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I'm always trying to understand how successful magazines get and stay that way. Therefore, I appreciate this Boston Globe report on how the women who comprise 50% of the workforce at Maxim Magazine toil in their efforts to create what Adweek declared last month is "the hottest" (no pun intended) magazine in the land.
It may surprise some Maxim readers that its female staffers are proud of how they've kept "the whole enterprise from devolving into a tasteless frat-boy rag."
…(Kim) Willis, the 31-year-old who started Maxim's marketing department from scratch three years ago, says (the magazine is) not just about sex. It's about connecting, relating, understanding. Of course, this being Maxim, she admits, they'd never sell it that way.
I have lots of pithy comments I'll keep to myself.


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T he new schedule was just released by Megabus in the United States — and fares for as low as one dollar are still available as of "press time" for this article through Monday, March 14, 2016; but those fares tend to go fast.
Yes, you read that correctly: one dollar fares on Megabus are available — but you have to hurry if you want to book them.
Even if the one dollar fares disappear, there are still low fares available which could be attractive to you if you do not have a problem traveling on a bus to your destination. You can even use it for positioning yourself to a distant airport where you may have obtained a low airfare.
If you purchase a one dollar return fare — that is, round-trip — it will cost you a minimum of five dollars. The booking fee and the facilities fee each cost $1.50; so at three dollars, the fees cost more than the entire trip. The last time the new schedule was released was back during September of 2015; but that included the schedule through Wednesday, December 2, 2015 — meaning that your chances of securing a fare as low as one dollar greatly increase on trips during the Christmas, Chanukah and New Year holiday season if you act fast.
As I originally wrote in this article, I am not sure I would use Megabus again, as it does not have the best customer service; and the ride can be long and draining depending on where you go — especially when there is a significant delay. However, I am hoping that this notice could help to save you money, if you are so inclined.
My advice is to take an overnight trip — especially if you are able to sleep on the bus. This way, you do not lose time in which you could be doing something else. I had not had luck accessing the Internet via the Wi-Fi which is supposed to be available aboard each bus; but your experience may vary.
Day trips are not a bad idea if you enjoy watching the scenery go by without having to worry about driving…
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

subset: commoncrawl


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This is one of my bruschetta recipes that I decided to put in a dumplings. Dumplings are the perfect vessel to hold all of my delicious ingredients I put in my bruschetta. These are nice and light and full of fresh tomato and basil flavor.
Makes about 32 dumplings
20 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved, I use Cherubs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Kosher salt and pepper
4 cups finely chopped broccoli florets, not stems, ½ inch pieces
Olive oil spray
1 (8 oz.) ball fresh mozzarella, chopped into 1 inch pieces
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted in dry pan
10 large fresh basil leaves
1 pkg. won ton wrappers
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Add the cherry tomatoes to a 9 x 11 glass pan. Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic on top. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning, garlic powder on top. Sprinkle a little kosher salt and pepper on top. Lightly mix up with a spoon. Put in the oven and roast for about 45 minutes, turning occasionally. When they are done, remove from the oven let cool.
Steam the broccoli to al dente. Remove and drain. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water with about 1-2 inches of water on the bottom to boil. Make sure the water doesn't come up to the steamer. Put a steamer inside and spray the bottom with olive oil spray.
Add the tomatoes, broccoli, mozzarella, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and basil leaves to a food processor and process to slightly chunky, almost smooth. Lay a won ton wrapper on the counter and stuff it with about a 2 teaspoons of the tomato mixture. Lightly wet all the edges of the wonton wrapper with your fingers. Start by bringing 2 opposite ends together and pinch. Then bring the other 2 opposite ends together and pinch. Pinch all seams of the dumplings closed. Continue putting the rest of the dumplings together, while keeping the dumplings not in use, covered by a damp cloth to keep them moist.
Put about 8 in the steamer at a time and steam for about 7 minutes or until the dumplings are tender. Remove and put on a platter and serve.


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Jon Kennedy live at yukunkun
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My Problem
iPhone 4 with weak/no reception after being dropped. Re-seating the antenna connector didn't fix it.
My Fix
The repair was quick and painless. I had previously installed the iFixIt iPhone liberation kit to replace the pentalobe screws with Phillips screws as well.
My Advice
Be sure to keep your screws sorted out. I st . . .


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Braze User Guide
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- Angels in the Bible
- Fall and Advent
- New Editions
- Little Rock Catholic Study Bible
- Lectionary-Based Bible Study
- Alive in the Word
- Virtues for Disciples
- Seasons of Our Lives
- Liturgical Seasons
- Connecting with the Sacraments
- Gleanings from the Gospels
Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles
Dinah Chapman Simmons
What do the gospels tell us about Mary Magdalene? She was a committed disciple of Jesus during his public ministry and at the cross. She was the first to encounter the risen Lord on Easter morning. An ...
In Stock | $7.95
Paul, Pastoring God's People
John W. Martens
The writings of St. Paul have provided teaching, insight, and guidance to Christians from the church's earliest days right up to our own. A missionary, theologian, and martyr, he was at all times a pa ...
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Barnabas, Man for Others
Jerome Kodell, OSB
Among the leaders of the early church, Barnabas is not as well-known as the likes of Peter or Paul. However, Barnabas vouched for Paul before the other apostles, traveled with him as an evangelizer, a ...
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John the Baptist, Forerunner
Jerome Kodell, OSB
A fiery preacher and humble servant to the coming kingdom of God, John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. Three gospel passages capture his message and its meaning and invite us to make way for J ...
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Moses, Called and Equipped
Catherine Upchurch
Superheroes are all the rage and Moses has loomed large in Judeo-Christian storytelling. Not always the strong and courageous type, Moses first had to learn to hear God's voice and then to fill God's ...
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Paul, Proclaiming Christ Crucified
Ronald D. Witherup
Paul discovered his core identity in the crucified and resurrected Christ and spent his final years proclaiming the power of the cross. Explore three key passages from his letters that invite us to em ...
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Sarah & Hagar, Women of Promise
Irene Nowell, OSB
It is not possible to tell the story of Abraham's descendants without taking note of how God's plan unfolded in the lives of Sarah and Hagar. The best laid plans and the unexpected converge as these t ...
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Mary, Favored by God
Catherine Upchurch
Few people have influenced Christian spirituality, theology, and history as profoundly as Mary, mother of Jesus. Explore three key events early in her life that set the course for her role in salvatio ...
In Stock | $7.95


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|Saenger Theatre
Pensacola, Florida
118 S. Palafox Street, Pensacola, FL
Click the pictures for a closer look at some photographs from around 1974
|The auditorium still retained its original Spanish Mission decoration scheme (although a bit worn).
|The auditorium shows its scars from the removal of
the opera boxes beneath the organ grilles.
Photographs courtesy of Dr. Barry Henry
ABC Theatres removed the theatre's
35mm projectors when the building was sold to the city in 1975.
In 1981, the Pensacola Saenger theatre underwent a massive remodeling, & emerged very much changed:
|The opera boxes were restored, from the original blueprints
|New carpet was installed, & the seats re-upholstered
|The auditorium's paint scheme was simplified
|The proscenium's valance was removed, & a large awning hanging over the horn for the new house PA system was installed
|The 3-color house lighting system was disabled & changed to white-bulbs-only
|The onstage electrical panel was removed, & new dimmers & control for stage lighting installed
|Modifications to the stage's rigging encompassed removal of the oak grid above the stage & its replacement by a steel grid
|The "hemp house" sandbag fly system was replaced by a track-mounted counterweight system
|The facade was altered to incorporate a modern, rounded awning
|The arcade & surrounding commercial spaces were reconstructed to create a more modern entryway, concession area, & offices
Later alterations:
|The movie screen was removed
|The rear wall of the orchestra pit was demolished, to extend the pit beneath the stage
Other information:
Theatre, official web site of the Pensacola Saenger
Gulf Coast Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society,
information about the Pensacloa Saenger Theatre's Robert Morton
theatre organ
|Back to the Saenger Theatres
Next: the Rapides Theatre in Alexandria, Louisiana


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When we first decided to spend the winter in Florida, part of the plan was to pick up my portable Singer sewing machine from storage. Well, Dave searched and searched, climbing over and behind boxes and furniture stacked ¾ of the way to the top of the storage unit but he wasn't able to find it. He would have had to empty the unit to get to it, so I decided to look for an inexpensive used machine down here.
I've looked at several machines but more often than not ads that said "Sews Great"… when we got there and tested it, the machine barely sewed at all or would have taken extensive repairs. (A project Dave didn't feel he wanted to take on without his tools and the space to work on it.)
And then last Saturday, I came across a beautiful vintage Singer 201-2 in an art deco cabinet.
The cabinet is similar to the Art deco cabinet that Dave refinished for me to house my Singer 15-91. This one is about 1/3 again smaller. And whereas that one has three drawers with half rounded fronts, this has a half rounded door with drawers hidden behind it.
I gazed longingly at the machine but thought to myself, just how many vintage Singers in cabinets does one woman need!
Well apparently, after thinking about it for the past few days, I've decided that I need one more because this came home with us yesterday.
The vendor was asking $79 so we offered $60 cash and she accepted.
It even came with the original box of attachments…
The machine has been really well taken care of. Dave did make a repair to the cord to make it safe to use and we've ordered a replacement. I've also ordered several size 66 bobbins and new felts for the thread holders. He's checked the timing and says it's ready for me to give it a test run.
As the title of the post says… this is better than if Dave had bought me two dozen roses. There's going to be some sewing happening here this weekend!


text: We came across this little gem whilst Scootering around Lefkas Island. Had we not hired scooters, we probably would never have found it. The bay is too deep for us to anchor. All you find at the beach is one taverna where you can have snacks and drinks. Absolute paradise!


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The Big Picture- RSTV
Women in Combat Role
TOPIC: General Studies 3
- Defence
In News: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said there are women officers engaged in exercises like mining and de-mining operations and also manning the air defence system, but cited difficulties in assigning them frontline combat roles.
- In frontline combat there are risks of officers getting killed. And when body bags come back, our country is not ready to see that.
- Right now, what we are engaged in right now is a proxy war, like in Kashmir.
- There are also logistical reasons behind not posting women on frontlines. (Separate changing rooms, bathrooms, quarters, etc.)
Issue: Women currently serve in a variety of combat units, from aviation and co-ed border-security battalions, to battlefield medicine and air defense. But front-line, direct-combat ground units, still employ only men.
Although the Indian Air Force in July last year inducted three women – Mohana Singh, Avani Chaturvedi and Bhawana Kanth – as the first female fighter pilots. The Indian Navy has also offered permanent commission to women officers. In 2016, it started with a modest group of seven and vowed to expand the numbers.
The Indian Navy is currently deliberating on a policy on having women onboard the ships. The Navy allows women in various other segments including in legal, logistics, naval architecture and engineering departments.
Arguments: Against women in combat roles
- On average, men are taller and heavier than women. They have stronger bones, ligaments and tendons, greater muscle mass, and better oxygen carrying capacity. Women are approximately two-thirds as strong as men in the lower body and half as strong in the upper body.
- Since women in combat are prone to injuries at double the rate of men, integrated units will invariably suffer from higher attrition, and increased evacuation efforts will also take their toll. A significant increase in disability compensation for injured women veterans is also a consequence to consider.
What does the Indian army have to say?
- Firstly, they will start with women as military police jawans. The roles of military police include policing the cantonments and Army establishments, prevent breach of rules and regulations by soldiers, maintaining movement of soldiers as well as logistics during peace and war, handling prisoners of war and extending aid to the civil police whenever required.
- The army does require continuity and permanency in certain fields and male officers do not fit the bill everywhere in a command-oriented Army. The force needs language interpreters given that military diplomacy is gaining currency. So, they are looking at women interpreters who will naturally be linguistically proficient and militarily sound.
Women IPS officers are also working in very dangerous circumstances and they command respect of their male counterparts and subordinates, even from those who are from rural areas. Therefore, the arguments need to be relooked into.
Also, a study from both sides of the topic is imperative to take a final call. There is no argument that points that physiologically, physically and psychologically, men are superior to women. This does not warrant discrimination on facts that have not been proven yet.
Note: Only countries such as Germany, Australia, Canada, the U.S., Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden and Israel have allowed women in combat roles.
Connecting the Dots:
- For every frontier touched or broken by women that frontier should be sustained with more and more women. Discuss.
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Arkansas Service of Process for Divorce
The Server
Process in Arkansas may be served by the County Sheriff, or any adult over 18 who is not a party to the case. Process servers in Arkansas are not licensed, but normally they carry a $2,000 bond.
Serving the Process
The server delivers the divorce papers - the summons and complaint - together. The plaintiff furnishes the server with the necessary copies of the divorce papers. Service is effect on the individual in a divorce action by delivering the divorce papers to him or her personally.
If he or she refuses to accept, the server leaves a copy at his or her "dwelling house or usual place of abode" with someone there who is at least 14 years of age, or delivers the papers to an agent who is authorized by appointment or by law to receive them.
Service by mail can be made by the plaintiff, or an attorney of record for the plaintiff, by any form of mail addressed to the defendant with a return receipt requested and delivery restricted to the addressee or the agent of the addressee.
Service outside of Arkansas may be made by personal delivery, by mail, as directed "by a foreign authority in response to a letter rogatory or pursuant to the provisions of any treaty or convention pertaining to the service of a document in a foreign country", or in "any manner prescribed by the law of the place in which service is made in that place in an action in any of its courts of general jurisdiction."
Service by Publication requires the publication of a warning order. This means the plaintiff must first make a diligent search to locate the defendant. When mail service is returned or the defendant cannot be found, the court permits constructive service on the defendant by publication. This requires filing an affidavit/sworn statement affirming the efforts made to locate the defendant. The clerk should then issue a Warning Order.
The Warning Order directs the defendant to enter an appearance within 30 days from the date of the first publication of the order. If the defendant does not file an answer within that time given by the court, he/she may be prevented from answering.
Publishing is done in one of two ways: In Forma Pauperis, in which the notice is posted in the courthouse for 30 days, or by publication in a newspaper of general circulation weekly for at least two weeks. Once the publication period has run, the newspaper will mail the plaintiff a "proof of publication" which must be filed with the court.
The server makes proof of service to the clerk of courts within the time limit for the defendant to respond to the summons, either by executing a certificate of service or return contained in the same document as the summons, or by attaching a return receipt to the affidavit.
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Like any beauty addict, I've bought a lot of products this year. Some have been massive hits, while others have seriously missed the mark. One thing that's for sure, there are a LOT of products.
This was a repurchase. I bought this BEAUTIFUL highlighter and needed another to keep perfect in my collection. I've never really bought products to keep them as a collectors item before, but after trying this, loving this and being bowled over by the appearance of it, I just needed to have another. I haven't used my original one that much since buying it last December so I'll have to dig that out.
Marc Jacobs Enamored Lip Gloss Sticks in Mocha Choco Lata and Uh Huh Honey – £22 each (£44)
If you haven't read my full review on this product you can find it right here! The lip gloss stick is easily one of the most innovative products I've seen. It is the perfect hybrid between a lipstick and a lip gloss – it's amazingly comfortable on the lip, isn't sticky and is almost like a very pigmented lip balm. I have repurchased Mocha Choco Lata a few times now as it is a fantastic nude shade that I will continue to buy. Uh Huh Honey is much more of a 90s brown that personally looks a bit too cool toned on me and I have barely used it.
Beauty Pie Super Healthy Skin™ Ultralight UVA/UVB SPF25 – £7.19
This is the best formula of SPF I've ever tried. It doesn't feel greasy or smell of alcohol like some on the other end of the SPF spectrum. The only down side to this is that a) I can't find it for the life of me, but more importantly b) it is only SPF 25. I personally like to have maximum protection on at all times but I would (when I could find it) use this in the winter when the UV index is lower. I've heard a lot of people saying the same thing, so it would be amazing if they came out with a factor 50.
Beauty Pie Super Retinol Anti-wrinkle Eye Cream – £6.67
I used this eye cream consistently at the start of the year but didn't see any results. Booo
Beauty Pie Super Retinol Anti-aging Hand Treatment – £6.53
I was a bit paranoid about this because you can supposedly use it at any time of day, but it contains retinol which you shouldn't really when the sun's out. I don't think this formula was really thick enough for my hands and didn't see any long lasting moisture or improvements in the appearance of the skin.
Lani Tropical Super Serum – £16.99
This was a total dud for me unfortunately. I had seen this brand really hyped in the Instagram beauty community but the oil felt really thick and smelt super bad. I think it was supposed to smell like Jasmine… but it doesn't smell like that if you know what I mean. I used it once or twice and cast it aside.
Ole Henriksen C Your Best Selfie™ Brightening Moisturizer & Eye Crème Set – £18.70
I did a blog post on this duo a little while back (FIND IT HERE!) and this moistuiser and eye cream were okay, but only okay. Both products smelt amazing and felt pretty good on the skin, but not good enough to justify such a large price tag for the full size products.
WowYou Beauty Glow to Sleep – £18
This is a retinol moisturiser that is nice and thick. The inclusion of retinol in products always confuses me and makes me feel nervous. I would use this in the same routine as the Super Serum and it made my skin ridiculously smooth and soft… until it broke me out. I thought that maybe I wasn't supposed to mix those two products but it's recommended by the brand on their website. I stopped using both products and haven't revisited them since.
WowYou Beauty Super Serum – £18
A friend of mine always bigs up this brand so I placed an order. It is a lovely solid gel consistency that glides on really easily. Something about this serum always made me feel a little nervy but I can't really put my finger on it. I need to revisit this one as well.
WowYou Macaron Lip Butter – £7 (thrown in for free)
I am very loyal to my Palmers lip balm but this got thrown in with my order and I'm so glad it was! This lip balm is EXCELLENT. If I hadn't found such a good balm for a fraction of the price, then this would without a doubt be my go-to balm.
Mac Fix+ x2 – £16.15/£17 each (£33.15)
MAC Fix+ is a firm favourite of mine that sets the face and makes everything look a bit less powdery. Have gotten through so many of these over the years and will always repurchase. You get quite a lot of product and it lasts a very long time.
Nars Sheer Glow in Gobi – £33.50
This was a repurchase in an updated shade that actually suits me! Gobi is my perfect pale shade – I knew that this foundation was a winner already for me. I nearly ran out my old shade (Mont Blanc) which was never my shade to begin with but sometimes sales assistants don't know how to shade match. It is a medium coverage that can be built up or sheered out. It gives the ultimate your-skin-but-better look!
Ole Henriksen Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner – £22
This product was soooo overhyped and really didn't do much for me. I did a dedicated blog post on it that details my full experience with it, but in brief, I didn't like this. I may have over used this on my skin type despite the claims hat it is gentle enough for everyday use. Knowing that I have normal-dry skin, I probably should have only used it a few times a week. It dried my skin out, especially around my nose and mouth and actually caused discolouration there. I would potentially give this another go, but this time I would only use it on my cheeks were I feel I do have some pigmentation.
Colourpop Yellow Mascara – £6.11 ($8)
This one was a little left field for me, but I really wanted to try a mascara that's a fun pop of colour! I used this in a graphic liner look I did on my Instagram and really enjoyed it! It was a pretty good mascara and the yellow was super vibrant. Obviously, with it being yellow, it isn't the most wearable mascara in the world – it certainly isn't your every day look. That said, when I feel like doing something a little different, I do turn to this and it delivers.
Colourpop Numero Uno Black Liquid Liner – £6.11 ($8)
I was doing a Colourpop order anyway and this liner had just launched along side the coloured mascaras so I decided to pick this up. I didn't feel like I had discovered the perfect black liquid liner yet and wanted to give it a go! This was really black and lasted well, but the felt tip was quite thin and made it a little harder to apply. I don't like thick liner but I find that a thicker tip would have made liner easier for my exact style. I don't know that I'd repurchase this at the moment because I'm enjoying the Eyeko one (mentioned further down) and Colourpop is a bit of a pain to get to the UK.
Colourpop She Palette – £12.22 ($16)
I bought this palette at the end of last year in the Colourpop sale and then promptly lost it. This was the repurchase and I remembered it being a bit better than it was. It has a lot of pinks that can sometimes bring out the pink in my own skintone and makes me look like I have an eye infection. I tend to use the shimmers more than the mattes but even still, this generally sits in my drawers.
Revitalash – £39
Unfortunately, this was quite a big waste of money. Initially I felt as though there was a good result quite quickly and then it flatlined. I got a '6 week supply' which lasted far more than 6 weeks but my lashes are now even stumpier than before. And it👏🏻was👏🏻expensive👏🏻. I spent a lot of time worrying that it was going to run out before I got my desired results, which never materialised.
Fenty Sun Stalk'r Bronzer – £23
This is only the third bronzer I've ever used and it's fabulous – here are all the details you need. Fenty came out with a bunch of shades for so many different skin tones and my shade (Inda Sun) is the perfect shade for very fair skin tones. It's lovely and warm, builds well and blends like a dream. It's quite hard to over do it with this, which is a massive perk! It's a little pricey but lasts a really long time! I've hit pan now but there's still loads left.
Beauty Pie Flawless Foundation Blending Sponge Duo x2 – £4.08 each (£8.16)
These are excellent beauty sponges that are a fraction of the price of one Beauty Blender. The blend exceptionally well and they are very easy to clean. The only thing I will say is that I've had a few instances of mould in the sponges that is super gross. Take care of your sponges.
Beauty Pie Jeju Overnight Moisture Superinfusion x2 – £9.04 each (£18.08)
This is my absolute favourite moisturiser for PM. It is AMAZING. It is a lovely, thick moisturiser that would be perfect for anyone with normal-dry skin. I tend to mix this in with the BYBI Buriti booster and it's just heaven.
NYX Micro Brow Pencil x2 – £9 each (£18)
This is my go-to brow product and I don't see this ever changing. It's reasonably priced and it lasts a reaaaally long time. Ash Brown is the perfect shade to match my hair colour and I don't think any other brow products could ever replace this.
The Ordinary 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder – £4.90
I wanted to add some vitamin C into my routine and thought this would be some sort of mask I could add water to and apply. It turns out, it wasn't. I didn't do enough research initially and when I got it and looked into how to use it, it was really tricky to use. Because I didn't want to damage my skin and didn't feel confident in mixing anything in with it, this has just sat in my drawer.
Milk Hydro Grip Primer – £27
There was a lot of hype around this and I was super interested to see how it worked – I even wrote a review on it. I have normal-dry skin and I assumed that this would hydrate my skin and hold my makeup on. It felt very sticky but left my skin looking pretty dry once foundation was applied. On top of that, it made products apply patchy and made it difficult to blend. I don't feel like it did very much for the longevity of my makeup either and I thought that products lasted better without it.
Hugo Boss The Scent for Her Eau de Parfum 30ml – £38.95
I bought this scent on holiday last year and I loved it. I managed to find a really good deal on this on allbeauty.com, which has really good deals on a lot of fragrances. I've nearly run out of it now and I adore the scent. It's very sweet and smells amazing in summer time. I wish it lasted on my skin a little it longer on my skin as it does fade quite quickly.
Weleda Skin Food – £12.50
I've been suffering with some serious dry skin on my hands (I suspect it may be a bout of eczema) and wanted a hand cream that would really pack a punch. This wasn't it. Oh my gosh it is so greasy. I would put it on and it would smell like a garden (some sort of herb) and then it would leave my hands totally unusable for a long while, or until I wiped them off. Not sure where this is now but I don't miss it.
Sjo Skin Happy Honey Oil – £34
I did a lil review of the Happy Honey Oil and it's a really nice oil. I think this would be a good oil for people that haven't delved into oils before or those who don't like most other ones. It's very thin and sinks in very fast so can be used in the morning or evening. I personally like something a little heavier but it's a great oil nonetheless.
Klairs Gentle Black Sugar Facial Polish – £15.36
I bought this as dupe for the Fresh Sugar Face Polish but for a fraction of the price. This is not as good as the Fresh scrub. It is a lot harsher on the skin – the sugar particles are a lot bigger and don't melt away. It feels like like the particles were scratching the skin, though it did feel softer afterwards. It was after this flopped so hard that I knew I would eventually shell out for the Fresh exfoliator.
Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF 50+ PA++++ x2 – £15.02 each (£30.04)
I bought this SPF last year and it was just incredible. I decided to repurchase it and it doesn't seem as though I got the same formula. Kao, the parent company of Biore, announced that as of Feb 2019, they would be releasing a 'new and improved' formula of the essence and gel versions of this SPF… but the formula really is not improved at all. The previous formula was just beautiful – it was cooling, it spread and absorbed easily and was nourishing too. My main issue with the new formula is that you can smell the alcohol and you can feel it too. The second ingredient on the INCI list is ethanol which is one of the bad alcohols that dries out the skin. I could tell as soon as I put the new formula on the skin that it wasn't the one I fell in love with originally. I ended up giving these away.
Pretty Athletic Cool Down Cleanser x5 – £18 (£63.18)
Can you tell I love this stuff by how many I've bought? If you want aaaaaall the details, you can find it here. I hate running out of this stuff and always need a back up. In the Black Friday sale, I picked up 3 backups which should last me most of the year now!
CliniqueFit Foundation x5 – £13.67/£20.50 (£88.84)
Without a doubt, this was the BEST product I tried this year. I wrote an entire review on how much of a banger this foundation is and I am still in love. I am seriously worried that this has been discontinued because it is now out of stock on their website and on Selfridges and has been for some time, but I really hope it will come back because I adore this! In my panicked state, I bought 3 more back ups of this because I can't bear to be without it! It suits my lifestyle perfectly in that it is very longwearing and lasts beautifully throughout my long day.
Milk Stick Bronzer in Baked – £17.42
I bought this stick bronzer to avoid using powders in the summer time, plus I had been wanting to try Milk for ages and when they finally arrived at Cult Beauty, well it was fate. I went for the lighter of the two bronzer shades but was a bit worried that it would still be a bit dark for me. Actually the shade was perfect! I really loved using this though it was quite a faff. It was much more time consuming to apply than a powder bronzer, but I didn't have to worry about my face turning to sludge in the heat. I would generally use a different sponge to blend this in to avoid applying the bronzer to other areas of my face by accident, though this did happen a few times. Once the weather cooled off a bit, I put this to one side and picked my Fenty bronzer back up. I'll definitely be revisiting this very soon and if you like stick products, you'll love this! You get heaps of product and I'd be surprised if you ever managed to use it up!
Milk Stick Blush in Werk – £17.42
Everyone raves about this blush from Milk, but honestly I just couldn't make it work for me. I find stick products quite difficult to work with and whenever I used this I would apply too much and end up looking like Bridget Jones when she goes to Mark's lawyer dinner with bright red cheeks. It is a really lovely shade, probably the most natural/neutral in the line, but whenever I would over apply it it would look a lot like a bad sunburn! Maybe it's unlucky for me as I am quite pale and it is the exact shade I go when I'm burnt, but it made me quite nervous to use it because I would mess it up every time.
Milk Glow Oil in Glimmer x3 – £12 each (£36)
I bought three of these, one for me and two to give away. I preferred this glow oil to the blush because it is less pigmented and way easier to blend out. However, I'm really just not a massive fan of stick blush and I've barely used this.
Pixi Glow Mist – £16
I needed a new mist to work with my Hourglass Vanish Stick Foundation. If I don't have a very dewy base then it's too dry on my skin. I got a bit confused by this spray because I felt like there was some highlight/makeup in it and that put me off using it as a skincare product. There was actually no need for me to be put off it so I'll have to pull this out and get using it again. Plus I need to use up my Hourglass stick.
Benefit Roller Lash x2 – £17.60/18.60 each (£36.20)
My favourite mascara ever! I think the formula can be a little dry on my eyes sometimes but it's just the best mascara I've ever used. I've been using this mascara for about 5 years now and it's just excellent. I know exactly what I'm getting with it and it lengthens and lifts my lashes beautifully.
Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Brown – £6.30
Used it once, never used it again. I've tried the black gel liner before and it's pretty good but it dries up really quickly.
Beauty Pie Fresh Glow Breathable Setting Spay x3 – £5.28 each (£15.75)
When I got the email for this, I knew I wanted to try it. I bought two on the day it launched and fell in love with it as soon as I used it. The bottle is pretty small (50 ml) but it lasts a really long time. Unlike other sprays, you don't have to fan it down to dry it. It is a really natural finish that makes makeup look much more life like.
Lancôme L'Absolu Mademoiselle Shine Lipstick in 157 – £24.30
I fell in love with this one after I say Allanaramaa on Youtube using it. It was a lovely sheer red shade that looked perfect for summer! I wanted to have it for my summer holiday… and then I saw the price – £27 for a sheer lipstick! I nearly fainted. In the end I managed to get this with some sort of discount on it otherwise I wouldn't have picked it up! It was a lovely colour but I probably didn't get as much wear out of it as I should have done.
Kiko Lipstick – £6.99
This is a sheer red lipstick that I bought as a dupe for the more expensive Lancome one. It did work really well and is really quite comparable! But I still couldn't resist the pull of the luxury lipstick.
Kiko highlighter – £5.99
I had just purchased the Milk bronzer and blush and regretted not picking up their highlighter to have the triology. When I found a stick highlighter in KIKO, I was really pleased! It was a really lovely light gold shade that looked a great dupe! However, when I applied it to my face, it stayed quite sticky and my hair would get stuck to my cheek throughout the day. It was REALLY annoying and I haven't worn it since.
Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Oil x4 – £12 each
This is a great oil cleanser that is really affordable. I tried this after I used the Kiehls Midnight Cleansing Oil and fell in love with cleansing oils but didn't have the budget to consistently repurchase it. This is a great, more affordable alternative that removes makeup and SPF brilliantly.
Body Shop Vitamin E Eye Cream – £13
I used this eye cream pretty consistently for a few weeks and literally noticed no difference. I don't know if I just expect too much from eye creams but they always let me down.
Body Shop Drops of Light™ Pure Resurfacing Liquid Peel – £18
This ruined my skin lol. It is a gel consistency and when you apply it to the skin and rub it around, balls of gunk come up where the dead skin cells are exfoliated. It's very satisfying to use and see the gunk but I think it was too strong on my face. Immediately after using, everything stung for days. I have not used this on my face since. I thought it could work well on my arms as I have Keratosis Pilaris and while it feels okay and a touch smoother straight after, it doesn't last.
Body Shop Roots of Strength™ Firming Shaping Essence Lotion – £17
This one never really got a fair shot. I got it at the same time as the resurfacing liquid peel and this made my skin sting when I used it because the peel over exfoliated my skin. I was too nervy to use this again.
Sol de Janeiro My Sol Stick x2 – £24 (£48)
I repurchased this twice since this summer and it's been a dream. The scent is just beautiful – it's different to the standard bum bum smell and is a mix of caramel and nuts. It's really user friendly and perfect for on the go, it comes (obviously) in a stick and is great for reapplying as the day goes on. It can feel on top of the skin a bit if you don't rub it in, but it's easily remedied.
Sol de Janeiro Samba Foot Fetish – £25
I had heard really good things about this but I don't think that this foot cream was the most moisturising. It does have that amazing bum bum cream scent, but I don't think it is quite nourishing enough for my feet. In the end, this was pretty basic moisturiser with a nice smell, but not one I would repurchase for £25.
Kosas Tinted Face Oil – £30
I wrote a mini review of this on my Instagram a while back (here it is!) where I basically said this is okay but pretty overpriced for what it is. It's light coverage but does manage to cover a fair amount, but it's not the longest wearing foundation ever. I always need a longwearing base as I work in the city and commute each day, but if you're not doing much in the day or only need to wear your makeup for a few hours then this will probably work very well for you. I managed to get this with a £10 off voucher on Cult Beauty because I refused to pay full price for it. In my mind, the more coverage a foundation offers, the more justified a high price is. However I just don't think it's lighter coverage foundations warrant such a high price tag.
Eyeko Eye Do Liquid Liner – £16
This was a repurchase and it is a very black liner that is really easy to apply. It is the darkest black liner that I own and I know I can rely on it. The felt tip is really nice and thick so it is much easier to try and get the shape that I want. It doesn't dry out like some other felt tip liners do so it lasts a really long time!
Garden of Wisdom Vitamin C Serum 23% + Ferulic Acid – £10
I had heard great things about the GOW vitamin C and it's so affordable I decided to give it a go. I used it consistently for a little while but didn't notice much of a difference. When I received some of the I Dew Care products, I swapped over to their vitamin C instead. Now I have finished that one I need to change back over to this, if it's still good.
BYBI Boosters – £12 each (£105)
I purchased the Strawberry, Buriti, CBD, Blueberry and Bakuchiol boosters from BYBI. My absolute fave is the Buriti booster which I like to add a few drops into my moisturiser in the evenings. I've repurchased the Bakuchiol and Buriti boosters the most times, Strawberry twice and have only bought CBD and Blueberry once. Strawberry is for drier skin, CBD is for acne prone skin, Buriti is for sensitive skin and Blueberry is to protect from blue light. I got a few little spots from the Strawberry and CBD one but just adjusted the amount I used (AKA didn't douse my face in oil and added a few drops to my moisturiser instead).
The Ordinary Rose Hip Oil x5 – £9 each
I think I've repurchased this five times this year and I will continue to repurchase this going forwards. I adore this oil, it's a firm favourite of mine and I can't bear to be without it. It's so affordable and gives me such super soft skin that I don't think I'd ever try a more expensive rosehip oil.
Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence – £15.59
Another repurchase that I didn't realise I would miss until it ran out. This essence (I suppose like most essences) preps the skin really nicely for all the products to follow and makes me skin feel really soft and smooth. When I ran out of my first bottle, I didn't repurchase it because it's a bit difficult to get hold of. In the UK this is quite expensive and I didn't want to make a Yes Style order for a while. In the time I didn't have this, I noticed that my skin wasn't as soft and things just felt different. It took me quite a long time to pinpoint what was missing but eventually remembered that I had run out of this. I did a Yes Style order straight away and will continue to repurchase this!
Ole Hendriksen Phat Glow Facial – £42
When this product launched, EVERYONE raved about it. Ole Hendriksen is really overhyped to me having tried three of their other products and it won't waste my money on their products again. I used it twice in one week and broke out immediately. I got breakouts in places where I would never usually get them (on my cheeks) and caused a massive spot near my mouth that I couldn't shift for over a month. It was really disappointing at the time because I bought this as a reward to myself for losing a stone. I think this was probably the product that messed my skin up and I'm still fighting now (in December) to sort my skin out when I used this in mid-September. I don't know if this over-exfoliated my skin and compromised my skin barrier but it only did it in one area? I stuck to the recommended usage (twice a week) so I'm not impressed at all.
Dr Jart Ceramidin Cream – £26.35
If you have dry skin, this will be your best friend. This honestly is a moisturiser like no other. It is aimed at dry to very dry skin and it is probably the thickest moisturiser I've ever come across. I've repurchased this 3 times I think and I will continue to repurchase. I keep this on reserve for when my skin is going through the ringer in winter and it always sees me right.
Japanfusion Supreme Cream – £9.92
Another repurchase that I've enjoyed for a long time. This is my go-to am moisturiser – it's lovely and light for the morning and I think it would suit both dry and oiler skin types. It's a gel moisturiser that absorbs quickly and leaves no heaviness. If I had oily skin, I would use this at night instead of in the morning.
Beauty Pie Japanfusion Deep-treatment Serum – £8.17
This was a repurchase of a serum I forgot about, not because I didn't like it but because whenever my allowance updates on Beauty Pie, I'm always looking to pick up their moisturisers that are total HG for me. This is a great serum that is really moisturising and hydrating and my skin now misses it. It's quite thick and is a bit gel like which I think makes it pack more of a punch.
Beauty Pie Superactive Capsules Pure 3% Resveratrol Microsponge + Exotic Fruit Oils – £10.10
I was really curious about the capsules that BP offer and so I picked these up. It took ages for me to try them out and honestly I've only used one once. They felt very thick and silicone-like and that really put me off. I will eventually use these again, but I think I would add a squirt of hyaluronic acid in there so that it spreads much easier across the skin. I think this is also probably a lesson in only buying skincare that you need, rather than aimlessly buying 'cool' looking stuff with no idea what it does or why I need it.
Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara – £13.60
I bought this over and over again a few years back but was frustrated with the size of it and how quickly it would run out. I decided to repurchase it as I was getting sick of my lower lash mascara transferring under my eyes and making me look daft. Of course it didn't disappoint but has run out really quickly. For £17 (yes, £17) I wish they would make it bigger because it's exorbitant for the amount of product you actually get and it does give really good results. The brush is really small so it coats each lash and there is minimal transfer. I'll begrudgingly repurchase this again because it is so good.
Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips 2 in JK Magic, Glowing Jen and Dancefloor Princess – £23 each (£69)
When the Hot Lips 2 collection came out in the summer, I fell in love with them. I always think that it is quite hard to judge shades online, so when I tried them in store, I fell for all three shades. Without a doubt the most beautiful shade is JK Magic – it is the ULTIMATE nude and by far my most used shade. Dancefloor Princess is very similar to JK Magic but with a pink undertone rather than a nude/brown while Glowing Jen is considerably darker and is described on the website as 'a 'tawny rose' shade (whatever that means) and is just a darker pinky nude. I haven't really worn Glowing Jen or Dancefloor Princess that much (GJ only once, DP maybe twice?) so I'll have to work on that in the new year.
Kiehls Midnight Cleansing Oil – £25.72
I got the smaller size of this last year and it was really nice. I love the Midnight Recovery Oil so I had a pretty good idea that I'd like this too. I bought this as a treat to myself just before my birthday as something a little more luxurious. It smells like Lavender and does contain lavender essential oils, so if that's not your thing, you might not like this too much. However, it works really well to remove stubborn makeup, leaves the skin feeling really soft and smells amazing.
Charlotte Tilbury Rock n Kohl Eye Cheat – £15.28
This was another repurchase for me – my other one lasted months and months. I wanted a good nude eyeliner for my waterline to open my eyes a bit more and give a brighter look. I've been doing this for years and find that nude looks so much more subtle than white, which can look really quite stark and obvious. My eye looks are never complete until I line my waterline with a nude. This eyeliner is expensive for what it is, but it lasts absolutely ages!
Belif The True Cream Moisturising Bomb – £29.82 (€34.94)
I have been lusting after Belif products for aaaaages but they're next to impossible to get a hold of here in the UK. When I went to Sephora in Spain, I knew I had to pick it up. This is a really nice moisturiser – it probably suits my AM routine a bit more as it's probably not quite thick enough for nighttime. It is really moisturising but has seemingly been breaking my out. I have a troublesome patch around my mouth which breaks out really easily at the moment. When I first tried this out, there were no issues around that area so I know it's my skin rather than the product.
Belif Moisturising Eye Bomb – £33.23 (€38.95)
Like the Moisturising Bomb, I had my eye on this one for a long time. I had heard great things about it and it's a great consistency. It's pretty moisturising under the eye but if I'm being super picky, I would probably want it a bit more. Because it is lightish (it's not heavy at all), I'd use this in day time. I need to test it some more – I keep forgetting to use it!
YTTP Superberry Hydrate + Glow Dream Mask – £30.67 (€35.95)
Youth to the People is really hard to get a hold of in the UK so I went a bit wild when I went to Sephora in Spain. I wanted to try the Superberry Dream Mask but have only tried it once so far on the night I got home from the airport super late and couldn't be bothered with my entire routine. My skin felt good the following morning, but I haven't really had a chance to give it a proper go because my skin has been a bit troublesome lately.
YTTP Adaptogen Deep Moisture Cream – £40.91 (€47.95)
This moisturiser is esssspensive. Despite it being called the 'Deep Moisture Cream', I don't find it to be the thickest consistency and was surprised by how thin it was. Regardless I bought it because I wanted to try it out. I haven't used it on my face yet because of my troublesome chin, so I'm still waiting to use this! I don't think I'd repurchase this because a) it's hard to get a hold of in the UK but b) I have other great moisturisers for far less money.
YTTP Superfood Cleanser – £8.49 (€9.95)
This cleanser had me super curious so I bought a mini of it. It is an excellent texture on the skin – it's quite a thick gel that lathers a little bit and leaves the skin feeling VERY soft. Hoooowever… this broke me out 😦 I think my skin is just in a really rubbish place at the moment and I need to address the underlying problem before I can keep using
Peace Out Spots – £16.16 (€18.95)
I've been interested in trying out pimple patches for a long time but was unfortunate enough not to get any spots???? Well luckily my luck has changed and I finally had the chance to use them. I can't say I had the awesome outcome that others have had where loads of gunk comes up on the patch, but it did go down over night after I used it. This has happened a few times but I've never noticed that these had incredible results.
Marc Jacobs Beauty See-quins Glam Glitter Eyeshadow in Pop Rox – £21.80 (€25.55)
I had been looking for a glitter eyeshadow for the longest time in a shade that actually appealed to me. Pop Rox is a lovely light pink/purple shade and doesn't have too much fall out. It does tend to get less pigmented on the eye the longer you wear it but it still looks very pretty.
Marc Jacobs Beauty O!mega Glaze All-Over Foil Luminizer in Showstopper – £38.86 (€45.55)
I got totally dragged in here. I tried this shade over the top of the highlighter I had on and it had the most beautiful pink shift to it. I didn't buy it on the spot, but I literally couldn't take my eyes off my cheek bones all day and had to go back for it. Since buying it and using it on holiday, I haven't used it a great deal. I really need to get more use out of it, but it's so massive (It's the same size as the O!mega bronzer), she isn't going anywhere fast.
Sephora Vivid Earth palette – £11.90 (€13.95)
This is a copper/gold/khaki eyeshadow palette and it was total crap. The shadows were really chalky and sometimes they would blend out too easily and other times they would not blend at all. I destroyed it instead.
The Ordinary Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA – £6.93
This used to be a holy grail of mine and it really helped to get rid of acne scars on my cheeks. I stopped using it for a few years when I felt my scars had gone and decided to repurchase it. It isn't agreeing with certain areas at the moment, so I'm only applying it on my cheeks where I'm trying to reduce some pigmentation.
Paula's Choice Resist Daily Smoothing Treatment with 5% AHA (50ml) – £24.75
I purchased this because I wanted to try more Paula's Choice and I wanted to try some different AHA treatments. I am a physical exfoliant girl but most other people seem to prefer chemical exfoliation and I want to see what all the fuss is about. Like I've said before, my skin is a bit troublesome right now and I think this poked the bear. I've stopped using it for now but I'll revisit this.
Paula's Choice Resist Anti-Aging Eye Gel – £24
This is a really snazzy eye cream. I use this in the morning before makeup and it's a lovely thin gel with a metal tip applicator. Not only is it cooling because it's a gel, but the metal applicator really freshens up the under eye. I can't say that I've noticed much of a difference from using it, but I haven't been using it for long.
Fresh Beauty Sugar Face Polish – £43.20
I got a deluxe mini of this last year and I knew very quickly that I wanted a full size of it… until I saw the price. I tried to find a less expensive dupe but it just didn't measure up. I managed to get it on sale at John Lewis for 20% off and had to make the most of it. Despite being a physical exfoliant, this is very gentle. The exfoliation beads melt under the fingertips and into the skin and leaves the skin silky smooth afterwards. There is honestly no comparison to the Klairs polish I thought could dupe it with. It's just amazing.
Colourpop Single Shadows – £3.43 each ($4.50) (£20.58)
The single shadows from Colourpop are banging. They have excellent pigment, not loads of fall out and blend really easily. I got mainly nude shades (shock) and would definitely buy single shadows from Colourpop again.
Colourpop Ultra Glossy Lip – £5.34 each ($7) (£10.68)
I picked up two new lip glosses and have well and truly fallen for one shade in particular. Me V World is the most amazing orange red shade that is PERFECT for autumn. It lasts really well on it's own and works really well over lipstick to make the look last even longer. Obviously with it being a gloss it does come off when you eat and drink, but it keeps the colour very well and it's more the shine that goes.
Sol Body Shimmering Dry Oil in Warm Gold – £7.63 ($10)
I got a mini of the dry oil and it looks AMAZING. I've tried it on my hand and it is an excellent formula. Despite being an oil, it doesn't stay wet or sticky at all (like I've seen from other formulas). It leaves a shimmer on the skin that would look amazing in the summer time, so I'm going to reserve this for warmer weather when I get my legs out.
Sjo Skin Happy Honey Mask – £33.60
This one was a repurchase. I absolutely adore this mask! This is the only mask that I ever notice a real difference with whenever I use it. Admittedly I do keep it on for a few hours each time, but my skin feels instantly softer after I take it off and any issues or blemishes I have are massively reduced the following day.
Colourpop Just My Luck Palette – £6.41 ($8.40)
I'm not really sure what got into me here. This palette was launched on St Patrick's Day and is an all green palette. I have been wanting to try more khaki shades, which this palette doesn't have a lot of (lol). I have green eyes, so I'm interested to try these shades out and see what I can create. Green obviously isn't the most wearable shade for everyday (and would probably get some strange looks at my day job)
Colourpop Made in the Shade bundle – £11.76 ($15.40)
This was part of the recent coconut collection – the bundle contained the two lip crayons and the Go Coconuts palette. The lip crayons are both really lovely shades and feel great! They may suit people with lighter skin tones better but they do have pretty decent pigmentation that could work as quite light nudes on darker skin tones. The palette is a great cool nudes palette if you don't have anything similar. The white shimmer shade is very chunky with quite a bit of fall out and no real colour pay off. I'd say if you already own nude palettes or singles, then you definitely have these shades. They come in a plastic palette (boo) that seems to be magnetic. Weirdly 5 of the shades completely fell out of my palette despite not being knocked or forced out. Overall, it's a pretty good little palette for anyone who is new to eyeshadow.
Colourpop Aquarius Ultra Glossy Lip – £4.27 ($5.60)
This was a repurchase because it's my go-to lipgloss. It's a lovely pink nude shade that I often put over my nude lipsticks to just give more of a sheen. It does have quite a lot of pigment to the gloss, but it never overpowers the lipstick I put it over.
Colourpop No Filter Concealer – £3.47 ($4.55)
RawBeautyKristi loves this concealer so I wanted to see what all the fuss is about! For $4.55 (on sale), it's a total bargain! The shade range really impressed me – it had a massive range of shades and undertones and it went up really slowly with no big gaps. I went for Fair 08 and was amazed that for once I wasn't the palest shade! Even this is quite light on me, which never happens! I think this has the shade range to rival a high end brand and seemingly a really good formula too. I need to test this one out a little more, but so far it's two thumbs up from me. The only downside is how long it takes to get to the UK from America.
Colourpop Blush Stix – £4.27 ($5.60)
I picked up this blush stick in More is More as a dupe for the Fenty Match Stix in Trippin'. Both are pink shades with a coral shift, though the Colourpop one is a much creamier formula. Because it is creamier, it means it's much easier to get a lot of pigment, so use this sparingly.
Colourpop Bronzer – £3.74 ($4.90)
Now that I've reached pan on my Fenty bronzer, I wanted to find a newer, cheaper dupe. Colourpop have a really good shade range when it comes to bronzers so I picked one up. It is very pigmented formula but there is a LOT of kickback in the pan. Normally I'm not that bothered by fall out but there was SO MUCH OF IT. It managed to get all over a grey jumper of mine somehow, which I wasn't too impressed about! You'll have to use a much lighter hand with this than you would with the Fenty one or you'll end up with a band of brown across your face.
Fourth Ray Mellow Milk Mist – £4.27 ($5.60)
I see a lot of people using and loving mists and I've never really got the hype? A lot of mists can be quite pricey and I'm just not prepared to spend a fortune on something I'm just going to spray on my skin and use up quickly. I haven't used this yet, but it looks pretty good and it's very affordable. I found it very strange though that the full ingredients list was no where to be found on their packaging (the bottle or the box). They have their 'key' ingredients on the box, but I'm interested to know how high they are on the INCI list.
Pat McGrath LuxeTrance Lipstick x2 – £10 each (£20)
These lipsticks are usually £35 EACH. On Cyber Monday these went down to £10 each and every gal and her nana were picking these up. I had never swatched these before and had never even tried Pat McGrath before (because of the price). I used Temptalia to see reliable swatches and picked Donatella and Unnatural Natural. These both looked quite different when I got them in person but I'm going to force myself to use them to get the most out of them.
Looking back at my purchases from this year is pretty terrifying but so productive. I tried out so many hyped brands and products and ultimately so many of my purchases weren't worth it. There are brands that I now would not revisit because they're products are pretty bang average. I'm surprised I spent as much as I did to be honest but I know for sure that I won't spend that much this year coming. It is quite eye opening to review my purchases like this but it's a really great learning exercise.
Did you try any of these products? What did you think?
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Gary Gilmore
- Category : Criminal
- Type : PM
- Profile : 1/4 - Investigating / Opportunist
- Definition : Single
- Incarnation Cross : RAX Consciousness 4
Gary Mark Gilmore (December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international notoriety for demanding the execution of his death sentence for two murders he committed in Utah. After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a new series of death penalty statutes in the 1976 decision Gregg v. Georgia, he became the first person executed in the United States in ten years. These new statutes avoided the problems under the 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia that had led earlier death penalty statutes to be deemed as "cruel and unusual", and therefore unconstitutional, resulting in all states being ordered to commute death sentences to life imprisonment. Gilmore was executed by firing squad in 1977.
Early life
Gilmore was born in McCamey, Texas, on December 4, 1940, the second of four sons to Frank and Bessie Gilmore. Frank Gilmore Sr. (1890–1962), an alcoholic con man, had numerous wives and families, none of whom he supported. He married Bessie (née Brown) (1914 – June 1980), a Mormon outcast from Provo, Utah, in Sacramento, California, on a whim. Gary was born while they were living in Texas under the pseudonym of Coffman to avoid the law. Frank christened his son Faye Robert Coffman, but once they left Texas, Bessie changed it to Gary Mark. This name change proved to be a sore point years later: Gilmore's mother kept the original "Faye Coffman" birth certificate, and when Gary found it two decades later he assumed he must either be illegitimate or someone else's son. Gilmore seized on this as the reason why he and his father never got along, and became very upset and walked out on his mother when she tried to explain the name change to him.
The theme of illegitimacy, real or imagined, was common in the Gilmore family. Fay Gilmore, Frank's mother, once told Bessie that Frank's father was a famous magician who passed through Sacramento, where she was living. Bessie researched this at the library and came to the conclusion that Frank was the illegitimate son of Harry Houdini. Houdini was only sixteen years old in 1890, the year of Frank Gilmore's birth, and did not begin his career as a magician until the following year. Mikal Gilmore believes the story to be false, but has stated that both his father and mother believed it.
The family constantly relocated throughout the Western United States during Gary's childhood, with Frank supporting them by selling fake magazine subscriptions. Gary had a troubled relationship with his father, whom his youngest brother Mikal described as a "cruel and unreasonable man." Frank Gilmore, Sr. was strict and quick to anger, and would often whip his sons Frank, Jr., Gary and Gaylen with a razor strap, whip or a belt for little or no reason. Less often, he would beat his wife. He mellowed somewhat with age: Mikal reported that Frank whipped him only once, and he never did it again after he told him "I hate you." In addition, Frank and Bessie would argue loudly and abusively name-call each other. Frank would anger Bessie by calling her crazy, and defame Brigham Young, the second president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as "Bring 'em Young." Bessie would retaliate by calling him a "Cat-licker" and threatening to kill him some night. This abuse continued for years, and caused considerable turmoil within the Gilmore family.
In 1952, the Gilmore family settled in Portland, Oregon. As an adolescent, Gary began engaging in petty crime. Although Gilmore had an IQ test score of 133, had high scores on both aptitude and achievement tests, and showed artistic talent, he dropped out of high school in the ninth grade. He ran away from home with a friend to Texas, returning to Portland after several months. At the age of 14, he started a small car theft ring with friends, which resulted in his first arrest. He was released to his father with a warning. Two weeks later he was back in court on another car theft charge. The court remanded him to the MacLaren Reform School for Boys in Oregon, from which he was released the following year. He was sent to Oregon State Correctional Institution on another car theft charge in 1960, and was released later that year. In 1961, Frank, Sr., was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and died at the end of June 1962, while Gary was still in prison. Gary heard about his father's death from one of his jailers. Despite his dysfunctional relationship with his father, he was devastated, and tried to kill himself by slitting his wrists.
Criminal career
In 1962, Gilmore was again arrested and sent to the Oregon State Penitentiary for armed robbery and assault. He faced assault and armed robbery charges again in 1964, and was given a 15-year prison sentence as a habitual offender. A prison psychiatrist diagnosed him with antisocial personality disorder with intermittent psychotic decompensation. He was granted conditional release in 1972 to live weekdays in a halfway house in Eugene, Oregon, and study art at a community college. Gilmore never registered and within a month he was arrested and convicted of armed robbery. Because of his violent behavior in prison, he was transferred from Oregon to the maximum security federal prison in Marion, Illinois, in 1975. He was conditionally paroled in April 1976 and went to Provo, Utah, to live with a distant cousin, Brenda Nicol, who tried to help him find work. Gilmore worked briefly at his uncle Vern Damico's shoe store and for an insulation company, but he soon returned to his previous lifestyle of stealing, drinking, and getting into fights. Gilmore, then 35, had a relationship with Nicole Baker, a 19-year-old widow and divorcee who had two young children. The relationship was at first casual, but soon became intense and strained due to Gilmore's aggressive behavior and pressure from Baker's family to stop her seeing him.
On the evening of July 19, 1976, Gilmore robbed and murdered Max Jensen, a gas station employee in Orem, Utah. The next evening, he robbed and murdered Bennie Bushnell, a motel manager in Provo. Even though they had complied with his demands, he murdered both men. While disposing of the .22 caliber pistol used in both killings, Gilmore accidentally shot himself in his right hand, leaving a trail of blood back to the service garage, where he had left his truck to be repaired prior to murdering Bushnell. Garage mechanic Michael Simpson witnessed Gilmore hiding the gun in the bushes. Seeing the blood on Gilmore's crudely bandaged right hand when he approached to pay for the repairs to his truck, and hearing on a police scanner of the shooting at the nearby motel, Simpson wrote down Gilmore's license number and called the police after Gilmore left. Gilmore's cousin, Brenda, turned him in to police shortly after he phoned her asking for bandages and painkillers for the injury to his hand. The Utah State Police apprehended Gilmore as he tried to drive out of Provo, and he gave up without attempting to flee. He was charged with the murders of Jensen and Bushnell, although the first case was never brought to trial, apparently because there were no eyewitnesses.
Gilmore's murder trial began at the Provo courthouse on October 5, 1976 and lasted two days. Peter Arroyo, a motel guest, testified that he saw Gilmore in the motel registration office that night. After taking the money, Gilmore allegedly ordered Bushnell to lie down on the floor and then shot him. Gerald F. Wilkes, a FBI ballistics expert, matched the two shell casings and the bullet that killed Bushnell to the gun hidden in the bush, and a patrolman testified that he had traced Gilmore's trail of blood to that same bush. Gilmore's two court-appointed lawyers, Michael Esplin and Craig Snyder, made no attempt to cross-examine the majority of the state's witnesses, and rested without calling any witnesses for the defense. Gilmore protested, and the following day asked the judge if he could take the stand in his own defense, perhaps arguing that due to the dissociation and lack of control he felt at the time, he had a good case for insanity. His attorneys presented the findings of four separate psychiatrists, all of whom had said that Gilmore was aware of what he was doing and that he knew it was wrong at the time. While he did have an antisocial personality disorder, which may have been aggravated by drinking and drugs, he still did not meet the legal criteria for insanity. Gilmore withdrew his request. On October 7, the jury retired to deliberate and by mid-day, they had returned with a guilty verdict. Later that day, the jury unanimously recommended the death penalty due to the special circumstances of the crime.
Gary chose to not pursue habeas corpus relief in federal court. His mother, Bessie, sued for a stay of execution on his behalf. In a five-to-four decision, the US Supreme Court refused to hear his mother's claim. The Court's per curiam opinion said that the defendant had waived his rights by not pursuing them. At the time, Utah had two methods of execution — firing squad or hanging. Believing a hanging could be botched, Gilmore chose the former, declaring, "I'd prefer to be shot." The execution was set for November 15 at 8 AM.
Against his express wishes, Gilmore received several stays of execution through the efforts of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The last of these occurred just hours before the re-scheduled execution date of January 17. That stay was overturned at 7:30 AM, and the execution was allowed to proceed as planned. At a Board of Pardons hearing in November 1976, Gilmore said of the efforts by the ACLU and others to prevent his execution: "They always want to get in on the act. I don't think they have ever really done anything effective in their lives. I would like them all — including that group of reverends and rabbis from Salt Lake City — to butt out. This is my life and this is my death. It's been sanctioned by the courts that I die and I accept that."
During the time Gilmore was on death row awaiting his execution, he attempted suicide twice, the first time on November 16 after the first stay was issued, and again one month later.
Gilmore was executed on January 17, 1977, at 8:07 a.m. by firing squad at Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. The night before, Gilmore had requested an all-night gathering of friends and family at the prison mess hall. On the evening before his execution, he was served a last meal of steak, potatoes, milk and coffee but consumed only the milk and coffee. His uncle, Vern Damico, who attended the gathering, later claimed to have smuggled in three small, 50ml Jack Daniel's whiskey bottles which Gilmore supposedly consumed. He was then taken to an abandoned cannery behind the prison, which served as its death house. He was strapped to a chair, with a wall of sandbags placed behind him to trap the bullets. Five gunmen, local police officers, stood concealed behind a curtain with five small holes, through which they aimed their rifles. When asked for any last words, Gilmore simply replied, "Let's do it." Rev. Thomas Meersman, the Roman Catholic prison chaplain, administered the last rites to Gilmore. After the prison physician cloaked him in a black hood, Gilmore uttered his last words to Father Meersman: "Dominus vobiscum" (Latin, translation: "The Lord be with you.") Meersman replied, "Et cum spiritu tuo" ("And with your spirit.")
Gilmore had requested that his organs be donated for transplant purposes. Within hours of the execution, two people received his corneas. His body was then sent for autopsy and was cremated later that day. The following day, his ashes were scattered from an airplane over Spanish Fork, Utah.
Cultural impact
As Gilmore was the first person in the United States executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, his story had immense cultural resonance at the time, and continues to influence the works of writers, artists and even advertisers to this day.
Before his execution, the December 11, 1976, episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live (Season 2, Episode 10) featured guest host Candice Bergen and the cast singing a Christmas-themed medley entitled "Let's Kill Gary Gilmore For Christmas." Dressed in winter attire and surrounded by fake snow, the performers sang the medley of familiar Christmas carols with altered lyrics. Lyrics set to "Winter Wonderland" included this line: "In the meadow we can build a snowman / One with Gary Gilmore packed inside / We'll ask him, 'Are you dead yet?' He'll say, 'No, man' / But we'll wait out the frostbite till he dies." A later episode of 'Saturday Night Live, on October 20, 1979, featured guest host Eric Idle performing impersonations while strapped to a stretcher, assisted by orderlies. With the stretcher standing on end, Idle covered his eyes with a black blindfold and announced it as an impersonation of Gary Gilmore.
Other television comedies have referred to the Gilmore execution, specifically his final words, "Let's do it." The Seinfeld episode "The Jacket" originally included a reference to Gary Gilmore's final words, but the scene was changed during the final shoot. In the deleted scene, Jerry is trying to decide upon buying the titular jacket, when he remarks to Elaine: "Well, in the immortal words of Gary Gilmore 'Let's do it.'" On the Roseanne episode "The Wedding," Roseanne's daughter Darlene is asked if she is ready to get married. Darlene responds with a similar punchline, "Well in the words of Gary Gilmore, 'Let's do it.'" On NYPD Blue, Andy Sipowicz cracks "Let's do it," as his wedding is about to begin, then explains further, "That's what that guy in Utah said...'Let's do it.' He said that to the firing squad just before they whacked him."
The founder of advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, Dan Wieden credits the inspiration for his "Just Do It" Nike slogan to Gilmore's last words.
Gilmore's story was documented in Norman Mailer's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Executioner's Song. Notable not only for its portrayal of Gilmore and the anguish surrounding the murders he committed, the book also took a central position in the national debate over the revival of capital punishment. Another writer to blend fact with fiction was Colombian writer Rafael Chaparro Madiedo, who made Gary Gilmore one of the main characters of his 1992 National Prize novel Opio en las Nubes.
In 1982, The Executioner's Song was adapted by Mailer for a television movie of the same name starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore, and co-starring Christine Lahti, Eli Wallach and Rosanna Arquette. Jones won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Gilmore. Gilmore's brother's memoir Shot in the Heart was also made into an HBO movie. Another film related influence was artist Matthew Barney's Cremaster 2 (1999), in which Gilmore was made the main character of the second part of The Cremaster Cycle, a series of five films. Gilmore, played by an actress this time, appears in the beginning of Cremaster 3 in a metamorphosed form.
Jack Nicholson's performance in The Postman Always Rings Twice was reportedly inspired in part by Gilmore.
In the RiffTrax of Independence Day, Mike Nelson makes reference to Gilmore's last words, relating them to those of the President (played by Bill Pullman) during the transition into the third act.
Many musicians have explored the Gilmore case. In 1977, The Adverts had a top 20 hit in the UK with the song "Gary Gilmore's Eyes". The lyrics describe an eye donor recipient realizing his new eyes came from the executed murderer. The song was later covered by German punk rock band Die Toten Hosen and a country version of the song was recorded by Dean Schlabowske. Also in 1977, New York City experimental punk band Chain Gang released the song "Gary Gilmore and the Island of Dr. Moreau" as the B-side to their single "Son of Sam" about a contemporary serial killer that was still at large. The Police's song "Bring on the Night", from their 1979 album Reggatta de Blanc, speculated on Gary Gilmore's possible feelings on the evening before the execution took place. In 1980, The Judy's released the song "How's Gary?" on their album Wonderful World of Appliances. The song presumably asks Gary Gilmore's mother what's wrong with him, saying that he never comes out to play anymore. The song also inquires about the holes in his vest and why he is wearing a blindfold.
Several playwrights have also integrated the Gilmore story into their work in one way or another. The Oakland-based performance artist Monte Cazazza sent out photos of himself in an electric chair on the day of the execution. One of these was mistakenly printed in a Hong Kong newspaper as the real execution. Cazazza was also photographed alongside COUM Transmissions/Throbbing Gristle members Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti for the "Gary Gilmore Memorial Society" postcard, in which the three artists posed blindfolded and tied to chairs with actual loaded guns pointed at them to depict Gilmore's execution. In Christopher Durang's play Beyond Therapy (1983), the character Bruce claims that he "wanted to see Gary Gilmore executed on television." Welsh playwright Dic Edwards dramatised Gilmore's life in his 1995 play Utah Blue.


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There is a new report from the Planetary Habitability Laboratory (PHL), part of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, regarding the number of currently known exoplanets which are potentially habitable. The findings are limited to confirmed exoplanets and exoplanet candidates, from the available Kepler data, which are within the habitable zone of their stars and with either a radius less than two Earth radii or a mass less than 10 Earth masses.
As of now, the number stands at 16, two from the confirmed list of 687 and 14 from the candidates list of 1,235. That may not sound like a lot, but if, as now thought by Kepler scientists, that the number of exoplanets in our galaxy alone is in the millions if not billions, then you can extrapolate from there…
The results will become more refined as additional candidates are confirmed in the near future, noting also that the error rate is considered to be very, very low, so by far the majority of candidates are expected to be confirmed.
The PHL is also working on a new Habitable Exoplanet Catalog (HEC), to be launched on December 5, 2011. While other catalogs provide an overview of all known exoplanets, the HEC will focus on those ones considered to be potentially habitable, which will be a very valuable resource.
Of course, it is possible that many of the exoplanets considered unlikely themselves to have life could have moons which would be potentially habitable, as we have now found in our own solar system with moons such as Europa, Enceladus and Titan. How many of those types of worlds might there be out there?


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All Things Entertaining and Cultural
Summoned by the actors she directed in "Chapter Two," Marsha Mason approached the stage applauding and in tears.
Those tears were of delight and gratitude, as the Bucks County Playhouse cast made Neil Simon's 1977 play about a widower and a divorcee embarking on a second marriage seem fresh and poignant.
Mason's meticulous and moving production was especially well served by lead actress Anastasia Griffith who has the daunting task of playing a character modelled after Marsha Mason in a piece that earned Mason a 1979 Oscar nomination and now was being directed by Marsha Mason.
Talk about a cause for anxiety or self-consciousness! The person you're playing is Simon's version of the director you have to please!
I may be ascribing emotions to Griffith the actress never had.
It doesn't make a difference whether she had them or not. On stage, as Jennie Malone, Griffith was extraordinary. Her Jennie is self-possessed and secure in her worth as a human being and an actress. She endured one marriage with a man who seemed unwilling to grow up or become a partner. She is not looking for a second husband. She is content to travel a bit and then return to work as a New York actress who has a running part in a CBS soap opera.
Then the telephone rings. It's a wrong number. Well, partially a wrong number. A widowed novelist, George Schneider, is seeking someone who can give him first-hand background for a book he's writing. He has written his source's telephone number on the same paper on which his brother, Leo, thinking it's would be a good idea for George to date, scribbled Jennie's number. Leo met Jennie and her friend, Faye, at a club and thought she might be a woman George would find attractive.
In conversation, he does. The repartee from the first wrong-number call leads to four others, each one increasing in charm and drawing out more personal information. Voice-to-voice, George and Jennie click. George recommends they meet face-to-face to see how that works.
"Chapter Two" is a play based on fact, so romance ensues. Mason and company act out that romance with piercing intelligence. Beyond the funny lines Simon amply supplies, and the neuroses he assigns Faye and Leo, the playwright lets you hear and understand the concerns of two people who fall in love way before either of them thought they would.
Both George and Jennie are recovering from their first marriages. George's wife dies after a bout with cancer she kept hidden from others for a time. His grief takes palpable form. He becomes a hermit in his apartment for several weeks, writing nothing, a serious sign of depression if you know anything about writers, eating little, and remaining unshaven and disheveled. Leo tries to pull him from his torpor, but George is inconsolable.
Then, one day, he gets washed and dressed and takes off for a month in Europe. When he arrives home, he is ready to face publishers and deadlines, and Leo thinks he should consider dating. He lines up women for George to have dinner or attend Knicks games with, but none of them meet George's standards. From their description, they might meet no one's standards.
Jennie slogged through a marriage that was going nowhere with a failed NFL player who could not conceive of life after the gridiron, something it would behoove him to consider since his career with the Giants lasted parts of two seasons. She is as choosy about men as George is about women. Just as Leo, a compulsive romancer, cannot understand how George could be so tied to the memory of his late wife he is barely interested in meeting someone new, Faye is perplexed about Jennie's reluctance to jump into the Manhattan fray and have a ball as a carefree divorcee. Faye is particularly miffed at Jennie's indifference towards dating because she is saddled in an unhappy marriage and longs for nothing more than to have an extra-marital affair.
Simon makes all of this clear, and he uses the old-fashioned route of good dialogue and well paced exposition to do it. Griffith and Joey Slotnick, as George, make the feelings their characters must overcome even more touching by portraying in a way that makes the audience respond favorably to them and root for a relationship that looks so right. George and Jennie may not be prepared to pursue what's next romantically in their lives, but fate has taken being ready out of the equation by putting Simon's leads in each other's way.
Griffith and Slotnick let you see what goes on in their characters' minds even as you ache for them to unite as a couple. Contrasted with Leo and Faye, George and Jennie are pillars of reason, and Griffith and Slotnick are savvy about conveying what sets them apart.
Both are witty, but to Griffith and Slotnick's credit, neither actor plays Simon's jokes as one-liners. Instead, they unleash them as clever people who express themselves in ways that employ humor as a natural part of their conversation. Simon's lines get laughs, but they come from Griffith and Slotnick's talent for peppering their talk with funny reactions and metaphors. The characters don't come across as comedians. They register as smart and as people whose immediate thoughts include humor, sometimes to self-consciously amuse, sometimes to soften a statement or leaven a situation, and sometimes to mask emotions. Whatever the circumstance, Griffith and Slotnick don't play for laughs. They remain natural and let the comedy happen.
This is important because the actors establish George and Jennie as rational people who have a knack for comic expression. The solidity of the characters makes you care about them, makes you see them as complete human beings rather than as ciphers or as jukeboxes that dispense one-liners. The actors, particularly Griffith, are so affecting because they make all they do and all that worries them seen so adult and so real.
Anastasia Griffith radiates poise and common sense as Jennie. Faye says Jennie is the most organized person in the world, and Griffith proves it by going about Jennie's business with great and effortless efficiency.
The same clarity that allows Jennie to put her apartment in order helps Jennie to put her life in perspective. She has analyzed what went wrong in her marriage and the emotions that took her so long to extract herself from it. She has a sense of who she is and her purpose. Jennie doesn't want to enter into a relationship that might be superficial or a romance that might be kindled more by a man's good looks or taste in clothes than in his long-term behavior and his attitude towards women.
Griffith establishes Jennie's independence and intelligence early. She also conveys a no-nonsense quality that carries over to her talks with Faye and the first telephone call she receives from George.
Griffith's approach makes Jennie an admirable woman, one who is truly is too good to settle for just any man or to be unappreciated and pigeonholed based on a man's idea of her. When Griffith delivers a speech that lets George know she will tolerate his fears but not tolerate any sniping, carping, or mistreatment, you back her up because Griffith has made her the upstanding person Neil Simon designed her to be.
Mason's entire cast brings out the facets and genuine nature of their characters.
Joey Slotnick brings out the honesty in George. If Griffith's Jennie is self-possessed, Slotnick's George is self-knowing. He is an author who has examined his life as if he is living it in third person. Even as he acts and feels, George gives the sense he is looking at himself from an authorial distance.
This adds to his charm and makes him a tad self-conscience. Slotnick is adept at playing George's shyer, less confident side. In his first meeting with Jennie, George reveals that maturity has not cured him from being nervous around women and cautious about asking for a date or anything else he might want. He is aware he is not the best looking of men but makes up for it by being one of the most entertaining and one of the most sensitive.
George's marriage was 12 years of bliss for him. He and his late wife did everything together, and she knew how to deal with any moodiness or writer's angst George may have. When we meet George, he is not only mourning a woman but a lifestyle and an existence that was happy and content. Jane cannot be replaced. Other women may follow. George is too young to remain unattached if and when he is ready to seek a partner. Another woman has to understand Jane will be remain his first affection, and he will be loyal to that love even when it is a distant memory.
Slotnick conveys all of this. His conversations with Leo, especially when he is describing the floozies or homebodies Leo has suggested he date, are sincere, just as his initial talks with Jennie clearly state George is a man in the midst of grieving, not someone who has recovered from his loss and is ready to rebound.
You can see Slotnick's surprise as George realizes he may need to be with Jennie whether the timing for a new relationship is good or not. Slotnick also makes the scenes in which George faces his doubts and regrets by turning mean and verbally abusive real and understandable, so that you sympathize a bit with George while empathizing with and feeling concern for Jennie.
Nadia Bowers and Michael Nathanson are excellent friends and foils as Faye and Leo, two people who seek affection and sex in a way far different from the kind George and Jennie are experiencing.
Faye admires Jennie's orderliness. She too is an actress on a CBS soap, but her life doesn't have the precision Jennie's does.
Faye has a husband she wishes she could leave. She doesn't have Jennie's nerve or resolve. In spite of that, she asks if she can have access to Jennie's apartment when Jennie moves in with George, and her intention is to bring lovers there.
Unfortunately, Faye is as inept at wooing as she is in maintaining a marriage. She does have an affair, one that Simon turns sweet and comic, but Faye cannot face life directly the way Jennie can.
Nadia Bowers is a likeable Faye whose dilemmas are endearing. You feel for her marital plight while realizing she is too scattered and insecure to have more than a series of one-night stands. She is the age and type and man looks at for quick fun. Faye has a heart, but she doesn't convey the substance Jennie does. The speech in which she speaks about her feelings and her inability to change what upsets her is quite moving, and Bowers rivets as she delivers it.
Michael Nathanson's Leo provides most of Simon's comic relief, and Nathanson is the one member of the cast who acts as if he's playing comedy instead of being in situations that have a comic tone.
That doesn't keep his performance from being excellent. Leo, a theatrical agent, is the wilder, less thoughtful younger brother in the Schneider family. He wants feet in two worlds, the suburban one that includes his wife and children, and the big city where he can act on his compulsion to have sex on a nightly basis with whatever woman is willing to succumb.
Nathanson is earnest in the scenes in which Leo serves as George's sounding board. He sincerely desires George to return to a wider world and cope with the fact that Jane can never return. He also serves as a good punching bag as George lambastes him for the legion of women he's brought to his attention so far.
Leo's libido contrasts with George's more controlled passions. Nathanson conveys the filial feeling between the brothers and has at least one hilarious scene with his new sister-in-law.
Marsha Mason endows this production of "Chapter Two" with intelligence because she knows where the comedy is but emphasizes both the wisdom and the heart in Simon's script. Her actors keep their characters authentic as Mason guides them to making reality and sincerity the hallmarks of their work.
The result is a moving show that provokes thought about relationships, especially relationships after a loss, and doesn't stint on comedy or laughs. It incorporates them into a broader, more focused production that balances humor, drama, and sentiment revealing Simon's comic take on a serious situation, one that meant as much to him as it meant/means to Mason.
Mason, by the way, will appear at the psychic novelist, Helga Ten Dorp, in Bucks County Playhouse's upcoming production of Ira Levin's "Deathtrap," also from the late '70s.
Lauren Helpern does a wonderful job at designing two Manhattan apartments that are distinct in look and mood but seem meant for their individual occupants. Bobby Frederick Tilley does a fine job dressing the characters, except for one floor-length floral monstrosity Faye wears in the second act.
"Chapter Two" runs through Sunday, June 15 at Bucks County Playhouse, 70 S. Main Street, in New Hope, Pa. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Tickets range from $59.50 to $29 and can be obtained by calling 215-862-2121 or by going online to www.bcptheater.org.


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Know your Audience to Improve Advertising
Audience is everything. In business, our audience is the customer. The importance of advertising should never be underestimated, especially in a marketplace that is becoming increasingly competitive.
Many new sellers can benefit from marketing their products. Branding and marketing will stick with customers long after the purchase. Sellers must know their audience and market accordingly. Just coming up with a "reasonable" price based on how much it costs you can lead to missed opportunities.
Think about McDonald's and Carl's Jr. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, each focused their marketing on a specific audience: kids and young adults, respectively. Their advertising campaigns and their products specifically targeted their audiences. McDonald's pushed Happy Meals with toys and included PlayPlace in some of their locations while Carl's Jr. focused on sex appeal and big burgers to market to older audiences. Even Carl Jr.'s commercial with Paris Hilton was a wild success because of the discussion it generated.
Sellers can benefit from asking some simple questions to focus their audience, branding, and marketing. It is difficult for sellers to market to the same audience as a big, established company, so to compete, sellers must find a niche segment. Some questions that sellers can ask are:
- What are their educational levels?
- Who is my target demographic (age, ethnicity, gender)?
- What are their income levels?
- What are their values?
- Where do they live?
- What are their jobs?
- What are their personalities?
The answers to these questions will help sellers focus their branding and lead to better marketing. For example, take a company that wants to sell reusable water bottles. The target audience is college graduates in their 20s. Research shows that this demographic is concerned about health and the environment. Knowing the age, educational level, and values of a demographic will determine the materials the company can use to manufacture its bottles, and that information will also affect the price of the finished product. Too low of a price will diminish the audience's impression of quality, while a high price may alienate the audience.
Details about the target demographic will also affect the kind words used on the product packaging, as well as the language and tone on the website or product page. Being able to say that the product is 100% biodegradable, BPA free, or that a portion of the proceeds go to plant a tree will appeal to this target demographic. Such features can be prominent in the features section of the detail page.
Make sure that your photos follow Amazon's image policies. Our article not only provides some tips for product photography, but it includes some advice for Amazon images as well.
New sellers who are thinking about branding and marketing would be best served to consider their audience instead of just jumping in and assuming that people will buy products based solely on price. While price is often the determining factor in many people's purchases, it's not the only factor.