Without 'this' cast, it would be a mediocre time-waster. It would be
easily dismissed and quickly forgotten. But director Fisher Stevens (the
actor-turned-filmmaker) managed to get Al Pacino, Christopher Walken
and Alan Arkin to headline his ensemble of aging gangsters. Pacino is
72, Walken is 69 and Arkin is 78. With these legendary dudes on duty,
this otherwise dark and dingy movie has some geriatric electricity to
turn the lights on.
The simple-minded story was penned by Noah
Haidle, earning his first writing credit for a feature film. Stand Up
Guys kicks off when retiree Walken, an amateur oil painter who
specializes in exploding sunrises, picks up Pacino at a maximum security
prison. Walken's pal has just served 28 years for a violent crime they
were all involved in.
Mark Margolis as the psychotic thug
Claphands -- wants Pacino dead anyway for past sins. Who is the
designated triggerman? This is not hard to figure out and this plot
twist is soon divulged to us. Stand Up Guys is not about suspense, it is
about character development and banter.
The rest of the
made-in-Hollywood movie takes place over the rest of the day, into the
night, and onto the explosive events of the next morning. Along the way,
the story is played as a buddy comedy and occasionally as a sappy
melodrama about Walken's long-lost granddaughter and Arkin's devoted
daughter (Julianna Margulies). Pacino's character has no family, so he
is the wild one who brazenly indulges in drugs, booze, steak dinners and
sleazy (if amusing) hookers. After all, 28 years is a long time.
Pacino
chews up scenery like a troll. It is fun to watch. Arkin is sly and
sarcastic. Nicely done. Walken sends up Walken, using that famously
stilted voice to make a mockery of the thousands of actors who imitate
him. Love the guy! Everyone else in the movie -- even those we come to
like -- are just superficial types. The good people are too good to
believe. The bad people are total a--holes who deserve to be punished.
Some
are punished, especially thugs who sexually assault a young woman. Our
anti-heroes wreak revenge on her behalf and establish their moral
credentials with us, the audience. They may be criminals, but our
old-school guys have ethics.
It should now be obvious that you do
not go to this movie expecting an action classic. Stevens is a hack
director when he is doing diction. This is not something in the league
of Heat, Michael Mann's 1995 heist drama which sets Pacino up against
Robert De Niro. Instead, use Walken's painting as a metaphor. In the
movie, Walken is no Rembrandt -- and neither is Stand Up Guys. But his
vivid yellow sunrises bring us a little cheer on a winter's night.
“I
think the bills right here, conceptually, I agree with,” Sen. Smith
said before adding that he questions whether a 2 percent tax could
generate as much as the current system. “But I do appreciate their
efforts about trying to get some discussion and debate for legitimate
tax reform.”
The plan would affect everything that is sold,
purchased and rented in New Mexico and eliminates the personal income
tax, the corporate income tax, the compensating tax and nearly all of
the state’s special sales taxes such as the vehicle excise tax and taxes
on insurance premiums.
The few existing taxes that would remain
would be the property tax, the gasoline tax and severance taxes — such
as the ones on the oil and natural gas industries that supply nearly
one-third of New Mexico’s total tax revenues.
Under the plan, local governments will be able to add up to a 1 percent gross receipts tax for the towns and cities.
“This
basically goes to the true definition of a gross receipts tax, Rep.
Taylor said. “For a long time we have talked about a broad-based tax
with very low rates.”
Taylor says the plan would allow poorer New Mexicans to obtain tax refunds of up to 100 percent.
Sharer introduced the bill Thursday in the Senate and Taylor introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives.
New
Mexico has a complex tax structure that relies heavily on a gross
receipts tax that has developed into a system filled with credits,
exemptions, deductions and outright exceptions.
2013年1月31日星期四
Nature Inspired Everything
W hen fourth and fifth graders from McKinley Elementary School in Santa Monica were viewing the Miriam Wosk exhibit at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, they were excitedly taking notes and talking to each other about what they were seeing. 'It's like a buffet,' one girl said to her friend as they looked at Wosk's 1987 oil and acrylic piece, 'Arabesque,' which features fruit among other items.
Wosk's appealing, vibrant images are on view at the museum through April 20 in 'Abundance and Devotion: The Art of Miriam Wosk.' The retrospective pays homage to the accomplished artist, who died of cancer in 2010 at age 63.
While some artists are known primarily for one style, Wosk's evolution from commercial to fine artist allowed her to express herself in ever-changing ways. She loved Surrealism, and was also inspired by Frieda Kahlo and Tony Fitzpatrick, known for his colorful drawings and collages.
A native of Vancouver, Wosk achieved early success in New York, where her art adorned covers and inside pages of such notable publications as the New York Times, New York, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Ms. magazines. Forsaking that success, she moved west, ending up in a penthouse Frank Gehry designed for her in Beverly Hills, before moving even farther west to Santa Monica.
The current show was the brainstorm of Wosk's son, Adam Gunther, and was put together by SMMoA's executive director, Elsa Longhauser. Wosk's different styles are well represented. The illustrations are mostly from the 1970s while the vibrant, large-scale collages that she focused on later in life contain a multitude of media and household items, including crystals, gold leaf, wire, coral, pearls, beads and glitter.
Artist Kim McCarty met Wosk in the early 1980s, and they later became pregnant with their sons at the same time. McCarty is thrilled that the 23-year-old boys remain close friends and are roommates in Los Angeles. She speaks about her dear friend with love, noting that Wosk was 'bigger than life and a great, very generous person.' At the exhibit's recent opening, McCarty was struck by her pal's 'amazing draftsmanship,' something she was not aware of. 'It was a pleasant surprise,' McCarty told the Palisadian-Post about seeing Wosk's earlier pieces in the show.
The women always talked about art, and though their styles were different, they did run things by each other. 'She was telling me to add more stuff onto my work,' McCarty says. 'I was always telling her to take stuff away. I would come to her studio and she would always be changing things.'
??Wosk took much inspiration from her colorful, sun-drenched Adelaide Drive home, where she lived for about 15 years. SMMoA Director of Marketing Elizabeth Pezza spent time at Wosk's exquisite home. 'She was detail-oriented,' Pezza says. 'She had fireplaces filled with glass that looked beautiful when the fire was burning. She was constantly entertaining, and was friends with many artists.'
I n her well-appointed, well-organized and well-stocked studio Wosk spent many hours working on her art, some of which is in the current show. Ironically, despite her appreciation for natural light, she preferred to 'work late into the night,' McCarty says. 'She had a lot of commitments during the day. Nighttime was her most productive time.'
??Popular culture is represented in the SMMoA show, and familiar faces and items such as Mickey Mouse, Ritz crackers and members of The Who adorn some of Wosk's earlier works. A shawl she knitted, with some sparkly thread, is also on display.
??Wosk made elaborate scrapbooks, filled with people and things that inspired her such as movies, art and fashion, and some are in the exhibit, as are recreations that visitors can flip through.
??In the back room, there is a short movie filmed between 2004 and 2006 that features the artist working in her studio. The movie is broken into segments, and shows Wosk reflecting on her artwork, her craft and her process. 'Everything I do is a stepping stone to the next,' Wosk says.
??For this writer, it was bittersweet seeing the film, watching the vibrant artist who was so involved in the local arts community, knowing she didn't have that much time left.
??In the film, Wosk speaks about falling in love with finger painting during the first day of kindergarten. By fourth grade, she knew her destiny was to be an artist. She also talks about other inspirations: totem poles near where she grew up, female genitalia, the human body, death, dreams and the unconscious. 'I'm a visual glutton,' she says.
??We also see a wall filled with many of Wosk's framed Rorschach paintings in her studio. While working on those she learned to 'allow the paint to flow where it wants to flow. The paint is doing its own dance. I let myself be surprised.'
??It is inspiring to see Wosk delicately adding glitter to a piece on her work table or paint to a painting hanging on the wall. She is focused, and there is an ease to how she places things.
All I can do is do my work as impeccably as possible and let go of the outcome,' she says. 'If the work is authentic, that's the success.'
??In my 2010 interview with Wosk, a huge admirer of Robert Rauschenberg, she commented on one of his quotes: 'It is impossible to have progress without conscience.'
I find it is constant work to remain conscious; it is such an elusive state. But without that awareness, there would be no science (con-science), art literature, progress or anything.
For many years I have done dream work, to know myself better and to become friends with the unconscious'the language of the soul. It is the same language that art comes from.
Like Rauschenberg, we as artists bring to light and illuminate that which already exists but not all can see. As imagery arises through one's consciousness, from the imagination it manifests into energy, matter and form. The world has been blessed with the gift of something it has never seen before'that is progress.'
??McCarty, married to Michael McCarty of Michael's restaurant, says that the Santa Monica restaurant has one of Wosk's pieces on view now, and that she has been featured in the restaurant many times.
??Wosk worked until the end. 'Her best work was when she was ill,' McCarty says. 'She let everything go. Even when she couldn't do collages she was knitting. She was always doing something.'
Wosk's appealing, vibrant images are on view at the museum through April 20 in 'Abundance and Devotion: The Art of Miriam Wosk.' The retrospective pays homage to the accomplished artist, who died of cancer in 2010 at age 63.
While some artists are known primarily for one style, Wosk's evolution from commercial to fine artist allowed her to express herself in ever-changing ways. She loved Surrealism, and was also inspired by Frieda Kahlo and Tony Fitzpatrick, known for his colorful drawings and collages.
A native of Vancouver, Wosk achieved early success in New York, where her art adorned covers and inside pages of such notable publications as the New York Times, New York, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Ms. magazines. Forsaking that success, she moved west, ending up in a penthouse Frank Gehry designed for her in Beverly Hills, before moving even farther west to Santa Monica.
The current show was the brainstorm of Wosk's son, Adam Gunther, and was put together by SMMoA's executive director, Elsa Longhauser. Wosk's different styles are well represented. The illustrations are mostly from the 1970s while the vibrant, large-scale collages that she focused on later in life contain a multitude of media and household items, including crystals, gold leaf, wire, coral, pearls, beads and glitter.
Artist Kim McCarty met Wosk in the early 1980s, and they later became pregnant with their sons at the same time. McCarty is thrilled that the 23-year-old boys remain close friends and are roommates in Los Angeles. She speaks about her dear friend with love, noting that Wosk was 'bigger than life and a great, very generous person.' At the exhibit's recent opening, McCarty was struck by her pal's 'amazing draftsmanship,' something she was not aware of. 'It was a pleasant surprise,' McCarty told the Palisadian-Post about seeing Wosk's earlier pieces in the show.
The women always talked about art, and though their styles were different, they did run things by each other. 'She was telling me to add more stuff onto my work,' McCarty says. 'I was always telling her to take stuff away. I would come to her studio and she would always be changing things.'
??Wosk took much inspiration from her colorful, sun-drenched Adelaide Drive home, where she lived for about 15 years. SMMoA Director of Marketing Elizabeth Pezza spent time at Wosk's exquisite home. 'She was detail-oriented,' Pezza says. 'She had fireplaces filled with glass that looked beautiful when the fire was burning. She was constantly entertaining, and was friends with many artists.'
I n her well-appointed, well-organized and well-stocked studio Wosk spent many hours working on her art, some of which is in the current show. Ironically, despite her appreciation for natural light, she preferred to 'work late into the night,' McCarty says. 'She had a lot of commitments during the day. Nighttime was her most productive time.'
??Popular culture is represented in the SMMoA show, and familiar faces and items such as Mickey Mouse, Ritz crackers and members of The Who adorn some of Wosk's earlier works. A shawl she knitted, with some sparkly thread, is also on display.
??Wosk made elaborate scrapbooks, filled with people and things that inspired her such as movies, art and fashion, and some are in the exhibit, as are recreations that visitors can flip through.
??In the back room, there is a short movie filmed between 2004 and 2006 that features the artist working in her studio. The movie is broken into segments, and shows Wosk reflecting on her artwork, her craft and her process. 'Everything I do is a stepping stone to the next,' Wosk says.
??For this writer, it was bittersweet seeing the film, watching the vibrant artist who was so involved in the local arts community, knowing she didn't have that much time left.
??In the film, Wosk speaks about falling in love with finger painting during the first day of kindergarten. By fourth grade, she knew her destiny was to be an artist. She also talks about other inspirations: totem poles near where she grew up, female genitalia, the human body, death, dreams and the unconscious. 'I'm a visual glutton,' she says.
??We also see a wall filled with many of Wosk's framed Rorschach paintings in her studio. While working on those she learned to 'allow the paint to flow where it wants to flow. The paint is doing its own dance. I let myself be surprised.'
??It is inspiring to see Wosk delicately adding glitter to a piece on her work table or paint to a painting hanging on the wall. She is focused, and there is an ease to how she places things.
All I can do is do my work as impeccably as possible and let go of the outcome,' she says. 'If the work is authentic, that's the success.'
??In my 2010 interview with Wosk, a huge admirer of Robert Rauschenberg, she commented on one of his quotes: 'It is impossible to have progress without conscience.'
I find it is constant work to remain conscious; it is such an elusive state. But without that awareness, there would be no science (con-science), art literature, progress or anything.
For many years I have done dream work, to know myself better and to become friends with the unconscious'the language of the soul. It is the same language that art comes from.
Like Rauschenberg, we as artists bring to light and illuminate that which already exists but not all can see. As imagery arises through one's consciousness, from the imagination it manifests into energy, matter and form. The world has been blessed with the gift of something it has never seen before'that is progress.'
??McCarty, married to Michael McCarty of Michael's restaurant, says that the Santa Monica restaurant has one of Wosk's pieces on view now, and that she has been featured in the restaurant many times.
??Wosk worked until the end. 'Her best work was when she was ill,' McCarty says. 'She let everything go. Even when she couldn't do collages she was knitting. She was always doing something.'
2013年1月29日星期二
The Inside Pitch
The grass runs the entire stretch of the outfield and diamond; its fertility uninterrupted by players or unsightly patches of decay. The baseball field, moist from lazy coastal showers, bounces the refracted sunlight back onto the thin December cloud cover overhead with an almost artificial emerald hue, lending the grass the miraculous contrast of abrupt color in an otherwise monochrome world. In a bout of synesthesia, one smells the color in the fecund waft of freshly sown seed. Given the recent planting, the blades shoot up tall and wild – at least by the standards of a well-manicured baseball field like this one. While the grounds crew must patiently wait for the right moment to trim the verdure to code, it is by no means unkempt. This grass is still short enough to satisfy even the residents of the orderly Pleasantville planned around the university.
Nestled in a corner past the empty third base dugout, beyond the fence that runs to the outfield wall, standing parallel to the left field line, there is a batting cage. The University of California, Irvine’s Anteater Ballpark is in full off-season dormancy except for the periodic cracks, thwocks and thuds issuing from within the cage. The stadium’s massive analog clock beyond the center field wall remains on Daylight Savings Time through the first Monday of the month, marking the last resistance of this men’s game of spring, summer and autumn to winter’s dominion — such that it is in mild Orange County. Despite the general lack of cold, the last few weeks have brought persistent precipitation that has kept the players off the raw, healing grassland and inside the shelter of the cage.
Two adjacent vertical strips, separated only by safety netting, run the length of the cage. On one half, a pair of hitters take turns tossing each other sets of easy lobs from a short distance, ensuring solid contact on each drive. In the other half, junior right-hander Phil Ferragamo is the first member of the pitching staff to put in his time today fulfilling the day’s mandatory, but officially “non-mandatory,” supervised “unsupervised” workout.
Year round, the players train six out of seven days a week under the watchful eyes of their coaches, who are technically supposed to be absent during offseason workouts but unable to resist monitoring their burgeoning talent. The pitchers stay tuned with practice throwing sessions without a batter — simply known as “bullpens” — on half of these days. Ferragamo towers over the mound at six-foot-eight-inches and hurls the ball with intensity commensurate to his massive frame, sometimes wildly out of play but mostly in line with the target set by the catcher’s mitt.
Newly hired pitching coach Danny Bibona paces behind the batting cage pitching rubber, offering a gentle guiding voice to Ferragamo and spitting on the ground frequently as baseball players are known to do. He periodically calls out a number, challenging Ferragamo to hit the corresponding pitch location, following the attempt with positivity no matter the outcome. An even-keeled guy, Bibona earnestly hopes he doesn’t have to have a blow-up this season and that his pitchers stay in line and put in the work he expects of them.
The mold for what constitutes a pitcher at the highest levels of baseball varies widely, perhaps more than any other position in sports. The good fortune of major league pitching success has been visited upon the nearly obese, the freakishly tall and the impossibly old — but not so often diminutive, unassuming guys like Bibona. Although he stands 6 feet tall, he possesses a narrow and wiry build that, in a generic warm-up top and windbreaker pants, casts the image of a soccer player or cross country runner, lean and humble enough to last through endless miles of running. He certainly doesn’t strike you as a two-time college All-American pitcher and eighth round major league draft pick, and as a soft-spoken 24-year-old, he’s also not your typical Division I pitching coach.
Bibona was the smallest player on all of his teams growing up. As a freshman in high school, he stood just five feet tall and weighed ninety-five pounds. He didn’t elicit much attention, as he was not one to throw blazing fastballs past hitters or smash home runs from a young age. As an eight-year-old who loved pitching, he pestered his coach to let him pitch every game only to be repeatedly rebuffed. When he finally had his chance on the mound, he did well enough to earn a spot pitching every week. From there, Bibona made all-star teams, but didn’t garner significant playing time.
At private Santa Margarita High School in nearby Lake Forest, he had the fortune of a growth spurt, as well as playing alongside four teammates bound for Division I careers. They pushed each other, practicing at night after official practice, taking extra batting practice and hitting the weight room, addicted to doing whatever work was necessary to rise to the top of the game.
UC Irvine recruited Bibona as a two-way player to split time between the outfield and pitching, but a senior year injury to his non-throwing arm gave him pause. By the time he arrived at school, his right arm was better and he was hitting again, but the jump to a higher level of play led him to focus his efforts solely on pitching. Without the physical gifts of power to hit home runs out of college ballparks and speed to run the bases and patrol the outfield, Bibona saw it wise to focus his energy on pitching. While he was recruited by the Irvine coaches, he had to walk on to the program and earn his scholarship by proving himself as a freshman in 2007.
Bibona fought to prove to himself and everyone that he deserved the label and buzz given to top recruits. Being left-handed certainly helped. The world is predominated by righties, so increased competition demands they throw harder and simply be better. For the same reason, hitters don’t have the luxury of practicing against left-handed pitching, so lefties are a valuable commodity in the baseball world, proving to be more difficult for their opponents with perhaps less objective talent than their right-handed counterparts.
Bibona struggled his first season, despite holding his own in the preseason against teammates from a recruiting class that was one of the best in the nation and veterans that would lead the team to the cusp of a national championship. His successful, mature performances in fall intrasquad scrimmages translated into the coveted Saturday starter role once the season rolled around in February. During the season, important conference games are scheduled in series of three weekend games, with non-conference filler games left to Tuesdays.
The first Saturday start threw him right into the fire against a big name opponent: Cal, shorthand for Irvine’s big-brother UC branch in Berkeley. It was mind-boggling for Bibona to step up from high school competition to facing a school from the big-time Pac-10 conference whose football team he watched on Saturdays. He strayed from what made him successful in the fall. He tried to pitch beyond himself and struggled mightily, giving up four runs in the first inning and leaving the game early after surrendering a fifth score.
Of course, he would have liked to do well, but making the roster for all the road trips and sitting in the dugout held its own value. Bibona was able to watch a lot of well-played baseball.
Bibona went on to pitch out of the bullpen for most of his first season, coming on in relief towards the end of games for short appearances. Despite his struggles, he was handed the ball on college baseball’s biggest stage — the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska — the season-ending tournament that crowns the national champion.
Having already lost once to Arizona State in a tournament where a second loss sends a team home, Irvine was down 4-3 heading into the eighth inning, leaving them only six outs at bat to save their season and no margin for error on the defensive side of the ball. Star reliever Blair Erickson had just allowed three runs and recorded only two outs. With a runner on second sure to score on a base hit, Danny was tasked with ending the damage and preserving his team’s slim hopes for survival. As if the tension was lacking, he had to subdue the Sun Devils’ star player Brett Wallace — the best hitter in college baseball.
In front of a crowd of 29,034 people — the second largest in College World Series history —Bibona emerged from the bullpen knowing he was going to get Wallace out. In the regional tournaments leading up to Omaha, he acclimated to the gravity of 10,000 fans at games in Round Rock, Texas and Wichita, Kansas. The local University of Texas fans didn’t play a factor in Round Rock, but Wichita presented an entirely different atmosphere.
Without a nearby team making up one of the eight World Series participants, the fans of Omaha adopted the upstart squad from Orange County making their first appearance in the tournament, energized after witnessing them pull off a dramatic extra-innings victory against Cal State Fullerton the night before. Nonetheless, as Bibona threw his warm-up pitches, he had nerves inching up the back of his neck.
Head coach Dave Serrano watched him loosen and had some last words before he headed back to the dugout, “You’ve put in the hard work in the bullpen, just have fun. And happy birthday.”
On the biggest stage, against the most formidable opponent, the last thing running through Bibona’s mind was his 19th birthday. But hearing that relaxed him a little bit. His first pitch was a curveball — ball one. The second, a fastball away from Wallace — called strike one. Then, on a curveball that he recalls as not very good, he jammed Wallace into a fly ball that center fielder Ollie Linton secured with a diving catch to end the inning.
The Anteaters rallied to tie the game in the bottom half of the eighth inning with a four-run surge, and Linton concluded the improbable comeback in the 10th inning with a game-winning walk-off single to right field. This, their second extra-innings win in as many nights, was a College World Series first and revived their feel-good story with a push into the national semifinal game.
A sobering six-run rout at the hands of eventual champion Oregon State quickly followed and brought their run to an abrupt conclusion. A loss so close to the national championship surely meant heartbreak for those leaving because of graduation or entry into the Major League amateur draft, but for freshmen like Bibona, this deep run in Omaha was an inspiring preview of the next few years.
Nestled in a corner past the empty third base dugout, beyond the fence that runs to the outfield wall, standing parallel to the left field line, there is a batting cage. The University of California, Irvine’s Anteater Ballpark is in full off-season dormancy except for the periodic cracks, thwocks and thuds issuing from within the cage. The stadium’s massive analog clock beyond the center field wall remains on Daylight Savings Time through the first Monday of the month, marking the last resistance of this men’s game of spring, summer and autumn to winter’s dominion — such that it is in mild Orange County. Despite the general lack of cold, the last few weeks have brought persistent precipitation that has kept the players off the raw, healing grassland and inside the shelter of the cage.
Two adjacent vertical strips, separated only by safety netting, run the length of the cage. On one half, a pair of hitters take turns tossing each other sets of easy lobs from a short distance, ensuring solid contact on each drive. In the other half, junior right-hander Phil Ferragamo is the first member of the pitching staff to put in his time today fulfilling the day’s mandatory, but officially “non-mandatory,” supervised “unsupervised” workout.
Year round, the players train six out of seven days a week under the watchful eyes of their coaches, who are technically supposed to be absent during offseason workouts but unable to resist monitoring their burgeoning talent. The pitchers stay tuned with practice throwing sessions without a batter — simply known as “bullpens” — on half of these days. Ferragamo towers over the mound at six-foot-eight-inches and hurls the ball with intensity commensurate to his massive frame, sometimes wildly out of play but mostly in line with the target set by the catcher’s mitt.
Newly hired pitching coach Danny Bibona paces behind the batting cage pitching rubber, offering a gentle guiding voice to Ferragamo and spitting on the ground frequently as baseball players are known to do. He periodically calls out a number, challenging Ferragamo to hit the corresponding pitch location, following the attempt with positivity no matter the outcome. An even-keeled guy, Bibona earnestly hopes he doesn’t have to have a blow-up this season and that his pitchers stay in line and put in the work he expects of them.
The mold for what constitutes a pitcher at the highest levels of baseball varies widely, perhaps more than any other position in sports. The good fortune of major league pitching success has been visited upon the nearly obese, the freakishly tall and the impossibly old — but not so often diminutive, unassuming guys like Bibona. Although he stands 6 feet tall, he possesses a narrow and wiry build that, in a generic warm-up top and windbreaker pants, casts the image of a soccer player or cross country runner, lean and humble enough to last through endless miles of running. He certainly doesn’t strike you as a two-time college All-American pitcher and eighth round major league draft pick, and as a soft-spoken 24-year-old, he’s also not your typical Division I pitching coach.
Bibona was the smallest player on all of his teams growing up. As a freshman in high school, he stood just five feet tall and weighed ninety-five pounds. He didn’t elicit much attention, as he was not one to throw blazing fastballs past hitters or smash home runs from a young age. As an eight-year-old who loved pitching, he pestered his coach to let him pitch every game only to be repeatedly rebuffed. When he finally had his chance on the mound, he did well enough to earn a spot pitching every week. From there, Bibona made all-star teams, but didn’t garner significant playing time.
At private Santa Margarita High School in nearby Lake Forest, he had the fortune of a growth spurt, as well as playing alongside four teammates bound for Division I careers. They pushed each other, practicing at night after official practice, taking extra batting practice and hitting the weight room, addicted to doing whatever work was necessary to rise to the top of the game.
UC Irvine recruited Bibona as a two-way player to split time between the outfield and pitching, but a senior year injury to his non-throwing arm gave him pause. By the time he arrived at school, his right arm was better and he was hitting again, but the jump to a higher level of play led him to focus his efforts solely on pitching. Without the physical gifts of power to hit home runs out of college ballparks and speed to run the bases and patrol the outfield, Bibona saw it wise to focus his energy on pitching. While he was recruited by the Irvine coaches, he had to walk on to the program and earn his scholarship by proving himself as a freshman in 2007.
Bibona fought to prove to himself and everyone that he deserved the label and buzz given to top recruits. Being left-handed certainly helped. The world is predominated by righties, so increased competition demands they throw harder and simply be better. For the same reason, hitters don’t have the luxury of practicing against left-handed pitching, so lefties are a valuable commodity in the baseball world, proving to be more difficult for their opponents with perhaps less objective talent than their right-handed counterparts.
Bibona struggled his first season, despite holding his own in the preseason against teammates from a recruiting class that was one of the best in the nation and veterans that would lead the team to the cusp of a national championship. His successful, mature performances in fall intrasquad scrimmages translated into the coveted Saturday starter role once the season rolled around in February. During the season, important conference games are scheduled in series of three weekend games, with non-conference filler games left to Tuesdays.
The first Saturday start threw him right into the fire against a big name opponent: Cal, shorthand for Irvine’s big-brother UC branch in Berkeley. It was mind-boggling for Bibona to step up from high school competition to facing a school from the big-time Pac-10 conference whose football team he watched on Saturdays. He strayed from what made him successful in the fall. He tried to pitch beyond himself and struggled mightily, giving up four runs in the first inning and leaving the game early after surrendering a fifth score.
Of course, he would have liked to do well, but making the roster for all the road trips and sitting in the dugout held its own value. Bibona was able to watch a lot of well-played baseball.
Bibona went on to pitch out of the bullpen for most of his first season, coming on in relief towards the end of games for short appearances. Despite his struggles, he was handed the ball on college baseball’s biggest stage — the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska — the season-ending tournament that crowns the national champion.
Having already lost once to Arizona State in a tournament where a second loss sends a team home, Irvine was down 4-3 heading into the eighth inning, leaving them only six outs at bat to save their season and no margin for error on the defensive side of the ball. Star reliever Blair Erickson had just allowed three runs and recorded only two outs. With a runner on second sure to score on a base hit, Danny was tasked with ending the damage and preserving his team’s slim hopes for survival. As if the tension was lacking, he had to subdue the Sun Devils’ star player Brett Wallace — the best hitter in college baseball.
In front of a crowd of 29,034 people — the second largest in College World Series history —Bibona emerged from the bullpen knowing he was going to get Wallace out. In the regional tournaments leading up to Omaha, he acclimated to the gravity of 10,000 fans at games in Round Rock, Texas and Wichita, Kansas. The local University of Texas fans didn’t play a factor in Round Rock, but Wichita presented an entirely different atmosphere.
Without a nearby team making up one of the eight World Series participants, the fans of Omaha adopted the upstart squad from Orange County making their first appearance in the tournament, energized after witnessing them pull off a dramatic extra-innings victory against Cal State Fullerton the night before. Nonetheless, as Bibona threw his warm-up pitches, he had nerves inching up the back of his neck.
Head coach Dave Serrano watched him loosen and had some last words before he headed back to the dugout, “You’ve put in the hard work in the bullpen, just have fun. And happy birthday.”
On the biggest stage, against the most formidable opponent, the last thing running through Bibona’s mind was his 19th birthday. But hearing that relaxed him a little bit. His first pitch was a curveball — ball one. The second, a fastball away from Wallace — called strike one. Then, on a curveball that he recalls as not very good, he jammed Wallace into a fly ball that center fielder Ollie Linton secured with a diving catch to end the inning.
The Anteaters rallied to tie the game in the bottom half of the eighth inning with a four-run surge, and Linton concluded the improbable comeback in the 10th inning with a game-winning walk-off single to right field. This, their second extra-innings win in as many nights, was a College World Series first and revived their feel-good story with a push into the national semifinal game.
A sobering six-run rout at the hands of eventual champion Oregon State quickly followed and brought their run to an abrupt conclusion. A loss so close to the national championship surely meant heartbreak for those leaving because of graduation or entry into the Major League amateur draft, but for freshmen like Bibona, this deep run in Omaha was an inspiring preview of the next few years.
Pitt anticipates big junior day
The 2013 recruiting class is not quite finished yet and Pitt can still add (or lose) some prospects before signing day on February 6. Still, the way college football recruiting works, the next class is beginning to take shape. The unofficial kickoff to the 2014 recruiting class will be this weekend as Pitt will host its annual Junior Day. Most of the prospects will be on hand for the big basketball game with Syracuse.
It is no secret that Western Pennsylvania is looking to be loaded next season with a number of high level prospects. Pitt appears to be in the thick of the race for most of them. Shai McKenzie of Washington looks to be a national level recruit as a running back, and will be a high priority for this staff. Dravon Henry already has assumed the role of the next great Aliquippa star. He will be Pitt's primary Safety prospect. Troy Apke (WR) and Alex Bookser (OL) are two very good players from Mt. Lebanon, where current Pitt assistant, Chris Haering, used to be the head coach. Mike Grimm may be the next big time offensive linemen from the Pittsburgh area, and his 6-7 320-pound frame certainly fits the mold of a Paul Chryst style linemen.
These are just to name a few of the players the WPIAL has to offer this season. Gateway has a number of big time prospects as well along with some Beaver county schools, including Balckhawk quarterback and Pitt commitment Chandler Kincade. Paul Chryst and his staff were able to land some solid players from the WPIAL this season, but could do some real damage next season. The 2014 recruits are very talented and they are there for the taking. Chryst and his staff have also looked heavily into Ohio, Virginia, and New Jersey for 2014. It is a long process ahead, but Pitt is already making strides to really upgrade the talent level of the roster.
Josh Farmer was bound up like a ball of nerves when he stepped into Silver Buckle Ranch's classroom. Hunched over, eyes downcast, the 12-year-old's body language gave the impression he'd rather be anywhere else in the world.
Horses aren't his thing, he said. They smell. They're dirty. And they're unpredictable. When he was 8, Farmer got onto the back of a horse, and it didn't go well.
The Silver Buckle Ranch
Going too fast wasn't a concern during his second session at the 40-acre ranch, which combines classroom and stable activities. With a volunteer horse handler guiding the 1,000-pound equine, Farmer was among the first of seven classmates to hop onto a paint gelding named Cowboy and ride it — at a slow and steady pace — around an indoor arena.
But with more kids entering the program, coupled with fewer paid staff members, the program has been placed under strain, Harrison said. She admits the ranch hasn't done a great job of fundraising in recent years, even as its programs have begun to rely more on donations.
What started in 1977 as a simple rodeo club has transformed over the years. In 2000, Silver Buckle turned into a nonprofit, but the ranch continued making money through its riding programs, lessons and Rodeo Bingo.
Washington's smoking ban put the kibosh on Rodeo Bingo, along with a few other local bingo operators. So for the last couple of years, the ranch has been subsisting on a $1.2 million payment it received from the sale of 20 acres of the ranch's property.
In 2006, the donor-funded Acts of Random Kindness program started. Over the years, Silver Buckle has placed more emphasis on that program, which is for "at-risk kids," or kids with developmental problems such as autism or ADHD, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Twenty-something women in Forsyth County just might find Mr. Right, if Brian Murphy has anything to say about it, that is.
Murphy, 26, a graduate of South Forsyth High School, landed a spot on the VH1 reality show, "Making Mr. Right," currently airing episode four on the network.
"The show is a dating show with a twist," Murphy's mother, Donna Murphy, said.
"Fourteen guys think they are on a show called 'Match Me if You Can,' where they will be coached by three beautiful matchmakers to be better at dating and finding that perfect someone, but the matchmakers are actually real women looking for their Mr. Right."
The show's concept is three women — a caterer, an event planner and a construction contractor — secretly mold men into their perfect dating material.
It is no secret that Western Pennsylvania is looking to be loaded next season with a number of high level prospects. Pitt appears to be in the thick of the race for most of them. Shai McKenzie of Washington looks to be a national level recruit as a running back, and will be a high priority for this staff. Dravon Henry already has assumed the role of the next great Aliquippa star. He will be Pitt's primary Safety prospect. Troy Apke (WR) and Alex Bookser (OL) are two very good players from Mt. Lebanon, where current Pitt assistant, Chris Haering, used to be the head coach. Mike Grimm may be the next big time offensive linemen from the Pittsburgh area, and his 6-7 320-pound frame certainly fits the mold of a Paul Chryst style linemen.
These are just to name a few of the players the WPIAL has to offer this season. Gateway has a number of big time prospects as well along with some Beaver county schools, including Balckhawk quarterback and Pitt commitment Chandler Kincade. Paul Chryst and his staff were able to land some solid players from the WPIAL this season, but could do some real damage next season. The 2014 recruits are very talented and they are there for the taking. Chryst and his staff have also looked heavily into Ohio, Virginia, and New Jersey for 2014. It is a long process ahead, but Pitt is already making strides to really upgrade the talent level of the roster.
Josh Farmer was bound up like a ball of nerves when he stepped into Silver Buckle Ranch's classroom. Hunched over, eyes downcast, the 12-year-old's body language gave the impression he'd rather be anywhere else in the world.
Horses aren't his thing, he said. They smell. They're dirty. And they're unpredictable. When he was 8, Farmer got onto the back of a horse, and it didn't go well.
The Silver Buckle Ranch
Going too fast wasn't a concern during his second session at the 40-acre ranch, which combines classroom and stable activities. With a volunteer horse handler guiding the 1,000-pound equine, Farmer was among the first of seven classmates to hop onto a paint gelding named Cowboy and ride it — at a slow and steady pace — around an indoor arena.
But with more kids entering the program, coupled with fewer paid staff members, the program has been placed under strain, Harrison said. She admits the ranch hasn't done a great job of fundraising in recent years, even as its programs have begun to rely more on donations.
What started in 1977 as a simple rodeo club has transformed over the years. In 2000, Silver Buckle turned into a nonprofit, but the ranch continued making money through its riding programs, lessons and Rodeo Bingo.
Washington's smoking ban put the kibosh on Rodeo Bingo, along with a few other local bingo operators. So for the last couple of years, the ranch has been subsisting on a $1.2 million payment it received from the sale of 20 acres of the ranch's property.
In 2006, the donor-funded Acts of Random Kindness program started. Over the years, Silver Buckle has placed more emphasis on that program, which is for "at-risk kids," or kids with developmental problems such as autism or ADHD, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Twenty-something women in Forsyth County just might find Mr. Right, if Brian Murphy has anything to say about it, that is.
Murphy, 26, a graduate of South Forsyth High School, landed a spot on the VH1 reality show, "Making Mr. Right," currently airing episode four on the network.
"The show is a dating show with a twist," Murphy's mother, Donna Murphy, said.
"Fourteen guys think they are on a show called 'Match Me if You Can,' where they will be coached by three beautiful matchmakers to be better at dating and finding that perfect someone, but the matchmakers are actually real women looking for their Mr. Right."
The show's concept is three women — a caterer, an event planner and a construction contractor — secretly mold men into their perfect dating material.
2013年1月27日星期日
American West Baseball League in shambles as Yuma pulls out
Two weeks ago the American West Baseball League canceled its winter program in Yuma. Now the Yuma franchise has pulled out of the league altogether. Tom Ferguson, owner of the Yuma Desert Rats, explained the team’s immediate withdraw from the AWBL in a press release that was issued on Friday;
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the Yuma Desert Rats will not be playing in the AWBL this season. We believe it is in the best interests of our fans, the City of Yuma, our corporate partners and sponsors to take some time to explore the best way that we can add value to the Yuma Community thorough the game of baseball……We also think it will give us the proper time to find a suitable successor league which will provide the stability to create several much-needed business and support functions at the team level.”
The withdraw of Yuma puts the future of the AWBL on very unstable ground and reduces their membership to three teams, all with questionable futures. Although Ferguson refused further comment citing a non-disclosure agreement between the franchise and the league, AWBL CEO Michael Cummings wasn’t so shy. On Saturday Cummings told the Yuma Daily Sun that Ferguson wasn’t able to meet the requirements of the franchise agreement. “We knew there was a problem financially with Tim to fulfill his obligations to the league and so forth, and we tried everything we could to accommodate him. I think at the end of the day he decided he couldn’t or wouldn’t honor those, so he’s no longer here,” said Cummings. According to Cummings, there may still be baseball in Yuma this summer; “We’re looking at some ownerships that have come to us and discussed the possibility of going out there.” These comments seem to indicate that the league is not interested in operating a team in Yuma unless it can find an outside ownership group to pony up with new fees.
The status of the lease with the City of Yuma is also in question and could be the subject of future legal battles. “When he (Ferguson) went in and bought the Yuma franchise, acquired the rights to the Yuma franchise, he also purchased the corporation from us,” Cummings told the Sun. “The lease is under that corporation’s name, and he (Ferguson) did not fulfill hs obligations as far as acquiring that corporation.” Apparently the lease agreement is with the city and the corporation (Yuma Panthers LLC) and would prohibit Ferguson from fielding a team in another league in Yuma. “….he (Ferguson) has an operating right agreement that states he cannot play professional or collegiate baseball without paying us (AWBL) a substantial amount of money,” explained Cummings. If Ferguson wants to field a team in Yuma this season, “….he’ll end up in legal battles with me.” The franchise owned by Godfather Media (now Embark Holdings, Inc.) did not play in Yuma last summer nor has the AWBL played a single game. For his part, Ferguson believes that it will be up to the city to determine how the lease is interpreted and that is what will ultimately decide whether baseball is played in Yuma and by whom this summer.
The future of the AWBL has been uncertain from the beginning. In June, Godfather Media of Costa Mesa, California announced the formation of a new independent league. The announcement included a list of four locations which were to be part of the league; Fullerton, Long Beach, San, Diego (California) and Yuma (Arizona). League founder Michael Cummings, the chairman and CEO of Godfather Media, had acquired two teams in the North American League but that league ceased operations thirty days later. The two teams, the Orange County Flyers and the Yuma Panthers, were to be the basis for the new American West Baseball League. Shortly after, Godfather added the territories of Long Beach and San Diego. A list of other possible sites included Palm Springs, Mesa, Ariz., and Henderson Nev. The Flyers were initially slated to be a traveling team as it had no home field. The club still owed Cal State Fullerton rent for the use of Goodwin Field during the 2010 season. At the time, Cummings told the Orange County Register that Godfather Media had a plan for success; “One of the biggest things we’re going to do that the (previous) league didn’t is revenue share with the teams from the sale of sponsorships. The league is only as strong as its weakest team.”
The stadium situation in Long Beach is also interesting. The AWBL has unveiled a team name (Splash) and logo for its Long Beach franchise, but Long Beach State which now operates Blair Field seems to have little appetite for hosting independent baseball. “Some group (AWBL) made an initial contact with Mark Edrington (the facilities chief and associate A.D.), but it never went beyond that,” Long Beach State Athletic Director Vic Cegles told the Long Beach Press Telegram in August. "We're really not interested. If anyone did come to our table, they should be prepared to pay heavily, in cash, and up front." No ownership group nor stadium agreement has been announced for the Long Beach franchise.
On December 1-2, the AWBL held a tryout camp at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson. There were 44 participants and half them were signed to contracts with the league’s four existing teams. The league had also announced a winter program to be held at Kino Sports Complex in Yuma that was to start on January 24. Two weeks prior to the scheduled start of the league, the AWBL notified the City of Yuma that the program was being canceled “due to lack of interest.”
The model for holding companies is to acquire businesses and then sell them at a profit. In the case of the AWBL, they have bought franchise rights to two teams in a defunct league (Yuma and Orange County) and claimed territorial rights in two other cities (San Diego and Long Beach). They have sold franchise rights for the San Diego area (North County Cannons); Yuma (Yuma Desert Rats); and reached a nominal franchise agreement in Fullerton (Fullerton Flyers)) that includes investment from former major leaguer Edgar Renteria. Now that the Yuma ownership group has withdrawn and with no ownership group or stadium agreement is in place in Long Beach, the prospects for the league getting off the ground seem bleak. In the wake of canceling their winter league, the AWBL has announced a similar 30-day spring program that is to begin on April 1 at an undetermined Southern California location. The league has previously said that they will play a 90-game regular season beginning in May. As of now, the American West Baseball League looks more like a fantasy league than the real thing.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the Yuma Desert Rats will not be playing in the AWBL this season. We believe it is in the best interests of our fans, the City of Yuma, our corporate partners and sponsors to take some time to explore the best way that we can add value to the Yuma Community thorough the game of baseball……We also think it will give us the proper time to find a suitable successor league which will provide the stability to create several much-needed business and support functions at the team level.”
The withdraw of Yuma puts the future of the AWBL on very unstable ground and reduces their membership to three teams, all with questionable futures. Although Ferguson refused further comment citing a non-disclosure agreement between the franchise and the league, AWBL CEO Michael Cummings wasn’t so shy. On Saturday Cummings told the Yuma Daily Sun that Ferguson wasn’t able to meet the requirements of the franchise agreement. “We knew there was a problem financially with Tim to fulfill his obligations to the league and so forth, and we tried everything we could to accommodate him. I think at the end of the day he decided he couldn’t or wouldn’t honor those, so he’s no longer here,” said Cummings. According to Cummings, there may still be baseball in Yuma this summer; “We’re looking at some ownerships that have come to us and discussed the possibility of going out there.” These comments seem to indicate that the league is not interested in operating a team in Yuma unless it can find an outside ownership group to pony up with new fees.
The status of the lease with the City of Yuma is also in question and could be the subject of future legal battles. “When he (Ferguson) went in and bought the Yuma franchise, acquired the rights to the Yuma franchise, he also purchased the corporation from us,” Cummings told the Sun. “The lease is under that corporation’s name, and he (Ferguson) did not fulfill hs obligations as far as acquiring that corporation.” Apparently the lease agreement is with the city and the corporation (Yuma Panthers LLC) and would prohibit Ferguson from fielding a team in another league in Yuma. “….he (Ferguson) has an operating right agreement that states he cannot play professional or collegiate baseball without paying us (AWBL) a substantial amount of money,” explained Cummings. If Ferguson wants to field a team in Yuma this season, “….he’ll end up in legal battles with me.” The franchise owned by Godfather Media (now Embark Holdings, Inc.) did not play in Yuma last summer nor has the AWBL played a single game. For his part, Ferguson believes that it will be up to the city to determine how the lease is interpreted and that is what will ultimately decide whether baseball is played in Yuma and by whom this summer.
The future of the AWBL has been uncertain from the beginning. In June, Godfather Media of Costa Mesa, California announced the formation of a new independent league. The announcement included a list of four locations which were to be part of the league; Fullerton, Long Beach, San, Diego (California) and Yuma (Arizona). League founder Michael Cummings, the chairman and CEO of Godfather Media, had acquired two teams in the North American League but that league ceased operations thirty days later. The two teams, the Orange County Flyers and the Yuma Panthers, were to be the basis for the new American West Baseball League. Shortly after, Godfather added the territories of Long Beach and San Diego. A list of other possible sites included Palm Springs, Mesa, Ariz., and Henderson Nev. The Flyers were initially slated to be a traveling team as it had no home field. The club still owed Cal State Fullerton rent for the use of Goodwin Field during the 2010 season. At the time, Cummings told the Orange County Register that Godfather Media had a plan for success; “One of the biggest things we’re going to do that the (previous) league didn’t is revenue share with the teams from the sale of sponsorships. The league is only as strong as its weakest team.”
The stadium situation in Long Beach is also interesting. The AWBL has unveiled a team name (Splash) and logo for its Long Beach franchise, but Long Beach State which now operates Blair Field seems to have little appetite for hosting independent baseball. “Some group (AWBL) made an initial contact with Mark Edrington (the facilities chief and associate A.D.), but it never went beyond that,” Long Beach State Athletic Director Vic Cegles told the Long Beach Press Telegram in August. "We're really not interested. If anyone did come to our table, they should be prepared to pay heavily, in cash, and up front." No ownership group nor stadium agreement has been announced for the Long Beach franchise.
On December 1-2, the AWBL held a tryout camp at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson. There were 44 participants and half them were signed to contracts with the league’s four existing teams. The league had also announced a winter program to be held at Kino Sports Complex in Yuma that was to start on January 24. Two weeks prior to the scheduled start of the league, the AWBL notified the City of Yuma that the program was being canceled “due to lack of interest.”
The model for holding companies is to acquire businesses and then sell them at a profit. In the case of the AWBL, they have bought franchise rights to two teams in a defunct league (Yuma and Orange County) and claimed territorial rights in two other cities (San Diego and Long Beach). They have sold franchise rights for the San Diego area (North County Cannons); Yuma (Yuma Desert Rats); and reached a nominal franchise agreement in Fullerton (Fullerton Flyers)) that includes investment from former major leaguer Edgar Renteria. Now that the Yuma ownership group has withdrawn and with no ownership group or stadium agreement is in place in Long Beach, the prospects for the league getting off the ground seem bleak. In the wake of canceling their winter league, the AWBL has announced a similar 30-day spring program that is to begin on April 1 at an undetermined Southern California location. The league has previously said that they will play a 90-game regular season beginning in May. As of now, the American West Baseball League looks more like a fantasy league than the real thing.
A high five of hope for Pats
Eight years have now passed since the Patriots last raised the Lombardi Trophy. They’ve been in the close-but-no-cigar mode of late, bowing out this year in the conference championship, while losing in the Super Bowl last year.
While we’ve already reviewed the myriad problems exposed by the Ravens in last Sunday’s loss, there are reasons for optimism. This view has the glass half full. The Pats aren’t far off. They still have plenty of pieces in place that will keep them contending next season. The window hasn’t closed.
The defensive front seven has been rebuilt and reshaped from the Pats championship seasons. It’s still not perfect, but it’s once again one of the strengths of this team, and figures to only get better with both Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower having a year under their belts . Jones was hampered by ankle injuries down the stretch. Get him healthy for 2013 with another year in the system, and he should be even more of a force coming off the edge. The Pats could use more pass-rush help, given the inconsistency displayed through the year, but we’ll get to that later.
Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes and Hightower, the “Big Three” of the linebacking corps, were terrific against the run in tandem with Vince Wilfork up front. Spikes really emerged as a physical force and should be the same next year. Rob Ninkovich had his best year and continues to deliver in the clutch. The issue here, particularly with the linebackers, is having more speed to cover tight ends and running backs. Re-signing Dane Fletcher, who missed the year with a torn ACL should help in that area, as could adding through the draft or free agency.
The Pats just aren’t the same without Rob Gronkowski. That’s no secret. They were without the big lug in each of their last two postseason losses — the Super Bowl to the Giants, where he may have been present, but was a shell of himself with a sprained ankle, and last Sunday, when he wasn’t able to play at all after re-fracturing his left forearm the previous week.
Assessing how much of a difference a healthy Gronk would have made in each game is certainly debatable. But it’s not outlandish to think the Pats may have won the Super Bowl with him at full strength, and also stood up better physically against the Ravens defense. He’s their most physical receiver. He’s their red-zone weapon. He also changes the dynamics of how defenses cover the other receivers.
While Stevan Ridley emerged as one of the better backs in the league with 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season, the Pats merely scratched the surface with a few other runners who make up this talented committee.
Shane Vereen, who was used sparingly, had a breakout game against the Texans while filling in for the injured Danny Woodhead. Vereen has abilities both running and catching the football. Prior to his PED suspension, Brandon Bolden also showed promise. He’s more of the bruising back, as he ran roughshod on the Bills to the tune of 137 yards. Then there’s the aforementioned Demps. How will his track speed and ability translate after a year learning the system? So with more experience, this group figures to be even better next season.
They’ve taken their share of hits over the loss to the Ravens. Belichick for being uncharacteristically conservative in the game. Brady for not rising to the occasion, and picking the worse time to throw up a stinker. The criticisms are warranted.
But as long as this duo is in Foxboro together, the Pats always will have a chance. There was some speculation about Belichick possibly retiring. Not sure where that came from, perhaps from Josh McDaniels sticking around and not entertaining head coaching offers, but Belichick put that notion to bed immediately in his press briefing Monday.
As long as the guy calling the shots and the guy throwing the football are among the best in the game — which inarguably they are — the Pats will contend and have a legitimate shot at the big prize.
They’ve taken their share of hits over the loss to the Ravens. Belichick for being uncharacteristically conservative in the game. Brady for not rising to the occasion, and picking the worse time to throw up a stinker. The criticisms are warranted.
But as long as this duo is in Foxboro together, the Pats always will have a chance. There was some speculation about Belichick possibly retiring. Not sure where that came from, perhaps from Josh McDaniels sticking around and not entertaining head coaching offers, but Belichick put that notion to bed immediately in his press briefing Monday.
As long as the guy calling the shots and the guy throwing the football are among the best in the game — which inarguably they are — the Pats will contend and have a legitimate shot at the big prize.
Early work selected as part of the large exhibit shows Uelsmann photographing underprivileged children, as well as first-graders of 1957 in better circumstances, judging from their careful dress and nice classroom.
In pre-multiple-exposure experimentation with images, Uelsmann made flip books with pages that divide into segments, allowing the reader to combine eyes from one portrait, nose from another, and so on, creating a puzzle that literally adds extra layers of meaning to his composition.
A collage shows a sketched line of ink twirling out of a photograph of an ink bottle, then connecting to a separate image of kids seen against what seems to be the same line, but probably isn’t, except in the artist’s eye.
Around the time the first-graders of 1957 were hitting adolescence, Uelsmann was waiting for them with a painterly, almost psychedelic composition entitled “In Search of a Cause” from 1966.
The artist’s touch is light, incorporating a clock, disintegrating silhouettes and what appears to be a graph or map superimposed on the outline of a human form.
As time went on, judging from the works on view, Uelsmann perfected the use of whole forms combined in humorous, sardonic or thought-provoking ways through the soft, insinuating medium of gelatin silver print.
The same group of clouds appears in two very different works, once relatively straightforwardly, then flipped and reversed to a negative register. What appears to be the same barred window in a thick stone wall re-emerges in at least two compositions, one of which places the window, perfectly organically, in the trunk of a tree.
Uelsmann takes a conjuror’s approach to the broader landscape, levitating a cube of sky above a beach, planting boulders in the foliage of tree canopies and putting a real rug where many writers have placed “a carpet of fallen leaves.”
An entire subset of works, not necessarily related in the curatorial process, shows a fondness for food as metaphor, social comment and conveyor of instant emotion. Besides the hamburgers, Uelsmann employs at least one beefsteak and a stuffed chicken (that is, a pillow printed with the picture of a raw bird). A sardine tin serves as a substrate for a printed image, proof of the artist’s tendency to use common objects in his work.
“Most of these pictures could be made within five miles of his house,” says Prodger. “All of us, we’re all surrounded with so much potential to do creative things. And Jerry has found a way to bring those things to life.”
Most entertainingly, the youthful artist filmed himself eating several plates of spaghetti, which is a sight to see when run backward and spliced together into a short video.
Prodger says the minute he saw that, he knew it belonged in the retrospective. “He was amazed that I had any interest at all,” the curator recalls.
While we’ve already reviewed the myriad problems exposed by the Ravens in last Sunday’s loss, there are reasons for optimism. This view has the glass half full. The Pats aren’t far off. They still have plenty of pieces in place that will keep them contending next season. The window hasn’t closed.
The defensive front seven has been rebuilt and reshaped from the Pats championship seasons. It’s still not perfect, but it’s once again one of the strengths of this team, and figures to only get better with both Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower having a year under their belts . Jones was hampered by ankle injuries down the stretch. Get him healthy for 2013 with another year in the system, and he should be even more of a force coming off the edge. The Pats could use more pass-rush help, given the inconsistency displayed through the year, but we’ll get to that later.
Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes and Hightower, the “Big Three” of the linebacking corps, were terrific against the run in tandem with Vince Wilfork up front. Spikes really emerged as a physical force and should be the same next year. Rob Ninkovich had his best year and continues to deliver in the clutch. The issue here, particularly with the linebackers, is having more speed to cover tight ends and running backs. Re-signing Dane Fletcher, who missed the year with a torn ACL should help in that area, as could adding through the draft or free agency.
The Pats just aren’t the same without Rob Gronkowski. That’s no secret. They were without the big lug in each of their last two postseason losses — the Super Bowl to the Giants, where he may have been present, but was a shell of himself with a sprained ankle, and last Sunday, when he wasn’t able to play at all after re-fracturing his left forearm the previous week.
Assessing how much of a difference a healthy Gronk would have made in each game is certainly debatable. But it’s not outlandish to think the Pats may have won the Super Bowl with him at full strength, and also stood up better physically against the Ravens defense. He’s their most physical receiver. He’s their red-zone weapon. He also changes the dynamics of how defenses cover the other receivers.
While Stevan Ridley emerged as one of the better backs in the league with 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season, the Pats merely scratched the surface with a few other runners who make up this talented committee.
Shane Vereen, who was used sparingly, had a breakout game against the Texans while filling in for the injured Danny Woodhead. Vereen has abilities both running and catching the football. Prior to his PED suspension, Brandon Bolden also showed promise. He’s more of the bruising back, as he ran roughshod on the Bills to the tune of 137 yards. Then there’s the aforementioned Demps. How will his track speed and ability translate after a year learning the system? So with more experience, this group figures to be even better next season.
They’ve taken their share of hits over the loss to the Ravens. Belichick for being uncharacteristically conservative in the game. Brady for not rising to the occasion, and picking the worse time to throw up a stinker. The criticisms are warranted.
But as long as this duo is in Foxboro together, the Pats always will have a chance. There was some speculation about Belichick possibly retiring. Not sure where that came from, perhaps from Josh McDaniels sticking around and not entertaining head coaching offers, but Belichick put that notion to bed immediately in his press briefing Monday.
As long as the guy calling the shots and the guy throwing the football are among the best in the game — which inarguably they are — the Pats will contend and have a legitimate shot at the big prize.
They’ve taken their share of hits over the loss to the Ravens. Belichick for being uncharacteristically conservative in the game. Brady for not rising to the occasion, and picking the worse time to throw up a stinker. The criticisms are warranted.
But as long as this duo is in Foxboro together, the Pats always will have a chance. There was some speculation about Belichick possibly retiring. Not sure where that came from, perhaps from Josh McDaniels sticking around and not entertaining head coaching offers, but Belichick put that notion to bed immediately in his press briefing Monday.
As long as the guy calling the shots and the guy throwing the football are among the best in the game — which inarguably they are — the Pats will contend and have a legitimate shot at the big prize.
Early work selected as part of the large exhibit shows Uelsmann photographing underprivileged children, as well as first-graders of 1957 in better circumstances, judging from their careful dress and nice classroom.
In pre-multiple-exposure experimentation with images, Uelsmann made flip books with pages that divide into segments, allowing the reader to combine eyes from one portrait, nose from another, and so on, creating a puzzle that literally adds extra layers of meaning to his composition.
A collage shows a sketched line of ink twirling out of a photograph of an ink bottle, then connecting to a separate image of kids seen against what seems to be the same line, but probably isn’t, except in the artist’s eye.
Around the time the first-graders of 1957 were hitting adolescence, Uelsmann was waiting for them with a painterly, almost psychedelic composition entitled “In Search of a Cause” from 1966.
The artist’s touch is light, incorporating a clock, disintegrating silhouettes and what appears to be a graph or map superimposed on the outline of a human form.
As time went on, judging from the works on view, Uelsmann perfected the use of whole forms combined in humorous, sardonic or thought-provoking ways through the soft, insinuating medium of gelatin silver print.
The same group of clouds appears in two very different works, once relatively straightforwardly, then flipped and reversed to a negative register. What appears to be the same barred window in a thick stone wall re-emerges in at least two compositions, one of which places the window, perfectly organically, in the trunk of a tree.
Uelsmann takes a conjuror’s approach to the broader landscape, levitating a cube of sky above a beach, planting boulders in the foliage of tree canopies and putting a real rug where many writers have placed “a carpet of fallen leaves.”
An entire subset of works, not necessarily related in the curatorial process, shows a fondness for food as metaphor, social comment and conveyor of instant emotion. Besides the hamburgers, Uelsmann employs at least one beefsteak and a stuffed chicken (that is, a pillow printed with the picture of a raw bird). A sardine tin serves as a substrate for a printed image, proof of the artist’s tendency to use common objects in his work.
“Most of these pictures could be made within five miles of his house,” says Prodger. “All of us, we’re all surrounded with so much potential to do creative things. And Jerry has found a way to bring those things to life.”
Most entertainingly, the youthful artist filmed himself eating several plates of spaghetti, which is a sight to see when run backward and spliced together into a short video.
Prodger says the minute he saw that, he knew it belonged in the retrospective. “He was amazed that I had any interest at all,” the curator recalls.
2013年1月21日星期一
Greek Shippers Might Pay the Price After All
For years,Greek shippers have maintained a leading position in the international maritime business. The long shipping tradition of their home country provided a major competitive advantage that enabled them to establish a strong foothold in the global shipping industry. Greek ship owners have the largest merchant marine fleetworldwide. In particular,theycontrol about 16% of the globaldry bulkfleet and operate about ? of the world's oil tankers. Over 60% of China's oil importsare carried on Greek ships.
Up until now, Greek shippers seemed to be immune to the on-going financial turbulence in Greece and the resulting transformation of the national tax regime. As their revenue is largely derived from offshore operations, their performance is not impacted by domestic economic conditions. Moreover, for years they have been enjoying a tax-free status. Greek shipping magnates were exempted from taxes on earnings generated overseas provided that they met specific criteria such has obtaining a special permit and importing a certain amount annually to cover administrative expenses. Also, they could avail themselves with several fiscal incentives when operating ships that flew the Greek flag.
However, Greece is experiencing the sixth consequent year of economic contraction with no hope of a possible turnaround in the foreseeable future. Thus, the government is forced to implement additional fiscal measures. This time it seems like ship owners are going to pay the price. For the first time in decades, Greek officials areconsideringimposing a levyfor ships sailing under foreign flags aiming to collect about€160 million by the end of 2014.The tax will apply to tonnage of foreign-flagged vesselsand is targeting about 762 owners.While it might seem necessary,the proposed tax reform comes at a time most crucial for shipping companies.Due to the prevailing turmoiland the lack of liquidityin the sector internationally, most of the shipping giants are heavily burdened with debt obligations.
A perfect example isDryships.For the third quarter of 2012, the company saw its net voyage revenues from the dry bulk segment decline by almost 50% compared to last year causing investor's sentiment to deteriorate. As of Sept. 30, 2012, its total debt exceeded $4 billion imposing serious risks over the firm's long-termsustainability.
Recently, the company soldvia novation agreementstwo of its tankers under construction. With this deal, Dryships managed to reduce its capital expenditure by $101 million. The company remains committed to decreasing its debt pile by relying largely on thestrong performance ofits drilling business.For the first nine months of 2012, revenues generated from drilling contracts posted a robust increase ofabout $250 millioncompared to the same period in 2011.
Dryships has been using its 65% stake inOcean Rig UDWin order to address a large portion of the capital needs in the shipping segment and gain some extra time.Still, even though I do believe that Dryships could be one of the potential winners from an industry recovery, it has a long way to go before achieving financial discipline.
One of the least indebted companies within the industry is Diana Shipping. The firm has a current ratio of 8.09, which is way higher than the industry's median, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Despite the drop in time charter equivalent rates, the company managed to sustain a comparably healthy financial position.
For the period 2007-2011, thefirm'stotal current assets grew at an impressive pace from $21.5 million to $432 million.At the end of 2011, total current liabilities stood at slightly above $48 million.As of September 30, 2012 Dianahad over$452 millionin cash and cash equivalentsand $413 million in long-term debt.
Diana's overall solid balance sheet enables the company to take advantage of attractive market opportunities and expand its fleet. By borrowing conservatively and controlling its expenses, the firm managed to grow its fleet while maintaining a firm financial position. This way Diana expects to improve its revenue generation capacity at the event of a positive turn in the industry cycle.
Overall, the favorable tax regime on shipping earnings underlined the unique contribution of the Greek maritime industry to the domestic economy. The industry is a major component of the country's foreign exchange inflow and a significant source of employment. For the period 2000-2010, the industry remitted $175 billion, which represented half the national debt of 2009. At the moment, over 200,000 people depend directly or indirectly on shipping. Even though, not yet formally introduced, a change in the tax regime, no matter how small, could result in the immediate relocation of shipping companies and possibly a general slowdown in the sector. Consequently, thousands of Greek citizens are going to lose their jobs in a time when the unemployment rate in Greece is growing at a ceaseless pace.
With half a trillion dollars in reserves, the Government’s only financial predicament is how best to spend its wealth. In practice it focuses on defence to guard against the unpredictability of nearby Iran and the threat of local terrorism.
This is in stark contrast to the issues currently faced by austerity-pressured Western democracies, as is the fact that Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy ruled by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The branches of the king’s family embrace 20,000 people – the über-wealthy top tier. The merchant families come next, while the mass market is massively underdeveloped and relatively uneducated.
The honeypot also extends to the high salaries paid to expats as part of the price they have to pay for living in what is considered to be a hardship posting. All women have to cover up in public and are banned from driving, and the religious police are ever watchful.
The potential to give financial planning advice at all levels of society is amazing, yet for independent financial advisers it remains an elusive market which is extremely difficult to access.
The number of IFAs in Saudi Arabia is remarkably small in comparison to the size of its economy. Most of the financial advice given comes remotely from the UAE, big-name private banks such as Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan, which have offices in Riyadh, or the local banks.
The other key authority in the country, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), is the central bank, which also supervises commercial banks and “promotes the growth and ensures the soundness of the financial system”.
Sean Kelleher, chief executive of Mondiale Dubai, says SAMA took an aggressive stance a few years ago on anything not legal: “They made utterances about clampdowns and those trying to fly under the radar fled. Since then, the banks have taken the upper hand on financial advice to the detriment of offshore outlets and independents. With Saudi having such a large percentage of Gulf GDP, it would be a valuable market to penetrate.”
The reality is that UAE advisers may have clients who move to Saudi Arabia, raising the question of how to continue the relationship in a country that does not permit unlicensed face-to-face discussion inside the country.
Simon Naylor, managing director of Dubai-based Lime Financial Planning, says one of his clients moved to Saudi. “Ongoing advice is provided via phone, email, and our weekly newsletter,” he says. “In my experience, expats in Saudi Arabia access independent financial planning by contacting firms in Dubai or Qatar.”
Peter Duke, sales director at Fidelity Investments International, is based in its Dubai office and makes regular visits to Saudi. “It’s a more conservative place than elsewhere in the region,” he says, pointing out that restaurants reserve one section for men and another for families.
Up until now, Greek shippers seemed to be immune to the on-going financial turbulence in Greece and the resulting transformation of the national tax regime. As their revenue is largely derived from offshore operations, their performance is not impacted by domestic economic conditions. Moreover, for years they have been enjoying a tax-free status. Greek shipping magnates were exempted from taxes on earnings generated overseas provided that they met specific criteria such has obtaining a special permit and importing a certain amount annually to cover administrative expenses. Also, they could avail themselves with several fiscal incentives when operating ships that flew the Greek flag.
However, Greece is experiencing the sixth consequent year of economic contraction with no hope of a possible turnaround in the foreseeable future. Thus, the government is forced to implement additional fiscal measures. This time it seems like ship owners are going to pay the price. For the first time in decades, Greek officials areconsideringimposing a levyfor ships sailing under foreign flags aiming to collect about€160 million by the end of 2014.The tax will apply to tonnage of foreign-flagged vesselsand is targeting about 762 owners.While it might seem necessary,the proposed tax reform comes at a time most crucial for shipping companies.Due to the prevailing turmoiland the lack of liquidityin the sector internationally, most of the shipping giants are heavily burdened with debt obligations.
A perfect example isDryships.For the third quarter of 2012, the company saw its net voyage revenues from the dry bulk segment decline by almost 50% compared to last year causing investor's sentiment to deteriorate. As of Sept. 30, 2012, its total debt exceeded $4 billion imposing serious risks over the firm's long-termsustainability.
Recently, the company soldvia novation agreementstwo of its tankers under construction. With this deal, Dryships managed to reduce its capital expenditure by $101 million. The company remains committed to decreasing its debt pile by relying largely on thestrong performance ofits drilling business.For the first nine months of 2012, revenues generated from drilling contracts posted a robust increase ofabout $250 millioncompared to the same period in 2011.
Dryships has been using its 65% stake inOcean Rig UDWin order to address a large portion of the capital needs in the shipping segment and gain some extra time.Still, even though I do believe that Dryships could be one of the potential winners from an industry recovery, it has a long way to go before achieving financial discipline.
One of the least indebted companies within the industry is Diana Shipping. The firm has a current ratio of 8.09, which is way higher than the industry's median, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Despite the drop in time charter equivalent rates, the company managed to sustain a comparably healthy financial position.
For the period 2007-2011, thefirm'stotal current assets grew at an impressive pace from $21.5 million to $432 million.At the end of 2011, total current liabilities stood at slightly above $48 million.As of September 30, 2012 Dianahad over$452 millionin cash and cash equivalentsand $413 million in long-term debt.
Diana's overall solid balance sheet enables the company to take advantage of attractive market opportunities and expand its fleet. By borrowing conservatively and controlling its expenses, the firm managed to grow its fleet while maintaining a firm financial position. This way Diana expects to improve its revenue generation capacity at the event of a positive turn in the industry cycle.
Overall, the favorable tax regime on shipping earnings underlined the unique contribution of the Greek maritime industry to the domestic economy. The industry is a major component of the country's foreign exchange inflow and a significant source of employment. For the period 2000-2010, the industry remitted $175 billion, which represented half the national debt of 2009. At the moment, over 200,000 people depend directly or indirectly on shipping. Even though, not yet formally introduced, a change in the tax regime, no matter how small, could result in the immediate relocation of shipping companies and possibly a general slowdown in the sector. Consequently, thousands of Greek citizens are going to lose their jobs in a time when the unemployment rate in Greece is growing at a ceaseless pace.
With half a trillion dollars in reserves, the Government’s only financial predicament is how best to spend its wealth. In practice it focuses on defence to guard against the unpredictability of nearby Iran and the threat of local terrorism.
This is in stark contrast to the issues currently faced by austerity-pressured Western democracies, as is the fact that Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy ruled by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The branches of the king’s family embrace 20,000 people – the über-wealthy top tier. The merchant families come next, while the mass market is massively underdeveloped and relatively uneducated.
The honeypot also extends to the high salaries paid to expats as part of the price they have to pay for living in what is considered to be a hardship posting. All women have to cover up in public and are banned from driving, and the religious police are ever watchful.
The potential to give financial planning advice at all levels of society is amazing, yet for independent financial advisers it remains an elusive market which is extremely difficult to access.
The number of IFAs in Saudi Arabia is remarkably small in comparison to the size of its economy. Most of the financial advice given comes remotely from the UAE, big-name private banks such as Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan, which have offices in Riyadh, or the local banks.
The other key authority in the country, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), is the central bank, which also supervises commercial banks and “promotes the growth and ensures the soundness of the financial system”.
Sean Kelleher, chief executive of Mondiale Dubai, says SAMA took an aggressive stance a few years ago on anything not legal: “They made utterances about clampdowns and those trying to fly under the radar fled. Since then, the banks have taken the upper hand on financial advice to the detriment of offshore outlets and independents. With Saudi having such a large percentage of Gulf GDP, it would be a valuable market to penetrate.”
The reality is that UAE advisers may have clients who move to Saudi Arabia, raising the question of how to continue the relationship in a country that does not permit unlicensed face-to-face discussion inside the country.
Simon Naylor, managing director of Dubai-based Lime Financial Planning, says one of his clients moved to Saudi. “Ongoing advice is provided via phone, email, and our weekly newsletter,” he says. “In my experience, expats in Saudi Arabia access independent financial planning by contacting firms in Dubai or Qatar.”
Peter Duke, sales director at Fidelity Investments International, is based in its Dubai office and makes regular visits to Saudi. “It’s a more conservative place than elsewhere in the region,” he says, pointing out that restaurants reserve one section for men and another for families.
The Double-Edged Sword Known as ‘The Internet’
It’s incredible how much access we have right in the palm of our hands today. The options are almost endless. However, along with the pros of this, there are also cons. Our computers and smartphones haven’t only brought us endless avenues of being constantly in touch with our friends and families, and having shopping, music, games, and much more right in the palm of hour hands. Unfortunately, this type of access can also contribute to increased anxiety and mental stress.
I hear many people talk about how much “the world has changed” over the past ten years, or so. But I’ll raise a question, just for consideration: Has the world really changed, or has our awareness, perspective, and access to the world changed?
Before the internet virtually exploded onto the planet, like a present day Big Bang, people mainly had three avenues through which to learn about events in the world: daily newspapers, radio, and news on tv. The word “daily” needs to be emphasized here. If you read something in the newspaper one morning and wanted to know more about the story, you either watched the news that night to see if there would be more information, listened to the radio, or you waited for the newspaper to arrive the next morning. That was basically how it worked.
People would get their dose of daily news, and then they’d go about their day. Maybe they discussed what they heard on the radio or read in the newspaper with co-workers, maybe they thought about something in the news that resonated with their lives, but there was much less attention to the outside world because there was much less information available. People still had their own life issues to deal with — it wasn’t a care-free time, by any means — but there was generally much less to be distracted by in one’s day before the internet.
With the existence of the internet, we have the world’s biggest double-edged sword: having everything in the palm of our hands. Sure, we do have significantly positive access at our fingertips. But, the problem is how much more information exists a whole, and it’s constantly being added to throughout each day. Now, it’s not just the stories from the morning paper or evening news, there’s seemingly an endless amount of reporting space.
The media is constantly searching for information, no matter how meaningless or irrelevant the stories may be. How often have you heard a story and wondered, “Why is this news?” Sure, this went on before the internet as well, but it was on a much smaller scale since the space for reporting was so limited. Now, if there isn’t an updated or new story every few minutes, journalists are almost behind the game.
As a result, we are being constantly inundated with information that is often magnified simply for the purposes of getting people to read or follow. The problem is, our brains only have the capacity to take in so much. Even if we check our phones all day long for news updates, most likely we’re only seeing a small percentage of the information that exists now. So, if we’re not constantly keeping up, we are also behind. And it’s not just the news stories — it’s keeping up with the lives of our friends and acquaintances through the various social media, including almost limitless texting capacity (which keeps conversations ongoing), and all other intrigues of the internet.
This kind of environment creates an information overload. What people consider to be ‘multitasking’ is actually not possible. The human brain can’t focus on more than one thing at a time. When we multitask, we actually are focusing on single tasks for bits and pieces of time. This can end up creating symptoms similar to that of ADHD, where it can become very difficult to focus on any one activity for a length of time. Attention span is essentially diminished because there is an overwhelming amount of information constantly surrounding us. We’re like children in a huge toy store — but imagine being in that toy store while trying to work, or be with family, or study, or have interpersonal relationships at the same time. This is essentially what we do in our daily lives with the internet.
While UAVs have joined spy satellites as an indispensable part of America's military operations—especially in delivering timely, accurate intel to troops on the ground—they are not the end-all-be-all perfect solution, even in coordination. That's why DARPA plans to supplement these unmanned intelligence gathering platforms with jet-deployed constellations of micro-satellites. Soon, every grunt will have access to a real-time battlefield mini-map just in like video games.
Spy satellites and UAVs alike suffer from the same problem—availability. Sure some UAVs in the US arsenal can remain airborne for the better part of two days while providing focused area coverage but they eventually have to refuel which leads to intel coverage gaps. Orbiting satellites don't need to refuel but their operational windows—and therefore the wide area imaging they are able to provide—are limited by their overflight schedule (the amount of time they're actually overhead). When combined with information flow restrictions through the chain of command, actually delivering fresh, tactical intel can be a challenge. In response, DARPA has set about creating a hybridized, tertiary level of intelligence gathering that leverages the relative strengths of both technologies and delivers that information directly to the troops that need it most urgently.
After that's done, you will arrive at your file manager dashboard where you can upload and download files, share public links to files, and share files with other Mega users. At the far right is a drop-down menu aptly titled "Menu" that contains links to Mega's blog, pricing for Pro accounts, help, terms of service, and other informational links. On the left side is the Cloud Drive showing all your uploaded files, and navigation links to the trash bin, your inbox, and contacts.
To add a contact, just click on the contacts section and click "Add contact" at the top of the page. Once the person signs up for Mega they will be automatically added to your contacts list. One of the handier features in Mega is that you can share files with other Mega users by dragging and dropping a file to their name in your contacts section. Mega plans to add Instant Messaging to the service so you will be able to do more than just send and receive files with your contacts.
I hear many people talk about how much “the world has changed” over the past ten years, or so. But I’ll raise a question, just for consideration: Has the world really changed, or has our awareness, perspective, and access to the world changed?
Before the internet virtually exploded onto the planet, like a present day Big Bang, people mainly had three avenues through which to learn about events in the world: daily newspapers, radio, and news on tv. The word “daily” needs to be emphasized here. If you read something in the newspaper one morning and wanted to know more about the story, you either watched the news that night to see if there would be more information, listened to the radio, or you waited for the newspaper to arrive the next morning. That was basically how it worked.
People would get their dose of daily news, and then they’d go about their day. Maybe they discussed what they heard on the radio or read in the newspaper with co-workers, maybe they thought about something in the news that resonated with their lives, but there was much less attention to the outside world because there was much less information available. People still had their own life issues to deal with — it wasn’t a care-free time, by any means — but there was generally much less to be distracted by in one’s day before the internet.
With the existence of the internet, we have the world’s biggest double-edged sword: having everything in the palm of our hands. Sure, we do have significantly positive access at our fingertips. But, the problem is how much more information exists a whole, and it’s constantly being added to throughout each day. Now, it’s not just the stories from the morning paper or evening news, there’s seemingly an endless amount of reporting space.
The media is constantly searching for information, no matter how meaningless or irrelevant the stories may be. How often have you heard a story and wondered, “Why is this news?” Sure, this went on before the internet as well, but it was on a much smaller scale since the space for reporting was so limited. Now, if there isn’t an updated or new story every few minutes, journalists are almost behind the game.
As a result, we are being constantly inundated with information that is often magnified simply for the purposes of getting people to read or follow. The problem is, our brains only have the capacity to take in so much. Even if we check our phones all day long for news updates, most likely we’re only seeing a small percentage of the information that exists now. So, if we’re not constantly keeping up, we are also behind. And it’s not just the news stories — it’s keeping up with the lives of our friends and acquaintances through the various social media, including almost limitless texting capacity (which keeps conversations ongoing), and all other intrigues of the internet.
This kind of environment creates an information overload. What people consider to be ‘multitasking’ is actually not possible. The human brain can’t focus on more than one thing at a time. When we multitask, we actually are focusing on single tasks for bits and pieces of time. This can end up creating symptoms similar to that of ADHD, where it can become very difficult to focus on any one activity for a length of time. Attention span is essentially diminished because there is an overwhelming amount of information constantly surrounding us. We’re like children in a huge toy store — but imagine being in that toy store while trying to work, or be with family, or study, or have interpersonal relationships at the same time. This is essentially what we do in our daily lives with the internet.
While UAVs have joined spy satellites as an indispensable part of America's military operations—especially in delivering timely, accurate intel to troops on the ground—they are not the end-all-be-all perfect solution, even in coordination. That's why DARPA plans to supplement these unmanned intelligence gathering platforms with jet-deployed constellations of micro-satellites. Soon, every grunt will have access to a real-time battlefield mini-map just in like video games.
Spy satellites and UAVs alike suffer from the same problem—availability. Sure some UAVs in the US arsenal can remain airborne for the better part of two days while providing focused area coverage but they eventually have to refuel which leads to intel coverage gaps. Orbiting satellites don't need to refuel but their operational windows—and therefore the wide area imaging they are able to provide—are limited by their overflight schedule (the amount of time they're actually overhead). When combined with information flow restrictions through the chain of command, actually delivering fresh, tactical intel can be a challenge. In response, DARPA has set about creating a hybridized, tertiary level of intelligence gathering that leverages the relative strengths of both technologies and delivers that information directly to the troops that need it most urgently.
After that's done, you will arrive at your file manager dashboard where you can upload and download files, share public links to files, and share files with other Mega users. At the far right is a drop-down menu aptly titled "Menu" that contains links to Mega's blog, pricing for Pro accounts, help, terms of service, and other informational links. On the left side is the Cloud Drive showing all your uploaded files, and navigation links to the trash bin, your inbox, and contacts.
To add a contact, just click on the contacts section and click "Add contact" at the top of the page. Once the person signs up for Mega they will be automatically added to your contacts list. One of the handier features in Mega is that you can share files with other Mega users by dragging and dropping a file to their name in your contacts section. Mega plans to add Instant Messaging to the service so you will be able to do more than just send and receive files with your contacts.
2013年1月17日星期四
Kelly's decision comes at wary time
We like to analyze flip-flops, and wonder if they make people flighty, liars, attention-grabbers or fearful or something. Chip Kelly might well be all of those, though I lean against “liar.’’
Sure, he told Oregon last week that he was turning down the offer from the Philadelphia Eagles, and staying. And on Wednesday he was announced as the new Eagles coach. But Kelly meant what he said last week, as well as what he said Wednesday.
He’d always wanted to be in the NFL, and always said he’d listen to offers. His offer at Tampa Bay last year didn’t include enough control, so he went back to Oregon. This year, with so many NFL openings, you had to assume he would jump.
When Kelly stayed at Oregon last week, he didn’t make any false pleas about his love of the college game, or of Oregon. In fact, he really didn’t say anything. Neither did Oregon, which suggested that they still figured he might take some NFL job.
It’s unknown if the Eagles altered their offer, adding more control, or if Kelly just thought about it for a week and decided he had made a mistake.
But when your head goes up into the clouds, the way his did when NFL teams came calling, sometimes it’s hard to go back to work. After he turned down the Eagles, he had to come back to recruiting, the part of the job few coaches enjoy, and some resent.
On top of that, Oregon already knows it violated NCAA rules under Kelly, making payments to a Texas street agent, Will Lyles, whose job was to get recruits to go to Oregon. It was a storyline reported heavily by Yahoo! Sports, among others.
Oregon self-investigated, and then told the NCAA what it thought had happened, and suggested what it considered an appropriate punishment. The NCAA disagreed, and decided to move forward with the investigation.
Did Kelly just run from the NCAA? That was not likely the biggest reason, or he would have taken the job in the first place. But it had to matter. Oregon could be banned from the postseason next season.
Pete Carroll has changed everything for college coaches. His success with the Seattle Seahawks, after he left USC to run from NCAA sanctions, showed so many things. For the NFL, it showed that college coaches can do the job in the NFL. Jim Harbaugh showed the same thing, which is why so many NFL teams have been after college coaches the past few weeks.
For college coaches, Carroll also showed that the NFL can be the great get-out-of jail-free card. For so long, college coaches had to worry that breaking the rules could leave them out of work, albeit with a lot of money. Now, you can break rules to win, and use that success to go to the NFL.
Life decisions are rarely made on one thing alone. Some coaches just see the NFL as the pinnacle of the profession. In Kelly’s case, his mindset is just as hyper and as his offenses.
Surely he wants to see if his ideas on offense will work in the NFL. The league’s focus has been changing, which is why the new head-coaching hires have all been offensive guys.
"Chip Kelly will be an outstanding head coach for the Eagles,’’ Philadelphia owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. “He has a brilliant football mind. He motivates his team with his actions as well as his words. He will be a great leader for us and will bring a fresh, energetic approach to our team.’’
NFL offenses are more up-tempo now, allowing quarterbacks to run and looking a little more like college offenses. That’s what makes Kelly so appealing.
But I don’t think that will last, actually, as quarterbacks take too much of a beating and defensive coordinators figure it out. They’ll get there.
Kelly’s tempo will provide a wrinkle to coordinators for a while. The problem is, his up-tempo style in practice, mixed with his thin skin and giant ego, will be a disaster when dealing with NFL stars.
He’ll need a quarterback with the Eagles, and already people are wondering if that means Michael Vick will be back. Don’t count on it. He costs too much (would be guaranteed $15 million to stay with the Eagles in this current contract), and already took too much of a beating under Andy Reid’s system.
Still, I’m not predicting big things for Kelly in the NFL. I’m not even predicting he’ll be there for three years. Plenty of big college jobs will be open by 2015, and when pro reality hits Kelly, college reality will start looking good again.
During this holiday season the Little Angels Foundation (LAF) was approached with the story of 9-year-old Dalton Dingus of Salyersville, Ky. Dalton, who was diagnosed with stage four cystic fibrosis, was sent home from the hospital in early November because the doctors could no longer care for him. He was given 10 days to live with the best estimates science could give to the parents of a dying child. Dalton wanted one small Christmas wish answered, a dying wish. He didn’t ask for money, toys, or any gifts for that matter; Dalton’s dying wish was for Christmas cards. He wanted his name put into the Guinness Book of World Records for receiving the most Christmas cards. The mark prior to his quest was 35,000 cards.
At first Dalton’s mother Jessica reached out on Facebook and cards started coming in from neighbors and neighboring states. Dalton’s message caught on with the local news, and started to spread like wildfire throughout the country. In just one month, Dalton was receiving mail trucks worth of letters, gifts and Christmas cards on a daily basis. His story hit the national news scene by Christmas, and then the cards began pouring into the local post office and at volumes they could not keep up with.
Dalton at the age of 9 dreamed big, he dreamed for the record books! Dalton set his heart on the mark or 35,000 Christmas cards. At last count Dalton received more than 700,000 cards.
Sure, he told Oregon last week that he was turning down the offer from the Philadelphia Eagles, and staying. And on Wednesday he was announced as the new Eagles coach. But Kelly meant what he said last week, as well as what he said Wednesday.
He’d always wanted to be in the NFL, and always said he’d listen to offers. His offer at Tampa Bay last year didn’t include enough control, so he went back to Oregon. This year, with so many NFL openings, you had to assume he would jump.
When Kelly stayed at Oregon last week, he didn’t make any false pleas about his love of the college game, or of Oregon. In fact, he really didn’t say anything. Neither did Oregon, which suggested that they still figured he might take some NFL job.
It’s unknown if the Eagles altered their offer, adding more control, or if Kelly just thought about it for a week and decided he had made a mistake.
But when your head goes up into the clouds, the way his did when NFL teams came calling, sometimes it’s hard to go back to work. After he turned down the Eagles, he had to come back to recruiting, the part of the job few coaches enjoy, and some resent.
On top of that, Oregon already knows it violated NCAA rules under Kelly, making payments to a Texas street agent, Will Lyles, whose job was to get recruits to go to Oregon. It was a storyline reported heavily by Yahoo! Sports, among others.
Oregon self-investigated, and then told the NCAA what it thought had happened, and suggested what it considered an appropriate punishment. The NCAA disagreed, and decided to move forward with the investigation.
Did Kelly just run from the NCAA? That was not likely the biggest reason, or he would have taken the job in the first place. But it had to matter. Oregon could be banned from the postseason next season.
Pete Carroll has changed everything for college coaches. His success with the Seattle Seahawks, after he left USC to run from NCAA sanctions, showed so many things. For the NFL, it showed that college coaches can do the job in the NFL. Jim Harbaugh showed the same thing, which is why so many NFL teams have been after college coaches the past few weeks.
For college coaches, Carroll also showed that the NFL can be the great get-out-of jail-free card. For so long, college coaches had to worry that breaking the rules could leave them out of work, albeit with a lot of money. Now, you can break rules to win, and use that success to go to the NFL.
Life decisions are rarely made on one thing alone. Some coaches just see the NFL as the pinnacle of the profession. In Kelly’s case, his mindset is just as hyper and as his offenses.
Surely he wants to see if his ideas on offense will work in the NFL. The league’s focus has been changing, which is why the new head-coaching hires have all been offensive guys.
"Chip Kelly will be an outstanding head coach for the Eagles,’’ Philadelphia owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. “He has a brilliant football mind. He motivates his team with his actions as well as his words. He will be a great leader for us and will bring a fresh, energetic approach to our team.’’
NFL offenses are more up-tempo now, allowing quarterbacks to run and looking a little more like college offenses. That’s what makes Kelly so appealing.
But I don’t think that will last, actually, as quarterbacks take too much of a beating and defensive coordinators figure it out. They’ll get there.
Kelly’s tempo will provide a wrinkle to coordinators for a while. The problem is, his up-tempo style in practice, mixed with his thin skin and giant ego, will be a disaster when dealing with NFL stars.
He’ll need a quarterback with the Eagles, and already people are wondering if that means Michael Vick will be back. Don’t count on it. He costs too much (would be guaranteed $15 million to stay with the Eagles in this current contract), and already took too much of a beating under Andy Reid’s system.
Still, I’m not predicting big things for Kelly in the NFL. I’m not even predicting he’ll be there for three years. Plenty of big college jobs will be open by 2015, and when pro reality hits Kelly, college reality will start looking good again.
During this holiday season the Little Angels Foundation (LAF) was approached with the story of 9-year-old Dalton Dingus of Salyersville, Ky. Dalton, who was diagnosed with stage four cystic fibrosis, was sent home from the hospital in early November because the doctors could no longer care for him. He was given 10 days to live with the best estimates science could give to the parents of a dying child. Dalton wanted one small Christmas wish answered, a dying wish. He didn’t ask for money, toys, or any gifts for that matter; Dalton’s dying wish was for Christmas cards. He wanted his name put into the Guinness Book of World Records for receiving the most Christmas cards. The mark prior to his quest was 35,000 cards.
At first Dalton’s mother Jessica reached out on Facebook and cards started coming in from neighbors and neighboring states. Dalton’s message caught on with the local news, and started to spread like wildfire throughout the country. In just one month, Dalton was receiving mail trucks worth of letters, gifts and Christmas cards on a daily basis. His story hit the national news scene by Christmas, and then the cards began pouring into the local post office and at volumes they could not keep up with.
Dalton at the age of 9 dreamed big, he dreamed for the record books! Dalton set his heart on the mark or 35,000 Christmas cards. At last count Dalton received more than 700,000 cards.
Have Family Dinners Prepared Teddy Turner to Be a Politician?
Teddy Turner, the son of media titan and avowed liberal Ted Turner, gets the question all the time: How did he become his family’s only card-carrying Republican? And journalists aren't the only ones asking it. “It’s amazing how many times my dad’s asked me that question,” says Turner, who is running for Sen. Tim Scott's vacated House seat in South Carolina. Then, in his good-natured Southern drawl, he recalls one of the experiences that helped form his politics: “While I was in the Soviet Union, I was in a car wreck that broke most of the bones in my face. I hit the dashboard from the backseat. The hospital I went to didn’t have an X-ray machine; they didn’t have CAT scans, MRIs. … They had glass-and-steel reusable needles, and about all I did was live on a cot for a week. But it was free.” He pauses deliberately, as if to say, Get it? “Free. Healthcare.”
A finely tuned answer with an Obamacare-themed punch line—not bad for someone who, at 49 years old, is completely new to electoral politics. This inexperience, Turner feels, is his best asset. The Republicans likely to run against him in the March 19 primary include such practiced pols as Mark Sanford—the former governor best remembered for claiming he was hiking the Appalachian Trail when, in fact, he was having an extramarital affair in Argentina—state Rep. Chip Limehouse, and state Sen. Larry Grooms. In their company, Teddy Turner, whose curriculum vitae includes television news producer, amateur maxi-yacht skipper, tech entrepreneur turned scam victim, bison meat purveyor, and high school teacher, is the definition of a political outsider. It's a role he's comfortable with, having grown up as one, too.
If Teddy Turner is blazing a path his father could never fathom—running for Congress as a Republican—it may be because his adult life began squarely in his father’s shadow. After completing college at the Citadel, a military academy in Charleston that his father required him to attend, Turner became a producer for the Moscow bureau of the Ted Turner–owned CNN, for which he spent six hours a day learning Russian. He worked on and off for his father’s media empire until he was 33, when the 1996 merger between Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting System eliminated his position. Over a family dinner, he casually asked his father whether he was safe, figuring he was. The elder Turner curtly replied, “You’re toast.”
In his late 20s and early 30s, Turner cultivated interests and ambitions that he hoped would earn him his father’s admiration. He briefly left his television consulting job in the early '90s, for instance, to train to sail in the 1993-1994 Whitbread Round the World Race, a nine-month, 30,000-mile competition among maxi-yachts (sailboats of 70 feet or longer). The race attracted him, he told the Miami Herald at the time, because it was longer, more grueling, and more reliant on skill than the America’s Cup race, which his father had won in 1977. For the Whitbread, Turner paid $700,000 for an 80-foot practice yacht and hired two sports-marketing experts to raise the millions it would take to build a brand new model. But in a recession, he tells me, the money never materialized.
“That was a time in my life where I felt I needed to compete with Ted, that I needed to be bigger and I needed to be better, that I needed to prove myself,” Turner says, referring to his father, as he often does, as “Ted.” “When you are raised in greatness’ shadow, you spend a lot of time trying to figure out what you’re worth, what your value is. I struggled with that for a long time, but I got over it.”
After being told he was toast, Turner became less involved with his father’s business, though there were occasional engagements. In 1997, for instance, Ted Turner founded U.S. Bison to try to monetize the herd of 17,000 bison that roamed his various ranch properties “like pets,” as he described it to the Associated Press. The idea was to create an upscale U.S. market for bison meat, and he put his son in charge of the effort. (The most notable outcome was a chain of restaurants, Ted's Montana Grill, that boasts “the biggest bison menu in the world.”) But mostly, Teddy Turner's ventures were his own—and they were not, on balance, terribly successful.
In 1997, along with three other partners, he founded a company, Zekko, to mass-produce a box that somehow converted ordinary telephone wires into high-speed data lines. According to the Florida Times-Union, “His name—his father's name, really—conferred legitimacy on the unknown company and its unknown genius, giving many investors confidence.” Teddy Turner gave the inventor of the device, Madison Priest, workspace in a CNN building to produce a prototype. However, after collecting about $1.5 million from investors, Turner and his partners learned that Priest had faked all his demonstrations of the box’s near-magical properties. When confronted in a board meeting, Priest pleaded that he’d been faking his results until he could reverse-engineer how to build the box—a crash in his Corvette had wiped his memory of how to do so. The technology, Priest explained further, had initially come to him from a “hopper,” a species of alien that spread technological knowledge from planet to planet. Until that moment, Turner says, “It was an extremely well-orchestrated illusion.” At the end of the meeting, Turner resigned.
His political positions remain vague. When pushed for his stance on issues, Turner mostly waxes worried about how “the system is very broken,” how Washington “needs new faces and fresh minds” who can “reach across the aisle and do some commonsense stuff,” and that unspecified spending cuts, not higher taxes, are the answer to our nation’s debt. The closest he gets to an actual policy proposal is this: “How about, if you pass one law, you take one off?”
His tenor, though, is just right for someone running in a state that regularly sends Tea Party politicians (in name or spirit) to Washington. Turner is working on his folksy male chauvinism: “If my wife goes out and buys a pair of shoes that were $100 but are marked down to $50, she’ll say, ‘I saved $50!’ I’ll say, ‘No you didn’t, you spent $50.’ But politicians think that’s how you cut a budget.” He’s mastered his political doomsday predicting: “Those people who flew the hammer-and-sickle tried to stage an economy, and we saw how that went. Socialism, which we move closer to in this country every day, scares the heck out of me.” And his opposition to government regulations, while generally unspecific, is well-suited to the 1st Congressional District’s well-to-do and conservative audiences: “Well, I have a friend in the cruise industry. And they keep putting regulation upon new regulation on that industry, not to make the cruise industry any safer, but to raise money for the government.”
How Teddy Turner will fare is difficult to predict. Opinions are split over how much Sanford’s fundraising prowess and name recognition are worth, considering that his second term as governor ended in disgrace. And Turner, who is not self-financed, has access to many of the same deep-pocketed circles as some of his opponents. In fact, just three weeks ago, he went hunting with Sanford and Sanford’s son—but this doesn't make him an insider, Turner insists. The closest that he's come to politicking in the past has been among family. “I’ve sat across the dinner table from Ted Turner and Jane Fonda and discussed politics,” he says, in the course of explaining why he belongs in Congress. “And everybody’s come away happy.”
A finely tuned answer with an Obamacare-themed punch line—not bad for someone who, at 49 years old, is completely new to electoral politics. This inexperience, Turner feels, is his best asset. The Republicans likely to run against him in the March 19 primary include such practiced pols as Mark Sanford—the former governor best remembered for claiming he was hiking the Appalachian Trail when, in fact, he was having an extramarital affair in Argentina—state Rep. Chip Limehouse, and state Sen. Larry Grooms. In their company, Teddy Turner, whose curriculum vitae includes television news producer, amateur maxi-yacht skipper, tech entrepreneur turned scam victim, bison meat purveyor, and high school teacher, is the definition of a political outsider. It's a role he's comfortable with, having grown up as one, too.
If Teddy Turner is blazing a path his father could never fathom—running for Congress as a Republican—it may be because his adult life began squarely in his father’s shadow. After completing college at the Citadel, a military academy in Charleston that his father required him to attend, Turner became a producer for the Moscow bureau of the Ted Turner–owned CNN, for which he spent six hours a day learning Russian. He worked on and off for his father’s media empire until he was 33, when the 1996 merger between Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting System eliminated his position. Over a family dinner, he casually asked his father whether he was safe, figuring he was. The elder Turner curtly replied, “You’re toast.”
In his late 20s and early 30s, Turner cultivated interests and ambitions that he hoped would earn him his father’s admiration. He briefly left his television consulting job in the early '90s, for instance, to train to sail in the 1993-1994 Whitbread Round the World Race, a nine-month, 30,000-mile competition among maxi-yachts (sailboats of 70 feet or longer). The race attracted him, he told the Miami Herald at the time, because it was longer, more grueling, and more reliant on skill than the America’s Cup race, which his father had won in 1977. For the Whitbread, Turner paid $700,000 for an 80-foot practice yacht and hired two sports-marketing experts to raise the millions it would take to build a brand new model. But in a recession, he tells me, the money never materialized.
“That was a time in my life where I felt I needed to compete with Ted, that I needed to be bigger and I needed to be better, that I needed to prove myself,” Turner says, referring to his father, as he often does, as “Ted.” “When you are raised in greatness’ shadow, you spend a lot of time trying to figure out what you’re worth, what your value is. I struggled with that for a long time, but I got over it.”
After being told he was toast, Turner became less involved with his father’s business, though there were occasional engagements. In 1997, for instance, Ted Turner founded U.S. Bison to try to monetize the herd of 17,000 bison that roamed his various ranch properties “like pets,” as he described it to the Associated Press. The idea was to create an upscale U.S. market for bison meat, and he put his son in charge of the effort. (The most notable outcome was a chain of restaurants, Ted's Montana Grill, that boasts “the biggest bison menu in the world.”) But mostly, Teddy Turner's ventures were his own—and they were not, on balance, terribly successful.
In 1997, along with three other partners, he founded a company, Zekko, to mass-produce a box that somehow converted ordinary telephone wires into high-speed data lines. According to the Florida Times-Union, “His name—his father's name, really—conferred legitimacy on the unknown company and its unknown genius, giving many investors confidence.” Teddy Turner gave the inventor of the device, Madison Priest, workspace in a CNN building to produce a prototype. However, after collecting about $1.5 million from investors, Turner and his partners learned that Priest had faked all his demonstrations of the box’s near-magical properties. When confronted in a board meeting, Priest pleaded that he’d been faking his results until he could reverse-engineer how to build the box—a crash in his Corvette had wiped his memory of how to do so. The technology, Priest explained further, had initially come to him from a “hopper,” a species of alien that spread technological knowledge from planet to planet. Until that moment, Turner says, “It was an extremely well-orchestrated illusion.” At the end of the meeting, Turner resigned.
His political positions remain vague. When pushed for his stance on issues, Turner mostly waxes worried about how “the system is very broken,” how Washington “needs new faces and fresh minds” who can “reach across the aisle and do some commonsense stuff,” and that unspecified spending cuts, not higher taxes, are the answer to our nation’s debt. The closest he gets to an actual policy proposal is this: “How about, if you pass one law, you take one off?”
His tenor, though, is just right for someone running in a state that regularly sends Tea Party politicians (in name or spirit) to Washington. Turner is working on his folksy male chauvinism: “If my wife goes out and buys a pair of shoes that were $100 but are marked down to $50, she’ll say, ‘I saved $50!’ I’ll say, ‘No you didn’t, you spent $50.’ But politicians think that’s how you cut a budget.” He’s mastered his political doomsday predicting: “Those people who flew the hammer-and-sickle tried to stage an economy, and we saw how that went. Socialism, which we move closer to in this country every day, scares the heck out of me.” And his opposition to government regulations, while generally unspecific, is well-suited to the 1st Congressional District’s well-to-do and conservative audiences: “Well, I have a friend in the cruise industry. And they keep putting regulation upon new regulation on that industry, not to make the cruise industry any safer, but to raise money for the government.”
How Teddy Turner will fare is difficult to predict. Opinions are split over how much Sanford’s fundraising prowess and name recognition are worth, considering that his second term as governor ended in disgrace. And Turner, who is not self-financed, has access to many of the same deep-pocketed circles as some of his opponents. In fact, just three weeks ago, he went hunting with Sanford and Sanford’s son—but this doesn't make him an insider, Turner insists. The closest that he's come to politicking in the past has been among family. “I’ve sat across the dinner table from Ted Turner and Jane Fonda and discussed politics,” he says, in the course of explaining why he belongs in Congress. “And everybody’s come away happy.”
2013年1月15日星期二
Clear the festive hurdle
The Christmas spending splurge can lead to a credit-card headache at this time of year. A good New Year's resolution is not to let debt get out of hand in the first place. But the reality is that many people struggle to pay off their card debt, in full, by the due date. More than 70 per cent of the debt on credit cards is accruing interest.
What many people do not appreciate is that if the debt is not paid off in full by the due date each month, the interest applies to the debt going back to the purchase date, rather than from the end of the interest-free period. With a cash advance, the interest rate applies from day one. Interest rates on credit card purchases are generally between 14 per cent to 20 per cent a year, but can be higher. The only way to avoid paying interest is to pay off the credit-card debt in full by the due date and avoid making a cash advance. Note that the interest rate on cash advances is usually higher than the purchase interest rate.
Some people even have debts on their credit card or cards that were racked up over Christmas 2011. It is not a smart way to go. People could take advantage of ''balance transfer'' offers, where the credit-card debt is transferred to a zero- or low-interest-rate card. That is not a solution, but it buys time without having to pay interest, or not much interest, while working on reducing the debt. These cards have a zero or low interest rate that applies for a limited time, typically six months or so, after which they revert to the purchase rate or the higher cash-advance rate. The zero or low rate usually only applies to the balance that has been transferred from the old card, not to new purchases.
Once the credit-card debt is cleared, the better way to go is to use a debit card for everyday spending, with the credit card clear for emergencies. With a debit card, you are using your own money in the transaction account that is linked to the debit card, rather than borrowing at very high interest rates.
Only enough money to cover everyday spending should be in the transaction account, because the accounts pay very little interest. Longer-term savings would be better held in an online saver account or a term deposit that pays higher rates of interest.
Justin Bieber recently made the leap into the financial-services world, endorsing a prepaid debit card. Now the question is whether "The Biebs" will succeed where others have failed—making prepaid cards cool among the teen set.
Financial firms have placed plenty of emphasis on prepaid debit in recent years, touting the payment method as a tool for parents to keep Junior's spending in check—and perhaps teach him a lesson in money management. In 2010, American Express introduced its prepaid PASS program and joined with with iVillage, the popular women's website, to get the word out about "the talk"—as in speaking to kids about personal finance.
More recently, MyPlash, a teen-oriented, MasterCard -affiliated prepaid program, sponsored a supercross team to spread the message that "financial responsibility is always a winning proposition."
And then there is the Bieber-approved SpendSmart card, which comes courtesy of BillMyParents, a San Diego, Calif., card issuer. The company said it hopes to leverage the audience of a pop star who has sold 15 million albums and boasts 30 million Twitter followers.
These programs all speak to the same idea: Teens spend more than $200 billion annually, according to researcher EPM Communications, but most parents want to place curbs on all that buying. A prepaid card can help since purchases are limited to whatever dollar amount parents choose to put on the plastic. Plus, as compared with cash, cards give parents a better view of where the money goes.
Financial institutions have their own reasons for pushing prepaid, including recent federal legislation that limits in some cases what fees they can earn from traditional debit cards—but not from prepaid ones.
Still, prepaid debit cards targeted at teens haven't broadly caught on, says Tim Sloane, a vice president with Mercator Advisory Group, which researches the prepaid market.
Part of the reason, Mr. Sloane believes: Kids may not like mom and dad seeing exactly how they spend their allowance. And parents may balk at the expenses associated with prepaid cards, from monthly maintenance charges (as high as $10) to ATM fees (up to $2.50). "A prepaid product that requires simultaneous adoption by parents and teens may raise the bar too high," Mr. Sloane says.
Financial pros say parents can accomplish similar financial goals with a cheaper option, such as a low-fee or no-fee credit card with a modest spending limit. Parents can open a joint account with a child or add the child as an authorized user to an existing account. The card may not have a pop star's name attached to it, but it also won't carry as many fees. And the lesson in using credit the right way can be just as invaluable in the long run, says Larry Rosenthal of Rosenthal Wealth Management in Northern Virginia.
What many people do not appreciate is that if the debt is not paid off in full by the due date each month, the interest applies to the debt going back to the purchase date, rather than from the end of the interest-free period. With a cash advance, the interest rate applies from day one. Interest rates on credit card purchases are generally between 14 per cent to 20 per cent a year, but can be higher. The only way to avoid paying interest is to pay off the credit-card debt in full by the due date and avoid making a cash advance. Note that the interest rate on cash advances is usually higher than the purchase interest rate.
Some people even have debts on their credit card or cards that were racked up over Christmas 2011. It is not a smart way to go. People could take advantage of ''balance transfer'' offers, where the credit-card debt is transferred to a zero- or low-interest-rate card. That is not a solution, but it buys time without having to pay interest, or not much interest, while working on reducing the debt. These cards have a zero or low interest rate that applies for a limited time, typically six months or so, after which they revert to the purchase rate or the higher cash-advance rate. The zero or low rate usually only applies to the balance that has been transferred from the old card, not to new purchases.
Once the credit-card debt is cleared, the better way to go is to use a debit card for everyday spending, with the credit card clear for emergencies. With a debit card, you are using your own money in the transaction account that is linked to the debit card, rather than borrowing at very high interest rates.
Only enough money to cover everyday spending should be in the transaction account, because the accounts pay very little interest. Longer-term savings would be better held in an online saver account or a term deposit that pays higher rates of interest.
Justin Bieber recently made the leap into the financial-services world, endorsing a prepaid debit card. Now the question is whether "The Biebs" will succeed where others have failed—making prepaid cards cool among the teen set.
Financial firms have placed plenty of emphasis on prepaid debit in recent years, touting the payment method as a tool for parents to keep Junior's spending in check—and perhaps teach him a lesson in money management. In 2010, American Express introduced its prepaid PASS program and joined with with iVillage, the popular women's website, to get the word out about "the talk"—as in speaking to kids about personal finance.
More recently, MyPlash, a teen-oriented, MasterCard -affiliated prepaid program, sponsored a supercross team to spread the message that "financial responsibility is always a winning proposition."
And then there is the Bieber-approved SpendSmart card, which comes courtesy of BillMyParents, a San Diego, Calif., card issuer. The company said it hopes to leverage the audience of a pop star who has sold 15 million albums and boasts 30 million Twitter followers.
These programs all speak to the same idea: Teens spend more than $200 billion annually, according to researcher EPM Communications, but most parents want to place curbs on all that buying. A prepaid card can help since purchases are limited to whatever dollar amount parents choose to put on the plastic. Plus, as compared with cash, cards give parents a better view of where the money goes.
Financial institutions have their own reasons for pushing prepaid, including recent federal legislation that limits in some cases what fees they can earn from traditional debit cards—but not from prepaid ones.
Still, prepaid debit cards targeted at teens haven't broadly caught on, says Tim Sloane, a vice president with Mercator Advisory Group, which researches the prepaid market.
Part of the reason, Mr. Sloane believes: Kids may not like mom and dad seeing exactly how they spend their allowance. And parents may balk at the expenses associated with prepaid cards, from monthly maintenance charges (as high as $10) to ATM fees (up to $2.50). "A prepaid product that requires simultaneous adoption by parents and teens may raise the bar too high," Mr. Sloane says.
Financial pros say parents can accomplish similar financial goals with a cheaper option, such as a low-fee or no-fee credit card with a modest spending limit. Parents can open a joint account with a child or add the child as an authorized user to an existing account. The card may not have a pop star's name attached to it, but it also won't carry as many fees. And the lesson in using credit the right way can be just as invaluable in the long run, says Larry Rosenthal of Rosenthal Wealth Management in Northern Virginia.
MediaTek launches NFC controller
Taiwan-based semiconductor supplier MediaTek has launched an NFC controller for mobile devices that can support up to three secure elements at the same time.
The MT6605 "supports simultaneously three secure elements, both embedded and SIM-based," says MediaTek. "A possible usage scenario could be a dual SIM plus one microSD card configuration in one device. It's a great way to empower ecosystem players to launch their NFC services right away by enabling more flexible business models."
The device offers seamless integration with MediaTek's existing Android mobile platforms, and the MT6605 software stack complies with the NFC Forum Controller Interface (NCI) specification and works with multiple operating systems.
The chip also incorporates a technology that MediaTek calls "Beam Plus" which optimizes the NFC to WiFi handover procedure and "can reduce device pairing time significantly at very low power operations."
The MT6605 NFC controller is already being designed into smartphones by major customers, says MediaTek, with the first smartphones incorporating the new chips expected to ship in Q2 2013.
In a separate move, MediaTek is also integrating Miracast WiFi display technology with NFC to seamlessly interlink smart TVs with the company's latest quad-core smartphone platform. "With a simple tap of the device," says the company, "it is possible to wirelessly stream HD quality video and other multimedia content such as video and games from mobile and other devices onto big screen HDTVs without connecting through an access point."
The school district was tempted with the lure of an additional $2 million in state funding if it improved school attendance records, and selected John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School to test the pilot program for their Radio Frequency Identification System or RFID.
Students were required to carry identifications implanted with a micro chip as part of the school’s “Student Locator Program.” The identifications sent out a signal which enabled school officials to track students whereabouts during school hours. The identifications turned off at the end of the school day.
United States District Judge Orlando Garcia tossed a request for a preliminary injunction that a sophomore student Andrea Hernandez and her father filed, claiming religious objections. Steven Hernandez said as an evangelical Christian, he felt the chips equated to a biblical mark of the beast.
In a 25-page ruling, the judge ultimately decided the family’s objection that wearing the modified badge would be tantamount to supporting the program was a secular objection not worthy of religious rights protection.
The concern for privacy, the possibility of nefarious uses if the badge stolen, and impinging on civil liberties is valid.
However, those concerns are countered by the nation’s recent violent history of school shootings, numerous examples of illicit activities, including sexual activity and drug use on school campuses, which give administrators the right to to track students whereabouts during school hours.
Parents entrust teachers, faculty and administrators to harbor their children and teens in safe environments when in their custody.
And the overwhelming majority of the 4,200 students that were part of the pilot program agreed and supported the program.
"You never know when a disaster is going to happen and to know where your child is at least you have that card to know where your kid's at all times," parent Michelle Esquivel told a local Fox news affiliate. FOX 29.
The “smart” ID cards in the pilot program, which cost about $260,000, also enabled students to obtain lunch and breakfast in the cafeteria and check out library books, a school official said.
Kids will be kids and in some of the most troubled schools, getting and keeping kids in classrooms is the first step to making sure they are at least marginally educated before they go out into the working world.
Equity Bank and MasterCard on Tuesday announced the launch of Equity Debit and Credit cards featuring MasterCard's PayPass technology. This makes Kenya and Equity Bank the first in Africa to feature MasterCard's PayPass which uses Near Field Technology. The announcement was made on Tuesday afternoon at an event at the bank's headquarters -Equity Centre. The launch was attended by Professor Njuguna Ndung'u, Central Bank Governor, Ajay Banga, President and CEO MasterCard Worldwide, James Mwangi, Equity Group CEO and other senior members of staff at both Equity and MasterCard.
Mwangi says the bank will issue 5 million PayPass enabled cards and also overhaul all POS it has issued to support PayPass. As a safety feature, the cards also feature EMV chip technology rather than the traditional magnetic stripe. In addition, kiosks and other small retailers who are not in a position to afford traditional PoS points will be issued with PayPass enabled mobile phones. With the mobile phones, the kiosks and small retailers will be in a position to accept and process payments from cards issued by Equity Bank.
The same platform will the be extended to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan. The CEO hopes the move will help cement Equity Bank as the leading bank in the region. The bank has 7 million account holders in Kenya.
In a bid to promote uptake of the product, Mwangi said that payments made at kiosks will attract no transaction fee.
Cards in the country grew at 15 percent last year to stand at 10.6 million. Visa holds a majority of share of merchant cards issued in Kenya. Virtually, all merchant cards issued in the country were Visa until Equity Bank's announcement of the MasterCard partnership. The bank holds about half of all bank accounts in Kenya.
Equity Bank runs on a platform supplied by Infosys, HP, Oracle and Microsoft and a Way4 online card management system. It can handle 35 million accounts and process multiple currencies from multiple firms and in multiple countries at 180,000 transactions per minute and support 60 million cards.
The MT6605 "supports simultaneously three secure elements, both embedded and SIM-based," says MediaTek. "A possible usage scenario could be a dual SIM plus one microSD card configuration in one device. It's a great way to empower ecosystem players to launch their NFC services right away by enabling more flexible business models."
The device offers seamless integration with MediaTek's existing Android mobile platforms, and the MT6605 software stack complies with the NFC Forum Controller Interface (NCI) specification and works with multiple operating systems.
The chip also incorporates a technology that MediaTek calls "Beam Plus" which optimizes the NFC to WiFi handover procedure and "can reduce device pairing time significantly at very low power operations."
The MT6605 NFC controller is already being designed into smartphones by major customers, says MediaTek, with the first smartphones incorporating the new chips expected to ship in Q2 2013.
In a separate move, MediaTek is also integrating Miracast WiFi display technology with NFC to seamlessly interlink smart TVs with the company's latest quad-core smartphone platform. "With a simple tap of the device," says the company, "it is possible to wirelessly stream HD quality video and other multimedia content such as video and games from mobile and other devices onto big screen HDTVs without connecting through an access point."
The school district was tempted with the lure of an additional $2 million in state funding if it improved school attendance records, and selected John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School to test the pilot program for their Radio Frequency Identification System or RFID.
Students were required to carry identifications implanted with a micro chip as part of the school’s “Student Locator Program.” The identifications sent out a signal which enabled school officials to track students whereabouts during school hours. The identifications turned off at the end of the school day.
United States District Judge Orlando Garcia tossed a request for a preliminary injunction that a sophomore student Andrea Hernandez and her father filed, claiming religious objections. Steven Hernandez said as an evangelical Christian, he felt the chips equated to a biblical mark of the beast.
In a 25-page ruling, the judge ultimately decided the family’s objection that wearing the modified badge would be tantamount to supporting the program was a secular objection not worthy of religious rights protection.
The concern for privacy, the possibility of nefarious uses if the badge stolen, and impinging on civil liberties is valid.
However, those concerns are countered by the nation’s recent violent history of school shootings, numerous examples of illicit activities, including sexual activity and drug use on school campuses, which give administrators the right to to track students whereabouts during school hours.
Parents entrust teachers, faculty and administrators to harbor their children and teens in safe environments when in their custody.
And the overwhelming majority of the 4,200 students that were part of the pilot program agreed and supported the program.
"You never know when a disaster is going to happen and to know where your child is at least you have that card to know where your kid's at all times," parent Michelle Esquivel told a local Fox news affiliate. FOX 29.
The “smart” ID cards in the pilot program, which cost about $260,000, also enabled students to obtain lunch and breakfast in the cafeteria and check out library books, a school official said.
Kids will be kids and in some of the most troubled schools, getting and keeping kids in classrooms is the first step to making sure they are at least marginally educated before they go out into the working world.
Equity Bank and MasterCard on Tuesday announced the launch of Equity Debit and Credit cards featuring MasterCard's PayPass technology. This makes Kenya and Equity Bank the first in Africa to feature MasterCard's PayPass which uses Near Field Technology. The announcement was made on Tuesday afternoon at an event at the bank's headquarters -Equity Centre. The launch was attended by Professor Njuguna Ndung'u, Central Bank Governor, Ajay Banga, President and CEO MasterCard Worldwide, James Mwangi, Equity Group CEO and other senior members of staff at both Equity and MasterCard.
Mwangi says the bank will issue 5 million PayPass enabled cards and also overhaul all POS it has issued to support PayPass. As a safety feature, the cards also feature EMV chip technology rather than the traditional magnetic stripe. In addition, kiosks and other small retailers who are not in a position to afford traditional PoS points will be issued with PayPass enabled mobile phones. With the mobile phones, the kiosks and small retailers will be in a position to accept and process payments from cards issued by Equity Bank.
The same platform will the be extended to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan. The CEO hopes the move will help cement Equity Bank as the leading bank in the region. The bank has 7 million account holders in Kenya.
In a bid to promote uptake of the product, Mwangi said that payments made at kiosks will attract no transaction fee.
Cards in the country grew at 15 percent last year to stand at 10.6 million. Visa holds a majority of share of merchant cards issued in Kenya. Virtually, all merchant cards issued in the country were Visa until Equity Bank's announcement of the MasterCard partnership. The bank holds about half of all bank accounts in Kenya.
Equity Bank runs on a platform supplied by Infosys, HP, Oracle and Microsoft and a Way4 online card management system. It can handle 35 million accounts and process multiple currencies from multiple firms and in multiple countries at 180,000 transactions per minute and support 60 million cards.
2013年1月13日星期日
Museum of Bad Art loses space in Dedham to exhibit its stuff
Two of my favorite cultural institutions happen to be in the same place: the Dedham Community Theater, which has also, since 1996, been home to the Museum of Bad Art, or MOBA. The museum’s paintings have adorned the walls just outside the men’s room, in the basement. It is a spot worthy of such paintings as “Sunday on the Pot with George” and “Alien Adam and Eve.”
But last month, the theater, whose films, seats, popcorn, and beer I have come to love over the years, started some renovations, and gave the museum three days to get out.
“It was done a little abruptly; we should have had a sendoff party,” concedes theater owner Paul McMurtry, who donated the space free to the paintings. “But we’re turning the basement into another screening room.”
McMurtry, who just began his fourth term as a state representative for Dedham, Westwood, and part of Walpole, says that there’s “been a surge of interest in good art” in Dedham Square, with art stores and galleries.
Yes, but can they compete with MOBA’s “Bone-juggling Dog in Hula Skirt” and “Pablo Presley?” I doubt it.
Louise Reilly Sacco, the “permanent acting interim executive director” of MOBA, has been with the museum since 1994, when her brother Jerry got his first piece of bad art and hung it in his West Roxbury home. It was “Lucy in the Field with Flowers,” which a friend had found in the trash.
“You can’t tell if Lucy is sitting or standing, and the wind is blowing in two directions,” says Sacco. The painting graces the cover of MOBA’s first book.
MOBA has two other locations: the Somerville Theater and the Brookline Access Television Studio. But Dedham has been its flagship, and hundreds of newspaper and magazine stories around the world have chronicled it. “Katie Couric, and German and Indonesian TV have been in there shooting,” says Sacco.
Not only that, but the location also honored the old tradition of theaters in the 1940s and ‘50s selling “art” that it hung on the walls, she says.
The Museum of Bad Art has high standards; it doesn’t just take any old piece. In fact, only 10 percent of what’s offered is accepted. “The first criterion is that it has to be art,” says Sacco. “It has to be sincere, it has to be original.”
The museum will not accept black velvet paintings (“That’s kitsch,” says Sacco), nor will it accept children’s art, tourist or cruise ship art, or motel paintings (“If you’re buying it to match the sofa, it’s not art, it’s decoration”).
Most of the collection comes from flea markets, garage sales, and thrift shops, and even artists themselves. “Almost without exception, artists in our collection are pleased about it,” says Sacco. “It took us a long time to understand that artists want an audience, and we’re giving them that audience, we’re celebrating their work.”
Her favorite, and mine, is an oil on canvas, “Sunday on the Pot with George,” which pictures a porcine man in his underwear sitting on what appears to be a chamber pot. It is done in the pointillism style of French painter Georges Seurat. “Whoever did that had some real skills, and it’s a particular man,” says Sacco.
There’s sentimental, if not artistic, value in “Lucy in the Field with Flowers.” As the museum’s first piece, Sacco is attached to it. Like most of the exhibits, its origins were unknown.
But after the museum’s first book was published, Sacco got a call from a woman who exclaimed, “That’s my Nana!” As it turns out, the woman’s grandmother had died and the maiden aunt living with Nana was bereft, so the family decided to have a painting made of Nana. Somehow, years later, the piece found its way to the trash bin.
“The family was so thrilled they ended up buying dozens of copies of the book,” says Sacco.
Of the nudes in the museum’s permanent collection, Sacco says they were done by “people who don’t know anatomy” or those who “have obviously never seen a naked person.”
Paul McMurtry knows that people enjoy the museum, and he’s getting e-mails asking him to please bring MOBA back. But his business is the theater business.
“We’re one of the top art house theaters in the Boston area,” he says. “We’re reevaluating every square inch of the space. Because of the limited space, we want to focus on screens first.”
The gameplay is just as interesting, and offers a lot of amusement for players on many levels. Anarchy Reigns’ storyline is divided into chapters, each having its own small free-roaming area to explore. Within this location, players are able to move about as they see fit and battle any enemies they encounter, search for collectable concept art, or take on missions – of which there are two different types: Free and Story. Free missions are time-based tasks given to the player to complete, such as killing as many enemies as possible or delivering objects, and Story missions serve to progress the plot – usually featuring a small cutscene relevant to the overall story. To unlock the next task, gamers need to accumulate points from either defeating enemies in aimless battles while free-roaming, or earning them by completing previous tasks they may have left unfinished. Although the Campaigns’ setup makes for some interesting free-roaming fun, it also breaks the story apart from itself. While the cutscenes featured before and after each chapter are very engaging and entertaining, the missions in between have little (if anything) to do with the overall story arc – breaking the otherwise terrific atmosphere. If the missions were more relevant to the plot, gameplay would feel less stretched out and would have fit within the narrative a lot better.
Of course, there are more advanced aspects to combat as well, including Killer Weapon attacks and Rampage mode. The former are special and powerful versions of your basic attacks, which can be triggered by pulling LT and attacking like normal. These moves unleash your special weapon. In Jack’s case, expect to use a dual set of chainsaws hidden in his mechanical arm, for very vicious attacks. In order to use them though, you must fill the Killer Weapon meter by either giving or receiving damage in battle – as a light attack takes one block from the meter and a heavy attack takes two. Rampage is a special mode that can be triggered, which gives temporary invulnerability, unlimited use of your Killer Weapon, and turns standard attacks into flurries of rapid and powerful blows. In order to trigger it, however, the Rampage meter must be full, and it is also filled by taking or dishing out damage. Items also play into combat a bit, as gamers can pick up weapons such as rocket launchers or mines, and defensive items like shields, which can be used at any time by selecting the tool via the D-Pad.
Anarchy Reigns also features an in depth online multiplayer mode, with a plethora of gametypes for players to battle across. Some matches include 16-player free-for-all Battle Royales, simple one-on-one duels, Team Deathmatch, and even a co-operative mode where you and two friends take on wave after wave of enemies. Gamers can search for or create either a private lobby for some competition among friends, or a ranked lobby if they want their stats recorded on the leaderboards. As well, gamers are able to choose between 16 playable characters, six of which were featured in MadWorld, While the basic Deathmatch modes start to lose their fun after a few rounds, the more unique ones like Battle Royale, Death Ball (a twisted take on soccer where gamers fight to get a virtual ball into the other team’s goal), and aforementioned co-op Survival are sure to keep players interested and invested for a longer term. Add in the frantic real time action events that can occur, such as a random carpet bombing, run away truck, or temporary healing stations, and you get wild online matches that are never the same twice. Just watch your connection speeds, as every other round seems to be fairly laggy – sometimes to a near unplayable degree.
But last month, the theater, whose films, seats, popcorn, and beer I have come to love over the years, started some renovations, and gave the museum three days to get out.
“It was done a little abruptly; we should have had a sendoff party,” concedes theater owner Paul McMurtry, who donated the space free to the paintings. “But we’re turning the basement into another screening room.”
McMurtry, who just began his fourth term as a state representative for Dedham, Westwood, and part of Walpole, says that there’s “been a surge of interest in good art” in Dedham Square, with art stores and galleries.
Yes, but can they compete with MOBA’s “Bone-juggling Dog in Hula Skirt” and “Pablo Presley?” I doubt it.
Louise Reilly Sacco, the “permanent acting interim executive director” of MOBA, has been with the museum since 1994, when her brother Jerry got his first piece of bad art and hung it in his West Roxbury home. It was “Lucy in the Field with Flowers,” which a friend had found in the trash.
“You can’t tell if Lucy is sitting or standing, and the wind is blowing in two directions,” says Sacco. The painting graces the cover of MOBA’s first book.
MOBA has two other locations: the Somerville Theater and the Brookline Access Television Studio. But Dedham has been its flagship, and hundreds of newspaper and magazine stories around the world have chronicled it. “Katie Couric, and German and Indonesian TV have been in there shooting,” says Sacco.
Not only that, but the location also honored the old tradition of theaters in the 1940s and ‘50s selling “art” that it hung on the walls, she says.
The Museum of Bad Art has high standards; it doesn’t just take any old piece. In fact, only 10 percent of what’s offered is accepted. “The first criterion is that it has to be art,” says Sacco. “It has to be sincere, it has to be original.”
The museum will not accept black velvet paintings (“That’s kitsch,” says Sacco), nor will it accept children’s art, tourist or cruise ship art, or motel paintings (“If you’re buying it to match the sofa, it’s not art, it’s decoration”).
Most of the collection comes from flea markets, garage sales, and thrift shops, and even artists themselves. “Almost without exception, artists in our collection are pleased about it,” says Sacco. “It took us a long time to understand that artists want an audience, and we’re giving them that audience, we’re celebrating their work.”
Her favorite, and mine, is an oil on canvas, “Sunday on the Pot with George,” which pictures a porcine man in his underwear sitting on what appears to be a chamber pot. It is done in the pointillism style of French painter Georges Seurat. “Whoever did that had some real skills, and it’s a particular man,” says Sacco.
There’s sentimental, if not artistic, value in “Lucy in the Field with Flowers.” As the museum’s first piece, Sacco is attached to it. Like most of the exhibits, its origins were unknown.
But after the museum’s first book was published, Sacco got a call from a woman who exclaimed, “That’s my Nana!” As it turns out, the woman’s grandmother had died and the maiden aunt living with Nana was bereft, so the family decided to have a painting made of Nana. Somehow, years later, the piece found its way to the trash bin.
“The family was so thrilled they ended up buying dozens of copies of the book,” says Sacco.
Of the nudes in the museum’s permanent collection, Sacco says they were done by “people who don’t know anatomy” or those who “have obviously never seen a naked person.”
Paul McMurtry knows that people enjoy the museum, and he’s getting e-mails asking him to please bring MOBA back. But his business is the theater business.
“We’re one of the top art house theaters in the Boston area,” he says. “We’re reevaluating every square inch of the space. Because of the limited space, we want to focus on screens first.”
The gameplay is just as interesting, and offers a lot of amusement for players on many levels. Anarchy Reigns’ storyline is divided into chapters, each having its own small free-roaming area to explore. Within this location, players are able to move about as they see fit and battle any enemies they encounter, search for collectable concept art, or take on missions – of which there are two different types: Free and Story. Free missions are time-based tasks given to the player to complete, such as killing as many enemies as possible or delivering objects, and Story missions serve to progress the plot – usually featuring a small cutscene relevant to the overall story. To unlock the next task, gamers need to accumulate points from either defeating enemies in aimless battles while free-roaming, or earning them by completing previous tasks they may have left unfinished. Although the Campaigns’ setup makes for some interesting free-roaming fun, it also breaks the story apart from itself. While the cutscenes featured before and after each chapter are very engaging and entertaining, the missions in between have little (if anything) to do with the overall story arc – breaking the otherwise terrific atmosphere. If the missions were more relevant to the plot, gameplay would feel less stretched out and would have fit within the narrative a lot better.
Of course, there are more advanced aspects to combat as well, including Killer Weapon attacks and Rampage mode. The former are special and powerful versions of your basic attacks, which can be triggered by pulling LT and attacking like normal. These moves unleash your special weapon. In Jack’s case, expect to use a dual set of chainsaws hidden in his mechanical arm, for very vicious attacks. In order to use them though, you must fill the Killer Weapon meter by either giving or receiving damage in battle – as a light attack takes one block from the meter and a heavy attack takes two. Rampage is a special mode that can be triggered, which gives temporary invulnerability, unlimited use of your Killer Weapon, and turns standard attacks into flurries of rapid and powerful blows. In order to trigger it, however, the Rampage meter must be full, and it is also filled by taking or dishing out damage. Items also play into combat a bit, as gamers can pick up weapons such as rocket launchers or mines, and defensive items like shields, which can be used at any time by selecting the tool via the D-Pad.
Anarchy Reigns also features an in depth online multiplayer mode, with a plethora of gametypes for players to battle across. Some matches include 16-player free-for-all Battle Royales, simple one-on-one duels, Team Deathmatch, and even a co-operative mode where you and two friends take on wave after wave of enemies. Gamers can search for or create either a private lobby for some competition among friends, or a ranked lobby if they want their stats recorded on the leaderboards. As well, gamers are able to choose between 16 playable characters, six of which were featured in MadWorld, While the basic Deathmatch modes start to lose their fun after a few rounds, the more unique ones like Battle Royale, Death Ball (a twisted take on soccer where gamers fight to get a virtual ball into the other team’s goal), and aforementioned co-op Survival are sure to keep players interested and invested for a longer term. Add in the frantic real time action events that can occur, such as a random carpet bombing, run away truck, or temporary healing stations, and you get wild online matches that are never the same twice. Just watch your connection speeds, as every other round seems to be fairly laggy – sometimes to a near unplayable degree.
Gulou demo
The Zhonggulou neighborhood, better known as Gulou, is slated to be demolished to restore the original size and outlook of the Drum and Bell Tower Square in Dongcheng district.
A sign in the window of the House Levy Field Office in the Gulouwan Hutong reads, "In the Zhonggulou neighborhood, we have been old neighbors. In the Shaoyaoju compound, we will be friendly neighbors."
Shaoyaoju in Chaoyang district is the new residence area where the 136 households from 66 courtyards are to be resettled, according to the Dongcheng district government.
Outside the office, on one of its walls, posted demolition and compensation plans have been torn down, an evident protest to the new plans.
The district government announced in a press conference earlier this month that the 66 courtyards in Gulou Dongdajie and Xidajie, Zhonglouwan Hutong and Doufuchi Hutong are to be torn down because they are illegal structures built in the 1970s and have almost no historical value compared to more authentic courtyards in other parts of the city. The demolished area will be used to restore the square and widen roads. The move is also intended to improve the living conditions for residents of the cramped courtyards.
Since the announcement of these plans, Gulou has been in the spotlight, with activists accusing the government of destroying the city's cultural heritage.
The Drum and Bell Tower neighborhood dates back 700 years when the towers were first constructed to help locals keep time. They ceased to function in 1924, and then became a historical and cultural site thanks to the Drum Tower's unique wooden structure. Nowadays it is one of the few lively neighborhoods in Beijing that showcases the authentic, old Beijing lifestyle in hutong, and therefore a popular tourist site for both domestic and foreign tourists.
Views are mixed on whether the courtyards should be demolished to make way for a larger square. Long-time resident Chen, in her 60s, who lives in on one of the houses in the No. 64 courtyard of Zhonglouwan Hutong, was loading her family's furniture onto a truck on Friday afternoon. She's part of the one-fourth who has accepted the compensation deal.
"The houses should really be demolished because they are too shabby to live in. They are not proper courtyards as there is no yard at all," said Chen, who shared a house of 30 square meters with the four generations of her family. "My mother-in-law is quite happy to move since she has never lived in an apartment before."
Wu Wei, an amateur photographer and real estate developer from Beijing, disapproves of the plan. Wu has made several visits to the area since he heard of the latest renovation plan and took Friday afternoon off to take some photos while the natural light was good.
"The Gulou neighborhood is an architectural complex and what it shows is the vivid, everyday life of native Beijing people. A historical place should be about the people living there," said Wu.
"Even though people here are living in cramped houses, they are still striving to make a better life, and that is the human side of old Beijing," Wu said, pointing to several foam-padded boxes placed outside of one courtyard and filled with earth to grow plants and vegetables. "See, that is what old Beijingers are like. They are trying to make a happy life for themselves and those are the scenes that me and my follow amateur photographers would like to capture."
"I would call it 'Qianmenization,' and the renovated Gulou will take the same fake outlook of the renovated Qianmen area," said a local café owner originally from France who asked to stay anonymous. Having run his Gulou-based business for more than two years, he is reluctant to move and is still looking for a new location. Rent in the neighboring area of Nanluoguxiang is much higher than his current place.
News about the renovation of Gulou has been going around for some time. Rumor had it in 2010 that the area would be converted with a 5-billion-yuan budget into a "Beijing Time Cultural City," comprising of restaurants, parking spaces and a museum about timekeeping technology. The plan was scrapped because of a "last-minute shift in upper-level city management that realigned the necessary guanxi," according to an article in the April 2012 issue of Time Out Beijing.
New plans to simply restore the square have aroused suspicion among both cultural heritage experts and locals, and rumors are circulating that the demolished area will eventually be converted into modern, expensive courtyards.
Although locals have been ordered by the Dongcheng district government to move out by February 23, there is no fixed timetable for the renovation or any design plans made public.
The Dongcheng Commission of Urban Planning said it has all the required legal rights to seize the houses, and that design plans would only be mapped out after the courtyards had been cleared out, according to a Beijing News report.
He Shuzhong, founder of the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center, accused the local government of having ulterior motives. He told Metro Beijing last week that the move is "tourism development done under the banner of preserving historic relics" and that history and culture will be destroyed in the process.
"The government overlooked that the houses are also one important component of the whole hutong complex and it would do no good to preserve the city's cultural streets if they are torn down," He said.
A female in her 60s surnamed Zhang lives in a hutong near Zhonglouwan and has strong childhood memories of the area. She said the square was about the same, 4,000-square-meter size it is today when she was growing up and the only difference is that it was a more lively place for locals back then.
"When I was a child, the square was scattered with storytelling folk artists and stands selling different snacks," Zhang said. "The square was not that big, but it had the atmosphere of living in a hutong. If they are going to build a new, modern square, I'm sure it won't have the same atmosphere as before."
A sign in the window of the House Levy Field Office in the Gulouwan Hutong reads, "In the Zhonggulou neighborhood, we have been old neighbors. In the Shaoyaoju compound, we will be friendly neighbors."
Shaoyaoju in Chaoyang district is the new residence area where the 136 households from 66 courtyards are to be resettled, according to the Dongcheng district government.
Outside the office, on one of its walls, posted demolition and compensation plans have been torn down, an evident protest to the new plans.
The district government announced in a press conference earlier this month that the 66 courtyards in Gulou Dongdajie and Xidajie, Zhonglouwan Hutong and Doufuchi Hutong are to be torn down because they are illegal structures built in the 1970s and have almost no historical value compared to more authentic courtyards in other parts of the city. The demolished area will be used to restore the square and widen roads. The move is also intended to improve the living conditions for residents of the cramped courtyards.
Since the announcement of these plans, Gulou has been in the spotlight, with activists accusing the government of destroying the city's cultural heritage.
The Drum and Bell Tower neighborhood dates back 700 years when the towers were first constructed to help locals keep time. They ceased to function in 1924, and then became a historical and cultural site thanks to the Drum Tower's unique wooden structure. Nowadays it is one of the few lively neighborhoods in Beijing that showcases the authentic, old Beijing lifestyle in hutong, and therefore a popular tourist site for both domestic and foreign tourists.
Views are mixed on whether the courtyards should be demolished to make way for a larger square. Long-time resident Chen, in her 60s, who lives in on one of the houses in the No. 64 courtyard of Zhonglouwan Hutong, was loading her family's furniture onto a truck on Friday afternoon. She's part of the one-fourth who has accepted the compensation deal.
"The houses should really be demolished because they are too shabby to live in. They are not proper courtyards as there is no yard at all," said Chen, who shared a house of 30 square meters with the four generations of her family. "My mother-in-law is quite happy to move since she has never lived in an apartment before."
Wu Wei, an amateur photographer and real estate developer from Beijing, disapproves of the plan. Wu has made several visits to the area since he heard of the latest renovation plan and took Friday afternoon off to take some photos while the natural light was good.
"The Gulou neighborhood is an architectural complex and what it shows is the vivid, everyday life of native Beijing people. A historical place should be about the people living there," said Wu.
"Even though people here are living in cramped houses, they are still striving to make a better life, and that is the human side of old Beijing," Wu said, pointing to several foam-padded boxes placed outside of one courtyard and filled with earth to grow plants and vegetables. "See, that is what old Beijingers are like. They are trying to make a happy life for themselves and those are the scenes that me and my follow amateur photographers would like to capture."
"I would call it 'Qianmenization,' and the renovated Gulou will take the same fake outlook of the renovated Qianmen area," said a local café owner originally from France who asked to stay anonymous. Having run his Gulou-based business for more than two years, he is reluctant to move and is still looking for a new location. Rent in the neighboring area of Nanluoguxiang is much higher than his current place.
News about the renovation of Gulou has been going around for some time. Rumor had it in 2010 that the area would be converted with a 5-billion-yuan budget into a "Beijing Time Cultural City," comprising of restaurants, parking spaces and a museum about timekeeping technology. The plan was scrapped because of a "last-minute shift in upper-level city management that realigned the necessary guanxi," according to an article in the April 2012 issue of Time Out Beijing.
New plans to simply restore the square have aroused suspicion among both cultural heritage experts and locals, and rumors are circulating that the demolished area will eventually be converted into modern, expensive courtyards.
Although locals have been ordered by the Dongcheng district government to move out by February 23, there is no fixed timetable for the renovation or any design plans made public.
The Dongcheng Commission of Urban Planning said it has all the required legal rights to seize the houses, and that design plans would only be mapped out after the courtyards had been cleared out, according to a Beijing News report.
He Shuzhong, founder of the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center, accused the local government of having ulterior motives. He told Metro Beijing last week that the move is "tourism development done under the banner of preserving historic relics" and that history and culture will be destroyed in the process.
"The government overlooked that the houses are also one important component of the whole hutong complex and it would do no good to preserve the city's cultural streets if they are torn down," He said.
A female in her 60s surnamed Zhang lives in a hutong near Zhonglouwan and has strong childhood memories of the area. She said the square was about the same, 4,000-square-meter size it is today when she was growing up and the only difference is that it was a more lively place for locals back then.
"When I was a child, the square was scattered with storytelling folk artists and stands selling different snacks," Zhang said. "The square was not that big, but it had the atmosphere of living in a hutong. If they are going to build a new, modern square, I'm sure it won't have the same atmosphere as before."
2013年1月10日星期四
Game-manager point-guard quarterback
There have been some really great articles about Russell Wilson on the site these past couple of days - Jacob addressed some of the concerns with Wilson's play that have popped up over the past few weeks, his downfield vision, accuracy, and play outside the pocket, and Kenneth broke down Wilson's season from a statistical point of view in amazing detail - so I'm not going to spend too much more time on the subject, but there were a few things I wanted to talk about from a macro point of view. Because, there have been some interesting perspectives presented this week from analysts I respect, that go against the national media narrative which will likely focus on Wilson as a runner.
As Greg Cosell puts it, "The more quarterbacks run, the more that mentality takes hold. You've got to be really careful with that stuff, and it's easy to be hypnotized by all that." Yes, it is. It's also easy to be hypnotized by how damn well it has been working, and want your team to do it more and more. You have to be careful with that stuff, though.
The read-option may be here to stay as one weapon in a team's arsenal, and even though the pistol can play a role in a team's offensive game-plan , the bottom line, long term, big picture, is that you want to limit the amount of times your quarterback gets hit, period. That means, you want your offensive foundation to follow this simple structure: your quarterback passes, your running back runs the ball.
For Pete Carroll and Tom Cable and Darrell Bevell - all three of whom seem to be 'football purists,' this type of football is the all-time best way to consistently win, especially late in the year (which we're now in). Mitigate as many detracting variables from the Super Bowl winning equation as possible: having an injured starting quarterback is one of the most compounding variables out there. Ask the Redskins.
As Greg Cosell puts it, "The more quarterbacks run, the more that mentality takes hold. You've got to be really careful with that stuff, and it's easy to be hypnotized by all that." Yes, it is. It's also easy to be hypnotized by how damn well it has been working, and want your team to do it more and more. You have to be careful with that stuff, though.
The read-option may be here to stay as one weapon in a team's arsenal , and even though the pistol can play a role in a team's offensive game-plan, the bottom line, long term, big picture, is that you want to limit the amount of times your quarterback gets hit, period. That means, you want your offensive foundation to follow this simple structure: your quarterback passes, your running back runs the ball.
For Pete Carroll and Tom Cable and Darrell Bevell - all three of whom seem to be 'football purists,' this type of football is the all-time best way to consistently win, especially late in the year (which we're now in). Mitigate as many detracting variables from the Super Bowl winning equation as possible: having an injured starting quarterback is one of the most compounding variables out there. Ask the Redskins.
The injury to RG3, which Carroll witnessed up close and personal, and the history of injuries that Carroll witnessed with Steve Young don't necessarily mean the Seahawks will move away completely from featuring the read-option or pistol during these Playoffs (and less importantly to the discussion this week, into next year). It just means, most likely, (and I begrudgingly hope) that it will be just one portion of their play-sheet, and probably a relatively minor auxiliary portion. This is what happened versus the Redskins -- Seattle saved the read-option stuff, mostly, until late in the game, when they really needed it.
I could be underestimating the conservative approach with it, of course, but the point-guard quarterback theme that Carroll has talked about implies that he wants his quarterback to be distributing the football to offensive playmakers, not trying to make all the plays himself. He's not looking for Allen Iverson, he's looking for, say, Chris Paul, maybe.
The Seahawks' still-conservative approach to the read-option (I say that even though they run it more than any other team... but it's still a fraction of their plays), for the most part, aligns with the way that they've managed Wilson and their offense. As Davis Hsu framed it: before unveiling read zone midway through this year, the Seahawks laid the foundation of total commitment to zone scheme with Tom Cable, Marshawn Lynch, their offensive line top-heavy drafting and commitment to the run these past few seasons. Only THEN did they focus more strongly on deep shots out of play action. Only THEN did they implement the zone-read. They needed a strong foundation and four walls before they could start adding on extra wings and a mother-in-law in the backyard by the pool.
It has helped that Carroll has loosened the reins on Wilson, as Wilson has proven the ability/willingness to slide and protect himself from big hits. However, even Russell Wilson's uncanny ability to avoid hits and protect himself will get tested here and there, and the lick he took to the head near the goal-line last week against Washington is an easy reminder that dudes in the NFL are big, strong, fast and explosive. Asking Wilson to get downfield too often, amongst the ever-increasing-speed of linebackers and safeties, is probably tempting fate. Besides, and here's the important thing, Russell Wilson appears to be a guy that can make his money from the pocket/behind the line of scrimmage.
Now, I differentiate from Wilson making his money as a total 'pocket passer' because it doesn't seem like that's honestly what the Seahawks want him to be anyway. John Schneider's told Brock and Salk some of the traits he looks for in a quarterback, long before he drafted Wilson, a quote I keep coming back to because I think it's a good summation:
"How does he manage the game? What's he like on third downs? How does he handle pressure? Is he staring at the pressure coming at him or does he keep his eyes down the field? Can he square his shoulders, can he back out? Can he move? You have to be able to move in this league. I mean, Brock will tell you, we were in Oakland [the infamous Halloween massacre to the Raiders in 2010], I wasn't sure we were going to be able to bring the guy [Hasselbeck] home.
As Greg Cosell puts it, "The more quarterbacks run, the more that mentality takes hold. You've got to be really careful with that stuff, and it's easy to be hypnotized by all that." Yes, it is. It's also easy to be hypnotized by how damn well it has been working, and want your team to do it more and more. You have to be careful with that stuff, though.
The read-option may be here to stay as one weapon in a team's arsenal, and even though the pistol can play a role in a team's offensive game-plan , the bottom line, long term, big picture, is that you want to limit the amount of times your quarterback gets hit, period. That means, you want your offensive foundation to follow this simple structure: your quarterback passes, your running back runs the ball.
For Pete Carroll and Tom Cable and Darrell Bevell - all three of whom seem to be 'football purists,' this type of football is the all-time best way to consistently win, especially late in the year (which we're now in). Mitigate as many detracting variables from the Super Bowl winning equation as possible: having an injured starting quarterback is one of the most compounding variables out there. Ask the Redskins.
As Greg Cosell puts it, "The more quarterbacks run, the more that mentality takes hold. You've got to be really careful with that stuff, and it's easy to be hypnotized by all that." Yes, it is. It's also easy to be hypnotized by how damn well it has been working, and want your team to do it more and more. You have to be careful with that stuff, though.
The read-option may be here to stay as one weapon in a team's arsenal , and even though the pistol can play a role in a team's offensive game-plan, the bottom line, long term, big picture, is that you want to limit the amount of times your quarterback gets hit, period. That means, you want your offensive foundation to follow this simple structure: your quarterback passes, your running back runs the ball.
For Pete Carroll and Tom Cable and Darrell Bevell - all three of whom seem to be 'football purists,' this type of football is the all-time best way to consistently win, especially late in the year (which we're now in). Mitigate as many detracting variables from the Super Bowl winning equation as possible: having an injured starting quarterback is one of the most compounding variables out there. Ask the Redskins.
The injury to RG3, which Carroll witnessed up close and personal, and the history of injuries that Carroll witnessed with Steve Young don't necessarily mean the Seahawks will move away completely from featuring the read-option or pistol during these Playoffs (and less importantly to the discussion this week, into next year). It just means, most likely, (and I begrudgingly hope) that it will be just one portion of their play-sheet, and probably a relatively minor auxiliary portion. This is what happened versus the Redskins -- Seattle saved the read-option stuff, mostly, until late in the game, when they really needed it.
I could be underestimating the conservative approach with it, of course, but the point-guard quarterback theme that Carroll has talked about implies that he wants his quarterback to be distributing the football to offensive playmakers, not trying to make all the plays himself. He's not looking for Allen Iverson, he's looking for, say, Chris Paul, maybe.
The Seahawks' still-conservative approach to the read-option (I say that even though they run it more than any other team... but it's still a fraction of their plays), for the most part, aligns with the way that they've managed Wilson and their offense. As Davis Hsu framed it: before unveiling read zone midway through this year, the Seahawks laid the foundation of total commitment to zone scheme with Tom Cable, Marshawn Lynch, their offensive line top-heavy drafting and commitment to the run these past few seasons. Only THEN did they focus more strongly on deep shots out of play action. Only THEN did they implement the zone-read. They needed a strong foundation and four walls before they could start adding on extra wings and a mother-in-law in the backyard by the pool.
It has helped that Carroll has loosened the reins on Wilson, as Wilson has proven the ability/willingness to slide and protect himself from big hits. However, even Russell Wilson's uncanny ability to avoid hits and protect himself will get tested here and there, and the lick he took to the head near the goal-line last week against Washington is an easy reminder that dudes in the NFL are big, strong, fast and explosive. Asking Wilson to get downfield too often, amongst the ever-increasing-speed of linebackers and safeties, is probably tempting fate. Besides, and here's the important thing, Russell Wilson appears to be a guy that can make his money from the pocket/behind the line of scrimmage.
Now, I differentiate from Wilson making his money as a total 'pocket passer' because it doesn't seem like that's honestly what the Seahawks want him to be anyway. John Schneider's told Brock and Salk some of the traits he looks for in a quarterback, long before he drafted Wilson, a quote I keep coming back to because I think it's a good summation:
"How does he manage the game? What's he like on third downs? How does he handle pressure? Is he staring at the pressure coming at him or does he keep his eyes down the field? Can he square his shoulders, can he back out? Can he move? You have to be able to move in this league. I mean, Brock will tell you, we were in Oakland [the infamous Halloween massacre to the Raiders in 2010], I wasn't sure we were going to be able to bring the guy [Hasselbeck] home.
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