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Friday, April 20, 2007
A Rant; Just a few words to the wise and the foolish
I honestly didn't want it to come to this, but I am fed up with so many things I see that I can't ignore any longer. Burying my head in the sand will not do; not anymore.
Without going into vast detail, after my rather troubled high school years, I wanted to attend college, excel and obtain a degree in a profession that would satisfy me. Eventually, I would enter another completely unrelated field and pick up a far different sheepskin. Along the way, for those early years that I struggled I yearned for a significant other, a woman that I could truly declare as a soul mate and live the rest of my days with. While I dated and even had a few relationships, it would never manifest. For whatever reason---I will list some of my own foibles as well as factors against it beyond my own experience alone---without being totally fatalist, it seems that I am destined to be without. So be it.
But I will save that for now. Currently, I am fed up with a myriad of anti-male attributes our American society seems to either overlook or even thrive on. There is a large truism that much of our existence is dependent on the blood, sweat, and tears of the men that came before us and the men that quietly uphold and maintain the mechanisms of anything to higher institutions to sanitation and the dirty jobs no one wants to do. That's part of my reasoning to create this blog---men have been voicing their opinions online because other outlets in the media simply refuses to do so or simply doesn't care enough about men from most walks of life. Plus, I relate to certain injustices men face because I have endured them myself.
. . . and ruminating why I have decided to become active in some ways, and withdraw myself in others.
There's many other items I could go over here, but one thing I'd like to discuss is the most hot one---women. On occasion, I will make comments about female behavior. Just like other blogs/websites, I'm sure some people will claim I'm overgeneralizing and being harsh. I'm not taking every single woman on earth to task, but just writing about what I see and from a man's viewpoint, no matter how subjective. Yep, the cry that "All women aren't like that" is fine and well, but it doesn't help much if there are women that ARE just like I write about.
I make no apologies, however, for revealing things people don't want to hear. They don't want to hear that chivalry favors women at the expense of men. So does marriage. So does divorce. So does the "save the children" spiel that politicians and the clergy touts in order to prey on men's guilts and shame. And why feminism just might be tearing men and women from apart than bridging the natural desire they should have for each other.
Some will believe that I'm a bitter old man raving about the opposite sex and had no luck with them. That doesn't quite wash---I'm in my thirties, and had women desire to marry and have children with me, and even as I write this, despite my reservations, I have a couple of women curious about me. Since feminist bloggers have deemed my serious questions and remarks as "anti-feminist bromides" and male victimhood at times and either resorted to ad hominem tactics or simply zapping what I said, I have no problems with establishing groundwork rules.
I make no bones that will happen here---if you are a MRA, a father fighting for custody, a man sitting out/on the marriage strike, or a woman truly trying to understand why men are becoming like myself and the others, you will be allowed to comment. Others playing around will be kicked off. There are plenty of sites praising women at all costs and hailing feminism, while damning men wholesale for every evil underneath the sun. Use them to vent your spleen instead of wasting your time.
17 comments:
- Anonymous said...
Glad to see another man-friendly blog! Best of luck to you SR!
- Egghead
- April 25, 2007 at 6:31 AM
- Anonymous said...
Very good stuff, SR. I'll be looking forward to reading what you have to say in the future.
- April 25, 2007 at 7:59 AM
- Techpriest said...
Another man stands up. Another hero is born. Way to go SR!
I can't wait to see future posts.
- April 27, 2007 at 4:42 PM
- Anonymous said...
I am so happy of a site like yours. I hate feminists very much. I had a female friend once who I knew for many years. One day, for whatever reason she said all men are pigs to me! I stopped being her friend!
- May 9, 2007 at 8:33 PM
- Sociopathic Revelation said...
Anon, although my site is one of several, one of the major themes will be an ongoing dissemination of feminism itself.
When I was younger and still more hopeful, I believed that eventually, I would find some woman that really valued true equality and worked together with me in having a loving and complimentary relationship (in fact, that would make a good essay in itself).
I've found out, over the years that feminists don't believe believe in equality, but special rights above all men for paybacks because of illusionary constructs such as patriarchal oppression.
They are not entitled to anything from me.
It's their loss; even if they never admit they are wrong, since they believe they are morally superior to begin with, they will still have to live with the consequences of punishing and alienating men for their masculinity.
- May 9, 2007 at 10:16 PM
- Anonymous said...
"I've found out, over the years that feminists don't believe believe in equality, but special rights above all men for paybacks because of illusionary constructs such as patriarchal oppression."
Well put SR. By the way, great blog. :)
- May 11, 2007 at 2:59 PM
- Sociopathic Revelation said...
Thanks, Sargoth.
- May 22, 2007 at 12:51 AM
- Fidelbogen said...
Took me a while to stumble upon your blog...but here I am at last.
I see a nice sort of balance in your writing - rather like what I myself aspire to. I call it "fire in the belly, and ice between the ears."
So..interested in a link exchange with the Counter-Feminist?
- June 11, 2007 at 2:50 AM
- Sociopathic Revelation said...
Not a problem, and your symbolism certainly isn't lost on me.
- June 11, 2007 at 2:44 PM
- Pearl said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- June 14, 2007 at 11:56 AM
- Sociopathic Revelation said...
Parasha, the only way your comments will stand as if your going to be debating without resorting to cheap tactics. Otherwise, be prepared to be banned permanently.
- June 15, 2007 at 12:33 AM
- Emmah said...
While I don't agree with all your viewpoints here, I respect them.
I am from the UK, so I don't know if things are much different from the US, but I am reading a lot about Feminism, and I don't like what I see, both from a human point of view, and as a woman. I am sad that things have come to this point.
I have also set up a blog as a reaction to these issues that have troubled me for a long time.
Good to see another viewpoint on this issue. I will be saving this site on my favourites.
Thanks :)
- July 7, 2007 at 4:27 AM
- Anonymous said...
Mate I always enjoy reading your blog. But don't forget that we need to re-build ourselves as men too - on our own terms and as we wish, without having to pander to women.
By all means we need to expose the poisonous side of feminism, but we should replace it with a positive rethinking of men.
All the best
- January 19, 2008 at 12:54 AM
- Sociopathic Revelation said...
Agreed, Barnoz.
- January 19, 2008 at 1:03 AM
- Anonymous said...
Seems like a cool blog! I am glad to see there is some kind of uprising movement of more and more men-friendly blogs and places where even lowly males can breathe for awhile between enduring the feministic lies and being lashed out at without any reason, or for the simple reason of telling the truth or being honest.
Thank you for this great work, I have seen some of your posts in Kim's nice site, and am impressed. You certainly have lot to say and also very much thought behind what you say and how you say it.
However, about that Barnoz's last post, although it was made a long long time ago, I would wish to comment that I don't think we need to necessarily 'rebuild' ourselves (well, this is probably a bit of semantics already, but I don't think humans are 'built' anyway) AS -MEN-, because no one can really be their gender.
What I mean is, that as much as women love to say 'I love womanhood/being a woman' (which I have never really understand, it's just one gender among two, heh - but I guess all that non-deserved power and free lunches on a silver platter do that to a human), and they seemingly identify with their gender, that is not a true way to have a real identity.
I mean, identity does not come from gender, nationality, clothes, cars, wallets, professions, or titles.
Identity comes from somewhere much deeper. Identity is something we have before we are born and after we die.
Identity cannot be just a temporary thing to be changed into something different in next incarnation. Otherwise it is not a true identity.
Well, a small nitpicking I suppose, sorry about that - but that's what I think about it.
Anyways, people like you are really needed on this planet, as there are currently not enough people to defend men's rights, and even think about men's problems or men's too narrow and tight role that every being born in a male body is supposed to accept as a 'given' or as some kind of 'natural' thing.
For example, certain CLOTHES are forbidden from males, but all clothes are allowed for women. Why? What is the rationale behind it? If I told this to someone who visits this planet for the first time, I bet he wouldn't even believe it at first!
I look forward to pondering and talking about these things a lot later on.. thanks for giving another piece of hope for us who do not feel people should be treated badly just because they happen to have a certain type of a body at their disposal.
- Vortac
- August 21, 2008 at 12:02 AM
- Anonymous said...
Great post!!… rings so true with my every day real life observations.
Yes indeed, plenty of sites praising women at a all costs and hailing feminism, while damning men wholesale for every evil underneath the sun... 99% of those sites sensor ALL dissenting view points while 99% of all MRA/MGTOW sites do NOT sensor dissenting view points... Feminists/Misandrists know that they can never win a debate based in logic.
For the guy who said that his former female friend said that "all men are pigs"... If a woman ever says that to me I will look her right in the eye and say "I may or may not be a pig, but you know where pigs come from don't you??... from sows like you!!" :>))
- September 23, 2008 at 8:17 PM
- Anonymous said...
Is this blog still active?
- June 4, 2010 at 5:20 AM


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(Self-released, CD)
Vermont's immortal punk rockers The Wards have finally done it. No, they aren't headlining the Vans Warped tour. They've released a Christmas album. Now my holiday can be truly complete.
Christmas Punk kicks off with a ridiculous little number called "Dear Santa." With its double-time drums, simple, sludgy guitar and chant-along background vocals, it sounds comfortably old-school. No flashy time changes or fretboard gymnastics here, just adorably macho punk.
The party continues with "Daddy, I Know You're Santa Claus," an amusingly infantile tune featuring a rugged descending riff and singer T. Curly's inimitable, Homer Simpson-in-leather vocals.
And what to make of "elf.com?" An apparent ode to modern love and digital consumerism, the tune boasts a wicked sloppy blues progression and meat 'n' potatoes percussion. "Internet shopping, 2005 / Computer Christmas, Santa's online," Curly sings like an overzealous Circuit City employee. Someone's pretty psyched to be rid of their bulky Sears catalogues.
"Freedom" kicks off with a chugging bass figure, before being overtaken by lo-fi keyboards and stun-gun guitar. But The Wards' latest protest song doesn't hold a candle to their '80s classics, such as "Weapons Factory" or "No More Nuclear War." (By the way, has anyone ever figured out exactly what atomic battles the latter song is referring to?)
And what Christmas album would be complete without a standard? Well, The Wards chose "Run, Run Rudolph." Imagine Chuck Berry with fetal alcohol syndrome, and you're almost there.
My favorite cut has to be "Secret Santa," a tune so oddly atonal that it might as well be a lost Residents track. Unfortunately, at a mere 40 seconds, there's barely enough time to catch its bizarre drift.
Closer "Christmas in Afghanistan" is sure to become a Wards staple. "It's Christmas in Afghanistan, our troops are overseas / And the only present on my list, bin Laden is his name / we don't care if he's hiding in a hole or in a cave," Curly sings in a clipped tenor. Man, these guys should think about booking a USO tour.
As usual, it's a blast to hear Vermont's punk godfathers lay down the musical, martial law. Oh, and congrats to the band on its recent victory on VCAM's local game show, "Survey Says." Who says you can't have brain and brawn?

subset: commoncrawl


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Today's News
Zymeworks Expands Commercial Team and Creates New R&D RoleWednesday, February 10, 2021
Company Profile | Follow Company
Vancouver, BC, February 10, 2021--(T-Net)--Zymeworks Inc. (NYSE: ZYME), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing multifunctional biotherapeutics, today announced that James Priour, former Senior Vice President, Commercial, has been promoted to Chief Commercial Officer and named to the Company's Executive Committee.
The Commercial team also recently expanded its leadership with the addition of Manny Duenas as Vice President, Global Value & Access. Zymeworks also announced that John Babcook, former head of Discovery Research, will move into a newly created Distinguished Fellow role. Senior Vice President of Research Guowei Fang, Ph.D. will take on leadership of Discovery Research.
James Priour, Zymeworks Chief Commercial Officer (Photo: Business Wire)
"James' promotion to Chief Commercial Officer goes hand-in-hand with the success of our lead clinical candidate, zanidatamab, and its progression toward potential commercialization," said Ali Tehrani, Ph.D., President and CEO at Zymeworks. "Zymeworks' commercial organization is growing under James' leadership and is focused on achieving rapid and broad access to our potential medicines for patients around the world who need them."
Zymeworks is also recognizing the tremendous career accomplishments and future ambitions of John Babcook through the creation of a new position: Distinguished Fellow.
In this role John will expand his efforts as a scientific liaison for Zymeworks, leveraging his wide-ranging network to identify new opportunities for the Company. John holds 14 patents and is the recipient of LifeSciences British Columbia's Innovation and Achievement Award and the Dr. Don Rix Award for Lifetime Achievement.
"John's illustrious career spans over 25 years and has been characterized by his commitment to making the world a better place through science," said Tony Polverino, EVP, Early Development and Chief Scientific Officer at Zymeworks. "John has tenaciously worked on innovative approaches to identify, characterize and develop antibody-based therapies that have the potential to transform patients' lives. His broad experience in drug discovery and development will enable him to identify early-stage scientific concepts that could lead to important therapeutic breakthroughs for patients."
About Zymeworks Inc.
Zymeworks is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics. Zymeworks' suite of therapeutic platforms and its fully integrated drug development engine enable precise engineering of highly differentiated product candidates. Zymeworks' lead clinical candidate, zanidatamab (ZW25), is a novel Azymetric™ bispecific antibody which has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA and is currently enrolling in a pivotal clinical trial for refractory HER2-amplified biliary tract cancer (HERIZON-BTC-01) as well as several Phase 2 clinical trials for HER2-expressing gastroesophageal and breast cancers. Zymeworks' second clinical candidate, ZW49, is a novel bispecific HER2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate currently in Phase 1 clinical development and combines the unique design and antibody framework of zanidatamab with Zymeworks' proprietary ZymeLink™ linker and cytotoxin. Zymeworks is also advancing a deep preclinical pipeline in oncology (including immuno-oncology agents) and other therapeutic areas. In addition, its therapeutic platforms are being leveraged through strategic partnerships with nine biopharmaceutical companies. For additional information about Zymeworks, visit www.zymeworks.com and follow @ZymeworksInc on Twitter.
Zymeworks Cautionary Note Regarding Zymeworks'Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws, or collectively, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements that relate to Zymeworks' expectations regarding the progression of zanidatamab towards potential commercialization, growth of its commercial organization, Mr. Babcook's identification of new opportunities for Zymeworks, and other information that is not historical information. When used herein, words and phrases such as "will", "believe", "potential to", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements or information that refer to expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, performance, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking. All forward-looking statements are based upon Zymeworks' current expectations and various assumptions, including assumptions regarding the efficacy of zanidatamab, ZW49, and Zymeworks' therapeutic platforms, and Zymeworks' ability to maintain its partnership arrangements. Zymeworks believes there is a reasonable basis for its expectations and beliefs, but they are inherently uncertain. Zymeworks may not realize its expectations, and its beliefs may not prove correct. Actual results could differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, without limitation, market conditions and the factors described under "Risk Factors" in Zymeworks' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for its fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2020 (a copy of which may be obtained at www.sec.gov and at www.sedar.com). Consequently, forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as Zymeworks' current plans, estimates, and beliefs. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Zymeworks cannot guarantee future results, events, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Zymeworks does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to update, republish, or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events, or circumstances, or to reflect the occurrences of unanticipated events, except as may be required by law.
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Friday, February 9th, 2006
* Language Access Regulations Approved
* Upcoming Hearing on Timely Access Standards
* Comments Due on Proposal to Review Retroactive Denials of Coverage
* Other Key Issues Under Consideration
After laws are passed, the work has just begun for many health advocates. Agencies, such as the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC), are charged with writing the implementing regulations (specific rules, provisions, deadlines, and other details) that often fill-in the broad outline of the legislation itself. Organizations on all sides of an issue are active in negotiating the terms and conditions of the law when the agency drafts the regulatory language. As a result, it is important to follow closely laws all of the way through the agency's regulatory process to assure that its important consumer protections and legal requirements remain intact.
On February 5, 2007, Health Access and other organizations convened a meeting with the Cindy Ehnes, DMHC Director, and her staff to discuss several consumer issues and receive updates on recent regulatory developments with a broad group of consumer advocates. The issues ranged widely, and included: high deductible health plans, discount health cards, mental health services, disability access to care, balance billing, Medicare Part D plan oversight, and other key issues.
In addition to informal give-and-take with DMHC staff on several key consumer initiatives and updates on their regulatory and enforcement actions, the Director agreed to host an ongoing series of conversations with consumer advocacy organizations to seek their input and advise of actions and approaches undertaken by her department.
The following are some highlights and updates from that meeting and recent regulatory activity ongoing at the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC):
LANGUAGE ACCESS TO CARE: DMHC has completed the regulations implementing SB 853 (Escutia) which took major steps to establish Cultural and Linguistic Access to Care. They will be effective on February 22, 2007. This landmark legislation, originally sponsored by California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, MALDEF, and Western Center on Law and Poverty, requires health plans for the first time to assess the language needs of their members. They must offer translations of important written materials for their members in threshold languages. They must also provide interpreter services in the patient's primary language when they need care, instead of making low-English proficient patients wait for care or rely on untrained friends or family members, even minor children, to interpret for them. However, advocates were disappointed that in the final version of the regulation DMHC permitted health plans to scale back measures they were required to undertake to inform their members of this new requirement.
ACTION: Advocates should advise their membership and allies of the new requirement to provide linguistic and cultural access to health care. Since health plans are required to do only limited outreach and informing of this new provision, advocacy organizations should widely publicize this new right and exercise it when providing direct services to clients.
TIMELY ACCESS STANDARDS: DMHC has again taken up the issue of Timely Access to Care, to implement a bill sponsored and passed by Health Access in 2002. Advocates have long contended that if patients are not able to get appointments to see health practitioners within reasonable time frames, particularly for urgent or emergency care, it is virtually equivalent to a denial of care. Although this has been a problem for years, it remains the most common complaint that members have with their health plans. It also is a significant contributor to the increased costs for health care because patients who cannot tell if their symptoms are indicative of a serious medical emergency or not, end up going to the emergency room—which is the most expensive entry into the health care system. It is important for health plans to have sufficient providers for their members to receive quick appointments and have a reliable clinical mechanism to determine what is a true emergency or requires urgent care.
ACTION: DMHC is holding a public hearing on Timely Access to Care regulations on March 5, 2007 in Sacramento. Your organization can give oral testimony on this issue at the public hearing and/or provide written comments (due the same day) about how important this issue is to the delivery of health care in California . Details are on their website at www.dmhc.ca.gov.
RETROACTIVE DENIALS: DMHC has held a recent informal hearing in Los Angeles on the questionable insurance practice called Post-claims Underwriting. This practice involves aggressive sales of health insurance to consumers, only to rescind the policy once a claim is filed, under the rationale that the patient failed to disclose a "pre-existing condition." The health plan or insurer typically revokes the health insurance policy and refuses to pay the doctor or hospital for services already rendered. They base this on a very minute review of the application for coverage after it has been approved. They look for misunderstandings of poorly-worded questions, incomplete answers, and honest mistakes, often attributing them to the patient's deliberate attempt to conceal so-called "serious" health conditions. This has recently gotten considerable publicity in a series in The Los Angeles Times for the devastating impact it can have on both consumers' health and their personal finances.
ACTION: DMHC has invited public comments by February 16, 2007 regarding this practice and whether they should pursue additional regulatory and/or enforcement actions. Written comments may be forwarded to them via email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: If you have questions or need more information about these regulatory actions or administrative advocacy with the DMHC or other state agencies involving health policy or enforcement, please contact Elizabeth Abbott at Health Access, at (916) 497-0923, ext. 201 or at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Mark Vuorinen is Artistic Director of both the Grand Philharmonic Choir and Elora Festival and Singers, and Assistant Professor of Music at Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, where he is responsible for the choral music program. He holds a master's degree in music from Yale University School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, and earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from University of Toronto.
He is past director of the Toronto Chamber Choir, a leading early-music ensemble and has given first performances and Canadian premieres of works by many composers, including John Burge, Timothy Corlis, Robinson McClellan, Tawnie Olson and Jonathon Dove and James Whitbourn.
Recent concert highlights include performances of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, Arvo Pärt's Credo and Passio, John Estacio's The Houses Stand not Far Apart (co-commissioned by the choir) and Richard Einhorn's moving soundtrack, Voices of Light, as an accompaniment to the silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc.
A recipient of many awards, Mark was named the E. Stanley Sedar Scholar at Yale University and is a recipient of the Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowship in Choral Conducting from the University of Toronto. Mark is a past recipient of the Women's Musical Club of Toronto Centennial Foundation Graduate Fellowship. He received the David and Marcia Beach Summer Study Award from the University of Toronto for studies in Germany with leading Bach scholar and conductor Helmuth Rilling. In 2016, Mark received the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting from the Ontario Arts Council and a National Choral Award (Outstanding Dissertation) from Choral Canada.
Mark's research interests include the study of contemporary choral literature from the Baltic states, and in particular, the music of Arvo Pärt and Veljo Tormis. Mark was an invited lecturer at the Arvo Pärt Project's Sounding the Sacred conference in New York City in May 2017. He is published in Circuit Musiques Contemporaines, the Research Memorandum Series of Chorus America, and Principles of Music Composing of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
Mark is a frequent guest conductor, choral adjudicator and clinician, and is president-elect of Choirs Ontario.
(September 2018)


text:
Lumber Liquidators is attributing a weak third quarter to a complex SAP implementation, saying the project imposed a significant drain on worker productivity. But the problems appear to be largely related to employees having trouble acclimating to the new system, versus malfunctions in the software itself.
The discount flooring chain "implemented the most significant phase" of its SAP project during the quarter in late August, it reported Wednesday. Its components include a new point-of-sale system along with warehouse management and inventory modules.
While business continued without interruption during the project, and net sales rose $6.7 million to $147.2 million, lower productivity led to an estimated $12 million and $14 million in unrealized net sales, according to the company. Net income fell nearly 45% to $4.3 million.
But Lumber Liquidators expects the SAP system to have significant benefits for the company over time, CEO Jeffrey Griffiths said during a conference call Thursday. It will help the company grow internationally, as well as take advantage of a broad ecosystem of complementary applications, he added.
He attributed the problems in the quarter to employees' having difficulty adjusting to the SAP software, which he nonetheless praised.
"One features of our previous system is that it was very flexible and easy to manipulate. SAP is much more structured, you follow steps, but it's much more stable because of that was a change for us," he said. "There were a few things that didn't work quite right, a few things that were unique to our business that we didn't see as well ahead of time," he added.
Prior to SAP, Lumber Liquidators also employed many manual processes, running some operations off spreadsheets, he said. With SAP, "we're confident that we're going to see significant improvements and benefits."
As of now, Lumber Liquidators' staff is "probably at 85, 90% productivity and we get better every week," Griffiths said
The situation differs from other troubled SAP projects, such as one conducted by Waste Management that led to a bitter lawsuit. That matter was ultimately settled.
"Lumber Liquidators is a valued SAP customer and we remain strong and positive partners," SAP spokesman Andy Kendzie said in a statement. "SAP is actively engaged with the company in completing their implementation and we believe this is solidly on track. When complete, we are confident Lumber Liquidators will reap significant benefits from the system and it will continue to be a critical element in the company's growth strategy."
Overall, ERP projects can go badly for multiple reasons, such as "changing internal requirements by the company that slow down system integrator implementation, lack of resources for training and system design, and complexity in the software," said Altimeter Group analyst Ray Wang.
Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris's e-mail address is email@example.com


text:
I'm Not Sure I Even Have A Story!
Don't Worry!
You Do Have A Story!
Just because you haven't given much thought to it, doesn't mean you don't have one or that it's boring… It Isn't!
By going through the work of writing your story, you will grow personally, you'll see God's hand more clearly in your life, and by sharing it, you'll be inviting others to see God's glory in an incredible and unique way! It. Is. Worth. It.
So, my story is important...
How Do I Start?!
A great way to start your story is with a simple timeline tool. Pick a date you feel is your "beginning" and think back slowly to mile marker events that really shaped you and impacted your life from that date until the present. Once it's plotted out for you to see, plan a few time blocks to sit and pour out your heart. No one else is watching, no one is judging, this is between you and God and the paper in front of you.
It's imperative that you don't edit anything at this stage! Just write out your life events from your perspective. This is your story, even more so, it's the stage that God chose to display His glory!
When you're all done, read and re-read it and decide which parts you want to share, and which parts were just good for you to write out personally. Send your first draft to our Faces Editor and she will work with you to produce a polished finish that you are happy with.
Watch what God will do!


text:
Top 10 Things to See and Do in Lisbon, Portugal
Anna resided in Lisbon, Portugal for two years, married a Lisbonite, and calls the picturesque city her second home (after NYC).
Looking for Things to Do in Lisbon?
Lisboa (Lisbon) is so charming that I want to take pictures of everything, from an old granny's cute house adorned with tiles to the mosaic pavements where I walk. In Lisboa, electric trams make their way through narrow, cobble-stoned streets, the sun is endlessly shining, and there are lots of things to do in Lisbon as a tourist. Lisbon is a fabulous travel destination and you're bound to love it!
Lisbon has been my adopted home for almost two years and it's my pleasure to give you a local's guide of what to do when you're in Lisbon and provide you with a little background to each little gem.
10 Things to Do in Lisbon
- Walk Alfama's narrow streets and feel like you've taken a step back in time
- Climb the hill to explore the Lisbon Castle and the Castle of Sao Jorge, and get breathtaking views of the city below
- Visit Sé Cathedral and the House of Spikes (Casa dos Bicos)
- Walk around Baixa
- Take the Elevador de Santa Justa
- Check out Lisbon from my favorite viewpoint—Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara
- Explore Lisbon on Tram 28
- Have a delicious ice cream cone at Santini's ice cream parlor
- Drink a shot of ginja, a Portuguese liquor
- Go out at night to Bairro Alto for a taste of Lisbon's nightlife
Walk Through Alfama
The Alfama neighborhood is like a charming hilly maze you can't miss getting lost in when visiting Lisbon. Walking through the medieval alleys, you get a sense of being transferred back in time. Narrow streets, historic churches, homes adorned with flower pots and decorated with tiles, laundry hanging, and caged birds singing. The neighborhood survived the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 1755 and has maintained its original maze-like layout. The neighborhood inspired traditional soulful Portuguese music, Fado, and the neighborhood is becoming adorned with Fado Houses at the foot of the hill. The Castle of Saint George is at the top of the hill and the Sé Cathedral and Casa dos Bicos is south.
Public transportation: Tram 28 or Terreiro do Paço Metro Station
Climb the Hill to See Castelo de Sao Jorge and the City Below
Saint George Castle is one of the major sites in Lisbon. Lisbon's castle is located in a prominent position on top of the highest hill overlooking the city. The Moorish castle dates all the way back to the 6th century when it was fortified by the Romans. The greatest influence came from the Moors, as it served as the royal residence until its capture in 1147 by Portugal's first king, Afonso Henriques. It was then dedicated to Saint George, the patron saint of knights and the Crusaders.
As a visitor to Lisbon's castle, you will also get breathtaking views of the city below with its many winding streets, the Tagus River, and many hills. You can climb the towers to get even higher or you can just sit in the outdoor cafe, sipping some espresso as peacocks strut their stuff around you. There is also an archeological museum next to the cafe which includes artifacts from the old fortified city.
Getting to the castle can be a bit tricky, considering the steep cobblestone narrow streets leading up to it, but there are road signs to lead you in the right direction. It's worth walking up and taking in the picturesque Portuguese homes with tiles and getting a sense of the old Alfama neighborhood. If you prefer transportation, you can take the touristy Tram 28 practically to the main entrance.
Location: Rua de Santa Cruz do Castelo (Alfama)
Hours: Monday – Sunday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
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Tel.: 218 800 620
Admission price: €8; Free for residents
Visit Sé Cathedral
This majestic cathedral of Lisbon was founded in 1150 as a monument to the Portuguese liberation after the city was recaptured from the Moors. The cathedral actually looks a bit like a fortress but that is deliberate because the Portuguese expected the Moors to return and put up a fight. Parts of the cathedral were destroyed in the horrendous earthquake of 1755 but renovations restored it to its previous glory and even added to it. The earthquake took place on All Saints Day, so the cathedral was lit up by candles to the fullest. When the earth shook, hundreds of people were crushed by collapsed walls, and the candles toppled over, causing an immense fire that spread throughout the city and lasted for days.
Location: Largo de Sé (Alfama)
Hours: Cathedral: Daily 10:00am-7:00pm Cloister: Daily 10 am-1:00 pm and 2:00 pm-6:00 pm
Public transportation: Tram 28 or Terreiro do Paço Metro Station
Tel.: 218 866 752
Admission price: Free to enter but €2.50 charge for the archeological site in the back and cloister
Check out Casa dos Bicos
This 16th-century palace whose name translates to the "House of Spikes" is an extremely unique-looking building living up to its name. The outside of the house is adorned with 1125 spike-line stones protruding from the walls. The magnificent arched windows are in the exclusive Portuguese style known as Manueline (an ornate, late-Gothic style of Portuguese architecture). The distinctive look of the house has made it popular for photo-taking.
The building has recently opened after renovations and is now home to the Saramago Foundation, dedicated to the Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese writer.
Location: Rua dos Bacalhoeiros (Alfama), about two blocks south of Sé Cathedral
Saramago Foundation Hours: Monday - Friday 9:30 am-5 pm; closed on Saturdays and Sundays
Public transportation: Terreiro do Paço Metro Station
Tel.: 213 710 800
Walk Around Baixa
Translated to "downtown", this area is the heart of the city. It includes great shopping and attractions such as Santa Justa Elevador, Comercio Square, and Rossio Square. Look below your feet as you walk and notice the "calçado" - cobbled mosaic pavements with their beautiful designs.
Public transportation: Avenida, Restauradores, Rossio, Baixa-Chiado, or Terreiro do Paço metro stations.
Take the Santa Justa Elevator for Amazing Views
The Santa Justa Elevator is a remarkable Neo-Gothic iron elevator built in 1902 that takes you from the Baixa neighborhood to the Bairro Alto neighborhood. Taking this vertical elevator, which lifts you 147 feet (45 meters) up in the air, is one of the most popular things to do in Lisbon. Once you're on top, there's a splendid lookout overlooking Baixa below, the castle straight ahead, and the Tagus River to the right. Get there early to avoid the crowds!
Location: Rua de Santa Justa and Rua Aurea (Baixa)
Hours: 7:00 am – 9:00 pm; Summer: 7:00 am – 11:00 pm
Public transportation: Baixa-Chiado Metro Station
Tel.: 213 613 054
Admission price: €2.70
Check out Lisbon From Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara
Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara is a garden-terrace in Bairro Alto overlooking the city. This is my favorite panoramic view of Lisboa!
Trams Around Lisbon
Explore Lisbon on Tram 28
Explore the city in a vintage tram with this hop-on, hop-off tram making over 30 stops past the top attractions. Its starting point is downtown in Praça Martim Moniz and the route ends in Campo de Ourique. A word of caution: Be really on guard for pickpockets! Also, the tram tends to get very crowded, but it's still worth getting on. You can also take a vintage tram to Belem and if you get on at Figueira Square, you'll be sure to get a seat.
Have an Ice Cream at Santini's Ice Cream Shop
You can't miss this popular ice cream shop when in Baixa's Baixa-Chiado area. The shop just opened in 2010 but it's been popular with Lisbonites since 1949 in Cascais. They have dozens of interesting flavors such as fig, passion fruit, and even various cheeses! They allow you to get two flavors even with the smallest cup size, the "copo pequeno".
Address: Rua do Carmo, 9
Public transporation: Baixa Chiado metro
Hours: Daily 10:00 am - Midnight
Drink a Shot of Ginja at Ginjinha do Rossio
When in Baixa's Rossio area, you need to stop by this tiny bar to have a shot of the famous Portuguese sour cherry liquor, Ginja. It's located at Praça de São Domingos and you can't miss it once you see a line of people and others walking around with plastic shot glasses. The bar has been serving just this specialty liquor for over 150 years!
Address: Largo de São Domingos, 8
Public transportation: Rossio
Price per shot: €2
Bottle of Ginjinha: €7
Go out at Bairro Alto
This area is great at any time of day but really comes alive at night! If you want to experience Lisbon's nightlife, come here to have fun with lots of people out in the streets, drinking from bar to bar. The area has lots of bars, restaurants, and galleries.
Public transporation: Baixa-Chiado metro
Lisbon has lots of homey mom-and-pop restaurants but also some great international restaurants you should try when visiting.
Are you vegetarian or just looking to try some great vegetarian restaurants? Regardless of what you're looking for, you're sure to find it.
Check out One of the Many Museums
Lisbon has over 50 museums to visit but that's a whole other article. My favorites include Museu do Fado (Fado Museum), Museu Nacional do Azulejo (National Tile Museum), and Museu Calouste Gulbenkian which is free on Sundays.
Go on a Day Trip to Historic Belem
Read "What To Do in Belem, Lisbon in Portugal" for an idea of what to do in Belem.
© 2011 Anna


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Stonework Glazing
Repairs and restorations of stonework glazing in listed or older buildings a speciality.
Glazing into stonework is a specialist service offered by K. G. Bell Ltd.
The galleries below show some of the most recent projects of glazing into stonework from K.G. Bell Ltd. You can read their case studies here.
The Chocolate Works, York
123 Photos
St. George's Church, Thornton Hough
90 Photos
Mostyn House Chapel, Parkgate
32 Photos
Lancaster Moor - Stonework Glazing
9 Photos


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Last week I was helping out at a children's holiday club in Shropshire. In between the madcap games, craft activities and singalongs, I spent most of my time thinking about the Second Doctor, for reasons I won't divulge right now. Perhaps echoing my subconscious thoughts, two of the girls in the junk modelling session we had one afternoon managed to produce this – which looks, I told them, rather like a Quark.
"Or a War Machine!" suggested Verity, Gareth's other half. "It could probably destroy a pile of boxes."
The club itself detailed the story of David and his ascension from shepherd boy to king, along with some of the more memorable tales from the narrative, such as David's encounter with the ill-fated Goliath. (One thing they don't always tell you in Sunday School is that after David had felled Goliath with that pebble he found in the stream, he then cut off the giant's head and paraded it round the camp, perched on the end of his sword. The Old Testament is full of grisly stories like this. The dogs licked up Jezebel's blood, Herod committed blasphemy and was eaten by worms, and when Sisera, during a failed invasion of Israel, broke protocol and sought sanctuary inside the wrong camp, Heber's wife Jael waited until he was asleep and then drove a tent peg through his head. And they complain about 'The Deadly Assassin'.)
In any case, the encounter with Goliath set me thinking, and that's when –
(The fact that the most appropriate image of Jamie and the Doctor I could find is actually from 'The Abominable Snowmen' is a welcome bonus.)
But why stop there? Why not look, for example, at 'The Beast Below', and the Doctor's little dance with Amy in the mouth of the star whale?
Meanwhile, some of the Dalek stories deliberately lend themselves to this. I am still waiting for 'Exodus of the Daleks', but –
(I'm quite sure there's more I could do with 'Genesis of the Daleks', as well, perhaps by tying it in with 'Kinda'. But anyway)
Revelation aside, the blood and gore has died down a bit by the time we reach the New Testament. Still, there's the Christmas story, with its tale of a squalid virgin birth in a crowded town, followed by ritual infanticide. The birth of Jesus is, as the Tenth Doctor puts it, a "long story. I should know; I was there. I got the last room."
Well, of course he did.


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Alan Williamson's personal output as a Java Champion, BlueDragon Founder, J2EE Architect,
Large Scale Cloud expert, Author, Speaker, and Internet Guru
Video Conference Woes with the Microsoft VX3000
Having been seduced to upgrade my web cam, the old plug'n'pray mantra was very much alive after discovering it caused no end of troubles with my previous webcam. Fortunately an answer was found.
Thursday, 16 August 2007


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I have the pleasure of announcing that the picture book "Della and Lila and the Treasure Adventure" has been published and is now available on Amazon. This is the second instalment in the Della and Lila book series, a commission which originally came through Hire an Illustrator, not long after I became a member.
The beautiful Monongahela River, in southwestern Pennsylvania, provides the backdrop for this story with unexpected twists.This swashbuckling, adventure tale is rich with river pirates, mermaids, and local legends. After learning of their mother's secret treasure map, Della and Lila set their heart's course to discover buried treasure of their own. The girls gain many valuable lessons along the way.
I feel very fortunate to be the illustrator for this series of books, and I have loved working closely with Brianne Mitchell in order to get lots of personal details into the illustrations. For example, developing characters from photos of real people and historical photos of family members, and in the process learning their stories. Also looking closely at photos of the landscape and trying to make it more authentic by adding in the kind of flowers and wildlife that might be in Brownsville at that particular time of year.
A portion of each book sold goes towards the "River Fund". This fund provides educational and enrichment oppertunities for children in Southwestern PA. To learn more, visit www.dellaandlila.com


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Don't touch my plate! Are Finns no good at sharing their food?
Finns have a reputation for being private people who value personal space and solitude. Though food sharing has always played a cultural role in Finland, it's now finally making waves in the Helsinki dining scene.
According to the stereotype, Finnish individualism has shaped the country's food culture, too. Finns like to bring their own drinks to parties, buying rounds at the pub is uncommon, and asking to taste a friend's meal at a restaurant is considered extremely rude – unless you're with close friends or family.
Taneli Kesäläinen, Restaurant Manager at Helsinki's Restaurant Andrea, has a different view. He sees sharing food as an essential part of the local food culture.
Think of the crayfish parties, the lunch and dinner buffets, and the Christmas feast. We have always shared it, just not really in restaurants, he says.
From holiday feasts to Helsinki's Restaurant Day
It's true that all the biggest parties in Finland revolve around food sharing. At Christmas, Finns don't just gather around the table for one evening of ham and smoked salmon – they do it all throughout December, meeting up for so-called "Little Christmas" parties where everyone brings something for others to share.
At Midsummer, Finns head out to cottages in the forest, laden down with packs of sausages for a potluck-style feast. On May Day, entire cities celebrate springtime by picnicking together in parks.
In the last few years, Finnish cities have adopted a new take on food sharing with Restaurant Day, when anyone has the right to set up a one-day restaurant on the sidewalk. The result is an amazing combination of an ancient harvest feast and an urban festival.
Bringing fun into fine dining
Sharing food is all about fun, and that's what Kesäläinen believes has been missing from Finnish upscale dining.
– I used to work at one of Helsinki's premier fine-dining establishments, and it was crazy seeing the transformation in people who walked in. I'd seen them laugh and act rowdy out on the street, but they'd go all quiet and serious in their fine-dining mode.
Restaurant Andrea, which serves a quirky fusion of Anatolian and Finnish cuisines, is all about sharing food. No wonder, then, that its motto is "fun dining rather than fine dining".
According to Kesäläinen, sharing food breaks the ice between strangers and makes a romantic dinner even more intimate. It also makes sure even the quietest of Finns always have something to talk about – the food.
Say goodbye to portion-envy
At Andrea, Anatolian appetizer-like dishes, known as mezze, are served in communal grab-it-before-it's-gone style. The main courses, from octopus to grilled lamb, are also created for easy sharing, Kesäläinen explains.
–I'd seen enough of Finnish diners looking at other people's portions around the table and say things like "I won, mine looks best," or "Oh no, I have a terrible portion envy." Here that won't happen, as everyone can enjoy the same food.
Kesäläinen remembers how, in his childhood, Finnish pizza restaurants would still charge a "halving fee" to allow customers to share a pizza. Finns personal space clearly used to extend to their plates, but the fact that things have changed is something to celebrate.


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The Muppets Embracing Diversity for 50 years
I follow the Tao of Muppets.
At the age of remembering, for me that was the age of 3, I became an avid fan of the Muppets via Sesame Street. It first aired on the CBC in Canada in 1969. I was 2, although I believe my Gran had it on for me while the rest of the family was working in the printshop next door. I don't have any tangible recollection of the program that early on. I do remember a conversation with my mom when she asked me which preschool class I would prefer, morning or afternoon. For a kid of the early 70's in Canada, the good shows were on in the morning. That left the afternoon for social interaction, imaginative play and mischief. She agreed with me, and that was the very first choice I remember making. It was significant, it affected my life and it made me feel grown up with responsibility.
These were the days before Elmo. Super Grover was the one I related to most. He had a cape, he was kind, he often made mistakes, and he learned from all those mistakes. I loved Super Grover, his alter ego Grover was just as delightful. Kermit was the adult muppet. Always in control, always making sound choices and I found comfort in him – yet I didn't bond with Kermit until I became an adult myself.
The Muppets were friends, family and advisors. I learned without realizing what I was gaining. I do remember other influences in my life, my parents, my grandparents and of course extended family. Within that circle the Catholic Church played a large role. Now, all you Christians may think that being Catholic doesn't mean being Christian. I have had this discussion a million times, and let me tell you this. Don't judge what you don't know or don't understand. Delve into the teachings and you will discover that the two are not that different. Christ is the foundation of the beliefs. Yet not once do I recall the Church judging me or my family. The parishoners – absolutley, but not the Church itself. I learned that everyone tries their hardest to follow the teachings of Christ and at no time was it ever okay to judge someone else because they are only human. This also meant embrace each other, for we don't know, nor could we possibly understand their struggle. Walk a mile in their shoes and then only do you get a glimpse of the struggles of the human spirit. Value based teachings still reside within me today. Yet I do not practice being Roman catholic, I do practice Dignity,Respect, Honesty, Loyalty, and Fairness. Kindness and Compassion are what comes forward by practicing those core values.
Funny thing is, the Muppets taught me this too. Jim Henson was a compassionate genius. His values came through the characters he portrayed and flowed into the characters of his puppeteers. The things I learned are a great foundation for all souls and the corporate aspect happened because of the success of his teachings, his efforts and his example. There is not a successful business that lasted the test of time without these fundamental values. More importantly, The Muppets' teachings have lasted and influenced generations of people, all striving to be the same, kind, compassionate, accepting and human. Not that the Muppets were human, but they had that human spark thanks to the hands underneath them. With that said, let's look closer at the Tao of the Muppets.
- Dignity – bearing, conduct, or speech indicative of self-respect or appreciation of the formality or gravity of an occasion or situation. Each one of those fluffy critters was treated with dignity and treated each other with dignity.This showed through in the manner in which they learned. They never shamed or belittled each other, but embraced the need for knowledge and understanding.
- Respect –esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability: I have great respect for her judgment. There was never a more diverse motley crew than the Muppets. They all respected the thoughts, opinions and choices of others. This is hard to do when you feel you are right in knowledge and passing judgement is typically the path people take. This never happened within the Muppets – aside from Waldorf and Statler. Those characters were needed to show the ugliness of judgement. It taught you the path of compassion and empathy. Seeing the hurt feelings of another and what it does to the human spirit is heartbreaking, yet it was an important lesson that needed to be taught.
- Honesty –truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness. Freedom from deceit or fraud. This was always a lesson learned by the younger Muppet. Big Bird, Robin, Grover all experienced how it felt to lie or deceive and the consequences that went along with it. The kindness from the older Muppets or adults really showed the importance of honesty and how it clears your conscience. A hard lesson to learn when lies pour so easily out of the mouths in an effort to gain. Yet having empathy and compassion on both sides show that honesty is the better choice.
- Loyalty – faithfulness to commitments or obligations. No one showed more loyalty than Kermit. He moved mountains in an effort to show his fellow Muppets what they meant to him and how he would choose them over anyone in spite of their choices. He cared deeply about outcomes and was always dependable. His loyalty made him accountable to the thing he treasured most, friendship or in this case, family.
- Fairness – the state, condition, or quality of being fair, or free from bias or injustice; evenhandedness. Everyone had a chance to shine. Equal opportunity in the face of different. To be different meant you were embraced. By being embraced you had the chance to share your story, try new things and be supported along the way. Not everyone is lucky enough to be treated with an unbiased fairness. Those who are, do not take it for granted – they pass it forward to share in the feeling.
- Compassion –a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. No one was more different than Gonzo. His choices and passions made others look at him as if he was weird. The Muppets held great compassion for him and embraced his flashy differences. They supported his need to discover his roots, they understood his need for a hen party. They gave him undying support because it leads back to Loyalty, Fairness, Respect and Dignity. We should all be so lucky.
- Kindness – indulgent, considerate, or helpful; humane. What kind of world would we live in if everyone was kind? Kind without judgement. This is the difficult aspect – without judgement. I choose to live my life surrounded my kind and compassionate people. That is not to say my world isn't filled with the opposite, because there are plenty of people who are just mean for the sake of being mean. I have been mean, I have been the recipient of mean. Neither is preferable. It's hard to embrace your friends when they judge or say mean things – that is human nature. Choosing to be with someone, yet their actions are mean to helpless creatures, be it animals, children or people who are different. Over looking these qualities is a must, however I struggle with the judging part. It's easy to cut off people because they offend you, hurt children or discriminate against others. But what would Kermit do? He would tell them he is uncomfortable with their actions, love them more and hope they mend their ways. Yet sometimes we must choose to protect the innocent and defenseless. Fight for what is right all the while keeping in mind where these people are coming from. Using Empathy in the highest order – to understand the why.
Meanwhile, Chick-fil-a is choosing a stance of "traditional family" and "the biblical definition of the family unit." Once again people, this is where you need to do your research instead of judging or making assumptions. "The biblical definition of the family unit" could possible mean multiple wives, lack of women's rights and not necessarily the respect that can be defined by society today.
Times change. I for one am happy with the way society now considers me a person under the law. 100 years ago, this was not the case in Canada. Change can be great. The United States of America has a black man as President. Did you think that could happen 100 years ago? Alberta and British Columbia have Women Premier's running the province. In fact, the leader of the opposition in Alberta is also a female. So much for the "old boys club". Why is it that these minorities have made such head way and the LGBT are not even considered for human rights? Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut died from cancer last week. It came out that she was in a lesbian relationship for 27 years. Yet her partner will not receive any benefits because of what some people deem as disgusting behaviour. Really? I am not interested in what straight couples do in their bedroom either. Yet does anyone dispute the the work Ride did as important? Not until it was discovered that she was a lesbian. What you do and who you are are not the same as what you like to do and who you like to do it with. That is called PRIVACY. You deserve privacy. I am sure there are somethings you do in the privacy of your own home that you would not like your place of employment finding out about. Does that change the work you do? Does that define who you are and how you treat other humans? No. Or at least it shouldn't.
I have had the privilege of working with some members of the LGBT community. They know their job, work tirelessly for the common goal. I have worked with people who are mean and judgemental, who have a sense of entitlement because they appear to be sanctimonious. This attitude interferes with their job. They are too busy making sure everyone knows how they feel about situations, how they are judging situations and how they see themselves as in the right every time – it actually brings down their level of effectiveness in the work place.
You don't have to agree with or even like other people's choices. Just be kind.When people are kind to each other and work towards a common goal, mountains can be moved.
Lets try that for a change… be kind, and sit back and watch the world change.
That is why I follow the Tao of The Muppets. Thank you Jim Henson Company for taking a stand and doing the right thing.
Related articles
- Muppets Dump Chick-Fil-A In Support Of Marriage Equality (brandtstandard.com)
- Chick-Fil-A Says It Recalled Muppets One Day Before the Muppets' Pro-Gay Stance (theatlanticwire.com)
- The Muppets Cut Ties with Chick-Fil-A Over Anti-Gay Policies (towleroad.com)


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After the holidays here I'm busy getting work done that will be in the "Keeping Vigil" solo exhibition I have at University of Portland that opens Monday on the 10th.
The last piece that has been on the docket is a large mixed media work entitled,"Surrender Everything." In this work there is a sculpture of a figure on his knees. I felt that that figure appeared a bit too alone in the work, so wanted to give him a saint to be by his side. I decided upon St. Jerome. In a book that I have been working on for a number of years I wrote this bit about him when speaking of friendship:
St. Jerome is an ascetic who lived in the Syrian Desert in the mid 370's, but he was also a pioneer in maintaining friends through letter writing. The letters he sent to three of his friends when he was in isolation are full of warmth, care and longing. "If illness and the summer heat and the difficulties of sea travel did not hinder me, I would hurry to you. I long for you more than the sailor longs to reach harbor after a storm. I long for you more than the parched field longs for rain and more than the anxious mother sitting on shore waiting for her son." St. Jerome is uninhibited in his emotion as he expresses his desire to see his friend Rufinus, so much so that he declares his feelings as being deeper than what is thought to be the deepest human love, that between a mother and child.
Who better to assist the supplicant figure I was making for the work? Some one who knows what it is to be isolated and in need of connection. I'll show you images of the finished work shortly here. But before that I want to share with you a couple things I learned about our desert saint. The Golden Legend speaks about how in a monastery in Bethlehem Jerome healed a wounded lion that had a thorn in his paw, so Jerome is always represented with this lion, who apparently went with him after that wherever he went. In addition the lion symbolizes how compassion conquers brute force. St. Jerome would live as a hermit for four years (and often represented in that manner) but then after studying in Constantinople with Saint Gregory Nazianzen he would move to Rome eventually retiring in Bethlehem.
My interpretation of him is a standing three foot wooden figure that you will see here shorty. Blessings to you-


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Recorded at the Carmel, California, Sunset Center with a single Altec mic onto an Ampex 600 full-track tape deck on September 16, 1955, this concert became one of the best sellers in the Columbia jazz catalog. The recording was not ordered or planned by the record company. Sound contractor Jim Meagher and Armed Forces Radio host Will Thornbury happened to run tape all night, with Thornbury's likely intent to get some concert sound to go with an interview with the band, which he conducted after the show. And what a show it turned out to be: pianist Garner, bassist Eddie Calhoun, and drummer Denzil DaCosta Best lit up the joint, feeding off the enthusiastic audience response. Later on Garner's manager, Martha Glaser, found out about the recording and took possession of the tapes. She struck a deal with Columbia's George Avakian to release an edited version of the concert. It quickly became a hit and has remained in print since its original LP release. For three generations, Avakian's production was the version fans heard. The release media was made from a "cutting master" dub, and the whole thing sounded like an amateur recording, about on par with a very good 1940's radio transcription. Indeed, a spectrum graph shows that the Avakian master — both as played from the original Columbia LP and from the 1987 CD reissue — contains nothing above around 5 kHz. It's possible that there was a sharp rolloff to eliminate tape hiss during the dub, but the end result is that the upper harmonics of the piano don't exist, and the cymbals and brush-snare drums are barely audible.
This deluxe three CD issue goes back a generation, to the unedited "work tapes" that Avakian used. Co-producer, and The Magic Shop studio owner, Steve Rosenthal found the reels mislabeled in the Sony/Columbia vault. In addition to going back a tape generation, Rosenthal chose to employ a Plangent Process transfer and time-alignment, with further restoration and mastering by (Tape Op contributor) Jessica Thompson. The result is much improved overall fidelity, slightly more top end (extended out to about 7 kHz now, with brush strokes more audible), and a firmer bottom end, without adding too much boom. The entire band sounds about 20-feet closer to the listener, but with the same balance between instruments. It turns out this was a very good single-mic recording, and the Plangent time-alignment completely stabilized the formerly wow and flutter plagued piano sound. Discs 1 and 2 are the complete concert, in original running order, including some hip commentary by concert producer and emcee Jimmy Lyons. Disc 3 is the original album sequence, but made from the new transfers rather than the old "cutting master," and is followed by Thornbury's interviews with Garner and the band. As has always been the case with this album, it is a great way for a "jazz-curious" listener to check out the genre. Some reviewers have called it a "pop crossover" album, but Garner was definitely schooled and skilled in pure jazz playing and improvisation. What people have liked about this album for 60 years is its accessibility; Garner's joyful playing and the band's swinging accompaniment come through, simply and clearly. The uncluttered sound works in the primitive recording, and the result is a music-centric experience that probably sounds and feels much like most seats did in the audience that night. It is well worthy of the Grammy nomination it recently received.


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At the beginning of Asghar Farhadi's About Elly (2009) we are faced with an aperture on the screen: an opening at the opening, a darkened surface broken only by a thin sliver of bright, dust-moted light. Given this abstract image as our entrée, we might instinctively reach around in the dark for answers, both to the material reality of the space and to the image's bid for some kind of autoreferentiality, a representation of the cinema space itself. The first intuitive association is probably a good one: we are in Plato's cave, looking not at the shadowy images projected on the wall, but rather at the light source that permits of their appearance.[1] But what of the space itself? And how to make sense of the strange series of hands that pass over this sunlit rift, depositing mysterious small packages within?
Faced with such images, lay viewers might well speculate as to the cinematic significance of light that punctuates the dark, leading to revelation or ecstasy for those who are now free to see the truth of the cloistered world they inhabit. (The following shots of the film's characters joyfully emerging from a tunnel offers some clues here.) And they may not find it too great a leap to connect this inaugurating image to the wider structure of feeling pervading Iran circa 2009, a time which saw the emergence of a generation of post-revolutionary youth faced with the undecidable battle between the archaisms of the political regime and the tempting pull of Western permissiveness and popular culture. This much is present throughout the film, to be sure, but what more can be said about that leading image?
In adding far more depth and nuance to the sort of analysis usually offered by Anglophone viewers, who might remain at this superficial level, Michelle Langford takes us much further, explaining that we have been looking out from within a sadaqeh, an alms box common to many street corners in Iranian cities, and designed to encourage philanthropic acts. Taking the social and political significance of the sadaqeh as her point of departure in this reading of About Elly, Langford demonstrates that even after leaving the dark of the tunnel and emerging into the light of day, the film's "collective protagonist"[2] is shadowed by the conservatism of a political apparatus that administrates even the emotions of the characters on screen. In this way the "veiling" of the image in the opening shot has a crucial relation to the acts of emotional dissimulation in which contemporary Iranian youth engage, and to the dissimulation of Farhadi's camera, too, which "does not always represent events truthfully" (197) and which "also encourages us to look beyond the frame, beyond what is shown" (198).
Inaugural shots are important for Langford throughout her wonderfully informative Allegory in Iranian Cinema: The Aesthetics and Poetry of Resistance. "Opening sequences," she argues, "often provide a key that can help us to decode the uniquely encoded allegorical language" (194) of such films. For Langford, allegorical films often teach us how to read their images from the outset, priming us to look for the ways that film narratives can "speak otherwise," saying more than what appears on the surface.[3] Whether or not one reads allegory as unfailingly originating with the filmmakers themselves (more on which, below), what seems most conspicuous in each of Langford's case studies is that the interpretive lessons being taught by the films featured in this monograph will not always be self-evident to the viewer. Meanings and references that "Iranian viewers might immediately recognize" (193) will stand every chance of falling by the wayside for audiences unfamiliar with the national cinematic topoi; Langford is thus tasked both with unpacking the allegorical, poetic dimensions of the films under discussion, and with explaining the significance of the surface, of the banal that would otherwise be rendered inscrutable.
We have begun here at the end of book, and with its most elaborate and rewarding reading, so as to give some sense of Langford's wonderful capacity to juggle both Iranian cultural particulars and a number of other frameworks for reading allegorically in the cinema. (Here, as in her previous book,[4] Walter Benjamin's work on the Trauerspiel is invoked.) But Langford's survey begins almost eighty years earlier, with Mr Haji the Movie Actor (Ovanes Ohanian, 1933), Iran's first silent feature-length film, after which it jumps several decades ahead to the 1960s, while still remaining within the long epoch of "pre-revolutionary" Iranian cinema. Although the selection of films here is remarkable—Langford judiciously opts to avoid discussion of Kiarostami even in this moment of posthumous attention, a decision that allows the more obscure films room to breathe—readers will on occasion (as with the case of Mr Haji) find that access to the works is quite difficult.
Thankfully, however, Langford's descriptions of the films under discussion are evocative throughout, and the flexibility of her approach to allegory allows for the cohabitation of vastly different films in each chapter, as well as the capacity to adopt distinct approaches for reading films by the same director. Such is the case with the discussions in the first chapter of The Cow (1969) and The Cycle (1977), both by Dariush Mehrjui: in the former, the multiple significations of the eponymous animal seem to trouble a sustained allegorical reading, as the film's "connotative connection between the cow, its milk, the village and the nation's oil industry can only be made fleetingly" (33); in the latter, there is a more clear-cut intention linking the local "any-spaces-whatever" of the film's "veritable wasteland" to "Iran itself," whose modernising pretences are repeatedly exposed (37).
More in keeping with the sustained allegory of the second of these works by Mehrjui is another film analysed in this chapter: Ebrahim Golestan's The Secrets of the Treasure of the Jenni Valley (1974), with its tale of buried gold beneath arid land barely fit for farming, is well-chosen as a means for considering the connections between surface and depth, interior and exterior, and archaic and modern temporal planes. Langford picks up on such structural oppositions as ways of reading the work: another example is the apparently "traditional" Iranian dwelling that becomes an Emperor's New Clothes joke, with its single phallic minaret and two gonadal domes decorated on the inside with all of the hypermodernism attached to the geodesic inventions of Buckminster Fuller (namechecked in the film).
Where Golestan's film reveals itself quite clearly as a fable of uneven development, other contemporary examples do not disclose their allegorical possibilities so overtly. In the particular case of the national film farsi, genre filmmaking seems less conveniently predisposed to reach beyond the popular to something more meaningful. Here, Langford's case study is the exemplary gangster film Qeysar (Masoud Kimiai, 1969), which interrogates the foundational gestures of the genre by destabilising the heroic martyrdom that is customarily at the centre of such narratives. The film certainly flirts with the staples of film farsi while also unsettling tradition. Indeed, Langford suggests that the opening credits—designed by one Abbas Kiarostami—foreshadow this kind of double play: the muscular body parts of anonymous men ripple and bulge across the screen, causing their tattoos—of figures from Iranian myth—to fold in on themselves and making it impossible to view these engravings in their entirety. Such a critical treatment of Iranian cultural history, Langford argues, suggests to viewers the film's troubling of the waters elsewhere: the backdrops to the story's revenge killings—bathhouse, slaughterhouse, rusted railyard—all motion towards Iran's incomplete processes of modernization, which, contra the dominant messages from the government, were failing in this period.
While Langford's interpretation of the signifiers of Iranian modernity here certainly give credence to the notion that Qeysar represents an allegory of a nation without martyrs, the argument seems to be that genre films (or at least those of the Iranian gangster variety) cannot in and of themselves be considered allegorical, or not without some of the art-cinematic window dressing provided by a well-renowned figure like Kiarostami. Indeed, the allegory all but disappears when the film returns to the more conservative safety of its generic roots in a voyeuristic eight-minute cabaret sequence, which "we can either read […] as merely a genre convention" or more allegorically "in the context of the film's critique of modernity and the encroachment of the West" (30). Perhaps that is overstating the case a little, but it is not completely clear why the "majority" of family melodramas and "tough-guy" tales that comprise film farsi "could not be considered allegorical" except when placed "in the hands of a canny auteur" (18). The unanswered question is worth considering: what is the provenance of allegory in Iranian (and by extension, all) cinema, precisely? Must it originate with authorial intention (however we might discern this)? Is it wholly in the eye of the beholder, in the allegoresis of the critic (or censor) who spies it? Or does allegory exist at some point between these two poles, shifting one way or the other depending on the exigencies of genre or of historical circumstance?
Golestan's filmmaking is a case in point here: early in his career he worked in the service of the state, creating a series of institutional documentaries subsidized by Iran's oil wealth, but he remained nevertheless veritably independent and able to craft a number of works of lyrical beauty. As such, his Yek Atash (A Fire, 1961) is a commissioned account of an oil-well fire that burned for seventy days, but in the hands of its editor Forugh Farrokhzad it is also a wondrous and strange accomplishment of "poetic realism."[5] The first example from Langford's second chapter explores this tension further, here between the documented impressions of an event that might be viewed metonymically in connection with the national character, or as a more slippery allegory that can be read against the intended grain. The Night it Rained… or the Epic of the Gorgan Village Boy (Kamran Shirdel, 1967), which traces the historical details of a strange incident that may or may not have taken place in rural Iran, is a film whose very title is slung undecidedly between stylised, self-reflexive truth-telling and mythologising propaganda. In an act of what Langford calls "aesthetic resistance" (73), the filmmaker here refuses to disclose the Truth he was tasked to record, leaving viewers uncertain whether the village boy of the title did in fact prevent a disastrous train crash.
This chapter continues by focusing on the child as a key allegorical cipher in Iranian cinema, never simply itself but always overdetermined, often representing the unrepresentable (because censored) relationships between male and female adults. And yet such use of children does not result in a paint-by-numbers substitution of youth for adult, but does allegorical double-duty, maintaining certain ways of seeing the world from the perspective of the child herself. In her analysis of Majid Majidi's Children of Heaven, Langford explains how external focalization—"both literal point-of-view shots and semi-subjective eye line matches" (78)—situates the viewer firmly with brother and sister Ali and Zahra in their search for the latter's missing shoes, even as it also reaches for greater heights. Through careful formal analysis, Langford shows how allegory here is not always as politically progressive as one might imagine it, with Majidi articulating a "didactic" vision of post-revolutionary Iran that "aligns closely with and validates dominant ideology" (83) in its exhortation to behave as nobly and altruistically as its child protagonists.
The most meticulous analysis in this chapter Langford reserves for Jafar Panahi's The Mirror (1997), which in a sense—given the film's apparently neat division between the fictional first third and the meta-documentary of the remainder—seems to wear its allegorical structure firmly on its sleeve. But even as the work appears almost to read itself in this way, Langford delves into minutiae that are otherwise lost, pulling on what appear to be mere loose threads until the stability of Panahi's structure comes apart before our eyes. There are elements that are present throughout the film, resting on its surface but seemingly unremarkable, yet through which Langford is able to mine a rich seam: specifically, a football match played between Iran and South Korea, of which we hear running commentary and reports throughout; and the names of streets that are exchanged between the diminutive protagonist Mina and those who offer her directions as she finds her way home. The first of these two details "not only draws attention to the disjuncture between screen time and profilmic time but also causes the very illusion of synchronicity between sound and image to unravel" (95), an allegorical inducement to viewers to read the film with a heightened sense of scepticism. The second suggests not merely the happenstance of filming locations in Tehran, but a series of strategic coordinates that "effectively trace the history" (100) of the Iranian revolution in the quotidian lives of the city's commuters.
Following on from the thoroughly close reading of Panahi's film, Langford's next two chapters (coupled with the final chapter on About Elly) represent what are to my mind the most engrossing parts of the book, with varied and rich theoretical apparatuses bringing out heretofore unseen aspects of the works in focus. Chapter Three bears the Deleuzian title "Allegory and the Aesthetics of Becoming-Woman," and stays with the similarly-named The Day I Became a Woman (Marziyeh Meshkini, 2001) for its duration. The concentration on a single film here (as we will see again in the closing chapter) is incredibly rewarding, as Langford treats us to an extensive reading of a work that is deceptively complex: while the film's tripartite structure—one tale of a girl, the next of a young woman, the final third featuring a woman in advanced age—offers itself immediately to an allegorical interpretation that would connect all three as attending to the same character at different stages of life, such a possibility is entertained only to be dramatically overturned in a refreshing volte-face in the chapter's second half. Now, instead of following the temptation of the film's horizontal structure, Langford adopts a vertical approach, considering all three tales not along a temporal continuum, but as taking place simultaneously, and congealing in the experience of viewing Meshkini's work. In this way, Langford argues, the film offers a different "allegorical encounter," which "becomes suggestive of a more processural and time-laden conception of becoming-woman, generated as an intimate and immanent encounter between two bodies: the body of the film, and the body of the film viewer" (127).
The next chapter gives us another bravura reading, this time of a pair of films—A Time for Love (Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1990) and Baran (Majid Majidi, 1999)—that represent instances of Langford's own coinage, the cinematic ghazal. This concept refers to the transformation of the thematic materials and structural arrangement of the Persian ghazal—a genre of medieval lyrical love poetry—into a series of moving images. In the films of Makhmalbaf and Majidi, Langford argues, the formal possibilities of cinema are mobilised to offer an approximation of such poetry, which often concerns itself with unrequited romantic love or, in a similar vein, with "the ineffability of God, the divine Beloved" (142). Again, as with her complex reading of About Elly, the theoretical framework here remains sensitive to local cultural particularities. But Langford is also looking through a foreign lens—in this case, Pasolini's essay "The Cinema of Poetry"—which offers a fruitful semiological basis for segmenting the discrete grammatical units of ghazal and film image alike.
In her analysis of Baran, Langford points to the way that Majid Majidi again (as in his Children of Heaven) crafts a national allegory revolving around acts of charity and hospitality. Here, however, it is the deployment of cinematic ghazals rather than the child focalization of Majidi's previous film that allows for the connection between the intimate level of the romance narrative and the social-historical level relating to the influx of Afghan migrants in Iran after the destabilisation of the region in the wake of the Gulf War. There is also a perceptive appraisal of how such poetic cinema might offer a unique strategy for evading the ire of the censor, especially given the prohibition on visible contact between bodies of the opposite sex. In this regard, Langford considers—via Vivian Sobchak—the synaesthetic properties of Majidi's film, where sight and touch cross paths in a "kind of cross-modal transfer" (161) akin to allegory. Here, the bodies of the protagonist Latif and the titular Baran (an Afghani migrant girl disguised for most of the film as a boy for the purposes of work) might never touch, but Majidi's cunning shots of material objects evince a haptic dimension that effectively substitutes for the unrequited relationship. But what's more, in Langford's clever argument, the viewer is also enlisted against the iconoclasm of the Iranian screen, in so far as "our bodies effectively fill the gap imposed by censorship between the characters' bodies" (161).
As with the first chapter's analysis of Qeysar, which emerges from the strictures of the film farsi tough-guy grouping to strive for something more, in Chapter Five we see how the legacy of war can be allegorised both to uphold the glory of the nation, as in the films associated with the so-called "Sacred Defence" genre, or to offer a more circumspect message about Iran's military performance. Comparing a pair of propagandistic films that reaffirm Iranian patriotic sentiment, especially as regards the figuring of martyrs in the historical reckoning, Langford here reads Gilaneh (2005) as a film that hijacks this allegorical tendency and turns it against the state ever so subtly. This work, co-directed by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Mohsen Abdolvahab, can be read productively by emphasising the key status of the title role. As Langford demonstrates, the film filters the effects of the Iran-Iraq war through the duty of care a mother provides to her ailing son, and thereby advances a "matriotic" counter-reading of the martyrdom central to the state-sanctioned national discourse.
The ideas under discussion in this chapter—especially around the figure of the martyr—also bear on recent hostilities that have flared up in the Middle East. On 3 January of this year, a US drone strike on the Baghdad International Airport resulted in the assassination of the Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani and nine others. While the attack was justified by the aggressors and condemned by others as a violation of international law, the response was swift, for several days later Iran responded in kind, launching missile strikes on the US airbase in Iraq that was responsible. Notably, the name of that counterstrike and the official state discourse around the events suggest the continued acceptance of the notion of noble sacrifice: Operation Martyr Soleimani. Amidst mounting tensions and a seemingly imminent hot war between the US and Iran, a 2005 quote from the graphic novelist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi began circulating on Twitter: "The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk together and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same."[6]
This sentiment—deployed allegorically on social media in early 2020 so as to read the brief contemporary conflict through a more enduring critical lens—also speaks to the shared transnational experiences that often shine through the veneer of cultural difference on screen. (And for which Satrapi's black-and-white animated film Persepolis [2007] is a case in point). A whole host of diasporic artists, such as Shirin Neshat, Sepideh Farsi, and Mania Akbari, have for some time worked outside of their home country, and in some cases—for instance in Satrapi's recent Radioactive (2019), a Marie Curie biopic—clear divisions between West and East, American and Iranian are eclipsed by more recognisable "universal" affinities. At the same time, recalcitrant cultural differences remain both in less "festival-friendly" Iranian films such as The Graveless (Mostafa Sayari, 2017) and in works by seemingly more accessible filmmakers like Farhadi. These tensions are worth thinking about with respect to Langford's allegorical readings of Iranian films: non-native viewers are routinely required to interpret their images through a "Western" frame—and so to look for the ways that "we understand each other perfectly"—but there is almost always an excess of specific cultural meaning that is helped immensely by the revealing "translations" that Langford provides.
But to return to Satrapi's point again, perhaps such problems of cultural translation become less pronounced (or more simply translated) when compared with the intractable gulfs between the people and their governments. This problem is also worth exploring in light of recent issues around the censorship of Iranian filmmakers: consider the restrictions placed on Jafar Panahi, ensuring that he cannot make a film; the uncertain status of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Marziyeh Meshkini, and Samira Makhmalbaf, who live as political exiles in London; and the inability of Mohammad Rasoulof to attend this year's Berlinale in order to claim his Golden Bear prize for There is No Evil (2020), because he had been sentenced to a year in prison for the critical stance his work takes against the state. Such cases have seen a unity of voices from all corners of global cinema raised against the repressive actions of the Iranian government.
In her introduction, Langford speculates about the current direction of Iranian cinema toward more forthright political commentary, where directors—à la Rasoulof—have been increasingly "emboldened to confront social issues head on, rather than relying on allegory and poetry" (10). In her thoughtful coda to the book, Langford wonders again about the fate of this cinema today, and considers the ambiguity surrounding the youthful characters in About Elly: might Farhadi's collective protagonist represent an Iranian youth "not yet ready for or capable of collective action? Or, might we think of the film as a provocation, an allegorical parable that shows what can happen when a community closes rank, fostering division rather than unity" (236)? What prognosis will the next crop of films provide for the people of Iran? And in what ways will they offer themselves to "us" for interpretation?
[1] Here the potentially ambiguous cave allegory unfailingly becomes for the film studies scholar a proto-cinematic space, ossifying into a symbol for the cinematic dispositive: "Of course, from the analytic perspective we have chosen, by asking cinema about the wish it expresses, we are aware of having distorted the allegory of the cave by making it reveal, from a considerable historic distance, the approximate construct of the cinematographic apparatus." Jean-Louis Baudry, "The Apparatus," trans. Jean Andrews and Bertrand Augst, Camera Obscura 1.1 (1976): 112.
[2] Michelle Langford, Allegory in Iranian Cinema: The Aesthetics and Poetry of Resistance (London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2019). All further references to this book are included parenthetically in the text.
[3] For an interrogation of what we mean by "surface" in cinema, see James Macdowell, "Interpretation, Irony, and 'Surface Meanings' in Film," Film-Philosophy 22 no. 2 (2018): 261-280.
[4] See Langford, Allegorical Images: Tableau, Time and Gesture in the Cinema of Werner Schroeter (Bristol: Intellect, 2006).
[5] Hamid Naficy, A Social History of Iranian Cinema Volume 2: The Industrializing Years, 1941-1978 (Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 2011), 76.
[6] Michelle Goldberg, "Sexual Revolutionaries," Salon (24 April 2005): https://www.salon.com/2005/04/24/satrapi_2/.


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