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BAe 125 altimeter flaw suspected after 737 mid-air collision

Investigators determined that a Ceiba Intercontinental Boeing 737-800 collided with a British Aerospace 125 after the executive jet failed to remain at its assigned cruise level.

While the Senegalair BAe 125 was subsequently lost at sea, there is evidence of an altimetry problem with the aircraft's instruments – although the inability to retrieve the wreckage or the flight recorders means the precise details remain unclear.

Seven occupants had been on board the BAe125 which had been operating a medical evacuation flight from Ouagadougou to Dakar on 5 September 2015.

It was proceeding westbound along airway UA601 – which connects Bamako to Dakar – while the Ceiba 737, out of Dakar, was heading east along the same airway, bound for Cotonou in Benin.

Although the BAe 125's crew had confirmed an instruction to maintain 34,000ft, the aircraft struck the 737 at 35,000ft, shearing off the upper 1m of the 737's starboard winglet.

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The collision occurred in Senegalese airspace between the waypoints GATIL and DEMOL.

Senegalese investigation authority BEA states that the BAe 125's flight recorders could have assisted with determining the reason for the altitude conflict.

"Unfortunately, they disappeared with the aircraft," it says.

Despite the impact the BAe 125 continued flying at 35,000ft towards its destination, Dakar, but did not descend. It overflew the Dakar VOR and headed out over the Atlantic Ocean, maintaining its altitude until it was 48nm from the VOR, at which point it began to lose height.

The aircraft passed through 33,000ft, turning right and then left, before rapidly descending to 12,600ft in "seconds", says the inquiry, and vanishing from radar contact some 59nm from the VOR and, extraordinarily, 55min after the collision.

BEA says the BAe 125 crew remained unresponsive after the collision, despite efforts to relay messages through other aircraft in the vicinity, including Air Burkina, ASKY and Transair flights.

The inquiry suggests that the impact could have caused depressurisation of the executive jet, leaving the crew "inert", but says this could only have been verified by the flight recorders. Investigators could not recover the wreckage of the jet from the sea.

BEA adds that the recorders might have confirmed the suspicion that an altimetry problem with the aircraft had contributed to the accident.

The aircraft had been cleared to various altitudes because it was transporting a sick passenger and the crew had been attempting to avoid turbulence. It was eventually authorised to maintain 34,000ft about 40min before the accident.

BEA states that the collision occurred in a region of airspace not covered by radar. But when the BAe 125 re-emerged in the Dakar radar coverage area its transponder showed it was cruising at 35,000ft. It was also transmitting an incorrect squawk code, showing '5004' rather than the '5040' assigned.

Some 10min before the collision the 737's crew had been instructed to maintain 35,000ft while passing the GATIL waypoint.

BEA says an analysis of the 737's flight-data recorder showed that the aircraft experienced a brief turn correction by the autopilot and oscillated in all three axes, movements which the inquiry suggests corresponded to the moment of impact.

Instead of heading for Cotonou the 737 crew opted instead to divert to Malabo, its operating base, flying for 3h 28min with the damaged winglet.

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What's Happening Around "CEIBA Intercontinental"


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In the sentence:
We visited a museum in the afternoon.

Which are the common nouns vs proper noun?
Is We a common noun or just a pronoun?

  • english -

    We is a pronoun -- not a noun.

    The common nouns are museum and afternoon. There are no proper nouns in this sentence.

    Check this site for more information.

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1. Description

25% of survey complete.

The CCGF is working to advocate on behalf of those living with, or at risk of, genetic disorders to prevent genetic discrimination*. We have been meeting with government officials to discuss this issue and explore solutions. We want to be able to provide stories to those in government. It is only by hearing from people such as yourself about your experience(s) with genetic discrimination that can help policy-makers understand the importance of this problem.

Please complete one of these sheets for each experience you have had with genetic discrimination (for example, if you had 2 experiences with insurance discrimination, please fill out this survey twice to describe each experience separately). At the end of the survey, you may choose to include your contact information which would allow us to discuss or clarify any information you provided or you may choose to leave the survey anonymous. Thank you.

*DEFINITION OF GENETIC DISCRIMINATION: Genetic discrimination is the act of using genetic information against a person or group. Examples of genetic discrimination include the experience of genetic information used in decisions related to employment, hiring, insurance, etc. Genetic discrimination happens when people are treated unfairly because of their genetic risk or genetic test result which predisposes them to future illness. Some examples include: being rejected for employment, being given a lower level of employment or losing insurance based on a person’s genetic risk that shows they may be ill in the future.


RJC501: How Much Does Turnaround Cost?

Over the Reloading Java Classes (RJC) article series, we’ve examined how class reloading happens, from objects and classloaders to application servers and solutions that reduce Turnaround. It’s been pretty in-depth, so we’d like to take a step back, move to more shallow ground, and take a look at why we would want class reloading to work in the first place. What are the real costs of missing class reloading on Java teams?

As we discover, this is a challenging question to answer — but we’ll give it a shot here, using the attempts of others to guide us.

Other Articles in the Reloading Java Classes Series

The Easily-Measurable Cost of Turnaround: Builds and Redeploys

Last year we ran two surveys asking developers how much time they spend building and redeploying their application. Although we’ve been talking with developers about this for a long time, and everyone understands that some amount of time is spent on builds and redeploys, it was still surprising to see the results – including actual numbers of minutes, days, and weeks spent on the process. For example, during an average hour of coding developers spend:

To be fair, there are large deviations on both sides of these averages — the survey data we used only came from 600 and 1100 respondents respectively, and they used a variety of technologies which you can read about in the reports themselves. Some folks don’t spend as much as the averages, while others spend much more, and your project could be anywhere in that range.

Given that, the averages should apply pretty nicely to Java EE development as an industry (with the usual disclaimer of “lies, damn lies and statistics”). Let’s take a look at an awful scenario — where everyone in the industry is right on the average:

  • Build (6 mins) + Redeploy (10.5 mins) = 16.5 minutes per hour of development or 27.5% of coding time
  • Assuming that developers only code 5 hours per day x 5 days per week x 48 weeks a year = 1200 coding hours a year
  • 1200 hours * 27.5% = 330 hours a year or 330/40 = 8.25 full-time work-weeks a year spent on turnaround, per developer
  • Assuming $20/h average salary, this adds up to 330 * 20 = $6600 per developer per year [Source: conservative estimation backed by]
  • Larry Ellison recently quoted the number of Java developers around the world at 9 million.
  • If you’d like to work out the time or cash spent annually by the industry on Turnaround, these are some numbers you can start with.

Context Switching

Programming is complicated. In fact it’s so complicated that most people are not capable of doing it.  Those who are capable must mentally juggle a lot of context while writing code.. context including specifications, GUI considerations, relevant library calls, relevant application classes, methods and variables and so on.

This information is held in the the working (aka short-term) memory. Since the working memory is not meant for long term storage, switching away from a current task means that you will start losing the context surrounding the code, and then spend time trying to get back into it. The rest of the article will discuss how quickly context is lost, how long it takes to restore it, and what effect it has on the quality of your work.

How quickly does working memory degrade?

In 1959, an article titled, “Short-Term Retention of Individual Verbal Items” by L. Peterson and M. Peterson appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology [Source:]. It showed that on average, after only 3 seconds, about half of our working memory is lost. The following graph plots the amount of working memory preserved after every subsequent 3 seconds:

After 15 seconds, less than 10% of the original memory is preserved. While these results may not be directly applicable to the programming context, it is clear that memory degradation occurs after seconds, not minutes. Translated, it means that short distractions cause dramatic losses in working memory.

How long it takes to restore context after an interruption?

Although there’s not a direct answer to that question, going through the relevant literature gives us some clues:

[…] the recovery time after a phone call is at least 15 minutes. […] If more than 10 interrupts occur during a day, the time between the interrupts becomes too short to accomplish product development work.
Rini van Solingen et al, Interrupts: Just a Minute Never Is

To take a call you need to completely switch away from your working environment and focus on the conversation. Other interrupts are less disruptive than that:

Recovering from an email interrupt, and returning to work at the same work rate as before the interrupt — 64 seconds.
Thomas Jackson et al, Case Study: Evaluating the Effect of Email Interruptions within the Workplace

Instant message — 11 to 25 seconds.
Thomas Jackson, Instant Messaging Implications in the Transition from a Private Consumer Activity to a Communication Tool for Business

FYI – These quotes are not based on software developers, but rather more generic office workers. Take that as you’d like. Since context recovery is a process, it takes some time to get back to maximum speed after an interrupt:

The trouble is, getting into “the zone” is not easy. When you try to measure it, it looks like it takes an average of 15 minutes to start working at maximum productivity. […] The other trouble is that it’s so easy to get knocked out of the zone. Noise, phone calls, going out for lunch, having to drive 5 minutes to Starbucks for coffee, and interruptions by coworkers […] all knock you out of the zone.
Joel Spolsky, Where do These People Get Their (Unoriginal) Ideas?

So what about development Turnaround — should that be considered an interrupt and how much does it add to the cost?

From experience, any pause will cause the working memory to start fading, and longer pauses will cause developers to multi-task (even if the other task is reading Slashdot). This will mean that the context surrounding a particular task is at least partially lost and needs to be restored. A longer pause means more memory degradation, increased likelihood of a task switch, and the assumption that recovery time is also longer. Just to illustrate, let’s assume that it takes 50% of the length of the pause to recover the context after getting back to work. In that case, the total cost of turnaround for a java developer dealing with average build and redeploy delays looks something like:

  • 16.5 (mins per hour spent on Build & Redeploy phases) + 50% = 24.75 minutes per hour of development or 41.25% of coding time
  • 1200 (coding hours per year) * 41.25% = 495 hours per year spent on Turnaround (divide that by 40 hours per week to get 12.375 full-time work-weeks a year spent on turnaround)
  • Assuming a $20/h average salary this adds up to 495 * 20 = $9900 per developer per year

These numbers make a lot of assumptions. I’m not convinced that the average hourly wage of someone reading this blog is $20. I’m also not convinced that these numbers make an air-tight argument — but the point here is: the social cost of Turnaround is more than just the time spent on building, redeploying, & restarting.

Finally, I’m not convinced that developers keep all the code they wrote on a day full of distractions – I get the feeling that long turnaround times, distractions, and interruptions have a negative effect on code quality, and on the mental abilities of other developers. Though we couldn’t find data measuring this specifically, there is some indication that this impact is also not trivial, and I’d like to finish with it:

In a series of tests carried out by Dr Glenn Wilson, Reader in Personality at the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, an average worker’s functioning IQ falls ten points when distracted by ringing telephones and incoming emails. This drop in IQ is more than double the four point drop seen following studies on the impact of smoking marijuana. Similarly, research on sleep deprivation suggests that an IQ drop of ten points is equal to missing an entire night of sleep. This IQ drop was even more significant in the men who took part in the tests.
Dr Glenn Wilson

Many programmers appear to be continually frustrated in attempts to work. They are plagued by noise and interruption, and pessimistic that the situation will ever be improved. The data recorded about actual interruptions supports the view that the so-called “work-day” is made up largely of frustration time.
T. DeMarco and T. Lister, Programmer performance and the effects of the workplace,

It’s been a long trip from the beginning of the series to this point. We can only hope that we answered some of your questions and maybe posed some new questions to answer. Probably the most important point that we were trying to bring to your attention is that reducing Java turnaround is a complex and expensive problem, which deserves a lot more attention than it’s getting at the moment

What are your thoughts on all this?

Other Articles in the Reloading Java Classes Series


Ways to Strengthen your Character

The character of person is something that shows what he actually is. Character means the sum of all the qualities i.e., loyalty, sincerity, honesty, self-respect and others, a person possess and expose. In other words, Character is defined as “the inherent complex of attributes that determines a person’s moral and ethical actions and reactions.” C. H. Parkhurst says, “Character is, for some part, habit become fixed.”

Here is how you can be the best of yourself.

One of the highest moral values a person can have is ‘being honest’. The quality of being honest shows your sincerity and truthfulness and above that it makes you a trustworthy person which not everyone is.

“A good name will shine forever.”Proverb

Are you real? Do you conduct with others as you feel for them? If not you need to be a real person for that just act as you are and as you feel of course you have to be courteous and you can’t be insensitive as well, in such situations saying or doing nothing is better than being fake.
“Our character is but the stamp on our souls of the free choices of good and evil we have made through life.”John C. Geikie

Kindness goes a long way… a deed of kindness is never forgotten or never go wasted. It makes the WORLD better. A person without a kind heart is like a animal who eats his own kids.

Don’t be arrogant

There is a fine line between being proud and arrogant. Being proud is a positive feeling but being arrogant and narcissistic is totally not acceptable and cannot be encouraged in any case. It makes hard for people to live around you taking your arrogance. “Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.”Bruce Lee

“Men best show their character in trifles, where they are not on their guard. It is in the simplest habits, that we often see the boundless egotism which pays no regard to the feelings of others and denies nothing to itself.”Arthur Schopenhauer

Understand why character is important

You might become successful but to keep the balance in your life and to be successful always you must have a character that worth it. “Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”Stevie Wonder

Never say what is not true or what you don’t know; you might not know how ir affect someone else’s life. No matter what happens, stand with truth even if it means to stand alone. “Character is a diamond that scratches every other stone.”Cyrus A. Bartol

Reminder: Change for good “You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” – Henry David Thoreau

About the author

Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @shazminAwan


Polyploidy as a chromosomal component of stochastic noise: variable scalar multiples of the diploid chromosome complement in the invertebrate species Girardia schubarti from Brazil.

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:2017
Authors:Benya, EGF, Leal-Zanchet, AM, Hauser, J
Journal:Braz J Biol
Date Published:2017 Jun 12

Chromosome stoichiometry, a form of genetic plasticity, specifically refers to variation in the standard diploid genomic composition of an individual or species. In the present work, freshwater planarians (Girardia schubarti) were analyzed to recognize variations in chromosomal stoichiometry especially of complete ploidal change between specimens, within specimens and between cells within specimens and any relations they might have with selected components of phenotypic plasticity. Homoploid polyploids for the group reached rational scalar multiples (e.g. tetraploids) or irrational scalar multiples (e.g. triploids). Karyotypic mosaics emerged where individual cells presented polyploid multiples in arithmetic and geometric progressions. Ploidal multiplicity, a chromosomal component of stochastic noise, had positive phenotypic effects (increased dimensions) on morphologic criteria of body length, body width and dorsal surface reflecting a significant genotypic plasticity (GP) and robust phenotypic plasticity (PP). Variable but significant association of genotypic plasticity with robust phenotypic variance suggests kinetics of phenotypic homeostasis that is species-specific permitting phenotypic adaptability to environmental variables by means of GP. That association is diminished, deactivated or lost in more advanced and more complex organisms.

Alternate Journal:Braz J Biol


Wednesday, 12 February 2014

SUNSET - Wordless Wednesday #4

 Venue : Malaysia

On Wednesdays all over the internet, bloggers post a photograph with no words to explain it on their blog. Hence the 'wordless' title. The idea is that the photo itself says so much that it doesn't need any description.

- lotsa luv-
Fayreen Mizan


Independent doggo fetches his own food from a pet shop and carries it back home

Just as we rely on our parents most of our lives for our basic needs, pets rely on their “hoomans” for shelter, love, and food. But this heckin’ good doggo proves that he can take care of himself and his own food.

Meet Pituco, the independent doggo from Parai, Brazil!

Agro Pet Paraí 发布于 2017年5月17日

Unlike other dogs who wait for their master to feed them or need to do a trick to earn a treat, Pituco goes by himself to a nearby veterinary clinic and pet food shop, Agro Pet Parai, and “fetches” his own food. Almost everyday, he goes there to collect his food and heads back home carrying a bag of treats.

Agro Pet Paraí 发布于 2017年5月17日

“Everybody knows Pituco,” Agro Pet’s vet told The Dodo. “His food is on the top shelf, so we have to hand it to him. He barks until we do.”

Everything that Pituco gets from the store will be put on tab and his hoomans will just come by to pay for it. Being the pure creature that he is, Pituco also gets food for his pet siblings—cat food or bird seeds—and happily carries them back home.

Clearly, he’s not just an independent doggo but is also a definitely good boy!


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Chronic Illness and Nervous System Patterns:

An Example of Type 1 Diabetes

From the somatic psychology perspective presented here, chronic illness and symptoms represent a change in normal patterns of nervous system regulation. According to this lens, chronic illness and symptoms evolve from and reflect an intelligent attempt to cope with an overwhelming situation (... more). Different types of symptoms and chronic illnesses reflect each individual's unique set of life experiences as well as the timing of exposure in early life. The resulting disease or symptom is unique to each individual and may show up as multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue, or type 2 diabetes, etc.

This page illustrates the somatic psychology model for the origins of disease with an example of type 1 diabetes (presented in general terms in origins). Worldwide research has identified many risk factors for type 1 diabetes, both in early life and in the few years preceding diagnosis. The common link between these risk factors remains poorly understood, however, as does the relationship between risk factors and disease. Somatic psychology offers a new lens from which to consider the links between risk factors and disease, as well as between stress and glucose variability. It appears to provide a comprehensive means for understanding the origins of type 1 diabetes, and to be applicable to understanding the origins of other chronic illnesses and symptoms. For more view or download PDF (200k) (160 references, article published in Medical Hypotheses).

Overview (see origins for more)
   Dominance of the Sympathetic Nervous System
   A Conditioned Response
   Critical Period Programming
   Latency Period
   Symptom Variability

The Origins of Type 1 Diabetes
   Stage 1: Risk Factors in Early Life
   Stage 2: The Latency Period: Autoimmune Destruction
   Stage 3: The "Final Stressor"
   Stage 4: Diagnosis
   Symptom Variability and Age of Diagnosis

(see origins for more depth)

Diabetes as a state of Altered Nervous System Regulation

Dominance of the Sympathetic Nervous System
Type 1 diabetes appears to represent a prolonged state of fight or flight that specifically involves the regulation of glucose (sugar). During an increase in sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity, glucose is secreted and made available as fuel for movement and survival activities, while insulin is simultaneously inhibited to prevent glucose storage, which would otherwise decrease the availability of fuel. The hallmark of type 1 diabetes is an increase in glucose in the face of active destruction of insulin producing cells and other signs of high sympathetic nervous system activity are common, including high blood pressure (hypertension), decreased circulation in the extremities, and heart disease.

Conditioned Response
The initiation of an exaggerated state of survival occurs during emotionally overwhelming experiences such as trauma.

Critical Period Programming The organ systems involved in a conditioned response associated with chronic illness are proposed to occur during "critical period programming" in early life ie: during the time that a particular organ system is developing. High glucose and low insulin, which are the hallmark of type 1 diabetes, are an inherent part of the fight / flight response (sympathetic nervous system) and involve the pancreas, which produces insulin. Timing of the original stressor in type 1 diabetes is proposed to occur during the development of the nervous system's capacity to regulate glucose and insulin, and may also occur during development of the pancreas in prenatal life.

Over a period of months or years, an increasing number of stimuli trigger and strengthen (kindle) the conditioned response that leads to high glucose and low insulin. These triggers stimulate changes in glucose levels, which are often affected by stress.

The Latency Period
Predisposition to type 1 diabetes often involves the presence of antibodies and the gradual destruction of insulin producing cells. The period during which antibodies arise and the pancreas is actively destroyed can last for 10 years or longer and during this time there are no symptoms of diabetes. This period represents a time when continued and repeated activation of the conditioned response of sympathetic arousal conveys to the body that insulin-producing cells are no longer "necessary" since they are not being used. The nervous system recruits the immune system to destroy these "unnecessary" cells, very specifically avoiding similar cells that produce different, and necessary, chemicals... more

Diagnosis of diabetes occurs when the number of insulin-producing pancreatic cells becomes too small to meet the needs of the body when processing glucose in normal circumstances. Diabetes usually begins within 2-3 years of a significant life stressor (such as loss, a move, infection, divorce or marriage, job loss or promotion,...). From the model's perspective, this "final stressor" makes the conditioned response fully active such that a state of sympathetic dominance (fight/flight) becomes the norm for a particular individual.

Symptom Variability
After diagnosis, the same stimuli that have triggered the conditioned response of sympathetic arousal in the past now cause exacerbations in glucose control. This stress response well known in diabetes but the fact that individuals appear to have different responses to different stressors has long confused this finding. According to the somatic psychology model, the stimuli that cause changes in glucose in individuals with type 1 diabetes will be different for every individual because the original traumatic event and conditioned response is different for everyone. Furthermore, some individuals will have no glucose change in response to an apparent stressor because it does not stimulate their specific conditioned response, while others will have an increase, and still others will have a decrease in glucose. Low glucose levels appear to represent elicitation of the faint or freeze response (parasympathetic nervous system).

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I. The Origins of Type 1 Diabetes
Stage 1: The Initiating Event

Risk Factors in Early Life

risk factors for type 1 diabetes with diagram of stressors in early life

Prenatal Risk Factors:
  • infection in mother or baby
  • blood group incompatibility
  • preeclampsia
Perinatal Risk Factors:
  • jaundice & light therapy
  • infection
  • cesarean section
  • decreased breastfeeding

Individuals who develop type 1 diabetes have had a higher exposure to certain events in early life. A lack of consistency across studies makes this confusing from medical perspectives. According to the somatic psychology model, however,, the common link between early risk factors is trauma (life-threatening stress).

Prenatal Risk Factors

Events identified in the prenatal period include infection in the mother or baby, incompatibility between blood types between mother and baby, and preeclampsia, all of which may be life threatening to both mother and baby. Preeclampsia is an illness that remains poorly understood but that appears to represent a state of increased sympathetic nervous system activity (fight / flight). Since nervous system regulation is influenced by the environment, babies exposed to preeclampsia may develop a tendency to regulate in states of sympathetic arousal.

Perinatal Risk Factors

Events in the period around birth include jaundice (yellowness) in the baby requiring light therapy; infection in the baby; birth by cesarean section; and a decrease in the frequency and duration of breastfeeding. Perinatal risk factors are all associated with increased risk for separation between mother and baby in the hours and days immediately after birth. Early separation can have a strong impact on bonding, nervous system development, and conditioning towards perceptions of threat (... more)

The model of somatic psychology proposes the following:

  1. Individuals who develop type 1 diabetes following certain types of events in early life are those who experienced them as life-threatening. Because of the influence of environmental factors on the nervous system, such experiences are imprinted in memory and act as a conditioned response for learning to repeatedly perceive the environment as threatening.

  2. The more intense the experience of the initial stressor(s) and the stronger the perception of life threat, the stronger the conditioned response and the greater the risk for changes in patterns of nervous system regulation. In this example, the result is a higher risk for type 1 diabetes.

  3. Organ systems that are most likely to be influenced by environmental stressors are those undergoing rapid change and growth. The timing of a stressor during early development plays a role in determining the organ system affected by patterns of nervous system regulation, and influences the type of chronic illness that may develop. This is known as critical period programming.

  4. Despite early exposure to intense risk factcors, some individuals at risk for diabetes never develop the disease. This is consistent with our understanding of conditioned responses, which may fail to develop due to lack of ongoing stimuli and kindling. Lack of exposure to stressors and the presence of strong buffers such as supportive environments may play an important role in preventing diabetes in individuals at risk.

  5. Specific risk factors are not always associated with increased risk for diabetes. This is consistent with an understanding of trauma and conditioning, which are based on the way an event is perceived. In other words, it is not a particular experience or event that affects risk for type 1 diabetes, but the way in which it is perceived (as life-threatening, or not). In this context, certain events are more likely to be experienced as stressful and are therefore more likely to be consistently identified as associated with higher risk.

  6. A common link between the risk factors mentioned above is that all result in a disruption in the maternal-infant bond, usually because the infant is separated from the mother for treatment (light therapy, antibiotics, mother's recovery following cesarean section, etc). Maternal-infant separation, particularly in the first hours and days after birth, have been found to play a significant role in bonding, which in turn influences nervous system development (... more).

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II. The Origins of Type 1 Diabetes
Stage 2: The Latency Period

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in early childhood and in adolescence. The period preceding diagnosis can often be identified by the presence of certain types of antibodies, including antibodies that destroy insulin-producing cells. Insulin has been found to decrease and antibodies to be present up to 10 years before diagnosis. Antibodies usually increase over time in individuals that eventually develop the disease. Many individuals who do have antibodies, however, never develop type 1 diabetes. (Antibodies resolve spontaneously in over 75% of individuals who have them).

Antibodies fluctuate over time, may increase, decrease, resolve and return. The variability in concentration and the length of time over which antibodies develop is consistent with the concept of "kindling", in which a particular conditioned response develops over time if triggered sufficiently by life experiences such as stress. The process by which the immune system destroys insulin-producing cells is not well understood in the research community, nor is the specificity of the attack on some cells (insulin-producing) and not others. According to a model that seeks to understand the intelligence behind physiological activities, it is hypothesized that the immune system is actively recruited by the nervous system in individuals who eventually develop type 1 diabetes. In these instances, the immune system destroys insulin producing cells because the nervous system is conditioned towards a state of sympathetic dominance, which promotes increases in glucose and simultaneous inhibition of insulin secretion and activity.

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III. The Origins of Type 1 Diabetes
Stage 3: The "Final Stressor" is the Unmasking Event

Stress (red star) prior to Diagnosis:
  • infection
  • trauma
  • cold climate
  • other stressor:
    loss, divorce,
    marriage, promotion...

It has been clearly established that stress plays a role in the onset of diabetes in the 2-3 years prior to diagnosis. Many different types of stressors have been identified, including infection, cold climate, trauma, and stress. The stressor most commonly associated with diabetes is evident because it occurs within a relatively small time frame and can be recalled, identified and studied. The stressor that occurs prior to diagnosis is simply the last of many stressors, however. It plays a role in making the pre-existing conditioned response fully operational so that a particular state of nervous system percetpion and regulation becomes dominant. In type 1 diabetes, this is a state of dominance of sympathetic nervous system arousal.

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IV. The Origins of Type 1 Diabetes
Stage 4: Diagnosis

Type 1 diabetes is most commonly diagnosed in some age groups in fall and winter in areas that have cold climates. Mammals and humans have, over time, developed a familiarity with seasonal change and automatically go into states of increased sympathetic activity in preparation for the stress of cold temperatures. From the somatic psychology perspective, one would expect environments requiring sympathetic arousal to unmask individuals predisposed to states of sympathetic arousal.

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V. Symptom Variability and Age of Onset

Variation in Glucose Levels

There are a broad range of symptoms in individuals with type 1 diabetes, the most common of which is variation in glucose levels. According to the theories presented here, elevations in glucose represent a self-perpetuating conditioned response in which states of sympathetic arousal are triggered from one moment to the next. Similarly, glucose may vary after diagnosis in response to ongoing internal and external triggers. Because each individual has a unique history of intiating stressors in early life (stage 1) as well as kindling stressors during the latency period (stage 2), each will respond in his or her own unique way to ongoing life stressors. Being late for an appointment, for example, may result in an increase in one person's blood sugar, a decrease in another (a freeze response), and no change in a third.

"Brittle" blood sugars

The ease or difficulty with which someone is able to control blood sugars is likely related to the severity and sensitivity of their conditioned response. This is more a problem of increased sensitivity and reactivity to a higher number of triggers than a problem of will power or "irresponsible behavior" and poor skills in regulating blood sugars with insulin and close self-monitoring.

Risk for other Complications and Earlier Age of Onset

Individuals with a severe initiating stressor and intense kindling stressors are more likely to
  • have "brittle" diabetes in which glucose levels change rapidly, frequently, and for no apparent reason

  • be at increased risk of more rapid kindling and younger age of onset

  • be at increased risk for additional complications, not simply because of greater frequency of high blood sugars, but because the underlying state of conditioned sympathetic arousal may influence many other organ systems as well (hypertension, heart disease, blood clotting, neuropathy, decreased circulation in limbs...).

The Potential Benefits of Somatic Psychology

Through the use of nonjudgment, and mindful observation, somatic psychology invites the use of different parts of the brain than those involved in the conditioned response. By looking for triggers, exploring the experience of a reaction to a trigger (whether emotional or physical, or related to changes in blood sugar) an individual can use the variability of symptoms to change the dominant pattern of arousal to one of curiosity and calm. This process reestablishes dialogue between parts of the body and mind, teaches the nervous how to perceive more accurately in the present moment, and retrains the body towards more effective patterns of nervous system regulation.

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BodyTalk Your Health

Contact US

Health care clinic operating in Brisbane providing a range of health services including: massage, BodyTalk, kinesiology to improve your wellbeing.

This simple, effective holistic therapy looks at each system, cell, and atom working in constant communication with each other.  This is how nature intended it to be.  Life is a journey and events come our way to lead us in different directions. Your health is the most important, however we don't always value it until something happens that reduces our health. BodyTalk is about restoring health by getting to all the various contributing factors and resolving them.

Do you feel that your condition will never improve? Have you tried so many things and no relief? Well Melissa was in that position back in 2000 and it is due to this that she is now an Advanced BodyTalk Practitioner, Certified BodyTalk Instructor and is continually researching and developing her skills and knowledge.


Data Slum - Overload

Hysterical hydraulics and malfunctioning code, the endless parade of updates, the senseless waste and overabundance of every kind of information, over-stimulation and unanswered desires. machines hoot, holler, and shriek in a savage mimicry of nature. systems that are impossible to follow, yet demand obedience.

Martín Rodríguez and Leon Louder use a combination of machines and effects, to create a dense and chaotic sonic freak show. Their performance is an exercise in nearly pure improvisation, a hectic call and response that follows its own logic.


Statesman news service
Kolkata, 14 November
The United Kingdom and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for development of a sustainable, low carbon and climate change resilient Kolkata.
Mr Greg Barker, Minister of State for Climate Change and UK Minister for Business Engagement with India, and KMC Mayor Sovan Chatterjee signed the MoU.
This comes as part of KMC’s 2020 vision strategy for reducing carbon emission to protect environment. The UK government has promised to share its expertise with KMC and deliver a roadmap for low carbon emission in the city.
The MoU will be the first of its kind and will offer an important opportunity for UK and Kolkata to work together exchange views, information and expertise to address the challenges posed by climate change.
After signing the pact, Mr Barker said the city is extremely vulnerable to climate change due to rising sea level, floods and climate-induced disasters. The KMC is keen to address the issues of climate change through its vision 2020 strategy. The UK will provide a roadmap for the development of the city over the next seven years.
"I am delighted to sign the pact. This will strengthen and deepen the relationship between the two counties," said Mr Barker.
When asked whether the UK would extend any financial help to KMC, Mr Barker said they are yet to take a decision in this regard.
The joint initiative builds on the existing work by the UK on climate change issues in Kolkata. The project will help the state government adopt appropriate fiscal measures in policies and legislation to promote low-carbon development. This will address the challenges faced by the civic authorities in adopting low carbon LED street lighting on a large scale.
The minister has appreciated the initiatives taken by the state government on climate change. "The state government is on the front foot to prevent environmental hazards," he said.
The Mayor, Mr Chatterjee, said: "We are thankful to the British government for sharing its expertise and building a relationship to ensure low carbon emission in the city."


Hurricane Irma: Regional Response Plan for the Caribbean Region (September to December 2017)

This three-month Regional Response Plan covers the urgent needs of the most vulnerable populations affected by the impact of Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean region in early September 2017. It has been developed with the support of national and regional disaster management entities, in particular the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and is based on preliminary indications from multiple assessments carried out so far under CDEMA’s coordination leadership. The plan requires a total of US$ 15.1 million to address the most urgent needs of up to an estimated 265,000 affected people until December 2017. The Plan will support the regional effort to respond to the most urgent needs such as reestablishing health and education services, ensuring access to safe water and sanitation, outbreak prevention and control, providing shelter and coordination services. In addition, some US$ 11.9 million are required for complex logistics and communications support.

The Plan focuses on the most impacted nations, territories and states of the Caribbean. However, while Haiti did not receive the full brunt of the hurricane, additional humanitarian needs have been identified which will need to be covered through the current Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti, for which funding is still needed. For Cuba a specific Action Plan is being developed given the devastation wrought there.

Devastation and extensive breakdown of essential services has followed in the path of Hurricane Irma, the most powerful hurricane ever recorded over the Atlantic. A Category 5 hurricane as of 5 September, Irma wrought havoc on many of the Caribbean islands with maximum sustained winds of 296 km/h bringing heavy rains and causing deadly waves. Those winds lasted for 37 hours, making Irma the longest lived storm of that intensity anywhere around the globe for at least the past 50 years, according to the United Kingdom Met Office.

The most severely affected areas include Anguilla, Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Saint Barthélemy and Turks and Caicos Islands. At least 35 people have reportedly lost their lives as of 12 September. However, the relatively limited loss of life can in part be attributed to robust preparedness measures taken by national and local authorities before the hurricane made landfall. Severe damage to housing, infrastructure, basic services such as health centres, telecommunication, electricity, water, sewage and waste systems, and agricultural land has been reported.

A remote analysis conducted by the Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) of the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) on 11 September estimates that around 169,000 people and 75,000 buildings were exposed to wind speeds higher than 252 km/h per hour. Wind forces of that strength destroy a high-percentage of well-constructed homes causing total roof failure and wall collapse making residential areas uninhabitable for weeks or months. Another 57,000 thousand people and 11,500 buildings are estimated to have been exposed to wind forces stronger than 209 km/h or equivalent to a Hurricane Category 4. Wind speeds of that strength cause severe damage to well-built framed houses and uprooting most trees and power poles.

In total, an estimated 5.5 million people were exposed to extreme winds higher than 120 km/h, which is equivalent to Category 1 storms or higher. Winds of that strength can destroy poorly constructed buildings and cause extensive damage to infrastructure and livelihoods. While not yet quantifiable, the impact on tourism, fishery and agriculture is severe. Most road networks, although small on most islands, have also been interrupted by the storm surge floods and fallen trees.

Across the Caribbean it is estimated that 17,000 people will need immediate shelter assistance. The island of Barbuda in Antigua and Barbuda has been rendered uninhabitable with the entire population of approximately 1,600 evacuated to Antigua, while one person was killed. In Barbuda, health concerns have also arisen because of the large numbers of animal carcasses in the flood waters. In the territory of Anguilla, significant damage to water supply and electricity has been reported and one person has been killed. According to the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the British Red Cross (BRC), hospitals and the island’s main port in Sandy Ground are now operational. In the British Virgin Islands, five fatalities have been reported by the National Emergency Operations Centre. Sewage in the streets has been identified as a health risk, and incidents of looting reported.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:

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FOMC Further Reduces Tapering by $10 Billion; Federal Funds Rate Unchanged

In its latest press release, the Federal Reserve System has revealed the latest monetary policy decisions taken by the Federal Open Market Committee. The biggest news is that the FOMC decided that the Open Market Trading Desk will purchase additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $15 billion per month and longer-term Treasury Securities -at $20 billion per month, starting next month. This means that the Fed has reduced the volume of securities by a total of $10 billion, from $20 billion in mortgage-backed and $25 billion in longer-term Treasury securities. At the previous meeting, the FOMC has also tapered by $10 billion.

US Dollar Bill Currency Money

The FOMC made the decision considering that the broader economy is strong enough to support the improvement in the labor market. However, it also said in the statement that the economic growth has picked up in recent months, the unemployment rate is still elevated, while the recovery in the housing sector is progressing slowly.

At the same time, the Committee stated that inflation, which currently is below the 2% target, could be a risk for the economic growth. Overall, they expect that the economy will continue to expand and the labor market will improve. The FOMC has “reaffirmed its view that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy remains appropriate.” The current federal funds rate, between 0 and 1/4 percent has also remained unchanged, and the Committee will take into account the progress of the economy towards the 2% inflation and maximum employment for assessing the timeframe for the rates.


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13 September 2017 | Social Issues

The Mistake We All Make When Interpreting Other People’s Actions

The Mistake We All Make When Interpreting Other People’s Actions

Tell me if this sounds familiar.
You’re excited to see your guy. He walks in the door, gives you a quick peck on the cheek, and…

…hardly notices the fact that you’re absolutely beaming at the sight of him.

Immediately, you’re wondering what gives. Does he not like the new outfit? Geez, you were sure he’d be a fan. Or is he just being a jerk? I mean, how hard is it to give you an enthusiastic greeting?

But what if his lack of excitement has nothing to do with you?

I’m talking about a phenomenon called “Fundamental Attribution Error.” Fundamental Attribution Error is defined as our “tendency to give personality-based explanations for other peoples’ behavior more weight than situational factors.”

In other words, we tend to assume the way people treat us is a reflection of how they feel about us. But much of the time, that assumption is dead wrong.

In the example above, maybe your guy seems distracted because he’s distracted.After all, there’s a lot of other stuff going on in his life.

That doesn’t mean you’re not important to him. It just means you’re not always the center of his universe.

And even though that makes perfect sense, Fundamental Attribution Error is incredibly common. Practically everyone does it. Not only that, but it’s almost impossible to avoid.

So how do you deal with those moments when Fundamental Attribution Error kicks in?

You can outwit your own knee-jerk assumptions by doing just two things.

Start by accepting that you can’t stop yourself from committing Fundamental Attribution Error. Even the scientists who study this stuff make the fundamental attribution error. We just can’t help it.

There are going to be moments when you want his attention, and you don’t get it. No matter how logical you are, that hurts. And even if you can totally see how his mood might have nothing to do with you, you’ll still feel hurt.

Instead of beating yourself up, accept that it’s a universal thing. Literally everyone does this. It doesn’t mean you’re too sensitive or overly emotional. And it absolutely isn’t “a woman thing.”

Guys make the very same mistake.
So before you do anything else, cut yourself some slack. Give yourself permission to be disappointed when your guy isn’t as tuned into you as you’d like him to be.

Now on to the more practical stuff. You can’t stop Fundamental Attribution Error, but you can counter-act it.

Here’s how.
When you have a less-than-perfect interaction with your man, ask yourself if it’s possible something else might be affecting his mood. The simple act of asking that question will lessen the emotional impact on you because the answer is always YES.

I know that’s an anticlimactic solution to a fairly complex problem, but most of the time that will do the trick.

Once you realize he could be upset about a million other things, it’s far easier to stay in a balanced state of mind, yourself. If he remains distant, you can always talk to him about it later.

Fundamental Attribution Error is an unavoidable part of life. There’s really no way to keep from assuming that the way your guy treats you is a direct reflection on how he feels about you.

Never beat yourself up for being emotionally invested. Instead, if your man seems sour, cross-check your assumptions about his mood. Make a quick mental list of all the other things that might be bringing him down.

If you can stay upbeat when he’s not, you have a better chance of influencing his mood for better. And that’s just one more reason he’s lucky to have a woman like you in his life.


Saarrinen side table

Round table: dia cm 51/cm 51 h; cm 51/36 h; dia cm 91 x cm 38 h; dia cm 107 x cm 38 h

Eero Saarinen

Designer (1957)

Born to world famous parents, architect and Cranbrook Academy of Art director Eliel Saarinen and textile artist Loja Saarinen, Eero Saarinen was surrounded by design his whole life. It came as no surprise that Eero was helping his father design furniture and fixtures for...

Knoll uses modern design to connect people to their work, their lives, their world. Since 1938, Knoll has been recognized internationally for creating workplace and residential furnishings that inspire, evolve, and endure. Today, our commitment to modern design, understanding of the workplace, and dedication to...


From Cowlicks to Ponytails, Taking Hair to New Heights

 - Mar 20, 2010
When I was 6 my mom would use a lovely honey-comb shaped hair clip to keep my hair high on the top of my head. Why do I share this childhood humiliation? Because sky-high hair is in style and my mother should feel vindicated (even if I don't forgive her).

These sky-high hair looks include Palm-Tree Buns, Sky-High Ponytails and more. While there aren't any honey-comb hairstyles here, I'm sure my mom will still like them.


Account Aggregation API

Account aggregation from thousands of institutions for banks, credit cards, mortgages, investments, loans and more. A full 360 degree picture of personal finance and wealth.

The industry’s most powerful and accurate aggregation for investment accounts, getting years of transactions and leveraging cutting-edge algorithms to verify, validate and reconcile complicated portfolio data.

Built on a flexible, 21st century tech stack that allows unprecedented depth and reliability of data, supporting complex login measures and changes on the part of end-institutions.


Plastic Surgery

What is the Retainers?

Holding the correction is a very important part of any orthodontic treatment plan and retainers are used to maintain tooth alignment after treatment is completed.

Future tooth movement can occur due to several reasons:
- as the teeth stabilise in their new positions;
- a tendency for some teeth to try to return to their previous position;
- facial growth which causes different pressures to act on the teeth;
- part of the aging process.

The use of retainers helps prevent this unwanted tooth movement from happening.

What are the types of Retainers?

Retainers may be either removable or fixed:

- removable retainers are usually pressure formed clear plastic shells which are worn 12 hours a day for the first few months reducing to 2 or 3 nights a week on a long term basis (i.e. years and years);

- fixed retainers consist of a small piece of wire invisibly bonded to the inside of the front teeth (mainly the lowers). These remain in place for years and years.

Often both types of retention are used together.

What kind of result can you expect?

Recovery period and recommendations

Possible side effects and complications

©2011-2017 Medical Tourism Database™. All rights reserved.


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Fido: Racism, (Hetero)sexism, and Zombie-ism

Isn’t Willard a perfect town? The houses are big, the lawns are immaculate, and the zombies hardly ever kill anyone. This is the setting for Andrew Currie’s 2006 film, Fido, the story of a little boy named Timmy and his trusty zombie. In this world, America (or perhaps Canada, as the film is Canadian) has emerged victorious from the apocalyptic 1940s Zombie Wars, giving rise to a booming new era of suburban 1950s wholesomeness, with the zombie population safely contained and controlled to be used as unpaid labor.

The film has been described as hitting “an authentic sociopolitical nerve,” and in her essay “Imitations of Life: Zombies and the Suburban Gothic,” Bernice Murphy argues that the Fido makes “pertinent points about the containment culture of both [the ‘50s] and our own [era].” Indeed, there is no ignoring the strong racial overtones and prominent presence of ‘50s values in the way the world of Fido is portrayed. And yet, in many ways, these questionable values are left unchallenged. The film fully embraces the tradition of simplistic ‘50s family films, and when examining parallels to social issues in the film, one quickly sees inconsistency of symbolism, leading to a confusing and unsatisfying resolution for an audience member hoping for the characters to challenge their culture. Is this a case of a good premise poorly developed? Or, by presenting the skewed values of the 1950s unchallenged, are the filmmakers pushing us to do what the film and its characters never quite do, and challenge society? Whichever is the case, Fido presents a grotesque reflection of our own society, bringing to light our culture’s deep-rooted injustice through an unusual mixture of two very different genres.

Perhaps most obvious among the film’s social parallels are the significant racial undertones. In a community of all-white, upper-class suburbanites exploiting a population of gray-skinned zombie laborers, it isn’t a far leap to suggest that the zombies represent a racial minority. The divide between these two groups echoes both 1950s segregation and the treatment of the “cheap migrant labor” (as Murphy puts it) which is relied upon to support modern-day suburbia. This latter comparison can be extended further; the zombies’ inability to speak could be seen as mirroring the language barrier obstructing many recent immigrants from achieving the legendary American Dream. More than anything, what ties the zombies’ treatment to that of a racial minority is the overwhelming sense of being the Other; fences, physical restraints, and social taboos are firmly in place to prevent the gray-skinned second-class citizens from mixing with the wholesome white humans.

However, beyond this point, racial parallels become more ambiguous. Murphy mentions “containment culture” and the Bush administration’s “much criticized” obsession with security as subjects of commentary by the film, yet here is a fundamental difference between our world and the world of Fido: whereas in the real world, the social justice-minded person would oppose discrimination in the name of security, in Willard, it’s a necessity. This is because a zombie is truly not quite human. Even though a handful of zombies in the film are presented as emotional, humanlike individuals, if they escape their electric collars, they are monsters, ruled by animalistic bloodlust. Even at the end, after Fido has proven himself capable of restraining his urge to bite, the electric collars must remain. This seeming injustice combined with the film’s tonally sugary happy ending suggest that the “containment culture” is, in fact, necessary to somehow protect the white suburban community, creating a thematically muddled ending.

Another antiquated ideology that found its way into Fido is the 1950s’ patriarchal, heterosexist idea of gender roles and what a family should be. In keeping with the film’s fifties-ish style, any story element that would have been considered unsuitable under the Motion Picture Production Code is dealt with subtextually. While watching, I felt the film was hinting (as would’ve been done under the Production Code) that the father was secretly gay. He never responds to his wife’s amorous advances (in fact, they make him very uncomfortable), enjoys spending time with his close male friend far more than with his family, is squeamish about violence, and talks about being Timmy’s age and having had a lot of feelings that needed to be controlled and suppressed. With the film’s already established theme of restrictive “containment culture,” I was expecting the father to at some point challenge the confines of the heterosexist society, or at least for the film to acknowledge the issue in some way. Instead, the father’s implied queerness is never explored, and all the ways in which he doesn’t fit society’s gender expectations are treated as character flaws to be overcome. His final action—to protect Timmy—redeems him as a character for his poor parenting, but it is also is a restoration of conventional gender roles. He asserts dominance over his wife (who’s been in charge of the family throughout the film), and violently protects his family (displaying aggression, the lack of which previously made others consider him less of a man). The conflation of his redemption as a father and his reassertion of traditional gender roles equates goodness with heteronormativity and patriarchy, adding to the thematic confusion of the film’s resolution.

The zombie genre is known for using the zombie symbolically to critique society, while films of the 1950s are notorious for being worthy of critique for their political incorrectness. By mixing these two genres and playing with sociopolitically charged imagery and storytelling conventions without offering a clear commentary, Fido is overall ambiguous.

Bugsy Malone

Bugsy Malone is a unique mélange of disparate components. Not only is it a gangster-film / musical hybrid, but the film blends childhood and adulthood, creating a hard-boiled adult world inhabited solely by singing children. All the typical gangster genre themes of greed, violence, and power are present, but the unique twists on the style and world infuse the themes with hope; these are children, they’re not actually killing each other, and it isn’t too late for them to change.

One thematically notable scene is when Bugsy goes to a soup kitchen in search of people to aid him in his gun-stealing mission. This scene combines the gangster genre’s  economic/class themes with the film’s overall hopeful message. Bugsy exhorts the downtrodden people to not give up just because they’re down on their luck, but to persevere and make changes in their lives. “You don’t have to sit around complaining ‘bout the way your life has wound up,” he says. It’s a questionable assertion that those at a soup kitchen are sitting around and complaining, and Bugsy’s proposed solution—becoming involved in crime—is even more dubious, but the song does fit with the idea that it isn’t too late to change your life. It can be understood as an exhortation to adults who feel their lives have reached a dead end, encouraging them to reject whatever misfortune or stasis plagues them, and not be afraid to start anew. In this way, we can begin to understand the full significance of an all-child cast playing adult roles; children are constantly growing and changing and full of hope for the future, so by making a world inhabited by children, the film seems to be saying that everyone is capable of hope and change, a significant departure from gangster films in which criminal characters (including protagonists) do not change for the better, letting their greed and violence ultimately destroy them.

Bugsy Malone clearly plays with the time period of the classical era gangster movies, but by including “backstage” musical numbers, it also makes reference to the spectacular escapist musicals of the same era. The dancing girls in the speakeasy evoke the iconic choreography of Busby Berkeley which offered Depression-era audiences relief from their troubles. The fact that cynical gangster films and hopeful musicals had their golden ages at the same time, and the way that Bugsy Malone presents both genres in one filmic world suggests that it isn’t a question of circumstance so much as outlook which determines the course of an individual’s life, supporting the film’s overall themes of choice and change.

 In a story with two battling ideologies or mindsets, the overall theme can be thought of as whichever idea wins. In Bugsy Malone, the two opposing thematic forces are cynicism about a seemingly insurmountably corrupt present (represented by the gangster genre), and childlike hope for the future and capacity to change (represented by the musical genre). By ending the film with an upbeat, hopeful song, hope is the clear winner. Indeed, the spine which has been present throughout the film is overtly articulated in the final song’s lyrics: “We could’ve been anything that we wanted to be. And it isn’t too late to change. … You give a little love and it all comes back to you.”

Monday, April 29, 2013

Hard-Knock to Easy Street: Money, Music, and Annie

Adapted straight from the Depression-era Little Orphan Annie comics, the 1977 musical Annie and its 1982 film version are chalk full of ideas about wealth and poverty, the American Dream, and good versus greed, which would have resonated with audiences in the Great Depression as well as the recession of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Through the manipulation of the conventions of the musical genre, these themes are accentuated and deepened.

The economically divided world of Annie is established in one of the musical’s first and most iconic songs: “Hard Knock Life.” Beyond expressing the orphans’ unhappiness at the hands of tyrannical Miss Hannigan, the song could be seen as an anthem of the downtrodden in general, voicing frustration with an uncaring world and a life that isn’t easy. Along with “Maybe”—the girls’ song of hope for a better future—“Hard Knock Life” is very much in the tradition of integrated musicals, where songs stem from the characters’ emotion (in this case, unhappiness). While there is definitely a certain amount of spectacle in “Hard Knock Life”’s choreography (This isn’t Les Misérables, after all.), the orphans are not dancing for the sake of dancing; all choreography and spectacle is rooted in the endless chores the girls must undertake.

By contrast, Mr. Warbucks’s house has nothing “hard-knock” about it. His opulent displays of wealth create a world where everything is wonderful. The song “I think I’m Gonna Like It Here” is the first time when spectacle really begins to take over, and indeed, it’s a song about spectacle: the spectacular lifestyle of the wealthy, where everything is beautiful, but beauty is shallow. Annie is dazzled by all the nice things in her temporary new home, but we quickly learn that for all his wealth, Mr. Warbucks lacks the human beauty that Annie shows when she sings the integrated, emotion-based song “Maybe” to comfort a younger orphan. This idea that wealth is worthless without someone to share it with is a theme central to the film and is reflected by the use of integrated versus spectacle-driven music in the show’s first few songs.

Antagonists in Annie come in the form of Miss Hannigan, her crook brother Rooster, and his floozy girlfriend Lily. They’re not depraved killers, nor driven by revenge or malice, or generic “evil”. Instead, their greed is what makes them villains. They are ambitious, but lack the work ethic to make their money honestly. This illuminates one way in which the American Dream pervades the story: it’s revealed that Warbucks started out poor and worked his way up, so the assumption is that if Rooster and Lily had worked harder, they wouldn’t be so poor. Their greed and laziness are spotlighted in the song “Easy Street,” in which they dream about being rich. Here, the connection between wealth and spectacle is twisted; the song lapses into an extended dance sequence, but it’s decidedly shabbier (and more drunken, in the case of Miss Hannigan) than “Let’s Go To the Movies,” the most extravagantly spectacular and least story-related song in the film, another display of wealth on the part of Mr. Warbucks.

The biggest character arc in the film is that of Mr. Warbucks. As he begins to feel genuine love for Annie, his growth and departure from superficial materialism is demonstrated by the reprise he sings of “Maybe.” The connection between his growth and singing is accentuated when, in the final song, he tells Annie, “You’ve made life a song. You’ve made me the singer.” Finally, in a Hollywood ending typical of escapist films of the 1930s, the rich man realizes the value of love, and all the good guys get the money they deserve, both reassuring the audience that you needn’t be rich to be happy, and keeping out hope alive that maybe “Tomorrow” our luck will take a turn for the better.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Gangsters Through the Ages: From Scarface to Miller's Crossing

The 1932 film Scarface makes up one third of what’s been described as the shortest classical period of any Hollywood genre: the gangster movie. Scarface and others established many of the conventions that became the codified genre we know today. Miller’s Crossing (1990) is part of the revival of this genre, bringing back these conventions and presenting them through the revisionist lens of the 1990s.

The world and tone of Scarface exemplify trends of the pre-revival gangster film. Our reading described the typical gangster film world as flattened-out and reminiscent of a comic book. Many of the characters in Scarface are very two-dimensional, including Tony. Although he does show a glimmer of humanity near the end when his sister is killed, overall his character is very broadly drawn, reaching the peak of cartoonish flatness when he laughs wildly while shooting the police below his window. The whole ending sequence of Scarface is extremely pushed and operatic—this is a world in which characters are motivated by powerful, simple emotions. Even the events of the plot are very simple. We see a montage of Tony’s ruthlessness and rise to power, but don’t get any specifics as to why he’s killing these people or even who they are.

Miller’s Crossing, on the other hand, has a very complex and fully explained plot of intrigue and multiple double-crossings that require careful audience attention to fully understand. Although emotion in Miller’s Crossing is definitely pushed to the extreme by the end of the film, characters are much more complex than those in Scarface. Villainous Casper has some honor, refusing to betray others’ trust. Alluring “gun moll” Verna is protecting her brother. The protagonist, Tom, is especially different from his Scarface counterpart. While Tony is flat, somewhat unintelligent, and serves as a cautionary figure, Tom is a smart, enigmatic character with an arc—beginning as someone who is merciful and concerned with keeping peace, and ending by killing his former friend.

As the reading noted, the gangster film is the only major genre named for its protagonist; much like the Western is defined by its setting, the gangster film is defined by character, and Tony Camonte is a prime example of the classical-era hollywood gangster. Because of the moral climate in which early gangster films were made, criminals were not often portrayed as the protagonist. When they were, as in Scarface, they were depicted unfavorably, warning the audience of the dark fate awaiting wrongdoers. Miller’s Crossing takes a much more ambivalent view of crime, and Tom’s defining characteristic is not his badness, but his cleverness—one of the traits that causes an audience to empathize with a character, as opposed to something despicable.

This shift demonstrates one major difference between the classical era of gangster films and the genre’s revival: the cultural attitudes toward crime present in the films. In the classical era, the organized crime and gang wars depicted were current events. Prohibition was still in place, and the Hollywood Production Code imposed strict standards of morality on films being produced. Production Code censors worried that gangster films glorified crime, and as a result, classical-era gangster films were required to be blatantly (and often inelegantly) moralistic. This can be seen most plainly in Scarface in the title cards at the film’s opening, exhorting the audience to demand government intervention in organized crime, as well as a narratively-irrelevant scene inserted in the middle of the film in which a newspaperman and a law official discuss the serious problem of gangsters. The film’s ending is also illustrative of the prevailing societal viewpoint; Tony has lived a bad life, and so he must pay the price in the end.

This zeitgeist of moral panic that so greatly affected the short classical era of the genre was not present during the revival, and so the moralistic portrayal of crime is absent from Miller’s Crossing and other revisionist gangster films. In Miller’s Crossing, corruption is everywhere; the police are just as violent as the gangsters, the mayor is a willing puppet, and even when mercy is given, “friends” betray one another for their own gain. There is not a single moral character, and so morality becomes a non-issue.

Uncontrolled avarice and ambition are common themes in many gangster films, and both are driving forces in Scarface. As the reading said, money is not a way of getting something desired so much as it is an abstract goal to be pursued for its own sake. Tony is motivated not by need but by greed for the sake of greed, and this is what brings about his downfall. This good-versus-evil dichotomy is absent from Miller’s Crossing, or at least less clear. Instead there is a morally ambiguous web of mercy, betrayal, loyalty, and power.

This distinction between simplicity and complexity is a fundamental difference between these two films and the classical and revival eras as a whole.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Bringing Up Zombie: Screwball Comedy and the Undead

A country in chaos. Nightmarish throngs of bloodthirsty undead. A desperate group of survivors fighting for their lives, against zombies and one another. Blood, destruction, and… laughs?

Edgar Wright’s 2004 film Shaun of the Dead has all of these, combining conventions of the beloved zombie-horror genre with hilarious dialogue and situations descended from the tradition of 1940s Screwball Comedy. Much like Some Like It Hot, Shaun of the Dead doesn’t fit into the category of “pure” screwball. Besides obviously being outside the time frame of the golden age of screwball comedy (30s and 40s), Shaun of the Dead lacks many key screwball elements. Still, ties to screwball can definitely be seen.

In its broadest sense, “screwball comedy” in the 30s and 40s meant a comedy that was unpredictable (like a “screwball” pitch in baseball). By that definition, Shaun of the Dead is very much in the spirit of screwball, because its comedy comes from the unpredictability of blending of two genres.

Though it doesn’t have the witty banter and oddball characters generally associated with screwball comedy, Shaun of the Dead does have its romantic storyline in common with many screwballs. The divorce-remarriage storyline was made popular by screwballs like The Philadelphia Story and His Girl Friday, and  can be seen in Shaun of the Dead as well, in the plot thread of Shaun’s breakup and reconciliation with his girlfriend.
divorce at the beginning of The Philadelphia Story
In addition to elements of romantic comedy, the plot of Shaun of the Dead follows the conventions of the zombie movie genre in many ways. Warning signs of the oncoming epidemic, a group of survivors that is gradually built up and then killed off, TV reports, and a climactic siege of some sort of stronghold are all tropes of the zombie genre. By building on a framework of well-known conventions, the filmmakers were able to twist our expectations for comedic effect.

An example of this is the use of the news. In traditional zombie movies, the news is the source of exposition—what the zombies are, how they came to be, and how to deal with them. In Shaun of the Dead, however, the TV becomes a joke. Shaun’s channel skimming skips over all the important information about the onset and cause of the epidemic, and even when he and his friend to hear the official advice, they ignore it.

the news in Night of the Living Dead
Stylistically, the film also plays with our expectations and mixes zombie conventions with screwball comedy. At times, the style is that of exaggerated horror, with terrifying sound design accompanying innocuous and mundane actions. At other times, dialogue is used for comedy in a very screwball-esque way. Quotes like “You’ve got red on you,” and Shaun’s repeated exchange with Yvonne become comedic motifs that build throughout the film (much in the same way “type O blood” is used in Some Like It Hot), often put in terrifying contexts for heightened humor. Because the film works so well in both genres, the audience’s two sets of expectations can be played against one another, making for very strong comedy.
Yvonne and her counterpart group.
One aspect of early constituents of the screwball genre that would seem to set Shaun of the Dead apart is the theme of money and class issues. During the Depression, when the genre was first picking up steam, screwball comedies often focused on socioeconomic factors as the obstacle between romantic leads, with working-class characters dropped into the world of the wealthy. While Shaun of the Dead has no trace of the stark rich-poor dichotomy explored in early screwballs, money does play a role. As Lynne Pifer points out in her essay “Slacker Bites Back: Shaun of the Dead Finds New Life for Deadbeats,” it is the pressure to get a job and buy into the capitalistic system of endless work that turns middle-class suburbanites into figurative zombies. By being a slacker, Pifer argues, Shaun defies the societal pressure to let mindless work consume him.

A similar theme can be seen in the 1938 screwball You Can’t Take It With You, in which an eccentric family defies the greedy corporate tycoon—symbol of capitalism—who is trying to buy their house. The lesson is that it isn’t worth it to waste your life for money. I’m not sure I agree with all of Pifer’s argument, but her interpretation definitely connects Shaun of the Dead to screwball comedy in a way that might not be obvious at first.

The reason Shaun of the Dead is funny and memorable isn’t because it’s unlike anything we've seen before. It’s because it plays with things we have seen, combining two familiar genres into something unique and surprising.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

American Apocalypse 1968: Night of the Living Dead

One idea that has come up again and again in our discussion and research on zombies is that the monster in a story is a reflection of the societal fears at that time. During the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, and in the wake of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther KIng Jr., Americans were losing faith in America and the notion of justice—that death had meaning and happened for a reason, to serve some greater cause. This widespread disillusionment is strongly reflected in George Romero’s  1968 film Night of the Living Dead. Romero’s new version of the zombie and revolutionary new brand of horror make it difficult to imagine Night of the Living Dead classified in the same genre as something like Dracula. With Romero, there is no personification of evil preying upon the innocent (as in pre-sixties Gothic horror films), only a country in chaos, preying upon itself. Throughout the film, Night of the Living Dead portrays a dark outlook on American society—one which resonated with the disillusioned audience of the 1960s.
The Museum of Modern Art identifies one theme of Night of the Living Dead as, “Death is random and without purpose,” never “for the greater good or to further the survival of others.” It’s true: throughout the film, death is constant, and never does it serve any good. The first death, Johnny’s, is completely unexpected and undeserved, beginning what we learn is a widespread trend of sudden, inexplicable murders (the beginning of a zombie apocalypse). The societal fear illuminated by this monster is not fear of the Forces of Evil as something external and malevolent, but fear of senseless destruction of life, rooted in society itself—a reflection of Americans’ feelings about the Vietnam War. The new mistrust in the government and questioning of Vietnam is best illustrated by the films final death, when Ben is assumed to be a zombie and shot casually by the posse of zombie hunters who should be rescuing him. This death at the hands of those supposed to be protectors hit close to home with an audience who had for ten years lost friends and family drafted against their will and killed in a war they didn’t agree with.
Tom and Judy’s deaths are equally in vain; they die frantically attempting to escape a car they’v accidentally lit on fire while attempting to ward off zombies. Here, there is not even an intentional killer; the characters lose control of the weapon they use to frighten their enemies, and it destroys them. This mirrors the precarious situation of the Cold War, in which both the US and Soviet Union had nuclear weapons, and were one mistaken warning signal away from utterly annihilating one another. This connection to the threat of nuclear technology is accentuated by the fact that the zombie phenomenon is caused by a rare form of radiation. The explosion of the car and Judy and Tom’s deaths seem to ask, “Can we escape this before our own weapons destroy us?”

The events of the ‘60s shattered the picture-perfect, 1950s image of what domestic life in America was supposed to be. This is illustrated in Night of the Living Dead in what the Museum of Modern Art calls “the desecration of the wholesome American family.” The wholesome family in question consists of two traditional parents with their injured daughter (who, unbeknownst to them, has become a zombie). Possibly the most disturbing death in the film is when the little girl brutally stabs and kills her own mother. The murder of a parent echoes the assassinations of two beloved leaders (JFK and MLK) which changed America forever.

Night of the Living Dead marked a huge shift in the horror genre in cinema, to match the momentous shift that was happening culturally in this country. Romero was able to express the countries fears, offering “a release for the country's repressed trauma” (Museum of Modern Art), and making a comment on the state of society and the direction America was headed.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Screwball Scrambled

Breakneck witty banter, battling lovers, poor heroes stumbling into the lap of luxury, and general madcap shenanigans are the telltale signs of the Screwball Comedy. In its golden age, spanning the Depression and post-war years, this zany genre gave the world cinematic gems like It Happened One Night, His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, and a plethora of other eccentric romantic comedies. As popular culture evolved and America’s tastes changed, the Screwball Comedy’s heyday came to an end, but though the “screwball formula” that had codified in the ‘30s and ‘40s dissolved, the signature elements of the genre can still be seen in a long line of kooky comedies descended from classical screwball. Some Like It Hot (1959) is a prime example of this, incorporating many typical screwball ingredients, while maintaining certain fundamental differences that set it apart from what could be considered “pure” Screwball Comedy.

The tone and style of Some Like it Hot are very much in line with many Screwball Comedies. The subject matter is ridiculous (two male musicians forced to dress as women to escape some angry gangsters), and the dialogue writing has the snappy repartee. Jerry (Jack Lemmon) is very much a goofball in the tradition of wacky “screwball” characters for which the genre is named. The world of Some Like It Hot, like those of classical screwball comedies, is a pushed reality, in which the absurd runs rampant.

Sugar: the antithesis of the Screwball heroine
Another essential aspect of Screwball Comedy is the subversion of gender roles and courtship rituals. Some Like It Hot does this also, but in a different way. In many classic screwballs, the female characters are self-reliant, sharp, and just as quirky as their male counterparts. Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), the love interest of Joe (Tony Curtis), is the complete opposite of this; she’s naive, speaks in a perpetually breathy simper (demonstrating her overly sexualized role in the story), and repeatedly describes herself as “not very bright.” The way Some Like It Hot does thwart gender expectations is through the two men’s experiences in drag, particularly Gerry’s. Though at first he needs to be reminded that Sugar and the other women are off limits, he soon gets caught up in his female persona “Daphne,” and when Osgood Fielding III, a wealthy older playboy proposes to “her,” Jerry is quite content with the idea of marrying him (for his money, anyway.) Still more surprising is Osgood’s reaction when it’s finally revealed that Daphne is a man: “Nobody’s perfect.” This subversion of gender roles—a staple of Screwball Comedy—is the primary source of comedy in Some Like It Hot.
"Nobody's perfect."
The themes and dramatic focus of screwball comedies shifted over the course of the golden age, and this is one aspect that definitely sets Some Like It Hot apart from early screwballs like It Happened One Night. In the early days (during the Depression), Screwball had a strong thematic element of socioeconomic issues, where class disparities were obstacles between the romantic leads. While Some Like It Hot has elements of class and monetary motivation (Joe and Jerry need work, Joe tricks Sugar into thinking he’s a millionaire, etc.), thematically, money is irrelevant.
Joe poses as a millionaire.

In the middle years of the reign of the Screwball, writers and directors discovered that it wasn’t the happily-ever-after romantic resolution that kept audience’s interested, but the romantic tension and antagonism between the leads, and so the focus shifted from economic barriers to battles of the sexes, in which the leads would banter and bicker throughout the film then abruptly reconcile at the very end, in hasty and often illogical final scenes. Though Some Like It Hot doesn’t feature this kind of romantic/antagonistic dynamic, the ending scene does follow the Screwball tradition of abrupt resolution. The main conflict of Some Like It Hot comes from the outlandish circumstances, tying it more to later screwballs when the “situation comedy” was on the rise. This similarity can be seen strikingly in I Was a Male War Bride, in which incredible circumstances force Cary Grant to dress in drag to pose as his own wife.
I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

The days of the “pure” Screwball Comedy formula are over, but the genre’s zany legacy still lives on. Though they may be rearranged, inverted, reframed, or scrambled, the core elements of the Screwball Comedy can be found in films spanning the decades.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Firefly: Sci-fi or Western?

Although Joss Whedon’s sci-fi series Firefly draws heavily from John Ford’s classic Western Stagecoach, and is very much a Western in many respects, elements of science fiction set it apart from traditional Westerns, not only in setting and iconography, but in the way it approaches technology and civilization.

One obvious distinction between the genres of science fiction and Western is the difference in technology. In a traditional Western, the filmmaker and audience look back to a time before modern technology, when the only machines around were the pistol on our hero’s hip and that newfangled railroad signaling the the taming of the west. In a science fiction world like that of Firefly, we’re looking ahead to a high-tech future, and there are certain plot elements that would not be possible in a story set in the Old West. Early in the episode we see the threat of the Alliance electronically ID-ing and tracking the Serenity—not something Western outlaws had to contend with. Communication is another threat to the crew; the undercover law-man is able to pass information directly and instantly to the Alliance, which would never be possible on the frontier of the Old West. An even more sinister effect of futuristic science is River’s condition. Though we don’t know exactly what happened to her, we know it was a brain experiment of some sort.

The setting is another very prominent difference between a classical Western and a Space Western. The geographical/temporal setting of the Old West is the most defining feature of the Western genre, and the way it functions is more or less consistent, with contrasting forces of wildness vs. the civilizing influence of the East. In Firefly, setting functions much more in the tradition of science fiction. By setting the story in the future, Joss Whedon makes Firefly not a nostalgic picture of a bygone era, but a dark look ahead at a possible future, and by extension, a reflection of our current path. This view on civilization is another aspect that aligns Firefly more with science fiction than the Western. Although some Westerns depict the Union unfavorably, or question the morals of mainstream civilization, there is also the theme of civilization taming the West, and there is never the absolute, dystopian post-civilization common to many sci-fi stories, usually brought about by technology. Though the world of Firefly isn’t a total dystopia, it has some elements in common with dystopian sci-fi stories. It takes place in the aftermath of a world war, leaving only two nations, with space in the control of an ineffectual and unjust government. Much like in Outland, technology in Firefly has allowed people to set up lives on the outskirts of civilization, where corruption rules and morals have eroded. The most striking example of this is the Reavers, men who ventured to the edge of the galaxy and turned savage. In Firefly it isn’t that civilization hasn’t arrived yet, but that it’s already fallen apart.

Though Firefly might be characterized as a Western set in space by some, I would argue that the story and its themes are a true blend of two genres, and couldn’t exist as solely Western or the science fiction.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Frontier Justice Space!

A lone law-man is stationed in a rowdy mining town on outskirts of civilization. He’s the only person brave enough to uphold justice in the face of danger and corruption, the only one who can stop those dastardly villains. It sounds like a pure, classic Western— except for the fact that it’s set in outer space. Outland (1981) blends elements of the Western and science fiction genres to tell a story about right and wrong, justice, bravery, and people’s heads exploding from exposure to the vacuum of space.

There are many identifiable characteristics of the Western throughout Outland. The Western’s most defining feature is it’s setting (the Old West), and though it may seem like a futuristic space colony is about as different as it could be, the setting in Outland in fact has significant similarities to that of a Western. The industrial mining settlement on the frontier of space is strongly reminiscent of the kind of Wild West town that sprang up as settlers rushed west looking for gold and silver. It even has a revamped saloon, where the final confrontation and shoot-out takes place. Unlike in a Western (where a cowboy can ride out of town at any time), everyone in Outland is trapped within the mining facility, dependent on its pressurization and breathable air, and yet even the natural environment plays a similar role as that of a Western—space could be compared to a harsh inhospitable desert. One article we’ve read stated how in Westerns, the railroad has consistent meaning—representing the taming of the West and the link back to civilization—whereas a space ship in a science fiction story can be assigned any number of meanings. In Outland we see the shuttle back to the space station (and subsequently Earth) function much like a railroad in a Western, as the single tie to civilization. Western character types can also be identified in Outland; there is the idealistic sheriff (Sean Connery’s chief of security character, “O’Neil”), the frontier doctor (gruff company doctor, “Lazarus”), the corrupt moneybags (chief administrator “Shepard”), and the hero’s devoted wife and child (who are less important to the hero than his ideals). Though the iconography and setting associated with the Western are absent, characters and themes make Outland very much a Western in spirit, if not technically a pure Western.

As one article stated, a key aspect of a science-fiction world is that it strives to make the viewers really believe, rather than asking them to suspend their disbelief (as with fantasy), and this requires a blend of the familiar and the alien. Outland manages this balance skillfully, limiting the futuristic (“alien”) technology to advanced computers, interplanetary travel, synthetic drugs, and a light-up racquet-ball court, leaving it with a strong basis in reality. A theme common to many sci-fi stories is technology as the downfall of humanity, which I definitely see reflected in Outland. Technology’s negative connotations are clearly apparent from the detrimental side-effects of a synthetic drug, which are central to the story. We also see that space travel has allowed a world where corrupt industry rules, and a boy can grow up never having set foot on Earth. The mining facility itself is an example of the negative power of technology. As mentioned earlier, a space ship (or in this case, a space station) can be presented as positive, negative, or neutral, and in Outland it is definitely negative. Both visually (with long dark corridors and claustrophobic spaces) and in terms of story (trapping O’Neil as assassins close in on him, the space colony is an ominous force. This feeling of being trapped (one of the film’s biggest narrative departures from the Western) is a major source of suspense. In the tradition of sci-fi thrillers, O’Neil is trapped with his attackers, searching and hiding in the dark, labyrinthine space station, creating a kind of suspense very different from the Western-style standoff suspense of who will shoot first?

Outland is a true blend of genres, uniting disparate traditions of storytelling to create a film that is intriguing and compelling.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Showdown: Ethan Edwards vs. Josey Wales

Ethan Edwards and Josey Wales: two rugged heroes seeking vengeance in the vast, untamed landscape of the Hollywood Western. One a grief-stricken family-man, the other a racist, sexist pig.

The Searchers (1956)—following the story of Ethan Edwards’s quest for vengeance—is considered one of John Ford’s finest films, an idol of the Western Genre. Twenty years later marked the release of Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), a film which follows a remarkably similar plot, but which is significantly different in theme and cultural outlook. In an essay about America’s changing social views as seen through the lens of the Western genre in film, Robert C. Sickles compares these two films, drawing parallels between plot elements and contrasting protagonist and treatment of race and gender to illustrate the major shift in ideology in America between the 1950s and '70s. In my opinion, Sickles’s conclusion is very astute, especially with regards to Ethan’s (and the film’s) racism—a topic not really addressed by the other reading we did. The 70s’ more liberal zeitgeist is clearly apparent in Josey Wales, with sensitive portrayal of Native Americans (an extended monologue about the injustice of the Trail of Tears, as well as multiple sympathetic, realistic Indian characters) and the founding of a multicultural family at the end, rising above the various characters’ biases.

Comedy in The Searchers is very insensitive and mean-spirited. On the few occasions when Ethan shows any emotion other than anger and actually laughs, it’s always at somebody else’s expense. The socially unaware 1950s audience is meant to laugh along with Ethan at the humiliation of Martin and Look (a grotesque, clownish caricature of a Native American woman). As Sickles notes, Look’s Josey-Wales counterpart is not a source for cheap laughs, but a real, active character—a capable young Navajo woman who becomes a valuable member of Josey’s band of travelers, without whom he would have died. Filling the role of clown in Josey Wales is not a buffoonish Indian, but a white sham-elixir salesman; the film mocks American consumerism and foolishness, not the culture of a colonized and exploited people. The two films' comedic elements support Sickles's thesis about changing cultural values.

One convention of the Western that sets these films apart is the white villain figure. In The Searchers, Ethan and Martin run into a few white robbers, but they are dispensed with quite easily, and the true villain  Our reading and discussion of the Western have identified the theme of wildness vs. civilization as one common to many Westerns, but I didn’t see it in either of these two films, at least not in the context of settling the wild west. Though it begins and ends with the motif of looking out a door, highlighting the division between domesticity and wildness, The Searchers is much more focused on revenge than it is on the civilizing influence of the railroad, for example, as the previous reading discussed. In Josey Wales, I see this dichotomy, but reframed in a more personal way—instead of being split between the free, solitary life of a cowboy and the more proper life in town, Josey is pulled between angry revenge and the true happiness of family.


Mom and I went to the BIG school today: the University. It was a beautiful fall day and the students were all roaming around with their parents--just like me, only taller. We had a snack on the lawn and then went to the Art Museum, as seen below. Now, I nap, allowing my subconsiousness to sort out the meanings and nuances of the images I saw today.


Police have confirmed that a patient missing from Knockbracken Healthcare Park, who they warned the public not to approach, has been found safe and well.

Appealing to the public for help in locating Mr McCarthy, police said he required daily medication which he had not received and could have been considered a risk to himself of the public.

PSNI confirmed that Mr McCarthy had been found "safe and well" on Friday morning (July 10).