text:
318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

Three hundred eighteen corners. Eleven miles. Two states. Practically zero guard rails. Highway 129, also known as the Tail of the Dragon, is one of the greatest roads in all of North America.

It's also one of the most dangerous. Since it's in the middle of nowhere, it takes forever to get to a hospital. More than 24 people have been killed on the Dragon since 2000. In the summer, the Dragon is crawling with motorcycles, cars, and tractor trailers. It's a scary combination.

But in the winter, it's dead. We scarcely saw a car, leaving us plenty of room to make awful decisions.

(Full Disclosure: Audi wanted us to drive the Tail of the Dragon so bad that we concocted a plan to borrow an RS5 to drive there during a drunken dinner after the Paris Motor Show. They also gave me Audi branded sunscreen, mugs, and hats for the journey.)

The journey begins on a Friday morning, where I set out from Washington, DC with an RS5 that I somehow coerced the folks at Audi HQ to let us have for a weekend for a trek to Atlanta. The first leg is solo as I head to pick up my boss, Matt Hardigree.

I've been slinging words at Jalopnik for a few months now, but I've spent about six days total with him. That's not a long time. And now we're going to be in a small German coupe together for the next two days. That's prime bonding (READ: Sucking up) time.

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

The trip starts innocuously enough after I grab Matt. The RS5 eats up hundreds of miles of highway at 85 MPH without any issues whatsoever. Set in comfort, the RS is actually a pretty great tourer. As we relax, Matt regales me with the tale of the history of Jalopnik.

Then the first thing goes wrong.

We get off the highway in Bristol, VA for dinner — we eat at a place that advertises a band called "Spank" and has sushi on the menu that I don't imagine is all that fresh — and I decide to stop on the open road to try out the launch control without investigating how it works. Hint: it doesn't in manual mode. Instead of a clean launch, I get four spinning tires, bad smells, and a copilot that thinks his newest writer might not actually be the driving God he made himself out to be.

Strike one.

Matt takes over for leg two, and we make it to an Econolodge outside of Knoxville, TN in that hotbed of nightlife, Lenoir City. Two notes about Lenoir City: The Econolodge has no water, but an abundance of Mello Yello, in the vending machines. Also, it seems you can buy fireworks anywhere.

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

The next morning we set off early to get to the Dragon for sunrise. At this point, the RS5 needs a drink. This will be its third fuel stop in 24 hours and it drinks premium, as all great German uber-coupes do.

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

I'm behind the wheel as we get to the Dragon, and the first thing I decide to do is attempt another launch control start. The road is empty and Matt takes out the manual to make sure that we're doing it correctly this time. Foot flat on brake? Check. Car in sport? Check. DSC off? Check. Gas pedal mashed to the floor? Check. Glovebox closed? Uhhhhhhhhhh.

We tear off the line and the contents of the glovebox fly out, pelting the man that signs my paychecks in the chest. The only consolation is that the 450-horse V8 sounds amazing.

Still, that's strike two.

Not like it matters as we hit the Dragon. It's a road like few I've driven. There are sheer drops on one side and a rock face on the other. A wheel off the road will almost definitely spell disaster. You better pay attention.

This is also my first chance to really sample the RS5. My overwhelming sense is just how planted it is on corner entry. But once you get to the middle of the corner, things change. You can feel the torque transferring side to side between the wheels thanks to the incredibly active quattro differential.

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

Initially, it's disconcerting. The rear rotates quicker than you might expect and results in unpredictability. And on a road covered in undulating corners where I am driving very quickly, it could be a problem. You get used to it, but it's just weird to have an all-wheel drive car rotate so much from the rear because it's not what you'd expect. That's not to say it isn't welcome. I prefer oversteer, so the RS5 suits my driving style.

And damn is this car fast. It's definitely too fast for the road, which has a speed limit of 30. The entirety of the Dragon is second and third gear corners, and speeds still get up to the level where you'll be heading home in the back of a police car if the wrong person sees you. I'm not really getting to stretch the Audi's legs. This is more a Miata road. Momentum, momentum, momentum.

The elevation changes, variable radius corners, and scenery are breathtaking. I'm working hard to hit the apexes and not run off the mountain. Matt is working hard to take random pictures of the landscape and me driving. Combined, it's mentally exhausting.

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

There is very little traffic on the road, and what we do catch up to pulls off to let us by. Except one old man in a Civic EX. It didn't seem to matter how many LEDs were in his mirrors, he isn't budging. It is infuriating and we end up pulling off to give ourselves a gap.

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

After my 11-mile run, I turn over the keys to Monsieur Hardigree, and my earlier strikes are quickly rectified. While driving the Tail, Matt somehow manages to put four wheels off the road, just not all at the same time. "How many wheels did you drop off Travis," you ask? None, I put none wheels off the road. Matt is good humored about it and realizes that maybe he should pay attention to this road instead of trying to compare this with his other roads. I'm only slightly terrified.

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

The Dragon is about concentration and it just isn't there. This car is really, really good, but it isn't a magician that can keep you from crashing.

We calm down and stop at a scenic overlook at the end of the road. Now that we've run the Dragon twice, we add a Jalopnik sticker to the hall of fame, and stop for a brief modeling shoot so I can show off all of my Audi branded wares. Then we notice other people have used the area to brag about all the mothers they've had sex with. We decide we don't need to brag about the mothers we've been with on a roadside guardrail.

We decide to take one more run through the Dragon and head on to our final destination: ATL to visit Mr. Rutledge Wood, which includes a brief stopover at a delicious barbecue joint endorsed by Grover Norquist. It was Conservalicious!

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

At Rut's garage, we get to go for a ride in his excellent VW Micro Bus, but that's not the reason we're there. As you may remember, a Merkur XR4Ti played a pretty substantial role in an episode of Top Gear last season. Rutledge bought it after the show. Matt loves the Merkur XR4Ti. Rut's wife doesn't. Money was exchanged, and our own Hardigreezy is the proud owner of an XR4Ti with a welded differential, no real intercooler, and a driver's side door that only opens from the inside (more on that from Matt later).

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

318 Corners In 11 Miles: Driving America's Wildest Road

After an awesome tour of Rut's town from him and his daughter, as well as an impromptu juggling show in Rut's kitchen, We have one last dinner together, a pizza in name only. It's slathered in sour cream, cheese, and potatoes. It's something that Guy Fieri would think of on a bad day and easily took a decade off my life expectancy.

Matt leaves the next morning for a trek back to Virginia in a car that has a hard time not stalling when it comes to a stop. I drop off the RS5 and fly back to New York.

Matt and I didn't kill each other. I didn't get myself fired... or promoted. Matt got to drive away in one of his dream cars. And I got a new car to aspire to. I've always been an M3 guy, and thought that nobody could beat BMW at its own game. The RS5 makes me think otherwise. It's a real blast to drive and feels so much rawer than I thought it would. Is it as polished or as good as an M3? Nope.

And on these roads, that's what makes it better.


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Type: response

text:
We were able to sign you in, but your subscription(s) could not be found. Please try again in a few minutes.
There may be a problem with your account. Please contact the AMA Service Center to resolve this issue.
Contact the AMA Service Center:
Telephone: 1 (800) 262-2350 or 1 (312) 670-7827  *   Email: subscriptions@jamanetwork.com
Error Message ......
Contempo Updates | Clinician's Corner

Clinical Manifestations of Sarin Nerve Gas Exposure

Ernest C. Lee, MD, MPH
JAMA. 2003;290(5):659-662. doi:10.1001/jama.290.5.659.
Text Size: A A A
Published online

Chemical warfare has existed for millennia. As far back as 1000 BC, the Chinese used arsenical smoke as a weapon.1 In the last century, chemical agents have been used in warfare on numerous occasions, from World War I to the Iran-Iraq conflict.2 The world remains vulnerable to the deliberate use of chemical agents as weapons of mass destruction. Chemical attacks can be delivered with almost any type of conventional ballistic weapon, spray device, or by nontraditional means, such as that used by the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult to launch 2 attacks in public places in Japan by using sarin gas. The first attack occurred in Matsumoto, Japan, in June 1994.3 The second attack occurred in a Tokyo subway in March 1995.4 Terrorists involved in this attack carried diluted sarin solution in plastic bags into subway trains and punctured the bags with sharpened umbrella tips. This released diluted sarin vapor into 3 convergent lines of the Tokyo subway system.5 This attack is the largest disaster caused by nerve gas in peacetime history.4 These attacks illustrated how an ill-prepared disaster management system can become overwhelmed.

Sign in

Purchase Options

• Buy this article
• Subscribe to the journal
• Rent this article ?

First Page Preview

View Large
First page PDF preview

You need to register in order to view this quiz.

Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.

47 Citations

Sign in

Purchase Options

• Buy this article
• Subscribe to the journal
• Rent this article ?

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2015-35
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for August 2015
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


text:
We were able to sign you in, but your subscription(s) could not be found. Please try again in a few minutes.
There may be a problem with your account. Please contact the AMA Service Center to resolve this issue.
Contact the AMA Service Center:
Telephone: 1 (800) 262-2350 or 1 (312) 670-7827  *   Email: subscriptions@jamanetwork.com
Error Message ......
Other Articles |

Current Comment

JAMA. 1937;108(17):1437. doi:10.1001/jama.1937.02780170055019.
Text Size: A A A
Published online

SUBACUTE COMBINED DEGENERATION IN PERNICIOUS ANEMIA  Great differences of opinion still exist concerning the reaction of the neurologic manifestations of pernicious anemia to specific therapy. A most thorough study of this problem is the report by Hyland and Farquharson1 in the December issue of the Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry. The wide variation of opinion manifest in previous studies indicates, they believe, that there must be differences either in the treatment administered or in the interpretation of the clinical results. In addition to variation in the mode and quantity of antianemic substances prescribed, there are wide fluctuations in the duration and in the amount of rest, both of which are factors of great importance. The patients studied by these investigators included seventy-four persons with pernicious anemia associated with definite subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord. On admission to the hospital the patients were kept at complete rest in

Sign in

Purchase Options

• Buy this article
• Subscribe to the journal
• Rent this article ?

First Page Preview

View Large
First page PDF preview

Also Meets CME requirements for:
Browse CME for all U.S. States
Accreditation Information
The American Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The AMA designates this journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM per course. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Physicians who complete the CME course and score at least 80% correct on the quiz are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
Please click the checkbox indicating that you have read the full article in order to submit your answers.
Your answers have been saved for later.
You have not filled in all the answers to complete this quiz
The following questions were not answered:
Sorry, you have unsuccessfully completed this CME quiz with a score of
The following questions were not answered correctly:
Commitment to Change (optional):
Indicate what change(s) you will implement in your practice, if any, based on this CME course.
Your quiz results:
The filled radio buttons indicate your responses. The preferred responses are highlighted
For CME Course: A Proposed Model for Initial Assessment and Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes
Indicate what changes(s) you will implement in your practice, if any, based on this CME course.

Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.

0 Citations

Sign in

Purchase Options

• Buy this article
• Subscribe to the journal
• Rent this article ?

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.


WARC-Truncated: length

text:
Take the 2-minute tour ×
Japanese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It's 100% free, no registration required.

See title. I'm looking for idiomatic ways to say something like this - over-emphasizing something, worrying about it overly much, etc.

Bonus points if a literal 大 (whether read as だい　or おお) is involved; I'm hoping to make a particular bit of wordplay work. Alternatively, perhaps a way of talking about "using 大 as a prefix to a word" that could have the former connotations?

share|improve this question
How about using 大げさ? –  Lukman Aug 19 '11 at 5:03
Is that literally something like "enlarge"? That doesn't really seem to carry the same meaning as in English... I'm not at all familiar with ~げさ though... pretty noobish to tell the truth. –  Karl Knechtel Aug 19 '11 at 5:14
No. 大げさ means "exaggeration" and you can use 大げさに言う to say "to exaggerate" –  Lukman Aug 19 '11 at 5:23

2 Answers 2

up vote 1 down vote accepted

Anything wrong with just a good-ole 大したものにしないで? Plus that should nab me some bonus points!

大したものにしないで　→　大【たい】した・もの・に・しないで

  • 大した　→　"serious", "important", lit. "made big"
  • 大したもの or 大したこと　→　"a serious/important matter/thing", "a big deal"
  • 〜にする　→　"make it this way"
  • 〜ないでください or 〜ないでくれ　→　"(Please) don't do"
    • しないで　→　"Don't do" (with ください・くれ omitted)

I guess I subconsciously thought the title of the post said "don't make a big deal [about/out of/of] X", but now I see that it clearly does not.

share|improve this answer
I'm not even sure I can divide that into words properly, much less translate it... help? –  Karl Knechtel Aug 19 '11 at 18:02
Ah, I somehow didn't recognize that しない is a conjugation of する... I guess 大したもの would emphasize the actions taken to 'make it a big deal' whereas 大したこと would emphasize the feeling that things are serious? Also I think I'm not following the use of particle に here (doesn't help that I misread it as こ the first time >_<)... Anyway, it seems the infinitive form 大したものにする would work... can I just add an Xを clause in there somewhere? –  Karl Knechtel Aug 19 '11 at 20:13
BTW, why isn't の required before もの/こと here? –  Karl Knechtel Aug 19 '11 at 20:24
Right, もの vs. こと is like a concrete vs. abstract "thing"; they overlap a lot though. の isn't required because it's a modifying-adjective form of the verb. The same way that 行った人 means "the person who went", 大したもの is "the thing that was made serious". –  istrasci Aug 19 '11 at 20:51
Later: aha, に is just marking an indirect object as usual... 'a big deal' is the indirect object, and the direct object of する　is the thing being made into a big deal. I guess that's really the same in English... –  Karl Knechtel Aug 19 '11 at 22:51

I think what you're looking for is some variant on 過ぎる【すぎる】. It can mean "go beyond" or "go by" as in a physical sense, but is often used in a sense of "going too far" or "doing too much" in the sense you're talking about.

I've often seen it used with just hiragana when trying to convey that meaning. For example:

心配しすぎる　【しんぱい　しすぎる】　(over worrying)

強調しすぎた　【きょうちょう　しすぎた】 (over emphasized)

For "making a big deal of X", as asked for in the comments, you could do this:

Xを大騒ぎする 【Xを　おおさわぎする】 (Making a big deal out of X)

It doesn't use すぎる, which I think is a good general solution given your original question, but for the sentence you specifically asked about, this is a more or less direct translation which should do the trick.

share|improve this answer
Actually it's more like just "making a big deal out of X". It's for the title of a work, so a sentence fragment is OK. "Making too much of it" would work. –  Karl Knechtel Aug 19 '11 at 6:02
Reading this more closely to try to make sense of it... how does the attachment with き work grammatically? And what is the function of し in the first two examples? –  Karl Knechtel Aug 19 '11 at 6:28
@Karl The し came from removing ます from the ます form of する: する -> します -> remove ます -> し, also known as conjunctive form. You need to make the first verb into conjunctive form before appending すぎる. 飲む -> 飲み -> 飲み過ぎる (too drink excessively) –  Lukman Aug 19 '11 at 6:53
The question title is "How can I say "make a big deal [about/out of/of] X"?". I don't know how finely we are splitting hairs here, but it seems to me that "making a big deal out of X"; "Making too much of it" is really the same thing... saiga-jp.com gives meanings for 騒 that mostly relate to making a noise, making a fuss; I'm looking more for a sense of worrying/anxiety/drama, I think. This still seems to be a strong candidate though... as for the X, is it grammatical to just drop in それ/これ　here? –  Karl Knechtel Aug 19 '11 at 7:37
Karl: I always take a title to be merely an introduction, and the main body to be what the asker specifically wants. In any case, 騒ぐ means anxiety and drama about as much as "make a big deal" does in English, so from what you're saying I would say it's the best candidate. And yes, you can put in それ, これ, or あれ, as you see fit. Perfectly grammatical. –  Questioner Aug 19 '11 at 7:45

Your Answer

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.


text:
Select the Number of Birthstones
  • 2 2 stones
  • 3 3 stones
  • 4 4 stones

Personalize Your Love's Embrace® Color Stone Mother's Ring
Configuration CFG12553000008126
Featuring the Love's Embrace® design, this ring showcases the mother's round birthstone in the center and the birthstones of her family members on the side. Engrave that special sentiment on the sides of the ring. Love's Embrace® You will always be surrounded by the strength of my love™
Save to Wish List

Height: 23mm.

This is a special order and will ship within 7 business days
Actual presentation might appear slightly different from preview. Our experts will ensure the proper size and placement of your message. Items engraved with personalized information cannot be returned or exchanged. Inappropriate and profane language may result in the cancellation of your order.


text:
Tag Archives: google

Posted this over on Perpetual Beta (will show up shortly) but wanted to share here…this…

Posted this over on Perpetual Beta (will show up shortly) but wanted to share here…this is one of my all-time favorite pieces of futurism. Arthur C. Clarke predicting the world of the year 2000.

He got so much right…and his comment about how predicting the future will always sound like madness is just awesome.

Google+: View post on Google+

Writing, ownership, and blogging

I don’t remember the last time that I went an entire month without writing something here. It’s becoming increasingly clear to me that my blogging here at Pattern Recognition has suffered as a results of many things. Some of those reasons are simple;: I’ve got other platforms that I’m using now, including other social networks (Twitter, Google+, Friendfeed, Tumblr) and other blogs (ALA Techsource and American Libraries’ Perpetual Beta). I use some of these because they are easy, some because I like the conversations/community, and some because they pay me.

What I don’t like is that my writing, thoughts, interests…the comprehensive set of my online self, really…are distributed and scattered. I was ok with it for a long time, and I’m becoming very much not ok with it anymore. In the past, I’ve dabbled with pulling things from those other networks back here, but that doesn’t actually bring any of the reasons I use them here….it just brings the content. Which isn’t always what it’s about.

When I started writing here at PatRec back in 2003, none of those other networks even existed. It’s possible that if I were to start writing online these days, I wouldn’t even think of hosting my own blog, and one of the possibilities is that it’s time to let PatRec die a natural death. It may be that a distributed presence is the future of personhood on the ‘net….except I don’t think that’s true. I believe strongly, more than ever, that it’s important to own and control your own words, both in presentation and in regards to copyright/legal control. So I’m confronted with this tension: I like the tools that I don’t own, but I want to own the stuff I make with those tools.

I’ve been thinking a LOT about this. And I’m going to start experimenting with some ways to change things, starting with a post that I’m working on now about iCloud and Lion and the future of the filesystem. I would love to start a conversation about this, and see how others are dealing with this tension. Because I think I’m going to start reeling things in, reducing my contributions to other channels, and try to re-center my online presence.

Google ChromeOS Cr-48 Review

I ended up writing about 2000 words over at Perpetual Beta on my experience with the Google ChromeOS Cr-48 laptop thus far, and see no reason to duplicate all that info here at PatRec. Here’s the review, linked up in 5 parts:


text:
Life Lately via Instagram

InstagramI’m sorry I’ve been slack with posting these past few months, but I’ve been busy doing what travel bloggers do best, TRAVELLING! If you follow me on social media, you would’ve seen I visited Laos and Thailand, road tripped from Los Angeles to Seattle, and spent some time in Canada, especially touring around Tofino. It’s been a great few months full of new discoveries, experiences, and (good) challenges. And I can’t wait to share all these travels with you soon (stay tuned)!

However, my biggest update of all has to be that Alex and I moved to Melbourne this month! I can’t express how excited we are! Those close to me have noticed a complete shift in me since discovering the news. This move has been a long time coming!

Previously, I expressed my struggles since moving to Brisbane. I’m someone who is greatly affected by my surroundings, as I have a strong sense of place. Simply put, what brings me joy, such as meaningful work, family, and culture, doesn’t exist for me in Brisbane.

Nevertheless, considering Melbourne is my favourite Australian city, I can easily find my joy here again! Melbourne is full of culture, which means meaningful work for me. It also reminds me of my hometown, Toronto, which is much needed after experiencing years of homesickness.

Though our larger travels might slow down, as we attempt home ownership, I’m excited to experience more local travels (post to come soon). So for now, here are some of my recent travel photos from Instagram. But feel free to follow along on my next adventure @jauntandflaunt. And a big thank you to all those that hosted, guided, and supported us throughout our travels and relocation.

InstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagramInstagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram InstagramInstagramInstagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram Instagram

Fun in the Sun, the Sun Smart Way

Sun SmartIt’s time for another sun safety reminder! Yes, I’ve become that annoying friend who always says, “Don’t forget sunscreen”, “Let’s find a shady spot”, and “You should ask your GP about a skin check”. But this reminder a much more exciting. I’ve teamed up with my life long friend, who’s also an amazing photographer, Kieran Darcy, to share the sun safety message. Kieran was especially supportive and surprisingly inspired during my melanoma diagnosis. So when she asked to collaborate on a sun safety themed photo shoot, I couldn’t help but say, “OF COURSE!” And now that we can share the finished product, I can’t help but give Kieran a big THANK YOU!

The photo shoot took place at my favourite spot in the whole world, Georgian Bay, in Lake Huron, Canada. It’s a place where we’ve both spent many days of our youth under the summer sun. Every summer before this, since I was a baby, I would have either played or lounged in the sun, for the most part without any sun protection. I now honestly regret my audacity for the sun.

What also made this photo shoot special was Kieran not only captured great photos of their own, but the subtly that sun safety can be. You would be surprised how easily sun safety can transition into your everyday life. For example, we still enjoyed some fun in the sun, but under the shade of a tree and during sunset, when the sun is least strong. Additionally, instead of prancing around in my itsy bitsy bikini, I kept covered with my favourite go-to sarong and sunhat. But what you can’t see in these photos is that my body and face are slathered in SPF 50 sunscreen, even under my makeup.

I hope you keep this in mind during the upcoming summer. Though melanoma is scary, sun safety doesn’t have to be. We all have the capacity to form a healthier relationship with the sun. Not only am I an example of this, but my friends and family are as well, who delightfully informed me during my recent trip home that they decided to be more sun smart after hearing my melanoma story. How heart warming is that?! Look below for all the amazing photos from Kieran and check out @kierandarcyphoto for more inspiring photos.Sun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartSun SmartPhotos by Kieran Darcy.

Discover the Enchantment of Byron Bay

Byron Bay, New South Wales, AustraliaFor anyone travelling to Australia, usually Byron Bay is at the top of the list of places to visit. This hippy town has enchanted visitors, hippy or not, for generations. It is hard to explain, but one usually feels immediately relaxed on arrival. With chain establishments few and far between, “Byron” (as the locals say) has an identity of its own. I usually visit for a few days at least once a year, as Byron often gives me a bit of a recharge. I have my go-to favourites, but on my most recent trip I discovered a few more places worth exploring.Byron Bay, New South Wales, AustraliaThe Byron at Byron Resort and Spa, Byron Bay, New South Wales, AustraliaStay
The Byron at Byron Resort and Spa: I’ve mentioned my love for this resort before, but it deserves another mention. Located a bit out-of-town, this is the ultimate spot for relaxation.
The Atlantic Byron Bay: A perfectly designed guesthouse in the centre of Byron Bay.
Byron Bay, New South Wales, AustraliaByron Bay, New South Wales, AustraliaByron Bay, New South Wales, AustraliaSee and Do
Byron’s beaches are probably the best aspect about this small town. With a handful of beaches, you can visit a different beach each day. Check out Belongil Beach, The Wreck, Main Beach, Clarkes Beach, The Pass, Watego’s Beach, Cosy Corner, and Tallow Beach, all have their own special quality.
Water Sports
Where there are beaches, there are water sports. You can try anything from surfing and stand up paddle boarding to kayaking and scuba diving.
Cape Byron Walk
Starting at Captain Cook’s Lookout near Clarkes Beach, this 3.7 km loop takes you along Australia’s most easterly point. It’s perfect for spotting whales and dolphins, along with basking in Cape Byron Lighthouse.Byron Bay, New South Wales, AustraliaNewrybar, New South Wales, AustraliaFederal, New South Wales, AustraliaShopping
Believe it or not, Byron is known for amazing shopping. The many boutiques stock brands and pieces hard to come by anywhere else in Australia. Additionally, many famous Australian designers got their start in Byron, like Spell and Tallow.
Though Byron offers more than enough for a relaxing vacation, you’ll be tempted by the beautiful hinterland surrounding the town. It is worth driving the country roads and grabbing a bite to eat in Newrybar, Bangalow, and Federal.
Dependent on your timing, you might be able to catch the Byron Bay Market, during the first Sunday of the month, or the Bangalow Market, during the fourth Sunday of the month, for artisan creations and yummy food.
Harvest, Newrybar, New South Wales, AustraliaOrgasmic Food Byron Bay, New South Wales, AustraliaDoma, Federal, New South Wales, AustraliaEat
Top Shop: This cute café serves their own freshly bottled juice, along with my favourite berry bowl!
Mokha: A café overlooking the main strip for a classic breakfast and good smoothies.
Orgasmic Food Byron Bay: A hole in the wall Egyptian café, serving the best Egyptian falafel.
Beloporto Burgers: Another hole in the wall for quick fix burgers with all the fixings.
Byron Fresh: This cute café close to Main Beach is perfect for people watching while enjoying good food and drinks.
The Balcony: A Byron institution, enjoyed best during happy hour.
Asia Joes: This little Asian fusion restaurant is fun, especially with your own BYOB of wine.
Italian at the Pacific: This is my favourite restaurant in Byron, serving great Italian food in a lovely setting.
St Elmo: A nice wine bar specialising in Spanish tapas.
Miss Margarita: This Mexican cantina has quickly become a Byron institution.
Harvest (Newrybar): This restaurant is the perfect treat for a local lunch.
Town (Bangalow): A cute café best enjoyed on the back patio.
Doma (Federal): I can’t help but wonder what a Japanese café is doing in the middle of the Australian hinterland. Though I’m happy I discovered this anomaly.Byron Bay, New South Wales, AustraliaByron Bay, New South Wales, AustraliaGo
Located just south of the Gold Coast, Byron Bay is a two-hour drive from Brisbane. Alternatively, flights operate from Ballina Byron Gateway Airport to Sydney and Melbourne.Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia

A Guide to my Favourite Australian City, Melbourne

Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaI take any chance I can get to visit one of my favourite cities, Melbourne. Every now and again Alex will have some business in Melbourne and I’ll fly down to make a long weekend of it. I’ve visited this city enough in the past three years to feel somewhat like a local. Well, it’s also encouraging that the locals make you feel like one of them. I revisit my favourite cafes and restaurants, along with exploring familiar laneways. But during my most recent trip, with my travel blogger hat on, I did some research, asked around, and found some new establishments, along with local favourites. Here’s my guide to my favourite Australian city, Melbourne.
Degraves Street, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaStay
Punthill Apartment Hotels: With three prime locations within the city centre, these reasonably priced contemporary apartments are perfect for any stay in Melbourne.
Adelphi Hotel: For the ultimate boutique hotel experience in the centre of Melbourne.
Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaSee and Do
Melbourne and laneways are synonymous. I could wander the laneways for days, and I usually do when I visit. I always frequent Degraves Street for a particular Canadian breakfast (though I haven’t encountered this breakfast in Canada), eventually working my way northeast, discovering new cafes and boutiques along the way.
Carlton Gardens and Melbourne Museum
North of the laneways, you’ll find Carlton Gardens and the Melbourne Museum. The gardens surround the famous Royal Exhibition Building, a hallmark of Victorian architecture, and the contemporary Melbourne Museum. This is one of my favourite museums in Australia, with the best animal exhibition I’ve seen.
Just northeast of the Museum, you’ll find the trendy area of Fitzroy. Wander up and down Brunswick Street for cafes, restaurants, and even rooftop bars.Melbourne Museum, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaQueen Victoria Markets, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaQueen Victoria Markets and South Melbourne Markets
No trip to Melbourne is complete without visiting these markets, at either end of the city centre. These historical 19th century landmarks cater for all your shopping needs, from produce to home wares. But my favourite is the night markets, occurring one night a week during the summer, serving any food imaginable that is thoroughly enjoyed with some sangria!
St Kilda
A quick tram ride from the city centre will drop you off at Melbourne’s famous beach community. Though the beach here struggles to rival other famous Australian beaches, a walk along St Kilda Pier is worth it to see some penguins and seals. From here, head to Acland Street for pastry shops galore. Pace yourself, you’ll want to try a pastry from the dozen or so shops.
Chapel Street
This street in South Yarra has always been my go-to shopping destination. With a classic high street feel, you’ll find brand name shops amongst boutiques and cafes.South Melbourne Markets, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaAcland Street, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaShopping
Speaking of shopping, I was happy when a local friend of mine informed me of Melbourne latest and greatest shopping centre, the Emporium, just north of Bourke Street in the city centre. It’s probably the best shopping centre I’ve visited, with every shop imaginable, and a food court that almost seems refined.
There’s even more to discover when the sun goes down. My best advice would be to get the Broadsheet App and bar hop the secret bars listed, trying a cocktail at each one. You might feel lost trying to find a bar down a dingy laneway, but trust me it’s all part of the experience to find that one door with the smallest of signs that opens to a world of fun.
Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
Melbourne is the sporting capital of Australia, particularly the Australian Football League (AFL aka Aussie Rules) capital. If sport is your thing, try to catch an AFL game or cricket match at the MCG. I’ve been dragged to this stadium more times than I would like, but a sporting arena with the capacity of over 100, 000 is a sight to be seen.MCG, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaMelbourne, Victoria, AustraliaEat
Industry Beans: Hipster coffee central, serving yummy food and tea as well, in an industrial setting off of Brunswick Street.
Journal Canteen: Tucked away off Flinders Lane overlooking Degraves Street, this rustic café offers daily specials with a home cooked feel.
Oriental Tea House: I’ll never forget the Sunday morning my mom went ballistic for dim sum here, a perfect start for shopping on Chapel Street.
Little Creatures Dining Hall: For good craft beer and classic bar food in the heart of Fitzroy.
Chin Chin: Serving Asian fusion, this restaurant is the hottest ticket in town. One catch, no reservations, so you’ll have to wait an hour in their basement bar, which isn’t so bad with cocktails as good as their food.
Hutong Dumpling Bar: Known to serve the best dumplings in town, this establishment is perfect for late night laneway bites.
Florentino Grill: This is a recent discovery of mine, even though it is the oldest restaurant in Melbourne, on Bourke Street. Alex enjoyed dinner here twice in one week, taking me back after his first time here with colleagues. I was warned to prepare myself during the day for the epic 5 courses to come. This Melbourne institution is the best for Italian fine dining.
Ombra: Next-door, included in Grossi’s food empire, you’ll find this salumi bar, perfect for pre dinner snacks and drinks.
Pellegrini's, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaDrink
Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar: Just down the street from Grossi’s establishments, you’ll find another local institution for some of the best coffee in town.
Naked for Satan: There are some great rooftop bars in Melbourne and this is no exception. On Brunswick Street, it offers great views of city along with great drinks.
Double Happiness: No trip to Melbourne is complete without a trip to this tiny bar. Nestled in a laneway, the cocktails are enjoyed among Chinese communist propaganda décor.
Eau de Vie: For the best cocktail experience in Melbourne, this bar is hidden down another laneway.
Berlin Bar: And the hidden laneway bar tour continues to this unique experience. Half of the bar is themed as East Berlin and the other half as West Berlin. Your overall experience depends on where you’re seated.
Naked for Satan, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaGo
Melbourne is one of Australia’s largest hubs, easily accessible by many international airlines. Once in Melbourne, it is best to stay in the city centre, as most attractions are within walking distance from here. Alternatively, trams and trains can take you to the surrounding suburbs, but sometimes taxis are cheaper and easier for most visitors.Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

5 Things to See and Do in Coffs Harbour

Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, AustraliaWhile living in Australia, I strive to see as much as I can in the definite time I have here. My Australian boyfriend often remarks that I’ve seen more than him. My recent trip to Coffs Harbour was one such incident. I’m lucky that my housemate during my study abroad semester in Brisbane EIGHT YEARS AGO (I can’t believe how old we’re getting) is a Coffs Harbour local, and invited our other housemate and I down to “Coffs” (as the locals say) for a long weekend. I’m also very lucky to still call these women friends, which goes to show you good friendships last despite time and location. It was my first time to Coffs, and I honestly felt like a kid in a candy store. I was impressed with the beauty around me, along with so much to do! You’ll want to add Coffs Harbour to your itinerary while exploring the East Coast of Australia after reading this.
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, AustraliaSee and Do
This is the centre of activity in Coffs. Not only does the Jetty itself offer a nice walk around the harbour, but also expansive views that will make all your Instagram followers jealous. You’ll find a few eateries around the Jetty, along with the Sunday market, and the beach is perfect for cooling off in the summer heat.
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, AustraliaMuttonbird Island
One morning we laced up our runners and challenged ourselves to walk Muttonbird Island. It essentially looks like a large hump at the end of the Jetty. With one paved path running from one end of the Island to the other, when there’s an up, there’s always a down. The struggle uphill was worth it for the view at the end of the path. And depending what time of year you visit, you might see baby muttonbirds nesting along the path.
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, AustraliaSawtell
This town located next to Coffs Harbour is a favourite among many locals, with a cute main road just blocks away from the beautiful beach. We often stopped here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, only to walk off our full bellies along the beach.
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, AustraliaBellingen
I’ve never been to a small town like this one before. My art history nerdy side came out as I marvelled at the architecture of the various buildings lining the main road. Perfectly intermixed among some of Australia’s oldest shop fronts, you’ll find art deco, as well as mid-century modern buildings. My favourite was the Hammond & Wheatley shop, but the scenic 20 minute drive through the hinterland was enough to make we want to return.
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, AustraliaNever Never Creek in the Promised Land
The locals might be upset that I’m sharing this secret spot of theirs, so proceed with caution. The location lives up to the name. Take a 15-minute drive from Bellingen and be transported into a land only thought to exist in fairy tales. That’s all I’ll say, you’ll have to see it for yourself.
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, AustraliaEat
Old John’s (Coffs Harbour): Located just down the road from the Jetty, good for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I particularly like their wall of doors!
Latitude 30 (Coffs Harbour): Go here for the best view from the Jetty at sunset with a few drinks and nibblies in hand.
Café TREEO (Sawtell): A local favourite for breakfast, making us return for more!
Sea Salt Fish & Chips (Sawtell): Another local favourite, serving Australia’s version of fish and chips. Trust me it’s good!
Franks Bar and Restaurant (Sawtell): A art deco inspired diner, best for sharing pizza and sangria.
5 Church Street (Bellingen): An eclectic establishment known for live music, and yummy food and drinks.
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, AustraliaGo
Coffs Harbour is located about half way between Sydney and Brisbane on the East Coast of Australia, about five hours drive in either direction, making this an ideal overnight or two stop on an East Coast road trip. Alternatively, Coffs Harbour Airport operates a few flights daily to Sydney and Melbourne.Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia


text:
January/February 2002

Jim Brickman
Simple Things
Windham Hill

With his gift for thematic hook and cascading, dynamic classical technique, pianist Jim Brickman doesn't need many additional trappings for his fire-lit compositions. That said, Simple Things (Windham Hill WADV-11589-2; 45:11) sprinkles a bit of light accompaniment on the mix, lending a welcome change of pace amidst the solo pieces. Brickman's compositions use silence and space as well as note and chord to convey emotion, often using simple motifs, as on the bittersweet "Catching Twilight" and the rhapsodizing "Night Rain." A cinematic nostalgia marks the sweeping piece "The Promise," while the hopeful "Waiting for You" is hesitant and light in the high register of the piano, like the sound equivalent of a child tentatively stepping on an icy pond to see if it holds. The ensemble pieces add just the right twist, like the shaking, lumbering percussion adding warmth to "Serenade" and the light strings lending a chamber-music feel to "Devotion." A single oddity is the vocal piece, "A Mother's Day," essentially a list of everyday "regular things" that, despite its nostalgia, doesn't find the warm lyricism central to this fine album.

Originally published in January/February 2002
BUY THIS ALBUM from Amazon.com
STREAM THIS CD from Rhapsody.com

Add a Comment

You need to log in to comment on this article. No account? No problem!


text:
December 2007

Albert Ayler: Playing It With Love

There are important jazz musicians who are more talked and read about than actually heard, and one is Albert Ayler. He did not record extensively. He died at 34 in 1970. His music is so radical that it makes Ornette Coleman sound mellifluous. But John Coltrane asked that Ayler play at his funeral, and Don Cherry believed Ayler “carried the gift, the voice, a reflection of God.”

Donald Ayler, trumpet, and Albert Ayler, saxophone, New York, mid-1960s.
By Larry Fink
Albert Ayler
By Michael Snow

1 of 2      Next

There are people bent on keeping Ayler from fading into the shadows of history. In 2004, the Revenant label released Holy Ghost, a nine-CD box of “rare and unissued recordings” accompanied by a 208-page hardbound book. And now there is a documentary film by 35-year-old Swedish director Kasper Collin, My Name Is Albert Ayler, and an album of new music on Cuneiform, Healing Force: The Songs of Albert Ayler.

Collin’s film started a buzz in the international jazz community when it was first shown at a few jazz festivals in Europe and the U.S. in 2005. It had its theatrical premiere in London in February 2007. As of this writing, there are plans for an imminent tour of theaters in approximately a dozen U.S. cities, and a DVD release early next year that will be available at

When Collin heard Ayler’s music for the first time in the early 1990s, and learned that Ayler had lived in Sweden for nine months in 1962, he went in search of him. Collin has a degree in film from Göteborg University, and his original concept was to make a short documentary about Ayler’s Scandinavian period. “I couldn’t find any written information so I sought out the people who had known Albert in Sweden,” Collin writes in an e-mail. “The fact that they remembered him so clearly, after almost 40 years, increased my fascination with this person. As a filmmaker I am passionately interested in memory. My film is made of different memories.”

Collin’s search for “different memories” eventually led him to the United States, to New York and to Ayler’s hometown of Cleveland, for interviews with his family and friends and lovers and fellow musicians. With support from the Swedish Film Institute and the Swedish national television station, SVT, his film became a 79-minute documentary of Ayler’s life.

It took Collin seven years to research, gather, assemble and edit his material. Because so little archival film footage of Ayler exists, he had to rely on other sources. What he has created is a collage of visual and sonic imagery that comes upon the viewer in a spontaneous, poetic flow. He writes, “Some filmmakers write a script and follow it. I don’t enjoy working like that. I love the process, the unexpected things. Hopefully in the end I find a form that is organic.” Collin, in other words, is an improviser.

Many of the individual elements of his improvisation are powerful: Collin overlays Ayler’s death certificate upon 8mm film footage of a 1970s New York skyline. (His body was found floating in the East River on Nov. 25, 1970. No one knows for certain how it got there, but the popular theory is suicide.) He follows Ayler’s 89-year-old father, Edward, as he searches a cemetery in Cleveland in 2001 for Albert’s small grave marker. There are the faces and voices of people who played with Ayler: Gary Peacock, Michel Sampson and Sune Spanberg, the drummer on Ayler’s first album, who says, “I’d never before let loose like that. Not since then either, I think.” Ayler’s later drummer, Sunny Murray, has the film’s last words: “Albert played it with love.”

And especially, there is Donald Ayler, the younger brother who played primal, raw trumpet in Ayler’s bands. Donald now lives in a psychiatric home in Cleveland. Albert had brought him into music, and when the two had a falling out, Donald had a breakdown. Guilt over Donald may have led to Albert’s alleged suicide. We see Donald staring, rapt, at old photographs of the two brothers together.

Then there are the old girlfriends with moist eyes and halting voices, and all the still photos (piercing forms of memory) and, never gone for long, the musical soundtrack, the otherworldly din of Ayler’s ensembles, the cry and summons of his saxophone. Like a leitmotif, a few seconds of black and white film footage of Ayler recur. He is shirtless, gazing directly into the camera with his pleading, saintly eyes. (Collin writes, “Albert always believed that one day people would understand his music.”) This is a film that gets under your skin.

The most improbable of the recent Ayler projects is Healing Force: The Songs of Albert Ayler. Guitarist Henry Kaiser formed a septet including vocalist Aurora Josephson to explore the “vocally oriented” material that Ayler played in the last three years of his life. Kaiser freely admits that this music was “generally reviled.” Even many of Ayler’s strongest supporters rejected it as a doomed search for a larger audience, a misguided attempt to integrate pop lyrics into the turbulence of free jazz.

Against all odds, Kaiser’s project works. Vinny Golia on reeds convincingly channels Ayler’s rasping ferocity. Yet most of the album’s wild sonic landscape celebrates, rather than re-creates, Ayler’s music. Josephson’s clear, pure voice is in the eye of the howling hurricane. What is captured is not Ayler’s sound, but his ecstasy.

In their different media, these works by Collin and Kaiser reveal why Albert Ayler still provokes awe. In order to exist in the midst of something absolute, he was willing to risk everything.

Add a Comment

You need to log in to comment on this article. No account? No problem!


text: salvadorheat821 - JazzTimes Community Articles The world's leading jazz publication. en-us Information To Help You Through Stock Market Trading - Community Articles If you want to choose the best stocks and enjoy higher profits from stock-market investments, learning as much as you can about the market first is the only way to do both. Prior to purchasing a stock, research the business thoroughly, including previous trends and reputation. Trading in the stock market, though, is about much more than just familiarizing yourself with the companies in which you interested in making investments, and this article is here to give you a few tips to put you on the path to future profits. Our range of Dunlop tennis balls are available for excellent value, making them the ideal ball for people looking to buy a good quality tennis balls . In 1980, Dunlop and Slazenger merged to form the Dunlop Slazenger International company. Although run separately, they both shares years of experience and are always developing their products, to give more consistancy to the club player. Dunlop are major sponsors within tennis and have many of the worlds top players signed up, to use their rackets and equipment. Amongst the top players using Dunlop are Tommy Haas, Jamie Murray and Tommy Robrego. If the goals of your portfolio are for maximum long term profits, you need to have stocks from various different industries. Even though the entire market averages good growth, not at all industries are constantly and simultaneously in expansion. By having positions across multiple sectors, you can capitalize on the growth of hot industries to grow your overall portfolio. Regular portfolio re-balancing can minimize any losses in... salvadorheat821 Sat, 28 Jul 2012 00:00:31 -0400


text:
Friday, 22 March 2013

JavaFx: Structuring your Application - Service and Application State layer

This post is part of a series of blog posts about structuring your JavaFx application. Here's an overview:
  1. Overview
  2. View layer
  3. Application logic layer
  4. Service - Application State layer(this post)
In this post I'll explain which classes should be used to communicate with external sources and how we store application state.

A Service is used to communicate with an external resource. This can be anything, from a webserver to a printer.
Every Service should focus on a certain resource or a subset of it (like a Service which only performs contact related REST calls).
Again, it's also important to put your Service behind an interface. By doing this you can mock it when unit testing commands, but it also allows you to create a stub implementation which you can use while the back-end developers are creating the server code and swap it with the real implementation once they have finished the backend code.

Such a service can look like this:
public interface IEventService {

    List<EventVO> getEvents();
    EventVO getEventDetails(String id);
    void acceptEvent(EventVO event);
    void declineEvent(EventVO event, String reason);
And the stub implementation:
public class StubEventService implements IEventService {

    private List<EventVO> events;

    public StubEventService() {
        Calendar calendarDate = GregorianCalendar.getInstance();
        calendarDate.set(2012, 4, 24, 10, 20);
        Date date = calendarDate.getTime();

        events = new ArrayList<EventVO>();
        events.add(createEvent("1", "First Event", "Paris, France", date, date,
                "The event will showcase the first application"));
        events.add(createEvent("2", "Special meeting", "Manchester, UK", date, date,
                "A special meeting for a special application"));
        events.add(createEvent("3", "Technology meetup", "Brussels, Belgium", date, date,
                "Geeking out with the latest technologies"));
        events.add(createEvent("4", "Designer Conference", "Boston, US", date, date,
                "Various talks by the most famous designers in the industry"));

    public List<EventVO> getEvents() {
        return events;

    public EventVO getEventDetails(String id) {
        for (EventVO event : events) {
            if(event.getId() == id) {
                return event;

        return null;

    public void acceptEvent(EventVO event) {

    public void declineEvent(EventVO event, String reason) {

    private EventVO createEvent(String id, String name, String location, Date startTime, Date endTime, String description) {
        EventVO event = new EventVO();
        return event;

The Model

A model is used to store and share state across your application. This allows you to react to certain state changes in multiple parts of your application.
A model is in most cases just a class with some properties that define the state (e.g. the selected contact, the list of contacts that is shown). In some cases it can contain some basic logic, but this should never be complicated (if it is, then move it to a command).
In most cases it will be a command that updates the model or takes values from it to return it to the view layer.
As always, you should put the Model behind an interface for unit testing purposes.

This is how such a model can look like:
public interface IEventSelectionModel {
    EventVO getSelectedEvent();

    void setSelectedEvent(EventVO event);

    ObjectProperty<EventVO> getSelectedEventProperty();

And the implementation:
public class EventSelectionModel implements IEventSelectionModel {

    private ObjectProperty<EventVO> selectedEvent = new SimpleObjectProperty<EventVO>(this, "selectedEvent");

    public EventVO getSelectedEvent() {
        return selectedEvent.get();

    public void setSelectedEvent(EventVO event) {

    public ObjectProperty<EventVO> getSelectedEventProperty() {
        return selectedEvent;

This was the final article in the series.
My goal was to share my view on a fat client architecture and hopefully get the conversation started about client architectures with JavaFx. That way we can improve this architecture or even find (better) alternatives.

Monday, 18 March 2013

JavaFx: Structuring your Application - Application Logic Layer

This post is part of a series of blog posts about structuring your JavaFx application. Here's an overview:
  1. Overview
  2. View layer
  3. Application logic layer(this post)
  4. Service - Application State layer
Because this architecture is targeting fat clients which have all the business logic on the client side it is important to structure this in an organized and efficient way. In this post I'll explain how you can organize your application logic in a way that it won't block the UI.

The Command

A command is a stateless object which is executed once and then disposed of. It has a single responsibility, which clearly defines its purpose.
Such a command can for example have the responsibility to create a new contact, calculate the total amount of money a client has to pay etc.
This leads to a higher number of classes, but it has some advantages over a controller:
  • A command will have less dependencies because of its single responsibility. This makes it easier to test.
  • When using good class/package name conventions it's easier to find a certain piece of logic.
A command can use Services and Models to do its job, but should never reference the mediator.

Running it in the background

Because business logic should run in a background thread to avoid blocking the UI, I'm using a convention to make every command extend from the JavaFx Service class.
The Service class is used in JavaFx to run some code in one or more background threads. More info on this class can be found here:
This fits perfectly in my design because it makes sure that all business logic is executed in a background thread. Because it's an integral part of our application structure developers won't forget to start a new thread because it will be done transparently when creating a new instance of a command and starting it.

How it looks like in code

This is how it looks like in code. The command has one parameter which should be set before starting the command and it has a dependency to the IEventService. When it's finished it return an EventVO instance with all the details of the event.
public class LoadEventDetailsCommand extends Service<EventVO> {

    public IEventService eventService;
    public String eventId;

    protected Task<EventVO> createTask() {
        return new Task<EventVO>() {
            protected EventVO call() throws Exception {
                return eventService.getEventDetails(eventId);

And this is how you can use it in the mediator. The commandProvider is something which I'll discuss in a moment, but it basically creates a new instance of a certain command class. When you call the start() method the command will start its execution in a background thread.
LoadEventDetailsCommand command = commandProvider.get(LoadEventDetailsCommand.class);
command.setOnSucceeded(new LoadEventDetailsSucceededHandler());
command.eventId = eventSelectionModel.getSelectedEvent().getId();

And finally the succeeded handler which is just an inner class in my mediator. It gets the EventVO result from the command and asks the view to show the new details:
private class LoadEventDetailsSucceededHandler implements EventHandler<WorkerStateEvent> {
    public void handle(WorkerStateEvent workerStateEvent) {
        view.updateEventDetails((EventVO) workerStateEvent.getSource().getValue());

The CommandProvider

The CommandProvider is a class which I've created as sort of a Command factory, which uses a Guice injector to produce the instances. This allows us to inject dependencies in the commands.

The interface:
public interface ICommandProvider {

    <T extends Service> T get(Class<T> type);

And the implementation:
public class CommandProvider implements ICommandProvider {

    public Injector injector;

    public <T extends Service> T get(Class<T> type) {
        return injector.getInstance(type);

In this article we've seen how you can organize the business logic in a single layer and how you can make sure that it won't block the UI. In my next and final article I'll explore the Service and Model classes which allow us to communicate with external sources and store application state.

Monday, 11 March 2013

JavaFx: Structuring your Application - View Layer

Hi! I've given my blog a new home at
You can find the new version of this post here:
This post is part of a series of blog posts about structuring your JavaFx application. Here's an overview:
  1. Overview
  2. View layer (this post)
  3. Application logic layer
  4. Service - Application State layer
In this post I'll explain the components of the view layer (View and Mediator), how they should interact and some best practices on how to use them.

The View

This class is where you'll use the JavaFx components to build your UI. It's also responsible for displaying notifications, opening new windows or just about anything that it related to the UI (and which should happen on the UI thread).
I prefer to create my UI with pure Java code instead of using FXML. It's fast, easier to use with Guice and it's giving me more control over my code. Therefore my structure is based on this.
To keep the Views focused on their tasks, you should follow these rules.

Rule 1: Don't let your View extend JavaFx components

The View should never extend a JavaFx component, it should only use JavaFx components. This rule is also known as "composition over inheritance".
Our View classes will have a getView() method which will create and return the top-level component/container of that view. That way the actual view is only instantiated when the getView() method is called. This has several benefits:
  1. Remember from the previous post, the View classes are mapped in Guice and injected in the View classes where they will be used. By not extending a JavaFx component, the cost of creation will be lower when Guice creates and injects these Views.
  2. You can extend any other class you want because the design doesn't force you to extend JavaFx components.
  3. The API of your view will not be cluttered with all the methods of the JavaFx component

Rule 2: The View should never contain application logic

The view can contain view logic (like when to play an animation), but should never contain application logic.
Application logic can sometimes take up several 100ms. If you do this on the UI thread, then during this time the UI will not be able to update anything, so it will feel unresponsive. Therefore it's very important to run your application logic on a separate thread (which in this structure will be in a Command).
If some application logic should be executed in response to a button click, it should call the mediator to delegate this to the application logic layer.

Rule 3: Put your view behind an interface

You should create an interface for your View class. This interface should contain the methods that can be called by the Mediator.
Creating such an interface has several advantages:
  1. You create an API for your View which clearly indicates what it can do.
  2. The mediator can work against this API, so it isn't tied to a certain View implementation. This is especially handy when writing unit tests for your mediator because you can create a mock for the view and inject that into the mediator.

How it looks like in code

Now how does this look like in code when you apply the rules above? I'll show you some code of a view which shows a list of events. The user can select one of the events by clicking on them.

First we have the View interface:
public interface IEventListView {

     * Asks the view to update the list of events with this new list.
    void updateEventList(List<EventVO> events);
And then we have the View implementation:
public class EventListView implements IEventListView {

    public IEventListMediator mediator;

    private ListView listView;
    private ObservableList events;

    public ListView getView() {
        if(listView == null) {
            events = FXCollections.observableArrayList();

            listView =  ListViewBuilder.create()
                    .onMouseClicked(new EventListMouseClickedHandler())
            listView.setCellFactory(new EventListItemRenderer());

            //when the view is created, ask the mediator to load the events.

        return listView;

    public void updateEventList(List<EventVO> events) {;;

    private class EventListMouseClickedHandler implements EventHandler<MouseEvent> {

        public void handle(MouseEvent mouseEvent) {
This view can then be used in the overview View like this:
public class EventOverviewView implements IEventOverviewView {

    public EventListView eventListView;

    public Pane getView() {
        if(view == null) {
            view = PaneBuilder.create()
                            eventList = eventListView.getView()

        return view;

The Mediator

The Mediator is the postman between the view and the application logic. It is receiving messages (calls) from the View and it passes them on to Commands. It also passes on messages that are coming from the application logic to the view. Again, some rules apply here.

Rule 1: The mediator should not contain any application logic

The mediator runs on the UI thread, so it should not contain any application logic as this can make your application unresponsive. It should instead create a command (by using the CommandProvider class) and start the command which will then execute the application logic.
By following this rule we avoid duplicate code and make sure that application logic can always be found in one layer instead of being scattered in multiple layers, which in the end makes your application more maintainable.

Rule 2: The mediator should have an interface

The Mediator should have an interface which defines which actions it can perform. These methods can then be called in the view.

Rule 3: Don't do complex manipulations on your Models in your mediator

In some cases it can be handy to inject a Model into the mediator to directly access the application state without having to write a command for it. But to avoid excessive use of this, you should only listen to changes on the model, get simple data from it or set simple things on it. If the data needs to be manipulated in any way, don't access the model directly but create a command instead which will contain this logic. So be very careful when accessing the Model from your Mediator.

How it looks like in code

When you apply these rules it will look like this.

First we have the mediator:
public interface IEventListMediator {

    void loadEvents();

    void updateSelectedEvent(EventVO event);
And then we have the Mediator implementation:
public class EventListMediator implements IEventListMediator {

    public ICommandProvider commandProvider;
    public IEventSelectionModel eventSelectionModel;
    public IEventListView view;

    public void loadEvents() {
        LoadEventsCommand command = commandProvider.get(LoadEventsCommand.class);
        command.setOnSucceeded(new LoadEventsSucceedHandler());

    public void updateSelectedEvent(EventVO event) {

    private class LoadEventsSucceedHandler implements EventHandler<WorkerStateEvent> {

        public void handle(WorkerStateEvent workerStateEvent) {

In this post we've covered the View layer and the rules that should be followed. It also showed how the View and the Mediator communicate with each other. In the next post I'll cover the application logic layer were we'll see how heavy application logic will be offloaded to a separate thread in a consistent way.

Thursday, 7 March 2013

JavaFx: Structuring your Application - Overview

Hi! I've given my blog a new home at
You can find the new version of this post here:

JavaFx is a new rich client framework by Oracle. It allows you to create visually pleasing enterprise business applications with the Java language.

While many small demos are showing up in the community, there aren't many articles on how to structure your JavaFx application. Using a good structure makes it easier to maintain your application, add new features and improves overall stability. These are all very important in enterprise applications.
This serie of articles will try to remedy that by showing you one of many ways to structure your application. This is certainly not the only way to do it, but it will give you a starting point. Even this structure is open for improvement (as every structure is).

This serie will consist of four blog posts:
  1. Overview (this blog post)
  2. View layer
  3. Application logic layer
  4. Service - Application State layer

High-level Overview

The structure I will describe is based on Robotlegs, an Apache Flex micro-architecture library. But instead of using events to decouple the layers, I went with for direct calls (with interfaces in-between). While events allow you to decouple the layers even more, I prefer direct calls with interfaces over events because they make it easier to follow the flow of your application.

The diagram below shows the different components and layers in my architecture. The arrows indicate the dependencies.

  • View: This is where the JavaFx components are used to build the UI.
  • Mediator: The mediator facilitates the communication between the view and the application logic layer. This is why it's both included in the view layer as the application logic layer. This layer should not contain application logic, it's just a postman who receives calls from the view and delegates them to the application logic layer and vise versa.
  • Command: This is where your application logic will reside. A Command is a class which executes a single unit of work and will be disposed when it's finished.
  • Service: A service is used to access external resources. This can be a remote service, a file on the filesystem or a device attached to the user's pc.
  • Model: A model stores the state of your application. This can be the selected record which should be accessible in multiple views.

  • The diagram below shows a sample flow of an application. In this case the user clicked on a button to delete a contact in a list.

    1. The view asks the mediator to delete the item by calling the deleteContact(contact) method on the IContactListMediator interface.
    2. The mediator creates a new DeleteContactCommand and registers a success handler on it. Then it calls the start() method on the command.
    3. The command calls the contact service to delete the contact from the database
    4. The command calls a method on the model to remove the contact from the application state. It receives the updated list of contacts from the model
    5. The command finishes and triggers the registered success listeners. It provides the updated list of contacts to the success handlers.
    6. The success handler in the mediator asks the view to update the list of contacts based on the updated contact list it got from the command.

    Used libraries

    For my application I didn't use any framework (except for JavaFx, obviously), I wanted to create my own structure without the overhead of a framework. All I used was the JavaFx framework and Guice for dependency injection.
    For those interested in build tools, I used the JavaFx Gradle plugin created by Danno Ferrin to create a build script.

    Dependency Injection

    Mapping your dependencies

    A DI library like Guice allows you to inject instances of certain classes into other classes without you having to manually instantiate and inject them. This can greatly improve the quality of your code since you don't have to write all that yourself. Guice is basically the glue that holds your application together.

    In Guice you have to create a Module class which defines all the mappings. Such a module class can look like this for a simple application:
    public class EventManagerModule extends AbstractModule {
        protected void configure() {
        private void mapViews() {
        private void mapMediators() {
        private void mapCommands() {
        private void mapServices() {
        private void mapModels() {
        private void mapInfrastructure() {
    So in most cases you will be mapping implementations to interfaces. Always try to use interfaces. This allows you to, for example, create a stub implementation of a service (in this case StubEventService) and a real implementation which you can then just swap by changing the Guice mapping.
    Only for the Commands I didn't create interfaces because they wouldn't add that much value. They would all practically be marker services, but you'll see that in my following posts.

    While this Module implementation is ok for a small application, it can quickly explode in one huge class when you're building a bigger application. This is where bootstrap classes come in handy. A bootstrap class is just a class which initializes a certain part of your application. In this case it would initialize the mappings of the views, the mediators or the commands. Such a bootstrap class would look like this:
    public class MediatorMapper implements Mapper {
        private AbstractModule module;
        public MediatorMapper(AbstractModule module) {
            this.module = module;
        public void bootstrap() {
    Your module would then look like this:
    public class EventManagerModule extends AbstractModule {
        protected void configure() {
            new ViewMapper(this).bootstrap();
            new MediatorMapper(this).bootstrap();
            new CommandMapper(this).bootstrap();
            new ServiceMapper(this).bootstrap();
            new ModelMapper(this).bootstrap();
            new ModelMapper(this).bootstrap();

    Wiring it all together

    Now how do you wire all this together? Well, that is what I'm going to show you now.

    In your Main class you will create a Guice Injector and with this injector you will instantiate the main view of your application. Your Main class will look like this:
    public class Main extends Application {
        public static void main(String[] args) {
        public void start(Stage stage) throws Exception {
            Injector injector = Guice.createInjector(new EventManagerModule());
            EventOverviewView eventOverviewView = injector.getInstance(EventOverviewView.class);
            Scene scene = SceneBuilder.create()
    The views that are being used in the main view are also injected in the main view. Also, the mediator that is behind the main view is also injected. This patterns is used for every view.
    public class EventOverviewView implements IEventOverviewView {
        public IEventOverviewMediator mediator;
        public EventListView eventListView;
        public EventDetailView eventDetailView;
    Then, in the mediator, we inject the view and the commandProvider (this is a class which allows to create command instances on the fly).
    public class EventOverviewMediator implements IEventOverviewMediator {
        public IEventOverviewView view;
        public CommandProvider commandProvider;
    And in the application logic layer we inject the service/model in the command.
    public class LoadEventsCommand extends Service<List<EventVO>> {
        public IEventService eventService;

    In this post I gave a broad overview of the structure and explained how dependency injection fits into this.
    In the following posts I will go into more detail for each layer and give some best practices.
    You can find the full sample application here:

    Wednesday, 28 March 2012

    GradleFx: What's to come (short term)

    In this post I'll give you an overview of the upcoming changes (short term) in GradleFx. As you'll notice the focus will be on improving what's already in GradleFx.

    Next GradleFx release

    So let's get started with the next release which is right around the corner. The two biggest changes will be:
    • Better error and warning messages.
    • Big improvements to the FlexUnit integration.

    Better error and warning messages

    Did you also got that nasty error when you didn't specify the FLEX_HOME environment variable when you first ran a GradleFx project? Well, you won't get that one anymore in the next version of GradleFx, including some other checks which will produce some more meaningful error and warning messages, like when you use a compiler property which is also being used by GradleFx.

    FlexUnit improvements

    Some major changes have been made to the FlexUnit integration. The configuration process has been greatly simplified. This is what you won't have to do anymore:
    • Manually download FlexUnit
    • Specify the name of the FlexUnit ant task
    • Create a FlexUnit Runner mxml class
    • Update the test cases in the FlexUnit Runner
    These are now improved as follows:
    • You have to define the FlexUnit ant task as a maven dependency (the artifact should be on Maven Central shortly), so no need anymore to manually download FlexUnit.
    • The FlexRunner is now created automatically
    • GradleFx will scan for classes ending with in your test source folder. This pattern can be changed by overriding the flexunit.includes and flexunit.excludes properties
    So these changes greatly reduce the required configuration, which brings the FlexUnit integration to a quality level.

    What will come after the upcoming GradleFx version?

    The features that will be implemented after this upcoming GradleFx release will revolve around automatically downloading the Flex SDK and Flash executable (used for the unit tests). This is the last step to make a GradleFx build stand on its own without needing initial configuration by the end-user.

    Automatic download of the Flex SDK

    Right now you have to create a FLEX_HOME environment variable or specify the flexHome property which point to the Flex SDK installed on your machine. I want to improve this process by automatically downloading the Flex SDK and unzipping it to a directory which can be accessed by GradleFx. Now, how will this work? I've got the following idea in mind: Create a flexSdkUrl property to which you can specify the url to a Flex SDK zipfile, which you can specify like this:
    flexSdkUrl = ''
    This will then download the Flex SDK, unzip it to a %USER_HOME%/gradlefx/sdks/flexsdk-x.x folder (which will be configurable) and which will be used by GradleFx to run the compiler etc.
    Again a great improvement which follows the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid). This should allow a great deal of flexibility in which SDK you use and where you host it. You can even create your own custom SDK (e.g. with a different AIR version in it) and link to it.

    Automatic download of the Flash executable

    This will follow the same principle as the SDK download. You will be able to specify the Flash executable download url like this:
    flashExecutableUrl = ''
    Then it will automatically download the executable and store it in a %USER_HOME%/gradlefx/flash/ directory, which will be used by GradleFx.

    I hope this update gave you a clear view of what is coming up. There are of course a lot of other features on my list, but I first wanted to polish the existing features before implementing new ones (although some of these could be seen as new ones...)

    Saturday, 5 November 2011

    Automated Gradle project deployment to Sonatype OSS Repository

    This post will walk you through the steps to deploy your gradle project to the Sonatype OSS staging repository.

    Configuring your build.gradle file

    First you'll need to configure your build script (build.gradle file). A full working build script of my GradleFx project can be found here:

    These are the steps:

    Apply the maven and signing plugins. The signing plugin will sign your jar and pom files, which is required for deployment to the Sonatype OSS repository.
    apply plugin: 'maven'
    apply plugin: 'signing'
    Specify the group and version of your project:
    group = 'org.gradlefx'
    version = '0.3.1'
    Define tasks for source and javadoc jar generation. These jars are also required for Sonatype:

    task javadocJar(type: Jar, dependsOn: javadoc) {
        classifier = 'javadoc'
        from 'build/docs/javadoc'
    task sourcesJar(type: Jar) {
        from sourceSets.main.allSource
        classifier = 'sources'

    Specify your artifacts:
    artifacts {
        archives jar
        archives javadocJar
        archives sourcesJar
    Configure the signing task by specifying which artifacts to sign, in this case all the artifacts in the archives configuration. This will not yet include the pom file, which will be signed later.
    signing {
        sign configurations.archives
    Then we need to configure the generated pom file, sign the pom file and configure the Sonatype OSS staging repository.
    The 'beforeDeployment' line will sign the pom file right before the artifacts are deployed to the Sonatype OSS repository.
    The 'repository' part configures the Sonatype OSS staging repository. Notice the sonatypeUsername and sonatypePassword variables, these are property variables to which I'll come back to later in this post.
    The 'pom.project' section configures the generated pom files, you need to specify all this information because it's required for the Sonatype repository (and Maven Central).

    uploadArchives {
        repositories {
            mavenDeployer {
                beforeDeployment { MavenDeployment deployment -> signing.signPom(deployment) }
                repository(url: "") {
                  authentication(userName: sonatypeUsername, password: sonatypePassword)
                pom.project {
                   name 'GradleFx'
                   packaging 'jar'
                   description 'GradleFx is a Gradle plugin for building Flex and Actionscript applications'
                   url ''
                   scm {
                       url ''
                       connection ''
                       developerConnection ''
                   licenses {
                       license {
                           name 'The Apache Software License, Version 2.0'
                           url ''
                           distribution 'repo'
                   developers {
                       developer {
                           id 'yennicktrevels'
                           name 'Yennick Trevels'
                       developer {
                           id 'stevendick'
                           name 'Steven Dick'
    That's it for the configuration of your build script.

    Initial setup

    There are a couple of thing you need to do before you can run the build automatically, like:
    • Register your project at Sonatype
    • Create a public key pair to sign your jar/pom files
    • Create a gradle properties file
    Register your project at Sonatype
    First you'll need to register your project at sonatype. Follow the "2. Sign Up" and "3. Create a JIRA ticket" sections on this page:
    Create a public key pair
    A public key pair is needed to sign your jar/pom files. To generate this we need to dive into command line. Follow the "Generate a key pair" and "Distributing your public key" sections on this page:
    This will generate a key that will be stored on your computer and on Remember the password because there is no way to reset or restore it when you forget it.
    Create a gradle properties file
    Now we'll have to create a file which will contain the public key and sonatype login information. Because this is sensitive information it's best to store this file in your ".gradle" directory (e.g. D:\Users\MyUsername\.gradle) and not under your project. This properties file is used by your gradle build script. The signing.* properties are used and defined by the signing task, the sonatypeUsername and sonatypePassword properties are the variables we defined earlier in our build script. So first create the "" file under D:\Users\MyUsername\.gradle Then add the following properties to the file and change their values:
    the signing.keyId property is the public key id, you can list your keys with the "gpg --list-keys" command. With this command you'll get an output like this:
    pub 2048R/A5DOA652 2011-10-16
    uid MyUid
    sub 2048R/F66623G0 2011-10-16

    That's it for the initial setup.

    Deployment to the Sonatype OSS Repository

    Once you've done all the previous steps in this post you can deploy your project with just one single command: "gradle uploadArchives"


text:
Star Wars Holo Leia Figure Debuts at Comic-Con -- Preorders Start June 1!
Jay Cochran - June 01, 2005 has announced that in an effort to cut down line-time so fans can enjoy all there is to see and do at Comic-Con, is offering the chance to purchase figures in advance, allowing shoppers to simply pick them up at the Star Wars Pavilion with a purchase confirmation notice and photo ID. Advanced purchasers can come to the Pavilion throughout the show, during any hours the Comic-Con exhibit hall is open, to pick up their figures.

The holographic Princess Leia figure comes packaged on a unique card in the style of the retro Original Trilogy Collection, featuring the Comic-Con logo and scene from A New Hope displayed behind the figure.

Fans who pre-order this figure must pick it up at the Star Wars Pavilion at Comic-Con, which is in the front row of the exhibit hall near Lobby D. Orders for figures that are not picked up will be cancelled and refunded. No holographic Leia figures ordered for pick-up at Comic-Con will be shipped. There is a limit of three figures per customer, and the Lucasfilm staff will punch badges to indicate purchases.

Click here for more details.

More Action Figures News

Entertainment News International (ENI) is the popular culture network for fans all around the world. Get the scoop on all the popular comics, games, movies, toys, and more every day!
Action Figures
Star Wars
© 2015 Entertainment News International - All images, trademarks, logos, video, brands and images used on this website are registered trademarks of their respective companies and or owners. All Rights Reserved. Data has been shared for news reporting purposes only. All content sourced by fans, online websites, and or other fan community sources. Entertainment News International is not responsible for reporting errors, inaccuracies, omissions, and or other liablities related to news shared here. We do our best to keep tabs on infringements. If some of your content was shared by accident. To have it removed right away, please [ Contact Us ].


text:
Star Wars Blu-Ray Report
Bespin refugee - August 22, 2011

This past weekend, Home Theater Forum was invited by Lucasfilm, as part of a select group, to preview the upcoming Blu-Ray release, including the final packaging. The nine disk Complete Saga is packaged in book form, while the two trilogies come in 'a standard three disc Aramay Blu-ray case with a cardboard sleeve'. A spokesperson for Lucasfilm says it has taken just over 3 years to work on this set, including work on the movies, and uncovering a lot of material. In addition to video and audio adjustment, there were also some "nit-picky errors" that were corrected, incuding lightsaber effect shots (could the "Emperor slug" actually be fixed?!) There will also be all-new commentary, 360 turnarounds of the props, the costumes and the vehicles, and much more.
(Source: HomeTheaterForum)

More News

Entertainment News International (ENI) is the popular culture network for fans all around the world. Get the scoop on all the popular comics, games, movies, toys, and more every day!
Action Figures
Star Wars
© 2015 Entertainment News International - All images, trademarks, logos, video, brands and images used on this website are registered trademarks of their respective companies and or owners. All Rights Reserved. Data has been shared for news reporting purposes only. All content sourced by fans, online websites, and or other fan community sources. Entertainment News International is not responsible for reporting errors, inaccuracies, omissions, and or other liablities related to news shared here. We do our best to keep tabs on infringements. If some of your content was shared by accident. To have it removed right away, please [ Contact Us ].


text:
Thank You Chris Shipley

Today it was announced that my good friend Matt Marshall is taking over the executive producer position for the DEMO conference.

We all owe Chris Shipley a debt of gratitude for producing on of the best emerging technology events for the last 13 years. She has been tireless in her efforts and year over year she exposed exciting new companies in a format that valued substance over spin.

The audience played a big role in this, as anyone who has presented at DEMO will tell you, they could quickly humble very smart people who failed to hit the mark. Chris played a large role in this as well, ensuring that the audience didn’t just include anyone who bought a ticket but rather had a diverse collection of participants who brought real energy to the conference.

The fact remains that while many conferences and events feature emerging startups, the measuring stick that they stand against is the one set by DEMO.

Chris is a fantastically sincere and genuinely nice person who always remembers your name and has a warm smile to greet you, I have enjoyed every opportunity I have had to meet her and look forward to what she will do next.

More on this topic (What's this?)
Better Investing Members' Most Active Stocks As Of August 13, 2015
Market Outlook
Hutchison Readies Its Deal for O2
Read more on Hutchison Whampoa at Wikinvest


text:
Monday, December 18, 2006

Orhan Pamuk's father

had a habit of bringing him a bar of chocolate when he visited. It's an interesting little piece, part of the Nobel acceptance speech--shades of V. S. Naipaul, too...

  1. I quite enjoyed that. I was wondering, on a sidenote, if there were any history or nonfiction books you might recommend? I dipped into some of your 'highlights of the year' fiction but sadly was a bit disappointed. So much of contemporary fiction is so dreadful.

  2. It's hard to say--I don't read that much of it, and it depends so much on your interests. The "Voices From Chernobyl" book really is essential reading. I tend to gravitate to history of science type stuff--did you read Armand-Marie LeRoi's "Mutants"? That was a great book. Dan Kevles's book about eugenics was also a favorite of mine, more history than science & perhaps more your cup of tea in that case? I am also very much looking forward to Daniel Mendelson's book "The Lost," not sure when I'll get to it but will definitely post when the time comes.


text:
lundi 2 décembre 2013

I wanted to create an animation with watercolors few months ago, but i wasn't satisfied with the result of it. Now i think i will not come back on it before a long time. So it's better to share it anyways.

-colors have the power to change the world-

Some Julia playing piano at 5h30 in my school on a saturday night-morning
and random reaction to French fresh news

Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire


text:
Usually I find Anne Hathaway smug, but her performance in the forthcoming Rachel Getting Married* appears — if this trailer is any indication — to be gritty and real. She plays Kym, a woman who has been in and out of rehab for a decade and comes home to attend her sister Rachel's (played by Mad Men's Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding. Debra Winger, who has been less than visible in Hollywood since the mid-90s, plays the girls' mom, and the inimitable Anna Deavere Smith also stars. I am also a total sucker, but I've watched this trailer three times and each time I tear up at the end. Dysfunctional family love! It cuts deep, I tell ya! The movie hits theaters October 3rd. Clip above.

Rachel Getting Married Trailer [Youtube]

*Full Disclosure: my ball n' chain works for Sony Pictures Classics, the company that's releasing Rachel, but that in no way changes my opinion of this trailer or its efficacy as a tearjerker.


text:
Latest Health Recommendation: Bigger Thighs

According to a new study, people with larger thighs have a lower risk of heart disease and early death. Bonus: men apparently think overweight women are "less bitchy" than thin ones!

More precisely, people with thighs more than 60 cm (23.6 inches) in circumference have a lower death and cardiovascular disease risk than those with skinnier legs. This result held true even after scientists controlled for total body fat, smoking, and blood pressure. The study authors say people with small thighs may have low muscle mass, which can contribute to insulin resistance and thus to heart disease.

Somewhat confusingly, one write-up of the study says researchers measured "fat-free thigh circumference," and it's unclear if cellulite counts toward the magic 60 cm total. And while a nurse at the British Heart Foundation says, "There is insufficient evidence to confirm that a low thigh circumference affects a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease," the BBC goes ahead and offers some quick tips to "increase your thighs." It would be nice if this finding reduced pressure on women to be tiny and to work out without being "too muscular," but the accompanying picture of a lady in underwear (without big thighs) isn't exactly hopeful.

A similarly mixed blessing is a survey (by research giants, and, in which 85% of men agreed that, "A couple of extra pounds are fine by me." We're not sure if "a couple of extra pounds" means "as long as you're not fat or anything," but it's nice to be reminded that most men don't expect women to look like the cover of Self magazine.

Not so nice: the fact that 80% of men supposedly think overweight women are "less bitchy" than thin ones. First of all, this means the survey asked them this question, which is gross. Second, way to enforce the notion that men should date fat girls because they're so nice, and have "good personalities" — you know, because they were forced by their physical hideousness to develop other qualities. This is related to the idea that guys should seek out girls who were "ugly in high school," because they won't be full of themselves. Basically, the stereotype of the "nice" fat/ugly/ex-ugly chick implies that women who have or had low self-esteem make better partners because they're willing to take more shit and less likely to dish it out. Oh, and the survey question implicitly disses "skinny bitches" too. Thanks dating-ologists!

The survey also found that 90% of women think "men find extra weight unattractive." Says Shira Zwebner, "relationship adviser" for, and, "Unfortunately, these types of misconceptions between the sexes are extremely common, and result in a lot of missed dating and relationship opportunities." So don't miss an opportunity! Join our dating sites today! Or, you know, love your body, and don't try to make it smaller based on what you think men want — or bigger based on science that has yet to be confirmed.

Large Thighs 'May Protect Heart' [BBC]
Large Thighs Protect Against Heart Disease And Early Death [EurekAlert]
Men: Heavier Women Better In Bed []


text:
Say you're a large public university reeling from the recent public airing of a shocking, sordid, twenty-year sexual harassment scandal. Who do you invite to give the commencement address? Click the pic of lecherous education professor Bill Bender for the hilarious answer!

Yup! Clarence Thomas.

Earlier: Bill Bender Fucked Students For 20 Years, Looking Like This


text:
Already Impressive Silicon Valley Women Are Dressing to Impress

Many of Silicon Valley's most powerful women are standing out amongst the area's schlumpy braniacs by dressing in expensive couture: Chanel cocktail shifts, Jimmy Choo heels, the works.

Of course, high-ranking men have donned fashion status symbols like cufflinks for ages, but it's a little different in Northern California, where most techies dress down à la hoodie-loving Mark Zuckerberg. But a number of notable women told the New York Times that "dressing well (and talking about it) could help erode the stereotypes that repel some women from the technology field."

"It's possible to hold your femininity and love of fashion," said Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, a former Google executive who now runs a video shopping site. "Now I feel not at all at risk that people would say, ‘How can she care about dressing well and run a billion-dollar company or be smart?'"

Marissa Mayer, who once paid $60,000 at an auction for lunch with Oscar de la Renta, said she didn't care what her employees thought of her proclivity for full skirts and bright colors. "My willingness to talk about it is because I believe the way we'll get more people into computer science and ultimately more women into computer science is by making it really clear that you can be yourself and don't need to give up parts of yourself to succeed," she said. "You can be into fashion and you don't have to be the pasty white programmer with a pocket protector staying up all night."

This is the first Times Styles trend piece about women and tech (or maybe, actually, Silicon Valley in general) I've read in ages that didn't make me groan. It's awesome that these women are wearing whatever they want, and even more awesome that so many of them are talking about it unabashedly, too.

Techies Break a Fashion Taboo


text: The newest trailer for Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby is out and it promises more of the same — which is to say absolute art deco gorgeousness from beginning to end. Break out your jeweled headbands and dust off those old bottles of champagne, baby. May 10th is right around the corner and we're headed to petting pantry!


text:
Manic Pixie Dream Girls Are The Scourge Of Modern Cinema

The always-relevant Onion A.V. Club has coined a term for the type of movie girl-woman whom we've long despised: the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. The A.V. Club defines the MPDG as "that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly… » 8/06/08 11:00am 8/06/08 11:00am