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New model computers are introduced in Oro Valley Arizona daily. You may love a certain brand and purchase it. But if you forget or be careless about repairing and maintaining them then you will face various technical problems.
Computers are machines made of electronic parts. It's a machine which includes both software and hardware. If there isn't proper maintenance your computer will fail to operate and you may end up with data loss and other critical errors.
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Learn How to Repair Laptops and Start Your Own Small Repair Business
People entering the field of computer repair need to do quite a bit of research to find all the tools they need to be able to fix the long list of problems that computers and laptops face. When I first started, I used to carry a huge toolkit full of all sorts of devices. The bag itself looked pretty impressive and had almost anything you might ever need. But as time went on, I discovered that 99% of the issues you need to resolve can be taken care of with just a basic set of technical equipment.
If you are going to perform laptop repair as well as desktop services, I recommend carrying a precision screwdriver tool kit. They cost somewhere around $10.00 and they are by far the most useful item I carry. Laptops and Macbooks especially tend to use really small screws to hold components together. Small torx screws are pretty much an entry barrier for new technicians who don't have the experience to know that they even needed a small torx screwdriver.
The second best tool for computer repair is a USB stick. You can store every single program you will ever need to troubleshoot a computer problem on one little stick. I store multiple types of anti-virus programs, anti-malware programs, rkill utilities, Hijackthis installations, popular browser install kits, data back up software, data transfer software and recovery programs. On top of storing your repair software, you can also use the USB key to transfer drivers and other files that you often need to download on-site.
While the USB stick and the precision screwdrivers will get your through 90% of your problems, you will need a very diverse kit for the remaining problems. You'll need to get a CD pouch full of operating system disks and manufacturer recovery disks. Don't forget that you'll need one of each kind for both 32bit and 64 bit operating systems. Then, you'll also need to carry a power supply tester for computer repair. On the laptop repair side, you will need to invest in a voltmeter to troubleshoot inverter problems and dc power jack issues.
Finally, the last additions to your toolkit will be standard technician items. Flashlights, measuring tape, thermal paste, electrical tape, extra screws and more... Most of these tools will rarely be used. But when you need them, you'll really wish you had them. As you get more comfortable doing computer repair, you'll be able to custom tailor your kit to your personal preferences. With enough experience, you might decide to add soldering iron and a heat gun for more advanced board level repairs.
Getting a Macbook Cracked Screen Repair
The cyber-world is full of threats such as viruses, spyware, Trojans, Worms and etc. These can affect your PC and even steal your personal information. These cyber-threats can cause huge dilemmas to your PC. Always have an anti-virus guard installed. Upgrade the program and schedule regular updates. Your software's database should be updated for a full-protection.
Mobile Computer Repair Service In Oro Valley Arizona
We all adore our laptop until the day it doesn't function the way we would like, or worse than this - not at all. We need to be mobile and we need to be connected making the laptop one of our best friends along with our cell phone. However when the worse case scenario occurs there are a few things we should take into account before deciding that laptop repair is the best option - with this being the obvious option what else can we consider?
Laptop repair can be a costly expense just to have the same machine back in our hands with the possibility of having another problem and more expense to worry about in the near future. What if someone told you that you could get cash for your existing laptop, functioning or not, regardless of it´s condition, despite it being used as a doormat by the children, and having the early morning coffee split on it numerous times.
There is now a great way to trade in your old laptop, receive a cash payment for it and this can then subsidize the purchase of a brand new computer at the same expense of paying if you had considered laptop repair - the only difference being there is no waiting for the store to call and tell you it´s not quite ready for collection, or it is going to cost a little more than first quoted, and you get a brand new laptop that is up to date. Sounds like a great way to go, but how and where can this all be done?
It is quite a straight forward process, and a lot easier than taking the laptop for repair, all you have to do is go to a site such as www.cashforlaptops.com, they will give you a quote for your current laptop, in ANY condition, whether it is working fine, just won´t turn on, it has a cracked screen or any other damage you can possibly imagine. Once you have your quote they will rush you a prepaid box for you to rap up and return the laptop to them, once they receive the package they process your used laptop the same day - formatting the hard drive is a primary task and from there your check is mailed direct to you. No cost involved from you, just a payment in your hand in no time, quite the opposite of the laptop repair process!
With the above said, having to choose between receiving a payment to dampen the cost of a new laptop, or pay a ghastly figure for the laptop repair, it not expands the options, it pretty much rules the original idea out. With this great way to trade in, regardless of the condition, it could change the way we think when we have to apprehend the thought of laptop repair and what to do when the worst happens - because we know negative occurrences will happen all we can do is take the best from them.


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Microsoft is dropping its support for linked accounts on Outlook.com and pushing people towards the use of aliases to manage several email addresses.
An Office blogpost by Eric Doeer, Group Program Manager, says the move is due to linked accounts being less secure than aliases.
He says experience shows that many users don't take sufficient care in managing their secondary accounts and that this makes them vulnerable to hackers. In contrast, aliases can be tied to a single account that makes it easier for the user to keep the security info up to date.
Unlinking schedule
Microsoft plans to email Outlook.com users in the next few days with instructions on making the change, and is advising those with linked accounts to update the security on each. It's going to begin unlinking linked accounts in late July.
The move is the latest step in what has been an apparently smooth transition from Hotmail to Outlook.com for Microsoft's email service.

subset: commoncrawl


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When I first found out that I was selected for My Selangor Story 2011, I knew I had to bring along my iPhone so that I can Tweet and Facebook while on the go during the five days trip. Thankfully, The Cube which is our official telco for MSS 2011 was gracious enough to provide us with a SIM card each and RM 50 credit so that we would stay connected wherever we go. Yay!
First of all, what is The Cube? The Cube is basically a mobile content portal where Celcom Xpax user can download music, games, Call Me Tones (where callers get to hear your favourite song while they wait for you to answer), ringtones, Fun talk dedication (Allow you to send a song straight to your friend's phone along with a personal message) and wallpapers straight to your mobile phone.
The fun doesn't stop here as The Cube also allow subscriber to write on walls, poke existing friends and make new ones all from your mobile phone. With The Cube, you don't need a smartphone when you have Facebook via SMS at RM1 weekly for unlimited usage. How cool is that?
If you are looking for the latest music ringtones, cool animated wallpapers and loads of other EXCLUSIVE content for your mobile, The Cube is everything you need. Just dial *118# to access an array of Xpax services including the latest music, movies and games and data plan activation.
I am lucky to be able to connect to my Facebook and Twitter throughout the entire MSS 2011 event. I didn't know that the rest of the bloggers were so actively twitting until I check my Twitter page!
That is not all. Celcom Xpax is reasonably priced. Each SMS costs only 1 cent to the same network (5 cents to other network) and 28 cents for every 10 minutes of voice call to the same network (28 cents for every 5 minutes to other network). Click here to see the latest SMS and calling rates for Xpax.
Xpax also offers attractive privileges with awesome offers, discounts at selected dining, hotel, travel, health & beauty and retail outlets. All you need to do is to flash your mobile screen to the merchant to enjoy the privileges! To check out the list of participating merchants, click here.
Other features of Xpax include Voicemail, Call Waiting/Hold, Missed Call Notification, SIMcard Rescue and Caller Line Identification.
To learn more about Xpax and The Cube click here and here.
You can also follow them via Facebook.


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|"Golly, but I miss those 'Bottle Episodes'!"
I took my time getting around to watching Carnivàle. There were so many ways I could experience disappointment. The DVD packaging was fabulously evocative, suggesting the creative love-child of Flannery O'Connor and Stephen King. What if the show didn't live up to my expectations? Worse still, what if it did?
When I finally sat down to watch, the show hit a happy middle note. The episodic development of characters and narrative had a charmingly primal roughness. Season 1 was all ennui and suggestion, fostering expectations that the series might fold itself into a Lynchean sort of Fabulist Mobius Strip.
Instead, shortly after the midway point in Season 2, questions began to be answered. For a show as grievously truncated as Carnivàle, there are some very clear pluses and minuses to this particular tack. On the plus side, once certain pieces fall into place it's fun to go back to the early episodes and see where surprise conclusions were pointedly alluded to. On the minus side, it becomes crystal clear exactly where this television series was pointed and, frankly, the trip doesn't look worth the ride. Which brings me back to the plus side: I'm as grateful for what I've been spared as I am for what I've seen.
If you're among the legions of disappointed viewers who still want to know what was going to happen next, I can tell you. The carnival was going to split into factions pitted against each other by shady manipulative types. The guys you thought were good were going to cross the line with their behaviour, until the fateful confrontation between Brother Justin and Ben Hawkens is mired in profound ambivalence. Both camps would experience defections, and confusion of identity. There were going to be surprise resurrections, as well as prophecies that were either beacons of hope, or cunning deceits. And finally, by the end of Season Six, there would be an apocalyptic sloughing off of . . . .
Ah, but you've already seen this show. That's because the guy whose hand was heaviest on the till at the end of Carnivàle's first season bolted to another network, where he saw the thing to its proper completion. I'm talking about Ron Moore. And, yes: I'm talking about Battlestar Galactica, which managed to slip directly into its Decadent Phase at the very end of Season Two, and stay there to its conclusion in Season Four. And which, coincidentally enough, has a narrative arc that bears a striking resemblance to the Carnivàle "bible" laid out by creator Daniel Knauf at the beginning of that series (viewable here, at the HBOCarnivale Discussion Group, as The Gospel of Knaufius).
Another trait Galactica has in common with Carnivàle is its "bottle" episodes, where the epic comes to a screeching halt and the characters get to interact with each other and set up scenarios for subsequent episodes. These episodes are usually given over to the junior writers in the stable, while the seniors figure out how to plant teasers that lead to the big surprises that keep viewers hooked. Those are the episodes that get me looking at my watch and wondering if I couldn't just skip ahead to the next barn-burner (the answer is usually, "no" because I will have missed five minutes, or even 30 seconds, of crucial "reveal" planted by the Story Chief).
Even a show as brilliantly executed as The Wire couldn't escape these occasional doldrums, which is as it must be, I suppose. It does keep me wondering, though, if there is any creative team that has the wherewithal to keep generating narrative momentum for more than three seasons. I'll let you know if I ever find one that does. In fact, stay tuned: our family has just discovered this wacky six-season show that looks like it might have some potential. It's called Lost.
Post-it note: over at the Onion AV Club, Todd VanDerWerff is giving Carnivàle some frame-by-frame analysis. His attentiveness more than makes up for my crass generalisations.


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Dear Detritusites, I need to ask you a big favor, well, two favors: One, please be patient, this is a long 'un. But most importantly, two, would you please hold your anger-filled comments and death-threats until the end? This might sting a bit, but, if you can accept for a moment that I may not be entirely crazy, then this will be easier on all of us. Besides, if, by the end, you still feel the need to tear me a new one and shove a fistful of wadded-up Lachenmann scores in the open wound, by all means, go ahead. It's your right, and I'll take it with a grin on my face. Now, you could be asking yourselves, what could be so bad that Empiricus felt he needed to issue a disclaimer? Well, people, I'm going to throw-down with Alan Rich.
As you may or may not know, Alan's post as classical music critic at the L.A.Weekly has been terminated. And this is his last entry at that post (though he'll remain there, albeit in a limited role).
Parting Shots
I must say, at the onset, that we have not gone after his work, until now, because it is utterly stupendous. Aside from his keen knowledge and ear, his prose is gorgeous. Here, he puts his brilliant knack for imagery and insinuation into motion right away.
Helmut Lachenmann cuts a solitary figure in today's musical world. At a time when much of the talk centers on accessibility, on a generation of composer-heroes — Adams, Adès, Reich, Saariaho, Salonen, just for starters — who have found ways to reach out to audiences with serious and imaginative creativity, that old notion of the composer on his private Olympus, proudly and defiantly cloaked in his mantle of inscrutability, rests almost solely with this tall, gaunt yet smiling German gent whose music ground its way through Zipper Concert Hall last Monday.
That's ridiculously clever, maybe even poetic. However, what lies beneath this elegant prose—which, by the way, sets up the rest of the review perfectly—is almost pure anti-modernist venom, couched in populist (?) idealism. To get a better sense of what I mean, let's take a closer look.
At a time when much of the talk centers on accessibility, on a generation of composer-heroes — Adams, Adès, Reich, Saariaho, Salonen, just for starters — who have found ways to reach out to audiences with serious and imaginative creativity...
He's just setting up and defining the contrary, yet popular, point of view by naming Lachenmann's aesthetic adversaries and their accomplishments. In fact, he's hailing their accomplishments, while making clear that their work represents the present: "at a time when," "composer-heroes." This places Lachenmann, where?
...that old notion of the composer on his private Olympus, proudly and defiantly cloaked in his mantle of inscrutability, rests almost solely with this tall, gaunt yet smiling German gent...
Lachenmann is placed on Lonely Mountain, as it were. Or, as we've seen so many times before, in his own selfish, ivory tower. But he's placed there as a relic ("old notion," "gaunt"), happy to swim upstream. He's seen as the last of a dying breed ("old notion...rests almost solely").
Put all of it together we come up with something like this, which sounds a lot like someone else we've dealt with before: Lachenmann is an old-school, aloof, who-gives-a-shit-about-comprehensibility kind of composer-God, who doesn't care about pleasing his audience, unlike "Adams, Adès, Reich, Saariaho, Salonen, just for starters," who, by the way, are heroes. Salonen, really?
And also, apparently, good riddance, Lachenmann! (I read ahead)
Okay so far?
Well, no. I'm not okay. BEGIN STUPID RANT STOP Accessibility in music means popularity. If that was, indeed, the penultimate goal, then every composer would be imitating this guy. And the only things you get by imitating that guy, besides money and paparazzi, is awards. I mean, where are these composers now? Where is their music being performed? Are these popular Pultizer Prize winners in the canon?: Douglas Stuart Moore, Gail Kubic, John la Montaine, Robert Ward, Leslie Bassett, Richard Wernick, Stephen Albert (Seriously, Google them. YouTube them. Did you find anything? Any music?) What did popularity ever do for them? END STUPID RANT HERE STOP
Okay so far?
Yes, I suppose I'm a little better. Thanks. I needed to get that off my chest. Anyway... you know what? No. Come to think of it, no, I'm not better, because this tripe continues.
"He is the world's greatest composer," proclaim a few holdouts in the new-music community who dote on inscrutability.
Unpopular Lachenmann fan = doter on inscrutability. Great. Thanks, Alan. Thanks for nothing. Way to avert the unfamiliar! Way to close your mind! Way to conform. Baaaaah!
At them in response, I fling my favorite James Thurber line: " 'He's God!' screamed a Plymouth Rock hen."
For those of you not familiar with "The Owl Who Was God," here you go. Note the "moral" of the story, near the bottom. (I love unintentionally ironic references)
Now, in defense of poor Helmut, I'll lob over a favorite Morton Feldman quote: "The only fanatics I have ever met were conservative musicians." Take that, conformists!
Yet the concert drew a large crowd, and there were many who stood and cheered at the end.
That's an ordinary, reasonable response; people go to concerts they might enjoy. This, however, isn't a reasonable response:
I would love to know what they heard.
And why is that? Take it away, Alan!
Prior to this concert, I knew Lachenmann mostly from the ECM recording of his setting — "opera" in the broadest sense — of the Hans Christian Andersen story "The Little Match Girl," onto which he has hung the whole paraphernalia of his "fractured aesthetic" (Alex Ross' term), culminating in a horrendous musical mishmash in which the ghosts of every composer in Lachenmann's own scrapbook, Mahler, Berg, Stockhausen, Boulez, pass by simultaneously as if in some horrendous wet dream.
A game: Find the Epistrophe!
(Jeopardy theme music)
Find it? The answer is: "horrendous." By repeating horrendous twice with regards to one subject, he's strongly emphasizing how Lachenmann's opera is (list of possible synonyms) dreadful, awful, terrible, shocking, appalling, horrifying, horrific, horrid, hideous, grisly, ghastly, gruesome, gory, harrowing, heinous, vile, unspeakable, (takes breath), nightmarish, macabre, spine-chilling, blood-curdling, loathsome, monstrous, abhorrent, hateful, hellish, execrable, abominable, atrocious, sickening, foul, nasty, disagreeable—you get the idea.
But, why wasn't that a reasonable response? Well, "just for starters," if a newspaper is going to assign a critic to review a concert, it might be nice if they sent someone who has a general interest in the music to be played. It might also be nice to have a critic open to new possibilities, instead of one who can't fathom alternate definitions of "opera," in quotation marks (in quotation marks: in "quotation marks"). Also, also it might be nice if the reviewer was familiar with the music, you know, say the reviewer knew more than one piece by the composer. Just an idea. But who am I to question these things?
Does that lovely, sad Andersen story deserve that?
I didn't know stories deserve things.
Do we?
To be fair, I don't know that we deserve "horrendous wet dreams," either.
Did we on Monday?
Hell no! Everyone is aware that we only deserve "horrendous wet dreams" on Tuesdays, and sometimes Fridays depending on the tide. Mondays are simply out of the question, what with the morning rush-hour commute and all!
But I digress, too. Go on, Alan. Spew more Lachenmann derision.
I had never before endured pain at a Monday Evening Concert; this time I did: pain and anger.
You can't blame Lachenmann for the burritos you ate at lunch! Lachenmann + burritos = the runs.
The music by [...] Helmut Lachenmann reflected the nastiness dear to so many German and Austrian creative hearts these days.
Whoa! Where'd you come from? Who are you? Get out of here! Go. Get!
[...] Mr. Lachenmann's ''Movement (Before Paralysis)'' seemed almost to jeer at the easygoing spirit and borderline sentimentality of the [preceding] American pieces [...].
Shoo, I said! I mean it!
"Movement (Before Paralysis)" seems proud of its complications. Hard, angular, percussion-ridden, highly uneven in movement, this is the art of unease. Mr. Lachenmann produces wheezes, whines, shudders and whooshes that are sophistication itself.
Go on! Get out of here! And stay out! That's better.
"Played," by the way, often consisted of blowing through only the mouthpiece of a wind instrument, banging on the case of a piano, delivering frenzied blasts through a brass instrument and otherwise violating the customary sound possibilities of various instruments.
But that's not new. However, saying that Lachenmann rapes the instruments is new; that's a new one on me, anyway.
Such procedures are not new,
and they have a certain joke value the first time around.
Odd, but not necessarily new, procedures = a joke, the first time around. Just like sul ponticello, right?
The Lachenmann works were long enough to allow these things to happen several times, and you all know what happens to a joke when you tell it more than once.
It gets old. I got it. You were clear about tha...
Hold it. (sniffs the air for a cheesy taint)
Mr. Rich, sir. Are you saying that...(thinks... "grmphblhpt")...I don't know what you're saying. See, if you're saying that novel sounds are a joke, but lose their comic luster (?) when repeated, then... I mean, if you're saying that odd instrumentations, which may not be new, are funny, except when they're reiterated, which makes them bad things, then...
I'm confused. Let's go backwards.
These things I can grasp and accept: Lachenmann is not popular. You don't like his music. Presumably, you do like Adams, Reich, etc. (Salonen, hmmm). They are (more) popular/accessible.
But, therefore...? Lachenmann is a joke? Because he's not accessible? Because he utilizes odd sounds? Because he's a modernist? Because his music causes the runs?
There's a "parting shot," indeed. (super-slow fade to black)
If this had been an actual meta-critique, this is how it might have gone. But, fortunately for Alan and a number of you, this is where your patience will be rewarded, because it was not a critique, per se—even though a lot of points stand—because, Alan, like I said at the beginning, is a fine, fine critic, a critic we've never before tried to tear apart. Then why go through all this rigmarole, Empiricus? Why parody yourself? So I could make obvious that there is almost no difference between Alan's opinions and those of other critics, opinions that generally warrant a long, scathing Detritus-like whipping.
What's the difference, then? Simple. First-person.
Listen, I don't agree with anything, anything in this review (except maybe the part about Lachenmann being one of the last modernists). Let me just make that clear. Alan and I have polar opposite opinions. I don't think that if we ran into one another at a concert, that we'd become BFFs.
But, because he uses the pronoun I to express himself, I can't fault him. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And he's calling it as he sees it. No disembodied, third-person generalizations vomited as objective truth. Just him, and his opinions.
I can't fault Alan, but I can fault the newspaper higher-ups and whoever gave Alan that particular assignment. I think its pretty clear that Alan can't stand Lachenmann's music nor "ivory towerites." Then why send him to review a Lachenmann/modernist concert? That makes no sense. "Let's send ol' Mel Gibson over to cover the bat mitzvah." That doesn't make any sense either. So why do it?
Parting Shots: Not so "so long," after all
Dear Detritusites, I need to ask you a big favor, well, two favors: One, please be patient, this is a long 'un. But most importantly, two, would you please hold your anger-filled comments and death-threats until the end? This might sting a bit, but, if you can accept for a moment that I may not be entirely crazy, then this will be easier on all of us. Besides, if, by the end, you still feel the need to tear me a new one and shove a fistful of wadded-up Lachenmann scores in the open wound, by all means, go ahead. It's your right, and I'll take it with a grin on my face. Now, you could be asking yourselves, what could be so bad that Empiricus felt he needed to issue a disclaimer? Well, people, I'm going to throw-down with Alan Rich.
Posted by Empiricus at 2:22 PM
Labels: Alan Rich, Bernard Holland, Epistrophe, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Helmut Lachenmann, James Thurber, LA Weekly, Mel Gibson Creepy, Modernism Sucks, Morton Feldman, musical populism, the runs
17 comments:
- Anonymous said...
Well, I was going to defend Mr. Rich until his Germanophobic episode. Frankly, I've always favored the South Park line, "Dude, what the fuck is wrong with German people?" Clearly Mr. Rich went off his meds for a few paragraphs.
If we can disregard that unpleasantness, I think this discussion of sending modernist friendly reviewers to modernist concerts is getting off course. First of all, I whole-heartedly agree that there are many (a vast conspiratorial majority, if you will) who are outright hostile to modern/new music. However, I don't think the solution to this problem is sending those reviewers to just the Mostly Mozart festivals to dote over the true classics--really, to me, such reviews are just as useless as the uninformed anti-modernist rant. I say fire them! They clearly are too ignorant on their subject matter to make cogent arguments. Their reviews suck and they should be fired. [How's that for subtle?]
Okay, with that said, I think that there is a place for negative reviews, as well as disliking composers. That's what makes music (and most art) so fascinating--that two highly educated and intelligent people can have such wildly different opinions on a given work/composer. I think it must be pointed out that Mr. Rich's comments are probably representative of his readership (and most classical music lovers -- oh how I loathe that term, but I digress). What Alan Rich, so indelicately, gets at is that new music is often a challenge for its audience. Reviews can not be written with the sole purpose of affirming some truism—be it "modernism sucks", or "all Lachenmann is swell". The worst crime of any journalism (especially of the op/ed variety) is ignorance. I don't think we can accuse Rich of this. You may disagree, but his opinion does have a place. There are those who choose to blindly applaud every new work and every new idea, and those who choose to buy the propaganda of the traditionalist, the good ol' days. Neither will serve new music well.
Like you point out, Empiricus, we know that Alan Rich is a smart and capable critic, but why take umbrage with his negative review (again, putting aside his anti-Bavarianisms)? Because Lachenmann has been accepted as an unassailable composer? By whom? Yes, Rich doesn't really give any good reasons for disliking Lachenmann's music, but I don't think his point of view is unfounded. Frankly, I think the bigger crime is the number of glowing reviews that go to marginal and downright awful composers.
I want dissent.
Let me repeat that: I want dissent. Well, actually, I want intelligent dissent. Great composers and great works are the ones that are able to triumph in spite of their detractors. Given friendly, and frankly, dishonest criticism doesn't serve the cause of new music. Alan Rich saying the Lachenmann sucks and you (the Empiricus you) blogging that it's Rich's opinion that sucks, that serves the cause of new music. A discussion has been started. All thinking people then ask themselves, does Alan Rich suck? Maybe Lachenmann music does really suck? Maybe sul ponticello sucks?
These are all good questions -- hopefully good answers will be sought. New music needs the discussion. And like government, it needs dissent.
Okay, so this seems like a fairly unintelligibly rant. Sorry. I hope that I don't sound too crazy, since I merely want to provide a counterpoint to this recurring thread on Detritus. And I would love to edit and make my point clearer, but I need to tend to my frittatas.
So I'll end by saying:
Empiricus, your critique was dead on. Great work once again.
I want smart, informed critics – not ones that agree with me.
And the answers to the rhetorical questions:
does Alan Rich suck? NO
Maybe Lachenmann music does really suck? NO
Maybe sul ponticello sucks? Already in the halls of most overused effect bowing
--Whatever, I'll what I want.
- Anonymous said...
Ah! Screwed up my own tag line!
--Whatever, I do what I want.
- Empiricus said...
Good points, Gustav. Sure. Maybe it wasn't totally clear in this post, but I embrace dissent, which is something I laud Mr. Rich for doing. I don't take issue with negativity, in general. I remember one of Alan's reviews of Brahms (the music) that was, well...whew...scathing, but apt. Very good stuff. He's intelligent, witty and humbly opinionated--that's all I ask for, you know. It has nothing to do with sending modernist-friendly reviewers to concerts.
Oh, by the way, Gustav, that wasn't Alan saying those things about Germany and Austria, it was someone else; I linked the other guy's article in the post (I had hoped that the color differentiation was obvious. Maybe pink as secondary-reference color has to go).
Lastly, there were a handful of other topics I wanted to bring up, but the length of the post was already too long, so I scrapped them. One topic I wanted to bring up, and one on my mind lately, concerns the differences between triadic and non-triadic traditions vying for space in the same venues. I wonder if "classical music" has fractured enough to where there are two vastly different threads that require separation, the same kind that, say, blues and heavy metal enjoy. Maybe music in the modernist tradition needs its own reviewers, venues, audiences. Maybe it needs to stop competing with the Louvre, which is certainly still going strong. Some ensembles seem to be going in that direction quite successfully (eighth blackbird, for example). Audiences seem to be finding their place, too. Why not "PostClassic Music Critic for the Times-Guardian," or something?
- Murderface said...
I think we actually can accuse Rich of ignorance, from his own admission. He says that his knowledge of Lachenmann consists of a single recording! By any definition, this level of knowledge fails to qualify him to offer the intelligent dissent you advocate.
Plus, you say yourself that he doesn't give any good reasons for disliking Lachenmann. So why defend this claptrap?
Yes, there are too many sheepishly glowing reviews of popular older pieces. Fine. There are also far too many sheepishly shrill reviews of newer music that offer nothing in the way of actual criticism. Sadly (given the DR's position on Alan Rich's overall body of work), this is yet another example.
Just saying something sucks is not criticism.
Rich--in his final review, no less--just said Lachenmann sucks and offered nothing more.
Empiricus offered criticism.
Ynloqzu: Arawak for "Whatever, I do what I want!"
- Aaron said...
In Kenny Chesney's defense, that is one sexy tractor. Hubba hubba! And I would pay good money for Mel Gibson's review of a bat mitzvah.
As to the substance of the critique, I think Empiricus' suggestion that the gulf between modernist composers and their old-school brethren - at least from the audience's perspective - might indeed be big enough to justify different beat reporters. I don't know that it's quite the blues/heavy metal degree of difference, but it's clearly significant enough to present an obstacle to getting fair* reviews of modernist music.
*"Fair" as Gustav notes is not the same thing as "positive." The problem is that guys like Rich or Bernard Holland can't actually tell whether a modernist piece is any good. To them, it's just noise. They don't have an appreciation for the art form, so they can't say whether it's any good. I don't have an appreciation for Scandinavian death metal or abstract expressionism; if you're going to ask me about whether art in those genres is any good, you'd be better off asking a moderately intelligent ape. Negative criticism is necessary, but it needs to be informed by an appreciation of what the artist is trying to do, or what traditions he's working with. Otherwise it's just badly-informed slagging, and that's what blogs are for.
- Anonymous said...
Well, I'm glad to hear Alan isn't the raging Germanophobe that I feared. [sorry that I missed that--not the fault of the pink text, just me not paying close enough attention.]
To Muderface's point, I wasn't necessarily defending Rich's review. Empiricus was right on with his attacks, and I don't have any problem with anything he was commenting on. Rich was dismissive and offered very little to support his animosity. And there's not much that bothers me more than someone with an unsupported opinion. I think an argument could be made about the ridiculous nature of reviewing an event after it has occurred and how that grants a certain amount of artistic freedom to the author, but still (like I always say to my students) you need to support your opinion with actual argument.
In any case, my frittatas were delicious and I just finished my third margarita! Despite Mr. Rich and his Lachenmann-bashing tripe, the evening was good.
CRYMMNAI = It's pronounced CRY-mmn-ai, not cry-MMN-ai!
- Anonymous said...
"'Let's send ol' Mel Gibson over to cover the bat mitzvah.' That doesn't make any sense either. So why do it?"
Perhaps the same could be said of putting modernist music in common practice venues.
"The minuet, whether it be made especially for playing, singing, or dancing, has no other affect than moderate gaiety. Next let us look at the gavotte, whose affect is truly jubilant joy. The hopping quality of the gavotte is its true property. A melody having a more fluid, smooth, gliding, and connected character than the gavotte is the bourrée. Such melodies seem contented, obliging, unconcerned, relaxed, careless, comfortable, and yet pleasing."
from Passions of the Soul (1645-46) - Descartes
Mr. Rich's article is a fun read, well written (could do without the wet dream analogy- thank you!) and consistent with classical criticism. Having not heard Lachenmann's music I can not comment on the accuracy of Rich's review. He could be totally off as Empiricus asserts or he could be right on. Doesn't "bad" music exist? Mattheson, Fux, Rameau all thought so- certainly these guys knew something about music. Modernism avoids criticism which is its own right. But if you want to hang with the historical big guys you'll have to toughen up a little. Empiricus' review sounds strikingly similar to a 5th grade boy crying to his mommy that a 2nd grade armless boy in a wheelchair kicked his ass. Or maybe, in the words of Rich, that was just my horrendous wet dream.
- Anonymous said...
Furthermore, what if Rich wrote:
"Prior to this concert, I knew Kenny Chesney mostly from the BNA recording of his setting — "song" in the broadest sense — of the Kenny Roger's story "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," onto which he has hung the whole paraphernalia of his "fractured aesthetic" (Alex Ross' term), culminating in a horrendous musical mishmash in which the ghosts of every composer in Chesney's own scrapbook, Cash, Parton, Jackson, Brooks, pass by simultaneously as if in some horrendous wet dream."
LOL. By the way, the overwhelming majority of people in the world do not listen Chesney. If Chesney made this video in Iran he'd probably be hanged in a day for the dress on that girl- HOT. But nevertheless, I enjoyed watching that video, thanks for the consistently thorough linkage on this site.
- Empiricus said...
1) You're totally right--we are (I am) pretty childish. I'll be the first to admit that. But, I hope that our childish whining does a little justice towards a better musical dialog. That's why we value comments, such as yours. So thank you.
2) Bad music does exist and it needs to be sorted out, by audiences or critics or performers or whoever (though, our definitions, through collective dialog, of "bad" is how this is accomplished). Again, towards my last point, we're here to facilitate a more well-reasoned way of sorting out bad music and championing the good, via better dialog.
3) We like Rich's writing very much. Unfortunately, I disagreed with just about everything he said in this particular review. However (and this is the point I'd like to stress), we could've taken him to task on many occasions, like we did today, but have always found it terribly difficult. It's not because of what he said, it's how he said it. And we admire him for that, very much. If more critics used the first-person narrative, which is essentially an admission of humility--your opinions are yours alone--then we'd have a hard time meta-critiquing anyone.
4) I'm sure I'll be thinking about this for some time, but my initial reaction to your statement, "modernism avoids criticism," is this: I don't think that modernism avoids criticism as much as the criticism avoids modernism. I think that criticism steers our conversation about the topic, to what degree is anyone's guess. But, without appropriate vocabulary or firm historical reference points (as were lacking in today's Lachenmann review--newness, newness, unfamiliar newness!), its hard to say anything about modernism, let alone sort out the bad and the good, or the ugly for that matter. I really don't fault Alan for his opinions, but how long have we had to gestate experimental practices?
5) I, too, question whether modernism should vie for common practice venues.
Again anonymous, thanks for the comments. And nice Descartes reference!
- AnthonyS said...
Hmm.. interesting question, this bit about modernist music in common practice venues. I guess my question is thus: are we talking in the small scale (as in modernist concerts vs. mixing modernist music with common practice music) or large scale (as in finding alternative venues for modernist performances?). The former strikes me as defeatist, though I understand the impetus. The latter seems impossible-- the concert hall is one of the few silent spaces left in the world. Much (I dare not say all, though I'm inclined to believe thus) modernist music requires a kind of silent attention and contemplative, real-time engagement (free of distractions) that common practice music requires. A new venue would have to be similar in its silence. That's a big problem I have with a lot of alternative venue performances-- be they in bars, clubs, outdoors, etc.-- there is too much else to really give the music and the performance the attention it deserves.
Happy to be back from operatizing. That's opera, not "opera".
- Anonymous said...
Good points. But many concert halls already rent out their "quiet space" for entirely modern practice programs which are successful. Period practice music hasn't been hurt by not sharing the same stage (at the same concert) as the orchestra in residence at any particular hall- with its own instruments, performers and conductors, period practice music is doing quite well. And people are continuing to go out and hear dead composers they've never heard of.
If the common practice orchestra has the hall on Thursday and the modern practice ensemble has the hall on Friday. There should be no conflict. On top of it all, the people from both sides that dislike each others music wouldn't bicker so much. And they each could have their own critics. It's a win-win situation and quite frankly.
I'm personally sick and tired of common practice fans dismissing modern music as "not music." And I'm equally disappointed with the many graduate level composers and professors that express their open distaste for common practice music.
Furthermore, there is an animosity growing from modernists riding the legitimacy "coattails" of the common practice- which hurts both musics. If the modern practice is viable, which obviously it is, then a common practice/modern practice divorce should not be a "defeatist" idea at all- in fact it should be a welcome one.
- Anonymous said...
Sentence fragments and missed apostrophe. Oops- forgive me.
- AnthonyS said...
Where does non-modernist contemporary music fit into this? Would that remain on the common practice concerts?
This divorce idea (which I'll admit candidly I'm not enamored with) seems easier for chamber music, less so for orchestra.
Regarding professors/students hating common practice period music, that is pretty awful. I've never experienced that personally, but if that is out there, that really... well, sucks. Of course, the "modern music isn't music" folks are out there, but I'm guessing they will always be there. They should just go see "Cats" or something.
- Anonymous said...
"non-modernist contemporary music" You mean pseudo-tonal/modal music? I really don't know. I suppose you let the people running the halls and the concerts in conjunction with the audience decide. After all, that's the way it's been run for the last 1000 years more or less. Certainly, a composer doesn't "demand" that his music gets played at any place.
There are a few successful large orchestras that only play modern music- if general interest in modern large orchestra pieces increases for audiences and composers I'm sure we would have more orchestras dedicated to playing modern music.
And a final clarification: some of these people that don't think modernist music is "music" are quite sophisticated musically and play instruments with varying degrees of skill. But because someone likes Tosca, Carmen, or Don Giovanni doesn't mean that's they'll like Moses and Aaron or Nixon in China- or vice versa.
Music is complicated- people that like "the Marriage of Figaro" don't necessarily like "Don Giovanni"! Check out this link for Tabbycat's rant on "modern" music versus the "classics" and you might start to share my opinion that mixing lemon juice and milk probably won't get us very far in the long run.
- Anonymous said...
New drink:
"The Yuker"
2 parts whiskey
2 parts sweet red wine
3 parts milk
1 part lemon juice
garnish with an olive and a cherry- goes great with pizza!
- Empiricus said...
RE: Anonymous and his/her tabbycat
You got a nice lookin' cherry-picker. Mind comin' over some time and showing me some more of your Yahoo?
By the by, does "the Yuker" refer to Kevin Youkilis? If it does, it's funny. If not, that's just gross.
- Anonymous said...
Empiricus, very good! That's what yahoo pulls up on a search of modern vs. classics. Isn't that scary? Uphill battle if the "classics" are AC/DC and the Beatles and the modernists are "Ben folds" and "Christina Agui-maleria."
And the Yuker is what you get when you mix elements that don't go well supposed to be put together. Apparently my attempted analogy/joke of mixing modern/common practice music together didn't work. Who's this Kevin Youkilis- a composer? My cherry-picker only found stuff on a baseball player of that name.


text:
WASHINGTON, DC February 5, 2013 What do microbes have to do with beer? Everything! Because the master ingredient in beer is yeast a microbe and every step in the brewing process helps the yeast do its job better. A new freely-available report; FAQ: If the Yeast Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy: The Microbiology of Beer explores the synergy between microbiology and brewing beer.
"Every time someone brews a batch of beer, in a very real sense he or she is doing a microbiology experiment. If you brew beer at home, you're a microbiologist.' says Dr. Charles Bamforth of the University of California, Davis, a member of the steering committee that produced the report.
The American Academy of Microbiology brought together some of the world's leading experts on yeast, brewing and food science to explain how making great beer depends on creating the perfect conditions for yeast to work its magic. Keeping the yeast happy, it turns out, is what will make or break your beer batch.
FAQ: The Microbiology of Beer is based on the deliberations of 18 participants who convened for a day to discuss the relationship between microbiology and beer brewing.
The FAQ answers 6 common questions:
All of the answers are straightforward and limited to two pages each for easier understanding. Important terms and concepts are introduced as needed and fully explained. Sidebars on topics like yeast genealogy and fermentation round out the 12 page report.
FAQ: The Microbiology of Beer is part of a series of reports designed to provide easy to understand explanations about the roles microbes play in the world, from cleaning up oil spills to causing epidemics, to producing many useful products. The FAQ series reports are based on the deliberations of 15-20 microbiology experts who meet for a single day to develop answers to frequently asked questions about a specific topic.
|Contact: Garth Hogan
American Society for Microbiology


text:
I am not sure what I am looking for from my wardrobe right now, but I know I want layers.
I want soft, whispering layers, that drape gently down my body.
I want mix and match layers.
I want bits of lace trim.
I want to wear my leggings with them.
I want to wear my boots.
I think I am yearning for Autumn.
I think I am finished with Summer.
My skin is calling out for the cooler breeze, the gentle sun.
My eyes want to see colours change and brown in the garden.
My nose wants to smell freesia.
My tummy is awaiting oranges and pumpkin soup.
My ears want to hear the roar of the ocean as it kisses the shore.
Here are some ohhhhh and ahhhhhh's I have perused lately.
I do like what I see, and thought I would share them with you.
Click on the link above to take you to the page to download the pretty patterns shown here.
I love the under-dress and the tank-dress.
Perfect starters to a wardrobe of layering.
I can see crochet trim and lace hemming on these.
Specks & Keepings have these beautiful outfits for sale.
I love these multi-seasonal treasures.
Then the rest of the photos below I have found on Pinterest.
What a brilliant place to gather ideas.


text:
SPSEA Students Experience Urban Teaching in Chicago
Eleven students from the College of Education participated in an urban teaching trip to Chicago this past semester. The Student Pennsylvania State Education Association (SPSEA) at University Park hosted the trip, which included a visit to Erie Elementary Charter School, a bilingual charter school, and volunteer work at McCormick Elementary School. The group also went to the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute to speak with researchers, and attended a teacher in-service at the Field Museum.
Mollie Safran, the 2012-13 SPSEA president and one of the eleven students, coordinated the trip. She said that this visit to Chicago was inspired by the urban seminar course that she took last year.
"As SPSEA president, I felt like the club should be helping future educators from Penn State reach their full potential as teachers," said Safran. "As part of this I thought there should be more opportunities for students to experience and learn about urban education."
Safran, a sophomore majoring in CEAED 4-8 Social Studies, said the trip was an eye-opening experience for many in the group, seeing the major differences between where they grew up and where they visited.
"That defines for me what we were there to experience," said Safran, "the different cultures and circumstances that will be in our classrooms, and to prepare ourselves to make an environment welcoming for everyone."
Kortney Sherbine, a doctoral student and a graduate assistant instructor in the College of Education, was the trip advisor. She said that she thinks that Chicago was a unique destination for this trip because Chicago has recently been part of the conversation in the ongoing discussion of American education reform.
"The SPSEA students who travelled to Chicago were able to visit a variety of learning spaces and engage in thinking about a variety of learning opportunities," said Sherbine. "They saw first-hand the importance of teaching children, before teaching curriculum, and I believe they engaged critically with the many ways that teaching and learning might happen."
Safran said that the trip was beneficial to students by helping them better understand what type of educators they need to be and what steps are necessary for that to be accomplished. She added that a number of the students who attended are now considering a future in urban education.
"By immersing ourselves in another city and being able to talk with the students and educators there, I feel like we could understand what it would really be like to teach in an urban school," said Safran. "I think the experience made it clear the amazing opportunities and benefits of teaching in an urban center."
Next year, SPSEA is planning a trip to Washington, D.C., where they plan to visit a public high school and a charter school. They also would like to take advantage of the area's museums, and plan on meeting with a local representative to find out how teachers can engage the political system. Students in the College of Education who are interested can apply in the beginning of the fall semester.
The SPSEA is a pre-professional organization that offers future educators in Pennsylvania the opportunity to develop their leadership and professional skills through training and workshops.
--by Kevin Sliman (May 2013)


text:
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text:
(Phoenix, AZ—July 17, 2003) Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard is warning Arizona residents of a recent scam in which unscrupulous people are calling consumers registered on the national do-not-call list claiming to represent the Arizona Attorney General's Office and asking them for their financial information.
After registering on the do-not-call list website, some consumers have been called by a person claiming to represent the Arizona Attorney General's Office and the "Arizona FTC". After rattling off a phony name, badge number and company, the caller instructs consumers to state their name, address and phone number to verify their personal information before they can receive a 'special security code.' They claim this code will allow consumers to sue any telemarketer for up to $11,000.
After obtaining the consumer's personal information the caller asks for the name and routing code of the consumer's bank, saying it is needed before they can release their security code.
"No one from the Attorney General's Office is calling consumers about the Do-Not-Call List," said Goddard, "and there is no such thing as the Arizona Federal Trade Commission."
Goddard warned consumers to "never give out your personal information to anyone over the phone unless you have initiated the call and know the company with whom you are dealing."
Consumers who are contacted by one of these fraudulent telemarketers should get as much information as possible, including a call back number, and then contact the Arizona Attorney General's Office or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC will handle all complaints about telemarketers calling people on the registry. Consumers can report a complaint on the FTC website at http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall. The Attorney General's Office handles general consumer fraud complaints on their Consumer Information and Complaints line, 1-800-352-8431 outside of the area or (602) 542-5763 locally.


text:
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text:
Tight Chest
Of course, if you're sitting at a desk all day and going to play guitar all night, you have double the aches and pains to contend with. Almost everybody—guitarist or not—suffers from tight muscles in their chest, in comparison to shoulder muscles. "When we were running through the forest from 'lions and tigers and bears, oh my,' we were using those muscles, pulling our shoulders back. We never use those today," says Dennis. Chest problems can be amplified for guitarists who play turned in at a slight angle, as the ribs may sit higher on one side than the other.
"When people have a lot of pain in their upper shoulders, it's usually because a rib has gotten twisted down on the front and up on the back," Dennis explains. He suggests a simple stretch that can be done anywhere with a doorway.
Place your hands on a door frame at shoulder height, with your feet about a foot back from the doorway, and lean in. Do this stretch four or five times.
After that, raise one hand up about a foot and the other down a foot and lean forward, so that you're stretching the upper part of the pectoralis on one side and the lower part on the other. Do this four or five times, then switch your hand positions. After stretching four or five times in the reverse position, raise both hands up about a foot and lean forward four or five times. "By stretching like this, it stretches the muscles and uses them to actually pull your ribs up on the front," Dennis explains, "and it relaxes the muscles on the back."
How to do it:
- Stand in a door frame with your feet about a foot back from the doorway and your hands each at shoulder height.
- Lean into the doorway and back four or five times.
- Raise your right hand up about a foot on the door frame, and lower your left hand about a foot.
- Lean into the doorway and back four or five times.
- Reverse the positioning of your hands (right hand a foot below your shoulders, left hand a foot above).
- Lean into the doorway and back four or five times.
- Raise your lower hand to be even with your upper hand (both hands on the door frame about a foot above your shoulders).
- Lean into the doorway and back four or five times.
The final step, which we'll call "door frame pull-ups," will then strengthen the shoulder muscles. Byrn illustrates:
How to do it:
- Stand in a door frame with your feet directly in the doorway and your hands holding the door frame at shoulder level (palms facing back—your hands will be supporting your weight as you lean backward).
- Extend your arms and lean backward, then pull your body back toward the door frame.
- Repeat four or five times.


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Managing Director & Partner
BCG has a long history of hiring, developing, and retaining successful female leaders, particularly in Chicago. Through my involvement with BCG's Women's Initiative, I've been part of our efforts to build on this success and ensure that BCG in Chicago continues to be a place where women thrive.
Kate Protexter is a member of the Marketing, Sales & Pricing and Consumer practices at The Boston Consulting Group.
Since joining BCG in 2002, Kate has acquired deep knowledge and expertise advising clients in the consumer goods sector, with a focus on the beverage alcohol and food and beverage categories.
Before joining BCG, Kate was a senior financial analyst with William Blair.


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Jayhawks, Tar Heels meet again in NCAA tourney
Kansas beat Western Kentucky on Friday
North Carolina coach Roy Williams has plenty of stories about his days at Kansas, and he pulled out one of the more poignant ones Saturday afternoon, as the two historic programs were preparing to meet in the third round of the NCAA tournament.
It had to do with James Naismith and Phog Allen -- the founder of the game and one of its greatest coaches -- and it went something like this:
"Every game day at Kansas," Williams said, "I went up to the graves in the cemetery, and patted the tombstones of Dr. Naismith and Dr. Allen. I would always ask them for intervention. Now, I don't know if they gave me any, but it always made me feel better."
It's been nine years since Williams came down from leafy Kansas campus on Mount Oread and settled in idyllic Chapel Hill -- nearly a full decade since he left Kansas for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels have won a national title. So have the Jayhawks.
Yet to this day, the silver-haired coach with the accent dripping of southern charm can't help but wax poetic about his days in Lawrence -- the iconic figures, his own former players, the aura of Allen Fieldhouse and the school that fashions itself as the cradle of hoops.
"I love the passion of the Kansas fans. It's just off the charts," he said. "People would see you and say, 'Coach, I've got a 700-mile drive back to Dodge City, but what a great game.' It was something that they really took a great deal of pride in."
That passion is something that closely ties North Carolina to Kansas.
Another is winning.
Top-seeded Kansas won its 2,100th game by beating Western Kentucky on Friday night, while the eighth-seeded Tar Heels remained 10 games back after their win over Villanova - both of them trail Kentucky. Of their 11 meetings all-time, seven of them will have come in the NCAA tournament.
There was the 54-53 triple-overtime victory by the Tar Heels in the 1957 national title game, played a few blocks from the Sprint Center at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium, and two semifinal matchups in the early '90s, when Williams was still sporting a Jayhawk on his mock turtleneck.
More recently, Kansas beat the Tar Heels in the 2008 semifinals, when it captured its fifth national championship, and again last season, when it beat North Carolina to reach the Final Four.
"It's the kind of game you always dream about as a kid to play in," the Tar Heels' Jackson Simmons said. "It's Kansas. It's North Carolina. It's two great programs that have won national championships. It's going to be a lot of fun to play in Kansas City on Sunday."
Fun would be one way to describe it. Intimidating might be another.
The Jayhawks will be playing about 40 miles from campus, and there should be a decidedly darker hue of blue than what the Tar Heels (25-10) are accustomed to seeing in the stands.
"We've played in some hostile environments this year," North Carolina guard Marcus Paige said. "It hopefully won't have much effect. We just have to worry about what's happening on the court."
What's happening on the court should provide plenty of intrigue in its own right.
The Jayhawks (30-5) start four seniors, three of them fifth-years, and one of the nation's most talented freshmen in swingman Ben McLemore. They play coach Bill Self's trademark suffocating defense, and relied on all that experience to win their ninth straight Big 12 title this year.
Jeff Withey in particular should pose a matchup problem for the Tar Heels, who changed up their starting five in February, moving away from a post-oriented lineup that Williams has favored for decades toward a four-guard lineup that has provided a more consistent scoring punch.
The 7-foot Withey was the biggest reason Kansas managed to put away scrappy Western Kentucky, and has proven to be one of the nation's game changers with his ability to patrol the paint.
"They do have a smaller lineup and will be going faster," Withey said, "but we can ugly up the game by making them play bigger. They love to spread the floor and shoot a lot of 3s."
Williams admits there was some trepidation when he made such a wholesale change to his long-entrenched philosophy, but the results speak for themselves: nine wins in their last 11 games, a spirited run to the ACC tournament title game and a win over Villanova on Friday night.
"As a basketball coach, you need to try to get your five best players on the floor if you're not successful, and we weren't being as successful as we wanted to be," Williams said. "But the players had to buy in. They're the ones that should get the credit."
Those around the North Carolina understand that Williams will always have a connection with Kansas, even players who scarcely remember him on a different sideline. He took the Jayhawks to four Final Fours and a pair of national title games during 15 seasons at Kansas.
But enough time has passed, Self said, that the focus Sunday afternoon should be on two teams trying to make their own history in March, rather than a coach who already has plenty of it.
"Nobody can ever take away that he did a fabulous job," Self said. "On the flip side, I don't really see after 10 years it's near as big a deal as maybe the story line would be."


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New U.S. sanctions under the Caesar Act could compound the economic turmoil threatening to undo the Assad regime.
In order to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Syria and avoid regional instability, the United States should make the outcome of the fight for Idlib a national security concern and exercise the leadership necessary for implementing diplomatic and political solutions to the civil war.
Russians have voted on a sweeping package of more than two hundred constitutional amendments, the most important of which exempts President Vladimir Putin from term limits and potentially allows him to rule until 2036. What does this change mean for the country's future?
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov as he discusses Russian foreign policy toward the United States and prospects for future cooperation.
The race to find a vaccine for the new coronavirus is well underway. Governments and researchers are aiming to provide billions of people with immunity in eighteen months or less, which would be unprecedented.
Hong Kong
As China's power continues to grow, some fear that the considerable autonomy Hong Kong has enjoyed in recent decades could slip away.
Beijing's new national security legislation could effectively end Hong Kong's promised semiautonomy.
North Korea
Tensions rocketed on June 16 when North Korea demolished a liaison office that had stood as a symbol of hope for improved communications.
A renewed crisis on the Korean Peninsula could arise in the next twelve months. The United States should revamp UN sanctions and revitalize multilateral diplomacy in opposition to North Korea's nuclear development.
In North Korea, all authority flows from Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. He has reinstated the party as the central hub to consolidate his power and bring elites to heel.
CFR on the Record
Brian Hook discusses the future of U.S.-Iran relations and the current state of the Iranian economy during the coronavirus pandemic.
As countries consider how and when to vote in the coming months, here's what experts recommend for holding safe and secure elections during the coronavirus pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has already sparked considerable debate over how the present international order could change as a consequence. Some commentators see the world growing more fragmented and disorderly while others believe this moment will give new impetus to international cooperation on a variety of global challenges. Speakers Andrey Kortunov, Russian International Affairs Council, and Nathalie Tocci, Istituto di Affari Internazionali, discuss what the post-pandemic world may look like. For further reading, please see the CFR discussion paper, "Perspectives on a Changing World Order," by Dhruva Jaishankar, Qingguo Jia, Andrey Kortunov, Paul Stares, and Nathalie Tocci.
Expert Spotlight
Brad W. Setser
Steven A. Tananbaum Senior Fellow for International Economics
Jennifer Hillman
Senior Fellow for Trade and International Political Economy
James M. Lindsay
Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
United States Politics and Government Polls and Public Opinion
Experts in the News
Featured Publications
An invaluable primer from Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, that will help anyone, expert and nonexpert alike, navigate a time in which many of our biggest challenges come from the world beyond our borders.
The United States should respond to the COVID-19 reordering moment and stop deterioration in the balance of power with China, bolster relations with India and Europe, and reform the way it deals with allies and partners.
Diplomacy and International Institutions
Is America's alliance system so quietly effective that politicians and voters fail to appreciate its importance in delivering the security they take for granted?


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LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Insurance Department workers and health insurance guides are preparing for a possible surge of enrollment in the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace on Monday, the final day to enroll for coverage effective this year.
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Insurance Department workers and health insurance guides are preparing for a possible surge of enrollment in the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace on Monday, the final day to enroll for coverage effective this year.
The enrollment deadline for coverage that begins May 1 is 10:59 p.m. CDT on Monday. People who have begun but have not been able to complete the enrollment process by that time will be allowed extra time to obtain coverage, the Obama administration has said — but they have to take action no later than Monday.
"Consumers that miss that deadline will have to wait until November, so it's very important if a consumer is seeking coverage that they begin that process," said state Insurance Department spokeswoman Heather Haywood.
The next open enrollment period is scheduled to start Nov. 15 and run through Feb. 15 of next year. The federal Affordable Care Act requires nearly everyone to have health insurance or be subject to a fine.
There is no enrollment deadline, however, for the so-called private option, Arkansas' alternative to state Medicaid expansion that uses federal Medicaid money to provide private insurance to people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.
According to a calendar on the Insurance Department's Arkansas Health Connector website, marketplace enrollment events are scheduled for Sunday in Little Rock and for Monday in Augusta, Fayetteville, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Piggott, Russellville and Walnut Ridge.
Arkansans can go directly to the federal marketplace site, healthcare.gov, to enroll or they can visit the Arkansas Health Connector Site and click on "enrollment assistance" for the contact information of guides, agents and brokers in their county who can assist them.
Help will be available by phone in Arkansas at (855) 283-3483 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday. The federal call center is available 24 hours a day, every day, at (800) 318-2596.
Haywood said the volume of calls received at the Arkansas Health Connector's call center has been growing as the deadline nears.
"Last week we logged 475 calls," she said Friday afternoon. "This week — and it's as of just five minutes ago — we've have 608 calls, and we anticipate we'll probably receive 50 or 60 more calls before the end of the day."
Haywood also said that according to updates the Insurance Department has received from the federal government, visits to healthcare.gov jumped from 1.2 million on Tuesday to 1.5 million on Wednesday, and calls to the federal call center jumped from 390,000 on Tuesday to 490,000 on Wednesday.
Could a surge in traffic cause a repeat of the technical issues that plagued healthcare.gov when it launched last fall? It shouldn't, according to guide Kendra Johnson of Little Rock.
"The latest information that we got today is that they have beefed up the website so it will support about 50 percent more traffic, and they have added about 14,000 more customer service representatives to handle some of the applications that may be coming in by phone, so we can only be optimistic," said Johnson, who is employed as a guide through Better Community Development, a Little Rock-based organization that provides services to low-income people.
"We hope that this latest fix is really a fix, but we're prepared to have paper applications because it just has to be postmarked" by the deadline, she said.
Johnson, who is helping to organize enrollment events at Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church in Little Rock on Sunday and at First Presbyterian Church in North Little Rock on Monday, said enrollment typically takes between 30 minutes and an hour and a half, depending on the number of people in the consumer's household.
Insurance officials told a legislative panel Thursday that 33,569 Arkansans have enrolled in private insurance plans through the marketplace outside of the private option, far short of the 250,000 target. Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford said the initial technical problems with healthcare.gov slowed the process, but he expects the state to reach the target eventually.
Guides such as Johnson have been a large part of the effort to enroll Arkansans in the marketplace and the private option. According to the Insurance Department, in-person assisters — which also include insurance agents and brokers, certified application counselors and federal navigators — had helped 80,914 people determine their eligibility and/or enroll by March 7.
Those helpers will not be around for the marketplace's next open enrollment period, however. The state Legislature this year inserted a provision into a budget bill that bans the state from spending any state or federal money on in-person assisters or on promotion of the marketplace and the private option in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
"I think having no air cover and no ground cover will impact it," said Cynthia Crone, director of the Insurance Department's Health Benefits Exchange Partnership Division.
Crone said enrollment in the marketplace could reach 50,000 for the enrollment period that ends Monday, but "that's a long way from where we need to be."
But Crone noted that about 20 percent of the people who have enrolled in the marketplace outside of the private option did so with the help of insurance agents and brokers, who will continue to operate on their own.
Bradford said entities such as churches, libraries and nonprofit organizations likely will volunteer to help educate people about their insurance options.
"It's a service that's needed, so there will be people out there that are doing their best to help people secure insurance coverage," he said.


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Rihanna isn't being drawn into questions about her relationship with Ashton Kutcher.
At a press conference for her debut movie "Battleship," the singer dismissed questions about whether she's involved with the "Two And a Half Men" star, after reports that she visited his house in Los Angeles.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Ashton Kutcher Over The Years
U.S. & World
When asked if Kutcher would be joining her in London for her promotional trip, Rihanna called the question "disappointing."
She says "I am happy and I'm single, if that is what you are asking."
VIEW THE PHOTOS: The 'Only Girl' In Our World! The Sexy & Stylish Rihanna!
"Battleship," based on the game by Hasbro, is directed by Peter Berg and puts Rihanna in her first film role. She plays Petty Officer Second Class Cora Raikes, a weapons specialist, alongside Taylor Kitsch and Liam Neeson.
"Battleship" is being released in the U.K. on April 11 and the U.S. on May 18.
Copyright 2012 by Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: A Look Back: Ashton Kutcher & Demi Moore
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Effective Casting Simulation Using
SOLIDCast™, OPTICast™, and FLOWCast™
Come and see the world's most popular casting simulation software in action! The Effective Casting Simulation seminar covers all aspects of system operation. Build/import sample casting models, run simulations and display results. You can even make animated movies from system output! Each attendee receives a complete set of training materials, plus a USB drive containing VERSION 8.4.0 of SOLIDCastTM, OPTICastTM and FLOWCastTM, case studies and more! You will even get a copy of the Effective Casting Simulation Training Videos.
March 29-31, 2016, Holiday Inn I-675 in Fairborn (Dayton), OH


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Sidney Poitier was the first black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He won it in 1963 for his role in Lilies of the Field. (1) Subsequently he received virtually every major honor which an actor can receive. (2) Poitier starred in some forty films, including Blackboard Jungle (1955); The Defiant Ones (1958); The Bedford Incident (1965); A Patch of Blue (1965); Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967); To Sir, With Love (1967); and In the Heat of the Night (1967).
If you're a regular listener to NPR news programs, you're probably familiar with the occasional brief commentary during the morning or evening news programs by experts in various fields; people providing insight into public affairs, observations on the arts, and thoughts on how we live. This page contains transcripts and/or audio recordings of local commentaries that have aired on WYSU.


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To be human means you ache. You hurt for the things you don't have, the life you never got, the people who betrayed you. Some days seem full of grief, heartbreak and anger. And it's so easy to stay in this place. Although you're never promised a perfect life, you gripe in agony over the […]
I am. And I'm betting most women are. In fact, a study found that women apologize more than men do. Why? Men have a higher tolerance for what they perceive is worthy of an apology. Women who want to instill harmony in their relationships are more sensitive to transgressions, and more apt to feel like victims of wrongdoing.
The Bad Thing About Over-Apologizing
The thing about saying, "I'm sorry" is that it becomes habitual. Some of us do it as a courtesy, a polite remark. Others say it because they genuinely feel bad for something they've done. It can also be an afterthought, an easy statement to appease it's recipients: "I'm sorry for not blogging, for my last inadequate post, for snubbing you, for what I wore today, for not working hard enough, for breathing."
As women we're taught to apologize, to appear polite, to sweep up the dust under the rug so no one sees it. But when does saying, "I'm sorry" become too much?
After the tenth time apologizing for a transgression (maybe you're constantly late or you continually offend a friend), your apology may become watered down. Maybe it's a sign you need to delve in deep and figure out why you're really doing what you're doing.
What Apologizing Could Really Be Hiding
You're always late for a class or a meeting. Why? There's a part of you that just doesn't want to be there. It could be a sign you're avoiding addressing an issue because it's uncomfortable. Instead of just relinquishing a commitment, it feels easier to apologize for being late or unavailable.
If you find yourself continuously apologizing to a friend or your partner, you probably feel pretty resentful inside. Maybe you do it because you don't know any other way to communicate. Maybe you're afraid to open up and express how you really feel. It feels a lot easier to pacify an angry person then it is to figure out if you should be in this relationship in the first place.
Apologizing can heal a relationship, but it can also be a temporary band-aid. The key is to figure out what role it serves in your relationships. Are you apologizing because you feel less than, to temper a difficult person or issue or are you doing it because you are sincerely sorry for what you have done?


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|Biosequences .. Software .. Molbio soft .. Network News .. FTP
Please forward to interested members of your scientific community. ALTERNATIVE CAREERS FOR SCIENTISTS=85 PATENT LICENSING AND LAW: WITH OR WITHOUT A LAW DEGREE Science's Next Wave, a Web site published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Science magazine, will be presenting a feature on former scientists who have shifted their careers into patent licensing and patent law. This patent law feature is part of our series on alternative careers for scientists, New Niches, and will be accessible starting on Friday, December 6th. Patent agents, patent attorneys, and a licensing expert from diverse environments such as biotechnology companies, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the Stanford University technology licensing office will discuss several topics, including: -- how they made their transition into the field of patent law=20 -- how to move into patent law with or without a law degree -- qualities important for becoming a successful patent professional=20 -- the intellectual satisfaction of being on the "cutting edge" of technology We will also provide links to related resources for scientists contemplating a switch to patent licensing and law (with or without that law degree), plus a customized primer from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on how to become a patent agent.=20 The patent law New Niche will be active starting on Friday, December 6th. You are encouraged to direct your career questions and comments to our group of patent law Role Models via our Web site over the next two months.=20 The URL for Science=92s Next Wave is www.nextwave.org We strongly encourage you to tell your peers and colleagues about the current and future New Niche features. If you would not like to receive e-mail notices about future Next Wave features which discuss alternative careers for scientists, please let us know. The Editors of Science's Next Wave ___________________ Wendy Yee Associate Editor Science's Next Wave wyee at aaas.org


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Baseball coach Mike Miller couldn't be happier with the leadership he received from this quintet.
While the end of the 2014 varsity baseball season came far too soon for Mike Miller's taste, Honesdale's veteran skipper makes it a habit to dwell on the positive over any negatives.
"I'm always sad to see a season end," Coach Miller said. "But, I'll say this right off the bat: These kids were just an absolute delight to work with.
"They did everything the right way. They competed in every game and I'm very proud of them."
The Hornets closed out the campaign with an 8-9 overall record, going 5-8 in the Lackawanna League.
Coach Miller's squad qualified for the District 2 tournament, but fell to North Pocono in the first round of the Class AAA bracket by a score of 11-3.
"That game was kind of our season in a nutshell," said Coach Miller. "North Pocono is a good team, but we hung right with them until that one bad inning..."
He went on to say that 'one bad inning' proved to be the Hornets' downfall on more than one occasion.
"That's one area where we have to improve," Miller added "In something like 60 percent of games, the team that wins scores more runs in one inning that the losing team does in the entire game.
"We have to avoid that 'one bad inning.'"
Honesdale received stellar leadership from its core group of seniors.
Kevin Miller, Dale Weidner, Noah Box, Alex Sandercock and Travis Carey each played an unique role for the Red & Black this spring.
Miller is a standout multi-sport athlete who also earned Lackawanna League All Star status in football and basketball.
Kevin only started one game at the varsity level last year, but quickly emerged as Honesdale's most consistent hitter during his senior season.
Miller batted led the team in batting with a robust .468 average. He also banged out more hits (22) and scored more runs (11) than any other Hornet.
Kevin showed some serious pop from the lead-off spot as well, roping a team-best five doubles and also hitting a homerun.
"I'm very happy with how Kevin played this year," said Miller of his son. "He loves to compete and he loves challenges. Kevin had an outstanding senior season for us."
Weidner was the ace of the Red & Black staff. The senior southpaw was among the Division II leaders in wins strikeouts (36) wins (3) and ERA (4.35).
"One of the best things about Dale is that he was always ready to pitch," said Coach Miller. "He did all the work between starts to make sure he was ready to go again.
"Any time Dale went out there, we knew we had a chance to win."
Box anchored the Hornet infield from his shortstop position, providing Gold Glove defense game-in and game-out.
Noah hit in hard luck for most of the season. He drove the ball to all fields, but these line drives and ground balls always seemed to find an enemy glove.
Nevertheless, he rarely let his frustration show.
"Noah Box is a coach's dream," said Coach Miller. "He just loves baseball. Noah can't get enough of playing the game and it really shows."
Sandercock made the move from catcher to first base last season and never looked back.
Alex was consistent with the glove, solid on the bases and a positive presence in the middle of the order.
"I think that Alex was one of the hardest-working kids on the team," Coach Miller said. "He was always there, always doing everything he could to improve his game."
Carey played the vast majority of his senior season at the JV level, but was without question the team's most vocal leader.
"I love having Travis around and his teammates did, too," Coach Miller said. "He's a great kid and a real leader in the dugout, at practice and on the field."
Over & Out
Honesdale finished below .500 this spring, a number that Coach Miller hopes to improve on dramatically next year.
"We have some really good players coming back and some talented youngsters coming up," he said.
"You're never happy with a losing season, but at the same time I think the future looks bright."


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These miBot nanomanipulators are ordinarily used to help scientists work with samples down a microscope. And at Christmas, they sing!
Here they are playing "Jingle Bells." Believe it or not, they can actually kind of carry a tune. If this doesn't make your heart grow three sizes bigger, nothing will, ya grinch.