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High-definition satellite images

See images from Himawari-8 in the new satellite viewer

This demonstration product is most suitable for people
with fast internet connection and high data allowance.

Low-definition satellite images

Satellite View Selection

22:30 AEDT on Friday 25 November 2022 | Cloud/surface composite, Australia

Cloud/surface composite, Australia satellite image of Australia at Fri Nov 25 11:30:00 2022

Images from Japan Meteorological Agency satellite Himawari 8 via Bureau of Meteorology.

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Bureau National Operations Centre
Satellite Notes for 0600UTC Chart
Issued at 6:59 pm EDT Saturday on 26 November 2022
An upper level trough is dragging tropical moisture from the Indian Ocean across
the northwest of the country, generating a large band of cloud with embedded
thunderstorms mainly over the Pilbara and central desert regions of WA and
northern SA.

A trough of low pressure extends from the southeast of WA to a weak low south of
Adelaide in SA. A cloud band associated with this trough and low covers the
northern and central parts of SA and extends onto Victoria and Tasmania.

Seasonal convective activity generating areas of active cloud and thunderstorms
can be seen over the northern part of the country associated with a trough.

A weak tropical low and an associated trough also lie to the northwest of
Western Australia, generating areas of convective cloud.

A high pressure system over NSW and southern Qld is maintaining mostly clear
conditions over the eastern part of the country.

The rest of the country is mostly clear.


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On December 21, 2019, in Sporting News, by Bobby Goodspeed

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took over the leadership of the National Basketball Association from long time commissioner David Stern in 2014 with the promise to revitalize the league and make it more of a commercially viable business as well as a major sport.  For the most part he had made great strides in that direction.

One of the regrettable axioms about the game of basketball is that you really don’t have to start watching the contest until the final 5 minutes of the game to see the best of the action.  Some even believe that watching the NBA games in the regular season is a waste of time when the real action does not begin until the playoffs start getting close.

It is in the nature of the game of basketball that the tension and drama do build up until it all comes down to the last few minutes of play to determine the winners of the game. Unless you are a serious student of the game, it is taxing to follow the action up and down the floor for an entire NBA contest.

In an effort to add a little more life into the NBA regular season, the Commissioner’s office has been considering some sort of mid season tournament for quite awhile now with the biggest stumbling block being generating enough interest among the players themselves so that the tournament does not seem like simply more of a work load.

However, Adam Silver and company have come up with an idea that just might get the players attention.  How does a million bucks per player on the tournament winning team sound?  Do you think Mr. Silver has gotten their attention with that one?

The mid season tournament would be structured along the same lines as the season finals tourney with the six division winners plus two wild card spots making up the quarter finals games, which will take place on the home team’s venue.  The semi finals will follow with the games then being played at neutral sites, which could bring live NBA to venues that lack championship caliber teams that year.

If all goes according to plan, the first mid season NBA tournament would take place during the 2021-2022 season.  The league will also be celebrating its 75th anniversary that year.  That is if the team owners don’t block the effort claiming lost revenue, but then very few NBA team owners are exactly facing poverty any time soon.

Then there are some players to whom the million dollar prize for winning the mid season tournament could be sufficient reason to stay with a team that might be in contention that year. There exists also that elite bunch of NBA super stars to which the million dollar offer will not even raise an eye brow.

Others see the possibility of a team’s tanking during the mid year tourney so as to be in better shape for the real action then the NBA Finals really do begin in the spring.  At this point no one is quite sure how it will all work out.

Time will tell where the NBA stands in 2021.  If attendance and revenues are up and everyone is making money, the mid season tournament make be left on the shelf.  If however, the league continues to see declines in attendance and public interest, then a mid season tournament with its million dollars a man purse is a definite possibility.

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Doran Racing’s #14 Nissan 370Z RC Qualifies Strong Sixth in Very Competitive Field Thursday at IMS

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – July 24, 2014 – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s brand-new scoring pylon saw its first day of official duty on Thursday, and at the end of the Grand Sport qualifying session for the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Series that afternoon its LED lights showed the Doran Racing #14 Nissan NISMO 370Z RC solidly in sixth place, just 0.292 of a second off the pole.

Brad Jaeger of Charlottesville, Va., was at the wheel of the car and he duplicated his best qualifying result so far this year when he posted a lap in 1:35.113 on lap four of the seven laps he made of the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course during the qualifying session. That translates to an average speed of 92.315 miles per hour.

Jaeger will start the 2.5-hour race at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, and then be relieved by his co-driver, B.J. Zacharias of Cincinnati.

John Farano of Toronto qualified 17th in the team’s sister car, the #41 Tower Events Nissan 370Z. His best lap was a 1:36.334 (91.145 mph), which came on the second of seven laps he turned in the session.  He shares that beautiful blue-and-white car with another Toronto-based driver, David Empringham. The pair was champions of this series just two years ago.

Earlier Thursday the #14 was ninth in the first practice session with a 1:35.514 and fifth in the second practice session with a 1:35.230.  The #41 was tenth in the first practice session with a 1:35.558 and ninth in the second practice session with a 1:35.397.

Friday’s race will be carried live on, and on a tape-delayed basis at noon Eastern Aug. 3 on Fox Sports 1.

For more information on Doran Racing, see and the team’s Facebook page.

Post-qualifying quotes follow:

Brad Jaeger: “I think we’re looking wonderful for the race tomorrow. We might have missed the set-up a tiny bit for our best all-out speed, but we have a great car for the race.  I think we have a set-up that is going to be easy on the tires, and that’s going to be very important tomorrow. A good finish is definitely do-able.

“In some regards the track changes hurt us a little, because the high-speed Turn 1 isn’t being used, but with the way the track was altered there are a lot of corners where handling is very important, and the Nissan 370Z is a great-handling car. This course does not favor just a torque package, which is what I was afraid of. Instead it requires a good-handling car with good power, and the Nissan has both of those attributes.

“We qualified equal to our best result so far this year, and only 0.292 separates sixth from first. That just shows that we have a lot of talented drivers and great teams that can get the job done running this series. It’s very competitive, but I’m really optimistic about our chances tomorrow.”

David Empringham: “In practice we had a suspension issue, but the team worked hard and had it fixed for the qualifying session. The Nissans should be fairly strong for the long run; time will tell.

“We used to run Turn 1 of the oval backwards, but now there are two or three slow corners of the road course instead. I was worried that our gearing might be off for those changes, but actually our gearing is quite good.

“John and I hope to have better luck than we have had so far this year, and to be there at the end tomorrow.”


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Here Are All The Important Things To Find Out About Legislation.

Different forms of Regulation consist of Home, Usual and also Civil Law. This short article reviews these types of Legislation, and also discuss the Human rights part.

Residential property regulation
Typically talking, property regulation refers to the legislation that regulates the use, ownership, transfer, and also upkeep of substantial points. To name a few things, it controls the creation of legal commons in water, land, and also air. It likewise covers the legal requirement for transfers, reproduction, and also sale of residential property.

There are numerous kinds of building, consisting of real estate, copyright, and also personal effects. The interpretation of property differs widely from one area to the next. It is a matter of personal preference whether to call all the different type of residential property concrete or not. Historically, property has actually been owned by a queen in some jurisdictions, and also by a king in others.

The meaning of home has long puzzled lawful theorists. Although the suggestion of residential property may appear whimsical, it in fact is a very genuine principle. A residential or commercial property is anything that comes from an individual. This consists of whatever from land to structures to individual items.

Civil law
Originally created in continental Europe, civil law is a system of lawful policies that regulates disagreements between people or organizations. Usually a civil suit will involve compensation for injuries or the disposition of home.

The civil law system has existed for lots of centuries and evolved in various nations. It is considered to be an efficient and sensible taxonomy. Its origins can be traced back to the Roman law system, and also is built upon the Corpus Juris Civilis.

A civil fit is a court proceeding in between 2 or more parties in which the plaintiff declares that the accused is liable for an incorrect or injury. The complainant can sue, or an injunction, to prevent the offender from doing something up until the suit has concluded. Injunctions may be momentary or irreversible.

Common law
Unlike civil law, common law is a collection of legal precedents as well as step-by-step guidelines stemmed from judicial judgments. These rulings are commonly referred to as case law. This legal system was created in England in the center Ages.

Words “regulation” comes from the Latin lawe, which indicates “to talk” or “to state.” It has various connotations in day-to-day speech.

Common law developed from the judicial choices made by public juries as well as courts. These decisions are considered precedents and shape future judgments. The doctrine of stare decisis is the heart of all common law systems

The teaching of gaze decisis requires courts to use the principles of earlier instances to make future rulings. Greater court choices lug even more weight than lower court choices.

Historically, common law has actually led to the marginalization of particular teams. Up until social adjustments result in an adjustment in court rulings, some groups can not get positive judgments.

Comparative lawful systems.
Historically, relative legislation has been utilized as a device for enhancing expertise about the lawful systems of other countries. This is performed in two means. Initially, the regulation itself is examined in a comparative means, and second, different locations of law are researched from a comparative perspective.

Comparative legal research studies started to progress in Europe after World War. This was helped with by the rise of new regions for legal research study. These areas consisted of the freshly independent states of Africa as well as Asia. The outcome was a flood of referrals to relative legislation.

Comparative legislation was a part of legal education and learning for the first time, as very early scholars started to make use of relative strategy to make sense of these brand-new areas. The introduction of codified law and the succeeding surge of lawful regulars assisted fuel this advancement.

Civils rights part
Throughout history, there has been a look for justice. This search has actually existed in every society and has actually caused the development of law Regulation affects all elements of life, from politics to economics to social relationships. Legislation shows selections among values, and is used by governments to regulate private practices.

Human rights are an essential component of regulation. They are a collection of concepts as well as positive obligations that states need to safeguard the legal rights of individuals. These consist of protection of financial civil liberties, cultural civil liberties, social civil liberties, as well as rights in conflict.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was embraced by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. It has actually ended up being an international legislation that sets the criteria of conduct for states, and also has actually been converted right into greater than 500 languages. It has been embraced by several new states as a standard for their constitutions.

Migration regulation.
Those trying to find a profession in migration legislation can consider the various subspecialties that are available. These include civil rights, entertainment, civils rights, constitutional, sports as well as business regulation.

Immigration attorneys can work for federal government companies or personal organizations. Some have specializations in one practice area. On top of that, some have experience in several technique areas.

Migration legislation is an expanding method location. Due to the truth that there are numerous noncitizens staying in the United States, the area is increasing. An experienced immigration attorney can assist qualified immigrants to get citizenship.

While a legislation level is not required to practice immigration law, it can assist reinforce your expertise. Those curious about the practice can study at a regulation college with an emphasis on migration regulation. practicing attorney

Trainees can get experience in the field by finishing an internship or working in the government offices that take care of immigration. Legislation pupils also should try to find summertime work and also volunteer chances.

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Pre-cut letterpress papers?

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone knew of any precut lettepress papers for wedding invites? I am going to buy a papercutter eventually but i was hoping to find some Cranes paper pre-cut for a wedding I have been asked to letterpress. Any help is sooo welcome! Thanks!

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Hello Katesy,

I don’t have a paper cutter yet either. When I need to cut parent sheets or many sheets of smaller paper, I take it to a “real” printer. The fellow I go to uses a massive machine that cuts tall stacks to the thousandths of an inch in a few seconds. Amazing!

Awesome thanks so much for the tip. What do you mean a real printer though? Im in NYC—I guess I can just look one up? I really appreciate it!

I think what Barb means is any shop that isn’t a ‘hobby’ shop. There are countless professional print shops and service bureaus in NYC—just call around to find a friendly one willing to help you out. You should expect to pay anywhere between 20¢ and $1 per cut. Depends on how many cuts and how generous they are feeling.

I’m guessing that most cities have a retail paper shop that caters to small printing companies. One here in Richmond VA has boxed sets of precut and scored cards and matching envelopes in several sizes. I’m not sure about the brands, but they’re pretty nice-looking stock. Check your yellow pages under “Paper”.

Hi all,
Thank you so much for all of your help. One last question :)
Do you know what is the best bang for your buck in terms of purchasing Cranes Letra for 5X7 invites and 3X5 rsvp cards? In terms of cuts, etc. Just thought I’d ask because I am sure some of you have done this before. I genuinely appreciate this help :)

Can you print directly on and over the edge of pre-cut paper if you have a full bleed? Do you always have to trip after printing?

Katesy- another good place to look to is a die cutting shop if you have one around. They are great to develop a relationship with if you need to have anything die cut as well (if you don’t do it yourself). Places like these and large commercial printers, as Barbara suggested, can do trimming for not all that much money- the place I work with charges by the hour. I’ve done the math before and it seemed like you could get a heck of a lot of 5x7s out of Lettra parent sheets, vs. trimming down from 8.5x11 sheets, which you can then chop down to 3.5x5 rsvp cards. Whatever you do, don’t take it to Kinko’s!!!

Avivona- if you have a full bleed, you’ll need to trim after printing. You need room for your gauge pins to hold onto the paper- not possible if the plate is hitting all four sides of the paper. But if you have a partial bleed, say on two sides, you can do it.

If use pre-cut papers and want partial bleeds can’t u just create a bleed on the plate? (ie on the illustrator file and get teh plate made slightly larger than the 7X5 paper?)

And thanks so much for the tips!!!

yes- I typically extend mine an extra eighth of an inch. works for me… not sure what anyone else suggests doing that might be better.

Not only do you need to keep the bleed image back from the guide edges so you don’t smash the gauge pins (and plate and base), you also need to keep an unprinted area where you can grab the sheet for delivery, or you will smear the ink.
(Some use sandpaper around the fingertip to reduce smearing when there isn’t enough open area.)

Wow Can you explain a little bit further. Like a step by step if you could? :) Sounds a little confusing. Thank you so much!

If you mean explain the sandpaper, OK. Cut a stripslightly narrower than your finger and, say, three times the length of the first joint. Wrap it around the fingertip from the inside, over the tip and around to the back of the finger. Then wrap a small rubber band around it to hold it in place (maybe there’s a better way—I don’t use sandpaper because the rubber band just cuts off circulation). That sandpaper tip will allow you grab a printed sheet in an area of wet ink without much smearing of the ink.
But even so, there are other reasons to print a bleed image on an oversize sheet, for example the use of grippers or friskets. Any sheet with a full image is likely to stick to the form; the toungues of the gauge pins don’t have enough strength to peel the sheet from the form. You need enough blank space across the near end of the sheet to run string or rubber bands, or enough blank space on the sides to place frisket fingers.


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Mile News

Mile silver medal for ultra distance runner

October 22, 2013

Mark Horsman earns hardware at Welsh Mile Road Race Championships

From Tivy Side Advertiser

Keen ultra distance runner Mark Horsman, a native of Aberporth, is always one for a challenge. He recently took part in the Welsh Mile Road Race Championships in Cardiff and was awarded a silver medal for his efforts, clocking 5 minutes, 10 seconds. The event was held the day before the Cardiff Half Marathon, which Mark also completed as part of his training for the Snowdonia Marathon.

"The Mile race was held on a two loop circuit at Cardiff’s Civic Centre and I was signed up for the Masters race. I managed to pace the race very well and beat my running club team mate Stuart by out sprinting him to the line to take second place in the V35 category (35-39 years old). I was very surprised to have done so well given it was the shortest race I had ever done and even more surprised when I was asked to stand on a podium and presented a Welsh Athletics silver medal by former marathon world record holder and current British record holder Steve Jones!" explained a delighted Mark who now lives in Cardiff and works in Llandysul.

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Return the Mile to prominence on the American & worldwide sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a movement.

Bring Back the Mile as the premier event in the sport, and increase interest in and media coverage of the Mile for both those who love the distance as well as the general public.

Bring Back the Mile to celebrate the storied distance and to recognize the people who made and make the Mile great and to promote Mile events and the next generation of U.S. Milers.

Bring Back the Mile to create a national movement for the Mile as America’s Distance,
to inspire Americans to run the Mile as part of their fitness program and to replace the 1600 meters at High School State Track & Field Meets across the country.

Become a Mile Maniac member or a BBTM sponsor today! Join us, and go Mile!

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Thanks for joining the movement and being a Mile Maniac. We'll keep you up to-date with our Mile wires as well as exclusive contests and opportunities. Help us spread the word by sharing our site and joining us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram!


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Postdoctoral position on Cepheid astrophysics

Applications are invited for one postdoctoral position at the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center (NCAC), in Warsaw, Poland, to work theoretical and observational aspects of classical Cepheids.

The successful applicant will join a team led by Dr Radosław Smolec working on the project “Classical Cepheids as testbeds for stellar evolution and pulsation theories" funded by the Polish National Science Center (Sonata Bis; 2018/30/E/ST9/00598). The project aims at resolving various problems of stellar pulsation and evolution theories using classical Cepheids as tools.

We seek a resourceful and creative researcher willing to work on determination of physical parameters of Cepheids based on their multi-band observations,  evolutionary modelling of helium burning stars, pulsation modelling of classical Cepheids. The post-doc is expected to collaborate with other team members, PhD students and members of the Araucaria team, as well as to take part in the observing programmes run at the Cerro Armazones Observatory in Chile.

Applications are welcome from candidates with strong background in any aspect of theoretical or observational stellar astrophysics. The ideal candidate should have solid programming skills, observing experience, research experience on pulsating stars, good communication skills, and the ability to carry out projects independently, while working constructively within a larger team. Previous research experience on one or more of the following topics would be an asset: modelling of stellar evolution with MESA or other code, modelling of linear/nonlinear stellar pulsations, population synthesis, experience of photometric/spectroscopic or interferometric observations of Cepheids.

The position will be for 3 years. The starting date is negotiable but could be as early as October 2020.

The gross monthly salary will be of 8376  PLN (net monthly: 5900  PLN - about 1390 EUR) and a travel budget is available.

Candidates are expected to have a valid PhD degree in astronomy/astrophysics obtained within 7 years from the date of starting the employment (career breaks such as for maternity/paternity leave can be taken into account).

The application should be sent by e-mail (as pdf files) to:

recruitment@camk.edu.pl by July 5th 2020.

Review of the applications shall commence immediately after that and short-listed candidates will be invited for interviews.

Candidates should submit the following documents:

  1. A copy of their PhD diploma or a binding statement of its date of completion;
  2. A CV including the list of publications;
  3. A short statement of research achievements and interests (maximum 3 pages);
  4. A scan of the signed DGPD form (NCN DGPD document available at: https://www.camk.edu.pl/en/about/ochrona-danych-osobowych/).

In addition, at least two letters of recommendation should be arranged and sent directly by their authors to the same e-mail address.

Questions about the position can be sent to: smolec@camk.edu.pl


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Originally Posted by Jack_Maturin View Post
It won't be my first rodeo with a CITES import. I know it will take time, effort, and cash. I'm honestly starting now in the hopes that something can be accomplished by fall. Maybe I'll get lucky.
The trouble is finding a vendor that will do it because it's THEIR effort and time, not yours.
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Celestial Impact 1.00

Celestial Impact has dug its way out of beta stadium and into version 1.00

The full version can as usual be found on our downloads page.

More info about the game can be read at the About page.

If you are having trouble running the game or if you have any general questions/suggestions, stop by our forum and drop a post.

Press Release
The team behind Celestial Impact is proud to present Celestial Impact 1.00
After almost one year of public beta, the game has now reached a complete version.

What is Celestial Impact?

Celestial Impact is a free multiplayer-only game available for PC.

Celestial Impact is a team based multiplayer first person shooter (FPS) set in space on an asteroid with spherical gravity. What makes this FPS really special is that the landscape is fully deformable in all directions.
Each player is equipped with, apart from a commonly seen weapon arsenal, a special tool called Dirtgun. With the Dirtgun, players can add or remove terrain during combat as they see fit, simply by aiming and firing the dirtgun. Depending on the chosen action, this will either add or remove a chunk of dirt from the landscape.

Ran in to a wall that is too high to jump over? No problem, just build a slope and walk over the wall, or perhaps dig a tunnel going under it.
Need a breather from intense combat? No sweat, dig a cave and go hide inside.
Since the layout and flow of the landscape in the maps depends on the player’s actions, playing a particular map will be a different experience each time.

Celestial Impact features several game modes such as a classic CTF (Capture The Crystal in this case), a regular deathmatch mode and Crystal Rounds. Crystal Rounds will prompt the players to defend one of their team-members alternatively assault one of the opposing team-members depending on which team currently has the crystal in their possession. Build and dig your way around the landscape in various strategic ways as you seek out and steal the crystal from your opponents.

About the developers

Celestial Impact is a PC game developed in Sweden that started with a few university students having an idea of an unusual and fun game. The idea evolved into a larger project and has now reached a complete version. The team behind Celestial Impact currently consists of only three persons all three living in Stockholm and they have created the game from scratch during their spare-time.

Celestial Impact is currently competing as an entry in Swedish Game Awards 08

3 thoughts on “Celestial Impact 1.00”

  1. I’ve recently played your game (1.00 version).

    Let me start out that I absolutely LOVE the idea of deformable & reformable terrain. I think it is a great game play element that has traditionally been underutilized.

    Having written that, I have some questions regarding the implementation of this game play element in your game.

    1). This game does not appear to have voxels in it. Voxels tend to be much easier to form & deform. Have you thought about switching to a voxel engine & why or why not?

    2). When removing terrain to the point where a section of the asteroid is “free-floating,” what was the decision to keep that section of the asteroid from falling to the main asteroid (or for that matter, floating away into space)? Was it a technical reason, game play reason or both?

    3). The current implementation of adding & removing terrain has great potential for strategic game play. One aspect is to create different TYPES of “terrain” – For instance, solids, liquids & gases. Has this game play element been considered yet? If so, what are your thoughts on developing a more complex “dirtgun” that would incorporate these elements?

    4). While I appreciate multiplayer, what are your current thoughts about creating a single-player variant of this concept?

    Once again, thank you very much for creating this game & I look forward to your responses. Thank you.

  2. We’re glad you like it as much as we do 🙂

    As for your questions, here’s some short answers. If you seek more extensive answers, create a post in our forum with the questions.

    1: We do use voxels but we have tweaked them quite abit so they might not be recognizeable as the same kind of voxels you are used to see. The reason for this was because it was easier to create a robust engine.

    2: Originally we were thinking of making the terrain more physically correct, but since we are such a small dev team we simply didn’t have enough time to implement that.

    3: We have discussed loosely on things very similar to what you propose and it sure sounds interesting. This would require alot of changes in the engine though, so I don’t think we’re going to to it anytime soon. Perhaps it will be something for CI 2.0.

    4: We have thought up parts of a concept for a single-player puzzle game that would fit really well with this kind of deformation. We don’t really have any details yet.

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Mid Summer Jazz Cruise

Be serenaded whilst sailing down Thames and take in magic of London by night

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Details have just been finalised for a jazz river cruise on Friday 24th June.

Organised by Chiswick Pier Trust, the cruise will travel to Westminster and back leaving Chiswick Pier at 7 pm and returning by around 10.30p.m.

On board will be a traditional jazz band who will serenade you whilst you sail down the Thames and on your return take in the magic and lights of London by night, viewed from the water.

Pissarro’s will be serving a 2 course cold buffet supper during the cruise.

Tickets £30.00. Call 020 8742 2713 or 07594 596729 to book your tickets.

May 15, 2011

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Friday, 31 October 2014

The Fifth Cord [1971]

THE FIFTH CORD is an Italian giallo that was directed by Luigi Bazzoni and originally released in August 1971 under the title Giornate nera per l'ariete, which a quick translate tells me means 'Black Day for the Ram'.  It stars Franco Nero, Pamela Tiffin, Silvia Monti, Wolfgang Preiss, Edmund Purdom, Ira von Furstenberg, Agostina Belli and Rossella Falk.   Nero plays Andrea Bild, a monumentally grumpy reporter investigating a series of murders in which he himself becomes a suspect.

I'm going to assume that readers are familiar with the concept of the giallo and will therefore skip the 'teaching granny to suck eggs' introduction.  That leaves plenty of room to discuss the merits or otherwise of this film and it seems to me that there are principally two things to mention: firstly, it is one of the most beautiful giallo I have ever seen - and that's in a genre which is noted for its style - and second it has an utterly incomprehensible plot.  I'll admit up front that I watched it over two nights and may have lost the thread; I must have because characters were bumped off that I had no idea who they were and the eventual reveal left me none the wiser.

The brutal assault that kicks everything off.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.  As I say, the film is genuinely stunning to look at.  The photography is by one Vittorio Storaro who of course went on to forge a world class reputation for his long collaboration with Bernado Bertolucci and his Oscar-winning work on APOCALYPSE NOW [1979]. He also short Dario Argento's debut feature THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE [1970] the film which more or less kick-started this genre and set the template for the narrative and visuals.  Storaro is up there with the very best in his profession and if I had to try to characterise his style I would say it is best suited for sumptuous almost dreamlike photography.  I have the impression that he uses warm tones - browns and deep orange - frequently although THE FIFTH CORD is something of an exception in that it uses a mainly blue palette.

Franco Nero and Silvia Monti
I love the Bava-esque splash of colour in this still.
And again here.
I've written before about films that use visual motifs to underscore the thematic concerns of the story: a good example of this is Jean-Pierre Melville's LE CERCLE ROUGE [1970] a review of which can be found here.  I must say that despite the recurrent visual motifs in Bazzoni's film I couldn't detect much in the way of thematic concerns.  Then again this is a giallo which tend to use style for it's own sake.  So in this film what we get are elaborate framings which use all sorts of natural shapes and lines, filled in with some outrageous colour.  In some respects it looks forward to the Hollywood style of directors like Tony Scott and Adrian Lyne, all coloured filters and shafts of light.  As far as I'm concerned Bazzoni is no more interested in what all this might signify than Scott and Lyne are. For him and them it's all about the surface.

There are so many parallel lines in this movie but what do they mean?
Everything?   Or nothing?
Nothing, is my guess.
What a surface it is though.  You could take practically any frame from this movie and it would make a sensational poster.  There is the beautiful curve of the tunnel in which the initial assault takes place; there is the spiral staircase in Helene's uber-stylish house.  Even the park, where one of the murders takes place, has a beautifully framed path which almost looks like a river winding its way through a field.  There are shots through blinds, shots through windows, subjective camera shots - all of which might be trying to make some sort of point about voyeurism but I'm not convinced by that.  Any such implications I reckon was inadvertent; I think they were included simply because they look fabulous.

This reminds me of the escape sequence in Jim Jarmusch's excellent DOWN BY LAW [1986]

The reason I don't think the film rests on more than a superficial level is because Bazzoni seemingly makes no effort to construct a coherent narrative.  Much like Argento, at least in his later films - say from INFERNO [1980] onwards - Bazzoni is interested solely in stringing together one elegantly constructed sequence after another.  Which is difficult to sustain in a 90 minute movie.  The result is that scenes don't seem to flow logically from one to the next; characters come and go, locations dot around madly and the information given to the audience is piecemeal at best.  It's the kind of film where it's best to simply let it wash over you.  Revel in the visuals and forget about the plot, such as it is.

Franco Nero is of course one of the staples of European genre movies and the occasional mainstream English-speaking one.  I've written about him before but will limit myself to saying he's wasted here: good-looking but given very little to do because essentially the film isn't about the actors.

Franco Nero as Andrea Bild
Pamela Tiffin is an American actress imported to Italy to give the film some marketability overseas. She's most famous, as far as I'm concerned, for a beguiling performance in Jack Smight's HARPER [1966], the excellent Chandler-esque detective movie.  She was on a downward trajectory by the time she came to make this film and indeed only made a handful more before retiring in 1974 to become a home-maker, as the Americans say, or unemployed, as Alan Partridge says.

Pamela Tiffin as Lu
Similarly, Edmund Purdom had long since been a major star by the time he settled into European genre movies.  Initially he had gone to Hollywood in the same wave as Richard Burton and Roger Moore; unlike Burton, Purdom and Moore didn't do so well.  Later on of course Moore landed the plum role of James Bond and never looked back.  Purdom packed his bags and came back to Europe and started making much more interesting films.  He worked with the likes of Jess Franco, Ruggero Deodato, Massimo Dallamano and even the notorious hack Joe D'Amato.  Purdom died in 2004, in his adopted home of Rome, aged 84.

Edmund Purdom as Edouard Vermont
Monti, von Furstenberg, Belli and Falk are names familiar to lovers of delirious Italian genre films and one or more of them seem to crop up in many of the late 60s and early 70s heyday.  I'll deal with each of them when discussing future films because in truth they mainly to look sufficiently stylish to complement the scenery.  Wolfgang Preiss, whom I have mentioned before as being in A BRIDGE TOO FAR [1977], appears in a supporting role as the police inspector in charge of the murder investigation.  He has a couple of brief but important scenes with Nero which, like everything else in this film, are beautifully done.

Wolfgang Preiss (L) as the unnamed police inspector
And here he is again, in silhouette, on the right
Luigi Bazzoni didn't make many films and to date this is the only one I have seen.  Of his others I have a couple of spaghetti westerns and the apparently bizarre horror / sci-fi / weirdo LE ORME [1975] (also known as'Footprints on the Moon) on my 'to watch' pile and will no doubt get around to them sooner or later.  Watch this space.

A couple of other credits worth mentioning.  The score is by Ennio Morricone and is typical of his work in this period, all breathy female vocals.  The Assistant Director is one Luciano Marin who as an actor appeared in a load of peplums - the other great staple of Italian genre films - in the early 1960s.  Bazzoni's co-screenwriter Mario di Nardo worked twice in collaboration with the great Mario Bava - one of my favourite directors of all time.  If you can you should see FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON [1970], Bava's take on Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None' which, in a neat piece of symmetry, co-stars THE FIFTH CORD's Ira von Furstenberg.

Tuesday, 28 October 2014

The Boogens [1981]

THE BOOGENS is an American creature feature that was directed by James L. Conway and originally released in September 1981.  It stars Rebecca Balding, Fred McCarren, Anne-Marie Martin and Jeff Harlan.  Four randy twenty-somethings set up home in a log cabin in the Utah mountains while the blokes are employed reopening a long-sealed silver mine.

A standard slasher set up you might think, which it is, but THE BOOGENS is only part slasher flick because what is doing the slashing in this case is not a masked knife-wielding maniac but a bunch of remarkably bloodthirsty mutant turtle creatures.  So a hybrid movie then: part slasher and part creature feature.

Boogen cam
I love a good creature feature.  I'm not sure I've really dealt with this subgenre in previous posts so a quick primer is in order.  In my personal opinion, the creature feature concerns a (more-or-less) normal sized animal or animals running amok.  So you could count FROGS [1972], GRIZZLY [1976], THE PACK [1977] or THE DAY OF THE ANIMALS [also 1977].  I would disregard things like KING KONG [1935], GODZILLA [pretty much every year since time began] or THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS [1953] on the basis that those guys are mega-nasties and properly belong in the realm of fantasy or even science fiction.  I would include, however, abnormally large but actual species, such as JAWS [1975] or LAKE PLACID [1999], and mutated versions of actual species, such as PROPHECY [1979] or tonight's film THE BOOGENS.

A Boogen

The Boogens' natural abode
Of course the water-based creature feature, most of which took their inspiration fron JAWS, is almost a genre in its own right, so prolific they are.  You might actually include THE BOOGENS in that - they are essentially turtles and there is a JAWS-esque killing in a subterranean pool - but I'd say it's borderline in that respect.  Anway, let's not get too bogged down in the taxonomy, what of the film itself?

Well the first thing to report is that it's not particularly original.  As you can probably tell from what I've already said, it's a mish-mash of a lot of familiar elements.  There's the aforementioned sex mad dork, a cute dog, bonking in front of a log fire, shower scenes, basement scenes, a stupid copper, a raggedy old man muttering dark warnings, and liberal use of subjective camera.

"That's the kind of window faces look in at."
Somehow though it all hangs together.  The script is well above average for a film of this type and the relationships between the youngsters are well observed.  Yes the sex mad dork is incredibly annoying but the two girls especially are properly drawn characters. The acting is decent too, again, from the girls especially.

L-R: Deputy, Shaggy, Daphne, Velma and Freddy
The Boogens themselves - the name is never explained - are vicious critters who live in the abandoned mine and are thus released when our heroes go meddling.  I use that word advisedly because there is more than one element to this movie which makes a subtle nod towards Scooby Doo. Roger is like a priapic Shaggy, Mark is the clean cut Fred type, Jessica is glamorous, amorous Daphne, and spunky little Trish is obviously Velma.  And of course there's Tiger the dog.  The abandoned mine is in itself a Scooby Doo staple.  You half expect the Boogens to reveal themselves to be employees of the local newspaper but, perhaps wisely, that doesn't happen.

and Scooby.  Pardon me, Tiger.

Yes that's a Deputy getting his face sucked off by a Boogen

The quality of the script can be attributed to Jim Kouf, here operating under the pseudonym Bob Hunt.  Kouf wrote the very decent sci-fi flick THE HIDDEN [1987] and the amusing STAKEOUT [also 1987], the latter of which includes jokey references to star Richard Dreyfuss's role in JAWS. Kouf did try his hand at directing, with less notable results, but this particular picture is helmed by James L. Conway who made a couple of genre features but pretty soon moved into TV work, albeit of a fantasy / sci-fi nature.  The direction is actually the least impressive element of this movie: it's rather ponderous and never does anything you're not expecting.  It's professional enough but lacks fair which, I think it's fair to say, suggests TV is Conway's real home.

Rebecca Balding as Trish
Of the cast, the best known is a toss up between Rebecca Balding, who plays Trish, and Anne-Marie Martin, who plays Jessica.  Balding played Elise Rothman in umpteen episodes of CHARMED, which may be connected to the fact that James L. Conway directed some of those.  Martin played the foil to David Rasche in SLEDGE HAMMER! the fondly recalled spoof cop show from the late 80s. She is also notable for being the ex-wife of the late Michael Crichton; I understand she did quite well out of the divorce settlement and that almost certainly explains why she quit acting barely into her 30s.

Anne-Marie Martin as Jessica

Tuesday, 21 October 2014

The Attic [1980]

THE ATTIC is a psychological thriller that was directed and co-written by George Edwards and originally released in October 1980.  It stars Carrie Snodgress and Ray Milland with a supporting turn by Ruth Cox.  The film explores the bizarre relationship between Louise, an old-maidish librarian, and her tyrannical invalid father Wendell, with whom she lives in a palatial house in the suburbs. Wendell treats his daughter with such cruelty that Louise often fantasises about killing him but painful flashbacks to a love lost years before hint that she too has a darker side.

 This is one of those lush American thrillers that proliferated through the 1970s as self-consciously glossy alternatives to the grittier independent features.  REFLECTION OF FEAR [1972] is another example as are Brian De Palma's OBSESSION [1976] and THE FURY [1978] which coincidentally also features Ms Snodgress.  I would also cite THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD [1975] but will not (oh I have) because it is one of the dullest, most incident-free films I have ever seen, in any genre.

These films, it seems to me, are characterised by three elements in particular: hazy, soft-focus photography, a middle or upper-middle class location - often a grand old house, and a shaggy dog narrative, which builds and builds to a climax which may or may not be a twist.  In some respects they are bigger budget equivalents of all those British thrillers from the 1960s with the 'is someone trying to drive me mad?' plots.

Louise gets home from work.

As a consequence of the slow narrative they are often rather tedious to sit through and risk total failure by staking everything on the ending.  It would be uncharitable of me to say much more about the endings of these films because to do so would remove perhaps the only reason for sticking with them, assuming you seek them out in the first place.  What I will say is that inevitably some work and some do not; in this particular case, after some deliberation, I concluded that it did work, that I hadn't fully seen it coming, and that it did give me pause to consider what its implications might be.  So there's a recommendation for you.

Consider the implications of this.

The trouble is that before you arrive at that point there are about 95 minutes to sit through which, despite taking in libraries, travel agents, casual sex, a pet monkey and Ray Milland in the bath, are not terribly entertaining.  Director Edwards manages - just - to keep you watching but, as is often the case with films such as this, it's difficult to tell whether you're ploughing on because you're enjoying it or because you just want to find out what happened.  That's what I mean by staking everything on the ending; the patient, not to say painstaking build up, means the film really has to deliver the goods in the last five minutes or risk total viewer alienation, like listening to one of those long, rambling old jokes that no-one seems to tell any more.  British readers who are familiar with Ronnie Corbett will know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I digress.  Louise is a monumentally wet character for the most part who for reasons unknown puts up with appalling treatment at the hands of her wheelchair-bound father.  One wonders why she doesn't just bugger off and leave him to it; however, the ending does oblige you to revisit that question in a very unpleasant light.  Which is true of several plot strands actually, to the extent that the film becomes more interesting after it has finished than it was while you were watching it and there aren't many films you can say that about.

Carrie Snodgress as Louise Elmore

Carrie Snodgress, who rather sadly passed away about ten years ago aged only 58, was an interesting actress who mainly avoided mainstream pictures in favour of more offbeat work.  She made a huge splash in her first proper screen role in DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE [1970] for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.  Pretty much straight away after that she began a relationship with Neil Young and became a mother; because her son was born with a significant disability she retired from acting in order to care for him.  She was away from movies for most of the 1970s and by the time she came back Hollywood, as it tends to do, had moved on.  Subsequent parts were very much supporting roles; it's fair to say that the lead in THE ATTIC was very much the exception. And very good she is in it too; it's not a great character to be honest but she makes an excellent fist of it and her interplay with Ray Milland is what drives the movie.

Ray Milland as Wendell Elmore

Milland was old school Hollywood and a major star in the 1940s.  For lovers of delirious cinema though his most interesting work came from the 1960s onwards when he began to crop up in some properly weird and challenging pictures.  He's really good in Roger Corman's THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES [1963] which is simultaneously a trippy sci-fi picture and a philosophical examination of, well... religion, the existence of God, and basically the entire universe.  Great stuff. He made two films in 1972 alone which demand the attention of lovers of the bizarre.  First came FROGS, an eco-horror movie set on an island overrun with the titular creatures, and then THE THING WITH TWO HEADS directed by exploitation genius Lee Frost.  Some may think that he was degrading himself by appearing in films like these but, like I say, they're far more memorable than a lot of his routine 40s movies (with the honourable exception of Fritz Lang's MINISTRY OF FEAR [1944], which is absolutely bloody brilliant).

THE ATTIC was George Edwards' first and last feature as director.  He was much more at home behind the camera both as producer and screenwriter.  Among others he produced the aforementioned FROGS and, in collaboration with Jack Broder, THE NAVY VS THE NIGHT MONSTERS [1966] which keen readers will note was mentioned in today's earlier review of BRIDE OF THE GORILLA [1951].  How's that for a coincidence?

A spirit of ribald mischief prevents me from concluding without mentioning Gary Graver who shot this picture and in some quarters is credited with a hand in the direction too.  Graver did a lot of his work in the porn industry (being responsible for such timeless classics as THE SILENCE OF THE BUNS and CAPE REAR) but it wasn't always thus and he was the DP, if you'll pardon the expression, on Orson Welles's aborted lost feature THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND [1972] which was only part of a long professional association with the great man.

Bride of the Gorilla [1951]

BRIDE OF THE GORILLA is horror / mystery film that was written and directed by Curt Siodmak and originally released in October 1951.  It stars Raymond Burr, Lon Chaney Jr, Barbara Payton and Tom Conway.  Set in the South American jungle it recounts how the foreman at a plantation lusts after the owner's wife and, after killing him, is cursed by a native.

This film has a pretty low reputation and is usually cited as an example of how far Barbara Payton's career had sunk so quickly after its peak only two years before.  With such a terrible, Ed Wood-esque title you might at first blush be inclined to agree.  But while it's undeniable that the film is very much a B-picture, if that, and does feature a man in a gorilla suit I reckon there is a little more to it than first meets the eye.

Barney Chavez catches a glimpse of his true self in a mirror
First of all the title.  During production the film had a working title of 'The Face in the Water' which is both less lurid and more accurate than the title it ended up with.  I can only assume that producer Jack Broder had the final say, being the man who also gave the world BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA [1952] and THE NAVY VS THE NIGHT MONSTERS [1966].

Secondly, Curt Siodmak was no hack.  Although he only directed a handful of pictures he was much more prolific as a screenwriter.  It's fair to say there was some crud on his CV, especially toward the end of his career, but this was the man behind the original Universal production of THE WOLF MAN [1941] and Jacques Tourneur's superb I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE [1943].  So I thjink we can give Siodmak the benefit of the doubt in the sense that the film he started out making is not the film that eventually pitched up in cinemas.

The film starts with the decayed, abandoned plntation house slowly being reclaimed by the jungle.
Thirdly, while Lon Chaney Jr and Tom Conway were past their peak as stars, Raymond Burr was a reasonably talented young actor still making his way in movies and Barbara Payton was fresh from co-starring with Gregory Peck in ONLY THE VALIANT, released six months earlier.  So this was no collection of duffers and no-hopers.  Indeed, the iconic African-American actor Woody Strode also appears albeit in a bit part.

The great Woody Strode as Nedo.
So, you might ask, how is it that the film is regarded as a turkey, that is if it is remembered at all?  I often think it's something of a cop out to blame studio interference but in this case there may be some substance to that claim.  There was evidently a disconnect between the film that Siodmak had in mind and that which Broder wanted to shove out into theatres.  There are strong hints of the exotic, even dreamlike atmosphere of I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE; the films even share the same isolated plantation setting, hemmed in on all sides by impenetrable jungle and native superstition.

Like that film, BRIDE... isn't really a full on horror movie at all; it's just as possible to describe both of them as gothic romances in the "Jane Eyre" vein.  Certainly as much screen time is given to the tangled relationships between Burr, Payton, Conway and plantation owner Paul Cavanagh as it is to the doings of the titular gorilla.  Indeed, said beast never actually kills anyone.

Three stills of Mrs Van Gelder's relationships: with Dr Viet...

...with Barney Chavez...

...and last, and probably least, with Mr Van Gelder.
Equally, Siodmak seems more interested in the psychology of Burr's transformation than he is in its physical appearance.  In fact there are strong suggestions that it may all be in Burr's mind, such as when he glimpses a gorilla's face when staring into the river (hence the film's working title).  Without wanting to get too wanky about it, I guess Siodmak is really trying to tell us about the metaphorical beast within, in the same way as Zola does in "La bete humaine" (which, incidentally, was adapted as HUMAN DESIRE [1954] by Fritz Lang, in whose METROPOLIS [1927] Curt Siodmak made his first and only screen appearance as an extra).

Chavez again sees a reflection of the beast inside.
I'm certainly not claiming that BRIDE OF THE GORILLA is a lost gem but I am certainly attempting a certain degree of rehabilitation on its behalf because I think it's better than its current reputation would suggest.  With a more understanding producer - like Val Lewton - the elements were certainly there for it to have become a minor classic.

Raymond Burr as Barney Chavez
Raymond Burr was, on the basis of a couple of his early roles that I have seen, a talented, physical actor who unfortunately came to prominence at the same time as TV and got rather bogged down in that medium when he might have had a good movie career.  Still, he will at least always be remembered for his work, unlike the ill-fated Barbara Payton.  In possibly Hollywood's most extreme case of riches to rags, Payton went - within about 10 years - from A-list pictures to alcoholism, prostitution and death.  I am currently reading an excellent biography of her by John O'Dowd and may treat myself to a Payton mini-festival thereafter; stay tuned for more.

The tragic Barbara Payton as Dina Van Gelder
Tom Conway is another who met an untimely end.  The fact that he is perhaps best known for being George Sanders' brother kind of sums up his career: always the bridesmaid, never the bride.  Indeed, the other thing he is most remembered for is playing gentleman detective The Falcon in a long series of B-pictures from RKO in the 1940s.  But even that was a role in herited from his brother, after George quit in search of bigger and better parts.  As Hollywood moved into the 1950s those programmers began to die out and with them went regular work for a good number of actors (and technicians, lest we forget).  Conway continued to make sporadic appearances in pretty cruddy movies but struggled with alcoholism and, in much the same way as Veronica Lake, was by the mid-60s reduced to living in a hostel.  He died in 1967 of cirrhosis.

Tom Conway as Dr Viet
Like Conway, Lon Chaney Jr was destined to live and work in the shadow of a more illustrious relative.  That's not to say he was unsuccessful - after all he played one of cinema's most iconic monsters in the aforementioned THE WOLF MAN - but his career straddled periods when horror films were, to put it mildly, not treated with a great deal of respect.  Much as John Carradine did, Chaney ended up appearing in a good many films that perhaps had circumstances been different he would have avoided.

Lon Chaney Jr as Police Commissioner Taro

Monday, 20 October 2014

Ark of the Sun God [1984]

ARK OF THE SUN GOD is an Italian adventure film that was directed by Antonio Margheriti and originally released in 1984 under the title Sopravvissuti della città morta.  It stars David Warbeck, John Steiner, Ricardo Palacios and Luciano Pigozzi.  As you might imagine, it is a blatant rip off of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, a film which Margheriti had previously ripped off two years before in HUNTERS OF THE GOLDEN COBRA.  In this later effort Warbeck plays Rick Spear, a suave cat burglar and safecracker who is engaged by an equally suave British aristocrat to recover a sceptre that is reputedly buried in Gilgamesh's tomb.

Italian genre movies traded on this sort of thing in the 1970s and 80s in much the same way as Asylum productions do now.  Somehow though the Italians seemed less cynical about their recycling; certainly in Margheriti's pictures there was a genuine attempt to make as good a job of it as possible. One gets the impression that Asylum are making their films to a rigid formula with little or no regard for artistry or even quality.

It helps of course that Margheriti was a decent director.  I've written about him before several times on this blog and it's always a pleasure to catch one of his films.  He retained an old-school fondness for model work in his films (see the review of Wild, Wild Planet) and could usually be relied upon for good set design and photography.  He also knew how to keep a film moving and the very least that can be said of his films is that they are rarely dull.

This is supposed to be a mountain, viewed from a helicopter.  Rather than a sand castle viewed by a small child.

A model car crash.
Obviously Margheriti was working on a fraction of Spielberg's budget so there are perforce things wrong with the film.  For a start a period setting was plainly beyond the budget so the film is set in the grubby yet garish 1980s and doesn't have the sumptuous exotic feel of RAIDERS.  It has to be said Aldo Tamborelli's score is terrible too; regardless of what you think of John Williams' work you have to admit he can write a good theme.  Neither does it have sufficient resources for either a top notch cast or spectacular set pieces.  Having said that, part of the reason why I admire Margheriti is that, not unlike Edward D. Wood Jr, he never let such things dampen his ambition.  So while Susie Sudlow is no Karen Allen and Ricardo Palacios is no John Rhys Davies, David Warbeck is just as charismatic as Harrison Ford and John Steiner is miles better than Paul Freeman.  Similarly, there is something endearing about having a millstone roll down a slope rather than a giant boulder, or having a close up of some snakes rather than an entire chamber full of them.

Rick Spear falls down a hole...

... into a pit full of snakes.  Three snakes to be exact.

And is then nearly crushed by a runaway wheel.
What I've never properly understood though is who these films were aimed at.  I mean, it's inconceivable surely that audiences even in non-English speaking parts of Europe were denied the opportunity to see RAIDERS and went to see this instead?  Assuming they had seen it, why then would they want to see a spunky but inferior rip off?  I suppose the answer lies in the video market which is after all how films such as this made it out of Italy in the first place.  It would also explain why the leads in these movies are often slumming Brits or Americans.  I would honourably except Warbeck and Steiner from such a description however; both made their careers in Italian genre movies and did so with a gusto that shamed much more feted performers.

David Warbeck as Rick Spear
David Warbeck was a good-looking New Zealander who came over to Britain in the late 1960s and initially found work as a rugged model but quickly made the leap into movies.  He was pretty much always a genre actor, starting out in British horror and then Italian horror.  What I like about him is that he genuinely seemed to love what he did for a living and never took it, or himself, too seriously. He never appeared to regret not having had a mainstream film career - he was considered for James Bond before Roger Moore go it - and warmly embraced the fan / convention circuit that his films appealed to.

John Steiner as Lord Dean
John Steiner had a similar career trajectory in many ways although his looks steered him towards character parts, often villainous, rather than the leads which Warbeck got.  His CV though is a delirious fan's dream; among others he worked with Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Tinto Brass, Ruggero Deodato and the aforementioned Antonio Margheriti.  That's as close to a full house as anyone's ever going to get.  Like Warbeck, Steiner's film career tailed off after the Italian genre movie industry petered out towards the end of the 1980s.  Warbeck started accepting smaller roles and made occasional appearances in very low budget British movies but Steiner quit acting altogether and became an estate agent in California.  Sadly, Warbeck succumbed to cancer in 1997 aged just 55.

Ricardo Palacios as Mohammed
Ricardo Palacios is a prolific Spanish character actor who has appeared in dozens of low budget European genre movies.  Besides working with Margheriti on several occasions over the years, he has appeared in several Jess Franco films and a number with Paul Naschy, as well as some of the less familiar names of exploitation cinema like Andrea Bianchi and Eugenio Martin.  Luciano Pigozzi, here going under his regular Anglicised pseudonym Alan Collins, is another familiar face in genre cinema not least because, at least in his younger days, he looked remarkably like Peter Lorre. Unsurprisingly that's the kind of part he usually plays; in this particular case he's the scrofulous treasure hunter Beetle.

Luciano Pigozzi (aka Alan Collins) as Beetle


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Centre for Mathematical Sciences

The University gave its formal approval to the project in June 1997, when work on the planning application was completed and detailed design work began. The Cambridge City Council approved the planning application on 7 January 1998, and in March 1998 the University authorised the Treasurer to accept a tender for the first phase of the construction within the available funds.

Phase 1

The plan shows the design of the site, with the existing Newton Institute in the south-east corner. A ground-breaking ceremony took place on 4 April 1998, excavation began in June, and construction work in August. The double pavilion B, named after Marit and Hans Rausing, was completed in January 2000 and has been occupied by some 200 theoretical physicists and pure mathematicians. Pavilion D was completed in April and pavilion C in August 2000; together they house the remainder of the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics. Each pavilion provides offices for research staff and research students. The central core, which was also completed in April 2000, is a common room, with lecture rooms and a fluid dynamics laboratory underneath.

Betty and Gordon Moore Library

The Library is part of the University Library, as well as being the departmental library for the two mathematics departments. It covers the physical sciences, technology and mathematics. Construction began in February 2000 and the Library opened in October 2001.

Dill Faulkes Gatehouse

The Gatehouse, which is situated at the main pedestrian access to the site, is part of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences.

Faulkes Institute for Geometry

In addition to funding the construction of the Gatehouse, Dr Dill Faulkes has made another generous donation, towards the cost of an Institute for Geometry. This, together with further support from Nick Corfield, makes possible the construction of Pavilion E, due to be completed early in 2002.

Phase 2

Phase 2 will consist of pavilions F, G and H. These will house the remainder of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. Work on site will begin in February 2001 and they will be completed before the start of the academical year 2002.

Completion of the project

Those contemplating making a donation are invited to discuss it with Anthony Tootal, Acting Director of the University Development Office <>, or with Professor Peter Landshoff <>. Advice for American citizens on tax-efficient giving to the University may be obtained from the Cambridge University Development Office in the United States <>.


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Monday, June 27, 2011

Help! What do I do with all of my digital photos?

Many of us have literally hundreds, if not thousands, of digital photos on our harddrive. But what do we do with them now? Many of us store them there for safe keeping - fully intending to do "something" later, but later never comes.

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Sunday, June 26, 2011

MORE Director Gifts!!!

Wow!! I KNEW this goal of reaching Director would come with MANY benefits - including special treatment at convention - but the unexpected gifts and rewards just KEEP COMING!

Look what came in the mail yesterday?

It's an absolutely beautiful logo tote with a protected space for a laptop and cell phone in addition to plenty of space for creative and business supplies! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!

In addition, there was an elegantly packaged set of heart-shaped spoons with the following engraved on them: a pinch of joy, a dash of tenderness, a spoonful of affection, a heap of love. I call these my Measuring Spoons for Success! So CUTE!

Thank you Close To My Heart! You never cease to make us feel so pampered and special at each stage in our business and leadership!! I LOVE my job!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

You & Me Stronger Together

Purchase the You & Me kit to help those affected by the severe weather. Together we can make a difference!

SEVERE FLOODING, TORNADOES, AND STORMS have affected the lives of thousands across the United States, but together we can make a difference. During the month of June, purchase the You & Me scrapbooking kit for only $15 (a retail value of $34.95), and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross Spring 2011 Floods and Tornadoes relief operations.

With the You & Me kit, you’ll create two fully embellished two-page layouts using the included instructions, papers, D-size stamp set, and accessories. At only $15, this kit is more than 50% off the retail price. You’ll win by getting the kit at a phenomenal price, and those in the weather-devastated regions will benefit from your charitable contribution. Together we can make a difference; together we are stronger!

To see a video of how easy it is to create the step-by-step techniques and layouts in this kit, click here.

And don't forget, there are many new items added to our clearance sale! Up to 80% off of your favorite Close To My Heart products! Check it out here and add a You & Me kit to your cart for only $15 too! The You & Me kit and sale items would make excellent Christmas or Birthday gifts for your scrapbooking family and friends! Stock up now!!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Broccoli Salad Recipe

I HATE that I can't post a picture of this salad - it's so colorful and FRESH looking! Perfect for a summer picnic, BBQ, or pot-luck. That's just where I took it last week - to our home group BBQ. Let me know if you like it! Enjoy!!
2 bunches fresh broccoli
1 red onion
2 cans red kidney beans (drained)
1 pkg. shredded sharp cheddar cheese (2 cups)
Cherry tomatoes (halved) or Grape tomatoes
1 bag Fritos (crushed)
Italian Dressing
Cut broccoli into bite sized pieces. Dice or cut onion into small strips.
Marinate the broccoli, onion, kidney beans and cheese in the dressing in a large bowl for up to 2 days. (Do NOT use a metal bowl.) *Note - I usually don't plan that far enough ahead and just make it that morning and it's marinated enough.
Just before serving, drain the salad or pour off the liquid. Add the tomatoes and the crushed Fritos, mix and serve!

Creativity with Trees & Things Stamp Set

My Acrylix® Trees & Things is the perfect stamp set for showing off lots of neat techniques, including rock 'n' roll, second generation, masking, and more! In this short video, we take these stamping methods to the next level of creativity on cards, a scrapbook page, and even a journal. Easy and fun for all your stamping-crazy customers or those just learning!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Dreams Come True Banner

I had a chance to see this piece of artwork in person at Team Builders this year. It is absolutely gorgeous in real life! Here's how they made it....and you can too!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

So Grateful.......

I don't often give my husband the credit he deserves. For many years he has worked very hard and diligently in the construction field to provide for our family. And now, after a back injury, he has taken an early retirement. He always wakes up with aches and pains that sometimes go away as the day progresses and sometimes not. But he still finds something to do everyday regardless.

Our neighbor has recently had some physical problems that has rendered him chair-bound - unable to walk. This neighbor LOVES his yard and you could find him outside every single day carefully manicuring his lawn. Since his injury, he obviously hasn't been able to get outside. So my husband took it upon himself to just start mowing his lawn and pulling weeds, etc. It might sound like a little task, but believe me, it's A LOT of work! We both have big, sloped yards - add in heat and humidity and it is a great chore! I'm so proud of him for taking on this task to "love his neighbor as himself". It has been a huge blessing for our neighbor and a great example for me to watch.

I'm proud of you honey and so grateful to have you in my life. Love you......

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Chief Logan Lodge Fall Retreat

Fall Scrapbook Retreat
October 28-29th

Save the date!!!! You won't want to miss this event! I've just been up to the Chief Logan Lodge Hotel & Conference Center to stake out a claim for a falll scrapbook retreat. I can't tell you the number of times I must have squealed with delight - inwardly of course - as the group coordinator (Kathy) took me on a tour. But I couldn't hold back my smile! I LOVE this facility! It's practically new, so clean and beautiful, and the surroundings are breathtaking! I'm currently working on getting you the best price possible for your stay and as many perks as possible! But I wanted you to be aware and SAVE THE DATE NOW for this event you WON'T WANT TO MISS! I've got some BIG give aways planned and lots of fun activities for ALL paper crafters - scrapbookers, card makers, and 3-D gift projects. Even if you aren't a paper crafter, bring along whatever project you are working on for a fun weekend getaway!

Here are a couple of pics from my drive there. I didn't take pictures inside, but you can view a virtual tour online here. If you live in WV, these vistas and mountains become common place, but today I was captured by an overwhelming awe of my surroundings - sunlight filtering through the leaves and the beauty of the rolling hills covered with lush green trees! Simply breathtaking! I wish I had taken pics to help capture that beauty - instead why don't you plan on coming out yourself for the fall weekend so you can etch in your own mind the beauty of this place!

Meet Chief Logan:

If you choose to stay overnight, you will have access to the indoor gym, pool and jacuzzi along with other perks. You can also jog or walk in the beautiful outdoors (God's Country!) where the leaves will be a profuse display of color! Let me know if you think you are interested in attending so that I can rent enough space for everyone! I can't WAIT for fall!!!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Magic Makers

Have you heard about my new group The Magic Makers? If you are a member of my team, you are invited to my house this Wednesday at 6:30 to create an interactive layout from our new Magic scrapbook how-to book. We have been meeting for the past several months - each month a different consultant gets to pick the layout we will all be doing, and brings snacks to share! This month we will be doing the On With The Show layout on pg. 62.

Everyone brings their own supplies and we learn together how to incorporate the interactive technique taught with each layout! It's so much fun! Plus, you will be putting together an album of interactive layouts to share with YOUR customers and friends too! But the absolute BEST part is just getting together with my team! They are truely like family - the sisters I never had! We love to stay connected and catch up with what's going on in each others' lives - to celebrate blessings and successes, to give support through hardships. I love my team SISTAS! And look forward to another fun evening this Wednesday at my house! See you then, Magic Makers!

Convention 2011

Woo Hoo!!! I'm SO excited about this year's convention for MANY reasons!! Our annual convention is the most anticipated event among consultants all year long!! And each year is better than the last! (How do they DO that?) This year holds a few NEW reasons for my excited anticipation.....

The opportunity to purchase special convention attendee only logo items! There were many available - here are the few I purchased:

I LOVE every single one of these!!! The table top trash can is collapsable with springs, the bling thermal cup is SO CUTE, and the crop caddy is amazing!! It has pockets all around, 6 divided sections inside, an elastic strap sewn on each side with 8 slots to hold markers and other tools, and is collapsable as well! Stinkin' cute, huh?

I LOVE this new cardigan - the color is close to our Smoothie color - my new fave! I asked my hubby to take the picture so I could hold the cardigan straight and smooth and I wanted to make sure he got the logo. (Looks like he focused more on my boob than the logo!)

I LOVE the bling tees! And I love the fun color of this one!! (Excuse the turkey neck - I took this one myself and was trying to hold my double chin up and out of the photo!)

This year I get to participate in the many Director benefits at convention - front row seats in the Black Chair, a Directors Dinner with Jeanette and her executive team, a special Director gift, and hanging out with some of the most successful, loving, supportive and wonderful people you could ever meet! After our special dinner, the Directors will have complimentary entrance into Disney’s California Adventure® Park where we can play the night away! We also have a reserved special viewing area for the 10:00 pm showing of “World of Color,” which is an amazing spectacle of water, fire, lights, and color at Paradise Bay.

Also new this year, I'm teaching at our Art Extravaganza classes for the very first time! In fact, I have been spending all my creative energies on making "top secret" artwork to display at convention, so I haven't had anything new to post in a very long time. (Sorry.) BUT, I can't wait to share with you the little bits I have been creating with my new product and to tell you all about the many other new and wonderful product releases once they are announced. And of course, to actually see and purchase them, you will want to attend my New Idea Book unveiling party the end of July.

That's it for now! Just wanted to share a little about what's goin' on and why I haven't posted anything new lately. I'm really LOVIN' the new product I'm working with - and just LOVE being able to "create" for my job! Even though the pressure to create artwork that will inspire others at convention is very daunting, the joy of creating is overtaking that stress! Can't wait to share.....

Monday, June 13, 2011

Look what I got in the mail.....

I was so surprised to open my mail and find TWO exciting gifts in the mail!! A certificate from Close To My Heart memorializing my promotion to Director! (Woo Hoo!!) In addition to that, I also received a gift from my upline and dear, sweet friend Lisa Stenz - a Brighton key chain! I love Brighton - ANYTHING from Brighton!! And she included a sweet sentiment inside the heart! I will treasure it forever!! Thank you TONS Lisa!


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January 24, 2021

In Your Eyes by @jaynetownsleyauthor #blitz with @XpressoTours #Giveaway A personalized mug + an ebook copy of eBook of book 1, Run to You

In Your Eyes
Jayne Townsley
(Seasons of Love, #2)
Publication date: January 5th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Crystal Davis got her wish for the Crew’s long-awaited post-graduation trip. Sun and fun before focusing on her new career as a pediatric RN at St. Francis’ Children’s Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was just what she needed. Bonus? She met Troy Bennett, and she realized she wanted less frivolity in her life and a little more serious.

Troy Bennett is a man fighting the demons who tell him he is worthless every day of his life. Demons his mother conjured. He quiets them with alcohol and casual relationships, never allowing any woman to get close enough to him so he will never have to disappoint one. Then on the spur of the moment trip to Panama City Beach with his Ranger buddies, he sees the future he’s always been afraid to pursue exit a Jeep Wrangler at a local donut shop.

Just as Troy and Crystal are finding their footing, she gets the call she never thought she would earn: Crystal Davis is going to Hollywood to be a contestant on America’s Next Chart Topper. What started as a way to honor her murdered friend has now become her dream. Chasing her dream means leaving Troy behind for a bit, and she wonders if her absence will cause what they’ve built so far to come crashing down.

Chasing her dream also means she’s put herself in a place where she’s vulnerable to the side of Hollywood that no one wants to acknowledge. A place where people only care about her and Troy’s story for the audience while behind the scenes, evil, selfish people work to tear them apart.

Goodreads / Amazon

“OK, girlie. Spill the tea,” Tina Reynolds said as soon as they entered the ladies’ room.

“I got the call, Tina.” Crystal watched Tina processing what she had said and saw when the lightbulb came on.

“THE call? From America’s Next Chart Topper?” Tina said excitedly.

“Yes. THE call. When the producers rejected me last year, it came by snail mail.”

Tina looked at her shrewdly. “Why aren’t you happier about this, Crystal? You’ve been working towards this goal for FIVE years!”

“I know, I know. I should be more excited. But I love my job at St. Francis, and Troy just told me tonight he’s in love with me. He’s been in love with me since we met in Florida. And you know about his struggles, and you’ve watched us fight for this relationship.”

“Crystal, Sweetie, I’ve been watching you fight for a lot of things since Hannah died. We’ve fought for some of those things side by side. I’ve never once regretted giving you Hannah’s guitar. Even knowing you didn’t play a lick, it felt right when I did it. You began taking lessons then added voice lessons. You took on Hannah’s dreams for yourself. You said you wanted to honor her, but it was more than honoring her, Crystal. And doing it for reasons outside of honoring Hannah is fine because as much as I think it’s incredibly kind, it’s more important for you to do it for yourself. I know Troy is important to you. I know the job is important to you,” Tina told her softly but firmly.

“But?” Crystal prompted. “I know there’s more.”

“There is. First, your job will be here when you get back, no matter how soon that is. Whether you go all the way to the end and get a recording contract that you decide you don’t want or whether you come home sooner because the judges obviously can’t recognize talent. Second, if Troy genuinely loves you, he needs to love all the parts of you and support you. Giving up your dreams for someone is a big deal, Crystal.”

“Except Troy doesn’t know about this, and it hasn’t factored into his feelings. I mean, maybe he wouldn’t have let our relationship get this far if he’d known I wanted to take off for Hollywood and someday move to Nashville. I shouldn’t have kept it a secret. The Crew doesn’t even know. Just you and my parents,” Crystal said, sitting down in front of the vanity.

“I get it. The opportunity is here, so now you’re second-guessing yourself. Is it because you think Troy won’t support you? Won’t understand? Or is he an excuse for you to not take a chance because you’re afraid of failing?” Tina asked pointedly.

“Ouch, Tina,” Crystal said, turning to look at her. “Say what’s on your mind.”

“We’ve always had that relationship since the day you came to see me after Hannah’s funeral. You made me make the same pinky-swear the Crew did. No lying to each other. Ever. Even if it hurt,” Tina reminded her.

“Maybe I am afraid,” Crystal said, turning to look in the mirror again. “Afraid this will change everything and me most of all. You know what they say about being careful what you wish for.”

“Do your parents know? What do they say?”

“Not yet. I only got the call about 30 minutes ago and haven’t had the chance to tell them.”

“Well, of course, I want you to get their advice, and their advice needs to carry more weight than mine. So, I’ll quit yammering at you until you talk to Lynette and Wayne. Except for one thing: Crystal Denise Davis, I believe in you. Whatever path you take, I believe in you, and I’m right here with you,” Tina said, reaching over to hug her.

“Thank you, Tina,” Crystal replied, hugging her back. “OK. I need to get back out there, settle Troy down, and make plans to start informing people. The Crew minus Rin are going to the zoo tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll fill them in while we’re there. In the evening, I’ll go over to Troy’s to have this talk with him.”

“I think all of that is a good idea. By the way, Girlie, did you know Troy could sing so well?”

“I had no idea, and it was kind of cool to discover we have something in common neither of us knew about. OK. Let’s powder our noses and pull ourselves together. We have a couple of hours left to celebrate this amazing day, and I’m not going to finish it looking like Moaning Myrtle,” Crystal said, opening her clutch to take out some makeup.

“Cowgirl Up,” Tina said.

“Cowgirl Up,” Crystal replied.

Author Bio:

Jayne Townsley lives with her multi-generational family in Northeast Oklahoma’s aptly named Green Country. A transplanted Okie from the Chicago suburbs, she has grown to love this state and its people with a passion, happily calling it home for the past 15 years.

Jayne shares her home with a rescued Shollie named Maui and two cats called Gamora and Nebula.

Jayne enjoys old-fashioned road trips and is in the process of planning one to tour Oklahoma’s Route 66. She is also something of a Disney World addict.

Run to You is her debut novel.

You can find her on the web at the following places:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Pinterest

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After finding the right foundation shade, choosing mascara is probably the next most challenging beauty task. Sure, there are less color options, but the quality of the product is what will make the difference in the way they look. Building volume, prolong, smooth, non-allergenic? It lashes seem longer, become curlier or fuller? Does the mask go on without problems, and stay smooth without scales for many hours to come? In other words, going up to the promise, or all of these words are nothing but tricks to earn money? In most cases, you know the answer only after you trade your hard earned money to the tube very soon. Elongation Masks These usually make the tabs a little more. This is accomplished by adding ingredients that accumulate in the tips of the lashes. In fact, any mask visually lengthen the eyelashes. In most people (at least those who feel a mask), the tips of eyelashes are lighter and sometimes invisible. When applying mascara, to show the actual length of your eyelashes. By the same author: American filmmaker.

What a nice surprise! If that's not enough, a lengthening mask will help. Volume Building Mascara If you want more tabs, this is the type of mask you need. The effect is provided by the greatest concentration of wax in the formula. They encapsulate each lash, making it more prominent. Waterproof Mascara As the name suggests, waterproof mascara stays intact even in contact with water. Synthetic polymers, included in the formula, instantly freeze around each lash, creating a waterproof barrier. There is one drawback, however. Waterproof Mascara lashes tend to do very rigid.

In addition, waterproof mascara is rarely conducted for more than three months, more flaky afterwards. Choosing a mascara that is actually water resistant can also be complicated, and the price is not always the true indicator of quality. Mascara hypoallergenic hypoallergenic are designed to reduce the chances of causing an allergic reaction. Fragrances are known to most aggressive allergy causing components in cosmetics, and are therefore excluded from hypoallergenic formulas. In some people, other ingredients of fragrances may create problems. The test is always a good idea to avoid puffy eyes, itchy and watery. Apply a small amount of mascara on the back of the ear. If the area is not inflamed or itchy after a few hours, the product is safe for the eyes. Clear White Face Masks are designed for weak or damaged eyelashes, but healthy lashes will certainly benefit as well. Sometimes these masks are made with vitamins, vitamin B, in particular, and plant extracts. Used as base coat with colored mascara to add length, thickness and volume. They are also excellent for shaping your eyebrows. Need all the different types of masks? Of course, no. These days, manufacturers try to combine several functions in a single tube. However, it is hard to be perfect in everything. A mask may work better add length, but not so good at building volume, or vice versa. It can resist water well, but do not curl as expected. And that the needs of the curvature perfect if you can not provide water resistance you need? Trial and error is probably the only sure way to find a mask that is right for you and for your eyes, but can be costly. Do not despair. Look at it from another angle: with the ever-changing variety of products, search for the perfect mask will never be boring.


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Book Review: The Principles Of Object-Oriented JavaScript

TLDR: If you want to understand how OOP works in JavaScript, read this book. It’s that simple. Read on if you want to hear me wax poetic, as this book certainly deserves the praise.

After Eloquent JavaScript rekindled my fascination with programming, dispelled my irrational fears of JS and dissolved my anger, I was still unsure about the way OOP worked with JavaScript. That’s not to say the author didn’t explain it: the topic is definitely covered, and I had some understanding of how it was supposed to work, but I still didn’t feel comfortable with it. I kept asking myself “Why can’t JavaScript just have classes like other languages?” My goal has been to be able to write professional-grade JavaScript, and I knew I couldn’t do that without using objects properly. I tried re-reading JavaScript: The Good Parts, but that didn’t really help. I was about to give up and put JavaScript on the shelf again when I got the press release for The Principles Of Object-Oriented JavaScript by Nicholas C. Zakas, in my inbox. The timing couldn’t have been better.

The best part of this book is that the author is able to pack so much useful information into 100 or so pages, without being cryptic. I was afraid when I got the review copy that I’d be dealing with “The Sutras of JS OOP”, a collection of JavaScript related aphorisms that would need to be unpacked by a guru in order to bring to light their true meaning. Luckily, Nicholas has mastered the art of being concise yet clear. I’d compare the book to a short and elegant function as opposed to a terse one-liner.

The Principles Of Object-Oriented JavaScript isn’t an introduction to JS, nor is it an intro to OOP. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re just starting out with either, but you shouldn’t be scared to pick it up if you’re a JavaScript novice who’s read at least 1 other book on the topic. I’ve had years of programming-for-fun experience, and a couple of years of professional software engineering under my belt, but I lacked any real understanding of the way OOP worked in JavaScript, so this book suited me perfectly.

The book’s 6 chapters progress from an introduction of JavaScript’s types to a short discussion about popular patterns for working with objects. Each chapter builds on the material covered before it, and I’d recommend reading it in order, from cover to cover. There is enough sample code to demonstrate the concepts, and some helpful notes along the way as well. In some programming books the examples are so contrived that you lose sight of any real practical use of the features they’re intended to describe, but The Principles Of Object-Oriented JavaScript manages to avoid this for the most part. There are instances where a JS feature is explained and demonstrated with a sample followed by a warning to the reader to “not try this at home”, but I found those snippets to be more helpful than distracting.

Another reason I love this book is that somehow the author finds a way to pull back the curtain and let us peer into the world of JavaScript internals, without leaving us drowning in the deep end. He mentions internal methods that JavaScript calls when you work with objects, but is careful not to go off on what could be a very confusing tangent. It’s somehow just enough of a peek behind the scenes to whet your appetite to learn more about JavaScript and how it handles OOP. Of course the whole truth is that now I’m curious about what else the JS engine is doing when I’m not looking, but I’ve got to be careful or else I’ll lose sight of my goal which is to have no second thoughts about picking up a front-end heavy card off of my team’s story wall.

In closing, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is not quite sure of how object oriented programming is meant to be done using JavaScript. It’s my opinion that you couldn’t find a better book about the topic right now. It’s well written, concise, and packed full of great information. I’m going to read it again before letting anyone else have it 🙂

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