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Tuesday, 30 October 2012

NaNo... WHAT?

2 sleeps until NaNoWriMo

Am I all plotted?

Is my notebook at the ready?

Do I have a storyboard spread across my wall?

Do I have a sparkling pinterest board full of shiny faced characters?

Have I got a fantasy map all plotted out?

Is the pope a druid?

So that's a no then.  (At least I think it is.  After the Da Vinci code, one doesn't like to make assumptions.)

Ah yes.  2 sleeps until the National Novel Writing Month frenzy commences and I'm still seesawing between plot ideas.  Do I want to start a brand new concept?  Do I want to rewrite an old project from scratch thus becoming a NaNo Rebel?  Do I want to continue something I started before thus invoking the Zokutou clause?

Thank GOD for the support of The Ultimate Plotter, Ruth Long, who like a fairy godmother of writing, scatters her precious hard won gems of wisdom across the writing sorority.  Just read her How to Find Your Story's Premise or her paean to STRUCTURE.  Damn, it's so enticing it makes me want to break out the lego.

LEGO by Bdesham

With Ruth at our backs the writing world can DO THIS THING.

I just have to make a decision.  And being a Myers Briggs "P" type this isn't easy for me.  "P" stands for "Perceiving".  For some reason, this can be loosely translated into "Last Minute Merchant Who Is Only At Their Best When Faced With An Insurmountable Deadline."

"P" for Pantser, in other words.

But no.  I shall not give in to the unwieldy lure of pantsing and pottering through November.

I have 2 days.  That's enough to come up with a plot - right?  RIGHT?
So whether I'm a NaNo-Rebel (sounds like Star Wars, cool), a Zokutou-ist (sounds like a spiritual guru, cool) or a NaNoWriMo-er (the ultimate prize), I am DOING THIS THING.

Are you with me?

Pens at the ready.....  and WRITE!

Friday, 26 October 2012

Diabolical Deeds 5: Going to Hell

The fifth and last of Timony’s #DiabolicalDeeds challenges is to write a 100 word story inspired by the demon Zagan and two prompt words.

Zagan is a Great King and President of Hell, commanding over thirty-three legions of demons. He makes men witty; he can also turn wine into water, water into wine, and blood into wine.  The prompts are:

zoic – showing traces of life
zymosis – fermentation; process resembling fermentation in development of infectious disease

Going To Hell

“You’re a funny guy!”

The drunken bitch was fatuous, Draco decided.  If he hadn’t been so hungry, he would have walked.  But hunger fermented his blood, clawed at him with the canker of infection.  He must feed.

Smiling with dark enticement, he touched her arm.  “Come outside sweetheart,” he murmured.  She did, of course.  It was too easy.

It wasn’t until he sank his teeth into her perfumed neck that he realised his mistake. “Wine!” he spluttered.

Grinning, the woman stirred back to life, changing before his eyes.

“Hello Draco,” the demon said. “Time to come back to hell.”

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Diabolical Deeds 4: A Sister's Lament

The fourth of Timony’s #DiabolicalDeeds challenges is to write a 100 word story inspired by the Gorgon Stheno and two prompt words.

In Greek mythology, Stheno was the eldest of the Gorgons. She and her sister Euryale were both immortal, and the third sister, Medusa, was mortal.  The prompts are:

saccadic – jerking and twitching
sussurate – whisper, sussurant

A Sister’s Lament

The snakes jerk, saccadic, around her ravaged face, their forked tongues sussurating in the dust.  Her dying eyes stare sightlessly at the barren earth as Greek lifts her head.

She was barely more than a child when Poseidon tore her body, defiled Athene’s temple with her virgin’s blood.  Just a child, her beautiful eyes blank as they are now.  Empty.

“Whore.I screamed. “Defiler.”  Because of her beauty, we were all rendered monstrous.  She got no comfort as she held her tattered robe to her tender breasts, as her lustrous hair grew serpentine.

I wish I had been kind.

Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Diabolical Deeds 3: The Forest

The third of Timony’s #DiabolicalDeeds challenges is to write a 100 word story inspired by the deity Humbaba and two prompt words.

In Akkadian mythology Humbaba  was a monstrous giant of immemorial age raised by Utu, the Sun.  He was the guardian of the Cedar Forest, where the gods lived, by the will of the god Enlil, who “assigned [Humbaba] as a terror to human beings.” The prompts are:

habromania – extreme euphoria
Herrenvolk – ‘Master Race’, superior nation

The Forest

“This timber’s gonna make me rich,” Bob told Gil.  Success thrilled his blood, made him dizzy.  “Stinkin’ injuns ain’t gonna stop that.”  He’d made sure of that.  Hired guns surrounded his loggers, kept the local tribesmen away.  Antsy critters had practically rioted when the first tree fell.  Couple o’shots sorted that out. He’d half split his sides watching them run.

Might have to do it again, the racket were making with their chants.  What were they saying anyway?  Rum baba or somethin’.

Cocaine high, Bob didn’t see the tree that crushed him.

Gil still swears he heard a lion roar.

Tuesday, 23 October 2012

Diabolical Deeds 2: The Cave

The second of Timony’s #DiabolicalDeeds challenges is to write a 100 word story inspired by the deity Calu and two prompt words:

Calu is an Etruscan chthonic deity. He is identified by his wolf attributes, such as a wolf-like appearance or a human with a wolf-skin cap. The prompts are:

cacaesthesia – morbid sensation
caliginous – dim, misty, obscure, dark

The Cave

The cave is rank, caliginous.  I can’t see my hand in front of my face.  “Isn’t it exciting?” Penny whispers by my side. “We’ll get two research papers from this.” I try to smile but I can’t.

A cold finger traces my spine and I shiver uncontrollably.  Be professional, I tell myself.  This isn’t hell’s mouth, it’s an archaeological dig. From the corner of my eye I see a shadow slip along the wall and jerk round.

”Penny, did you see that?” Silence.  “Penny?”  I turn again. She’s gone.

In the darkness, I see eyes.

Yellow eyes.

Monday, 22 October 2012

Diabolical Deeds 1: Pure of Heart

The first of Timony’s #DiabolicalDeeds challenges is to write a 100 word story inspired by the demon Ammut and two prompt words:

Ammut lived in the Egyptian underworld. In the Hall of Two Truths, Anubis weighed the heart of a person against Ma'at, the goddess of truth.  If the heart was judged to be not pure, Ammut would devour it, and the person undergoing judgement was not allowed to continue their voyage towards immortality.  The two bonus prompts are:

achroous – colourless
adactylous – lacking fingers, toes or claws

Pure of Heart

Pure? I’m pure.

I ain’t like that that slut down the hall, walking past with that lipstick smeared slut face, stinking of sex and beer.  Smiling.  Smiling like she got something to be happy about, whilst she kicks cigarette buts down the corridor an’ brings home a different man every night.  I know what she was doing in there.  She ain’t pure.  I am.  Get it, Ammat, Ammut, Ammit whatever your name is?  I’m pure.

It ain’t fair, what you’re doing.  I want my bits back. Fingers. Toes. Colour.  I prayed all my life. I’m pure.  You owe me.

Monday, 15 October 2012

#poemwalk2012: Into the Woods

When Ruth Long launched her Poem Walk blog hop, I just knew I had to give it ago.  For those of you who don't know Ruth, firstly, get to know her because she's a writerly superstar of huge generosity.  Secondly, you should know that she writes like a poet all the time with music in every word.

I'm not sure I quite hit the theme with this prose poem, but this is just what came.

Poem Walk: Into the Woods

Forking dark against the sky I smell them, damp wood, crushed leaves, dark sentinels crowding us, shrouding us with their bony, rain blackened limbs.   Fingers redden, numb knuckled in the creeping chill.   The light is ebbing, seeping away, fading rich russet to dull brown, fading our faces to blank circles in the twilight gloom.   I taste rain in the air, and tears.

Darkness is coming.

He shrugs against the icy wind, jaw locked tight, eyes fixed, red rimmed.   Words rise, tighten my throat, halt, choke.   Turning away I snatch at dripping glossy leaves, let them drift through my fingers to the glutinous mud.

Darkness is coming.

Gossip whispers through the branches, mocks in frigid gusts.  Our silent steps slow and we stand, watching the water turn to black and silver.   Vacant air presses my skin with the smooth chill of isolation.  I swallow, bow my head.

In the darkness, his hand finds mine.

Image by Gyst

Blog Hop Details

What: Prose poems of 150 – 250 words (details below and here)

When: October 8th – October 21st

Theme: Horror/Suspense or Uncanny Nature

How to join: Send a tweet to @bullishink or @dustyjournal with the hashtag #poemwalk2012 and the link to your poem OR use the linky below

Prizes: 1st Place = $25 gift certificate / 2nd Place = $15 / Sign Up Incentive = If we get 10 or more participants Dusty Journal will gift a journal to her favorite entry
get the InLinkz code

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

A NaNoWriMo Fairy Feast (thanks @DianeJReed)

A little while ago I read a wonderful book by lovely author Diane J Reed.  Twixt was billed as a magical modern fairy tale and so I was expecting.... what?  A sweet tale with a touch of whimsy?  A princess in a tower?

Twixt confounded my expectations.  There's nothing Disney about this book.  Its a hard hitting story about  breaking negative cycles and about the power of belief and the resilience of the human spirit.   It's also magical, rich and vivid.

Magic is real in Twixt, it can be seen, heard and touched.  The heroine Rose is cursed to relive the life of her ancestress, cursed to fall in love again and again with the same evil spirit.  Her own magical powers are diminished by him, drained from her.  You can take that at face value - and love it (which I did).  Or you can read it as an allegory for abusive relationships, and the cycle of abuse which often trickles down the generations.

Becoming in tune with her own magic is essential to Rose breaking that curse.  Again and again she is told to look within herself, to trust herself, to be herself - and it is not until she does that that she is free.

And then there's the cake.

Boy, do I love a book with magical food.  From The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe through to Like Water for Chocolate magical food is always a bonus to me.  But our lovely Diane goes one step further.  Not only does she describe her magical food in mouth watering detail, but she kindly gives us the recipe for her heroine's magical cake - it's right there at the back of the kindle book.

A thousand thank yous!

Want to see fairies?  Look no further.  This cake has magic in every crumb. Well, there was no WAY I could resist the siren lure of Diane's special fairy cakes, so of course I had to give it a go.

Anyone care to lick the bowl?

To do that, I had to convert all her US measurements to British measurements.  That being the case, I thought for Diane's British fans, it might be handy to reproduce the recipe in Brit measurements.  You can find the US version over on Sophie Moss' blog along with an interview with Diane!  So here goes:

Fairy Cake Ingredients:

4 oz butter
7 oz white sugar
4 oz brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
4.25 fl oz cup sour cream, room temperature
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Seeds of 1 vanilla bean (scrape seeds into batter & discard hull)
7.5 oz cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 handfuls rolled oats

{ Now here’s where the MAGIC comes in! According to your fancy, add any of the following ingredients that you like (go with what your heart tells you!):

2 oz of chopped walnuts/or pecans
3.5 oz of chopped dried fruit (such as dates, cranberries, apple, or apricots)

A few flower petals!

Then wiggle your fingers and sprinkle joyful feelings (it matters!) }

Lemon Fairy Icing Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese
2 oz butter
2 cups powdered confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel (zest)
Several drops of yellow food coloring (to desired color)
(Feel free to add more or less sugar/lemon to taste)

Directions for Enchanted Irish Fairy Cakes:

Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and line a muffin pan with paper liners. Cream the butter & sugar in a bowl until light & fluffy, then add eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract & vanilla seeds (discard hull) and mix until creamy. Add flour, cornstarch, salt & baking soda and mix until just combined (don’t overmix). Stir in by hand the with a wooden spoon the 2 handfuls of rolled oats and any or all of the following: chopped nuts, dried fruit, flower petals & sprinkles of good feeling (remember, this is where your MAGIC comes in—so be creative and play!). Spoon the batter to fill cupcakes liners & bake for 20-30 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean). Cool to room temperature before frosting.

Directions for Lemon Fairy Icing:

Mix cream cheese & butter & add lemon juice, lemon zest & powdered sugar, beating until creamy. Spread a generous amount on each fairy cake—and if you happen to swipe a lick (like Rose does in Twixt), prepare yourself to see fairies! Adorn with flower petals, of course!

My added special ingredients were dried black cherries and pecans - and I can tell you now, they were delicious!

Want to know how these cakes can help you see fairies?

Go read the book!

Saturday, 6 October 2012

@TimonySouler's Diabolical Deeds - a challenge!

Having managed to respond with sweet speed to Anna Meade's Behind the Curtain challenge, I thought I had put flash fiction away for the month. Time now to focus on trying to nail my story for an Ink Slingers anthology, to progress Banshee and to prepare for NaNoWriMo. Right?

Because, damn it, Flash Foxtress Timony Souler has issued a challenge.  And this time it's devilishly demonic.  From Monday 22nd October I have a demon and two obscure words to weave into a story every day for five days.  It's almost like a penance.  Or it would be if it wasn't going to be such fun.

Unfortunately for me, I have signed myself up to presenting at various conferences that week so I'm going to get busy inking my fingers ahead of time.

If you like flash fiction, dark stories and twisting your imagination around some devilishly difficult prompts I urge you to plunge right in and join Timony's #DiabolicalDeeds (Twitter hashtag) challenge.

Go on.  You know you want to.

Thursday, 4 October 2012

Behind the Curtain

I'm not going to partake in flash fiction, said I.  I'm focusing on my work in progress.  I'm plotting. I'm writing.  I'm busy.

Of course, I failed to take into account the fatal lure of an Anna Meade flash fiction contest.  The Dark Fairy Queen of the social media scene, Ms Meade's commands must be obeyed.  And thus... I flash.

This is my submission for the Behind the Curtain contest, 375 words and inspired by this image:

Behind the Curtain

Stretching her arms high the woman let the robes drop, spreading bright as spilled blood across the well trodden boards.

Her breath stopped, suffocated.  For a single moment she was frozen in the past, in the violet streaked twilight which shrouded their first kiss; the blackberries he crushed against her tongue, their sweetness trickling from her parted lips; the rich silk scarves he trailed against her hot skin and tangled around her pale wrists.  Under her red rimmed stare the purple pool pulsed, writhed, summoned.

Too late.

She lifted her head, teeth bared in a smile as a chariot rolled on stage.  Smiled at the crowned man standing within, at the dark eyed girl half concealed behind him.

He met her gaze with startled recognition.

Yes, it’s me

But he knew that. Their linked names shouted from tattered poster boards all along the streets of Covent Garden, marched side by side in well thumbed programmes. It was the hundredth time she had stood just so with her arms outstretched and her head held high, the hundredth time she had mouthed the familiar lines, smiled the lie.

His nostrils flared and beneath his golden tan, the blood drained from his cheeks. Oh yes, he saw. It changed nothing.  Agamemnon would step onto the purple tonight.

The show must go on, after all.

At the back of the stage the skene swung open, yawning like the mouth of hell.  She took his hand and led him, bull-like, into the gloom.

He jerked as the doors shut, half turning as if to run.  His fingers trembled as if they were not standing in a stage set, hidden from the gaze of a bored audience.  As if he was standing in a tomb.  As if he knew.

The show must go on.

“Remember our wedding day?” she murmured.

“Darling, I-“

She stopped his words with a kiss, knew the subtle rejection of his closed lips.  In the wings a chorus of voices swelled loud with lamentation.

“Forsaking all others,” she said, softly.  “’Till death us do part.”

Reaching behind her into the shadows, her fingers closed on a long handled shaft.

The show must go on.

In the glare of the footlights, purple darkened to black.


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“Homeland” Scores A Multi-Season Renewal

Filming on the sixth season of Showtime’s “Homeland” kicks off next week in New York and ahead of that, the network has given the series a huge vote of confidence with the announcement of it being renewed for a seventh and eighth season – taking the show through to 2019.

The upcoming sixth season will be set around New York and takes place between Election Day in early November and the presidential inauguration in late January. Elizabeth Marvel takes on the role of the junior New York Senator who has become the president elect in the new season.

Showrunner Alex Gansa revealed at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour yesterday that they have consulted with former NSA head Michael Hayden about the new season which has both Claire Danes’ Carrie and Mandy Patinkin’s Saul returning.

But what of Rupert Friend’s Quinn who seemingly died in his final scenes last year? Friend is back as a series regular here. Speaking about his return, Gans says:

“Quinn is alive. I can say that much, but we really want to be careful about revealing what his condition is. He suffered a major stroke last season. You are going to see a very changed and altered Quinn this year. I think Quinn, this coming season, will really represent a profound and familiar casualty of the war on terror for our audience. What he endured last year is different from what he’ll go through this year. This year will be suffused with his daily relationship with Claire’s character.”

When the show does come to an end, Gansa says the producers would all like to see the final season shoot in Israel. When that will be is unclear as Showtime boss David Nevins says the show could certainly go beyond an eighth season.

“Homeland” returns to screens January 15th.

Source: The Live Feed

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Shia Denies Indiana Jones Reports

For around a fortnight the rumour has been that actor Shia LaBeouf was attached to the upcoming “Indiana Jones IV”, and yesterday morning the trades pretty much confirmed the reports.

Now the tables have been turned as last night at a Sony promotional event for “Surf’s Up”, LaBeouf says it’s nothing more than an internet rumor than has run amok.

According to Collider, LaBeouf apparently not only stuck to the story on and off the record but also made it pretty clear that “he was done playing those types of roles” in regards to playing comic relief in blockbuster movies.

Would he deny it if offered though? The IESB says according to him “depends on what the script is about, he doesn’t want to go in as just a sidekick character”.

He also indicated that “Transformers” got an R rating, but a call from Spielberg to the MPAA asking for appeal eventuated into a PG-13.


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Is this guy for real?

More from the absurdity of sustainability guru Jim Merkel:

In an article in today’s Daily D, Merkel sings the praises of more eco-friendly takeout containers at Food Court. The former clear, plastic containers have been replaced with cardboard, biodegradable ones.

Merkel is already declaring victory on this front, ignoring all the practical implications of the new containers; for instance, pasta sauce and salad dressing saturate and leak through the cardboard, creating messes and rendering it impossible to keep food for an extended period of time, and cashiers have to take extra time to open each opaque container.

Ultimately, Merkel would like to see Tupperware take-out containers (at $20 a pop), that, in his pipe dream, will be returned by each and every student. I can’t wait to see him preach the reality of this option to a student body that regularly steals lunch trays to go sledding. Merkel also bemoans students who get food to go, but eat in anyway. As he explains, “It’s a social issue, and they take the to-go container because they’re not sure they’re going to find a friend to sit with.”

His solution? “Maybe make it cool to sit with someone you don’t know.” Yes, that’s exactly it. Dartmouth pays this guy $105,000 per year to solve all the world’s problems by shifting a paradigm that has been ingrained in society since time immemorial. You’ve got to be effing kidding me here…


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Doctor Who Season Six Mid-Season Review

The final episode of the first half of the season aired on Saturday (I owe no allegiance to BBC America that I pay any attention to their stupid delay.) Has Steven Moffat won me over yet?

Short answer: no.

Long answer, after the cut.

Goodness. Where do I even begin?

When we left off, I was worried that we had left Buffy territory and crossed the border into X-Filesistan, eschewing mere season-long story arcs for a giant pan-season, endless, labyrinthine saga that weaves throughout multiple seasons and multiple episodes, crushing any unfortunate “done-in-one” shows that get in its way. And hey, I was sort of right.

Oh, there have been some one-parters. “The Curse of the Black Spot” was a dumb story about dumb people encountering a dumb alien and acting kind of stupid. Even the Moffans didn’t much care for that one. And then there was “The Doctor’s Wife”, which, in case you haven’t heard, was written by

and was, despite my reservations, actually a pleasant, fun story for half of it and pointless and goofy for the other half. However, neither stood completely alone, since The Doctor had to constantly scan Amy for Schroedinger’s Pregnancy (and not say anything about the results) and Madame Eyepatch had to pop in from time to time. We didn’t get more hints about the Big Doings at work, just the same hints over and over. Also, the anthropomorphized TARDIS died muttering, “The only water in the forest is the river” which baffled our heroes, even though they just spent quite some time with a woman of that name. But hey, if they’d said right away, “You think she means River Song?” then those watching wouldn’t have felt nearly as clever for figuring it out.

Ah yes, River Song. Shown here with Rory, Amy, and the Doctor.

It’s actually somewhat unusual for them not to have immediately figured out River was being mentioned since, whenever she isn’t on the screen, the characters are saying, “Where’s River?”

The show finally has its own Spike, huzzah! The character who is the coolest, most bad-ass, most clever, most mysterious, most humorous, most mostest of everything and by god you’re going to love her one way or another I assure you, you are going to love her, dammit, LOVE! HER! And our big revelation is, not only is she the Doctor’s sweetie, she’s also Amy and Rory’s daughter! Because what this show needed was for all four of the main characters to be related so that we could make the universe even smaller! All of Time and Space at our disposal, but let’s make sure we keep the degrees of separation as small as possible. And her being conceived in the TARDIS makes her timey-wimiefied, so she’s kin to the TARDIS as well! Thank goodness the entire season will be revolving around the two least interesting characters of the new series, Amy and River.

I’m getting ahead of myself, though.

The two-parter, “The Rebel Flesh”/”The Almost People” seemed like it was at least going to be run-of-the-mill. Base under siege, “we are the monsters” blah blah blah. Not really enough plot for a two-parter, but ah well. And yet, at the end, we get the bit out of nowhere that Amy isn’t Real Amy and hasn’t been Real Amy for some time, and so The Doctor melts her even though he just delivered a Flesh dude to go make a case that Flesh are Real People Too and oh also, being in the TARDIS stabilized them through ambient timey-wiminess and…you know, let’s not think about this too hard. The important thing here is that now we have a brand new way to make alternate versions of people. So the Doctor melts Fake Amy and then, as we see in Episode Seven, “A Good Man Goes to War”, then pursues her with all the doggedness and clarity of purpose he didn’t go after that kid in the first story with, who he’s all but forgotten about.

At the end of “The Almost People” I twittered that if this show were not called “Doctor Who” I wouldn’t be watching it, and “A Good Man…” hammered that point home. This is not the show I signed on to watch.

Doctor Who is not Star Trek. It’s not Battlestar Galactica. It’s not Babylon 5, or Stargate, or Buffy, or Firefly, or the X-Files. It thrived for so long on having its own identity, on staking out its territory with a weird man who traveled in an absurd spacecraft and fought evil by being good and clever. He tried to avoid violence, not always successfully. The show was a counterpoint to big, dumb, loud typical science fiction.

With “A Good Man…” it now IS big, dumb, loud typical science fiction. The Doctor blows up a bunch of Cybermen who have done nothing, just to make a point. He tricks the Headless Monks into attacking the Holy Warriors or whoever the hell they are. And then, after the dust settles, he happily accepts someone beaming at him for accomplishing his mission “without spilling a single drop of blood”. Tell that to the Cybermen, lady.

And why? So we can have yet another “Dark Doctor” bullshit moment, like we’ve already done several times before? Is this like what happened in DC comics, where we allegedly protest against extreme storylines by luxuriating in the gore and carnage? When all is said and done, will there indeed be a brighter day, or will we discover that hey, turns out the fans like the dark stuff, so let’s keep ripping off arms? Do we make a kid’s show “dark” and “mature” and so full of continuity references it’s opaque to the casual viewer just so thirty-something nerds can focus on how Meaningful and Important it is? (But let’s slap a fez on it so they can also claim it’s still all light and whimsical.) We already HAVE these types of ponderous, bloated, self-important, dark shows on TV. Doctor Who didn’t need to join their ranks.

At the halfway point I feel the way I felt at the end of season three of Battlestar Galactica, where there was this huge reveal and what it revealed to me was that I just didn’t care what happened to any of these people. I don’t care about River or Amy. I care about Rory, but only enough to tell him to run, run away from these horrible people. I’d like to care about the Doctor, but they keep making him do stupid things he should never be doing.

The good news is, as Dave Thiel has reminded me, that Doctor Who is all about change. There will be a new Doctor. There will be a new Companion. There will be a new Producer. The show will go on.

The other thing he pointed out is: it’s still better than Timelash.

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8 Responses to Doctor Who Season Six Mid-Season Review

  1. Jon Morris says:

    I like the way you think, Mister Lartigue.

    I’ve been using River Song as an example of the difference between a “strong female character” and “a female character whom fans think is strong because she quips and kills people and is bossy but actually she’s two-dimensional and borrrrring.”

  2. Greg G says:

    I liked a lot of last season, but agree with almost everything you say here. I liked the Gaiman episode more than you, and on reflection it’s really the only “Doctor Who” story they’ve had so far. For me, the chemistry between Smith and the Tardis-lady undercut whatever was left of the River/Doctor stuff we were so obviously meant to be hanging out for.

  3. Rob Chambers says:

    A fellow Phoebe Hearst alumnus here – I’d take issue with the “fought evil by being good” thing – the whole idea is that because he’s an alien, his morals do not necessarily align with ours – hence the “dark” turns just to remind us of the fact. He sometimes “does evil” (from our POV) and has his own agenda.

  4. Dan Coyle says:

    I don’t totally disagree, though I think you’re somewhat projecting when you bring up DC there- Moffat isn’t nearly the kind of broken mind Johns or Meltzer are. I do hope Moffat has realized at this point, how LITTLE chemistry Matt Smith has with Alex Kingston. He seems ANNOYED by her more than anything else.

  5. Dave says:

    Dan, by “projecting” do you mean that I am accusing DC of doing something that I myself am actually doing? Because I don’t publish any comic books, dark, light, or otherwise.

  6. T. Derscheid says:

    I think the other part of the lack of chemistry is that Matt Smith’s oh-I’m-mentally-5-kissing-is-gross act isn’t cool. Not even faux-fez-cool. Try putting “the new doctor who is” into Google Suggest for some unsurprising results!

    The Doctor and River Song’s hypothetical romance makes for terrible television, because even presuming we’ve seen every episode in order recently (ho ho ho, see what I did there?), we’d need to reorganize mentally every single encounter and see where they fall in the individual and shared timeline for both parties; The Time Traveller’s Wife was a great novel, but it also didn’t spend 95% of the time alloted doing something else.

  7. Dave says:

    I think the Doctor/River thing fails for me because River Song just isn’t an interesting character. She has no personality except for “badass” and I got tired of that long ago. I don’t see anything in her, and I don’t understand what someone like The Doctor would see in her.

  8. Mathew walls says:

    I pretty much agree with everything you’ve said here, but even more than than the fact that River Song is just terrible, I hate the fact that there are even sexual themes in the show to begin with. And any time they imply that the Doctor is attracted to anyone it is just really fucking creepy; He’s a 900-year-old alien whose level of intelligence is basically supposed to make humans look like monkeys. He just should not be interested in humans like that at all, in any way.

    But the thing that most impacts my ability to enjoy the show is the pacing. It is all wrong. They cram so much stuff into the episodes that there’s not enough time to deal with any of it in a satisfactory way, the plot pretty much just comes down to running, shouting and then deus ex machina, because with all the running and shouting there was no time to set up a believable way to resolve the plot.


text:
Guest Commentary: Uncounted Ballots Could Change Some Called Elections

By Neil Ruud

With 40% of ballots in Yolo County yet to be processed, some of the races called in the early hours of June 6 may see a different outcome when Yolo Elections Office finishes their official count.

So before we get into the numbers game, you should know that for the rest of the article, I will be referencing primary election data from the California Secretary of State (SoS) and/or Yolo Elections Office, with a few numbers from Political Data Inc (PDI), dating back to the 1998 midterms, unless otherwise stated.

And lastly, I also want to extend my thanks to the Yolo County Elections Office for the hard work they’re doing and how patient and helpful their staff has been answering the calls and emails they’ve received from me and others.

Wasn’t the election a week ago? What’s taking so long? How have only a little over half of Yolo County Ballots been processed?

Voter turnout exceeded expectations. PDI was expecting 32% statewide turnout but it could be as high as 39% based on the number of counted and unprocessed ballots turned in and turnout in Yolo County could be as high as 42.58%. These numbers could and probably will change because it’s unlikely that 100% of ballots remaining to be processed will be counted. Additionally, not all counties have reported their most recent numbers to the SoS.

Sources: California Secretary of State, Yolo County Elections Office

More and more voters are casting Vote-by-Mail ballots (VBM, also referred to as Absentee). VBM has nearly tripled state-wide since 1998. No, people aren’t out of town more on election day, but since voters are more likely to vote if they’re registered to VBM (or so I’ve been told), voter registration organizations encourage voters to register as VBM. Some counties, like Sacramento, are experimenting with 100% VBM registration to see if they can increase participation and cut costs simultaneously.

Sources: California Secretary of State, Yolo County Elections Office. Data is incomplete for Davis due to inconsistent online publishing of Yolo County Statement of Votes 1998-2018 but it’s import to note that Davis VBM % exceeded Yolo’s in 2016.

But, people still like voting at the polls and, it wasn’t just in your head, we had an exceptionally long ballot. A lot of people waited to vote until the last minute as we can see from the nearly 20,000 ballots yet-to-be-processed in Yolo County and 2.5 million statewide unprocessed ballots.

The problem with this is that VBM ballots take a long time to process because the voter’s signature and address have to be verified and sorted into a precinct before the multi-page ballot can be scanned. Much of this process has to be done by hand and election officials also have to confirm that the voter did not cast a ballot somewhere else.

Anecdotally, I know very few people who voted in the booth or turned in their ballots early. In a room of a dozen phonebankers on the day before election day, not a single person had voted yet despite the majority of people in the room having a VBM ballot.

So who’s vote hasn’t been counted yet?

Mine, for one. As of writing this article, my ballot has “still not been received” by the Yolo Elections Office even though I dropped it off on election day (check your VBM status on Yolo Elections Office’s site). Yolo County currently has to process 16,546 VBM Ballots, 2,181 Provisional Ballots, 113 Conditional Voter Registration Ballots, and 304 other ballots. And to be clear, it’s likely that not all unprocessed ballots will be counted since some may have erroneous information, been filled out incorrectly, or some other issue.

  • VBM Ballots that were received too close to election day, on election day, or postmarked June 5 and arrived by June 8 have yet to be processed due to the lengthy, complex verification process.
  • Provisional Ballots are cast by voters who “believe they are registered to vote even though their names are not on the official voter registration list at the polling place, or vote by mail but did not receive their ballot or do not have their ballot with them, and instead want to vote at a polling place.”
  • Conditional Registration Provisional Ballots are a new “safety net” for voters who missed the May 21 deadline and registered.
  • Other Ballots are damaged or could not be machine-read and need to be remade, and ballots diverted by optical scanners for further review.

Source: California Secretary of State

According to Political Data Inc’s Absentee Tracker (, only 5,525 out of 25,404 Davis VBM ballots had been received and processed as of 6/4, the Monday before election day. Of the 11,372 ballots mailed out to 18-39-year-old Davisites, only 932 or 8.20% had been returned. On the other hand, 60-79-year-old Davis citizens returned 43.29% of the ballots they were sent. It’s very likely that Yolo County’s unprocessed ballots contain much of the younger vote which could lead to different trends than we’ve seen so far in the ballot counting process.

Source: Political Data Inc. Absentee Ballot Tracker, Last updated by Yolo County 6/4/2018. The 80+ category also includes unknown ages.

How many of these remaining ballots are actually from Davis?

So, let’s play the educated guessing game. An average of Davis votes won’t really do the trick since there are so many different factors that could influence such an outcome. Plus, since voter turnout varies relatively drastically, an average isn’t very useful. In 2010, Davis’ turnout was only 37.90% whereas in 2000, it was nearly double that at 69.53%. An average would likely overshoot the amount of voters in a mid-term election at 51.63% which would translate to 8,916 of Yolo County’s unprocessed ballots.

A more promising option would be to look at the difference between Davis Turnout and CA Turnout (Davis Turnout % – CA Turnout %). This figure varies from +4.59% (2010, Davis’ lowest turnout) to +18.33% (2016, Davis’ Second highest turnout) and has a variance of 0.14%. This would give us a 53.51% turnout translating to 9,659 of Yolo County’s unprocessed ballots.

But, I’m going to use the Davis Percent of Total Yolo Votes, or what I call the “Davis Yolo Vote Share” because it is the most consistent statistic 1998 to 2016. It’s highest is 44.46% in 2016, and it’s lowest is 40.60% in 2010. With a variance of only 0.02%, it is the best candidate for predicting how many of the uncounted ballots are from Davis–especially since we know what Yolo County’s turnout is. Strangely, this gives Davis a 51.43% voter turnout percentage, pretty close to the average mentioned earlier, which would mean that approximately 8,840 of Yolo County’s unprocessed ballots are likely to hail from Davis.

Sources: California Secretary of State, Yolo County Elections Office

How could these ballots change called elections?

To generate these numbers, I looked at the total ballots in a district, the percentage of ballots casting a vote in that particular race, and then the number of uncounted ballots a candidate or measure would need to change the outcome suggested by the current vote total. This not only accounts for the remaining ballots, but how likely one of those ballots is to have a vote in a particular race.

The most-watched vote count is probably the Yolo DA’s race. In order to unseat the current DA, Dean Johansson needs more than 55.95% of the remaining vote. I think it’s very likely that Dean could catch up to the current DA since the later vote is usually younger and more liberal, but with several high-profile democratic endorsements and mixed support among Davis City Council Candidates, the outcome is uncertain. Dean has 53.71% of counted votes in Davis but volunteers on Dean’s campaign calculated that roughly 57% of in-person votes county-wide were going to Dean on Election night. Both sides are apparently feeling anxious with campaign representatives closely monitoring the ongoing canvassing efforts by Yolo County. Additionally, I’ve mostly been looking at Davis, so I don’t have as many numbers on the rest of the county. One thing is certain: we can’t be certain who our next DA will be.

Measure J’s outcome could easily change because No on J would need just more than 62.78% of remaining ballots to defeat the measure. However, my gut feeling is that Measure J will still pass and could see its margin widen due to seemingly broad support among young voters, who are likely to make up a decent portion of unprocessed ballots.

Predicting Davis City Council gets tricky since we all get two votes and there are 9 candidates in the running. So rather than throwing a bunch of scenarios at you, I’ve calculated what it would take for each candidate who’s not in the top two slots to take #2, assuming all other candidates continue to get votes at the same rate. These projections use a 1.59 vote per ballot ratio which is based on the current vote count.

  • Linda Deos would need more than 40.34% of remaining ballots.
  • Ezra Beeman would need more than 42.98% of remaining ballots.
  • Mary Jo Bryan would need more than 47.83% of remaining ballots.
  • Larry Guenther would need more than 47.89% of remaining ballots.
  • Eric Gudz would need more than 53.49% of remaining ballots.
  • Mark West would need more than 53.99% of remaining ballots.
  • Luis Rios would need more than 56.32% of remaining ballots.

None of these outcomes are totally unreasonable, if only unlikely. It’s possible (and somewhat likely) that those several thousand unprocessed ballots have a completely different demographic makeup than counted ballots. If that’s the case, we could see wildly different results from individual candidate popularity to votes per ballot. It’s also likely that if one of the above candidates started to get a larger portion of the votes on uncounted ballots, Dan Carson or Gloria Partida would see their share of the uncounted ballots vote drop to a larger degree than the others, something for which this model does not account. With so many variables in play, it’s hard to say exactly what will happen but it’s definitely premature to declare a pro tem, let alone the race.

Measure I faces a much steeper climb to reach the two-thirds majority required of special taxes placed on the ballot by legislative bodies, needing more than 79.65% of remaining ballots. Only 93.95% of Davis voters felt like voting one way or the other. But 79.65% isn’t as impossible as it may seem on the surface since it’s very likely the unprocessed ballots are more liberal than those already counted and Measure H currently has 72.5% of counted ballots. It is unlikely to pass, but not impossible.

So, with only 60% of the Yolo County vote processed, it may have been a bit early to call some races. For me, the most interesting question remaining: how many young voters returned their ballots? Could that increase Davis turnout even further? Davis picked up an additional 3,500 registered voters since the last primary, about a thousand more than forecasted based on previous trends–did they show up?

Source: Political Data Inc.

Neil Ruud is a political activist and consultant.

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Disclaimer: the views expressed by guest writers are strictly those of the author and may not reflect the views of the Vanguard, its editor, or its editorial board.

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15 thoughts on “Guest Commentary: Uncounted Ballots Could Change Some Called Elections”

  1. Alan Miller

    NR, I almost didn’t read this, but you took a dry subject matter and made it interesting and easily understandable, a rare ability.  A big thank you from I and the entire Pancakes & Politics team, such as it is.

    1. Howard P

      Agree, but the “easily understandable” part was at the cost of accuracy… particularly to VMB’s and reasons (and sometimes, excuses) for provisional ballots… we had 126 at our precinct…

        1. Howard P

          Good call, Alan… I apparently mixed up some statements in this article with some I read in the Bee… my main “issue” was distinctions between VBM’s and “provisionals”… the source questioned if they even should be counted, reflecting…

          Neil correctly combined them as “uncounted”, and accurately pointed out the definition of “provisionals”… of the 126 “provisionals” we processed, nearly all were apparently due to their VBM ballots not being received (uclear if that was an “elections” problem, or USPS), misplaced (“dog ate my ballot”), or no record in the voter list of streets in the Cannery (streets didn’t ‘exist’, but I knew they did)… one was funny… (guy’s Dad used his son’s VBM as a “sample ballot”!)… we had one voter who I thought was being untruthful, but so noted, as poll workers get to write comments, for the Co. folk to sort out.

          Bottom line, Neil’s account is ~ 99.95% accurate…  I misspoke, confusing (conflating?) what I had read in another source… think I’m the 0.1% here who can own up to an error, and/or apologize… I hereby do both… wasn’t intentional, but stuff happens…

        2. Howard P

          Your opinion as to “rocks”… I say “nihil obstat”, for sure, on this subject.  and thank him for objective info…

          Some want us to “celebrate” all their views/values… I respectfully decline. I do respect factual information. And those who present it.. A 1% thing, I fear…

          And, is it “Neil” or “Neal”?

    1. Neil Ruud

      They’re hoping to publish an update at the end of the week but they’re not guaranteeing anything. Personally, I’d almost prefer they just finish the counting before another update. Typically, it takes about two weeks but with the unexpectedly high turnout and unprecedented day-of VBM it might take a little longer.

  2. Todd Edelman

    I was an inspector at a Davis precinct that’s part of Don Saylor’s district — but we had voters from the eastern – Provenza – part of Davis who voted provisionally, using the only ballots we had, which of course had Saylor up for re-election (uncontested). What happens to these provisional ballots? Does it matter if people voted for Saylor since they weren’t actually allowed to, i.e. would that invalidate the ballot?

    1. Neil Ruud

      I’m not sure. That would be a question for the elections office. My instinct says that those are valid assuming everything else checks out.

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text:
Human Race Theatre presents steamy “Sex with Strangers”

By Jacqui Theobald

It takes about twelve minutes for the first sexual involvement between the two writers to begin; it takes two acts to understand how insecurities, trust, and support are equally dynamic and exciting.

The 2009 play “Sex with Strangers” by Laura Eason features a near forty-something writer, Olivia, played by Jennifer Johansen and a twenty-eight-year-old writer, Ethan, played by the very chiseled Ben Palacios, who meet at a snowed-in writers’ retreat.

As titillating as the sexual scenes are, and they are, it is the give and take of their relationship that provides the greater impact of this show.
Produced by Tara Lail, “Sex” has played all over the world since its Chicago debut. Director Greg Hellems calls the play a mystery of relationships. Both he and the actors acknowledge the careful attention they have given to making sure the vulnerable actors feel safe. The entire production has been guided by ‘The Pillars’ with four precepts: context, communication, consent, and choreography.

Hellems is aware of the #MeToo movement on social media and is intent on avoiding any hint of threatening behavior.

Is there steam heat on stage? Is it in some way both hot and tasteful? Amazingly, between director, actors and technical designers it is.

In a wide-ranging pre-opening exclusive interview, Palacios described the intense vulnerability of getting naked on stage being in ‘emotional quicksand.’ Johansen explained the stage direction given as ‘Clothes begin to come off. Sex is imminent.’ “Greg gave us free rein, helping us craft our version.”

To reach that point the ‘four pillars’ brought security. The sex scenes are all precisely choreographed, which does not in any way decrease their eroticism, rather enhances it. The audience will be shucking off sweaters.

The restraint of the scenes, or what is not quite visible occurs because an actual bed is somewhat hidden behind a see-through bookcase.

The larger story is the diverse thinking between her identity with actual books and his with the internet.
In an interesting generational twist, it is he who supports her emotional insecurities and shows her how to become productive on-line.  It is only when each becomes driven by their own greed, both financially and literarily, that the layers of mystery are apparent.

President and Artistic Director of The Human Race Kevin Moore described the arc of the story with crossed arms, hands pointing to either side, indicting how the two characters change means and goals, passing each other going in opposite directions.

In their in-person interview, Jen and Ben were thoughtful and earnest and quietly open. On stage as Olivia and Ethan they are almost ferociously energetic expressing passion, anger, arrogance and pain. Johansen and Palacios shared their vulnerable feelings about these scenes.

Both actors commented on the technical and design staff’s rare verbal interaction with them, as all were mutually complimentary.  They expressed admiration and support to and from Lexi Muller, Production Stage Manager and Jacquelyn Duncan, Production Assistant.

The music, all original compositions created and played by Jay Brunner is almost another character and certainly adds to the atmosphere and evolution of the story. It is beautiful and descriptive worth hearing again.

Adam Crowell is Technical Director and Scenic Designer Eric Moore is Head Carpenter/Charge Artist. Heather Powell is Props Master. They have created and built an ordinary living room set with extraordinary flexibility. Including a number of genuine book-filled shelves, the set serves as the winter B&B, then her Chicago apartment. Even the cushions look digital.

Costume Designer is Stormie Mac, challenged to select ordinary clothes, easily managed and later over the year-and-a-half time frame of the play, to reflect differences in success and expectations. Susanne Kern is Costume Shop Manager with Andrew Ian Adams on Wardrobe.

The Lighting Design is by the ever proficient and professional John Rensel, with Rick “Rico” Stewart as Production Electrician.  Lighting is sometimes subtle and occasionally dramatic, supporting the emotional flow.

So what’s the mystery Hellems talks about?  Is Ethan, the hugely ambitious internet and film boy wonder, using Olivia? Or once she tastes the success he guided, has she taken advantage of his generosity? He has not been able to hide his very active sex life with many strangers, as well as his disrespectful comments about women.

He has said he wants a durable relationship with her. Can she believe it? Should she move on, professionally and personally? Who is the jerk and who is the hero?

The audience gets to draw its own conclusions.

Many technicians as well as actors with the Human Race are graduates of the Wright State Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures and have effectively powerful connections, a network of sorts. They appreciate the skills and creativity and contributions of their peers.

Laura Eason, the playwright has written 20 plays, original work and adaptation, a musical-book writer and screenwriter, according to the HRT program. It is her experience as a screenwriter that explains the wonderfully brisk dialog. She wrote on seasons two and three of Beau Willimon’s House of Cards on Netflix.

Praise is due to both Hellems for keeping a two-person play moving dynamically, and to the actors with their good diction for keeping it clear and understandable.

Many references to current writers, publisher FSG (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), add to this ultimate smart play.

The Loft Theatre is at 126 N. Main St., Downtown Dayton. Performances of “Sex With Strangers” continue through February 18. For show times and specific ticket information call 937-228-3037 or go to or

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text:
Lineup Announced for Sixth Annual Kingman Island Bluegrass Festival - April 25

The Sixth Annual Kingman Island Bluegrass and Folk Festival features two main stages of bluegrass and Americana music with co-headliners Cabinet and Larry Keel Experience and more. The festival will celebrate local music, food, and culture as well as the revitalization of the Anacostia River, while supporting hands-on education programming provided by Living Classrooms on Kingman Island. The event has grown to become the largest all-local music festival in the National Capital Region, attracting over 13,000 attendees in 2014.

The Festival will include eight hours of performances by local bluegrass, folk and Americana artists, games and outdoor beverages, DC’s favorite food trucks, outdoor bike course, free kayaking courtesy of REI, giveaways and a number of activities for children of all ages including a children’s stage with arts & crafts.   Festival sponsor REI will be bringing the REI Village, a touring celebration of the outdoor lifestyle (with special gifts for REI members).

When: Saturday April 25, 2015 from 12:00pm – 8:00pm

Where: Kingman Island located on the Anacostia River:

575 Oklahoma Avenue NE Washington, DC (entrance at RFK Stadium Lot 6).

Biking and metro are encouraged. A free shuttle will run from Stadium/Armory Metro Station. Free parking is available in RFK Lot 6.

Who: The Kingman Island Bluegrass & Folk Festival is a collaboration between Living Classrooms, REI, Sierra Nevada, BicycleSPACE, Listen Local First, WAMU. All are welcome to attend.

Cost: Early bird tickets: $10 until February 29th or until tickets sell out – Early Bird Tickets are sold out!

From March 1 – 31: $15

April 1 – day of festival: $20

Tickets can be purchased at www.missiontix.com/kingmanisland

More Information:

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/KIBluegrassFest

2014 Bluegrass Festival Video: http://youtu.be/Nc2FVwZw2Mk

Main Bluegrass Stage
12:30-1:10     Split String Soup
1:20-2:00     Big Chimney
2:10-2:50     By & By
3:00-3:40     Bud’s Collective
3:50-4:30     Furnace Mountain
4:40-5:20     Walker’s Run
5:40-6:40     Larry Keel
7:00-8:00     Cabinet
Tweener Artists:
Laura Tsaggaris
Jonny Grave

Americana Stage:
1:00-1:35     Karen Jonas
1:50-2:25     Lauren Calve Band
2:40-3:15     Justin Trawick and the Common Good
3:30-4:05     Luray
4:20 – 4:55     Big Hoax
5:15-6:00     Kingsley Flood
Tweener Artists:
Annabeth McNamara

REI Stage hosted by The Hamilton :
1:00-1:40     Delafield String Band
1:50-2:30     The Stick Mob
2:40-3:20     Griff’s Room Band
3:30-4:10     Hollertown
4:20-5:00     Notes from the Underground
5:10-5:50     The Plank Stompers
Tweener Artists:
Elena & Los Fulanos
Tom McBride

Island Stage hosted by Acre 121:
12:00-12:50     Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
1:00-1:50     Tomas Pagan Motta
2:00-2:50     Sara Curtin
3:00-3:50     19th Street Band
4:00-4:50     The Hummingbyrds
5:00-5:50     Gramophonic

WAMU Country Bluegrass Stage hosted by Mr Henry’s:
12:00-12:50     Near Northeast
1:00-1:50     Roof Beams
2:00-2:50     LuLu’s Fate
3:00-3:50     Sweet Yonder
4:00-4:50     Dead Professional
5:00-5:50     The Beanstalk Library

If you would like to volunteer in return for FREE admission please email Rebekah Meyer: Rmeyer@livingclassrooms.org

All Good Presents: The Kingman Island Bluegrass Kickoff  Spectacular featuring The Larry Keel Experience with Walkers Run – RESCHEDULED for April 9th

Thursday April 9th

Gypsy Sally’s in Washington DC

The Larry Keel Experience

Tickets: $15 in advance and $17 at the door

All tickets from the rescheduled 2/21 show will be honored on 4/9.

About Kingman Island:

Kingman and Heritage Islands are located in the middle of Anacostia River, which runs through the eastern half of Washington, DC. The islands provide a beautiful area in Washington, DC for people of all ages to learn about the natural environment.

Directions to the island: www.kingmanislandbluegrass.com/

About Living Classrooms:

Living Classrooms Foundation strengthens communities and inspires young people to achieve their potential through hands-on education and job training, using urban, natural, and maritime resources as “living classrooms.” Living Classrooms Foundation is a Washington, DC-Baltimore based nonprofit educational organization with a distinctive competency in experiential learning—literally learning by direct experience, or what we call “learning by doing.”

More information on Living Classrooms: www.livingclassroomsdc.org


text:
Long live rock, I need it every night

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Chinese Democracy

Imperial China
The Red and the Black

Dec. 21, 2007

Rock doesn't stop at Christmas and neither does DC Rock Club. Besides, none of us are Christians. Here are the details on each Rock Club member's preferred religious affiliation:

1--Jumbo Slice: Mithraist. Still sore about Constantine the Great's decision to make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century AD. "Fuck him, and fuck Christmas," says Jumbo.
2--Potsy: Church of Satan. Enjoys Christmas, but only to mock it while he sips brandy from a pewter snifter and cackles maniacally.
3--Sack Lunch: Big Jew. One of the biggest in history. Like Judd Hirsch on Jew-roids.
4--Jimbromski: Cargo Cultist. It's only natural, having grown up in Micronesia.

Cargo Cult: Come back, John Frum, we've been waiting patiently since 1944

Imperial China are a local band who've been together about four months. Last Friday's show at the Red and the Black can be considered their coming out party. Metaphorically speaking, they jumped out of a closet wearing leather speedos and announced, we're all gay. Metaphorically.

For a band that's been together for as short a time as Imperial China, I thought these guys did pretty well. They're a three piece--one drummer, one guitarist/drummer, and one bassist/keyboardist. Their sound is heavy on the instrumental and light on the vocal. It's difficult to categorize but I will say that they played loud and fast, which is always a good thing.

It's lazy writing to describe a band by just naming a bunch of bands that you think they sound like, so I'll try to avoid that pitfall here. Also, once you wade into esoteric genres and sub-genres you run the risk of getting slapped down by some uber-geek. "Noise Rock? You fucking idiot, we're not noise rock, we're avant-garde post-industrial progressive alt-dada. Get it right, newb."

So, Imperial China, to me, sounded like good movie soundtrack music, the sort that would play during fight scenes. Imagine that old kung fu movie stand-by, where one dude gets attacked by 40 ninjas, and kicks all their asses one-by-one. Then, imagine he gets on a skateboard when he's done and hits the half-pipe. It's that kind of sound.

Okay, that didn't help.

I'd rather be a lazy writer than a poor one, so here goes--Imperial China sort of sound like a Prodigy or Chemical Brothers-type band, with less melody, and a less radio-friendly presentation. I imagine the band members might cringe at that comparison but I am King Softrocker the First of DC Rock Club so maybe that's what I want them to eventually sound like. Maybe a better comparison is Kinski--check out "The Wives of Artie Shaw" on Kinski's MySpace page and you'll get an idea of what Imperial China sound like. Or, better yet, visit Imperial China's MySpace page and decide for yourself. I don't give a shit either way. You should still listen to "Wives of Artie Shaw," it's a pretty bad-assed song.

Imperial China--good local band, and one to watch. As they practice more and play more shows they could develop into something special. RC Rating: 6.1.

Jumbo Slice said...

Considering this was only their third show, I was impressed. I tend to get excited to see a band live only to be let down. That wasn't the case with Imperial China. The opening song, Radhus, was great and the band kept it going right up until the end. Speaking of which, the moment the set ended, Patrick the drummer walked offstage and just kind of bulldozed his way through the crowd and down the stairs. Classic. Whether it was planned or not I don't know but it struck me as very funny and very rock and roll.

The Kinski comparison is a fair one. In my concert preview I said they were Battles-like but that's not really accurate. As far as the songs, I'm with Jimbromski. I preferred the ones w/ a bit of a dance element with the keyboards (like w/ Radhus) over harder and darker stuff. The fact they can do both though is a positive. Too many bands have a very narrow range.

Overall, a really fun show. I can't wait to see them again.

Jumbo Slice said...

We should also mention that The Red & The Black is a pretty good place to see a show. Just remember to pack your earplugs. It can get loud upstairs. The bar downstairs isn't bad either.

Anonymous said...

Saw these guys last night at the Univ of MD...always a kick ass show.

I went to this Red & Black show as well, though I didn't stay for Imperial China (went for the first band, The Prisoner's Dilemma).


text:
Insta Story Roundup

Happy 2018, guys! My guess is everyone is heading back to work today or tomorrow after a nice long weekend. While I did have to work three days last week, having two four-day weekends in a row was a super nice way to reset and get prepped for the new year.

I wanted to share with you some of the products that I’ve mentioned on my Insta stories lately. I don’t always remember to post about them on the blog, but I thought it would be fun to share a few things I’m loving lately.

First up is this new lamp that I ordered via Amazon Prime. I came across this one while browsing and fell in love with it but decided to look for something a bit cheaper, since I’m constantly arranging and rearranging and have way too many lamps as it is–however, the Target option is definitely a steal if you’re not a lamp hoarder like me ;). When I spotted this gem for under $20, I knew it had to be mine! While it didn’t come with an Edison bulb like I thought it would (I should’ve read more closely!), I was able to grab one at my local hardware store to complete the look. I’ve done a lot of furniture rearranging in my bedroom lately (these wood tables, which I’m now using as a nightstand, had actually been in my bathroom!) and am hoping I’ll be able to chill and let things stay put for awhile, since I have a tendency to change up my space, like, multiple times per month (any other interior design fanatics can likely relate!).

In my sitting area is a new wooden table that I found at a Goodwill for only $7.99! I love that it has a little drawer that is kind of camouflaged but can hold a decent amount (I’m using it to store my magazines!). I haven’t always been as drawn to the midcentury modern style, but I thought this would be a fun way to try it out. On the same Goodwill trip, I came across the little clay bowls pictured here, and while I wasn’t sure if they were supposed to be mugs, candle holders, or something else, I knew I wanted to scoop them up. They remind me of something that would be sold at Salt & Sundry or another trendy shop. I popped some tea lights inside and have loved sitting on the couch reading while being surrounded by candlelight.

This picture isn’t the best quality, but I ordered a wallpaper sample from a shop on Etsy with the intention of framing it, and it shipped super quickly. The swatch that I picked out here (they sent me three) looks a little wrinkled, oops. However, if you’re in need of some new wall decor and don’t want to commit to a pricy print, wallpaper is an easy way to bring a pop of color into your space. I purchased the sample for 99 cents INCLUDING shipping–talk about a steal!

Have you scored any exciting decor finds lately?

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Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Breeding Bird Atlas Codes Video

For everyone who is participating in the Florida Breeding Bird Atlas project, and for those who are just really bored, I have created an instructional video about how to use the breeding bird codes. Comments are welcome. Please share with anyone who is on the project.

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U.S. confirms release of journalist held in Syria

The White House on Sunday confirmed the release of an American journalist held captive in Syria for the past two years.

National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Peter Theo Curtis, who was kidnapped by militants near the Syria-Turkey border in October 2012, "is now safe outside of Syria."

"Today, we join his family and loved ones in welcoming his freedom," Rice said in a statement. "We expect he will be reunited with his family shortly."

The news came after another U.S. journalist James Foley, who was abducted by militants in Syria in November 2012, was beheaded by the Islamic State as shown in a video released online early last week by the militant group.

The Islamic State, which has seized a large swath of territory in western and northern Iraq in recent months, also threatened to kill another man shown on the video said to be American freelancer Steven Sotloff to avenge ongoing U.S. airstrikes on its targets in northern Iraq.

"Just as we celebrate Theo's freedom, we hold in our thoughts and prayers the Americans who remain in captivity in Syria," Rice said. "As President (Barack) Obama said, we have and will continue to use all of the tools at our disposal to see that the remaining American hostages are freed."

The Obama administration sent special operations troops into Syria this summer to rescue Foley and other American hostages, but failed to find them, officials told the press.

The U.S. warplanes on Sunday conducted two air raids on Islamic State targets, destroying a Humvee near the Mosul Dam and an armed vehicle near Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

It said the U.S. military has conducted a total of 96 airstrikes in Iraq since Aug.8, one day after Obama gave the order.

[Source: Xinhua, Washington, 24Aug14]

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Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly does Design with Distinction do?
  • We work with home owners who are building new homes, undertaking full service renovations or remodeling entire floors or rooms
  • We handle everything from concept to completion. That includes working with you to plan your vision and then bring together all the elements including the team of professionals to make it happen
I'm really interested in having some renovations done. How do we go about establishing a budget?
  • After your consultation, you'll walk away with a pricing grid tool that you can fill in and use to create your budget
  • Many people are surprised at the wide range of pricing for things like furniture and fixtures. It all depends on whether you want high end or  something closer to the middle where your personal tastes lie.
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  • From the minute we enter your home, we start looking for ways to help you avoid many of the common and costly mistakes most people make when undertaking an interior design project
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  • Your investment in a consultation with Design with Distinction will pay for itself many times over
  • Quality design work is not a bargain, but it is an investment in something of value
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  • Principle designer, Debi Meyer has unique insight into the relationship of people to their environments and the power to design in a way that helps shape and enhance the human experience
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  • Debi Meyer is an Allied Member, ASID (American Society of Interior Designers).
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"Debi Meyer worked with us through the planning to execution of our 5 bathroom and laundry remodel. She provided ideas, resources, suggestions and calm throughout the project. Debi was equally adept at listening to both my husband and I and helping us find a mutually acceptable solution when the two of us could not. The bathrooms and laundry room look magnificent and we are so very pleased with the end results."
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Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, West Chester

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites

1310 Wilmington Pike

A distinctive hotel with personal service geared to corporate and leisure travelers. Minutes from Longwood Gardens, QVC Studios and other local attractions. 30 minutes to Philadelphia Historic Sites. Upgraded amenities include indoor pool, gift shop and wine and beer service. Business suites with whirlpool available. FREE high speed internet access in all guest rooms. Airport Shuttle: Please call hotel for rates and infomation. Must be booked 24hrs. in advance.


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Sweet read

If you’ve had the pleasure of tucking into a generous plate of Elisabeth Prueitt’s legendary brioche bread pudding, then you know why the pastry chef draws crowds from around the Bay Area. Prueitt and her husband, master baker Chad Robertson, are the co-owners of the popular Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, where they take cakes, quiches, and crisps over the top using expert technique and seasonal ingredients.

The pair have written Tartine, in which they translate for home chefs the recipes for their most coveted creations.

The book, which has a foreward by Alice Waters, includes the recipe for Prueitt’s brioche bread pudding, along with those for seasonal preparations such as pumpkin tea cake and apple crisp. Prueitt includes some savory snacks, such as wild mushroom tart and cheddar cheese crackers, which will wow your guests at holiday parties.

The best part of the Tartine cookbook is that after you’ve tried your hand at the recipes, you can visit the bakery or Bar Tartine, the Mission District restaurant Prueitt and Robertson opened in Fall 2005, and compare your work with that of the masters.

Tartine is available at bookstores and at www.chroniclebooks.com. Tartine Bakery, 600 Guerrero St., San Francisco, (415) 487-2600; Bar Tartine, 561 Valencia St., San Francisco, (415) 487-1600, www.tartinebakery.com.

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Latest News

Friday, June 12, 2015

Trailer: Wang is back in Shadow Warrior 2

Normally I wouldn't care about a game like Shadow Warrior. Flying Wild Hog had decided to remake a classic, albeit controversial FPS, and the resulting release was being positioned as a bit of lighthearted, inexpensive, nostalgic fun.

It's not my kind of game, nor is it my kind of genre, but I gave it a go and enjoyed it a lot nonetheless because it was a truly stunning game, visually, and the action was passably entertaining, too. It must have been a commercial success, as Flying Wild Hog and publisher, Devolver Digital, have announced that a sequel is in the works.

Shadow Warrior 2 is going to be every bit as visually stunning as its predecessor and, perhaps most excitingly, it comes with multiplayer this time around. There's a four-player co-op mode to delve into this time, which will certainly help extend the longevity of the game because let's face it, Shadow Warrior is irreverent enough that it would be more fun in groups.

Otherwise, you can expect the same endless stream of "wang" jokes and extreme bloodletting that you got from the first game. There's no firm release date yet (simply "2016"), but it'll be interesting to see how this one develops nonetheless.

Enjoy the trailer!

- Matt S.
Find me on Twitter: @digitallydownld
Trailer: Wang is back in Shadow Warrior 2
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Former Emmerdale actress Adele Silva gives birth to a baby girl

The actress has previously suffered three miscarriages.

Former Emmerdale actress Adele Silva has given birth to a girl.

The actress, who played Kelly Windsor in the soap intermittently from 1993 until 2011, gave birth yesterday (Wednesday, March 25).

Adele Silva
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She has previously suffered three miscarriages with her fiancÃ© Oliver Farber.

A representative for the couple told MailOnline: "AM Concepts UK would like to announce our client Adele Silva has given birth yesterday to a baby girl. Mother and baby are doing well."

Silva has previously revealed she turned down the chance to return to Emmerdale when she discovered she was pregnant.

An opportunity arose in 2014 to make an appearance at her on-screen sister Donna's funeral.

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Iraq is ranked 37th in the world's largest reserves of gold Baltmoz

Iraq was ranked 37th in the world's gold reserves this July, the World Gold Council said on Saturday.

"The world's reserves of gold fell for the month of July by 79 tons from the month of June to reach 33 thousand and 734 tons," the Council said in a statistic published on its website and viewed by "Iraq News", noting that "the United States of America ranked first in the world of With reserves of 8.133.5 tons, followed by Germany with 3.371 tons.

The council added that "Iraq ranked 37th in the world in terms of these reserves out of the 100 countries listed in the international financial statistics of the global reserves of gold, and the fifth place in the Arab world, which came after Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Algeria and Libya."

The Council said that "Iraq's reserves of gold remained stable, recording 89.8 tons, representing 7.7% of the rest of the other currencies," noting that "the last purchase of Iraq from gold was in April 2014, where he bought 15.16 tons."


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September 19, 2018

Breaking News:

François Sénémaud for Syria -

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Marise Payne is Australia’s FM -

Thursday, September 13, 2018

President of the Assembly, O-Gon Kwon, reaffirming support for the ICC -

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Denmark’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Visits OPCW -

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

The Prosecutor on the arrest of five Accused in Rwanda -

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

OPCW confirm UK findings -

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Jordan against ICC decision -

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

US Special Envoy for North Korea -

Monday, August 27, 2018

Trump’s Special Envoy for Iran -

Monday, August 27, 2018

51st President of Paraguay inaugurated -

Monday, August 27, 2018

Global Justice and the Rule of Law: the future of the International Liberal Order

Intervention by Steven van Hoogstraten, CEO Hague Institute,  before the Human Rights Committee of the Liberal International, at the “Europa Huis”.

Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen

Many thanks for the invitation to come and speak before your parliamentary committee this morning on behalf of the Hague Institute for Global Justice.

In the words of the former Mayor of the Hague, the liberal politician Jozias van Aartsen, “the Hague Institute for Global justice was established 5 years ago in response to a growing demand for policy relevant research and innovative thinking on critical issues of peace and justice. Today the Institute plays a key role in informing the work of cities, governments and international organizations by conducting research, building capacity and convening scholars and practitioners to discuss solutions to contemporary global challenges”.

Mr. chairman

Global Justice is what we call in this country a “container notion” , a notion that does cover many things for many people. In other words, it is not a one dimensional concept but it brings together many issues under the umbrella of an attractive, overriding theme. Issues of global justice are indeed ranging from the individual responsibility of military commanders to the conduct of states, from migration to mediation, from crimes to humanity to the greatest needs of humanity.

At the Hague Institute for Global Justice, we tend to use a framework which is composed of 4 different objectives or 4 dimensions

  • The first is enhancing accountability for perpetrators of international crimes.
  • The second is the promotion of the Rule of Law notably in fragile states.
  • The third is the effort to improve Global Governance.
  • The fourth is the prevention and resolution of Conflict.

Justifiably, there might be more of these axes, such as the fight against illicit trade, human trafficking or the widespread pandemic of corruption. But at this more strategic level we should not complicate matters too much, and so stick to this first set of 4 already wide ranging perspectives.

You will note that the protection of human rights is not defined as one of the 4 axes. That is because in our view, the problem of Global Justice is primarily one of the ethical and legal behavior of states, of the judiciary or official institutions. Human Rights are in this perspective an intertwining concept, one that does not come directly to the forefront. Global Justice basically seeks to improve the conditions for the population at large, and that of course means the enhancement of the position of individuals too. The Rule of Law presupposes the establishment of democratic institutions, which do their work properly and can be held to account. These institutions may or may not step on the line of human rights, which then is easily a lesser consideration in the light of the greater objective of societies which are stable and which know an internal system of checks and balances. One may criticize China for its record on Human Rights, but it knows what governance is and there is more than a hint that the Chinese governance is acceptable at the world stage.

It is no overstatement to say that the city of the Hague is well placed to work for Global Justice, as this city is working for Peace and Justice according to its coat of arms. The Hague is the home to so many judicial institutions. The International Court of Justice, principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ICTY are the most visible examples. But there is more. What to think of the oldest institution for the settlement of disputes by arbitration, the Permanent Court of Arbitration – which has a pretty large agenda these days. Or the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and another special tribunal for Kosovo ?

For many people, the enhanced accountability for crimes is clearly at the top of list, if we talk about Global Justice. No person should go unpunished, if he or she commits the worst conceivable attacks. Still, this is primarily a matter for national concern, as is shown by the constitution of the International Criminal Court. The ICC comes into play only if national jurisdictions are incapable or unwilling to prosecute the crimes themselves. We are all aware of the weaknesses of the ICC, namely (1) the procedures are slow, (2) there seems to be an emphasis on Africa – for whatever reason – and (3) many nations have not yet signed up to the ICC, including the most powerful ones. But if Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Argentina, South Africa and all the European nations can be part of ICC, we are justified in asking why Russia, China, India and the US are not. And if we place a historical lens before our eyes it is still early days, as the ICC has merely had its first 10 years. Still there is a lot to improve and notably the efficiency and speed of bringing justice.

The case of the prosecution launched at the request of Kenya is a horror example like no other, but it would be hard to blame only the Court for that. The killing of important witnesses is not attributable to a court of law, if you understand what I say. I think that the Prosecutor made an important announcement when she said that she had opened proceedings in Afghanistan. That will go some distance to take away the so called anti African sentiments

Incidentally, the improvement of accountability is not just a matter for International Courts to be established. If we look to Syria, it is obvious for me that a legal mechanism of international criminal law will not quickly be created to deal with the crimes of this long-lasting and bloody internal war. All the more reason to applaud the decision by the General Assembly to create a monitoring mechanism called the IIIM, or commonly the triple I M, the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism whose primary aim it is to collect evidence and document the war crimes since 2011 in Syria. Not a prosecutorial system, but an important helping hand to support a future prosecution if it ever came to that. (Resolution nr A/71/248 dd 19 December 2016) . According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, “this new mechanism is a very significant step to further accountability”.

Global governance

At The Hague Institute for Global Justice, a lot of our work is related to the architecture of global governance. This concerns of course mainly the United Nations, whose Charter and institutional setup still reflect the political situation of the Post World War II period; but also other important building blocks of global governance, including the development and promotion of new norms, the role of regional organizations as supporting pillars of the global order, and specific sectorial regimes.

Concerning this overarching architecture, I would like to point to the Commission on Global Security, Justice and Governance, which was co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Nigerian Foreign Minister Ibrahim Gambari, and for which The Hague Institute and the Stimson Center in Washington DC served as the joint secretariat. It culminated in the Commission’s final report entitled Confronting the Crisis of Global Governance, which was launched at the Peace Palace here in The Hague in June 2015. Some commentators may have found that the title was “too gloomy”, but the system is often seen as blocked by national interests. It should be borne in mind that the recommendations are intended for the 75th birthday of the United nations in 2020. To attract some attention, one needs a spicy title and pickled proposals.

This World Commission introduced the notion of “Just Security”, the intersection of justice and security which is critical to understanding – and tackling – today’s global governance threats and challenges. Justice is essential to safeguarding human security. A just society is an illusions without security. The goal of Just Security is to forge a global system of accountable, fair, and effective governance and sustainable peace. This vision is rooted in long standing international commitments to human rights, international law, and the critical role of flexible and evolving multilateral institutions, states and NGO’s in global governance. Among several other recommendations , this World Commission aimed to create the next generation for the UN conflict mediation and peace operations capacity, to innovate climate governance, to establish a new G 20 + for global cooperation in order to avert financial, cross border shocks and to work on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, and to develop a global network of cybercrime centers next to increasing internet access in the Global South. The Commission also saw great merit in expanding the Security Council’s membership while restraining the use of the veto.

Finally and importantly for the Hague, the World Commission wishes to strengthen and more fully use the International Court of Justice, by expanding the number of acceptances of this Curt’s jurisdiction and use its advisory opinions in innovative ways. You may know that only 73out of 195 countries in the world accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ as a matter of national policy. The Dutch are among those who do, like most European nations. But not the French, who backed out after the Nuclear Test Case. And not the USA, nor Russia, or China and so many others.

Last but certainly not least, we understand that global justice cannot be only promoted by norms and strategies alone, but also through well-functioning institutions and implementation on the ground. A good example of this is the Global Governance Reform Initiative (GGRI). The GGRI is a collaboration between The Hague Institute, The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Observer Research Foundation, India’s leading think tank. It seeks to analyze the deficiencies in salient regimes and proposes evidence-based policies for improving governance in select domains. Moreover, it looks at emerging patterns and how innovations in one sector can foster solutions in others as well.

As a multi-year, multi-phase project, it focused first on cyber governance, with its findings feeding directly into the India Conference on Cyber Security and Cyber Governance in 2014 and the Global Conference on Cyber Space held in The Hague in April 2015. Subsequently, the project’s attention turned to oceans governance, in particular concerning blue growth and sustainable development. The findings from this phase were presented at the Oceans Dialogue 2017 in Kerala, India, a conference organized by the ORF in partnership with the Dutch government. The project’s current and final phase homes in on its politically most contentious topic: Migration governance, with a particular emphasis on using regional cooperation as a way to manage the pressures created by migration and refugee flows, not just in Europe but also in other world regions.

Through its expert meeting and online consultations, the project is designed in such a way that it absorbs input from all relevant stakeholder groups, including business and civil society, as well as perspectives from the Global North and South, in particular the BRICS countries. In a similar vein, the deliverables that GGRI produces are designed to speak not just to academic but a range of different audiences. For instance, while each phase produces a special issue of articles in the leading, interdisciplinary academic journal Global Policy, a compact policy brief provides practitioners with the main take-away and reform proposals for each phase, while op-eds and blog posts address the wider, interested public.

Mr. Chairman

You have asked me to look into the future of the international justice system. May I say that such broad question is easier asked than answered. What I can say from my experience that the international justice system is now rather well developed, but still ailing from one serious illness. That illness is that so many countries have not accepted as yet the jurisdiction of either the International Court of justice or the Rome statute of the ICC, or the arbitration rules of the PCA. I refer to the arbitration case under the UN Convention for the law of the Sea about the South Chines Sea, between the Philippines and China. China did not accept this arbitration and simply refused to come to the proceedings. In the same vein I note that still so many countries are outside the mandate of the International Criminal Court. One can see the importance of the work of the ICTY, an institution which has passed judgement on the main “names “ of the war in Yugoslavia in roughly 20 years. The recent decision of the ICTY on general Mladic after 500 court days is a strong example. But the process of international justice is painstakingly slow, and especially the International Criminal Court has not yet a record to show with pride.

My view of the future of the international justice system is that the call for justice will not diminish, and that the core principle of ‘no safe havens for crimes committed” will stand strong. This by itself will allow for new forms of justice systems to come into place, like the investigation mechanism for Syria. But we all know what is needed for that, and notably that is a form of consensus in the Security Council. Sometimes the window of the Security Council will open briefly, but most of the times this window stays shut. Locked by some veto of one of the powers. That is a flaw in the UN system, where a global reform is urgently called for . Like the report on global governance mentioned, why not abolish the veto rule for situations where mass violations of human rights are at the heart of the debate. That would be a small but highly significant step forward.

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• Discover Nadder, Shears Building, Stone Lane Industrial Estate, Wimborne, BH21 1HD  Tel: 01725 517417
W.Wilts Downs from Charlton Down - D Blake
Burcombe Folly Clump - S Keene
Folly Clump to the Punchbowl - S Keene
View over Nadder & Sem Valley - D Blake
Hindon Village Shop - Peter Lashbrook
Fovant Badges from Compton Chamberlayne - Elizabeth Forbes

Welcome. If you live, work or are planning a visit to the Nadder Valley this website is a hugely useful resource for learning about what makes this area special and discovering all about the fascinating places to stay, things to do and activities to enjoy.

Map of nadder valleyStraddling the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Nadder Valley stretches from Wilton in Wiltshire to the east across to Shaftesbury, Dorset in the west. It is a beautiful and largely undiscovered area with over 30 picturesque villages along the River Nadder. Tisbury, the largest of the villages, offers a friendly and thriving High Street as well as a convenient railway with direct London links for visitors.

The Nadder Valley offers fantastic walking country and great cycling opportunities. Our specially designed walking and cycling routes will take you on a real journey of discovery. Trails range from the challenging, along chalk ridges with stunning views across the downs, to short leisurely strolls around several historic villages such as East Knoyle; birthplace to Sir Christopher Wren the famous architect whose masterpiece was St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

All routes include annotated OS maps with instructions and points of interest that promote the history, culture and wildlife of the area. Visitors will experience stunning views, the tranquillity of the chalk downs, historic estates and the picturesque historic villages built of traditional Chilmark stone and thatch. With numerous ancient churches, Iron Age Hill Forts and ancient burial grounds, as well as attractions such as Old Wardour Castle, this remains one of the South West’s best kept secrets.


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17 June 2015

Coming soon! Pro Hunter Bespoke Customising Service

Pro Hunter has always been the leader in bespoke customised watches, creating unique pieces for over ten years using inspiration from the world of vintage watches as well as paying homage to the history of Rolex.

We will now offer a personalised service to our customers, working with them on a one-to-one basis to create their very own unique Pro Hunter as well as continuing to broaden our collection with innovative and elegant designs.

A customiser page will be available soon - watch this space!

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