On Sunday marine ecologist Pelayo Salinas was on his way back from a 12-day research mission on a Galápagos National Park patrol ship when at 6 a.m. the captain spotted a vessel on the radar. Access to these waters is restricted, so they radioed the vessel to find out what it was up to.
No response. Salinas, who works with the Charles Darwin Foundation, and a Ecuadorian Navy officer who was also on board tried again. Still no response. They warned the vessel that the law requires them to respond. Silence.
Then Salinas and three others jumped in a 13-foot inflatable boat that had been donated to the park and took chase. They'd identified the vessel as Chinese and strongly suspected it was involved in illegal fishing.
This part of Galápagos National Park—a marine sanctuary where absolutely no fishing is allowed—has the greatest abundance of sharks known in the world. It's this that has made these waters a target of fishermen looking to supply Asian markets with shark fin and shark meat.


Gent. I regret to find that difficulties are likely to arise between the Delawares and Comanches. We must exert our best effort to avert the catastrophe. The Delaware are, as it were, the connecting link between us and the Comanches, and it is important at this juncture that the best understanding should exist between them…Where is Jim Shaw?
Despite their important role as emissaries, mediators, and translators–the connecting link, to use Western's phrase—precious little scholarly work has been done about the Texas Delawares. This book will examine their role and will introduce new material gleaned from the heretofore-untranslated Texas novels of the German writer Friedrich Armand Strubberg, who, under the name Dr. Schubbert, served as colonial director of the German town of Fredericksburg in 1846/47 and was a signatory of the storied Meusebach/German Indian treaty of 1847. Strubberg's ten Texas novels contain a wealth of fresh ethnographic detail about the Delawares with whom he was intimately acquainted.


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Disney for Dads
Value Resorts
Moderate Resorts
Deluxe Resorts
Vacation Club Resorts
Disney Theme Parks
Epcot: Future World
Epcot: World Showcase
Disney Restaurants
Character Meals
Disney Related Links
Florida Travel Links
Disney's Hollywood Studios was known as Disney's MGM Studios until 2008. It is the smallest of all of Disney's theme parks but it is a big hit with guests of all ages.
Preschoolers absolutely love the up close and personal attraction Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage because they get to sing along and dance around with some of their favorite friends from Playhouse Disney.
Older generations seem to like the architectural look and feel from the golden age of Hollywood that has been recreated throughout the park in great detail. The once familiar faces of stars and starlets from Tinseltown bring to mind the good old days. The Great Movie Ride is an excellent place to get a glimpse of stars from the past.
The age groups between the very young and the not so old seek out action and adventure in the thrill rides and stunt shows that Hollywood Studios offer. There really is something for everyone in this small park.
Do you have any favorites that qualify as Star Attractions at Disney's Hollywood Studios? Or, are there any attractions that do not make the cut on your ride list?
Click here to share your favorites and your not so favorite attractions at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
To see more General information visit our Hollywood Studios park information page.
Kid Commentary for Disney's Hollywood Studios will be identified with these Disney icons. When you see them please take a minute to read what the children have to say!
The Park is divided into two main sections. The front section represents old Hollywood. The streets are lined with palm trees and the shops are period specific to the 1940s. The entrance of the park leads you down Hollywood Boulevard.
At the end of the street you will find a true to life recreation of Grauman's Chinese Theater and another Hollywood landmark, The Hollywood Brown Derby.
Each building facade on Hollywood Boulevard is modeled after a real structure that either existed in the past or still exists in Hollywood today. An example of this is the Darkroom.
This store is found on the right hand side of the street. It is one of the first stores you will pass on your way down Hollywood Boulevard. The building facade is a reproduction of the real 1938 Hollywood photo shop. This store at Disney sells everything you might need for your camera or video recorder.
Before you whiz past all of the shops on this street to get to the thrill rides, remember that much of Disney's charm and magic is found in the details. Take your time and enjoy the magic.
Off of Hollywood Boulevard to the right is Sunset Boulevard or the theater district. This trolley lined street leads to the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater and the Hollywood Tower of Terror Hotel. This section is home to the parks two thrill rides and the fireworks and laser spectacular, Fantasmic!.
To the left off of Hollywood Boulevard is home to the Echo Lake section of the park which recalls the real Echo Lake Park in Los Angeles. The lake itself is the focal point of this section of the park. The lake is surrounded by attractions like the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, Sounds Dangerous Starring Drew Carey and American Idol.
Several popular restaurants can also be found in the area including The 50's Prime Time Cafe and The Hollywood and Vine.
Many of the buildings in Echo Lake were designed to look like oversized replicas of everyday objects. This type of architecture was used during the 1920s. It is apparent in Gertie, the giant dinosaur snack stand and in the steamer that is Min and Bill's Dockside Diner.
Again, these are some of the details that are often overlooked at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Take your time and enjoy the experience that this park provides.
The Streets of America starts at the end of the Echo Lake section just past the Star Tours attraction. You can access Commissary Lane and the restaurants that are found there from this area.
The second or back section of the park represents the production center of the studios. The entrance to this area resembles Hollywood's Paramount Studios gate.
One part of this back section is known as the Streets of America. The Streets of America pays tribute to some of America's most recognizable streets. The streets of San Francisco are represented here but the biggest area is dedicated to the streets of New York. The New York facades represent West 40th street complete with fire hydrants and brownstone stoops.
You will probably recognize the Chrysler building and the Empire State building too. These streets were once used by the Disney studios for movie and television work but now serve simply to entertain park guests.
This area is home to several attractions including a stunt show, a tour of the backlot and a 3D movie. Of course, there are several restaurants and gift shops in the area too.
The Backlot Tour exits onto the newest section of Hollywood Studios, Pixar Place. As you can probably guess, this is where the new Toy Story Midway Mania ride can be found. The only other draw to this area is a small Toy Story gift shop and snack cart. Pixar Place connects the Streets of America with Animation Courtyard.
Animation Courtyard has buildings that resemble production studios and sound stages. This section offers something for all age groups.
Adults can learn about the life and career of Walt Disney as well as how animated films are created. But the big draw to Animation Courtyard is Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage.
This small area is often overflowing with excited preschoolers waiting for a chance to see their favorite characters.
Even though Disney's Hollywood Studios is a small park, navigating its streets can sometimes be a bit confusing and disorienting. If you lose your way head back to Mickey's Sorcerers Hat in Hollywood Plaza located in front of the Chinese theater to regroup and get reoriented to the sections of the park.
If you think you might need visual aid to help you see all that Disney's Hollywood Studios has to offer then take a look at this park guide and map.
Disney's Hollywood Studios has a lot to offer guests of all ages but if after spending time in the park you still crave more Hollywood movie making magic, then you may want to visit "Universal Studios Theme Park. See the rides, shows and attractions of one of Orlando's best theme parks."
For up to date park hours and special events, please visit the official Disney website here.
I like walking around Hollywood Studios because it has a few thrill rides and it makes you feel like you are on a movie set.
In Your Opinion, What Hollywood Studios Attractions Have Star Power?
What Hollywood Studios attractions provide Red Carpet excitement and entertainment and which attractions never make the cut for your family?
Tell Us the Title for your Story about Your Favorite Hollywood Studios Attractions
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Video Premiere: "Oh Lord", Camm Hunter is Back With A Slick Video!
Camm Hunter of Down With Webster is making a mark with his solo work. His latest single "Oh Lord" is a thumping, hypnotic track showing off his skills as as DWW's resident MC.
Director Aaron A teamed up with Camm to bring you the video for "Oh Lord". Funded by MuchFACT, the video is a slick and stylized piece, showing off Camm's skills, style, and swagger!
Check out "Oh Lord" by Camm Hunter, directed by Aaron A, above!
Emmanuel Jal couldn't be further removed from his life as a former child soldier in Sudan. Now living in Toronto, the artist has a brand new album entitled "The Key" in stores and online now, and premiered a new film "The Good Lie" with co-star Reese Witherspoon at TIFF this year.
He teamed up once again with Director Grandson & Son on his latest video "My Power", featuring Chic and the legendary Nile Rodgers. The team previously collaborated on the video for "Cush", which you can watch right here.
"My Power" tells the story of a robot who appears in the village and meets a young boy. The robot struggles with fighting for the army, or standing up for the boy and his village. Perhaps a subtle reference to Emmanuel's past in Sudan.
Watch "My Power" by Emmanuel Jal featuring Nile Rodgers and Chic, directed by Grandson and Son, above!
We recently helped produce a photoshoot for the grassroots organization Moms Demand Action. The PSA recently debuted online and has started an important discussion about guns in America.
Did you know Kroger stores allow loaded firearms in their stores, but not outside food, skateboards, or shirtless customers?
Read more about it here and see the rest of the photos in this article by Huffington Post.
Singer Maiko Watson and Producer/DJ Cyclist were lucky enough to receive MuchFACT funding for their soulful collaboration "Shine". The video, directed by Adam Goldhammer, is a visually enthralling piece with all things luminescent, glowing, and "shiny"!
Maiko looks stunning throughout, while Cyclist appears effortlessly cool.
Check out "Shine" by Maiko Watson & Cyclist, directed by Adam Goldhammer, above!


We are proud to offer a state of the art, computerised embroidery service onto many different types of clothing. Perfect for including company logos on business clothing or for professional looking garments for pubs, clubs, tours, etc.
A large range of quality clothing can be found in our online catalogue.


I have a folder with sub-folders inside, all have many types of files. I want to search for a word inside the .css-files. I am using Windows 7 and I have grep.
grep -R --include=*.css -H pattern .
this will recurse and look for all *.css in subdirectories, while -H will show the filename.
find folder/ -name "*.css" |xargs grep "your-pattern"
You will need to install cygwin to do this.
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged regex windows grep or ask your own question.


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Home > Marine > Recreational boating > Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST) > Who has to have a RST?
Find out about the Recreational Skipper's Ticket - what it is, when it is required, and who has to have one. You can also apply for a replacement card if needed.
What is the Recreational Skipper's Ticket?
The Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST) is a nationally-recognised certificate of competency which shows that the holder has the minimum knowledge and practical skills needed to operate a powerboat safely.
It is the minimum qualification needed to operate a powerboat in Western Australia.
The RST is not a licence, so there is no need to renew the Ticket or pay ongoing fees.
Regulation 47 of the Navigable Waters Regulations 1958 (WA) requires the person in charge of a vessel with a motor that exceeds 6 hp (4.5 kW) in power to hold a Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST).
The RST was developed using the National Marine Safety Committee's (NMSC) guidelines for recreational boat operator competencies. For more information, please visit the NMSC website.
In excess of 216,000 RSTs have been issued since the program began in 2006.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA): National System for Domestic Commercial Vessel Safety
Department of Justice: Navigable Waters Regulations 1958 (WA)
Who has to have one?
A person must have a Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST) if:
He or she is the person in charge of an RST vessel.
The vessel is being operated in the water.
An RST vessel is any boat that is:
Registered with the Department of Transport, or required to be registered.
Used for recreational purposes.
Powered by has an engine with more than 6 hp (4.5 kW).
Only the person-in-charge of the boat (the 'skipper') needs to have an RST, but he or she must have it with them the entire time the boat is in operation. The skipper is responsible for what happens on the boat during the voyage, but this doesn't mean that he or she must be at the wheel the whole time.
Please go to How to get an RST for information on how to apply for an RST.
You do not need an RST to own a boat that is docked or on land. You also do not need an RST to operate a vessel that does not have a motor, or that has a motor with a power of 6 hp (4.5 kW) or less.
The minimum age to obtain a Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST) is 14 years old.
For more information on age limits to operate recreational boats, please go to General rules and regulations.
Commercial seafarers
Seafarers who have commercial certificates of competency are still required to hold a Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST) in order to be the person-in-charge of an RST vessel.
This can be done by having your commercial qualification recognised as equivalent to an RST. Please go to RST skills recognition and equivalents for instructions on how to do so.
If you hold an equivalent certificate from another state or country, or have a commercial qualification, you may be eligible for certain exemptions.
Please go to RST skills recognition and equivalents for more information.
RST for Hire & Drive vessels
The Department strongly recommends that drivers of Hire & Drive vessels hold appropriate qualifications for the type of vessel they are using. In the case of vessels used for recreation, this means holding a RST.
In some cases involving Hire & Drive vessels, a RST should not be necessary. Examples include on-site hire arrangements and cases where the vessel is part of an organised and supervised tour.
Please download the following document for comprehensive information about the Department's policy for Recreational Skippers Ticket requirements for Leisure Craft Operations.
Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST): Requirements for hire and drive vessels Kb
RST - Frequently Asked Questions
The Recreational Skipper's Ticket is a certificate of competency for recreational boaters. It is not a licence. It is a one-off assessment of boating skills and knowledge.
The length of time it takes is flexible, and depends on a few factors:
Whether you attend a course or self-study.
Whether you take the theory and practical assessments on the same day.
Whether you take the theory and practical assessments from the same provider.
Fees are charged directly by the authorised provider, and are not regulated by the Department of Transport. Please contact the providers to find out their fees.
There are no renewal fees.
What do I need to take to the assessment? What is the process?
To take the Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST) assessment, you will need to:
Contact an authorised provider to enrol.
Provide eyesight, medical and proof of identity documents (a valid Motor Drivers Licence is sufficient).
Get a letter of consent from a parent or guardian (if under 18 years of age).
Are there any exemptions?
Yes. If you hold a skipper's ticket from another state or country, or have a commercial qualification, you may be eligible for certain exemptions.
How does the RST affect hire-and-drive vessels?
Certain categories of hire-and-drive vessels require a Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST), but others do not.
Any hire-and-drive vessel with an engine capacity of more than 6 hp (4.5 kW), such as one rented from a company with a trailerable hire and drive licence, requires an RST.
Other types of hire-and-drive vessels generally do not require an RST, such as:
Vessels hired from a company with an on-site hire and drive licence (if certain conditions are met).
Vessels with an engine capacity of 6 hp (4.5 kW).
Vessels with no motor attached.
Do I need an RST if I have an interstate boat licence and want to holiday in WA?
If you hold a foreign skipper's ticket from another state or country, and you intend to stay for less than 3 months, you will not be required to hold a WA Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST).
If you intend to stay for longer than 3 months, you will be required to obtain an RST.
Page last updated: Wed Oct 6 2021 10:15:20 AM


The New York Botanical Garden is a designated national landmark botanical garden located in the Bronx, New York City, United States. It spans some 250 acres of Bronx Park and is home to the Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory.
The Form 990PF is in Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF).


Specializing in DMK Paramedical Skin Revision.
Gidget's Beauty Box knows and loves skin, and we definitely don't believe in generic solutions! Your skin is as unique as you are. Over the years we have seen a wide variety of different skin conditions and have an understanding of what treatments are best suited for different types of skin. At Gidget's, our therapists take the time to consult with you before we recommend any treatment. We will analyze your skin, find out what your skin concerns are, and design a treatment plan aimed at your goals. We will even check up on you after your service.
Allison Cremona is a licensed Master Esthetician and the owner of Gidget's Beauty Box. She holds a BFA from Long Island University in Technical Theatre.


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Home > europe > turkey
Welcome to Turkey
Turkey Holidays, Flights and City Breaks
Turkey has a diverse cultural heritage that you must experience during your holiday or short city break to Turkey. Turkey really is a curious mix of the west and the east.
Turkey is well-known for its warm Mediterranean beaches and its winter sports, especially skiing. Skiing is a very popular pastime during the months of October and April. When in Turkey, make sure to check out the most popular winter resorts which include Turkey's Uludag, Kartepe near Izmit, Kartalkaya and Ilgaz near Kastamonu in the northwest of the country.
Turkey has a staggering number of ancient ruins that you definitely have to see during your holiday to Turkey. So many castles and citadels dot the Turkish landscape, both in towns and in the countryside and both on the coasts and inland. Most of the castles were built during different stages of history and today they are the main attractions of the towns that they are located in.
If active pursuits are more your family's style, why don't you consider kayaking or rafting, go horseback riding down the sprawling beach through ancient Patara or in the wind swept valleys of Cappadocia. Jeep safaris will take you off the beaten track into mountain villages and to still un-excavated archaeological sites.
Why not enjoy a cruise up the Bosphorus, the artery that slices right through Europe and Asia.
Turkey's rich historic and cultural wealth is scattered throughout the country in a virtual playground of open-air wonders that you definitely will enjoy.
You will certainly enjoy this country.
Istanbul is the top city to visit in Turkey.
Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, with a population of 13.5 million consists of the country's historical, cultural and economic climate. It is a must -see holiday destination at any time of the year.
Istanbul's biggest draw remains its historic centre. Istanbul is an enchanting blend of Eastern and Western culture; a vibrant, modern city, with a truly distinctive identity.
Istanbul's most famous attractions, which you have to visit, are The Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, and the Grand Bazaar. All of these tourist attractions are within 30 minutes' walk of each other.
Visitors to this enchanting Turkish city should visit Taksim Square, which is without a shadow of a doubt the heart of modern Istanbul as well as the Princes Islands.
Napoleon was an admirer of Istanbul. From one of his famous speeches, Napoleon said, ''if the world was a single state, Istanbul would be the capital.''
Istanbul as a holiday destination has a history of more than 2,500 years. It's a holy city where mosques, synagogues and churches live side by side.
Istanbul is also renowned for its palaces, its mansions and its monumental buildings, which is a unique example of the architectural styles, which were inherited from the Ottoman's. The historical Grand Bazaar, the music dancing at the domes of Aya Irini makes Istanbul the capital of history and culture.
Istanbul has a fascinating beauty, and this is thanks to its historical and cultural richness, and it is waiting for those who would like to witness the great love of the continents.
Istanbul is a city of constant movement, twenty-four hours a day. One trip to Istanbul and you will be planning that next Istanbul trip. Enjoy this picturesque city.
For cheap flights, holidays and city breaks to Turkey from Dublin, Cork and Shannon, call us today.


roads. Traffic infrastructure degrades with the passage of time. Stress, driver fatigue, aggressive delivery quotas, and road rage can spur irrational behavior. Distractions such as text messaging and cell phones can divert drivers' attentions, increasing road risks.
increasingly reach the same conclusion.
Many companies own motorized vehicles, ranging from a handful to hundreds or more. These certainly make it easier to conduct business. Often, they are an employee "perk" or benefit. With benefits, though, come risks. Accidents and collisions involving company vehicles can exact a heavy toll. Physical damage to company vehicles is expensive to fix. Downtime from repairs and damage can erode a firm's productivity. Employee injuries from company vehicle accidents can spawn workers' compensation claims and detrimentally impact productivity. Third-party liability claims—both for property damage and bodily injury—can create devastating financial consequences in the form of settlements, awards, and higher insurance premiums.
Companies that adroitly manage fleet vehicle risks can enjoy a competitive advantage in their market space. In the grim aftermath of airplane crashes, a search invariably occurs for the "black box" that will reveal what really happened. Captured flight data enable experts to pinpoint the cause of a crash and to, hopefully, prevent future mishaps. It is a risk management tool in aviation.
What, however, if there was a way to equip a company's fleet of automobiles with something like a black box? This would transmit information—not just about crashes, but other "intel" about company vehicle use, data that management could use to promote safety and curb risks? In fact, such technology is now increasingly available in the form of automotive telematics.
automobile and truck liability claims.
E Eliminating sizable workers' compensation expenses due to injuries incurred by company drivers hurt in accidents arising out of and in the course of employment. E Lowering group medical expenses due to injuries incurred by company drivers hurt in accidents occurring off the job, outside of employment.
ries on behalf of third parties.
corporate safety to public constituencies.


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Buffett Writes About Star of His Broadway Musical
Jimmy Buffett penned an article in Vanity Fair about finding his lead role in the musical 'Escape to Margaritaville'
About 10 months ago, I was in New York casting the role of Tully Mars, the lead in my upcoming musical, Escape to Margaritaville. It debuts this month in New Orleans, where I started my singing career nearly 50 years ago, and heads to Broadway next March. While the show is not based on my life, it is chock-full of songs I wrote in the early years, when I was a singer playing in Key West bars and all along the Overseas Highway. Once in a while in the audition process there will be a performer who, by his or her entrance into the room, tells you that this is the one you are looking for. Enter Paul Alexander Nolan wearing a Hawaiian shirt, a pair of flip-flops, and a guitar strung across his back.
Once Paul had the part, he was full of questions about how to approach the songs and how to play Tully. My answer was simple: "You need to become him." So we decided to send Paul to "bar-singer boot camp" in the Florida Keys. Stage performers are used to a silence in their workspace, while bar singers thrive in a cacophonous racket. Performing in a funky, loud Keys bar was something I felt Paul needed to experience.
So off we went to the Green Turtle Inn, in Islamorada, a place that was on my song line from past years. On March 7, 2017, along with about 150 bar patrons, we all came together to witness Paul Nolan's debut as a bar singer, including a few duets with yours truly. I'm proud to say that Paul was a quick learner and graduated from "boot camp" with flying colors. Now we just need to work on his tan.
Tagged in Musicals


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Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Epilogue
All Themes The Cold War and the Space Race The Individual vs. the Group Dreams, Ambition, and Acceptance Parents and Children Hard Work, Scarcity, Science, and Innovation
All Characters Homer Hickam Jr. Homer Hickam Sr. Elsie Lavender Hickam Sherman Quentin Roy Lee Dorothy Plunk Wernher von Braun Mr. R.L. Turner Reverend "Little" Richard Reverend Josiah Lanier Jim Hickam William Laird John Dubonnet Mr. Isaac Bykovski Miss Riley Jake Mosby Orville
All Symbols Rockets
Instant downloads of all 1202 LitChart PDFs (including Rocket Boys).
Homer Hickam
The Cold War and the Space Race
The Individual vs. the Group
Dreams, Ambition, and Acceptance
Hard Work, Scarcity, Science, and Innovation
Homer Hickam Jr.
Homer Hickam Sr.
Elsie Lavender Hickam
Roy Lee
Dorothy Plunk
Mr. R.L. Turner
Reverend "Little" Richard
Reverend Josiah Lanier
Jim Hickam
William Laird
John Dubonnet
Mr. Isaac Bykovski
Miss Riley
Jake Mosby
Rocket Boys Summary
As the memoir begins, Homer Hickam Jr. is a young teenager living in the mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia. His father is Homer Hickam Sr., the superintendent of the mine, his mother is Elsie Hickam, who makes no secret of her dislike for the mine and mining, and his brother is Jim Hickam, a handsome, popular football player.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launches a satellite called Sputnik into space. Homer and his friends gather outside to watch Sputnik pass over Coalwood. As he watches, Homer realizes that his greatest ambition is to build rockets, and eventually to build satellites for the government, like his hero, Dr. Wernher von Braun.
Homer's first attempts at building rockets are comical. He ends up blowing up his mother's prized rose-garden fence, earning him much mockery from the townspeople of Coalwood. Homer Sr. angrily tells Homer to stop making rockets, but Elsie encourages him to continue. She explains that Homer Sr. thinks Homer is unfit for any work other than clerking, so by building rockets, Homer can prove to his father that he's capable of being a scientist, and he can escape from a life in the mines at Coalwood. Homer resolves to continue building rockets. He also notes that Homer Sr. is far more interested in Jim, due to Jim's talent as a football player.
Homer speaks to a classmate of his, Quentin, who is bookish and pretentious, but who also knows a huge amount about rockets. Quentin agrees to join with Homer and his friends in building rockets. Homer gathers a group of his close friends: Roy Lee, Sherman, and O'Dell, and, together with Quentin, forms the BCMA, or "Big Creek Missile Academy" (Big Creek is the name of their high school). Meanwhile, Homer tries to work up the courage to ask out his crush, the beautiful and intelligent Dorothy Plunk, but is devastated to find that she's already dating an older boy.
Quentin and Homer research fuel for their rockets, and settle on a mixture of saltpeter and charcoal. They go to Mr. Isaac Bykovski, a worker at the mine. Bykovski agrees to help Homer by making rocket shafts for him. The ensuing series of rockets—formed from Bykovski's shafts, powered with Homer and Quentin's rocket fuel—are unsuccessful, with one of them nearly burning down Homer Sr.'s office at the mine. Homer Sr. angrily repeats his command to Homer—he's not to make any more rockets. Although Homer wants to obey his father, Elsie and Mr. Bykovski subtly encourage him to continue with the BCMA.
One Sunday, the Coalwood community attends church, where the town reverend, Reverend Josiah Lanier, delivers a sermon about the importance of respecting one's children and encouraging their dreams. Afterwards, Homer Sr. relents and allows Homer to make rockets. He drives Homer out to an area far from Coalwood called Cape Coalwood, and tells him that he's free to launch rockets there.
Homer begins his junior year of high school. On the first day, the principal, Mr. R.L. Turner, announces that football has been canceled. Instead, students will be focusing on their studies—a consequence of America's desire to compete with the Soviet Union in the realms of science and math. Jim and his football friends are furious with this news, since it means that they'll in all likelihood be unable to get athletic scholarships to college. Meanwhile, the BCMA goes about building a launch area in Cape Coalwood: a launchpad made from concrete, and a blockhouse to protect the boys from shrapnel and smoke from the rockets. To obtain the necessary materials for these projects, Homer and his friends asks Homer Sr. for help, and also communicate with many other miners in Coalwood, including Emmett Jones and Mr. Bykovski. Homer meets another important ally, Jake Mosby, a wealthy, charming man who visits Coalwood to work as an engineer in the mine. Jake provides Homer with support and encouragement, and even lets the members of the BCMA stare at the stars through his telescope.
The BCMA organizes a public rocket launch, which is attended by a modest group of people. These include Jake, Mr. Dubonnet, the leader of the miners' union (and, as a result, a frequent enemy of Homer Sr.), and Basil Oglethorpe, an enthusiastic reporter who writes gushing stories about the BCMA in his paper.
In school, Homer notices that he's becoming more popular—girls are flirting with him. One girl, Valentine Carmina, hints that Homer should forget Dorothy and go out with her instead. Meanwhile, the BCMA obtains a set of old phone lines, which they use to coordinate rocket launches at Cape Coalwood. To their horror, Mr. Van Dyke, the main superintendent of the mine, calls them to his office and informs them that they've stolen company property. They promise to pay off their debt—35 dollars—over the course of the next year. Homer gains another valuable ally, the chemistry teacher Miss Riley. Miss Riley oversees student entries to the county science fair, and she encourages Homer and his friends to enter in the event. While Quentin is eager to compete, Homer is more reluctant, and he insists that the BCMA isn't ready for competition yet.
Homer continues to rely on Mr. Bykovski for help with designing rockets. Shortly after he gets some rocket nozzles from Bykovski, Homer discovers that Homer Sr. has punished Bykovski by sending him to work deep in the mines. When Homer apologizes to Mr. Bykovski for getting him in trouble, Bykovski only laughs and tells Homer to keep building his rockets. Homer also notices that someone—perhaps even his father, he thinks—is leaving extra ingredients for him to use for rockets: scrap iron, concrete, etc.
At the end of 1958 Homer asks Dorothy to the high school dance, but she turns him down. Nevertheless, Homer has a wonderful Christmas—Elsie has written a letter to Dr. von Braun, and has received a reply: a signed photograph of von Braun, addressed to Homer. Shortly afterwards, Homer and the BCMA organize more rocket launches. Their rockets, featuring a stable form of rocket fuel, and carefully designed by Mr. Bykovski, attain heights of many thousands of feet. Homer notices that many people are showing up for the launches, many of them pretty women.
One day, Homer and Quentin agree that they need to master calculus if they're to build more efficient rockets. Together, they talk to their math teacher, Mr. Hartsfield, and then Mr. Turner, both of whom are reluctant to establish a new class. Shortly after their request is denied, Homer and Quentin are called to the office, where they find two state troopers. The offices accuse Homer and Quentin of starting a vast forest fire. Miss Riley bursts into the office, where she defends her students. Quentin saves the day when he proves that the "rocket" that supposedly caused the fire isn't a BCMA rocket at all, but a flare, probably dropped by a passing airplane. Embarrassed by the incident, Mr. Turner agrees to introduce a calculus class at Big Creek. Ironically, Homer is unable to take the class, because his grades aren't good enough: Dorothy Plunk takes his position.
Homer is disappointed that he can't learn calculus from Mr. Hartsfield, but Quentin volunteers to teach Homer himself. Homer Sr. seems irritated that Homer is teaching himself mathematics for the sake of rocketing—he reminds Homer that he should be concentrating on his career in the mine.
One night, Homer and the BCMA go dancing at a party organized by Ed Johnson, a local music-lover. There, Homer is horrified to see Dorothy dancing with Jim. Homer turns to Valentine, who's also at the dance, and it's implied that Homer loses his virginity to Valentine that night. Afterwards, Homer walks home, where he finds the town in chaos over a horrible mining accident: a fan has stopped working, meaning that the miners are losing their only source of oxygen. Homer Sr. dives into the mine, where he badly injures his eye, and Mr. Bykovski dies. Homer is horrified by Bykovski's death—he thinks that if it hadn't been for his rockets, Bykovski would never have been sent into the deepest part of the mine to begin with.
Homer falls into depression following Mr. Bykovski's death. The town reverends, Reverend Lanier and Reverend "Little" Richard, encourage him to stop feeling sorry for himself and continue with his rockets. Miss Riley tells Homer that if he doesn't pursue his rockets now, he'll regret it for the rest of his life. Homer reluctantly agrees to continue with his designs, and at the next rocket launch, his rocket reaches a height of 4,000 feet—a record for the BCMA. Homer argues with the other members of the BCMA over the specificities of their new rockets, and Roy Lee accuses Homer of being too self-focused. Homer reluctantly admits that Roy Lee is exactly right, and henceforth, he resolves to be a "team player."
With Jake's help, the BCMA obtains a valuable new fuel source, zinc oxide. They use this fuel to develop rockets that can reach far greater heights than their predecessors. Meanwhile, there is a union strike, and Mr. Van Dyke is forced to leave Coalwood. He's replaced by Mr. Fuller, a loud, pugnacious man whom nearly everyone dislikes. When Fuller learns about the BCMA, he angrily orders them to desist their dangerous activities. At first, Homer Sr. tells Homer to comply with Fuller's orders, but then, urged by Elsie, he negotiates with Fuller so that the BCMA can continue its launches.
Homer and Quentin learn calculus and gas equations in order to calculate the optimal shape for their rocket nozzles. Finally, they master the necessary design problems, and proudly present their findings to Miss Riley and Mr. Hartsfield. Homer enlists the help of Mr. Ferro and Mr. Caton, two mining workers, to help him build the intricately shaped nozzles needed for rockets that can reach heights of three miles.
At their next rocket launch, the BCMA's rockets reach impressive heights, but far less than what they'd hoped for. After the launch, Home goes to a school dance with Melba June Monroe, a pretty classmate of his, and they make out.
In early 1960, John F. Kennedy has begun his campaign for the presidency. Meanwhile, there is a series of union strikes, which grow increasingly large and violent. One day, someone tries to shoot Homer Sr. in his home. Although Homer discovers that the bullet fired is only a .22—a nonlethal, pop gun pellet—he's still disturbed. Shortly after the incident, Elsie announces that she's purchased a house in Myrtle Beach. For years, she explains, she's been using Homer Sr.'s money to invest in the stock market, so that now, she and Homer Sr. have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.
Homer learns that Miss Riley has been diagnosed with cancer. He resolves to enter in the upcoming county science fair, perfecting his rocket designs so that he'll have a chance to win. Miss Riley is glad to hear that Homer will be competing. She tells him that only one member of the BCMA can present at the fair—this should be Homer, since he's the President of the BCMA, and the most prepared member.
In the weeks leading up to the science fair, Mr. Caton is unable to help Homer any further, because the union is on strike. Homer plans to sneak into Mr. Caton's machine store and finish the rocket designs himself. He does, only to find Mr. Caton himself, secretly working on the rocket. Mr. Caton promises to leave the finished rocket for Homer very soon.
Homer attends the county science fair, armed with his presentation, his knowledge of propulsion and physics, and the new rockets Mr. Caton has made for him. The judges at the fair are initially dismissive of Homer's designs, since they seem dangerous, but in the end, Homer and the BCMA win first prize. Miss Riley and Mr. turner are overjoyed with this news. Shortly afterwards, Homer attends a school dance with Melba June. Homer then attends the state science fair, which he wins, meaning that he'll be attending the National Science Fair in Indianapolis.
At their next rocket launch, the BCMA launches rockets to a height of 15,000 feet, exactly as Homer has predicted. After the launch, Roy Lee comes to Homer with startling news: he's learned who fired at Homer Sr. The culprit feels horrible about his crime, however, and will likely leave town soon. Homer is touched by this news, and decides not to ask Roy Lee for this person's name. Homer realizes that Coalwood is full of good, honest people, like Roy Lee and his father.
In preparation for the National Science Fair, Homer goes to a suit store in a neighboring town and purchases a shocking orange suit. Afterwards, he attends a surprise rally where John F. Kennedy is speaking. Kennedy takes questions from the audience, and, noticing Homer's suit, asks Homer to speak. Homer asks Kennedy if he'll send men to the moon, and Kennedy enthusiastically replies that he will. Afterwards, Homer returns his suit and trades it out for a more modest blue one.
At the National Science Fair in Indianapolis, Homer is dismayed to find that his competitors have polished, highly sophisticated projects. He's afraid that he'll come back to Coalwood empty-handed, confirming, in the eyes of the townspeople, that he's an arrogant, overly ambitious young man. The night before the fair, Homer discovers that his rocket nozzles and casings have been stolen. Frantically, he calls his mother in Coalwood, and begs her to find a way to send him more materials. Miraculously, Elsie tells him that there will be nozzles and casings waiting for him on the next morning train to Indianapolis. Homer goes to the train station and finds them. At the Fair, Homer is awarded the top prize in the category of propulsion.
When Homer returns to Coalwood, he learns that Miss Riley has been sent to the hospital—her cancer has worsened. Jake consoles Homer and tells him that he must accept tragedy and sadness in his life, while also embracing the good.
Afterwards, Homer learns that his request for more rocket parts indirectly played a major role in ending the union strike. Mr. Caton and his friends protested that the strike needed to be broken up so that he could finish Homer's rockets immediately. Pressured by Mr. Dubonnet, Mr. Caton, and others, Homer Sr. agreed to sign the required papers, restoring laid-off miners to their original positions. One consequence of this agreement is that Homer Sr. will be unable to join Elsie in Myrtle Beach: he's agreed to stay on as superintendent for the foreseeable future. Elsie agrees to stay in Coalwood for a little longer with Homer Sr.
Homer and the BCMA decide to hold one last rocket launch. Homer is surprised to see Homer Sr. in attendance—previously, he's been too busy at the mine to make time to see his son's launches. Homer asks his father to launch the final rocket. Homer Sr. does so, and seems impressed with the results.
After their victory at the National Science Fair, the members of the BCMA go their separate ways. None of them get scholarship money as a result of their science fair success, but most of them find ways of paying for college anyway. Three of them, including Homer and Quentin, become engineers, and Homer goes on to work for NASA, designing space shuttles. As an adult, Homer continues to have a distant relationship with his father, and when Homer is a middle-aged man, his father finally dies of lung failure, stoically refusing pain medication up to the day of his death. Ultimately, the town of Coalwood shuts down, and the miners move elsewhere. Homer looks back on Coalwood with a mixture of sadness and respect. Coalwood made him the man he is today, he admits, and as long as its people remember it fondly, it will live forever.
Arn, Jackson. "Rocket Boys Plot Summary." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 20 Nov 2015. Web. 17 Jan 2020.
Arn, Jackson. "Rocket Boys Plot Summary." LitCharts LLC, November 20, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2020. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/rocket-boys/summary.


text:
Hobbies? I Watch Movies
Some films old. Some films new. Hopefully not too many films borrowed. Some films filled with blue (I guess?)
The Great Hack (2019) Review
Watch this as soon as you can…
Cambridge Analytica were recently caught out misusing data of 87 million US internet users to create targeted ads. It is perhaps the most serious data breach in modern history, and Netflix's The Great Hack chronicles this terrifying story. Directors Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim have created a well-documented film that constantly holds the reader's attention, and uses the testimony of experts, journalists, and whistleblowers to piece together the scandal from the wreckage.
Despite the thousands of articles, podcasts, and news programmes that have covered this developing story, and the fact I have been following attentively, I still came out of this film learning something new. Ultimately, teaching is what all documentaries should do. This film is enlightening, and widens the scope of vision so that the more of the bigger picture can be seen. There is a lot to this story, and the film brings them all together in an easily digestible manner. It is very good at making connections, linking the recent political events of Nigeria with the election of Donald Trump. It portrays the meddling in Nigeria's politics as almost like a practice run for what happened in Britain and America in 2016, emphasising that the use of data in this way has been a long time coming.
The visual imagery used throughout the film develops this theme of inevitability further. It depicts the world as, rather than built up of atoms and molecules, built of pixels, bits and data. Everyone David Carroll, a professor who mounted a legal challenge against Cambridge Analytica in order to see the data they had on him, walks past is on their phone. Effectively, the digital imagery suggests that the pixels and data are leaking from their phones uncontrollably and constantly. Carroll also remarks that nobody ever reads the terms and conditions of their favourite sites, and how shocking it would be to read through them. We are letting this happen blindly.
I do not know whether this was a conscious decision, or an accidental irony, but the fact this is a Netflix film also draws attention to society's inertia regarding this issue. Netflix knows an awful lot about our behaviour and interests too. If this irony was commented on during the film, it would have strengthened Amer and Noujaim's argument further. Perhaps they did not know where their film would end up, though.
Of course, the film does not just blame our collective sleepwalking for this data disaster. Alexander Nix and Mark Zuckerberg do not give interviews, so their side of the story is told through what is available publicly. From what is available, they inevitably fill the role of villain in this story. You could argue Brittany Kaiser also fills that role, but her portrayal is quite complex. It is a testimony to the unbiased and impartial nature of this documentary that you never know what to think about Kaiser. Carroll has a very cynical of her decision to whistleblow, but she does appear remorseful in some places. Whether the audience believes the sincerity of this remorse is up to them.
Further, this film is impartial politically. It does not make any judgements on whether Brexit is the correct course for the UK or not, or whether Clinton should have become the first female US president or not. Its main concern is democracy, its integrity, and how data is being used in such a way that threatens democracy itself. The film uses a good five minutes of its 139 minute run time to highlight Kaiser's point that Cambridge Analytica are effectively using weapons-grade technology. It is used to make the very compelling case for the danger world democracy is in right now.
Using many efficient techniques available due to the medium of film, this documentary fits a complex story, with much technical jargon, spanning over a decade, and encompassing the entire planet, into an engaging and easy-to-follow narrative. Making it so easy to understand allows the horrifying nature of the scandal, and its disturbing implications for the future, to really hit home. The film never tries to convince you to delete your Facebook account; it is so well-integrated into our society that avoiding it is impossible. It does try to make us more conscious of the rights we lack, and how we are being exploited for profit. We are in a new world, and understanding its dangers is probably the best chance we've got.
Posted byBen July 31, 2019 October 5, 2019 Posted inReviewsTags: brexit, brittany kaiser, cambridge analytica, data rights, david carroll, election, facebook, investigation, jehane noujaim, karim amer, netflix, politics, referendum, scandal, the great hackLeave a comment on The Great Hack (2019) Review
Retrospective Reviews: Inception (2010)
In Rick and Morty's second episode, "Lawnmower Dog", the eponymous drunk scientist describes Inception as "everybody's favourite movie". I felt personally attacked by this comment. Liking this movie is so common that it is almost cliché. My opinion became the same as everyone else's. Earlier, Rick frames any fan of Inception as a pretentious, and someone using the film to feign intelligence- he describes it as "confusing" and jokes that Morty only fakes his understanding of it. and portraying themselves as superior for getting such a complex movie. Whilst I'm not the latter kind of fan (I hope), I will walk straight through the doors of cliché and say that I adore this movie. It is easily my favourite blockbuster. Who care if it is "everybody's favourite movie"? There are many reasons why this is the case.
To describe the film in the simplest possible terms, it is a heist movie. Dom Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is an extractor. He is a thief but he does not burgle houses. He burgles minds, breaking in through your dreams, and stealing all the valuable information in there. This is an illegal practice, and he has also been wrongly accused for the murder of his wife. As a result, he has been exiled from the United States, meaning he can no longer see his two children. Mr Saito (Ken Watanabe) offers him a way out of this legal maze, in return for performing the act of inception. Inception is the opposite of extraction; instead of stealing ideas, you plant them. Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) immediately describes this as "impossible", raising the stakes early on. Tom Hardy's character, Eames, asserts that it is "possible, but just bloody difficult". To pull off the nigh-impossible heist of the century, Cobb needs to build a team of the very best.
To play these characters, Nolan has rounded up a truly star-studded cast. The term "ensemble cast" was invented for this film. Ellen Page, Marion Cottilard, Michael Kane, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy…. These are just the side characters. They all deliver great performances, and the chemistry between them offers a rope for the audience to cling onto when the plot starts getting more layered and complex. The biggest draw, though, is Leonardo DiCaprio. In one of his more underrated roles, he brings a lot of the emotional weight to the movie through his performance (particularly in the scene when he describes his wife's death). He is also perfect filling the role of calm, cool and driven leader that all heist movies need.
These stars bring a sense of familiarity for what is a highly original film with a lot going on. The second half of the film has three heist missions taking place simultaneously. For the audience, they all appear to be taking place in real time, but they are all taking place at different speeds, yet still taking place at the same time. Each heist mission serves as a shell for the next one, and so on. Whilst this many layered plot might be difficult to follow completely during the first viewing, it also for a lot of exciting editing. Each heist mission gets its moment in the spotlight as the stakes rise and events get more intense. The film will then cut to the next mission, and the momentum starts building again from that point. Like the Penrose Steps, a motif from the film, the momentum is this movie is moving continuously, never ending and never starting again, but constantly snowballing.
With such an impressive, original story by writer-director Christopher Nolan, the technical aspects of the film needed to hold up to tell this grand epic. They do. Hans Zimmer has created a score of the highest density which perfectly captures the stakes, the emotional and the physical. Death through limbo is a very real consequence, as is the possibility of Cobb losing his children, and the score never lets you forget that. The cinematography is extraordinary; Wally Pfister is working at his best here. Each location is given a discrete, but equally awe-inspiring look, that helps prevent the audience getting lost, for each narrative location is recognisable: the hotel hallways have a warm glow about them, whilst the scenes in the van are much more neutral in hue, for example. Despite the surreal nature of dreams, and the film's action which is only constrained by the limits of the imagination, the film feels real. Very little CGI was used in favour of more practical effects. (The scene involving the rotating hotel corridors were filmed with a real, purpose-built set!) The film goes against the trend of the time and was not filmed in 3D. Using practical effects also gives this film's power of spectacle a longevity that films with heavy CGI do not possess. These practical effects are less likely to become outdated than blockbusters involving . This also meant that when CGI was necessary, it was done right and with the full weight of the budget and the technical crew's behind it. The iconic sequence involving Paris folding over on itself as if it were a sheet of paper is still mesmerising nearly ten years on.
There are many reasons to adore and to marvel at this movie. Everything from the script to the special effects are impressive and done to the highest possible standard. One may poke fun at the fact it seems to be the stereotypical answer to the question "what is your favourite movie?" I would still argue, ten years on, that it deserves to be so beloved. It is immersive, narratively and visually. It is complex, but the technical aspects of the film work overtime to guide us through the maze. The film is powerful on the emotional level, and performed using some of the finest actors around. What's not to love?
Posted byBen July 30, 2019 August 6, 2019 Posted inRetrospective ReviewsTags: cillian murphy, dreams, ellen page, hans zimmer, inception, joseph gordon-levitt, leonardo dicaprio, michael caine, rick and morty, tom hardy, wally pfisterLeave a comment on Retrospective Reviews: Inception (2010)
Privilege in the Film Industry
A recent article in The Guardian, "Nepotism in the movies: it's time to call out the acting school of mum and dad", written by Caspar Salmon, rightly addresses a usually unnoticed issue in the acting industry: acting is becoming an increasingly upper-middle class profession. However, Salmon's choice to describe this as "nepotism" does not go far enough critically, suggesting that this is just a simple issue of parents favouring their children. The word makes it less alarming, for most parents can probably relate. Who would not want to help their children if they can? As the film and television industry has an important role in representing society at large, there are much more serious repercussions. It leads to an underrepresentation of what a majority of the population looks like, and it leads to unfairness for actors from less privileged backgrounds.
Working-class underrepresentation has two primary causes. Firstly, actors, directors and big names are using their influence to get people close to them into top jobs in the industry. As Salmon notes, the Barrymores were essentially an "acting 'dynasty'". Jaden Smith, despite not being particularly good at either acting or creating music, has been given the chance to work at a high-profile level. Why is that? The answer is Will Smith. Of course, not everyone accused of being privileged by nepotism is a bad actor. Maya Hawke, the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, did a great job in Stranger Things 3, and she has a role in the new Tarantino movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The only bad actor Tarantino gives a role to in his movies is himself. The underlying issue is that there may have been other actresses who are just as good as Maya Hawke that may have not got the chance simply because they did not have the right connections, or they started on a lower step on the ladder.
Secondly, drama schools are getting more expensive, and the biggest names in Hollywood are coming from the most upper-class universities. Christopher Eccleston, in a 2017 interview with Sky News, addressed this issue. He notes that "my parents could not have afforded to pay for me to go to drama school now". It is just too expensive. Only the very richest can afford to drama school, making the net used to find great talents much smaller in diameter. He also pointed out that most actors are pulled from higher-class universities and some of the top schools in the UK. This is certainly the case: Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, and Tom Hiddleston all went to Eton. Natalie Portman went to Harvard. Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Rowan Atkinson all went to Oxbridge. Earlier, in 2014, Julie Walters was concerned that "the only actors are going to be privileged kids whose parents can afford to send them to drama school. That's not right. It feels like we are going backwards". It is a problem that people within the industry are beginning to address, but, given the prominence of such movements as #MeToo and the #OscarsSoWhite, it is a problem that has been overshadowed.
Gender, race, sexuality and class are all marked by lines of oppression, where some social groups are privileged at the expense of others. Intersectional thinkers such as Audre Lorde have argued that all of these identity-based forms of oppression can exacerbate and enhance the others. A lesbian black woman is oppressed on more grounds than a straight white woman, for example. Equally, if you are straight, white, male and middle class, you have very little identity-based oppression to worry about. You have a lot of privilege. To address the issue of the underrepresentation of working-classes intersectional issue. If the film industry is predominantly white, as the #OscarsSoWhite movement sought to point out, and if the children of the current stars of the industry are the stars of the future, then the movie industry will remain predominantly white.
Privilege takes many different forms. These different forms work independently, but they also work together to exacerbate the oppression caused by each. To effectively deal with all forms of identity-based oppression, you have to deal with all of them and address their intersections. It is fantastic, and long overdue, that sexism, heteronormativity and racism in the film industry are being addressed. However, these issues will never be dealt with adequately if we only tip toe around the issue of class-based underrepresentation and privilege. We need a film industry that draws on talent from everywhere in our diverse world, not just small sections of it.
Posted byBen July 29, 2019 August 6, 2019 Posted inThoughtsTags: ethan hawke, film, intersectionality, jaden smith, maya hawke, metoo, nepotism, once upon a time in hollywood, oscarssowhite, privilege, stranger things 3, the guardian, uma thurmanLeave a comment on Privilege in the Film Industry
Tarantino and His Tropes
Quentin Tarantino's 9th film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is sadly not out in the UK yet. I've still got a little while to wait before I can see what is shaping up to be one of the strongest films of the year. The reviews are looking good, and the hype is growing. Whilst I wait for the release of his latest movie, I look back on the previous eight movies (I also count Kill Bill as one movie) and note key patterns and trends. There are many tell tale signs that you are watching a Tarantino movie. Knowing these key tropes, motifs and recurring stylistic choices, which can be found everywhere in his filmography, from Reservoir Dogs (1992) to The Hateful Eight (2015) can allow one to speculate over what to expect in his latest film.
Before cinematic universes became the rabbit hole Hollywood have been continuously digging into since the release of Marvel's The Avengers in 2012, Tarantino was setting all of his films in one crazy, violent and chaotic universe. Linking his characters through invented brands, such as Red Apple cigarettes or the Big Kahuna burger, and even family names, Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction and Mr Blonde from Reservoir Dogs are related. We have not had the big crossover event yet, though. Perhaps Tarantino is leaving that for his final film. Given the very low success rate of such crossover films (Marvel being the only studio to do it well), it is probably a good thing that Tarantino has not depicted The Bride taking down Marsellus Wallace (I bet greedy producers have suggested the idea, though). Nevertheless, these visual Easter eggs linking all the films together are always a nice bit of fun for the avid Tarantino fan.
These visual Easter eggs also draw attention to the fact the audience is watching a movie- Tarantino's movies never allow the audience to get fully immersed. Mia Wallace, when calling Vincent Vega a "square", draws one and this square actually appears on screen, as if chalked on. His use of chapter titles and on-screen text throughout his filmography also take the audience out of the narrative. Further, the repeated use of trunk shots and longer than average tracking, bird's eye view shots reminds the audience that the narrative is being created the same auteur that created the other films. These are all uses of non-diegetic film techniques. Within the diegetic world of his films, too, the audience is constantly made aware of a wider filmic context. Most of his films include a Mexican Standoff, a trope paying homage to his favourite genre, the Western. Tarantino always has a cameo in his films, much like Alfred Hitchcock, using himself as a watermark for his work, reminding the audience the same auteur has crafted all these movies. Furthermore, his films are littered with pop culture references, particularly to other movies, deliberately situating his own movies within a larger cinematic context. For Tarantino, his movies are not portals into an immersive world. They are films, crafted by an auteur, and he wants you to know it.
The most significant link between all of Tarantino's movies is his treatment of time as malleable. It can be bent into any shape. History is often revised. Hitler does not die by his own hand in Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, for example. His soundtracks are often anachronistic, as songs from the last few decades are used in his films set in the past, or as older songs are used in his present day films. The most famous example being the use of "Stuck in the Middle with You" by Stealer's Wheel in Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino is not concerned with picking authentic songs from the period in which his films are set. Would any song from 1992 have suggested the nonchalance and laidback nature of Mr Blonde as he tortures the police officer as well? Tarantino is more interested in mood and character; to develop both of these, songs from other periods of history are often required. What is the best way to tell this particular story? This is clearly the driving question behind the construction of his movies. This explains the eclectic range of shapes his plots come in, too. Pulp Fiction is the quintessential non-chronological film. Kill Bill tracks Beatrix Kiddo as she seeks to execute Bill and the Deadly Vipers, as an act of revenge for their atrocious actions on her wedding day. It opens with Beatrix killing the second member of the Deadly Vipers, with the rest of the film depicting her struggle against the first member. Further, we do not see key events, such as the wedding and Beatrix's training, until the second half of this story of ten chapters. If the film you are watching is historically accurate, uses references and music from the period, and is told chronologically, then Tarantino definitely did not direct it.
I have only touched the surface. There are many more tropes, motifs and stylistic choices linking these films together. Whilst the plot of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has been kept under wraps, there is still a lot we can speculate accurately and predict with confidence. It will certainly reference more movies than you can count. Leonardo DiCaprio will probably end up in a trunk at some point. The film will probably open at the end, and end in the middle. Expect a song from the seventies. I cannot wait to look out for these tropes all over again when Tarantino's 9th film is finally released in the UK.
Posted byBen July 28, 2019 August 6, 2019 Posted inThoughtsTags: kill bill, leonardo dicaprio, once upon a time in hollywood, pulp fiction, quentin tarantino, reservoir dogs, tarantinoLeave a comment on Tarantino and His Tropes
Mythology and Superheroes
Many comparisons have been made between superheroes and figures from ancient mythology. Superman can be compared to Hercules, The Flash to Hermes. Batman could be a modern Hades, or a modern Odysseus, depending on who you ask. Within superhero films and comics themselves, these comparisons become more obvious when mythological figures are actually introduced into the superhero universe themselves. Looking at movie adaptations of comic book storylines, this article argues that seeing Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, join the Avengers, or Zeus fight alongside Green Lanterns, has a great impact on the status and stature of the mythological figures, as well as the superheroes themselves.
In 2017's Justice League, Zeus is represented as part of a larger army made up of Amazons and Green Lanterns. During a flashback sequence in Snyder's film depicting these forces working together to defeat the alien Steppenwolf, Zeus only gets a short scene. It is more of a cameo; he does not get a significant role. The Zeus you imagine from Greek Mythology should be able to defeat any threat by himself, for he is the supreme being. Yet, he is represented as merely a foot soldier in a larger role. 2017's Wonder Woman depicts the death and defeat of Ares, the Greek God of War. Whilst this could be considered a weakening of his status, he is at least defeated by another powerful figure from Greek Mythology. DC's Justice League represents Steppenwolf as such a threat that Zeus needs the help of lesser beings to defeat and trap him during the flashback sequence. Steppenwolf is not a top tier DC villain, forcing us to ask the question what would happen if he were to meet Darkseid. Later in the film, Superman, an alien, defeats Steppenwolf more or less by himself, and does so without struggling. This elevates the power of Superman, arguably the most famous figure of this American superhero mythology. At the same time, it diminishes Zeus' stature. Much like the God of War video game series for the Playstation consoles, where you can actually beat Zeus to death with your bare hands, Zeus is not represented as an untouchable God sitting on Mount Olympus. Rather, he is a much more tangible being, and far less powerful. Thousands of years ago, he would have been worshipped as the most powerful being in the known world. Today, Zeus barely appears to be a match for a supervillain's henchman.
More famously (as more people went to see these movies), Thor is a member of The Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He stands alongside heroes such as Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Widow. Immediately, this diminishes his status from the Norse Mythology. In Norse Mythology, he is a God, worshipped in Nordic countries. Further, he is the strongest God. The strongest being in the mythology. He is only killed, during Ragnarok, by the poison of the Midgard Serpent. He rarely interacts with mortal humans because they are beneath him; when he does meet mortals, it is made clear that there is a profound difference in power and status. The MCU frequently represents him as having a much more diminished status. Yes, he is frequently referred to as a "God", but he is not portrayed as one. Hulk is strong enough to knock him to the ground in one punch in a humorous and humiliating scene from 2012's The Avengers. Moreover, the very presence of The Avengers alongside Thor suggests that there are some threats he cannot deal with alone. Whilst he is the "strongest" there is in Norse mythology, Thor needs the help of other human beings in order to defeat such threats as Ultron and Thanos. The only God who can lift Mjolnir in the original mythology, but he is one of many who are capable of doing it in The Avengers films, for Captain America and Vision both do it, elevating their stature. Interestingly, in Avengers: Age of Ultron, there is even a scene where Ultron is holding Thor by the throat. The Norse God of Thunder is completely at the mercy of a piece of human technology, and a superior piece of human technology (Vision) is needed to save his life in that situation. This raises interesting questions about human weapons. Are nuclear bombs capable of hurting the Gods we used to worship and revere? Artificial robots are capable of threatening the life of a Norse God in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It is interesting to speculate whether it is more or less difficult to believe in a hierarchy between deity and human, when human beings are capable of creating such powerful weapons. The Marvel films frequently diminish Thor's status as the most powerful God, for it suggests that there are some threats he cannot defeat, and that the help of human beings is often needed.
Loki gets more embarrassing treatment in his first encounter with the Hulk. In a very funny scene, Loki is slammed around Avengers' tower by Hulk as if he were a mere toy, immediately after declaring himself as a superior "God you vile creature". Hulk is at the centre of the frame, and Loki ends the scene silent, flabbergasted and lying on the floor, suggesting his dominance even further. Loki is known as the God of Mischief, and is known for using him mind, rather than brute strength, so it is easier to conceive the Hulk dominating him physically than it is Thor. Nevertheless, Loki is represented as an accomplished fighter who takes part in the battle of Ragnarok, and he often defeats other creatures using his powers of transformation when his strength is not enough. The Avengers' depiction of the encounter of Hulk and Loki is too one sided. The scene is used for humour, at the humiliating expense of Loki- a God!
The introduction of mythological figures into the superhero canon equates the Gods of the past with the superheroes of the present. It raises the stature, power and status of characters like Superman and Iron Man, whilst diminishing the heroes and Gods of the ancient world. Doing this also serves the purpose of raising the intensity of the villian's threat levels. If Zeus himself cannot defeat Steppenwolf alone, and if Thor is crushed under the might of Thanos, what hope do the (super)human characters have against these villains? This appears to reflect the growing confidence of us in ourselves and in our society. Before, people depended on pleasing the Gods for a good harvest, for luck travelling across the seas, and to prevent thunderstorms. Now, we are much more confident in our own capabilities. For better or worse, Mount Olympus is no longer considered an unreachable pedestal. The power of the Gods appear much closer to home now.
Posted byBen July 27, 2019 August 6, 2019 Posted inThoughtsTags: avengers: age of ultron, batman, comics, dc, dc comics, god of war, greek mythology, joss whedon, justice league, marvel, marvel cinematic universe, marvel comics, mcu, superman, thanos, the avengers, the flash, thor, ultron, wonder woman, zeusLeave a comment on Mythology and Superheroes
Toy Story 4 (2019) Review
"Fourth" films in a franchise rarely impress. Many franchises crash and burn in the second and third instalments, and could only dream of maintaining the original's high standard of quality across one, two, never mind three, movies. Yet, Pixar has achieved the rare feat of creating a fourth film in a franchise that holds up to the original three. (Controversial opinion: I would rank Toy Story 4 over the original.) Whilst maintaining the heart warming humour of the original trilogy, this film explores dark themes and asks big questions, just like its predecessors. It also provides a satisfying ending to the tetralogy that I did not even know I needed.
Toy Story 3 was the perfect ending to the franchise, right? Upon the announcement of a fourth movie, I was very sceptical. It felt like a cash grab. It felt like Pixar were pushing their luck. No franchise could have a golden run of four absolutely brilliant movies; it is impressive enough that they made it to three. It felt like they were playing with fire by even thinking of making a fourth movie. Yet, Cooley's sequel extends the franchise beyond this "perfect" ending, and offers an equally satisfying one in its place. Whilst the third film brought an end to the Andy and Woody story, the fourth one brings an end to Woody's story. With the help of Bo Peep (Annie Potts), Woody (Tom Hanks, duh) learns the lesson that one cannot rely upon others for a purpose in life. In the first three films, he was utterly devoted to Andy. Life without him was inconceivable. Without him, he seeks a new purpose in Bonnie, which does not go to plan as he soon discovers he is her least favourite toy. He then looks for a purpose in helping Forky, but the film wraps up Forky's similar crisis of purpose (he is the embodiment of self-destruction) in a satisfying way. Forky finds a purpose no longer needs Woody, so what now? Bo teaches Woody to stop looking to others for fulfilment in life. For anyone who has been in an unhealthy, one-sided relationship or friendship, or one who depends on social media approval, Woody's growth is inspiring.
The only major flaw I find in this instalment is the resolution to Gabby Gabby's arc. The twist that she is a misunderstood, good person rather than a sinister organ harvester is a wholesome and refreshing one. Yet, she does not get the resolution she deserves. Like Woody, she also rests her entire sense of worth and purpose on "having" and being able to please a kid. Unfortunately, unlike Woody, she does not grow out of this mindset. She ends the film hoping another child will embrace her. Perhaps the film was trying to suggest both routes to happiness- one self-centred, one altruistic- are equal and both worthwhile. It feels wrong that Woody is the one to encourage Gabby Gabby to do this, though. It feels a bit contradictory.
However, this is a minor complaint. Whilst exploring bleak, existential questions about where to find purpose, or whether life is even worth living, this film maintains the high quality of comedy and stunning animation Pixar are famous for. Like previous instalments, this film ends by putting its audience through the emotional wringer. The ending of Toy Story 4 was marketed as being able to make Tom Hanks cry during recording. You will need tissues too. There is so much to love about this film!
Fourth films are not allowed to be so thought-provoking and moving. It just does not happen in the world of Hollywood. Yet again, Pixar have re-written the rules.
Posted byBen July 26, 2019 August 6, 2019 Posted inReviewsTags: animation, annie potts, disney, forky, fourth, franchise, jordan peele, key and peele, pixar, sequel, tetralogy, tim allen, tom hanks, toy story, toy story 4, woody1 Comment on Toy Story 4 (2019) Review
Zombieland: Double Tap Trailer- Thoughts
Ten years. A lot has changed over the last decade. Britain has had three prime ministers, the US two presidents. Kendrick Lamar's entire discography of studio albums was released during the last ten years, as was a majority of the MCU (save for Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk). An entire generation of gaming consoles started, and will soon be coming to a close with the release of Xbox's new console next year. Finally, after all these changes, we are getting a Zombieland sequel! After such a large gap in time, the trailer, which came out yesterday, had to successfully remind audiences why the first one is so great, justify the existence of a second one, and excite audiences enough to forgive the studios for such an excruciating wait.
What is most noticeable is the lack of actual zombies. Given its title, and even its subtitle, there is an irony hanging over the whole trailer, for most of the trailer presents us with shots and scenes featuring the original cast, and very human new additions. Ultimately, this is probably a smart route for the second film to follow. If the emphasis laid on the zombies, it would risk prioritising action and spectacle over character and comedy, which are the main strengths of the original movie. Plus, The Walking Dead buzz is certainly much quieter now than it was ten years ago. Giving the zombies the primary focus would not have sparked much hype, for it is the characters we want to see return.
Character appears to be the focus of this second instalment, which I'm very happy to see. The scenes in the Oval Office feel very real and genuine- if I were one of the few to have survived the apocalypse, the first thing I'd do is go visit all the places I was not allowed to go before. The Oval Office would probably be one of them (maybe Area 51 as well, if it is not already "stormed" by that point). It also fits the characters, who, in the first film, break into Bill Murray's house. I'm glad to see their sense of curiosity, and their desire to explore remnants of the old world, have survived the ten year jump. Further, there is a strong emphasis on the family dynamic. "I'd really like for you to stop calling me little girl", says Little Rock to Tallahassee out of frustration for being seen as the baby of the group, hinting that the film may focus on how the family dynamic, set up in the first Zombieland, has changed, grown, or struggled over the last decade. Perhaps this sense of inequality is why she ends up running away, as the trailer implies. More tension appears to come from the introduction of new characters into the group. The film appears to be centred on the family and how it works, which is a lot more interesting than seeing the same group fight some zombies again.
Of course, the original film was a comedy, so it is great to see that the franchise's sense of humour is still as golden as ever. All of the jokes work and made me laugh- particularly the joke about Tallahassee not "giv[ing] a shit" about Columbus, and the weed gag. Hopefully, these are not the only good jokes, nor simply the best gags. I do have hope the film has a whole has more to offer. The scenes in the Oval Office certainly allow for some biting satirical commentary, which will always be a pleasure to watch.
This new trailer is very successful. It reminds me of why I enjoyed the first film so much- the characters and the humour- and reassures me that they will be the focus of the second one. There is also a lot of potential in the "ten years" later set up, as well as a lot of potential for humour in the film's choice of setting. I'm very excited to see this movie. It is such a shame I had to go through the whole of secondary school, sixth form, and university to get to a point in my life when I can finally see the Zombieland sequel. It has been a long wait, but I'm sure it will be a worthwhile one.
Posted byBen July 26, 2019 August 6, 2019 Posted inThoughtsTags: abigail breslin, action, bill murray, comedy, emma stone, film, jesse eisenberg, sequel, woody harrelson, zombieland, zombieland 2, zombieland double tapLeave a comment on Zombieland: Double Tap Trailer- Thoughts
Retrospective Reviews: Blade Runner (1982/1992)
Watching this film today, it is hard to believe it is merely set in 2019. It was made this year. The original version was released in 1982, with a director's cut coming out ten years later. Yet, the stunning representation of a dystopian, decaying, much more mechanic version of Los Angeles are as impressive today as they were thirty-seven years ago. The attention to detail that went into the street settings, the costumes, and the breath-taking skylines all work towards creating one of the most immersive science-fiction experiences you'll ever see. It is no wonder that it has inspired so many films in the genre since its initial release.
This film is famous for creating an forgettable mood and atmosphere. It is hard to describe what mood it creates, but it is even harder to shake that feeling off once the movie is over. Vangelis' score is somehow other-worldly, passionate and ambient all at the same time. The chiaroscuro lighting helps to make this film feel incredibly dramatic, and adds to the power of the visuals.
Of course, the film is more than just a fabulous feast for the senses. Harrison Ford plays Deckard, an ex-"blade runner", which is essentially a cop whose job is hunt and execute replicants (human-looking android servants who no longer obey their masters' commands). Four such replicants, led by Roy, played by Rutger Hauer in his breakout role, are rebelling against their human masters. It is Deckard's job to stop them. On a philosophical level, this premise allows the film to ask complex and thought-provoking questions. The morality of Deckard's job is constantly under scrutiny as Deckard is moved by the very human memories implanted in Rachael's brain, and certainly overwhelmed by the replicants' lust for life, and their dread of knowing that they are pre-programmed to die very soon. Throughout, the replicants seem to value their humanity and their time on Earth more than the humans do, drawing attention to the cruel and arbitrary nature of Deckard's role as executioner. Some have described this film as slow paced, but I prefer to use the words thoughtful and considered. The film asks important questions, and does not seek quick, nor easy, answers.
The performances of the film's two main characters further blurs the lines between human and android. Subverting all expectations after playing heroic and charming roles like Indiana Jones and Han Solo, Ford's performance is startlingly robotic. Very effectively, Ford plays a character who is often cold and laconic, which juxtaposes with Rutger Hauer's performance, which expresses Roy's aching desire for equality, and for life, magnificently. His famous "tears in rain" monologue cannot help but move. Despite its memorable technological achievements, it is Rutger Hauer's performance as the emotional core of the film that I think of first when I look back on Blade Runner.
It is easy to see why Blade Runner is considered a classic. Everything from the visuals and the score work together smoothly to create an overwhelming and unforgettable experience, and the film tackles complex philosophical questions that audiences, thirty-seven years later, are still trying to answer.
Posted byBen July 25, 2019 August 6, 2019 Posted inRetrospective ReviewsTags: blade runner, deckard, film, harrison ford, movie, ridley scott, rutger hauer, science fiction2 Comments on Retrospective Reviews: Blade Runner (1982/1992)
The Lion King (2019) Review
Wait until you can stream it…
Despite being longer, this film feels like a shot-for-shot remake of the original film, with most of the dialogue being copy and pasted. Same film, new coating. Whilst this does bring some successes, this new look for The Lion King is ultimately a detriment.
The only major change that springs to mind is that this film is much more muted. Gone are the dazzling, crazy colours. The grand musical set pieces are much more grounded in reality, as tracking shots simply track the singing animals as the sing and walk to their destination. The film is also hyper-realistic. Everything looks as real as a David Attenborough documentary. It is impressive, truly. Technology has clearly come a long way. This brings the major drawback, and ultimately the film's greatest limitation, and perhaps its downfall: the ability for the film to express emotion is greatly restricted. Lions cannot express emotion like humans, and where the original film would use colour and grand musical set pieces to express how a character is feeling, this film is held back by a much more grounded reality.
With regards to the representation of Scar, this does actually works. Jeremy Irons' Scar was much more eccentric and over the top. Chiwetel Ejiofor's Scar is a much more shadowy presence. He is cold, calculating and cunning, always working at the corner of your eye. I really like both versions. Ejiofor does a fantastic job, and the muted nature of the film compliments his performance well. Scar's emotionless face, the quieter, eerie score when he is on screen, and the darker lighting all complement each other to create a truly sinister and threatening presence on screen.
However, the grounded approach to filmmaking is a disservice to nearly every other character. Timon's and Zazu's jokes often fall flat because, whilst the vocal delivery is funny, the blank facial expressions of the characters stop the jokes feeling real. Comedy is all about the visual and the aural. This film snatches away the visual side of the comedy. Arguably one of the saddest moments in the original film- Mufasa's death- does not move me in this version. Simba's face, in the original, is free to express as a child would, and it makes Mufasa's death heart-breaking. This new version cannot express Simba's sadness and terror over losing his father simply because lions cannot express emotion like we do. We just get a blank, emotionless face that jars with a vocal delivery filled with grief. It just does not work, making the efforts of the excellent voice cast, consisting of such talents as Donald Glover as Simba, ultimately pointless. The hyper-realism of this movie allows for technically marvellous shots, but it takes away much of the original film's heart and emotion.
This film is the Avatar of the Disney remakes. A technical achievement, yes, but one lacking in emotion. To extend the Avatar analogy further, this new version also lacks originality. The plot's structure is not changed. The variance in dialogue between both movies is barely noticeable. The director, Jon Favreau, does not even make the effort to represent the familiar plot using new shots, from new angles and positions. As mentioned before, this film feels like a mostly shot-for-shot remake. Why remake the original if your intention is to take away from the original, without adding anything new?
The Lion King remake embraces the imagery of the "circle" of life- it is utterly pointless. Remake proves to be the wrong word to describe this movie, for that implies something new has been made. This is more of a digital remaster, to borrow a term from the gaming industry. Games from the PS2 era are often imported onto a PS4 disc with improved graphics. When done with games, there is at least some point for the consumer, for you may not have your old console anymore, and you are now being given an opportunity to play some of your old favourites all over again. I fail to see why this movie exists other than as a way of milking cash from a beloved property, or as a showcase of ground-breaking technology. Artistically, it only takes away from the original, and gives nothing back. Whilst the original was a roar capable of bringing in a stampede of devoted fans hailing it as a classic, the remaster is much quieter roar from the same lion, but much less powerful.
Posted byBen July 24, 2019 October 5, 2019 Posted inReviewsTags: beyonce, disney, disney remake, donald glover, live action remake, scar, seth rogen, simba, the lion king, the lion king 2019Leave a comment on The Lion King (2019) Review
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I am always delighted to hear from satisfied collectors. This time through Daniel Arnold a former Manly Australia resident who has now moved to the Greek Island of Paros. He sent this shot from the balcony of his new villa. Before he left Australia he bought an edition of Unfinished Surface: Blue to remind him of his life in Australia. Now the piece sits proudly staring out at this view from its position on a white wall in the villa.
Delighted to have Clearing the Inner Blueness chosen as the cover image of 2017 Grammy nominated Cambodian band KROM's new single, Mama Blue.
Wonderful to see my work featured in the corporate head office of Norvik Banka Riga Latvia. Thanks to Vineta Straznova, owner at CREA Gallery Riga Latvia who has worked tirelessly to promote my work. Great big thanks and hugs!! Just the beginning..And thanks to Imagehouse Latvia for their thoughtful and contemporary office design.


The Wall Street Journal takes an inside look into the Turkish bath experience in Istanbul, from chic, contemporary hotel spas to rough-and-tumble local joints. Sara Clemence has photos and details on Lunch Break. Photo: Andres Gonzalez for The Wall Street Journal.


text:
Q: ASIO handler arguments and boost::bind, compile time error I am struggling with compile time errors, and try as I might,  I dont see in what way am I doing it wrong or different from handler function signature as set out in documentation/examples. (I am using Boost 1.41 on Linux)
Please help me understand the error! (included below as snippet)
My application has objects whose methods are handlers for async_* functions. Below is the code snippet. The error is reported in the line labelled as "line 58", where I use boost::bind
class RPC {

public:
    char recv_buffer[56];

    void data_recv (void) {
        socket.async_read_some (
                boost::asio::buffer(recv_buffer),
                boost::bind ( &RPC::on_data_recv, this, _1, _2 )
        );   // **<<==== this is line 58, that shows up in error listing**

        global_stream_lock.lock();
        std::cout << "[" << boost::this_thread::get_id()
            << "] data recvd" << std::endl;
        global_stream_lock.unlock();

    } // RPC::data_recv

    void on_data_recv (boost::system::error_code& ec, std::size_t bytesRx) {
        global_stream_lock.lock();
        std::cout << "[" << boost::this_thread::get_id()
            << "] bytes rcvd: " << std::endl;
        global_stream_lock.unlock();

        data_recv();  // call function that waits for more data

    } // RPC::on_data_recv

};  // RPC class def

There is a huge error output, but the relevant lines seem to be:
../src/besw.cpp:58:   instantiated from here
/usr/include/boost/bind/bind.hpp:385: error: no match for call to '(boost::_m    fi::mf2<void, RPC, boost::system::error_code&, long unsigned int>) (RPC*&, boost::asio::error::basic_errors&, int&)'
/usr/include/boost/bind/mem_fn_template.hpp:272: note: candidates are: R boost::_mfi::mf2<R, T, A1, A2>::operator()(T*, A1, A2) const [with R = void, T = RPC, A1 = boost::system::error_code&, A2 = long unsigned int]
/usr/include/boost/bind/mem_fn_template.hpp:291: note:                R boost::_mfi::mf2<R, T, A1, A2>::operator()(T&, A1, A2) const [with R = void, T = RPC, A1 = boost::system::error_code&, A2 = long unsigned int]
make: *** [src/besw.o] Error 1

When I remove the place holders (_1 and _2) and have a handler without arguments, then it compiles and executes without errors. Here's that modified code snippet.
    void data_recv (void) {
    socket.async_read_some (
            boost::asio::buffer(recv_buffer),
            boost::bind ( &RPC::on_data_recv, this )
    );

    global_stream_lock.lock();
    std::cout << "[" << boost::this_thread::get_id()
        << "] data recvd" << std::endl;
    global_stream_lock.unlock();

} // RPC::data_recv

void on_data_recv (void) {
...
}

A: The error code cannot be taken by reference. Make it by-value or by const&:
void on_data_recv(boost::system::error_code/* ec */, size_t /*bytes_transferred*/) {

Also, consider using the Asio specific placeholders:
    socket.async_read_some(boost::asio::buffer(recv_buffer),
                           boost::bind(&RPC::on_data_recv, this, boost::asio::placeholders::error, boost::asio::placeholders::bytes_transferred));

Also use proper lock guards. We're in C++! It's easy to make things exception-safe, so why not?
Live On Coliru
#include <boost/asio.hpp>
#include <boost/bind.hpp>
#include <iostream>

#include <boost/thread.hpp>

static boost::mutex global_stream_lock;

class RPC {
    char recv_buffer[56];
  public:

    void data_recv() {
        socket.async_read_some(boost::asio::buffer(recv_buffer),
                               boost::bind(&RPC::on_data_recv, this, boost::asio::placeholders::error, boost::asio::placeholders::bytes_transferred));

        boost::lock_guard<boost::mutex> lk(global_stream_lock);
        std::cout << "[" << boost::this_thread::get_id() << "] data recvd" << std::endl;
        global_stream_lock.unlock();
    }

    void on_data_recv(boost::system::error_code/* ec */, size_t /*bytes_transferred*/) {
        {
            boost::lock_guard<boost::mutex> lk(global_stream_lock);
            std::cout << "[" << boost::this_thread::get_id() << "] bytes rcvd: " << std::endl;
        }

        data_recv(); // call function that waits for more data
    }

    boost::asio::io_service service;
    boost::asio::ip::tcp::socket socket{service};
}; // RPC class def

int main() {}

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