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Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982)[1] is an American actress. She made her film debut in Purple People Eater (1988), for which she won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age, and rose to early prominence as a child star with her performances in films such as All I Want for Christmas (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (1994), Now and Then (1995) and Alaska (1996).

Thora Birch
Thora Birch - Spark Academy.jpg
Thora Birch and her mentee in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Spark Mentorship Program, December, 2017
Born (1982-03-11) March 11, 1982 (age 35)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1988–present
Parent(s) Carol Connors
Jack Birch
TB - Autograph.jpg

Her breakthrough role came in 1999 with the highly acclaimed film American Beauty, which brought Birch to international recognition, earning her a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She then played the lead role in Ghost World (2001), for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2003, Birch starred in Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story, which earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. Birch has since appeared in independent films, including Dark Corners (2006), Train (2008), Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009) and Petunia (2012).

After taking a break from acting, she resumed her career in 2016 and starred as Morgan in the first season of the sci-fi television series Colony, as well as starring in four independent films.[2][3][4][5]

Early lifeEdit

Birch was born in Los Angeles, the eldest child of Jack Birch and Carol Connors. Her parents, who have been her business managers throughout her acting career, are former adult film actors; both appeared in the film Deep Throat.[6][7][8][9] Birch is of German Jewish, Scandinavian and Italian ancestry.[10] The family's original surname was Biersch.[10] Her name, Thora, is derived from the name of the Norse god of thunder and lightning, Thor;[11] she has a younger brother named Bolt.[12] Because of their own experience with the entertainment industry, Birch's parents were reluctant to encourage her, but they were persuaded to show her photograph to agents by a babysitter who noticed her imitating commercials.[13]

Birch appeared in commercials in the late 1980s for Burger King, California Raisins, Quaker Oats and Vlasic Pickles.[13][14] She made her film debut in the 1988 science-fiction comedy Purple People Eater, for which she won a Youth In Film Award and a Young Artist Award in the category of "Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age".[15] Also in 1988, she guest-starred in an episode of Doogie Howser, M.D.,[16] and was cast as Molly in the NBC television series Day By Day, being credited as "Thora". The show aired for two seasons on NBC and earned her two Young Artist Award nominations.

In 1990, Birch had one of the lead roles in the sitcom Parenthood, based on the 1989 film of the same name. It aired on NBC and was cancelled after one season. In the next year, she starred in the drama Paradise, with Don Johnson, Melanie Griffith and Elijah Wood. She won her role over more than 4,000 other young hopefuls who auditioned for it. Roger Ebert felt she played her part with "strong, simple charm"[17] and later earned another Young Artist Award nomination. For the rest of the 1990s, Birch continued to find steady recognition as a child and teen actress through leading parts in numerous comedy and family feature films.

She starred in the romantic comedy All I Want for Christmas (1991), as a girl who plans to get her divorced parents back together for Christmas.[18] The film received mediocre reviews and moderate attention from audiences upon its theatrical premiere,[19][20] but developed a following on television and on home video the subsequent years.[21][22] In 1992, she played the daughter of Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) in the spy thriller Patriot Games, which was a commercial success, grossing US$178 million at the worldwide box office.[23]

Birch appeared in the fantasy comedy Hocus Pocus (1993), opposite Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker. The film saw her play the younger sister of a teenage boy who inadvertently ressurects a villainous trio of witches. Hocus Pocus rated average with reviewers and made a modest US$39 million in the US,[24][25] but became a cult film due to strong DVD sales and large television following.[26][27] In the 1994 comedy Monkey Trouble, Birch portrayed a girl who adopts a Capuchin monkey trained to pick pockets and burglarize houses. The movie had a mixed reception, but Marjorie Baumgarten, for the Austin Chronicle, observed that her "nuanced performance (a rarity amongst child performers) no doubt lends Monkey Trouble its realistic touch".[28] Also in 1994, she reprised her Patriot Games role in the sequel, Clear and Present Danger, which grossed over US$215 million globally.[29]

In 1995, Birch was cast as the younger version of Melanie Griffith's character in the coming-of-age film Now and Then, also starring Gaby Hoffmann, Christina Ricci, Demi Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. It was released to largely mediocre reviews, but proved to be a profit.[30] She landed a leading role in the adventure drama Alaska (1996) opposite Vincent Kartheiser, portraying two siblings who search through the Alaskan wilderness for their lost father (Dirk Benedict). For the next two years, she did not appear in a film but guest-starred in Promised Land and Touched by an Angel.[31] She subsequently filmed the made-for-television film Night Ride Home and an uncredited role for Anywhere but Here, both released in 1999.

Also in 1999, she appeared in the Sam Mendes-directed drama American Beauty, as Jane Burnham, the insecure daughter of Kevin Spacey's character. Rolling Stone felt Birch "[glimmered] with grown-up radiance" in her role,[32] for which she later received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[33] The film was the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture[34] and grossed over US$356 million worldwide,[35] emerging as the biggest commercial success of Birch's career to date.[36]

Following her success with American Beauty, she appeared in two films released in 2000. The small-scale drama The Smokers received a straight-to-DVD release in the US, going largely unnoticed, but Birch was called "a scene-stealer" in her supporting role by The Hollywood Reporter.[37] Her other film of the year was the poorly received Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy film based on the role-playing game of the same name. In 2001, she starred with Keira Knightley in the horror film The Hole, in which her headlining credit and highly publicized seven figure salary was attributed to her appearance in American Beauty.[38] The film was released in theaters in the UK, and on DVD in the US, receiving mixed reviews. Writing for Variety magazine, Derek Elley stated that Birch gave "an effectively creepy lead [performance]" in the film, which he called "a clunky British attempt to merge the psychothriller and teen movie genres".[39]

Birch headlined the 2001 black comedy Ghost World, directed by Terry Zwigoff and co-starring Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi and Brad Renfro. The film, focused on the lives of two teenage outsiders (Birch and Johansson) in an unnamed American city, was released in a specialty theatrical run, to a highly favorable critical reception. James Berardinelli found Birch's part to be her "first effectively developed role" since American Beauty and positively singled out the actress for the "quirkiness [and the] underlying sense of melancholy and ennui" in her portrayal.[40] She earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy.[41]

Jane Fonda backstage with Birch before being honored at the 2015 Hollywood Film Awards

Birch appeared as the title character in the biographical television film Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003), playing a young woman who, after becoming homeless at 15 amid personal tragedies, begins her work to finish her studies. She garnered acclaim for her part, receiving an Emmy nomination.[42] After her professional achievements in the 1990s and early 2000s, Birch's profile decreased significantly in the next decade, as she had more infrequent acting appearances in much smaller-scale productions. Reflecting on her career trajectory the subsequent years during a January 2014 interview, she attributed it to not "taking" the demands the film industry had for her, opting to "maintain a strong identity and pursue things that were a little more thoughtful, and I guess nobody really wanted women to do that at that time".[43]

In 2003 she appeared in Limp Bizkit's music video for the song Eat you alive. She played Fred's Love interest. Also featuring Bill Paxton.

She played a supporting role in Silver City, a political satire written and directed by John Sayles, which premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. In 2006, Birch had the lead role in the horror-thriller Dark Corners, portraying a troubled young woman who wakes up one day as a different person—someone who is stalked by creatures.[44] The film did not receive a theatrical release, and instead, went straight to DVD. It rated poorly with reviewers,[45] but Birch was considered "convincing as the two halves of this split personality".[46] She followed with the female lead role in the 2008 slasher Train, which revolved around a group of US college athletes who get stalked and killed in an Eastern Europe train. The film received a DVD release, to a mediocre overall reception, with critics comparing it unfavorably to Hostel and Turistas.[47][48]

She appeared in the 2009 psychological thriller Deadline, co-starring Brittany Murphy. Like Birch's previous few projects, the film premiered directly-to-video in the UK and the US, and went little seen by audiences. Also in 2009, she starred in the independent mystery film Winter of Frozen Dreams, as Barbara Hoffman, a Wisconsin biochemistry student and prostitute convicted of murder in the first televised murder trial ever. The film had a limited theatrical release, receiving average reviews.[49] DVD Talk felt she was "the weakest link in the whole piece", while Bloody Disgusting found Birch to be "the gem" of the film, asserting that she was "very alluring to the eyes as the main subject of this case".[50][51] During filming, a controversy arose involving Birch's father and his forced presence during Birch's taping of a sex scene.[8]

In 2010, Birch took on the role of Sidney Bloom in the made-for-television movie The Pregnancy Pact, which was based on the allegedly true story of a 2008 media circus surrounding teenagers in Gloucester, Massachusetts, who allegedly agreed to concurrently give birth and raise their children communally.[52] The Lifetime film was favorably received by critics and was watched by 5.9 million viewers.[53][54] Later in 2010, Birch was cast and scheduled to make her American stage debut in the off Broadway revival of Dracula, but was fired for the behavior of her father, her manager at the time, who physically threatened one of the show's cast members.[6]

Birch starred in the 2012 independent dramedy Petunia, playing the role of Vivian Petunia. She is credited as a co-producer in the film, which depicts simultaneously the lives and romantic relationships of the Petunia family.[43][55] Birch considered the film an "intimate" and "a very modern tale", describing it as "a little bit different from your standard summer fare".[56] Distributed for a very limited release in the US, the film premiered at Cinema Village in New York City,[57] garnering mixed reviews.[58][59]

Birch as Jolene on the set of Above Suspicion

After devoting herself to academic pursuits, Birch returned to her acting career in 2015 with a recurring role as software engineer Morgan in the Carlton Cuse series Colony.[3][4]

Birch is set to star in four films in 2017. She first starred in the independent film The Etruscan Smile with Brian Cox, which was shot in San Francisco and Scotland.[60] She then went to Kentucky to shoot the thriller Above Suspicion,[61] based on the book of the same name by New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey, and co-starring Jack Huston, Emilia Clarke and Johnny Knoxville.[62] Birch starred in the political thriller Public Affairs, with Adrian Grenier. The film was shot in Norfolk, Virginia.[63] Most recently, Birch starred in the romantic comedy, The Competition, directed by Harvey Lowry, which was shot in Portland. Birch both starred in and produced the film, which was picked up for distribution by VMI Worldwide.[64][65]

Year Title Role Notes
1988 Purple People Eater Molly Johnson
1991 Paradise Billie Pike
1991 All I Want for Christmas Hallie O'Fallon
1992 Patriot Games Sally Ryan
1992 Itsy Bitsy Spider Leslie McGroarty (voice) Short film
1993 Hocus Pocus Dani Dennison
1994 Monkey Trouble Eva Gregory
1994 Clear and Present Danger Sally Ryan
1995 Now and Then Tina "Teeny" Tercell
1996 Alaska Jessie Barnes
1999 American Beauty Jane Burnham
1999 Anywhere but Here Mary Uncredited
2000 The Smokers Lincoln Roth
2000 Dungeons & Dragons Empress Savina
2001 The Hole Elizabeth "Liz" Dunn
2001 Ghost World Enid
2004 Silver City Karen Cross
2004 The Dot Narrator (voice) Short film
2005 Slingshot April
2006 Dark Corners Susan Hamilton / Karen Clarke
2008 Train Alexandra "Alex" Roper
2009 Winter of Frozen Dreams Barbara Hoffman
2009 Deadline Lucy Woods
2012 Petunia Vivian Petunia
2018 The Etruscan Smile[66] Emily
2018 Above Suspicion[67][68] Jolene

Year Title Role Notes
1988–89 Day by Day Molly Recurring role (21 episodes)
1989 Doogie Howser, M.D. Megan Episode: "Vinnie Video Vici"
1990 Dark Avenger Susie Donovan Television film
1990 Married People Emily Episode: "To Live and Drive in New York"
1990–91 Parenthood Taylor Buckman Main role (12 episodes)
1991 Amen Brittany Episode: "Nothing Says Lovin'..."
1994 Monty Ann Sherman Episode: "Here Comes the Son"
1995 The Outer Limits Aggie Travers Episode: "The Choice"
1997 Promised Land Allison Rhodes Episode: "Running Scared"
1997 Touched by an Angel Erin Episode: "The Pact"
1999 Night Ride Home Clea Mahler Television film
2002 Night Visions Susan Thornhill Episode: "The Maze"
2003 Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story Elizabeth "Liz" Murray Television film
2005 My Life as a Teenage Robot Vega (voice) Episode: "Escape from Cluster Prime"
2010 The Pregnancy Pact Sidney Bloom Television film
2016 Colony[3][4] Morgan Recurring role

Awards and nominationsEdit

Year Association Category Work Result
1989 Young Artist Award Best Young Actor/Actress Ensemble in a Television Comedy, Drama Series or Special Day by Day Nominated
Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age Purple People Eater Won
1990 Outstanding Performance by an Actress Under Nine Years of Age Day by Day Nominated
1991 Best Young Actress Supporting or Re-Occurring Role for a TV Series Parenthood Nominated
1992 Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture Paradise Won
1993 Best Young Actress Under Ten in a Motion Picture Patriot Games Nominated
Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture All I Want for Christmas Nominated
1994 Best Youth Actress Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy Hocus Pocus Won
1996 Best Performances by a Young Ensemble – Feature Film or Video Now and Then Nominated
1997 Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress Alaska Nominated
1999 SDFCS Award Best Supporting Actress American Beauty Won
2000 BAFTA Film Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated
OFCS Award Best Supporting Actress Nominated
OFCS Award Best Ensemble Cast Performance Won
Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Supporting Actress – Drama Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Theatrical Motion Picture Won
Young Hollywood Award Best On-Screen Chemistry (shared with Wes Bentley) Won
Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress Won
YoungStar Award Best Young Actress/Performance in a Motion Picture Drama Won
2001 Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress Dungeons & Dragons Nominated
Golden Space Needle Award Best Actress Ghost World Won
TFCA Award Best Performance, Female Won
Deauville Film Festival Best Female Performance Won
SDFCS Award Best Actress Won
2002 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Nominated
VFCC Award Best Actress Nominated
Young Hollywood Award Talent for Charity Won
Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award Female Dungeons & Dragons and Ghost World Nominated
OFCS Award Best Actress Ghost World Nominated
CFCA Award Best Actress Nominated
MTV Movie Awards Best Line Nominated
MTV Movie Award Best Dressed Nominated
Golden Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical Nominated
2003 Young Hollywood Award Won
DVD Premiere Award Best Supporting Actress The Smokers Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story Nominated
2007 Nellie Tayloe Ross Award Won

  1. ^ (2012-11-14). "Thora Birch". Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  2. ^ Williams, Kate. "Life Advice From Thora Birch". Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  3. ^ a b c Andreeva, Nellie. "Thora Birch Joins USA's Alien Drama Series 'Colony'". Deadline. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  4. ^ a b c Whitney Friedlander. "Thora Birch Joins 'Colony' From Carlton Cuse Starring Josh Holloway". Variety. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  5. ^ Busch, Anita (2016-04-06). "Thora Birch To Star In And Produce Romantic Comedy 'The Competition'". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  6. ^ a b Healey, Patrick (December 14, 2010). "Actress Thora Birch fired from "Dracula"". The New York Times.
  7. ^ O'Neal, Sean (December 14, 2010). "Thora Birch's creepy ex-porn star dad gets her fired". The A.V. Club.
  8. ^ a b Johsnon, Richard; Froelich, Paula; Hoffmann, Bill; Steindler, Corynne (27 March 2007). "Dad Crashes Star's Sex Shoot". New York Post. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  9. ^ Sharbutt, Jay (February 13, 1978). "Young Gong Show Introducer Carol Connors Rings Bell". Ocala Star-Banner. Archived at Google News. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Getting her own thing going". The Sunday Times (South Africa). 2002-03-17. Archived from the original on 2002-05-26.
  11. ^ "Thora Birch Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story". Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  12. ^ "Thora Birch". Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  13. ^ a b Evening Standard (2001-04-09). "Fearless Thora is a teen in peril". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  14. ^ Paul Fischer (2001-12-08). "Thora Birch for "Dungeons and Dragons"". Dark Horizons. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  15. ^ Awards for Thora Birch on IMDb
  16. ^ "Vinnie Video Vici". 25 October 1989. Retrieved 19 January 2017 – via IMDb.
  17. ^ Boone, Steven (1991-10-04). "Paradise Movie Review & Film Summary (1991)". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  18. ^ Vicki Notaro (2015-12-19). "25 Christmas movies for the 25th (and other days)". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  19. ^ "All I Want for Christmas". Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  20. ^ "All I Want for Christmas (1991)". Box Office Mojo. 1991-12-31. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  21. ^ Posted by Joanna (2014-08-20). "All I Want for Christmas (1991)". Christmas TV History. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  22. ^ "All I Want For Christmas (1991) | '90s Movies That Will Bring Back the Magic of Your Childhood Holidays | POPSUGAR Entertainment". 2016-12-24. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  23. ^ "Patriot Games (1992)". Box Office Mojo. 1992-08-18. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  24. ^ "Hocus Pocus". Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  25. ^ "Hocus Pocus (1993)". Box Office Mojo. 1993-10-22. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  26. ^ Cavan Sieczkowski (1993-07-16). "Five Reasons Why 'Hocus Pocus' is One of the Greatest Cult Classic Films". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  27. ^ "The Magical Tale of How 'Hocus Pocus' Went From Box-Office Flop to Halloween Favorite". 2015-10-28. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  28. ^ "Monkey Trouble - Film Calendar". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  29. ^ "Clear and Present Danger (1994)". Box Office Mojo. 1994-10-25. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  30. ^ "Now and Then (1995)". Box Office Mojo. 1995-12-05. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  31. ^ "The Thora Birch Picture Pages". Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  32. ^ Travers, Peter (1999-10-01). "American Beauty". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  33. ^ "BAFTA Awards Search | BAFTA Awards". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  34. ^ "2000 | | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". 2000-03-26. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  35. ^ "American Beauty (1999)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  36. ^ "Thora Birch - Box Office". The Numbers. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  37. ^ "Film review: 'Smokers'". The Hollywood Reporter. 20 March 2000.
  38. ^ Interview with Birch, just after the film's release in the UK
  39. ^ Derek Elley (2001-04-19). "The Hole". Variety. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  40. ^ A movie review by James Berardinelli (2001-08-03). "Ghost World | Reelviews Movie Reviews". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  41. ^ "The contenders". Chicago Tribune. 2002-02-10. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  42. ^ "Thora Birch Emmy Nominated". Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  43. ^ a b Hadley Freeman (23 January 2014). "Thora Birch: how Hollywood's darling disappeared". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  44. ^ Dark Corners on IMDb
  45. ^ "Three Horror Films from Anchor Bay - Reviews by David Nusair". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  46. ^ "Dark Corners (2006) Movie Review". Eye for Film. 2007-05-22. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  47. ^ "Horror Movie A Day: Train (2008)". 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  48. ^ Film Review: Train (2008). "Film Review: Train (2008)". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  49. ^ by Don Sumner - Editor in Chief (2016-05-22). "Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009) Review". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  50. ^ "Winter of Frozen Dreams : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  51. ^ Marrone, John (2014-07-08). "[Review] 'Winter of Frozen Dreams' Forecast is Fair, If Not Dry and Crusty". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  52. ^ Hinckley, David (January 23, 2010). "Lifetime's 'Pregnancy Pact' treats surge in teen pregnancy with kid gloves". New York Daily News.
  53. ^ Brian Lowry (2010-01-21). "The Pregnancy Pact". Variety. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  54. ^ Nguyen, Hanh (2010-01-25). "'Pregnancy Pact' gives Lifetime ratings baby bump – Screener". Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  55. ^ Genzingler, Neil (28 June 2013). "Wilted Spirits in an Abstemious Family". New York Times. p. C8.
  56. ^ "Thora Birch Explains How "Petunia" is Different from Standard Summer Fare". 2012-07-26. Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  57. ^ ""Petunia" is One of 2013's Most Rewarding Films". The Independent Critic. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  58. ^ "Petunia: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  59. ^ Dennis Harvey (2012-06-24). "Petunia". Variety. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  60. ^ Pedersen, Erik (2016-01-28). "JJ Feild Joins 'The Etruscan Smile'; Netflix Sets Tony Robbins Documentary Bow". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  61. ^ Busch, Anita (2016-05-27). "Thora Birch, Johnny Knoxville Join Phillip Noyce's 'Above Suspicion'". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  62. ^ "Thora Birch, Johnny Knoxville Join Phillip Noyce's 'Above Suspicion'". 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  63. ^ Dave McNary (2016-01-28). "Adrian Grenier's 'Public Affairs' Adds Thora Birch". Variety. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  64. ^ "VMI Worldwide". VMI Worldwide. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  65. ^ Busch, Anita (2016-09-13). "Thora Birch To Star In And Produce Romantic Comedy 'The Competition'". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
  66. ^ Balboa, Tony. "The Etruscan Smile - 2017". Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  67. ^ "Thora Birch, Johnny Knoxville Join Phillip Noyce's 'Above Suspicion'". Retrieved 2016-05-31.
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External linksEdit


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Definition of ballottine in US English:

  • A dish of meat, poultry, or fish that is stuffed and rolled.

    • ‘Move on to complex appetizers like pheasant ballottine, a cylinder of braised meat surrounded by a savoury sauce and tiny little apples.’
    • ‘Next up for me was a tasty pheasant ballottine, incredibly fresh although it must've taken a lot of preparation.’
    • ‘My dining companion and I elected to begin with foie gras ballottine with truffled cauliflower and white peach soup.’
    • ‘Marks & Spencer sells Oisin-farmed venison steaks and joints; and, from the end of November, deboned and stuffed ballottine of pheasant.’
    • ‘A quadripartite pig plate comprises hot charcuterie in the form of ballottine, loin, and, unusually for a French restaurant, hot crackling.’

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text:
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Hillel

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HILLEL, Jewish rabbi, of Babylonian origin, lived at Jerusalem in the time of King Herod. Though hard pressed by poverty, he applied himself to study in the schools of Shemaiah and Abtalion (Sameas and Pollion in Josephus). On account of his comprehensive learning and his rare qualities he was numbered among the recognized leaders of the Pharisaic scribes. Tradition assigns him the highest dignity of the Sanhedrin, under the title of nasi (“prince”), about a hundred years before the destruction of Jerusalem, i.e. about 30 B.C. The date at least can be recognized as historic; the fact that Hillel took a leading position in the council can also be established. The epithet ha-zaḳen (“the elder”), which usually accompanies his name, proves him to have been a member of the Sanhedrin, and according to a trustworthy authority Hillel filled his leading position for forty years, dying, therefore, about A.D. 10. His descendants remained, with few exceptions, at the head of Judaism in Palestine until the beginning of the 5th century, two of them, his grandson Gamaliel I. and the latter's son Simon, during the time when the Temple was still standing. The fact that Josephus (Vita 38) ascribes to Simon descent from a very distinguished stock (γένους σφόδρα λαμπροῦ), shows in what degree of estimation Hillel's descendants stood. When the dignity of nasi became afterwards hereditary among them, Hillel's ancestry, perhaps on the ground of old family traditions, was traced back to David. Hillel is especially noted for the fact that he gave a definite form to the Jewish traditional learning, as it had been developed and made into the ruling and conserving factor of Judaism in the latter days of the second Temple, and particularly in the centuries following the destruction of the Temple. He laid down seven rules for the interpretation of the Scriptures, and these became the foundation of rabbinical hermeneutics; and the ordering of the traditional doctrines, into a whole, effected in the Mishna by his successor Judah I., two hundred years after Hillel's death, was probably likewise due to his instigation. The tendency of his theory and practice in matters pertaining to the Law is evidenced by the fact that in general he advanced milder and more lenient views in opposition to his colleague Shammai, a contrast which after the death of the two masters, but not until after the destruction of the Temple, was maintained in the strife kept up between the two schools named the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai. The well-known institution of the Prosbol (προσβολή), introduced by Hillel, was intended to avert the evil consequences of the scriptural law of release in the seventh year (Deut. xv. 1). He was led to this, as is expressly set forth (M. Giṭṭin, iv. 3), by a regard for the welfare of the community. Hillel lived in the memory of posterity chiefly as the great teacher who enjoined and practised the virtues of charity, humility and true piety. His proverbial sayings, in particular, a great number of which were written down partly in Aramaic, partly in Hebrew, strongly affected the spirit both of his contemporaries and of the succeeding generations. In his Maxims (Aboth, i. 12) he recommends the love of peace and the love of mankind beyond all else, and his own love of peace sprang from the tenderness and deep humility which were essential features in his character, as has been illustrated by many anecdotes. Hillel's patience has become proverbial. One of his sayings commends humility in the following paradox: “My abasement is my exaltation.” His charity towards men is given its finest expression in the answer which he made to a proselyte who asked to be taught the commandments of the Torah in the shortest possible form: “What is unpleasant to thyself that do not to thy neighbour; this is the whole Law, all else is but its exposition.” This allusion to the scriptural injunction to love one's neighbour (Lev. xix. 18) as the fundamental law of religious morals, became in a certain sense a commonplace of Pharisaic scholasticism. For the Pharisee who accepts the answer of Jesus regarding that fundamental doctrine which ranks the love of one's neighbour as the highest duty after the love of God (Mark xii. 33), does so because as a disciple of Hillel the idea is familiar to him. St Paul also (Gal. v. 14) doubtless learned this in the school of Gamaliel. Hillel emphasized the connexion between duty towards one's neighbour and duty towards oneself in the epigrammatic saying: “If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am for myself alone, what then am I? And if not now, then when?” (Aboth, i. 14). The duty of working both with and for men he teaches in the sentence: “Separate not thyself from the congregation” (ib. ii. 4). The duty of considering oneself part of common humanity, of not differing from others by any peculiarity of behaviour, he sums up in the words: “Appear neither naked nor clothed, neither sitting nor standing, neither laughing nor weeping” (Tosef. Ber. c. ii.). The command to love one's neighbour inspired also Hillel's injunction (Aboth, ii. 4): “Judge not thy neighbour until thou art in his place” (cf. Matt. vii. 1). The disinterested pursuit of learning, study for study's sake, is commended in many of Hillel's sayings as being what is best in life: “He who wishes to make a name for himself loses his name; he who does not increase [his knowledge] decreases it; he who does not learn is worthy of death; he who works for the sake of a crown is lost” (Aboth, i. 13). “He who occupies himself much with learning makes his life” (ib. ii. 7). “He who has acquired the words of doctrine has acquired the life of the world to come” (ib.). “Say not: When I am free from other occupations I shall study; for may be thou shall never at all be free” (ib. 4). One of his strings of proverbs runs as follows: “The uncultivated man is not innocent; the ignorant man is not devout; the bashful man learns not; the wrathful man teaches not; he who is much absorbed in trade cannot become wise; where no men are, there strive thyself to be a man” (ib. 5). The almost mystical profundity of Hillel's conciousness of God is shown in the words spoken by him on the occasion of a feast in the Temple — words alluding to the throng of people gathered there which he puts into the mouth of God Himself: “If I am here every one is here; if I am not here no one is here” (Sukkah 53a). In like manner Hillel makes God say to Israel, referring to Exodus xx. 24: “Whither I please, thither will I go; if thou come into my house I come into thy house; if thou come not into my house, I come not into thine” (ib.).

It is noteworthy that no miraculous legends are connected with Hillel's life. A scholastic tradition, however, tells of a voice from heaven which made itself heard when the wise men had assembled in Jericho, saying: “Among those here present is one who would have deserved the Holy Spirit to rest upon him, if his time had been worthy of it.” And all eyes turned towards Hillel (Tos. Soṭah, xiii. 3). When he died lamentation was made for him as follows: “Woe for the humble, woe for the pious, woe for the disciple of Ezra!” (ib.)

Hillel II., one of the patriarchs belonging to the family of Hillel I., lived in Tiberias about the middle of the 4th century, and introduced the arrangement of the calendar through which the Jews of the Diaspora became independent of Palestine in the uniform fixation of the new moons and feasts.

The Rabbi Hillel, who in the 4th century made the remarkable declaration that Israel need not expect a Messiah, because the promise of a Messiah had already been fulfilled in the days of King Hezekiah (Babli, Sanhedrin, 99a), is probably Hillel, the son of Samuel ben Naḥman, a well-known expounder of the scriptures. (W. Ba.)


text:
From Wikiversity
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Welcome to the first ActionScript lesson, part of the ActionScript program here at Wikiversity. Instead of creating one of those silly "Hello World" introductions, I'm going to jump right into the structure and basics of ActionScript.

Basics of ActionScript 2.0[edit]

If not for functions, ActionScript 2.0 (which will be from here on refered to as AS) would be nearly useless (see Event Handlers below). A function is essentially a set of commands you are giving to Adobe Flash. You can do pretty much anything in a function. Writing a function is simple:

function function_name (parameters) {

You'll notice five essential elements to creating a function. First, you must write function, which lets AS know that you are creating a function. The next three elements must be included for the function to be created properly.

Let's jump into it and write a line of code now. In the Action Panel write the following:

objname.onLoad = function()
 trace("hello world");

Function Name[edit]

The function's name is arbitrary. You can call a function whatever you want, as long as you adhere to these rules:

  • The function's name cannot begin with a number!
  • The function's name cannot contain any other symbol than a letter, an underscore or a number.
  • The function's name cannot have any spaces. While new_function would be ok, new function would generate an error.
  • The function's name is case sensitive! Whenever you use a function, every character must be the same. So trying to use FunctionOne when it's actually called functionone will not work.

Parameters are an incredibly useful part of a function, but for now we won't be going into that. They pass on information to the function when it is called. Sound complicated? That's why we'll be doing it later! They are always contained in parentheses. If you do not want to use parameters (we won't be for now), you still have to leave in the empty parentheses, like this (compare above function):

function newfunction () {

Without statements, the function would essentially accomplish nothing. If a function is a shopping list, then a statement is something you need to get. Statements are separated using a semi-colon (;). Using the example of the shopping list, most functions look a bit like this:

function shoppinglist () {

Curly Brackets[edit]

Finally, the curly brackets ({}), also known as curly braces. They make the difference between the function you are creating and the rest of your code, kind of like a fence makes the difference between two properties. Without brackets, you are going to get a pile of syntax errors in your code! They must be placed after the function name and parameters, and on a new line after you are done writing statements, like so:

function functionname () {

Calling a Function[edit]

So there you go, now you know how to write a function! As I mentioned above, we will learn how to use parameters later on. Most Flash programs contain a handful of functions, depending on how many different sets of actions need to be used. In AS, if you write statements outside of a function, they are executed immediately, which is not always what you want. So what's the point of creating a function? So you can call it whenever you want! Calling a function is also simple.

To call a function, you must first write the function's name, then it's parameters within parentheses. Just like when you were writing a function, you still need to add the parentheses even if you don't have any parameters. You can call a function whenever you want: you can even call a function within another function, kind of like this:

function firstfunction() {
   //do a;
   //bunch of;
function secondfunction() {
   //do a;
   //bunch of;
   //other stuff;

In the above code, AS will essentially run the firstfunction, which will do a bunch of stuff, and then run secondfunction, which will do a bunch of other stuff. Once we get into Event Handlers and Parameters, you'll see how this can be very useful.

Variables are, in their most basic form, containers for information. Creating a variable is simple:

variablename = value

As you can see here, all you need to do is give the variable a name, put the = sign, and give it a value! The variable's name must be written like a function: don't start with a number, only characters, numbers and underscores are allowed, no spaces, and remember, it's case sensitive! A value is whatever the variable contains. A variable can contain four different things: an array (a list of information), a number, a string or an object.

Also worth noting is the variable declaration syntax of Actionscript 3.0.

var myText:String = "this is the content";
var myNum:Number = 3.14;
var myArray:Array = ["apple", "pear", "orange"];
var myObject:Sprite = new Sprite;

These are different from loose declarations in that they begin with var then their name, myText for example, then a colon and their data type, lastly an "=" and then their value.

A string is basically a bunch of words. Strings always have "quotation marks" around them. Strings are usually used to display information. They are not commands within AS, but instead, literal words. For example, if I write:

var1 = 3.14159
var2 = var1 + 5

AS will recognize var2 as being worth 8.14159. On the other hand, if I write:

var1 = "3.14159"
var2 = var1 + 5

AS will recognize var2 as being worth 3.141595. Instead of adding 5 as a value, it is literally added to var1. As you continue to use ActionScript, you will realize how important it is to make the difference between strings and everything else.

Integer is simply another word for number. As in the example above, variables can contain integers for various reasons. Integers are never surrounded by anything alone. Though integers are used surrounded by other objects. If you add to variables containing integers together, you will get the mathematical sum of those two numbers. For example:

var1 = 5
var2 = 3
var3 = var1 + var2

var3 is equal to 8.

Other Variables[edit]

Variables can contain other variables, as in the above examples. When you create a variable that is equal to another variable, the new variable simply copies the old variables information. So if I write:

var1 = "chocolate"
var2 = var1

var2 is equal to "chocolate". Since we usually separate variables into strings or integers, you can make variables interact with each other when creating a new variable depending on what they are. Integer variables can be added (+), subtracted (-), multiplied (*) and divided (/), while string variables can only be added, or Concatenated, onto each other. For example:

var1 = 3
var2 = 5
var3 = var1 * var2
var4 = "hello my name"
var5 = "is Lollercakes."
var6 = var4 + var5

var3 will be equal to 15, while var6 will be equal to "hello my nameis Lollercakes." Note that there are no spaces automatically included when adding variables. To accomplish that, we'd have to add a space within the string declaration like this:

var1 = "The battle"
var2 = " of the Bulge."
var3 = var1 + var2

var3 is therefore equal to "The battle of the Bulge."

Flash is an object-oriented program. Most of the ActionScript you will write will be used to manipulate objects within Flash, whether they're text, objects drawn using Flash, or animations within those objects. Methods are object-oriented actions, kind of like functions already included in Flash. Here are a few examples of methods:

  • String.split(delimiter:String, [limit:Number]) -- Splits a String object into substrings by breaking it wherever the specified delimiter parameter occurs and returns the substrings in an array. If you use an empty string ("") as a delimiter, each character in the string is placed as an element in the array.
  • Sound.start([secondOffset:Number], [loops:Number]) -- Starts playing the last attached sound from the beginning if no parameter is specified, or starting at the point in the sound specified by the secondOffset parameter.
  • Movieclip.duplicateMovieClip(name:String, depth:Number, [initObject:Object]) -- Creates an instance of the specified movie clip while the SWF file is playing. Duplicated movie clips always start playing at Frame 1, no matter what frame the original movie clip is on when the duplicateMovieClip() method is called...

As you can see, each of these methods have parameters (ah ah, you'll learn about those soon!), just like functions. The difference is that, while a function can simply be called whenever and wherever, most methods need to be based on an existing object. So really, methods are like functions created by Flash and usually must be run with an object, while functions are user-defined. For example, if you look at the second example shown above, Sound.start(), replacing the word Sound with the name of a sound object created in Flash will make that sound object play whatever sound has been attached to it. There are three major types of methods.

Return Methods[edit]

When you need to get information concerning a certain object, you use a return method. Return methods can be used to create new objects based on old ones, or to create variables that contain information about objects. Let's look at one of the examples above, which is String.split().

When you use String.split(), you are essentially taking a variable and separating it using a delimiter which you define in the parameters section. Although this sounds confusing, the result is essentially an array, which is like a list of variables. The point is, when you use the String.split() command, it does NOT do anything to the variable itself... it simply sends information to wherever you need it about the consequences of whatever the method is. Commonly, String.split() would be used something like this:

string1 = "Bananas, oranges, apples"
array1 = string1.split(",")

In this scenario, array1 would be equal to bananas, oranges, apples. We're going to learn more about arrays later on, but for now all you need to know is how return methods work!

Effect Methods[edit]

Contrary to return methods, change methods actually create a change within the object. We'll use the example of Sound.start() for this one. When using Sound.start(), it does something to the object (which is a sound file): it starts playing it! Effect methods are also used in a variety of other contexts, such as when drawing an object within Flash or starting or stopping animations. Effect methods are simple, truth be told.

Constructor Methods[edit]

Constructor methods, as the name implies, "construct" objects, sounds, variables, arrays, etc. within Flash. When creating a function, you are using the function constructor. When creating a new Sound object or Movie clip, it looks like this:

mySound = new Sound();
_root.createEmptyMovieClip("name", 1);

Constructor methods are useful for creating content within a Flash application that is context sensitive, such as a user-defined sound effect or drawing. Whether or not you use constructor methods depends on what you're trying to accomplish in Flash, although most user-friendly, context-sensitive Flash applications (what Flash is truly made for!) make extensive use of constructor methods.

Advanced ActionScript Structure[edit]

Finally! Parameters can be used in a number of different situations: when writing and calling a function, when using a method, etc. To be simple, parameters hold context-sensitive information that is passed on to a function or method when used. Parameters are kind of like variables: they hold information that can be accessed at any time.

The way a parameter works is the same with both functions and methods. Many functions and methods need parameters to run. For example, if you are using a createEmptyMovieClip method, you need to specify what the new Movie Clip that is created will be named, and on which level in AS it will appear. The parameters are contained in parentheses. When writing code, you can check out the AS Reference to know which information is passed on to which parameter. Using the example of createEmptyMovieClip, here is how it is usually written:

_root.createEmptyMovieClip(parameter1, parameter2)

Parameter1, in this case, is the name of the new Movie Clip. Therefore, it has to be a string. Parameter2 is the level on which the Movie Clip is created, so it has to be a number. Filling out the parameters looks like this:

_root.createEmptyMovieClip("myMovieClip", 5)

Remember that all different methods have different parameters that you have to check using the AS Reference!

Now, if we go back to user-defined Functions, you'll notice that you can define your own parameters for your functions. This is a very powerful feature in Flash! Here's an example of a function that uses parameters and is called with parameters.

function myFunc(param1, param2) {
   trace (param1)
   trace (param2)
myFunc(3, 16)

What this little piece of code does is create a function with two parameters called param1 and param2, then calls the function and changes the value of param1 to 3 and param2 to 16. So using parameters is sort of like creating an infinite number of variables inside of a function, since they can be called inside the function at any time. Here's another example using both a method and function parameters.

function createMC(name, depth) {
   _root.createMovieClip(name, depth)
createMC("myMC", 5)

This creates a Movie Clip with the name myMC and a depth of 5.

As a final note, remember to keep in mind three things when creating function parameters:

  • Each parameter must have a different name which adheres to the usual rule of creating variables and functions.
  • Although it is not necessary to define all parameters within a function (for example, the function has three parameters but only two are defined when it is called), you cannot define more information than the function can hold (for example, the function has two parameters and three are defined when it is called).
  • The parameter cannot be accessed outside of the function.

Questions? Need some extra help? Can't figure something out? Then go to: Talk:ActionScript:Introduction


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Climate change

From Wikiversity
(Redirected from Topic:Climate change)
Jump to: navigation, search
Climate Change and Impact of Greenhouse Gases
Increasing extreme events - e.g. Hurricane
Bush Fire
Global Warming: Aral Lake - Increasing Consumption of Water Resources

Introduction to Learner based Activities[edit]

Aim of the project:[edit]

This learning project aims to support participants in their response to climate change[1] through the collective identification, remixing, creation and use of learning resources on this topic.

Outcomes for the Learner-based Activiities[edit]

Please add any outcomes you would like this project to achieve. Also use the talk page to discuss these outcomes.

  • Find participants for the project
  • Discuss and select approaches to organise and implement the project
  • Work collectively to set the aims and objectives of the project
  • Negotiate a provisional outline of how these objective might be achieved
  • Collectively identify, locate, remix, edit and create learning activities and resources that will fulfil participants individual objectives.
  • Participate in the learning activities
  • Reflect on and evaluate these learning experiences
  • Refine the process and repeat

Learners Activity Page[edit]

Processes used in this project[edit]

This section will contain details of the various processes or methods used in this project in producing the stated outcomes. At the moment this is just a random list of some possible approaches. Please add your own suggestions or links to established approaches.

Participation and ownership[edit]

The nature of wikis encourages joint ownership of all the participants. The experience of other wiki projects can be used as a guide to encouraging participation.

Learning methods[edit]

A webquest is an enquiry based learning activity were participants use the Internet to locate the resources they need to resolve the problem posed by the webquest.

Reflective diary[edit]

This project encourages people to take a personal approach to the subject of climate change. Peoples feelings and emotions play a key part in any learning. One approach to paying attention to your feelings is to keep a reflective learning diary. In this you can record your immediate feelings about some aspect of your learning. Later you can reflect on these feelings and see how they effected your learning. If you wanted to share your reflective learning diary you could set up a page on your Wikiversity home page and add entries there. Alternatively you could setup a reflective learning blog and which can be either private or public.

Learning resources[edit]

Please add links to suitable learning resources in this section. Ideally these should be licensed under a creative commons or equivalent licence.

This section contains links and references to key information about climate change. Please only add items to this list that you feel are essential to understanding climate change.

  • The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is the lead organisation for the international investigation into global warming and climate change.
  • The Copenhagen Diagnosis website synthesizes the most policy-relevant climate science published since the close-off of material for the last IPCC report
  • Real Climate is a blog by scientists working in climate science and an invaluable source for those who are scientifically inclined.

Introduction to the science[edit]

Short courses[edit]

  • Openlearn's global warming course provides a structured introduction to the science behind the debate from the people who brought you the Open University.
  • Global warming is a series of videos lectures by David Archer covering a 10-week course for non-science majors focuses on a single problem: assessing the risk of human-caused climate change.

Wikiversity projects[edit]

These are a list of existing projects on Wikiversity that relate to this project. If you find any other projects please add them. A description or summary of each project would also be useful.

International Activities[edit]

External Resources[edit]

  1. Protocol, K. (1997). United Nations framework convention on climate change. Kyoto Protocol, Kyoto, 19.


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Untruths and Consequences; Unless Your Name Is Josh Fox

Journalism seems to have died in many quarters in recent years as some news outlets have taken to publishing opinion pieces as fact, made up details to fit preconceived narratives and thrown all regard for truth to the wind, regardless of consequences.  The rationalization for this behavior always seems to be along the lines of “I needed to tell the bigger truth as I saw it.”  This is, of course, nothing less than lying by another name.

Nevertheless, we see more and more supposed journalists and writers fitting the facts to their desired story lines.  Some, like James Frey, Mary Mapes and Dan Rather, get caught and pay the price.  More recently, a fellow named Mike Daisy has been caught spinning yarns about Apple Computer’s operations in China.  Learn more here, here and here.  Still others, like wildlife documentary assistant Chris Palmer, rescue their reputations by becoming whistle-blowers.  Others, like Josh Fox, get away with it…for a time.

We have detailed many of Josh Fox’s distortions, errors and untruths over the last year or so on this blog.  What we have observed, in the course of exposing the Fox falsehoods, is the remarkable similarity in patterns his work displays in comparison to some of these other folks whose careers spiraled downward quickly as their disinformation campaigns unraveled.  Fox’s attitude toward the facts is best revealed in his own words.  We noted, for instance, a statement he made to a friendly reporter in regard to his American-trashing movie Memorial Day:

Everything in the film was planned, every scene was either scripted or outlined beforehand – but everything really happened, because it was real, in a sense, we were immersed in that reality.

Hmm…sounds a lot like grokking doesn’t it?  Then, there was that answer he gave to Phelim McAleer when the Irish film maker challenged his Colorado flaming faucet, reported here, and the relevant portions of which were as follows:

Enter real journalist and documentary filmmaker Phelim McAleer. At a Gasland screening in Chicago, McAleer asked Fox if he was aware of reports of spigots spewing flames decades before the Markham in-sink-eration. He cited a 1976 report which attributed the flaming tap water phenomenon to naturally occurring methane build-up in the aquifers.

In a moment of uncomfortable candor, Fox called McAleer’s bet and raised him with, “Well, I don’t care about the report from 1976. There are reports from 1936 that people say they can light their water on fire in New York state. But that’s no bearing on their situation, at all.”

Armed with a 75-year-old study that he hadn’t been aware of, McAleer went all in. “Most people watching your film would think that lighting your water started with fracking. You said yourself people lit their water long before fracking started, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes, but it’s not relevant,” Fox said.

Truthland also had something to say about that, but let’s take a look at how these Fox statements compare to remarks made by some of those other journalistic fablers, fibbers and falsifiers.  Here’s what some of them said:

“I think you could make the argument that this is okay, because the film is going to do a lot of good…Maybe it’s worth it to have told the lie.” – Documentary Assistant Chris Palmer

“Well, I think that’s what critics of the story would say. I know more now than I did then and I think, I think they have not been proved to be false, yet.” Ross pointed out: “Have they proved to be authentic though? Isn’t that really what journalists do?” Mapes insisted: “No, I don’t think that’s the standard.” – Former CBS Producer Mary Mapes

“Look. I’m not going to say that I didn’t take a few shortcuts in my passion to be heard. But I stand behind the work,” Daisey said. “My mistake, the mistake I truly regret, is that I had it on your show as journalism. And it’s not journalism. It’s theater.”– Blogger, Writer and Video Storyteller Mike Daisey

And, here is a segment from an interview of Daisey:

Rob Schmitz: Cathy says you did not talk to workers who were poisoned with hexane.

Mike Daisey: That’s correct.

RS: So you lied about that? That wasn’t what you saw?

MD: I wouldn’t express it that way.

RS: How would you express it?

MD: I would say that I wanted to tell a story that captured the totality of my trip.

“I wanted the stories in the book to ebb and flow, to have dramatic arcs, to have the tension that all great stories require.” – Author James Frey

The similarities in language between these folks and Josh Fox is illuminating to say the least.  They all involve theater masquerading as journalism and, when caught, the perpetrators always resort to the “I needed to tell a story” excuse, illustrating their immersion in an alternative reality they’re determined the rest of us must accept.  The truth is irrelevant for their purposes, only material to be cut from or pasted into the script when convenient.  It reminds me of a forum discussion, in which I was engaged recently, where an anti-natural gas commenter argued the following:

Weak-minded individuals confuse facts with truth.  Facts are merely data points, and data can be used to support just about any argument you care to make.  When people want to distract you from a critical issue, they often attempt to push the debate into factual minutia.  It’s a common rhetorical tactic in today’s American public forum.

Josh Fox Striking a Pose in Gasland

Sadly, this is how so many of our activist friends think.  It’s all about the narrative, the story and the theater for them – a way for them to tell us what they believe, rather than what they know.   The entire debate, for them, is anything but a review of the evidence, the logic or the science.  No, it’s about what they imagine to be true, what they have faith to be true.  Facts that contradict are just distractions to them because they are committed, heart and soul, to one set of beliefs about what they see and don’t care to know anything else.  Their minds have been captured in an ideological perspective that allows no dissent and dismisses all criticisms, all facts to the contrary and all possibilities of any other view.

This is why Gasland resonated with them and so many self-proclaimed journalists who wanted his story to be true.  They loved the idea of this unknown, banjo playing geek filmmaker taking down what they suppose is a large corrupt industry that is polluting the planet with fossil fuels.  What a great theme from their point of view!  It was a adult version of some Harry Potter fantasy movie where dragons are slayed and evil wizards are destroyed.  Checking the facts or questioning Josh Fox’s assertions would only serve to destroy a wonderful story and end the fun.  No one wants to be a killjoy, so he’s gotten away with it for a time as all too pliant reporters have simple bought the act and repeated the untruths without consequence to the charlatan movie producer.  Let’s examine just three of those plainly false assertions and “facts.”  Read Energy In Depth’s debunking for several more.

No. 1 – The $100,000 Offer That Can’t Be Produced

Fox makes a big point of saying he was offered $100,000 by a gas company to lease his acreage and magnanimously turned it down.  He repeats it over and over again and it’s told ad nauseam by reporters and writers, usually as the introduction to the Josh Fox and Gasland story.  It is fundamental to the entire theme of the movie and its counter-cultural hero of sorts.  Yet, it’s a total fabrication.  Josh Fox didn’t own the land, it was less than 20 acres, had no potential for locating a well pad on it and, most importantly, there were no offers of that magnitude made to anyone in the area.

Comparison of frames from Gasland movie (4:06) with the draft Hess lease.
One can readily see, from the language, these are the very same lease document.
Fox used a draft lease from a year later to argue he was offered $100,000 in 2008.

The lease Fox displays in the movie was, as we demonstrated in an earlier post, an early draft of one prepared by the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance.  It was never used or offered to any landowner.  Regardless, the payments provided under that draft didn’t come close to the offer Fox claimed, even under the most implausible assumptions.  His father, the real owner of the parcels in question, would, had he taken such an offer have realized perhaps half what Fox claimed.  Fox has never produced an offer to verify his claim.  He can’t.  He has never had to do so because no one, save Mike Soraghan at Greenwire, has ever asked and he apparently sent him the same fake offer.  No one wants to ask.  It would destroy the narrative and end the performance at the beginning of Act One.

No. 2 – The Milanville “Native” Who Grew Up in New York City

Fox regularly pretends to have grown up in Milanville, Wayne County, Pennsylvania.  This notion  is picked up regularly by his admirers in the press and, as recently as earlier today, the Shale Gas Review blog described him, falsely, as a “native of Milanville.”  A Google search of “‘Josh Fox’ Milanville” returns 15,500 results, in fact, indicating this particular fabrication has also taken hold in the popular imagination.  Here’s what Fox himself said to an Indiewire interviewer in January, 2010, when talking about his movie Gasland:

I was compelled to make “GASLAND” out of necessity. I was asked to lease my family’s land in the Upper Delaware River Basin, the only consistent home I’ve had throughout my life, for Natural Gas Drilling in May of 2008. I looked into it and found out that the Natural Gas industry was leasing thousands of acres all across New York State and PA and proposing the most massive drilling campaign in the east in history.

This is in sharp contrast to what he said less than a year earlier when he talking to Indiewire about his movie Memorial Day:

I’m 36, grew up in New York City. One of my earliest memories is of the 1977 blackout when I was five. My whole neighborhood was destroyed. Every store window smashed and looted, Riverside Park was blaring with boom boxes and with heat. It was a loud place to be. I remember growing up in a city full of guns and drugs and violence and homeless people and yuppies and AIDS. And great art, great music, great films. Scorsese, metal shows, CBGB ska shows and hardcore matinees. Live atmosphere. The rush of electricity on the streets. And danger. So everything I make I try to push all of that energy into it somehow.

Apparently, his home town and early life changes with every movie theme.  It’s part of the act, you see, part of that bigger reality into which he regularly immerses himself, but, of course, one of these statements is a lie.  We have a pretty good idea which one from some research Peter Wynne did.  He found some theater program notes where Fox says he “was born and raised above 96th street and grew up almost entirely in Manhattan.”  Isn’t it interesting that no one asks about this either, not even Indiewire, which reported the two different versions of Fox’s life history?  Perhaps this, too, works against the desired narrative.

No. 3 – The “Fake But Accurate” Cherry Picked Flaming Faucet

Then there’s that whole flaming faucet thing.  The background and circumstances are outlined above, proving Fox knew the flaming faucet he filmed had nothing to hydraulic fracturing before he included it in the movie.  His “not relevant” excuse isn’t cutting it (especially since Truthland) and now he and his friends are resorting to some of that “fake but accurate” reasoning that doomed Dan Rather.  Here’s Shale Gas Review again, talking about this matter:

Did Fox sensationalize, or even misrepresent, the Markham circumstances to serve his purposes? The Colorado agency has a stake in Fox’s portrayal of its regulatory effectiveness, and viewed through Fox’s perspective, the agency’s rebuttal of his work has no bearing on the accuracy of Gasland. That’s because his film is both an expose of the gas industry and the regulatory bodies that oversee it. Both are in collusion and neither is to be trusted, according to Fox. (He cites examples ranging from the Haliburton Loophole – which spells out fracking’s exemption from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, to instances buried in the COGCC rebuttal that documents other drilling-related methane migration cases in Weld County.)

There they go again.  “Viewed through Fox’s perspective” it was apparently fake but accurate and the mere assertion of collusion between industry and regulators now is enough to substantiate this.  No other documentation or facts are required. Anyone can also read the full Colorado report for themselves to learn how badly Fox distorted the facts.  No one denies there are occasionally methane migration issues, but there are two gigantic lies in Gasland about this.  The first lie is that the infamous flaming faucet scene had anything whatsoever to do with natural gas development.  It did not.  The second lie is that hydraulic fracturing causes methane migration.  It does not.  Fracturing is a completely separate process.  Very few journalists, reporters or writers have bothered to make this crucial distinction.  Instead, they have happily played along with the Fox lie, following the smoke, deliberately using fracturing and its various slang derivatives as collective terms for the industry and creating the false notion fracturing is new, all-encompassing and dangerous.  It is none of these things.  It’s only part of the natural gas development process and it has an impeccable safety record.  Yet, the lie goes on, for a while longer …

Fox would like the lie to go on quite a bit longer, of course, and seems a bit nervous about being caught by Phelim McAleer in a fraudulent act.  Here’s what he told a Truthout interviewer a few days ago;

First of all, it’s important to note that there are many families in “Gasland” who can light their water on fire. Lighting their water on fire right after drilling is very common, from Pennsylvania to Canada to Wyoming to Colorado. So, they zoomed in on one case, cherry-picked this one case, in which the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) had said it was biogenic gas. Now, when it occurred at the next-door neighbor’s house, and this happened six or seven months later, the COGCC said, “Wow, this is clearly the gas industry’s fault.” And they validated that. The gas industry doesn’t want you to know that. But in their own reports, like one from Schlumberger, the number one-fracking company in the world, there are diagrams showing that shallow gas can migrate up to the aquifer if you drill through that pocket of biogenic gas. Plus, the gas industry drills for biogenic gas; they drill for huge pockets of it, and they drill for it in Colorado. So, it’s a red herring. It’s one of those bogus scientific statements that does not actually hold up. But it sounds good in the media.

When I first heard about this, I thought it was totally ridiculous. I mean, how could anyone believe this? Water does not usually catch on fire; that is just not what happens. But this is not about the public believing that they are right; it’s just about casting doubt on the reporting and science that exists. Because as long as there is doubt, then the gas industry says, “Well, we don’t have to regulate this.” So the whole biogenic/thermogenic “controversy” is drummed up, made up. So, doing this is a way of obscuring the public understanding of what is really happening out there.

Notice how he accuses the industry of doing precisely what he is doing, the way all demagogues do it.  He cherry-picked the Markham home as a place to film his flaming faucet, knowing full well it had nothing to do with natural gas development or hydraulic fracturing, because it made good theater.  Like some petulant child, he then turns around and says the industry did it, but anyone taking the time to read the Colorado report will quickly realize otherwise.  His suggestion the biogenic/thermogenic issue is just “drummed up” betrays the fact he was caught in a lie and now needs an excuse, any excuse, to get out of it.  Finally, he resorts to the mother of all excuses, the one he and other “fake but accurate” types always go back t0 – facts obscure “the public understanding of what is really happening out there.”

There’s much more, of course.  See our review of The Sky Is Pink, for example.  Also, remember that French interview where he said “There are places so contaminated that it will become difficult for some to find a way to live normally.”  Then, there was a Huffington Post interview recently where he stated the industry is injecting carcinogens and endocrine disrupting chemicals “directly into or adjacent to underground sources of drinking water.”

Also, we can’t help but notice Josh’s actions and claims are getting more bizarre by the day, for instance, this interview where he proclaims himself an “investigator.”  It’s not enough to do theater, I guess, although he keeps telling us it’s all about the latter.  This is a sure sign he is scrambling to maintain his credibility and relevance because, after all, even Truthout‘s interviewer has started asking questions and that entity is funded by the Park Foundation, which also funds Gasland followup activities.  So, we have the Park Foundation funding both sides of the interview and, still, Fox, has to answer.

Yes, the lie travels faster than the truth but the latter travels farther in the end.  There are consequences to untruths and, while Josh Fox has avoided them to date, they appear to be on the horizon, finally.  The fox may escape one day, but he’s likely to caught the next.

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  1. VICTOR FURMAN says:

    Josh Fox reminds me of the human digestive track.. substainable food in….crap out… in his case he is the portal of crap out

  2. Tracy says:

    Great piece, Tom. I particularly liked the Harry Potter analogy…and as much as I enjoyed reading the Harry Potter books, as an adult, I was under no misapprehensions as to the reality of the world Rowling created. I guess that’s the difference between adults and fortyish children like Josh Fox.

    • Tom Shepstone says:

      Thank you, Tracy!

  3. VICTOR FURMAN says:

    THE CITY OF ITHACA is spilling thousands of gallons of the same chemicals used in fracking into the inlets to stop the spread of the hydrilla plant. Why should the city of Ithaca decide what plant lives and what plant doesn’t.

    The use of any aquatic herbicide poses risks to non-target plants and aquatic organisms.
    Endothall 7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2,3-dicarboxylic acid) is in the dicarboxylic acid class of chemicals.

    The toxicity of the dipotassium salt formulation of endothall as applied in the water has also been tested on a number of non-target aquatic organisms, including aquatic invertebrates (water fleas and scuds; dragonflies and damselflies), fish (walleye, small mouth and largemouth bass, bluegills), and softshell turtles. Lethal effects were observed in the invertebrates and fish

    dipotassium salt
    Fungicide, and Rodenticide

    all these are chemicals used in fighting the hydrilla and in fracking

    Ithaca (WSYR-TV “No chemical is 100 percent specific for what you use it for.
    Ithaca is hoping these treatments will erase hydrilla from the Inlet, but figure it will still take about five to eight yeas of chemical treatment before they can move hopefully into just a monitoring phase

    Chemicals….. does that word itself mean destruction??? or are not chemicals used and harvested from the earth themselves for the betterment of man kind. medicine for instance, as well as energy and environment.

    Victor Furman

    • Nina says:

      What a great post Victor. You should write a separate blog on this!

  4. Victor Furman says:

    Why thank You Nina….. If this interest you you should look at the chemicals the Ithaca wineries use to grow and keep their grapes so they can contribute to the intoxication of America’s immature drunks… Like the guy who slammed his vehicle into the Amish killing 8 last year under the influence…. Omegedon Too.

  5. Justin Templer says:

    What we have in Josh is “post normal journalism” just like in “post normal science” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-normal_science) facts and “truth” no longer matter.

    There is no search for truth and instead of facts, what we get from Josh is a one dimensional political driven narrative built on fictional stories that pander to people’s fears and prejudices. When I grew up we used to call that propaganda.

    • buddy deal says:

      therefore one might ask, who exactly is josh fox working for and why?

      • Tom Shepstone says:

        “Josh Fox is working for himself and the Park Foundation among others. He was an unknown, avant-garde film producer living off NEA and NY York State Council of the Arts grants to his Sweet Jane Productions” non-profit until Debra Winger got him involved with Gasland. He has charged significant speaking fees for his efforts and gets attention beyond belief for being politically correct on the subject of natural gas with his trendy supporters. He also gets as much as $150,000 per year from the Park Foundation out of Ithaca, New York – a rabid funder of all things anti-gas – for doing Gasland related activities.” – Tom Shepstone ([email protected])

  6. Madison says:

    I would just like to point out that the Colorado report that you link to a couple of times, is written by Bill Ritter who is the director of the Center for the New Energy Economy in Colorado and whose organisation happens to be very in to fracking. This may just be me, but does this not seem like a biased source? I also can’t help but notice that you fail to mention this conflict of interest to any readers. Josh Fox is only one of the thousands of people who have been affected by fracking and the negative impacts it has. Trying to cover it up or diminish what is clearly the truth is more than criminal, to me it seems evil. You don’t have to believe Josh Fox’s film Gasland or Gasland part 2, but just do the research for yourself. Oh and make sure that it doesn’t come from someone whose income depends on the fracking industry doing well. Try looking up first hand accounts of people who live in close proximity to these cancerous fracking plants.

    Have a lovely day
    -M x

    • Hi Madison,

      Josh Fox has not been “affected by fracking,” at least not in the way he has portrayed. While the subject has certainly enriched him (especially via big money from the Park Foundation for his movies, and his publicity tour around the world), his story about the lease offer he received unraveled as soon as a reporter asked him some basic questions about it. See here: http://kajx.org/post/more-gas-fire

      The “Colorado report” is not written by Bill Ritter. It was a determination written out by state regulators — who, by the way, were not offered the chance to speak about the complexities of oil and gas regulation in Fox’s movie Gasland. Why would he prevent that from happening? Likely because the regulators determined the “flaming faucet” wasn’t due to fracking, and that didn’t fit Fox’s preconceived narrative.

      Also, we’re not sure what a “cancerous fracking plant” is, but like most of what’s peddled by anti-fracking activists, we imagine it’s entirely made up.

      Thanks for reading, and hopefully this helps clear up some of your misconceptions.

      • Jeff Burnett says:

        First off, great article. The comments on these articles are always an interesting read. Having read articles posted by people on both sides of the debate, I have noticed one thing: anti fracking blog posts don’t really allow comments from pro fracking people. You might get your comment up for a few hours, but it will be deleted sooner or later. And before it gets deleted you are attacked by the Eco terrorists asking about your “evil oil overlords” and other such nonsense.
        But what I find truly interesting is how those people are treated on the other side of the debate. More often than not there is no attacking or name calling, just polite replies that cite sources and information. The tone is often more friendly as well. Madison’s post has an air of elitism to it. “Oh and be sure to”… and language of that nature. Yes, I am in the fracking industry , yes I make my living wholly off fracking and yes I believe that what I do is good for humanity as a whole. But I don’t not believe in talking down to those who do not share my beliefs , or arguing with people who are simply looking for an argument. Last but not least, most anti fracking people cannot be botherd to do any independent research of their own accord. I have work in the industry for a decade or so and I have never come across a “fracking plant”, although I would be really interested to see one.

  1. […] lie have to be rebutted? Apparently, thousands of time. Phelim McAleer did it best when he forced Fox to give us that wonderful “deer in the headlights look” after being confronted with the truth and, of course, Fox now refuses to debate […]

  2. […] a lie? Is it permissible to lie to advance a point you imagine to be true? Sounds rather like, well, Dan Rather, or maybe Josh Fox to me, but it doesn’t sound […]

  3. Anonymous says:

    […] more flaming taps? There are good reasons to be against fracking. Gas land is not a good start. Untruths and Consequences; Unless Your Name Is Josh Fox Sign in or Register Now to […]

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Battlestar Galactica-The Reimagined Series: Punching the schoolyard bully

In the episode “The Hand of God” the Colonial Fleet is down to 5% of its fuel. During a press conference, the audience is made aware that the fleet only has enough tylium to make two additional faster-than-light (FTL) jumps to avoid the cylons. Tylium ore is quite rare so the odds of Galactica stumbling upon it are quite slim. The salvation of the human race depends on the fleet finding a new source of tylium, mine it, refine it and then refuel their ships. One of Galactica’s raptors is lucky enough to find a large source of tylium on a nearby asteroid, however the raptor pilots also notice that the asteroid is “crawling with cylons”: “Only Tylium in 12 light years and we’ve got to kiss it goodbye” (Crashdown-The Hand of God).

Though the cylons are mining the tylium for themselves, Lt. Gaeta remarks that they are also “staking out every waterhole in the desert” hoping to lower the humans chances of survival. The Galactica officers note that if the cylons have occupied this asteroid that they have probably occupied all the nearby tylium sources as well. Commander Adama decides that the Galactica must then take the tylium from the cylons. The crew notes that even if they take the tylium from the cylons that there is nothing to stop the cylons from returning with more ships to take it back, but Adama argues that taking the base will buy the fleet some time. He likens the attack to giving a bully a bloody nose on the school playground: “If you keep running from the schoolyard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop and punch him really hard in a sensitive spot, he’ll think twice about coming back again.”

The crew seeks help from the resident science and Cylon expert, Dr. Gaius Baltar, about how to destroy the cylon base. Starbuck suggests nuking the base but Baltar says that the radiation from the nuclear warhead would render the ore inert and it would then lose its ability to act as fuel. Baltar argues that if they hit the base in the right spot then the radioactive nature of the tylium will cause the base to explode as if they had dropped a nuclear warhead. However, he does not know where that spot is and turns to Head Six for help. She tells him to trust in the god that the Cylons believe in and he will show him where to hit the base. He points randomly at the photograph and tells the crew to hit there.

It turns out the Baltar was correct and with a some help from Starbuck’s crazy battle tactics, Galactica is able to destroy the cylon base and cause the cylons to flee the asteroid. At the end of the episode Head Six and Baltar are talking in his fantasy and she tells him that Galactica’s destruction of the base will allow an ancient prophecy to come to fruition since it will give the humans enough fuel to make it to Kobol where the events the prophecy describes will take place.

This episode has elements of both the positive and negative energy narrative. Like the rest of Battlestar Galactica (BSG), it straddles the line of being a creation myth and a futuristic series. The humans are in their “end of days” and are fulfilling the prophecies of their religion similar to those found in the Christian book of Revelation. God uses his prophet Baltar to tell the humans where to strike the cylons to take their fuel resource. This is a positive energy narrative. God, a stronger force, is aiding a weaker force in producing energy. However, the narrative also involves the humans taking an energy resource from the cylons. Adama expresses the human view of the cylons as bullies. If the cylons are bullies than the humans are within their rights in taking the tylium for themselves. However, even in its first season BSG has illustrated that the cylons may not be devious villains they seem to be and may be beginning to regret their decision to inflict genocide on the human race. If the cylons are not the enemy than this episode is an example of a negative energy narrative.


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On the Path to Energy Efficiency and Affordability

Join us for the Neighborhood Energy Forum on March 20

Neighborhood Energy Forum logo

About a year ago, Sustainable Flatbush’s Executive Director Anne Pope and I sat at Sycamore Bar and Flower Shop on Cortelyou Road.

I had just become the Director of Energy Solutions at SF, and we were strategizing about the best ways to meet the urgent need for energy efficiency upgrades in our neighborhood, to bring down soaring energy costs and reduce our carbon emissions.  With new incentive programs from government and utilities, Anne and I realized the time was right to leverage funds that would bring major energy efficiency and renewable energy projects to Flatbush.

So we conceived the Neighborhood Energy Forum.  For the past year, SF’s Energy Solutions Initiative has been working diligently to bring the Neighborhood Energy Forum to fruition.  We’ve been fortunate to join forces with a fantastic group of sponsors and partners, the Flatbush Development Corporation, the Energy Smart Communities program of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), ConEd,  and National Grid.

Join us on March 20 at the Brooklyn College Student Center, from 9:30 to 2:00.
Admission is free!  Here’s what it’s about:

Multi-Family and 1-4 Family Tracks

We understand that large buildings face different challenges than smaller homes, so depending on the size of your residence, we have information tailored to your needs.  Representatives from NYSERDA, National Grid, and ConEd will highlight low- and middle-income incentive programs to help building owners, co-op boards, tenant groups and other stakeholders understand what needs to be done and how to take the first steps.
Energy  Contractors

Meet Contractors Who Can Do the Work at Our Energy Fair

Energy auditors, building engineers, renewable energy installers—basically anyone you need to talk to—will be on hand offering their services.  You will gain important knowledge about how to move forward by talking to the experts, and may even find someone to work with on your project.

A Perfect Storm for Renewables in NYC

With federal, state, and local tax credits and abatements, plus a solar-electric (photovoltaic, or PV) incentive rebate program, 2010 is the year for solar–not just PV but solar heat and hot water too.  So if you’re one of those people who have asked us, “How can I get solar for my home,” come to the Neighborhood Energy Forum and catch up with renewable energy vendors at the Energy Fair.

Check-in with Your Elected Officials

Members of the New York State Assembly and Senate as well as New York City Council will be on hand to let you know what they’re doing to support energy efficiency and renewables in our city.  See the Neighborhood Energy Forum page to get the story on who will be there.

To find out more, visit our Energy Forum page, or jump right to our registration form.  Send me an email if you have any questions.  See you there!

Relevant Links:

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Power of Technology: Artificial Intelligence Wins $800,000 Against 4 Poker Masters

An artificial intelligence named Libratus beats up four of the world’s best professional poker players in the Brains vs AI Competition.

Libratus is an artificial intelligence poker player, a game that requires bluffing and correctly interpreting misleading information to win. The collaboration of the School of Computer Science of Carnegie Mellon University and Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, Brains vs. AI features the battle of the artificial intelligence and humankind on one of the trickiest games of the world. Libratus has already collected $800,000 cash on the table.

Brains vs. AI

Considered as four of the best poker professionals in the world, Dong Kim, Jimmy Chou, Daniel McAulay, and Jason Les plays 120,000 hands of Heads-Up, No-Limit Texas Hold’em poker against Libratus. All specialized in two-player, unlimited bid form of Texas Hold’em, they fight over shares of a $200,000 prize purse.

Although humankind is fighting for its pride, researchers hope their software establish a new benchmark for AI by beating some of the world’s most talented players. Developed by Computer Science Professor Tuomas Sandholm and his Ph.D. student, Noam Brown; Libratus is smart enough to set military strategy, negotiate business deals, or plan a course of medical treatment, which all involve complex decisions based on imperfect information. Sandholm says;

“The algorithms are performing great. They’re better at solving strategy ahead of time, better at driving strategy during play and better at improving strategy on the fly.”

Libratus can learn from mistakes

According to Chou, they shared tips and notes every day since the competition started on the 11th June to find weaknesses. He says that whenever they found a weakness, Libratus learned from its mistakes and the weakness disappeared the following day. But this change is an expected result of an ongoing work of the Bridges, the computer of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, that performs new computations to sharpen the AI’s strategy each night after the games end.

“Libratus uses algorithms to analyze the rules of poker and sets its own strategy, based on approximately 15 million core hours of computation at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. It will continuously sharpen its strategy during the Brains vs. AI competition, performing computations with the PSC’s Bridges computer each night while the pros get some shuteye.”

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World’s Greatest Dad (2009) live action, movie – USA

worlds greatest dad.jpg
Comedy, drama
Duration 99min
Rated R
Score 6
Director/writer Bobcat Goldthwait
Cast Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, Morgan Murphy, Alexie Gilmore, Geoff Pierson, Henry Simmons, Evan Martin, Bruce Hornsby, Mitzi McCall

When a teacher that doesn’t seem to have anything going for him comes home to find his son dead in an embarrassing position, he writes a suicide letter from the son and everything turns around for him.

It was okay. Funny. But a little… annoying? I don’t know. No matter how much of a prick your son is, using his death the way the dad in this is kind of… uncomfortable?

Anyway… I’m iffy on recommending it. On the one hand, Robin Williams is serious in this one and his son is kind of funny. On the other, the son is disgusting and you see Robin Williams running naked.

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Headlines from the PNW

Life has been busy these past few weeks so I haven’t had time to post.  I’ll try to capture everything that’s happened in one sentence in case you’re short on time.  Work, sleep, eat, house move, Sammamish, Dublin, Rosslare, Halloween, Jackie, Harry big, Lauren growing, hot whiskey, San Francisco, Seattle, rugby, Portland, flat tire, Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sex J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say.  OK those last few were courtesy of my close personal friend Billy Joel but I digress.

 100_0181 Anyway life moves apace here in Puget Sound.  At the end of October, just before my trip home to Dublin I moved out of my bachelor pad in the city to something a little more family friendly out in the burbs in a place called Sammamish.  The commute is a hell of a lot better into work and all of the conveniences of life are nearby – Starbucks, Safeway and a Teriyaki place.  I’m slowly getting the place IKEA’d up so it’s ready for the rest of the clan when they arrive.  It’s very quiet in the estate or sub-division as they call them here and in Sammamish generally but I think that’s par for the course over here – it’s a all a bit early to bed, early to rise and all that and there’s not a pub in site – ok there’s one ale house but it’s more of a food place and it closes at 10pm so it doesn’t qualify as a pub in my humble.

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Getting to Scale

From the course by Duke University
Innovation and Design for Global Grand Challenges
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From the lesson

Meet the Instructors

  • Alex Dehgan, J.D., M.S., Ph.D
    Alex Dehgan, J.D., M.S., Ph.D
    The Chanler Innovator in Residence and the Inaugural David M. Rubenstein Fellow
    Innovation & Entrepreneurship


text:
3.2: Practice, colon and dash

From the course by Stanford University
Writing in the Sciences
252 ratings
Stanford University
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From the lesson
Unit 3 reviews how to vary sentence structure and write strong paragraphs. You will practice using the dash, colon, semi-colon, and parentheses, as well as writing well-organized and concise paragraphs.

Meet the Instructors

  • Dr. Kristin Sainani
    Dr. Kristin Sainani
    Associate Professor
    Health Research and Policy


text:
Rural electrification of Buttevant, Co Cork in 1954

Area: Buttevant
Started: August 1953
Finished: March 1954
Poles used: 1067
Line used (km): 95
Premises connected: 204

The figures above were sourced from our REO News magazine. Click here to find out more on what the figures mean. The map above shows the area boundary and is from a digitised version of the original map used during the scheme.

There was a favourably report from Buttevant according to The REO News from May 1954 Buttevant-1-R.E.O.-May-1954-P

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Chatterbox #94 -Party time

Parties can be thrown at any time of the year in North America, but they are especially common over the holidays. At this time of the year, there are all kinds of gatherings with family, friends, and colleagues. In this episode, Harp and Maura talk about the different kinds of parties you might be invited […]


text:
Dear Grandma…

Dear Grandma,

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry that I haven’t called you since Christmas. I’m sorry I didn’t visit more. I’m sorry that I allowed a fight with my cousin to taint my relationship with you. I’m sorry that you felt stuck in the middle. I’m sorry that I didn’t take your age and deteriorating health more seriously. I’m sorry that I never sent you the copy of my choirs CD – I know you were waiting for it, and I know it would have brought you joy. I’m sorry I didn’t send more photos, write more letters, call more often.

I’m just so sorry.

And sad.

I’m sad that I can no longer call you in the middle of the night for random chats when everyone on this side of the world is asleep. I’m sad that I haven’t done that for a long time and now I never can again. I’m sad that your family have chosen to keep your passing from me and that my mum and I had to find out through Facebook. I’m sad that I was denied the opportunity to pay my respects and say my goodbyes at your funeral, or at least send flowers. I’m sad for my mum, who has also been hurt in the crossfire. I’m sad that despite still having blood relatives at home, I no longer have any family there. And I’m sad that any hope I had of repairing those relationships is now dead too. There is no going back from this – it was the final nail in the coffin, pardon the pun.

But I’m also glad.

Glad for you, not me. I’m glad that you finally have the reprieve you’ve been longing for. You’ve been “waiting to die” for a long time; bored, restless, frustrated and lonely. Stuck in a body that just wouldn’t do what you wanted anymore. You couldn’t knit, go out for a game of bingo, write letters, go to church to light your candles, or do any of the things that gave you joy. You hated what the world has become and you wanted out.

And I’m grateful.

I’m grateful for the lessons I learned from you: It’s thanks to you that I can knit while watching tv, play four bingo sheets at a time and make a good brew. I’m grateful that you got to meet your great-granddaughter. I’m grateful for our last conversation when you told me that I was clever and funny, like my Dad.

I’m grateful that you were my Grandma.

My daughter and my grandma outside St. Albans church in Blackburn, Lancashire where my parents were married. 2011.

I can only hope that now you can finally Rest In Peace. But knowing you, you’ll be up there doting on Dad and Grandad, fetching pints of lager and cooking your famous fry-ups! If there is a Heaven, that would be your version of it.

Goodbye, Grandma. I love you.

Me and my Grandma, 2011

Vale, Mary Agnes McDermott Peake (22/06/1927-21/01/2016)

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