A small cafe and convenience store on Washington Road is a “real throwback” that has thrived for two decades.
The Hungry Horse Cafe celebrated its 20th anniversary on Saturday. Owner Pat Phelan, 60, celebrated by doing what he does every day: biking to the store at 5 a.m. to bake fresh pastries and get ready for another day of serving breakfast and lunch to his loyal customers.
“Everything here is fresh,” he said. “We bake just enough to get us through the day.”
Phelan's strategy for longevity is simple. He strives to keep overhead low so he can continue to provide low prices on coffee, bacon and eggs, and sandwiches and subs. He said some customers have actually told him he should raise prices, but that's just not his way. He said the only time he raises prices is when it is truly necessary, like when a California frost recently damaged lettuce crops and inflated the price of the leafy vegetable.
“I hate like hell to raise prices. You have to do it sometimes,” he said.
Like most eateries, the economy has made things difficult for the Hungry Horse. Phelan noted it is a popular spot for contractors, and that when landscapers and roofers have less business, so does he. The rising price of gas and other costs of living don't help, either, he said.
“It's a struggle in the food business this time of year,” he said. “Talking to sales reps, they all say the same thing.”
But Hungry Horse continues to trot forward, thanks to the relationships forged with its customers. Phelan said the cafe has its share of regulars who show up right on schedule.
“I come back here for the people,” said Matt Willmer, who lives down the road and eats lunch at Hungry Horse three times a week. “They're good to me and always have been.”
He said his children like joining him on trips to the cafe because “they like the fact they can order their sandwich any way they want.”
Despite its success, Phelan was skeptical about the store's chances when his business partner, John Abbott, first pitched the idea after the two had success working together at their Honeybee Donut Shop in Seabrook. Abbott owns the North Hampton Grocery on Route 1 as well as the building that houses the Hungry Horse.
Phelan said he thought the location was too obscure to be a success, until he sat inside one day and watched the traffic drive by.
“I sat in here one day and I watched the cars go by and thought, 'Maybe I'll make a go of this,'” he said.
Phelan noted that some things have changed since 1993, while others have remained the same. He brews less coffee daily now, from 25 to 30 pots a day down to 12 to 15, which he blames on the proliferation of Keurig coffee brewers. He also noticed that people are more conscious about spending and health nowadays, and are more likely to opt for a smaller bag of chips or drink.
But through it all, Phelan remains a “real throwback.” He doesn't own a cell phone, and his store doesn't have its own Facebook page. He tried to create a Web site for it, but found out the town of Hungry Horse, Mont., had already taken the good names.
When he played Hamlet as a young man, Richard Briers, who has died aged 79 after suffering from a lung condition, said he was the first Prince of Denmark to give the audience half an hour in the pub afterwards. He was nothing if not quick. In fact, wrote the veteran critic WA Darlington, he played Hamlet "like a demented typewriter". Briers, always the most modest and self-deprecating of actors, and the sweetest of men, relished the review, happy to claim a place in the light comedians' gallery of his knighted idols Charles Hawtrey, Gerald du Maurier and No?l Coward.
"People don't realise how good an actor Dickie Briers really is," said John Gielgud. This was probably because of his sunny, cheerful disposition and the rat-a-tat articulacy of his delivery. "You're a great farceur," said Coward, delivering another testimony, "because you never, ever, hang about."
Although he excelled in the plays of Alan Ayckbourn, and became a national figure in his television sitcoms of the 1970s and 80s, notably The Good Life, he could mine hidden depths on stage, giving notable performances in Ibsen, Chekhov and, for Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance company, Shakespeare.
Paired with Felicity Kendal as his wife, Barbara, and pitted against their formidable, snobbish neighbour Margo Leadbetter (Penelope Keith) and her docile husband, Jerry (Paul Eddington), he gave one of the classic good-natured comedy sitcom performances of our time. Briers was already an established West End star when he started in The Good Life. In the same year as the first series, he up-ended expectation as Colin in Absent Friends, Ayckbourn's bitter comedy about death, and the death of love, at the Garrick theatre. Like the playwright, he proved once and for all that he "did" bleak, too.
Briers was born in Raynes Park, south-west London, and educated at schools in Wimbledon. He described his bookmaker father, Joseph, as a feckless drifter. His mother, Morna Richardson, was a pianist. Richard's cousin was the gap-toothed film star Terry-Thomas. While doing his national service with the RAF, Briers attended evening classes in drama. He then worked as an office clerk before taking a place at Rada, where he won the silver medal. He won a scholarship to the Liverpool Rep for the season of 1956-57 and was never out of work thereafter. At Liverpool he met Ann Davies, whom he married in 1957; they spent most of their married life in Chiswick, west London, in a house they bought around 10 years later.
Seasons in Leatherhead and Coventry were followed by a London debut in 1959 at the Duke of York's as Joseph Field in Lionel Hale's Gilt and Gingerbread. He played in Harold Pinter's A Slight Ache at the Arts theatre and went on tour as Gerald Popkiss in Ben Travers's Rookery Nook, before giving an irresistible Roland Maule, the importunate playwright from Uckfield, in Coward's Present Laughter, at the Vaudeville in 1965.
He was back at the Duke of York's in Ayckbourn's first London hit, Relatively Speaking, in 1967, forming a wonderful quartet with Celia Johnson, Jennifer Hilary and Michael Hordern, who inadvertently trod on a garden rake that sprang up to hit him on the nose ("What hoe?!"). He was Moon, the stand-in critic, in Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound at the Criterion in 1968 ("a performance of sharp hopelessness and vindictiveness," said Helen Dawson), and played several roles in Michael Frayn's The Two of Us, with Lynn Redgrave, at the Garrick in 1970. He took over from Alan Bates in Simon Gray's Butley in 1972 and proceeded, he said genially, to empty theatres all over Britain in the leading role of Richard III on tour.
2013年2月18日星期一
2012年3月31日星期六
Journey of a CFO to Customer Experience Expert
At first glance many would assume that with a CFO background I wouldn’t have the right traits to be responsible for a customer experience management program. After all, customer experience is about people while finance is about numbers. Customer experience deals with emotions while finance involves facts. However, here I am today doing just that. I sit in front of customers and prospects weekly helping them answer the question, “I know it is right to invest in our customer experience, but how do I justify the economic value to my stakeholders?”
My financial background blended with my customer experience knowledge and helps me attribute specific value to their business problems. In my role I lead processes for:
Trends identified through reporting that can be applied to solve real business issues
Customer-focused, customer-lead benchmarks and measurements against goals with a definable, measurable ROI attached
Honest sales processes that practice what they preach and are not afraid to walk away from a situation if value cannot be delivered.
I am not saying it is easy. In a solution game where by its very definition we are focused on ‘soft dollar impacts’ like saving time, searching for information, finding what we need fast versus finding hard ROI examples and defining them credibly is a challenge. However, when you find that right situation—when the need is real, when the customer knows they have a need and believes in the measurement of improvement—it is then that you know you truly enjoy what you do and a ‘win-win’ isn’t just a cliché.
Most often the value of search-based success is in findability. Companies, especially companies that have annual revenues exceeding a billion per year, already have the answers—they simply cannot find them. The problem may be cultural more than technical; the very DNA of the organization is often a main reason the right answer can’t find their customer, but with the right technology in place, with the best practices-based processes around it, with good people focused at the target of improvement, findability can be turned from a liability into an asset.
In proving the value of finadability in a customer experience setting, a finance-based mind finds its playground. Attributes of what drives a company to succeed are everywhere in this Rubix cube of possibilities, such as:
Talking to the front lines that deal with the customer’s customer. What are their needs? How do you solve what they are looking for? What gets in your way to finding the right answers for them?
Measuring the impact of what that improvement may look like. What if you held them on the phone for an extra one minute to present an add-on upsell? What if the total time of the call reduced, even with this extra revenue opportunity?
Enabling a team to meet its goals, even beyond what they imagine can be done. Mobile access to real-time information about an account in the hands of a sales person as they walk into an appointment ensures fewer surprises—and maybe just one additional sale per year, per Rep—which has a game changing impact.
It isn’t hard for any executive to picture these improvements. The magic is when it is translated into bottom line impact, validated in conjunction with their teams, their customers, and their trusted internal advisors up front. When it’s followed-up on, vetted, measured, re-estimated, and then included in the budget for the following year based on quantifiable results, the magic heightens.
The intersection of finance-type metrics with explosive sales-based results is the intersection where value lives. This is the thing that excites any results-driven CFO and what led me to customer experience management and thus began my journey.
My financial background blended with my customer experience knowledge and helps me attribute specific value to their business problems. In my role I lead processes for:
Trends identified through reporting that can be applied to solve real business issues
Customer-focused, customer-lead benchmarks and measurements against goals with a definable, measurable ROI attached
Honest sales processes that practice what they preach and are not afraid to walk away from a situation if value cannot be delivered.
I am not saying it is easy. In a solution game where by its very definition we are focused on ‘soft dollar impacts’ like saving time, searching for information, finding what we need fast versus finding hard ROI examples and defining them credibly is a challenge. However, when you find that right situation—when the need is real, when the customer knows they have a need and believes in the measurement of improvement—it is then that you know you truly enjoy what you do and a ‘win-win’ isn’t just a cliché.
Most often the value of search-based success is in findability. Companies, especially companies that have annual revenues exceeding a billion per year, already have the answers—they simply cannot find them. The problem may be cultural more than technical; the very DNA of the organization is often a main reason the right answer can’t find their customer, but with the right technology in place, with the best practices-based processes around it, with good people focused at the target of improvement, findability can be turned from a liability into an asset.
In proving the value of finadability in a customer experience setting, a finance-based mind finds its playground. Attributes of what drives a company to succeed are everywhere in this Rubix cube of possibilities, such as:
Talking to the front lines that deal with the customer’s customer. What are their needs? How do you solve what they are looking for? What gets in your way to finding the right answers for them?
Measuring the impact of what that improvement may look like. What if you held them on the phone for an extra one minute to present an add-on upsell? What if the total time of the call reduced, even with this extra revenue opportunity?
Enabling a team to meet its goals, even beyond what they imagine can be done. Mobile access to real-time information about an account in the hands of a sales person as they walk into an appointment ensures fewer surprises—and maybe just one additional sale per year, per Rep—which has a game changing impact.
It isn’t hard for any executive to picture these improvements. The magic is when it is translated into bottom line impact, validated in conjunction with their teams, their customers, and their trusted internal advisors up front. When it’s followed-up on, vetted, measured, re-estimated, and then included in the budget for the following year based on quantifiable results, the magic heightens.
The intersection of finance-type metrics with explosive sales-based results is the intersection where value lives. This is the thing that excites any results-driven CFO and what led me to customer experience management and thus began my journey.
2012年3月5日星期一
21 Jump Street
Hill, who pitched the pic's producers on attempting "21 Jump Street" as an action-comedy, was 23 when he shot "Superbad," and already he looked too old to pass as a high schooler. Now 28, the star has shed his baby fat and appears undeniably adult. Pair him with Tatum, 31, and there's no way teens would mistake the duo as two of their own -- a paradox that sets the tone for the film's patently absurdist approach, which uses our willing acceptance of ridiculous genre conventions as a clothesline on which to hang its ruthlessly immature sense of humor.
High school was hell for Schmidt , a book-smart outcast with braces and a bad Eminem-style dye job. Jocks like Jenko had it relatively easy, though both were forced to sit out prom. That's why their first big assignment after graduating from police academy -- to infiltrate a high-school drug ring -- feels less like punishment than a chance for a "do-over." Older and wiser, the mismatched partners plan to apply the lessons learned the first time around to the case, only to discover that things have changed since they were in school.
Now, tolerance is cool, bullying is uncouth, and the popular kids all look like well-coiffed extras from the Disney Channel. "I totally know the cause: 'Glee,'" sneers Tatum, who hasn't looked this comfortable onscreen since "Step Up," embracing the awkwardness as he attempts to blend in with the science nerds, while Hill's character fumbles his way through flirting with a student suspect .
The operative idea here is that two guys who would have been rivals in high school have to buddy up to make it as cops. But instead of complementing one another, brainy Schmidt and brawny Jenko merely bring each other down, botching their first arrest attempt. After that debacle, the duo are reassigned to a canceled undercover project from the '80s overseen by a surly captain . "All they do now is recycle shit from the past and expect us not to notice," quips their chief , in a line that hints at just how little respect the script, by "Project X" scribe Michael Bacall, shows its source.
Most of the humor concerns how inappropriate the language, behavior and attitudes are for the high-school setting, especially coming from grown men expected to act as role models: When it comes time to earn the drug dealers' trust, they steal weed from the evidence lockup and throw the ultimate high-school party. These two may not look like teens, but they sure as heck don't behave like cops.
Given the cartoonish way co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller approach the premise, it should come as no surprise that the two got their start in animation. Together, they made the disaster-movie spoof "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," and they apply that same wink-wink sensibility to their live-action debut. Such a flip attitude serves the comedy well , but belies just how insincerely everyone involved feels toward the story's emotional core.
Maybe those raised on a diet of "Family Guy" don't require the courtesy of a script that cares about its main characters, but why bother packaging the story as a male-bonding experience if the plan is merely to undermine it with vulgarities and homophobia? Where "Superbad" set the standard for mixing high-school sentimentality with gross-out humor, this lesser effort seems content redefining audiences' idea of "dirty cops."
Bringing composer Mark Mothersbaugh along for the high-energy assignment, the helmers make slick use of their new live-action collaborators. Considering that hardly anyone was asking for a "21 Jump Street" reboot, they've put their own playful stamp on it -- which just goes to show what happens when a bunch of pot-positive cut-ups get their hands on a relic of Reagan-era anti-drug hysteria.
High school was hell for Schmidt , a book-smart outcast with braces and a bad Eminem-style dye job. Jocks like Jenko had it relatively easy, though both were forced to sit out prom. That's why their first big assignment after graduating from police academy -- to infiltrate a high-school drug ring -- feels less like punishment than a chance for a "do-over." Older and wiser, the mismatched partners plan to apply the lessons learned the first time around to the case, only to discover that things have changed since they were in school.
Now, tolerance is cool, bullying is uncouth, and the popular kids all look like well-coiffed extras from the Disney Channel. "I totally know the cause: 'Glee,'" sneers Tatum, who hasn't looked this comfortable onscreen since "Step Up," embracing the awkwardness as he attempts to blend in with the science nerds, while Hill's character fumbles his way through flirting with a student suspect .
The operative idea here is that two guys who would have been rivals in high school have to buddy up to make it as cops. But instead of complementing one another, brainy Schmidt and brawny Jenko merely bring each other down, botching their first arrest attempt. After that debacle, the duo are reassigned to a canceled undercover project from the '80s overseen by a surly captain . "All they do now is recycle shit from the past and expect us not to notice," quips their chief , in a line that hints at just how little respect the script, by "Project X" scribe Michael Bacall, shows its source.
Most of the humor concerns how inappropriate the language, behavior and attitudes are for the high-school setting, especially coming from grown men expected to act as role models: When it comes time to earn the drug dealers' trust, they steal weed from the evidence lockup and throw the ultimate high-school party. These two may not look like teens, but they sure as heck don't behave like cops.
Given the cartoonish way co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller approach the premise, it should come as no surprise that the two got their start in animation. Together, they made the disaster-movie spoof "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," and they apply that same wink-wink sensibility to their live-action debut. Such a flip attitude serves the comedy well , but belies just how insincerely everyone involved feels toward the story's emotional core.
Maybe those raised on a diet of "Family Guy" don't require the courtesy of a script that cares about its main characters, but why bother packaging the story as a male-bonding experience if the plan is merely to undermine it with vulgarities and homophobia? Where "Superbad" set the standard for mixing high-school sentimentality with gross-out humor, this lesser effort seems content redefining audiences' idea of "dirty cops."
Bringing composer Mark Mothersbaugh along for the high-energy assignment, the helmers make slick use of their new live-action collaborators. Considering that hardly anyone was asking for a "21 Jump Street" reboot, they've put their own playful stamp on it -- which just goes to show what happens when a bunch of pot-positive cut-ups get their hands on a relic of Reagan-era anti-drug hysteria.
2012年2月20日星期一
Ghibli creates animated magic in ‘Secret World of Arrietty’
In Japan, Studio Ghibli plays a role akin to Disney's place in American culture. Its wonderfully inventive films are celebrated as classics, with 2002's "Spirited Away" out-grossing "Titanic" to become the most successful movie in Japanese history.
As Ghibli's cofounder Hayao Miyazaki nears retirement age, however, the question looms of who will carry on the studio's legacy. In light of this, Ghibli's new film "The Secret World of Arrietty" can be seen as a test run for first-time director Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Fortunately, it's a test he passes with flying colors.
The film follows Arrietty, a 14-year-old - and 4-inch-tall - girl from a family of borrowers who live underneath the floorboards of humans' homes, taking only necessities that won't be missed. As Arrietty begins to embark on her own borrowing expeditions, she is spotted by a sickly boy awaiting heart surgery, and her family must decide whether to trust the big people or move on to a new home.
It's a simple story, but Yonebayashi has stretched this tale to its absolute limits, cramming more beauty and wonder into the film's 94 minutes than you'd think possible, considering that the entire film takes place within a single house. The art is downright gorgeous, and the attention to detail is breathtaking - in one scene, Arrietty stands behind a leaf of ivy, and you can see each of the tiny veins that run through the plant's translucent surface. The film transitions seamlessly between the humans' and the borrowers' view of a room, the latter of which casts a kitchen as an epic canyon that the borrowers must traverse in pursuit of a sugar cube. All the while, Cecile Corbel's lovely score gives the film a feel distinct from previous Studio Ghibli movies, yet no less magical.
All of these elements lead to a fantastic viewing experience, but what sets Ghibli movies apart is their heart, and "Arrietty" definitely has it. You'll find yourself immersed in an enchanting world for the length of the movie, genuinely concerned over not only Arrietty's plight, but also that of the ailing human she encounters.
Looking forward, it seems the future of Studio Ghibli is in good hands, because "Arrietty" isn't simply a magnificent work of animation, it's one of the best films - animated or otherwise - you'll see all year.
As Ghibli's cofounder Hayao Miyazaki nears retirement age, however, the question looms of who will carry on the studio's legacy. In light of this, Ghibli's new film "The Secret World of Arrietty" can be seen as a test run for first-time director Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Fortunately, it's a test he passes with flying colors.
The film follows Arrietty, a 14-year-old - and 4-inch-tall - girl from a family of borrowers who live underneath the floorboards of humans' homes, taking only necessities that won't be missed. As Arrietty begins to embark on her own borrowing expeditions, she is spotted by a sickly boy awaiting heart surgery, and her family must decide whether to trust the big people or move on to a new home.
It's a simple story, but Yonebayashi has stretched this tale to its absolute limits, cramming more beauty and wonder into the film's 94 minutes than you'd think possible, considering that the entire film takes place within a single house. The art is downright gorgeous, and the attention to detail is breathtaking - in one scene, Arrietty stands behind a leaf of ivy, and you can see each of the tiny veins that run through the plant's translucent surface. The film transitions seamlessly between the humans' and the borrowers' view of a room, the latter of which casts a kitchen as an epic canyon that the borrowers must traverse in pursuit of a sugar cube. All the while, Cecile Corbel's lovely score gives the film a feel distinct from previous Studio Ghibli movies, yet no less magical.
All of these elements lead to a fantastic viewing experience, but what sets Ghibli movies apart is their heart, and "Arrietty" definitely has it. You'll find yourself immersed in an enchanting world for the length of the movie, genuinely concerned over not only Arrietty's plight, but also that of the ailing human she encounters.
Looking forward, it seems the future of Studio Ghibli is in good hands, because "Arrietty" isn't simply a magnificent work of animation, it's one of the best films - animated or otherwise - you'll see all year.
2012年1月16日星期一
THIS TOO SHALL PASS: “The Impatient Patient ”
I hurt my lower back at work on New Year's Eve preventing two patients from falling. On suggestion by my supervisor, I have made an appointment at the occupational therapy clinic at the local hospital for today, as the condition is not as better by now as it should be. I will not be going to work tonight which is good for my back but not for my mind.
My job is enjoyable, and my coworkers fun. I will be stuck at home not even able to do housework which involves lifting anything beyond standing in one place.
One can never push the “pause” button in life, so it just keeps on going, and these days faster than ever! I am remembering all the times I have said, “I wish I could just sit and read a book once in a while!”
I will be much more careful what I wish for in the future! Of course, I say that now.
Caretakers usually make very bad patients. We are supposed to take care of others, not the reverse! I detest asking anyone to do anything for me, and I only ask if it's something I am not able to do myself. Just the other day I asked Tim to show me he checks transmission fluid so that I can keep an eye on it myself in the future. I like being as self sufficient as possible, and have been since I was a little girl.
All I can see around me as I let my gaze take in the living room and part of the kitchen from here at the computer, are the things I left undone last week, which I dearly wish I had made time to finish then! Perhaps I need one of those fuzzy sleep blindfolds to make it all just disappear for a while?
I am also worrying about how my absence at work tonight will affect my coworkers who are already stretched to the limit by the many needs of our many patients. I hope this works out to give someone a little overtime!
It is 8:26 tonight after the appointment. A very nice Nurse Practitioner diagnosed my problem as “unspecified back disorders, Piriformis Strain”. Say what? Another term for pulled muscle...
I have a physical therapy intake on Monday afternoon to plan the strategy of relaxing the ornery muscle. WHEN will the actual therapy begin? The muscle will be fine sooner than all the paperwork is done!
In the past, we all who are caretakers, have had a pulled muscle, a sore shoulder, painful feet, scratches and even bites! Ours is not an easy job, but it's a very rewarding one, just not for the faint of heart.
It's good that there are places to go to for help with such things as pulled muscles. The Nurse told me to fill a water bottle half way and freeze it and sit on it, and roll around on it which will help the muscle to release. Chiropractors do adjustments to make a muscle spasm release, and usually it is possible to use an ice cube to freeze each end of a cramped muscle to make it release, but the muscle giving me trouble is apparently a large one deep in the area which has many connections which make it hard to use an ice cube. The frozen water bottle appears to be working just fine as I sit on it whilst typing.
Since I work part time, I will have used up my few vacation hours after Monday. It's amazing good luck that this is my weekend off. I can only imagine the horror of this situation for my coworkers who have small children to support and health insurance to pay for. This event is making me wonder if I should get one of those Aflak ducks we see on TV who come and hand us cash when we are out of work through injury! I always did like ducks...
I find all my focus is right there under the water bottle and the momentary chaos it has all caused. AGH! How easily the mind wraps itself around things. Even when I walk, I am conscious of moving in as normal a way as I can so as not to throw my left side off through over compensation of favoring the sore right side.
As the world turned last night, and God knows what was going on s far as wars, killings, fires, newly discovered germs to worry about, I have been blissfully just thinking about my muscle. We humans are odd indeed. If I was a cat or dog, I would just be curled up as comfy as possible, asleep right now allowing my human companion all the stress!
This is a good time to say the affirmation, “Every day in every way, I'm getting better and better!” I can say it truthfully too as the water bottle works it's magic.
Lat might I took a break from focusing on me and my problem to say some prayers and send Reiki to a growing list or prayer requests.
There is a little local girl named Zoe who is 2 months old, who is in a Boston hospital fighting for her life right now, and many others who are having genuine concerns.
My job is enjoyable, and my coworkers fun. I will be stuck at home not even able to do housework which involves lifting anything beyond standing in one place.
One can never push the “pause” button in life, so it just keeps on going, and these days faster than ever! I am remembering all the times I have said, “I wish I could just sit and read a book once in a while!”
I will be much more careful what I wish for in the future! Of course, I say that now.
Caretakers usually make very bad patients. We are supposed to take care of others, not the reverse! I detest asking anyone to do anything for me, and I only ask if it's something I am not able to do myself. Just the other day I asked Tim to show me he checks transmission fluid so that I can keep an eye on it myself in the future. I like being as self sufficient as possible, and have been since I was a little girl.
All I can see around me as I let my gaze take in the living room and part of the kitchen from here at the computer, are the things I left undone last week, which I dearly wish I had made time to finish then! Perhaps I need one of those fuzzy sleep blindfolds to make it all just disappear for a while?
I am also worrying about how my absence at work tonight will affect my coworkers who are already stretched to the limit by the many needs of our many patients. I hope this works out to give someone a little overtime!
It is 8:26 tonight after the appointment. A very nice Nurse Practitioner diagnosed my problem as “unspecified back disorders, Piriformis Strain”. Say what? Another term for pulled muscle...
I have a physical therapy intake on Monday afternoon to plan the strategy of relaxing the ornery muscle. WHEN will the actual therapy begin? The muscle will be fine sooner than all the paperwork is done!
In the past, we all who are caretakers, have had a pulled muscle, a sore shoulder, painful feet, scratches and even bites! Ours is not an easy job, but it's a very rewarding one, just not for the faint of heart.
It's good that there are places to go to for help with such things as pulled muscles. The Nurse told me to fill a water bottle half way and freeze it and sit on it, and roll around on it which will help the muscle to release. Chiropractors do adjustments to make a muscle spasm release, and usually it is possible to use an ice cube to freeze each end of a cramped muscle to make it release, but the muscle giving me trouble is apparently a large one deep in the area which has many connections which make it hard to use an ice cube. The frozen water bottle appears to be working just fine as I sit on it whilst typing.
Since I work part time, I will have used up my few vacation hours after Monday. It's amazing good luck that this is my weekend off. I can only imagine the horror of this situation for my coworkers who have small children to support and health insurance to pay for. This event is making me wonder if I should get one of those Aflak ducks we see on TV who come and hand us cash when we are out of work through injury! I always did like ducks...
I find all my focus is right there under the water bottle and the momentary chaos it has all caused. AGH! How easily the mind wraps itself around things. Even when I walk, I am conscious of moving in as normal a way as I can so as not to throw my left side off through over compensation of favoring the sore right side.
As the world turned last night, and God knows what was going on s far as wars, killings, fires, newly discovered germs to worry about, I have been blissfully just thinking about my muscle. We humans are odd indeed. If I was a cat or dog, I would just be curled up as comfy as possible, asleep right now allowing my human companion all the stress!
This is a good time to say the affirmation, “Every day in every way, I'm getting better and better!” I can say it truthfully too as the water bottle works it's magic.
Lat might I took a break from focusing on me and my problem to say some prayers and send Reiki to a growing list or prayer requests.
There is a little local girl named Zoe who is 2 months old, who is in a Boston hospital fighting for her life right now, and many others who are having genuine concerns.
2012年1月8日星期日
Where the heavyweights of ice carving indulge in fantasy
Curiously, Craig McConnell’s oversized checked luggage raises no alarm among airport security personnel, even though it contains chainsaws, chisels, angle grinders, blow torches, household irons, and die grinders with all sorts of bits and burrs. Maybe the handwritten note inside helps: "These are my tools for ice carving. Please be careful - some of them are sharp. I am traveling to Lake Louise, Alberta, for an ice-carving competition."
Every January, The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, one of Canada’s grand old railway hotels, hosts the Ice Magic International Ice Carving Competition, where a dozen two-person teams gather on the frozen shores of Lake Louise to create fantastic sculptures. Each team has 34 hours to shape 15 massive blocks of ice into a soaring sculpture related to a specific theme. Last year’s "Magical Madness" theme inspired artists to produce fanciful renderings of sorcerers, dragons, and mythical gods. This year’s more conceptual theme, "WordPlay: Where language comes out to play," will bring storytelling alive in the form of pirates, a fairy, and other elaborately carved structures. The competition runs Jan. 20-22 as part of the Ice Magic Festival.
"It’s really a wonderful medium to express yourself and be creative," says Norm Flann, a carver from the Canadian team Crushed Ice. "Ice is soft and the tools you use let you carve it so easily, unlike stone."
Each giant "ice cube" weighs 300 pounds, meaning the work can be physically grueling.
"We’ll help each other lift blocks and everyone will work together," says McConnell, a former chef at the Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common, and now owner of Images in Ice, a Brockton-based ice-carving business. McConnell and his partner, Gene Shea, met five years ago at a Faneuil Hall competition, and they have been doing the Lake Louise event together ever since. "Last year, we helped one of the teams lift a mushroom cap that was made out of a full block of ice. We showed them a trick for lifting it using tie-down straps that we wrapped around the ice."
Ice carving at Lake Louise dates to 1994, when the Fairmont’s chef and culinary friends pulled blocks of ice from the lake and carved them into sculptures for fun, according to Micaela Zagozewski, event manager for the Ice Magic Festival. "The event has grown ever since."
Now, more than 7,000 people attend each year. Visitors can watch some of the world’s top ice carvers at work, and ask them questions throughout the competition. This year’s participants will have traveled from the Netherlands, Britain, Russia, the United States, and Canada.
The carvers also come from remarkably different backgrounds: One used to work as executive chef at The Fairmont Empress, a renowned high-end hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. Another works as a mail carrier in rural Washington State, and has competed in ice-carving events at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Nagano, and Salt Lake City. And another, Ben Rand of Casco, Maine, helps run an ice-carving business in West Palm Beach, Fla., of all places, producing upward of 1,000 sculptures a year for local restaurants and businesses. Rand trained as a five-star classic chef and then became a full-time ice carver. He and his carving partner, Scott Harrison, won first place in last year’s Ice Magic event for their Harry Potter entry.
Two of the 24 entrants are women, one of whom is Stephanie Quayle from the United Kingdom.
"In terms of male-female ratios, there’s definitely a big hairy man bias," says Quayle, who teams up with her fiance, Darren Jackson. "I suppose it’s only natural, due to the nature of the work and the temperatures we have to endure, but I like to think we girls can do it just as well - we just need a lot more hot chocolate to keep us going."
Competitors cannot use gas chain saws or lathes, and they may only work from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
"I’ve never competed when I didn’t carve until the last second," says Jeff Bleier, a former carver who now runs a restaurant in Rochester, and helps judge the Lake Louise competition. "I’ve been 6 feet up on a ladder putting on the last piece with three seconds to go."
Teams must use all the ice they are allotted, and cannot supplement with natural snow or other materials - no props, decorations, or coloring of ice - though they may use water. The entries must be carved on all sides.
The first day, carvers organize and stack their hefty ice blocks. Many attach enlarged templates, much like a seamstress’s pattern, onto the blocks to ensure that they use all the ice and don’t waste anything, and so they can labor away without having to stop and calculate measurements. Then they fire up chainsaws and start carving.
"The most important thing about ice sculpture is that you have to create a piece with a strong silhouette or outline," says Rand. "It’s difficult to see things that overlap each other in ice, so instead of folded arms, you want to have arms that are spread apart. This also helps the sculpture appear more fluid and dynamic."
The creations must measure at least 7 feet tall, but no more than 13 1/2 feet, in order to create a challenge for artists while keeping the competition zone safe. Small chisels and drills create more intricate patterns that resemble fish scales, hieroglyphics, or razor-sharp claws.
On day two, each team sends someone down the hill to the Village of Lake Louise to participate in the One Carver, One Hour, One Block event. Each artist can create anything he or she wants from one 300-pound block of ice during this speed-carving competition.
"One is like a marathon, the other is like a sprint," says Rand. "They’re just two different ways to approach the ice."
The festival also includes ice-carving demonstrations by lead judge Dan Rebholtz, a judges’ "carve-off" at the Lake Louise Ski Area, horse-drawn wagon rides around the lake, and ice skating with a fabulous view (weather permitting) of the Victoria Glacier.
As the hourglass empties up at Lake Louise, carvers put on the final touches: They use hairdryers and blow torches to put a polished shine on certain areas of their sculptures, and they clean up their work stations.
Works are judged on their level of complexity and overall creative intent, and how well carvers used the ice and their tools. Carvers get points for hiding seams, and for creating sculptures that appear more three dimensional and that stretch the boundaries of what ice can do, such as creating something that looks like it may fall over but is so masterfully engineered that it won’t.
"We’ll often put supports [made of ice] underneath the pieces that hang out, so the vibration from carving the rest of the sculpture doesn’t destroy them," Rand explains. "With the Harry Potter sculpture we did last year, we had at least 1,000 to 1,500 pounds supported on a 7-inch circle, which was the dog’s right paw. The whole thing had a temporary support. In the last 15 minutes, you start cutting those supports out and the sculpture either survives or it crashes. It can be pretty nerve-racking."
Judges award third, second, and first prize, with a $1,000 to $3,000 purse. And sculptures can win the People’s Choice, Carver’s Choice, and Children’s Choice awards, with $500 or $1,000 in cash prizes.
This year, Ice Magic extends to the following weekend, Jan. 28-29, with family-oriented events. You can take a look at the finished creations from the previous weekend, and then attend the Little Chippers Festival, where children of any age can try their hands at ice carving. A new ice playground features ice miniature golf, an ice tunnel, and an ice slide. You can also watch a professional 10-block ice-carving event, or go skating on Lake Louise with the ice queen - all free events.
McConnell and Shea plan to fly their oversized bags up north and compete again this year. Just look for the intricately carved arch, the pirates, and the daring and creative twist on Pandora’s box.
"Sometimes carvers stop where it’s safe, when they could have taken their work further and created a more dynamic and lifelike piece," says McConnell. "You can’t do that in competition. It’s like when you’re skiing and your tips go over the edge and you’re looking down some crazy slope. The more you think, the more you’re going to get into trouble. I always say to myself: Forget it. Just do it."
Every January, The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, one of Canada’s grand old railway hotels, hosts the Ice Magic International Ice Carving Competition, where a dozen two-person teams gather on the frozen shores of Lake Louise to create fantastic sculptures. Each team has 34 hours to shape 15 massive blocks of ice into a soaring sculpture related to a specific theme. Last year’s "Magical Madness" theme inspired artists to produce fanciful renderings of sorcerers, dragons, and mythical gods. This year’s more conceptual theme, "WordPlay: Where language comes out to play," will bring storytelling alive in the form of pirates, a fairy, and other elaborately carved structures. The competition runs Jan. 20-22 as part of the Ice Magic Festival.
"It’s really a wonderful medium to express yourself and be creative," says Norm Flann, a carver from the Canadian team Crushed Ice. "Ice is soft and the tools you use let you carve it so easily, unlike stone."
Each giant "ice cube" weighs 300 pounds, meaning the work can be physically grueling.
"We’ll help each other lift blocks and everyone will work together," says McConnell, a former chef at the Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common, and now owner of Images in Ice, a Brockton-based ice-carving business. McConnell and his partner, Gene Shea, met five years ago at a Faneuil Hall competition, and they have been doing the Lake Louise event together ever since. "Last year, we helped one of the teams lift a mushroom cap that was made out of a full block of ice. We showed them a trick for lifting it using tie-down straps that we wrapped around the ice."
Ice carving at Lake Louise dates to 1994, when the Fairmont’s chef and culinary friends pulled blocks of ice from the lake and carved them into sculptures for fun, according to Micaela Zagozewski, event manager for the Ice Magic Festival. "The event has grown ever since."
Now, more than 7,000 people attend each year. Visitors can watch some of the world’s top ice carvers at work, and ask them questions throughout the competition. This year’s participants will have traveled from the Netherlands, Britain, Russia, the United States, and Canada.
The carvers also come from remarkably different backgrounds: One used to work as executive chef at The Fairmont Empress, a renowned high-end hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. Another works as a mail carrier in rural Washington State, and has competed in ice-carving events at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Nagano, and Salt Lake City. And another, Ben Rand of Casco, Maine, helps run an ice-carving business in West Palm Beach, Fla., of all places, producing upward of 1,000 sculptures a year for local restaurants and businesses. Rand trained as a five-star classic chef and then became a full-time ice carver. He and his carving partner, Scott Harrison, won first place in last year’s Ice Magic event for their Harry Potter entry.
Two of the 24 entrants are women, one of whom is Stephanie Quayle from the United Kingdom.
"In terms of male-female ratios, there’s definitely a big hairy man bias," says Quayle, who teams up with her fiance, Darren Jackson. "I suppose it’s only natural, due to the nature of the work and the temperatures we have to endure, but I like to think we girls can do it just as well - we just need a lot more hot chocolate to keep us going."
Competitors cannot use gas chain saws or lathes, and they may only work from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
"I’ve never competed when I didn’t carve until the last second," says Jeff Bleier, a former carver who now runs a restaurant in Rochester, and helps judge the Lake Louise competition. "I’ve been 6 feet up on a ladder putting on the last piece with three seconds to go."
Teams must use all the ice they are allotted, and cannot supplement with natural snow or other materials - no props, decorations, or coloring of ice - though they may use water. The entries must be carved on all sides.
The first day, carvers organize and stack their hefty ice blocks. Many attach enlarged templates, much like a seamstress’s pattern, onto the blocks to ensure that they use all the ice and don’t waste anything, and so they can labor away without having to stop and calculate measurements. Then they fire up chainsaws and start carving.
"The most important thing about ice sculpture is that you have to create a piece with a strong silhouette or outline," says Rand. "It’s difficult to see things that overlap each other in ice, so instead of folded arms, you want to have arms that are spread apart. This also helps the sculpture appear more fluid and dynamic."
The creations must measure at least 7 feet tall, but no more than 13 1/2 feet, in order to create a challenge for artists while keeping the competition zone safe. Small chisels and drills create more intricate patterns that resemble fish scales, hieroglyphics, or razor-sharp claws.
On day two, each team sends someone down the hill to the Village of Lake Louise to participate in the One Carver, One Hour, One Block event. Each artist can create anything he or she wants from one 300-pound block of ice during this speed-carving competition.
"One is like a marathon, the other is like a sprint," says Rand. "They’re just two different ways to approach the ice."
The festival also includes ice-carving demonstrations by lead judge Dan Rebholtz, a judges’ "carve-off" at the Lake Louise Ski Area, horse-drawn wagon rides around the lake, and ice skating with a fabulous view (weather permitting) of the Victoria Glacier.
As the hourglass empties up at Lake Louise, carvers put on the final touches: They use hairdryers and blow torches to put a polished shine on certain areas of their sculptures, and they clean up their work stations.
Works are judged on their level of complexity and overall creative intent, and how well carvers used the ice and their tools. Carvers get points for hiding seams, and for creating sculptures that appear more three dimensional and that stretch the boundaries of what ice can do, such as creating something that looks like it may fall over but is so masterfully engineered that it won’t.
"We’ll often put supports [made of ice] underneath the pieces that hang out, so the vibration from carving the rest of the sculpture doesn’t destroy them," Rand explains. "With the Harry Potter sculpture we did last year, we had at least 1,000 to 1,500 pounds supported on a 7-inch circle, which was the dog’s right paw. The whole thing had a temporary support. In the last 15 minutes, you start cutting those supports out and the sculpture either survives or it crashes. It can be pretty nerve-racking."
Judges award third, second, and first prize, with a $1,000 to $3,000 purse. And sculptures can win the People’s Choice, Carver’s Choice, and Children’s Choice awards, with $500 or $1,000 in cash prizes.
This year, Ice Magic extends to the following weekend, Jan. 28-29, with family-oriented events. You can take a look at the finished creations from the previous weekend, and then attend the Little Chippers Festival, where children of any age can try their hands at ice carving. A new ice playground features ice miniature golf, an ice tunnel, and an ice slide. You can also watch a professional 10-block ice-carving event, or go skating on Lake Louise with the ice queen - all free events.
McConnell and Shea plan to fly their oversized bags up north and compete again this year. Just look for the intricately carved arch, the pirates, and the daring and creative twist on Pandora’s box.
"Sometimes carvers stop where it’s safe, when they could have taken their work further and created a more dynamic and lifelike piece," says McConnell. "You can’t do that in competition. It’s like when you’re skiing and your tips go over the edge and you’re looking down some crazy slope. The more you think, the more you’re going to get into trouble. I always say to myself: Forget it. Just do it."
2011年8月28日星期日
Gone, but not forgotten: how Steve will remain on the job
Apple's newly-minted CEO has assured his troops that he will be able to keep the magic alive in the post-Steve Jobs era, as some pundits argue that Jobs will still be pulling the strings in the background as long as he's able.
Hours after Jobs resigned as chief executive and was voted in as Apple's new chairman, his replacement Tim Cook sent an email to staff to praise Jobs and reassure them of the company's future.
He described Apple as the "most innovative company in the world" and said joining Apple was the best decision he ever made. Jobs had been an "incredible leader and mentor" and Cook looked forward to his "ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman".
"I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple's unique principles and values," said Cook, who described Apple as a "magical place".
"Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that - it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do."
Apple's shares recovered when the market opened the morning after the Jobs announcement, dropping about 1 per cent - the same decrease experienced by the entire market. This indicates that Jobs's resignation had long been factored into Apple's share price by investors and it was not a huge shock.
Veteran tech columnist Robert X. Cringely believes Jobs stepping down from the coal face coupled with the decision to bring the release of Walter Isaacson's authorised biography forward from March next year to November this year indicated the tech icon's health had taken a turn for the worse and he was now thinking about his legacy.
But the fact that Jobs took an executive chairman position - which will see him on the job every day - instead of bowing out from the company completely indicates he'll still be calling the shots as long as he's able.
"This looks to me like Cook continuing to function in his chief operating officer role," wrote Cringely.
"Oh he'll get a big raise and an even bigger bonus, but my sense is that next week the guy really in charge will still be Steve Jobs."
Cook has filled in for Jobs three times while he has been on medical leave and is regarded as a supply chain genius who significantly increased Apple's profit margins. But he has yet to show the grand vision or charisma of Jobs.
Jobs himself is listed as the principal inventor or one inventor among several on 313 Apple patents. Most are design patents that cover the look and feel of the product and include everything from the white plastic power adapters in newer-model Macs to the striking glass staircases in many Apple stores.
"The quintessential differentiator between Steve Jobs and everyone else is the sheer tenacity and commitment to perfection - the willingness to move mountains to get the right thing," Gadi Amit, founder of industrial design firm NewDealDesign, told Bloomberg.
Hours after Jobs resigned as chief executive and was voted in as Apple's new chairman, his replacement Tim Cook sent an email to staff to praise Jobs and reassure them of the company's future.
He described Apple as the "most innovative company in the world" and said joining Apple was the best decision he ever made. Jobs had been an "incredible leader and mentor" and Cook looked forward to his "ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman".
"I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple's unique principles and values," said Cook, who described Apple as a "magical place".
"Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that - it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do."
Apple's shares recovered when the market opened the morning after the Jobs announcement, dropping about 1 per cent - the same decrease experienced by the entire market. This indicates that Jobs's resignation had long been factored into Apple's share price by investors and it was not a huge shock.
Veteran tech columnist Robert X. Cringely believes Jobs stepping down from the coal face coupled with the decision to bring the release of Walter Isaacson's authorised biography forward from March next year to November this year indicated the tech icon's health had taken a turn for the worse and he was now thinking about his legacy.
But the fact that Jobs took an executive chairman position - which will see him on the job every day - instead of bowing out from the company completely indicates he'll still be calling the shots as long as he's able.
"This looks to me like Cook continuing to function in his chief operating officer role," wrote Cringely.
"Oh he'll get a big raise and an even bigger bonus, but my sense is that next week the guy really in charge will still be Steve Jobs."
Cook has filled in for Jobs three times while he has been on medical leave and is regarded as a supply chain genius who significantly increased Apple's profit margins. But he has yet to show the grand vision or charisma of Jobs.
Jobs himself is listed as the principal inventor or one inventor among several on 313 Apple patents. Most are design patents that cover the look and feel of the product and include everything from the white plastic power adapters in newer-model Macs to the striking glass staircases in many Apple stores.
"The quintessential differentiator between Steve Jobs and everyone else is the sheer tenacity and commitment to perfection - the willingness to move mountains to get the right thing," Gadi Amit, founder of industrial design firm NewDealDesign, told Bloomberg.
2011年8月25日星期四
Gone, but not forgotten: how Steve will remain on the job
Apple's newly-minted CEO has assured his troops that he will be able to keep the magic alive in the post-Steve Jobs era, as some pundits argue that Jobs will still be pulling the strings in the background as long as he's able.
Hours after Jobs resigned as chief executive and was voted in as Apple's new chairman, his replacement Tim Cook sent an email to staff to praise Jobs and reassure them of the company's future.
He described Apple as the "most innovative company in the world" and said joining Apple was the best decision he ever made. Jobs had been an "incredible leader and mentor" and Cook looked forward to his "ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman".
"I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple's unique principles and values," said Cook, who described Apple as a "magical place".
"Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that - it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do."
Apple's shares recovered when the market opened the morning after the Jobs announcement, dropping about 1 per cent - the same decrease experienced by the entire market. This indicates that Jobs's resignation had long been factored into Apple's share price by investors and it was not a huge shock.
Veteran tech columnist Robert X. Cringely believes Jobs stepping down from the coal face coupled with the decision to bring the release of Walter Isaacson's authorised biography forward from March next year to November this year indicated the tech icon's health had taken a turn for the worse and he was now thinking about his legacy.
But the fact that Jobs took an executive chairman position - which will see him on the job every day - instead of bowing out from the company completely indicates he'll still be calling the shots as long as he's able.
Hours after Jobs resigned as chief executive and was voted in as Apple's new chairman, his replacement Tim Cook sent an email to staff to praise Jobs and reassure them of the company's future.
He described Apple as the "most innovative company in the world" and said joining Apple was the best decision he ever made. Jobs had been an "incredible leader and mentor" and Cook looked forward to his "ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman".
"I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple's unique principles and values," said Cook, who described Apple as a "magical place".
"Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that - it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do."
Apple's shares recovered when the market opened the morning after the Jobs announcement, dropping about 1 per cent - the same decrease experienced by the entire market. This indicates that Jobs's resignation had long been factored into Apple's share price by investors and it was not a huge shock.
Veteran tech columnist Robert X. Cringely believes Jobs stepping down from the coal face coupled with the decision to bring the release of Walter Isaacson's authorised biography forward from March next year to November this year indicated the tech icon's health had taken a turn for the worse and he was now thinking about his legacy.
But the fact that Jobs took an executive chairman position - which will see him on the job every day - instead of bowing out from the company completely indicates he'll still be calling the shots as long as he's able.
2011年6月1日星期三
Brian Butler’s Magick Act
For the Los Angeles artist Brian Butler, magic (or “magick,” as the case may be) is as modern as technology. Certain teachings may be ancient, he notes, but that doesn’t make them any less relevant. “In the modern world of computers, the same energies are still operating,” he says.
Butler was premiering his film, “The Dove and the Serpent,” at the LAXART Annex in Hollywood, and a gritty, glamorous crowd had gathered to watch a live musical performance featuring the legendary underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Initially drawn together by a shared interest in Aleister Crowley and the occult, Butler and Anger have worked together for more than a decade, Butler producing Anger’s last few films and acting as creative director of the trippy short he made for Missoni’s fall 2010 campaign. Anger appears with Vincent Gallo in Butler’s film “Night of Pan,” (trailer) and the two also formed the band Technicolor Skull. On Wednesday night the spry 84-year-old Anger accompanied his guitar-playing protégé, teasing ferocious sounds from his theremin as Butler’s film screened behind them. (And no, the man in the black hooded robe wasn’t Anger; the auteur was wearing a purple T-shirt emblazoned with a prismatic skull, orange pants and a matching baseball cap.)
A still from Butler’s new film, “The Dove and the Serpent.”
Part of “Images and Oracles,” Butler’s first solo exhibition, “The Dove and the Serpent” is a meditation on alchemy; the title references the Hermetic principle “as above, so below.” Filmed at a castle in Normandy, France, with some friends he rounded up during Paris fashion week last fall, including Dash Snow’s sister Caroline and the cinematographer Edouard Plongeon, whose family provided the locale, the two-and-a-half minute piece is beautiful, hypnotic and vaguely sinister. Shadowy figures shape-shift and meld with the elements, occult symbols flash and fade, and there is some covetable fashion on display, including a Masonic robe and an ivory silk gown by the London designer Qasimi.
The film screens on a loop in the gallery, projected between four cubes covered in alchemical symbols and standing on pillars. “People often think of a goat’s head or these pagan ideas, but these are cubes,” Butler says. “I felt like it was an interesting way to blend these arcane teachings with a modernist setting.” He compares the forms, two black and two white, to “machines or maps of the astral world,” adding that they can “get rather complex, like a Rubik’s Cube. Once you turn it, it can be difficult to get back to where you were.”
Butler was premiering his film, “The Dove and the Serpent,” at the LAXART Annex in Hollywood, and a gritty, glamorous crowd had gathered to watch a live musical performance featuring the legendary underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Initially drawn together by a shared interest in Aleister Crowley and the occult, Butler and Anger have worked together for more than a decade, Butler producing Anger’s last few films and acting as creative director of the trippy short he made for Missoni’s fall 2010 campaign. Anger appears with Vincent Gallo in Butler’s film “Night of Pan,” (trailer) and the two also formed the band Technicolor Skull. On Wednesday night the spry 84-year-old Anger accompanied his guitar-playing protégé, teasing ferocious sounds from his theremin as Butler’s film screened behind them. (And no, the man in the black hooded robe wasn’t Anger; the auteur was wearing a purple T-shirt emblazoned with a prismatic skull, orange pants and a matching baseball cap.)
A still from Butler’s new film, “The Dove and the Serpent.”
Part of “Images and Oracles,” Butler’s first solo exhibition, “The Dove and the Serpent” is a meditation on alchemy; the title references the Hermetic principle “as above, so below.” Filmed at a castle in Normandy, France, with some friends he rounded up during Paris fashion week last fall, including Dash Snow’s sister Caroline and the cinematographer Edouard Plongeon, whose family provided the locale, the two-and-a-half minute piece is beautiful, hypnotic and vaguely sinister. Shadowy figures shape-shift and meld with the elements, occult symbols flash and fade, and there is some covetable fashion on display, including a Masonic robe and an ivory silk gown by the London designer Qasimi.
The film screens on a loop in the gallery, projected between four cubes covered in alchemical symbols and standing on pillars. “People often think of a goat’s head or these pagan ideas, but these are cubes,” Butler says. “I felt like it was an interesting way to blend these arcane teachings with a modernist setting.” He compares the forms, two black and two white, to “machines or maps of the astral world,” adding that they can “get rather complex, like a Rubik’s Cube. Once you turn it, it can be difficult to get back to where you were.”
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