'm talking about. There was another movie, and book, The Da Vinci Code, which does relate because it plays on the fascination with Mary Magdalene and the possibility that she may have had a child with Jesus. We have no evidence of a child – though, of course, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence: there might have been one. We do have texts that refer to Magdalene as the woman Jesus loved best among women – whatever that might mean.
Whatever happened at the death of Jesus and the birth of Christianity, Mary Magdelene is at the center of it. She was there at the foot of the cross with Jesus' mother, Mary, as Jesus's life ebbed away. She was there at the discovery of the empty tomb. Jesus appears to her, and it is she who then tells the other disciples, "I have seen the Lord." With those words, the Christian religion begins.
The Four Canonical Gospels differ on what happened Easter morning: Mary Magdalene went by herself to the tomb, or she went with another Mary, or there were three women, or at least four. She, or they, were taking spices to prepare the body for burial. She came in the pre-dawn darkness, or they came when the day was dawning, or the sun had already risen. They arrived just in time to see an angel roll the stone back, or found the stone already rolled back. In Matthew, the two women saw an angel and some guards. Mark says the three women entered the tomb and saw one "young man dressed in a white robe." Luke says the group of four or more women saw "two men in dazzling robes." In John, Mary Magdalene went alone and saw no one; she then left, found two of the male disciples, told them the body was missing, rushed back to the tomb with the men. They saw nothing but linen wrappings. The men left Mary alone crying, and only then did she look into the tomb and see "two angels in white."
In all four gospels, women were the first to find the tomb empty and were the only witnesses who had seen Jesus placed there and could vouch that the empty tomb really was the tomb where Jesus' body had been laid a day-and-a-half before. In two of the Gospels, women were the first to see the risen Lord.
In Jewish Palestine of the time, women's testimony was widely regarded as unreliable and untrustworthy. Women were not eligible to be witnesses in court. They "were thought by men to be gullible in religious matters and especially prone to superstitious fantasy and excessive in religious practices." In that world – and, to an unfortunate extent, persisting still today -- men's dominant power enabled the delusion that men alone occupied the rational domain while women belonged to the more suspect emotional end of the spectrum of human response. Given those attitudes about women, why would the gospels give such a prominent role to women? Why would anyone make up a story based on such low-credibility witnesses?
According to the story, women were the first, and in some cases only, witnesses to key aspects of the death and resurrection narrative. But that's in flagrant violation of the norms of credible story-telling. So it's probably true that women really were were the ones who discovered the empty tomb, and told the others about it. If that part were made up, it would have been made up with men being the main actors and witnesses. By the time the Gospels shifted from an oral to a written form, some one to two generations after Jesus' death, that story had been so widely retold that it had a staying power that the prejudices of later writers could not overcome.
The Christian tradition, at its inception, took the patriarchal religious priority given to men in God's dealings with the world and turned those assumptions on their head. By giving women priority, the story confronts and challenges cultural assumptions. "In these stories women are given priority by God as recipients of revelation and thereby the role of mediators of that revelation to men" (Richard Bauckham, Gospel Women, 2002, 275). By reversing the normally expected priority of one gender over another the gospel cancels out gender privilege in the new order heralded and constituted by the resurrection – a kin-dom of God in which, as Jesus had said, "the last shall be made first and the first last."
Because we see women central to the creation and dissemination of the message, we understand that everyone is included in the hope of the message. In the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene tells the apostles that they have been commissioned by Jesus to spread the word of hope. She was the apostle to the apostles. The women become
"witnesses of the crucified and risen one...through the deeply disturbing encounter with the numinous that transforms their faithfulness into something more than their accepted role: the vocation to be witnesses of a world-transforming event." (Bauckham 293)
This is part 1 of 3 of "There Something About Mary"
Part 2: Her Gospel
Part 3: Our Commission of Compassion
By Rev. Meredith Garmon at April 17, 2017
Labels: There's Something About Mary
On Joy
Our Body
The Climate It is A-Changin'
The Retreat from Freedom and Democracy
Our Commission of Compassion
Her Gospel
Divine Sources of Heart Hardening
Going Home (script)
Never a Greater Need
Abundance Is the True Law of Life
The True Loaves and Fishes Miracle

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Enviar form con archivos y texto sin recargar página en ASP.NET Se tiene un formulario con HTML donde hay dos campos, uno de texto y otro para archivos, al hacer el Submit, el controlador obtiene los datos y se puede trabajar con estos, pero al terminar el action, la pagina se recarga, en vez de ejecutar el AJAX o POST, y al final lo que necesito es que despues de ejecutar el action, me devuelve un JSON con los errores, y se vean en la vista donde esta el formulario de HTML (esto si funciona si solo se envía texto).

*

*He intentado incluso convertir los archivos a texto.

*Usar AJAX (Recarga).

*Usar POST (Recarga).

*Usar iFrame (funciona en parte pero abre una nueva pestaña).

Este es el formulario junto con algunos metodos de JS que he usado, algunos funcionan, pero siempre recargan la pagina (otros son de otro formulario pero al final hace lo mismo):

<form action="Home/upload" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" id="miForm" name="miForm" target="request">
    Photo:
    <input type="file" name="file" id="file" />
    Texto:
    <input type="text" name="text" id="text" />
    <input type="submit" value="Upload" />
    @*<input type="button" onclick="enviar()" value="Upload" />*@
</form>

Y este es el controlador:
        [HttpPost]
        public JsonResult Upload()
        {

        HttpPostedFileBase photo = Request.Files["file"];
        string texto2 = Request.Params["text"];
        //if (photo != null && photo.ContentLength > 0)
        //{
        //    var fileName = Path.GetFileName(photo.FileName);
        //    photo.SaveAs(Path.Combine(directory, fileName));
        //}

        return Json("Index", JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
        }

A: De acuerdo al comentario hecho por Tegito123, edité un poco el codigo de acuerdo a la respuesta del comentario, quedando así:
El script, ya no se usaría Ajax, sino XMLHttpRequest:

    window.onload = function(){
    document.getElementById('uploader').onsubmit = function () {
        var checkboxInput = document.getElementById('checkboxInput');
        var formdata = new FormData(); //FormData object
        var fileInput = document.getElementById('fileInput');
        var fileInput2 = document.getElementById('fileInput2');

        var textoInput = document.getElementById('textoInput');
        //Iterating through each files selected in fileInput
        for (i = 0; i < fileInput.files.length; i++) {
            //Appending each file to FormData object
            formdata.append(fileInput.files[i].name, fileInput.files[i]);
        }
        for (i = 0; i < fileInput2.files.length; i++) {
            //Appending each file to FormData object
            formdata.append(fileInput2.files[i].name, fileInput2.files[i]);
        }
        formdata.append(textoInput.id, textoInput.value);
        formdata.append(checkboxInput.id, checkboxInput.checked);
        //Creating an XMLHttpRequest and sending
        var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
        xhr.open('POST', '/Home/Upload');
        xhr.send(formdata);
        xhr.onreadystatechange = function () {
            if (xhr.readyState == 4 && xhr.status == 200) {
                alert(xhr.responseText);
            }
        }
        return false;
    }
    };
<form id="uploader">

    <input type="checkbox" id="checkboxInput" />
    <input id="textoInput" type="text" />
    <input id="fileInput" type="file" />
    <input id="fileInput2" type="file" />
    <input type="submit" value="Upload file" />
</form>

Mientras que el action del controlador sería:
public JsonResult Upload()
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < Request.Files.Count; i++)
        {
            HttpPostedFileBase file = Request.Files[i]; //Uploaded file
                                                        //Use the following properties to get file's name, size and MIMEType
            int fileSize = file.ContentLength;
            string fileName = file.FileName;
            string mimeType = file.ContentType;
            System.IO.Stream fileContent = file.InputStream;
            //To save file, use SaveAs method
            file.SaveAs(Server.MapPath("~/") + fileName); //File will be saved in application root

        }
        string texto = Request.Params["textoInput"];
        string check = Request.Params["checkboxInput"];
        return Json("Uploaded " + Request.Files.Count + " files. Texto:"+texto);
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


In the sequel to Stranger, Ross get kidnapped by King Voske and forced to prospect for ancient weapons. Jennie and Mia will stop at nothing to free him. The book introduces two new characters: Kerry, Paco's half-sister, and Santiago. Kerry and Santiago don't introduce more queer characters, though we get to see more of Brisa and Becky.
Welcome back to Las Anclas, a frontier town in the post-apocalyptic Wild West. In Las Anclas, the skull-faced sheriff possesses superhuman strength, the doctor can speed up time, and the squirrels can teleport sandwiches out of your hands.
In book one, Stranger, teenage prospector Ross Juarez stumbled into town half-dead, bringing with him a precious artifact, a power no one has ever had before, and a whole lot of trouble— including an invasion by Voske, the king of Gold Point. The town defeated Voske's army, with the deciding blow struck by Ross, but at a great cost.
In Hostage, a team sent by King Voske captures Ross and takes him to Gold Point. There he meets Kerry, Voske's teenage daughter, who has been trained to be as ruthless as her father. While his friends in Las Anclas desperately try to rescue him, Ross is forced to engage in a battle of wills with the king himself.
Ross and Jennie have PTSD. Ross has lessened mobility in his left hand and is using a prosthetic hand to regain some of that mobility.
In a post-apocalyptic world, a young prospector named Ross has stolen a potentially invaluable artifact: a book. In the town of Las Anclas, he finds something he's never had: a home. He befriends several other teenagers and falls in love. The story is filled with diverse characters and homosexuality is visibly accepted. Racism restricts itself to comments directed at the Changed, people with special abilities such as Jennie's telepathy.
Ross has PTSD and has lost some of the mobility in his right hand. He also never learned to read as a child.
Additional Notes: Throughout the story a polyamorous relationship starts to develop.
When Joshua's mother leaves him with his grandfather, Joshua gets to explore his Native heritage. Joshua is a gay Native teen struggling to come to terms with his sexuality and discovering his Native heritage.
See this review by renowned Nambe Pueblo Indian critic Debbie Reese about the harmful stereotypes and misrepresentation of Ojibwe culture and beliefs in this book.
An anthology of short stories by Indigenous authors of various backgrounds, genders, and orientations. After opening with essays on Two-Spirit history and literature, the book features speculative fiction that explores the past, present, and future through Indigenous and LGBTQIAP+ perspectives.
While Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time is primarily published for adults, the anthology has a high level of teen appeal and includes teen characters.
Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time is a collection of indigenous science fiction and urban fantasy focusing on LGBT and two-spirit characters. These stories range from a transgender woman undergoing an experimental medication that enables her to live the lives of her maternal ancestors to young lovers separated through decades and meeting in the future. These are stories of machines and magic, love and self-love.
Cherie Dimaline – "Legends are Made, Not Born" – A story of the power of family and more. Auntie Dave teaches a young boy about the responsibility and power of Two-Spirited identity.
Genre: Speculative fiction (including science fiction). Some of the stories also have romantic elements.
Trans girls: The unnamed MC in "Transitions" is a transgender woman. She uses "transgender" and "transwoman" on the page.
Non-binary: The unnamed MC in "Transitions" mentions her non-binary friend, Sten. Sten is not shown on the page.
"Aliens": Jimmy (one of the MCs) is speculated to be Aayahkwew by the unnamed narrator. Jimmy is referred to as a man by the side character Roberta. Jimmy never states his gender.
"Legends are Made, Not Born": Auntie Dave (a secondary character) is Two-Spirit. It is not stated whether he considers that to be his gender.
"Imposter Syndrome": Aanji (the MC) is a noncitizen artificial life form. Aanji presents as non-male and male at different points, corresponding respectively with she/her pronouns and he/him pronouns. Aanji seems to prefer presenting as non-male and using she/her pronouns.
"Aliens": The unnamed narrator speculates, "But in my mind [Jimmy]'s what the Crees say: Aayahkwew: neither man or woman but both." Jimmy never states how he identifies.
"Legends are Made, Not Born": Auntie Dave (a secondary character) is Two-Spirit. He uses "Two-Spirited" and "Two-Spirits" on the page.
Gay: The MC in "Legends are Made, Not Born" is gay. He uses "gay" on the page.
Lesbian: Dottie (the MC in "Né łe!") and Cora (a secondary character in "Né łe!") are lesbians. Cora uses "lesbian" on the page.
"Perfectly You": Emma (the MC—a girl) is attracted to Cassie (a secondary character—implied to be a girl). Neither states their orientation.
"The Boys Who Became the Hummingbirds": Strange Boy (the MC) and Shadow Boy (a secondary character) are attracted to each other. Neither states their orientation.
"Valediction at the Star View Motel": Eadie (the MC—a girl) and Mushkeg (a secondary character—a girl) are attracted to each other. Neither states their orientation.
Aromantic: Aanji (the MC in "Imposter Syndrome") says, "You know I don't do romance. I don't have those urges." The word "aromantic" is not on the page.
The other characters' romantic orientations are not explicitly stated. They might be presumed to be the same as their sexual orientations.
In the 1870s, Lesbian/Queer female botanist and colonist Ingrid travels through Western Australia and falls for Ellyn. Features problematic portrayal of Aboriginals.
This contemporary retelling of Freud's Dora follows Ida as she manipulates her new psychologist. Ida has been sexually assaulted by her neighbor and is surrounded by a group of friends including a trans woman, gay friend, a girl with bulimia, and a Native American girl love interest.
a trans woman, gay Teena, a girl with bulimia, and a Native American girl.
In this violent, painful novel, Mara begins a relationship with Xylia despite a homophobic, abusive father who has caused permanent brain damage to her brother. She is raped and accidentally accuses her best friend, who is a Native American of unspecified tribe.
Mara knows she can't live without Xylia, but can she live with an entire town who believes she is an abomination worse than the gravest sin?


Do Honey Bees Impact the Native Bees?
The European honey bee, also known as the Western honey bee, has been in the United States for s-o-o-o long that we think it's a native.
It's not. European colonists brought the honey bee (Apis mellifera) to the Jamestown colony (Virginia) in 1622. The native Americans called it "the white man's fly." And the honey bee wasn't even introduced to California until 1853. That was in the middle of the California Gold Rush, 1848-1858, when it arrived in the San Jose area.
Our ancestors quickly became quite fond of the industrious little pollinator and honey/wax producer buzzing around them.
Today, as they did, we frequently see non-native and native bees sharing nectar resources, such as in the photos below of honey bees and yellow-faced bumble bees (Bombus vosnesenskii).
We're often asked: "Do honey bees, being an invasive species, impact the native bees?"
We put that question to Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. He's served as California's Extension apiculturist since 1976, almost 40 years.
His answer: "We do not have a definitive answer to that question. But, since honey bees have been living in what is now the U.S. for just short of 400 years, it is likely that honey bees and native bees determined, long ago, how to partition resources at any particular location so that both species survived. It is true that only honey bees can be moved into and out of a specific location overnight, and that might put a stress on local populations of native bees, but I never have heard of honey bees eliminating native bees from any particular spot."
That's the buzz on bees.


text:
signed long long amin_signed_char_simd(Py_ssize_t arraylen, signed char *data);
unsigned long long amin_unsigned_char_simd(Py_ssize_t arraylen, unsigned char *data);
signed long long amin_signed_short_simd(Py_ssize_t arraylen, signed short *data);
unsigned long long amin_unsigned_short_simd(Py_ssize_t arraylen, unsigned short *data);
signed long long amin_signed_int_simd(Py_ssize_t arraylen, signed int *data);
unsigned long long amin_unsigned_int_simd(Py_ssize_t arraylen, unsigned int *data);
double amin_float_simd(Py_ssize_t arraylen, float *data);
double amin_double_simd(Py_ssize_t arraylen, double *data);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Somerset photographer Matilda Temperley has quickly built a reputation for capturing more than the eye can see. Interviewed for a film about the Marshwood Arts Awards she spoke to Victoria Byrne.
It's surprising how often a career path simply appears out of nowhere. One day you might be deeply ensconced in the study of exotic diseases and the next thing you know you are photographing the Burlesque Hall of Fame and discussing how stripping has changed since the 1950s with an 85 year-old stripper who still proudly struts her stuff.
Busy doing cost effectiveness studies for the Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative in Latin America and East Africa and looking at methods of malaria control, Matilda wanted to tell stories of neglected tropical diseases. However, although understanding the importance of field research and writing up reports, she believed there was another way of getting the information out. 'I was actually living in Uganda for a while and I thought that through photography I could tell stories much faster than through science' she says. She picked up a camera and without any training began taking photographs. It was a remarkable journey that has led her around the world photographing people as diverse as members of the Mursi tribe to photographing willowy models for glossy magazines.
When the national media began to focus on her home county of Somerset in the winter of 2013 Matilda's reaction was personal. She waded through the murky waters of the Somerset Levels to tell the stories behind the devastation caused by heavy rainfall and flooding in what was seen as one of the country's worst natural disasters. She produced a book about the project called, Under the Surface: Somerset Floods, hoping to raise money to help the victims. When the company that was going to print it declared itself bankrupt she chained herself to the gates outside when it looked like she would lose the money she had paid to have it printed. She got her money back and the book, a stunning record of the pain, desolation and ruin caused by the floods, alongside the eerie beauty of nature's power, quickly sold out.
Matilda Temperley will be selecting for the Photography category of the Marshwood Arts Awards 2015.


On November 1st specialist doctors in the UK will be able to prescribe medical cannabis for the first time. This decision comes years after similar policy changes in the majority of US states and in Canada, as well as many European Countries. As a result, patients have had to endure a long and agonising wait as the UK played policy catch-up on the issue.
The move to make medical cannabis available on prescription follows a prolonged period of mounting pressure on the government. Certainly, the highly publicised plight of Alfie Dingley and Billy Caldwell would have played into the government's decision, as well as facilitating a shift in public opinion.
The decision has not only received a large amount of interest because it will enable tens of thousands of patients suffering conditions such as MS to chemotherapy related nausea, but because it is a decision that stands in stark contrast to the entrenched direction of British drug policy. That direction being firmly fixed on prohibitionist policies, with the controversial Psychoactive Substance Act being brought into force in 2016 – a law which essentially bans any substance which alters a persons mental functioning, with exceptions for alcohol, tobacco and caffeine.
2001: Labour government announce their decision to reclassify cannabis from Class B to Class C and instructs the Home Affairs Select Committee to undertake consultations on the matter.
2004: Following the consultation process the Labour government finalise the decision to reclassify cannabis as a Class C drug, in doing so it reduces the maximum penalty for possession of the drug to 2 years in prison.
2005: Little over a year after the reclassification came into effect, Tony Blair commits to reviewing the reclassification of cannabis during his 2005 general election campaign.
2006: Following a review, Home Secretary Charles Clarke announces cannabis is to stay a Class C drug as per advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
2007: Labour, now under the leadership of Gordon Brown, announce yet another review into the classification of cannabis.
2008: Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announces that cannabis will be reclassified as a Class B drug, increasing the maximum penalty for possession to 5 year in prison.
2009: Cannabis officially reclassified as a Class B drug.
2011: Home Office reject calls from Global Commission on Drug Policy for prohibition to be overhauled.
2012: Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg publicly clash over the latter's call for drug laws to be reformed.
2016: Highly contentious Psychoactive Substance Act 2016 comes into force, reinforcing the prohibitionist trend in British drug policy.
February, 2018: Conservative government refuse request for medical cannabis licence for Alfie Dingley, a six-year-old boy whose rare form of epilepsy was improved after using cannabis oil.
May, 2018: Home Office issue ultimatum to the GP of Billy Caldwell (a twelve-year-old boy with a similar condition to Alfie Dingley) to stop his prescription of medical cannabis or lose his medical licence. In the following weeks his mother has cannabis oil obtained from Canada confiscated at Heathrow airport.
June, 2018: Following public outcry both cases are granted special licences for the use of medical cannabis. Home Secretary Sajid Javid subsequently announces review into medical use of cannabis.
October, 2018: Home Office announces specialist consultants will be able to prescribe medical cannabis from November 1st, a full 22 years after Californian's approved Proposition 215 which legalised medical cannabis in the US state.
What does the future hold for cannabis in the UK?
While medical cannabis will be available from November 2018, the legalisation of the recreational use of cannabis doesn't appear to be on the horizon just yet.
Despite calls for serious drug policy reform from senior politicians, including William Hague, the government has remained firm in it's opposition to the legalisation of cannabis.
However, the Royal College of Psychiatrists announced at the beginning of October that they will undertake a review of their current position on the legalisation of cannabis. Significantly, if the college were to adjust their position on legalisation it could leave the government treading water as it has leaned heavily on the organisation's research when defending the continued prohibition of the drug in the past.
While the Liberal Democrats included a pledge to legalise cannabis in their 2017 election manifesto, support for legalising cannabis is also growing within Labour and the Conservative party with both parties' playing host to pro-legalisation panel events on the side-lines of their 2018 conferences.
Although Sajid Javid's stern opposition to full legalisation of cannabis may have disappointed many liberal-minded Brits. There does appear to be a growing cross-party consensus that prohibition has failed dramatically in it's goal of eradicating drug use and there are positive signs that parties are readying policy ideas for a post-prohibitionist Britain.


This is multi-party negotiation that has the potential for coalitions. The preparation time necessary is 30 minutes. The minimum negotiation time is 1 hour and debriefing can be completed in 1 hour too. The threat of legal action and community outrage is motivation for process in the negotiation.
Environmental racism has been defined as racial and/or class discrimination in environmental policy making and in the enforcement of regulations and laws, the deliberate targeting of poor communities or communities of color, or the official sanctioning of the presence of poisons and pollutants in life-threatening levels within those communities.
A process of consensus building can be structured so that environmental justice is achieved. The requirements of such a process go beyond what democracy typically provides (i.e. one cannot depend upon the electoral or voting process to ensure adequate input of consensus).
Compensation may be part of a response to charges of environmental racism, but public participation is necessary to forestall any future problems.
NOTE: Now available is the Environmental Justice Package, which is comprised of the Teacher's Packages of this exercise and the simulation "Siting an Asphalt Plant in the City of Madrona", and includes the article Risk and Justice, by Patrick Field, Lawrence Susskind, and Howard Raiffa.


VISITORS of the Skalnaté Pleso mountain lake in High Tatras can enjoy a less traditional routine than mere hiking – every Tuesday a professional trainer offers open-air Yoga lessons.
"This is a unique exercise, in nature, in the sun-bathed Skalnatá dolina valley," Zuzana Fabianová of the Tatry Mountain resorts company informed the SITA newswire. "At the altitude of 1,751 metres above sea level, this activity combines motion and staying in the fresh air in a mountain environment," she added.
This is the second year of an animation programme that is open for everybody throughout the summer. Last year, the Yoga lessons were at Štrbské Pleso and Hrebienok resorts, while this year, it has moved to a higher high altitude. Yoga is meant for all visitors and tourists, including small children, as the exercises are not very demanding and are recommended to be done to an individual extent, without causing pain.


Combine the macros made available by Scaffolding, Reporting and Linking add-ons by ServiceRocket in order to build a one-stop Content Moderator Dashboard. Content can get out of control easily. Moderate it directly in on one centralized page in Confluence.


HP Deskjet 870c ink replacement cartridges from Jolek are a genuine cost effective replacement ink cartridge for your HP Deskjet 870c printer, HP multi function machines and HP faxes. All of our HP Deskjet 870c ink cartridges are re-manufactured to closely match OEM specifications or exceed HP original manufactured supplies output page performance allowable by after market chip technology. All of our HP Deskjet 870c supplies include a 100% quality and satisfaction warranty.


As you know, everyone who posted a photo of their dog during the last two Photo Fridays earned chances to win a Fab Dog raincoat in my favorite print — a map of New York's subway system. These past two weeks have been such fun for me that I plan to make this a weekly giveaway, starting tomorrow, and continuing for as long as I have prizes — I can think of at least five prizes off the top of my head, so we'll be doing this for the next month or so. Check back tomorrow to learn about the next giveaway!
And the winners are Tazz and Peng, photographed racing around a park (Picture #10 from this past Friday). blink_gurl123, please email me your mailing address, and I'll send you your prize! My address is at the bottom of Dog Jaunt's "About" page.
Thank you so much to everyone who sent in pictures — I loved seeing them, and lots of people clicked through them to see your wonderful companions. Please return tomorrow, and every Photo Friday!!
I love your idea of Otto randomly chooosing a winner! Very cool! Hopefully we can get our cat Noodles involved in one of your Photo Fridays.
Ha! Love it! Send in your pics, Campbell! You might win a dog-oriented prize, but I suspect you guys know a fair number of dogs too….
Wow! My husband and I and our dogs are going to have to keep up with you now so we have a nice travel pic to enter each week! I am just always worried now about going to nature areas after finding a nasty, huge tick in-between Sandy's (my lab-golden mix) toes! Oh my gosh I almost lost my dinner, YUCK!
Oh, yuck! How about a nice, paved getaway instead….


text:
La route 774 est une route locale du Nouveau-Brunswick située dans l'extrême sud-ouest de la province, sur l'île Campobello. Elle traverse une région principalement agricole et maritime, car elle suit la côte. Elle mesure par ailleurs 15 kilomètres et est pavée sur toute sa longueur.

Tracé
La route 774 débute à la frontière entre le Canada et les États-Unis, à Lubec, en tant que prolongement de la route 189 du Maine. Ce poste frontalier est d'ailleurs le poste entre le Nouveau-Brunswick et le Maine le plus au sud. La frontière internationale est d'ailleurs située au centre du pont Franklin Delano Roosevelt.La 774 traverse l'île Campobello en ayant une orientation plutôt nord-sud, traversant les localistés de Welshpool et Wilsons Beach, puis elle se termine trois kilomètres au sud-ouest du phare situé au nord de l'île.

Intersections principales
La 774 ne possède aucune intersection majeure.

Notes et références

Annexes

Bibliographie

Route au Nouveau-Brunswick l

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Sandalinas ist eine spanisch / schwedische Progressive-Metal-Band um den Gitarristen und Namensgeber Jordi Sandalinas. Weitere Mitglieder sind Sänger Rick Altzi (At Vance), Schlagzeuger Patrick Johansson (Yngwie Malmsteen), Bassist Mick Cervino (Blackmore's Night) und Keyboarder Elias Holmild (Dragonland).

Das 2005 erscheinende Album Living on the Edge wird von Andy LaRocque (King Diamond) produziert. Apollo Papathanasio, Sänger von Firewind singt darauf.

Beim Anfang 2008 erscheinenden Album Fly to the Sun werden Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater), Chris Caffery (Savatage) und Andy LaRocque (King Diamond) Gastauftritte absolvieren.

Diskografie

Singles
Die Hard (2002)

EPs
Like an Arrow (2001)

Alben
Living on the Edge (2005)
Fly to the Sun (2008)

Weblinks
 Offizielle Website

Progressive-Rock-Band
Schwedische Band
Spanische Band


Citation: YANG CHENGUANG (2009-07-24). Adaptive control and neural network control of nonlinear discrete-time systems. ScholarBank@NUS Repository.
Abstract: Nowadays nearly all the control algorithms are implemented digitally and consequently discrete-time systems have been receiving ever increasing attention. However, for the development of nonlinear adaptive control and neural network (NN) control, which are generally regarded as smart ways to deal with system uncertainties, most researches are conducted in continuous-time, such that many well developed methods are not directly applied in discrete-time, due to fundament difference between differential and difference equations for modeling continuous-time and discrete-time systems, respectively. Therefore, nonlinear adaptive control and neural network control of discrete-time systems need to be further investigated.In the first part of the thesis, a framework of future states prediction based adaptive control is developed to avoid possible noncausal problems in high order systems control design. Based on the framework, a novel adaptive compensation approach for nonparametric model uncertainties in both matched and unmatched condition is constructed such that asymptotic tracking performance can be achieved. By proper incorporating discrete Nussbaum gain, the adaptive control becomes insensitive to system control directions and the bounds of control gain become not necessary for control design. The adaptive control is also studied with incorporation of discrete-time Prandtl-Ishlinskii (PI) model to deal with hysteresis type input constraint. Furthermore, adaptive control is designed for block-triangular nonlinear multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) systems with strict-feedback subsystems coupled together. By exploiting block triangular structure properties and construction of uncertainties compensations, the design difficulties caused by the couplings among various inputs and states, as well as the uncertainties in the couplings are solved.In the second part of the thesis, it is established that for single-input-single-output (SISO) case, under certain conditions both pure-feedback systems and nonlinear autoregressive-moving-average-with-exogenous-inputs (NARMAX) systems are transformable into a suitable input-output form and adaptive NN control design for both systems can be carried out in a unified approach without noncausal problem. To overcome the difficulty associated with nonaffine appearance of control variables, implicit function theorem is exploited to assert the existence of a desired implicit control. In the control design, discrete Nussbaum gain is further extended to deal with time varying control gains. The adaptive NN control constructed for nonaffine SISO systems is also extended to nonaffine MIMO systems in block triangular form and NARMAX form.The research work conducted in this thesis is meant to push the boundary of academic results further beyond. The systems considered in this thesis represent several general classes of discrete-time nonlinear systems. Numerical simulations are extensively carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controls.


Bates Masi Architects is a fourteen-person architecture firm located in East Hampton, New York specializing in modern residential and boutique commercial architecture. Our focus is on innovative design, based on extensive research and knowledge of fabrication, craft, construction, and materials. The firm is widely published and receives multiple design awards each year. We were honored with a Record House award and inducted into the ID Hall of Fame. A monograph of the firm's work was recently published. Bates Masi is a design-oriented partnership with an emphasis on providing a good learning environment.
- Experience in construction documents, detailing, digital modeling, rendering, digital fabrication, and graphics 3ds Max, and Vray experience is an asset.
Design MAD is seeking a designer with minimum 10 years' experience, who can run a small team and report to the director; must be client facing with excellent communication skills. We are commercial interior designers with a prestigious client list in rail transport, office and restaurant design, based at London Bridge.
- Be able to formulate construction packages.
- Be able to run a small team.
- Run and supervise projects.
- Have excellent knowledge of construction information and detailing.
- Knowledge of Building Regulations and contract administration.
- Knowledge of BIM an advantage.
- Packages: AutoCad, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft.
We look forward to receiving CVs, but will only respond to suitable candidates.


Fashion meets coffee, flowers and food, say no more. We'll be there!
Natalie Portman is pregnant and engaged! We suggest these gorgeous gowns for her upcoming nuptials.
Fresh and Club Monaco celebrate the holidays together with a limited-edition gift set.


Misleading property stats are giving a false impression of the private rental market, according to trade body the British Property Federation (BPF). The group claims unofficial surveys on rents in the marketplace from letting agents, landlord insurers and web sites are flawed. The BPF lists three main areas of concern: •	Figures are often based on 'advertised' rather than 'achieved' rents •	Statistics are based on new lets without accounting for long-term occupiers who are not moving, and who will often not see their rents rise annually •	Sample sizes for some surveys are too small to give valid results The portrayal of figures from these surveys in the media can create an inaccurate picture of the buy to let market, claims the BPF. For example, one survey suggested private rents were rising rapidly, even though a 10% figure over four years would have undershot official inflation figures and was less than the rise in social housing rents. Another forecast a rent rise of 2% was somehow excessive, even although recent growth in inflation exceeds this, and 2% is on a par with recent average earnings growth. BPF chief executive Liz Peace said: "Some of the figures that have been bandied around trumpeting large rent increases are very misleading and do not reflect the picture across the entire country. "While in some hotspots rents are rising more than average, across the country as a whole about 85% of rents are rising below the consumer price index according to reliable figures." "For a long time we've been calling for more reliable rental figures and I welcome the UK National Statistics consultation that has just closed, which is looking to improve its statistics on residential rents, and we support the suggested switch to more reliable data. The larger sample size should lead to improvements in the quality of data and provide a more comprehensive picture across the whole market." BPF members comprise the biggest companies in the property sector, like property developers and owners, institutions, fund managers, investment banks and professional organisations that support the industry.


News General New Henselite Catalogue - Out now!
The 2011 Henselite Product Catalogue is out now. Full of the latest bowls, clothing, shoes, clothing, equipment and accessories from Henselite, the catalogue can be downloaded from the home page of our website or by clicking the link below.


Before you create a masterpiece, first you have to play.
Essential oils have a way of unleashing our creativity. There's so much you can do, and the scents offer an immediate reward for your efforts. Starter kits are a great way to try multiple oils, learn the art of blending and see what essential oils are all about. They're also ideally sized for gifting. Or, get a few kits and gather your friends together for a play day.


Location This elegant city hotel enjoys an ideal location in the prestigious Rittenhouse Square district, in the centre of Philadelphia. Facilities The hotel was built in 1926. Guests can enjoy a pleasant stay in one of the 301 rooms. Individual storeys are accessible via the lift or stairs. Amenities include a cloakroom and a safe. Wireless internet access in public areas allows travellers to stay connected. Among the culinary options available at the accommodation are a restaurant, a dining area and a bar. Additional facilities at the establishment include a newspaper stand. Guests arriving by car can leave their vehicles in the garage (for a fee) or in the car park (for a fee). Bicycles can be left in the bicycle storage area. Additional services include medical assistance, translation services, room service, a laundry service and a hairdresser. Rooms Each of the rooms is appointed with air conditioning, central heating, a kitchen and a bathroom. The carpeted rooms feature a double bed, a queen-size bed or a king-size bed. There is also a safe. A fridge, a mini fridge, a microwave and a tea/coffee station ensure a comfortable stay. An ironing set is also available for travellers' convenience. Internet access, a telephone, a TV, a radio and WiFi add to the comfort of the holiday. Some of the rooms are adapted for wheelchair users. The bathrooms are fitted with a shower and a bathtub. A hairdryer is also available. Bathrooms with wheelchair access can also be booked. The hotel offers family rooms and non-smoking rooms. Sports/Entertainment The accommodation offers attractions including sport and entertainment opportunities. Leisure options at the establishment include a gym, or for a fee, a spa. Meals Guests can choose options including breakfast and dinner. Payment The following credit cards are accepted at the hotel: American Express, VISA, Diners Club and MasterCard.
This elegant city hotel enjoys an ideal location in the prestigious Rittenhouse Square district, in the centre of Philadelphia.


text:
Rutgers raises $50 million in 4 months for athletics
BY foxsports • May 10, 2016
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) Rutgers has raised more than $50 million since the start of the year in its campaign to build new athletic facilities and upgrade others in a bid to become more competitive in the Big Ten Conference.
Athletic director Patrick Hobbs said the university has received more than $29.3 million in cash and pledges since the fundraising drive started after Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation granting $25 million of tax credits toward the building of a multisport training center - the centerpiece of the three projects in the master plan that was announced on Jan. 20.
The two other projects include a lacrosse, tennis and soccer complex and enhanced football facilities at the Hale Center.
Hobbs said university has received 10 donations of more than $1 million, including three of largest gifts to Rutgers Athletics, which combine to exceed $11 million.
The campaign has attracted 923 donors, with 71 committing more than $25,000.
''Let's say I am happy where we are and we have a lot of work to do, but 15 weeks in, I feel we are making some real progress,'' said Hobbs, who was hired in late November after Julie Hermann was fired in the wake of off-the-field problems with the football team.
Prior to the current campaign, the most money Rutgers raised for athletics was $14 million in the 2014-15 fiscal year.
During Greg Schiano's storied tenure as football coach, it could not raise $30 million for an end-zone expansion of the then Rutgers Stadium in 2008. The university eventually had to borrow some money to complete the job.
Hobbs said that 90 percent of the current donations have been earmarked toward the multisport training complex, which will be built for practice facilities for the men's and women's basketball team, wrestling and the gymnastics program.
''That facility is really important,'' Hobbs said. ''I've talked about how that facility is not just important for the benefits that it provides our programs, but it's our signal that we are going to be competitive, we are going to compete in the Big Ten and we are going to compete in the Big Ten to win championships.''
Architects are preparing renderings for the building, taking note of what other schools have said they did wrong in preparing their facilities. He has no timetable for the start of construction but added that current high school recruits would work out in it if they came to Rutgers.
Hobbs said once construction starts it could take about two years to finish the project.
''Everybody wants to do this the right way. Everybody feels this moment right now for Rutgers,'' Hobbs said. ''We're going to do this. We want to get it done, but we're going to take our time and make sure it's done the right way and we are at the top of the Big Ten in terms of the quality of that facility.''
Hobbs said the record-setting gifts were provided by Chairman of the Rutgers Board of Governors and Motorola Solutions CEO Greg Brown and his wife Anna, real estate developer Steven Plofker and makeup mogul Bobbi Brown, and business leaders and philanthropists Jeff and Amy Towers.
"Rutgers is a leading national university and we want to compete for championships in all that we do,'' Greg Brown said. ''It is essential that we capitalize on the opportunity that Big Ten Conference membership provides us.''.
Hobbs said that he will consider the fundraising effort successful when it has 10,000 donors.
Andy Katz's Tiers: Alabama Cruising in SEC
Alabama is dominating the SEC, and Michigan is continuing its rise. Check out Andy Katz's latest college hoops outlook.
Andy Katz's Tiers: Michigan Makes Its Move
The Wolverines are undefeated and taking the Big Ten by storm. But are they in the same class as Gonzaga and Baylor?
Colin's All-Time Can't Miss Prospects
Colin Cowherd lays out his all-time, can't miss, amateur-to-pro prospects, adding Trevor Lawrence to the exclusive group.
Shaka Smart & His Magnificent Superpowers
According to Mark Titus, there's only one logical explanation for the Longhorns' incredible start to the season ... Shaka Smart's hair.
Texas Beats KU at Allen Fieldhouse
The secondary news out of Texas on Saturday is that the Longhorns knocked off the Jayhawks in a ranked Big 12 battle.


If you've accepted a firm offer to study with us in 2019, accommodation applications are now open.
Accommodation applications for continuing students are also open.
The Courtyard is a vibrant living environment, ideally placed both for getting to lectures and for making the most of University life, day and night. It's only a stone's throw from our award-winning students' union, our new £17-million sports facilities at The Beacon and our state-of-the-art library.
Inside, you'll find comfy lounges, a games room and a multi-function room complete with large screen projector. Adjoined to this is a spacious Masterchef-style kitchen - which can be used for anything from movie nights to extra special occasions.
Car parking is available for blue badge holders only. Blue badge holders can also apply for a permit to park on campus.
All bedrooms are en-suite with 4ft double beds and modern, bright interiors. You'll have plenty of room for your things, with a good-size single wardrobe, under-bed storage and ample shelving and cupboards. There's also a study area complete with desk and office chair. Deluxe rooms are larger than standards, with additional storage and a TV point. The accommodation is mostly self-catered and each cluster flat of 8 rooms shares a large kitchen/dining area which contains two full size fridges and freezers, two cookers, microwave, kettle and toaster. Standard rooms within block I come with a catered pack.
Our one-bedroom rooftop apartments feature an outdoor living area and impressive views of the city. Inside you'll find a living/dining/kitchen area with comfortable seating, a workstation and large screen TV, plus plenty of fitted storage. Your kitchen includes a microwave, fridge, freezer, oven, hob, and storage units. The en-suite bedroom has a 4ft double bed, a fitted wardrobe and bedside cabinets.
There are a variety of room options available for you at The Courtyard.
Use the below filters to see the different pricing and date options available.
There are no rooms available for the options you've selected. Please select a different option.
The welfare and care of our students is our prime concern. We have a dedicated team of pastoral staff available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week who will offer practical and emotional support whenever you need it.
We work with DisabledGo so you can make an informed choice about our accommodation's disability features.
Parking is available for blue badge holders.
Please note, deluxe rooms and rooftops are not available for 50 week contracts. 50 week contracts are reserved for nursing, postgraduate and Cambridge Education Group students.
All prices correct as of March 2019.
For billing purposes the prices quoted may change due to rounding up or rounding down, resulting in a small difference in the overall cost.


text:
from __future__ import unicode_literals
from future.builtins import str
from future.builtins import zip

from collections import defaultdict
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

from django.db.models import Manager, Q
from django.utils.datastructures import SortedDict
from django.utils.timezone import now

from mezzanine.conf import settings
from mezzanine.core.managers import CurrentSiteManager

class CartManager(Manager):

    def from_request(self, request):
        """
        Return a cart by ID stored in the session, creating it if not
        found as well as removing old carts prior to creating a new
        cart.
        """
        cart_id = request.session.get("cart", None)
        cart = None
        if cart_id:
            try:
                cart = self.current().get(id=cart_id)
            except self.model.DoesNotExist:
                request.session["cart"] = None
            else:
                # Update timestamp and clear out old carts.
                cart.last_updated = now()
                cart.save()
                self.expired().delete()
        if not cart:
            # Forget what checkout step we were up to.
            try:
                del request.session["order"]["step"]
                request.session.modified = True
            except KeyError:
                pass
            from cartridge.shop.utils import EmptyCart
            cart = EmptyCart(request)
        return cart

    def expiry_time(self):
        """
        Datetime for expired carts.
        """
        return now() - timedelta(minutes=settings.SHOP_CART_EXPIRY_MINUTES)

    def current(self):
        """
        Unexpired carts.
        """
        return self.filter(last_updated__gte=self.expiry_time())

    def expired(self):
        """
        Expired carts.
        """
        return self.filter(last_updated__lt=self.expiry_time())

class OrderManager(CurrentSiteManager):

    def from_request(self, request):
        """
        Returns the last order made by session key. Used for
        Google Anayltics order tracking in the order complete view,
        and in tests.
        """
        orders = self.filter(key=request.session.session_key).order_by("-id")
        if orders:
            return orders[0]
        raise self.model.DoesNotExist

    def get_for_user(self, order_id, request):
        """
        Used for retrieving a single order, ensuring the user in
        the given request object can access it.
        """
        lookup = {"id": order_id}
        if not request.user.is_authenticated():
            lookup["key"] = request.session.session_key
        elif not request.user.is_staff:
            lookup["user_id"] = request.user.id
        return self.get(**lookup)

class ProductOptionManager(Manager):

    def as_fields(self):
        """
        Return a dict of product options as their field names and
        choices.
        """
        options = defaultdict(list)
        for option in self.all():
            options["option%s" % option.type].append(option.name)
        return options

class ProductVariationManager(Manager):

    use_for_related_fields = True

    def _empty_options_lookup(self, exclude=None):
        """
        Create a lookup dict of field__isnull for options fields.
        """
        if not exclude:
            exclude = {}
        return dict([("%s__isnull" % f.name, True)
            for f in self.model.option_fields() if f.name not in exclude])

    def create_from_options(self, options):
        """
        Create all unique variations from the selected options.
        """
        if options:
            options = SortedDict(options)
            # Build all combinations of options.
            variations = [[]]
            for values_list in list(options.values()):
                variations = [x + [y] for x in variations for y in values_list]
            for variation in variations:
                # Lookup unspecified options as null to ensure a
                # unique filter.
                variation = dict(list(zip(list(options.keys()), variation)))
                lookup = dict(variation)
                lookup.update(self._empty_options_lookup(exclude=variation))
                try:
                    self.get(**lookup)
                except self.model.DoesNotExist:
                    self.create(**variation)

    def manage_empty(self):
        """
        Create an empty variation (no options) if none exist,
        otherwise if multiple variations exist ensure there is no
        redundant empty variation. Also ensure there is at least one
        default variation.
        """
        total_variations = self.count()
        if total_variations == 0:
            self.create()
        elif total_variations > 1:
            self.filter(**self._empty_options_lookup()).delete()
        try:
            self.get(default=True)
        except self.model.DoesNotExist:
            first_variation = self.all()[0]
            first_variation.default = True
            first_variation.save()

    def set_default_images(self, deleted_image_ids):
        """
        Assign the first image for the product to each variation that
        doesn't have an image. Also remove any images that have been
        deleted via the admin to avoid invalid image selections.
        """
        variations = self.all()
        if not variations:
            return
        image = variations[0].product.images.exclude(id__in=deleted_image_ids)
        if image:
            image = image[0]
        for variation in variations:
            save = False
            if str(variation.image_id) in deleted_image_ids:
                variation.image = None
                save = True
            if image and not variation.image:
                variation.image = image
                save = True
            if save:
                variation.save()

class ProductActionManager(Manager):

    use_for_related_fields = True

    def _action_for_field(self, field):
        """
        Increases the given field by datetime.today().toordinal()
        which provides a time scaling value we can order by to
        determine popularity over time.
        """
        timestamp = datetime.today().toordinal()
        action, created = self.get_or_create(timestamp=timestamp)
        setattr(action, field, getattr(action, field) + 1)
        action.save()

    def added_to_cart(self):
        """
        Increase total_cart when product is added to cart.
        """
        self._action_for_field("total_cart")

    def purchased(self):
        """
        Increase total_purchased when product is purchased.
        """
        self._action_for_field("total_purchase")

class DiscountCodeManager(Manager):

    def active(self, *args, **kwargs):
        """
        Items flagged as active and in valid date range if date(s) are
        specified.
        """
        n = now()
        valid_from = Q(valid_from__isnull=True) | Q(valid_from__lte=n)
        valid_to = Q(valid_to__isnull=True) | Q(valid_to__gte=n)
        valid = self.filter(valid_from, valid_to, active=True)
        return valid.exclude(uses_remaining=0)

    def get_valid(self, code, cart):
        """
        Items flagged as active and within date range as well checking
        that the given cart contains items that the code is valid for.
        """
        total_price_valid = (Q(min_purchase__isnull=True) |
                             Q(min_purchase__lte=cart.total_price()))
        discount = self.active().get(total_price_valid, code=code)
        products = discount.all_products()
        if products.count() > 0:
            if products.filter(variations__sku__in=cart.skus()).count() == 0:
                raise self.model.DoesNotExist
        return discount