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That ear-splitting, glass-shattering sound you hear is me, yodeling. I’ve been doing it for the past several days, ever since I took Nicolas to see “The Sound of Music,” and I can’t stop. It’s fun and it drives my kid nuts, which provides an extra layer of enjoyment.
I’ve seen “The Sound of Music” a million times. It was a childhood favorite of mine, as it has been for so many people, and my parents and I always looked forward to its annual broadcast on television. It was event viewing, back when such a thing still existed. But! My father, who loved musicals and taught me to love them, too, taped it one year (on Beta, no less), so eventually I could watch it whenever I wanted. And I did — along with listening to the soundtrack album and rehearsing a stage production with the neighborhood kids. (As the youngest, I got the part of Gretl, naturally.)
Still, I hadn’t seen “The Sound of Music” in its entirety since my youth in Woodland Hills, and I’d never seen it in an actual theater on a big, beautiful screen. So when I got the chance recently to revisit the movie in 70mm on the Fox lot, of course I had to jump at it, and I had to bring my own child with me. Now, Nicolas insists he hates musicals — which is clearly untrue, since one of his favorite TV shows is “Phineas and Ferb,” where they cleverly break into song in every episode. But I knew that, as a 7-year-old, he’d enjoy himself on the most basic level, just as I did long ago. He’d giggle at the kids’ antics and get into the catchiness of all those classic Rodgers and Hammerstein songs.
I also wondered how I’d respond to it, decades later, through grown-up eyes as a longtime film critic. Would I cringe at its earnestness, or cry out of sheer nostalgia? The answer is: a little bit of both. I noticed much more in terms of subtext and subtlety of performance — both of which would seem to be in short supply in such a rousing, crowd-pleasing musical. But I also appreciated the complexity of the lyrics and the choreography, and the brisk pacing that makes Robert Wise’s three-hour Oscar-winner zip by. (Besides best picture and director, the 1965 film also won Academy Awards for sound, film editing and music.)
It began as a battle, though. Nicolas complained the whole way over, insisting he didn’t want to see it and complaining he was bored during the 10 minutes or so that we had to wait in our seats beforehand. When Julie Andrews crests that grassy knoll at the film’s start, twirling and singing joyously about the hills being alive with the sound of music in the film’s signature image, Nic leaned over to me without missing a beat and said: “Terrible!” in sing-songy tones.
But I knew it would be OK. And it was. I caught him laughing when the Von Trapp children march their way down the stairs and stomp forward to announce their names at the sound of their whistle signals. (The frog they secretly stuffed in Fraulein Maria’s pocket also was good for a cackle.) He was totally into “Do-Re-Mi” — he had a huge smile on his face and tapped his hand on his knee to the beat of the music. And as Captain Von Trapp is driving home after being away in Vienna wooing the Baroness (Eleanor Parker), with his seven children dangling from the trees in play clothes made of drapes, Nicolas asked me: “Is he back? Are they in trouble? Gulp!” And again soon afterward: “Spoil if they get into trouble or not.”
“You’ll see …,” I said.
Later, he burst into a wide smile at the very sight of the first ridiculous-looking puppet during “The Lonely Goatherd.” (And he’d already heard me singing that song around the house — hence, the aforementioned yodeling.)
But this number was one of many that made me realize, as an adult, the great talent and craft that went into making this movie. These people are working their asses off. And even though it’s relevant to the scene that Maria is noticeably wiped after such a taxing performance, Julie Andrews makes it all look so breezy and effortless. She just radiates joy in this film, and has such a winning presence that she even makes some of the cornier moments bearable. (The reprise of “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” which Maria and Charmain Carr’s Liesl sing to each other after Maria and Captain Von Trapp return from their honeymoon, is a prime example. It’s a totally needless song — it’s a stretch — but she sells it because she’s such a pro.)
Other things I noticed as a grown-ass person:
— The first shot of the movie is not, in fact, what you see in the above photo but rather helicopter images of clouds and snow-covered mountains accompanied by the sound of chilly wind. It was a little disconcerting at first.
— Wise, working from Ernest Lehman’s script, really takes his time creating a sense of place at the convent before Maria leaves to serve as governess of the Von Trapp children. I found myself crying at “Maria,” possibly out of a sense of nostalgia, but also because of the sheer beauty of the nuns’ voices and their harmonies. Plus, the imagery in the lyrics is so vivid: “How do you keep a wave upon the sand? … How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?” They don’t write ’em like they used to.
— Christopher Plummer: Good lord, he was a babe.
— I was fascinated by the bike choreography in “Do-Re-Mi.” How did they all not crash into each other? How many takes did that section require? Wondering all this nearly took me out of the rapturous glee of that song.
— Wise and editor William Reynolds move so well between songs. The pacing throughout the film is really fluid and spry, but never at the expense of character or story.
— I never realized what a bad-ass Peggy Wood was. As the Reverend Mother at the abbey, she’s the voice of reason, which sounds like an understated role. But she brings such wisdom and presence to it, she’s a quietly powerful force.
— Max Detweiler is gay???
— Baroness Schrader’s body-clinging, gold-shimmering party dress: It is a stunner. I want it now.
UPDATE, Sunday, Feb. 12: Nicolas is singing “Do-Re-Mi” absentmindedly to himself around the house while he plays. I WIN.
If you were a little girl in the 1970s like I was, you probably loved “Ice Castles” and watched it a million times — whether or not you’d ever actually set foot on the ice yourself.
You know that aspiring figure-skating champion Lexie Winston (Lynn-Holly Johnson) is going to take a hard fall while landing a jump that leaves her nearly totally blind, just as she’s on the brink of superstardom, yet you’re gripped with suspense as it’s about to happen. You know she’ll trip on the congratulatory roses tossed from the crowd once she stages her hard-fought comeback, and that her hockey-player boyfriend, Nick (Robby Benson), will walk onto the ice to lead her to safety before stunned onlookers. (His closing line, “We forgot about the flowers,” has an understated poignancy.)
Merely clicking on the link to this story probably has put the “Ice Castles” theme song, “Through the Eyes of Love,” in your head, and it’ll probably stay there for the rest of the week. (You’re welcome.) Like so much about the film, the soaring ballad is so completely of its time: a Marvin Hamlisch/Carole Bayer Sager collaboration, sung by Melissa Manchester, which earned an Oscar nomination for best original song.
Clearly, I have a ton of fond memories of this movie, but I hadn’t seen it in a really long time and I hadn’t seen it since my son and I started figure skating ourselves a year ago. (Not that we skate together — although that could make for some awesomely awkward, “Arrested Development”-style creepiness.) And so when I saw that the New Beverly Cinema was showing “Ice Castles” last night on a double bill with the Richard Dreyfuss-Amy Irving piano romance “The Competition” (which I’d never seen), I knew I had to go, even if it meant sitting by myself and crying alone like a loser. (Thankfully, my fellow critic and dear friend Amy Nicholson joined me.)
I was curious to see whether it still held the same emotional impact that it did when I was a romantic little girl in 1979 — whether nostalgia would win out over my more critical instincts, or whether it would hold up despite seeming so dated. Looking back, my fellow critics were not terribly kind to “Ice Castles.” It’s at 44 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with my dear, departed friend, Roger Ebert, giving it two stars out of four and saying: “One of the melancholy aspects of `Ice Castles’ is the quality of talent that’s been brought to such an unhappy enterprise.”
What I discovered in revisiting “Ice Castles” is that it’s pure sports-movie formula about a gifted athlete who rises and falls and rises again, but it’s got such strong performances and a vivid sense of place that it makes you want to root for this underdog to succeed. Despite the inherent melodrama of the story, director and co-writer Donald Wrye stages and shoots it all in a lean, unfussy way. (Wrye also directed a 2010, direct-to-DVD remake of “Ice Castles,” which I’ve never seen and wish I didn’t even know about.) His low-angle camerawork during Lexie’s performances and Nick’s hockey games gives those scenes a natural, propulsive energy. And he doesn’t rely too heavily on blurry images to give us the sensation of Lexie’s muted perspective, but does so just enough to indicate her disorientation and fear.
The fact that an actual figure skater plays the lead role — not an actress pretending to skate — lends a great deal of authenticity. Johnson had skated competitively and performed with the Ice Capades before making her film debut here. Her character experiences a massive arc, requiring her to show a great deal of range, and Johnson rises to the challenge admirably. She’s vibrant and appealing, which goes a long way.
It helps a great deal that Johnson’s got such strong support around her, including Benson as her playful but supportive boyfriend, Tom Skerritt as her overprotective, widower father and the great Colleen Dewhurst as a cantankerous former skating champion who now runs the bowling alley/ice rink in small-town Waverly, Iowa, and serves as Lexie’s coach. (Please tell me that such places actually exist in real life.) Jennifer Warren brings sophistication and smarts to the role of the big-time coach who plucks Lexie from obscurity and places her on a path to stardom.
But the one element that really clanged for me this time was Lexie’s fling with the sports reporter (David Huffman) who’s tracking her meteoric rise: a) She’s only 16 and he’s got to be in his 30s, and b) he’s doing a series of pieces on her and then squiring her around to high-profile events. Just icky all around.
And in retrospect, the choreography and costumes all look so quaint. Lexie’s big move is a double axel and she tries to prove she belongs with the big-city girls by landing a triple; these days, triple-triple jump combinations are standard for elite skaters like Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold. Lexie’s signature blue dress with the prim, white collar is meant to be old-fashioned and set her apart as a farm girl, but even the fancy, bedazzled dresses the top skaters wear look hilariously cheesy today.
But the chance at greatness — the aspiration toward being the absolute best at something — still resonates, regardless of aesthetic trappings. And that’s why “Ice Castles” still soars today.
You may have heard that Shia LaBeouf has been doing this nutty thing — er, art project — in which he’s going back and rewatching all his movies, in reverse order, for three days straight at the Angelika Film Center in New York. The project even has a hashtag: #allmymovies. That makes it legit.
As I pulled up the live feed of Shia watching Shia this morning — and cramming popcorn in his mouth, and laughing, and occasionally dozing — my husband commented: “You knew him way back when.” And it’s true — I’d totally forgotten that I’d interviewed LaBeouf at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2007, just as he was on the verge of superstardom. We had lunch on the patio behind the Four Seasons Hotel, surrounded by actors like Joseph Gordon-Levitt (a fellow former child star on the precipice of his own grown-up fame) and Bill Paxton, on a gorgeous spring day.
It seems quaint now in retrospect, long before his high-profile efforts to deconstruct and dismiss his celebrity, but he was proud of the fact that he’d created some mystery for himself — that at 20, he wasn’t providing tabloid fodder. And it may sound contradictory given his volatile reputation, but he was a sweet, polite young man. Anyway, I went back and found the article I wrote when I was still with the AP so you can read it for yourself and enjoy — then go back to watching Shia watching Shia.
Shia LaBeouf talks childhood, future and Indiana Jones rumors
By CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP Movie Writer
Shia LaBeouf is in the position so many former child actors have found themselves in: that murky area between boyhood and manhood, between cute and commanding.
And he’s impatient for it to be over.
“I want to get bigger. I’m sick of being a boy,” the lanky actor says of his recent regimen of running and working out. “I know that there’s this innocence that I have but I feel like I’ve played that guy. The whole goal for me has been diversity and diversifying your portfolio and making sure you do a whole bunch of different things and you don’t get typecast. If I become a type, my career is over.
“I want to be an intimidating presence. I want to be a … killer.”
Strong words from the former star of the Disney Channel series “Even Stevens,” which earned him a Daytime Emmy in 2003. Since then, though, LaBeouf has put together an eclectic filmography for a 20-year-old.
He’s appeared opposite Will Smith (“I, Robot”) and Keanu Reeves (“Constantine”). He’s played a wrongly accused juvenile prisoner (“Holes”), a drugged-out campaign worker (“Bobby”) and a would-be thug (“A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”).
This year alone he stars in the thriller “Disturbia,” a high-tech teen update of “Rear Window”; the big-screen version of “Transformers”; and the animated “Surf’s Up” in which he provides the voice of a surfing penguin.
And then there are those persistent Internet rumors that he’s signed on to play Indiana Jones Jr. in the fourth installment of Steven Spielberg’s franchise. Even Bill Paxton, who directed LaBeouf in the 2005 golf movie “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” approaches him during a lunch interview with The Associated Press with a boisterous hug and congratulations on landing the role _ which LaBeouf is quick to say he hasn’t.
“The way that thing started, it’s just wild how it snowballed,” he says between bites of a cheeseburger and fries at the South by Southwest film festival, where “Disturbia” screened before its April 13 theatrical release.
“I don’t have a deal on the table, it’s just a rumor. Would I do it? In a second. It’d be working for a legend and working with legends. Who wouldn’t? But is it something I’m doing right now? No. I’m an out-of-work actor.”
But LaBeouf hasn’t been out of work much since he flipped through the Yellow Pages looking for an agent as a 10-year-old; he was cast as the precocious Lewis Stevens that year. Growing up as one of the few white kids in Los Angeles’ heavily Hispanic Echo Park section (the setting of “Mi Vida Loca” and “Quinceanera”), LaBeouf started doing standup comedy. He’s quick to admit he was drawn to this profession for both creative and financial reasons.
“I grew up on that show and it was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Took me out of my house, it was real dramatic at that time. My dad was on drugs _ heroin and all kinds of wild (stuff) and he was in a rehab facility. My mom was trying to hold down the fort and that wasn’t working. So when the show came along it was a savior. It saved my life, my family’s life.”
LaBeouf’s parents eventually divorced; as an only child, he remains close to both. His father, he says, was a mime and a clown who used to grow pot in the brush along the sides of L.A.’s freeways; his mother was a dancer.
“I feel like my childhood was kind of lost. It was adulthood right away,” he says, turning over his right arm to reveal a tattoo on the inside of his wrist that reads “1986-2004” _ the period from his birth until he turned 18. “I feel like you forget a lot of your childhood so I put the timeline on my wrist. I just don’t want to forget the childhood I did have.”
When asked about working with LaBeouf on “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” Paxton jokes that he had to “break him like a mustang.”
“I feel very proud to have directed him and to have kind of helped him at a crucial time in his life and in his development as a craftsman, as an artist. You know, it’s hard to make that transition, to go from being a child actor and then, you know, you grow up and they don’t love you anymore. `You’re not cute anymore, you’re not funny-looking anymore, you grew up.’ But he’s someone who’s making the transition.”
Paxton is one of many people LaBeouf says he’s looked to as a mentor and father figure; Jon Voight, Jeff Bridges and John Turturro are others.
“It’s nuts because in my lexicon, those guys are all in my tops. So when you get to work with them and be on that level with them it’s just, it’s jarring. It’s jarring when they consider you equals and you’re sitting there going, ` … This is impossible. How did this happen to me?'” he says. “These are my heroes. These are my Captain Americas and my Spider-Mans. To be sitting around with them is very surreal, and it never gets normal.”
Despite having worked steadily for the past decade, LaBeouf insists he isn’t famous yet. And unlike some other actors his age, he doesn’t provide juicy fodder for the tabloids.
LaBeouf wants to fly even farther below the radar by going off to college (he’s been accepted at Yale) and experiencing life outside of acting for a while.
“How do you create danger when they’ve grown up with you? How do you create mystery when they know everything about you?” he asked. “You’ve gotta go away. You’ve gotta give them time to not know you. And I plan on doing that, it’s just right now, the opportunities I’m being given are just out of control and I can’t turn them down.”
Tonight, I will take my 5 1/2-year-old son to see “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.” (He’ll enjoy the pratfalls. Please don’t call Child Protective Services on me.) Sony wouldn’t screen it for review before opening day, so we’re going to a 7:30pm showing with a bunch of my critic friends at The Grove. Because I am a professional, dammit, I went back and looked up my review of the inexplicably successful “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” which made over $183 million worldwide in 2009. I couldn’t recall what I thought of the Kevin James comedy beyond “it sucked.” So maybe this will be helpful for you, too, if you choose to do your own Blart prep.
Rated PG for some violence, mild crude and suggestive behavior, and language.
Running time: 87 minutes.
One star out of four.
The biggest crime of all in “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” is not the bank heist that goes down at a New Jersey mall on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. Rather, it’s the egregious way in which Kevin James’ innate likability goes to waste.
The “King of Queens” star showed he could play an underdog with some sweetness and depth as a lovesick accountant in the 2005 romantic comedy “Hitch” — and he practically stole the movie away from Will Smith. This time, he plays yet another misfit, but one who’s so two-dimensional, needy and (frankly) annoying that it’s difficult to root for him.
Trouble is, James himself created the character: “I just love this guy,” he says in the film’s production notes. He’ll probably be one of the precious few who do.
James’ Paul Blart is a portly pushover who tries hard to be the tough guy as a shopping center security guard. Hypoglycemic and woefully out of shape, he’s failed the New Jersey state trooper exam eight times; nevertheless, he squeezes into his polyester uniform and takes his job as seriously as if he were out keeping the highways safe from speeders and drunk drivers. (His vehicle, by the way, is a Segway, which is repeatedly played for laughs but isn’t particularly amusing the first time.)
In an anemic take off on “Die Hard,” Paul gets his chance to prove himself when a bunch of skateboarding, bike-riding, X-Games refugees infiltrate the mall with plans to rob the bank, taking a few hostages in the process. One of them is Amy (Jayma Mays), the wide-eyed salesgirl at the hair extension kiosk, for whom Paul has the geeky hots. He awkwardly tries to woo her with boring trivia tidbits, which is meant to be endearing; instead it’s yet another conceit that quickly grows wearisome in the script from James and his longtime writing partner, Nick Bakay.
Paul bumbles his way around and manages to thwart the bad guys, one by one, with his in-depth knowledge of the shopping center’s intricacies as well as a borrowed pink, sparkly cell phone that allows him to connect with cops on the outside. Their leader is the sniveling Veck (Keir O’Donnell, who played tortured artist Todd in “Wedding Crashers”), who took a job as a security guard trainee under Paul’s tutelage to learn the way the mall works.
This being a Happy Madison Production — Adam Sandler is James’ friend and domestic partner from “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” — there are, of course, plenty of obligatory adolescent sight gags to go along with the man-child hero fantasies, all of them flatly staged and observed by director Steve Carr (“Dr. Dolittle 2,” “Daddy Day Care”).
Surprisingly, though, given our would-be hero’s girth and the physical humor that goes along with it, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” has a soft spot for fat people. In an early dinner-table scene with his mother and young daughter, the single dad smears peanut butter on top of a slice of blueberry pie mere moments after finishing his meal. “Go away, pain,” he says quietly to himself as he prepares to savor his favorite comfort food.
It’s a rare moment of believable humanity. You couldn’t buy another one here if you tried.
Any self-respecting child of the ’80s loves John Hughes and knows at least one of the writer-director’s films by heart. While “Sixteen Candles” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” are a total blast, the Hughes movie that mattered to me most growing up was “The Breakfast Club,” and it remains one of my favorites today.
So when I saw that the New Beverly Cinema here in Los Angeles was showing “The Breakfast Club” 30 years to the day after its original release — alongside “Vision Quest,” which also came out on Feb. 15, 1985 — there was no way I could miss it. While I’ve seen the film a million times thanks to cable and videotape, I hadn’t watched it in an actual theater with other people since it opened. I can still vividly recall walking into a packed auditorium at the UA Warner Center in Woodland Hills on the Friday night it came out; we arrived a little late and missed the first few minutes, but the energy in that room already was infectious. Something was different about this night.
Last night, I was curious to see what it would be like to watch “The Breakfast Club” in a theater packed with people in their 40s just like I am, all of whom know every word, every beat and every punch line just like I do. It wasn’t a “Rocky Horror”-style exercise in cinematic interaction, but there was a definite sensation that we were all aware when a classic line was coming up:
“Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?”
“Don’t mess with the bull, young man, you’ll get the horns.”
“No, I don’t wear tights. I wear the required uniform.” “Tights.”
“She lives in Canada. I met her in Niagara Falls. You wouldn’t know her.”
“No! I never did it!” “I never did it either. I’m not a nymphomaniac, I’m a compulsive liar.”
But I was also curious to see, from the perspective of being a film critic, whether revisiting “The Breakfast Club” would be more about the comforting tug of nostalgia than the allure of actual quality. And the answer is: It was a combination of both.
Quick plot summary, for the two or three people out there who’ve never seen “The Breakfast Club”: Five suburban Chicago high school students representing various stereotypes — a brain (Anthony Michael Hall), an athlete (Emilio Estevez), a basket base (Ally Sheedy), a princess (Molly Ringwald) and a criminal (Judd Nelson) — are forced to spend a Saturday in detention together. The comedy of their initial awkwardness gives way to drama as they break down each others’ identities, followed by the uplift of their unexpected bonding.
I’m happy to report that, three decades later, “The Breakfast Club” remains timeless. It still reflects the narcissistic torment of teen angst: the feeling that nobody understands what you’re going through (certainly not your parents) and that your troubles are all-encompassing and insurmountable. It’s still consistently funny and endlessly quotable. Hughes had an unparalleled knack for writing teenagers — hyper-verbal characters full of self-aware, sharp humor who were also capable of making themselves vulnerable and revealing their hearts. It’s paced beautifully and moves seamlessly in tone from light moments to heavier ones.
But along those lines, the drama seems more melodramatic to me now that I’m a grown-ass woman with a child of my own. This is especially true in the big, cathartic scene once the characters have bonded over smoking pot (a device which has become a total cliche by now) and revealed what they’ve done to earn detention. Estevez’s cries of “Win! Win! Win!” and Hall’s sobbing into his sweatshirt sleeve feel over the top now and even a little cringe-inducing.
Yet there’s also a timelessness to the look of the film, especially compared to so many 1980s movies which seem so hilariously dated with their teased-up bangs and giant shoulder pads. And I wonder whether that was intentional on Hughes’ part — whether it was an attempt to make these people and their feelings universal. The characters’ clothes could really come from any time — especially Estevez’s hoodie and jeans and Nelson’s flannel shirt and clunky boots — but “The Breakfast Club” also refrains from the sorts of pop-culture references that proliferate teen movies today, which would peg it to a specific period. Nelson cracks a joke about Barry Manilow, but it’s in the context of tooling on the uptight assistant principal (Paul Gleason) rather than an attempt to seem hip.
Speaking of which: I never realized until last night how cute Nelson was back then — I was always more attracted to Estevez’s more clean-cut looks — or the fact that he was 26 years old playing a high school student.
In a very cool bit of music news, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” soundtrack has topped the Billboard 200 chart this week. The 12-song mix of late-1960s and early-’70s tunes ranges from David Bowie and The Runaways to 10cc and the Jackson 5, and the inspired way director James Gunn uses this music is a major part of the film’s appealing, off-kilter vibe.
Come and get your love, indeed.
This got me thinking about a Five Most list of great ’80s soundtracks I did back in October 2011, when Craig Brewer’s “Footloose” remake came out. These are all awesome mixes, as far as I’m concerned. Enjoy.
In honor of `Footloose,’ 5 great ’80s soundtracks
With the remake of “Footloose” coming out this weekend, it’s a great opportunity to dig through our cassette collection, reminisce about childhood and pick five other great movie soundtracks from the `80s:
_ “Fame” (1980): This movie seemed so racy in its day — the uncomfortable nude scene involving Irene Cara and a creepy photographer, the ballet-dancer abortion — but my exceedingly cool, film-loving mother allowed me to see it when I was just a little girl. The fact that the songs were so high-energy, so poignant, and ultimately so crowd-pleasing is what made this movie acceptable for kids my age. The idea that high school students would bust out and sing “Hot Lunch” in the cafeteria, or stop traffic to rock out to the film’s theme song, was pretty inspiring back then. And of course we all tried to keep up with Cara on “Out Here on My Own,” even though we didn’t have the vocals — or the life experience — to make it work.
_ “Xanadu” (1980): I have vivid memories of listening to this soundtrack — on 8-track, no less — during carpool on the way to school in the morning. At age 8, I basically wanted to be Olivia Newton-John: She was so pretty and seemed so nice and she could sing and roller skate at the same time. Her collaboration here with Electric Light Orchestra — the combination of her pleasant, pitch-perfect soprano voice and their driving, theatrical sound — was, if you’ll pardon the pun, “Magic.” That’s still a gorgeous song, by the way, as is “Suddenly,” Newton-John’s duet with Cliff Richard. My mom repeatedly caught me belting out these songs and the title tune, and while I was embarrassed at the time, I wasn’t alone in my love of this music, as evidenced by the Broadway musical “Xanadu” inspired.
_ “Flashdance” (1983): She’s just a steel-town girl on a Saturday night looking for the fight of her life. Is that so wrong? Rarely do you see a woman who’s a welder by day and dancer by night, but back in the `80s you did in the film that made Jennifer Beals a star and became a pop-culture phenomenon. You know you cut the neck out of more than a few sweatshirts back then. “Flashdance” came out during the early years of MTV when they actually showed videos, and the clip for “Maniac” was in heavy rotation that summer, featuring Beals’ character leaping, spinning, stomping her feet. Director Adrian Lyne made self-aware, sleazy cheese but the music — including the Oscar-winning theme song, sung once again by Cara — made it palatable for a mainstream audience.
_ “Purple Rain” (1984): Every single song in this movie is ridiculously great — and that includes the stuff from Morris Day and The Time. Just try staying in your seat when “Jungle Love” comes on. It can’t be done. As for the Prince soundtrack itself, we wore out the tape, we listened to it so much in junior high school. We made up silly dances to “I Would Die 4 U” and “Baby I’m a Star,” and thought we were so daring for not only listening to but singing along with “Darling Nikki.” The movie itself is pretty melodramatic in retrospect, but Prince wrote some of his most indelible songs for it, and even won an Oscar for best score.
_ “Dirty Dancing” (1987): I recall sobbing uncontrollably pretty much from the time Patrick Swayze utters his famous line, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner,” to the time he lifts Jennifer Grey high above his head in the film’s climactic dance number. Yes, I was a dork. But listening to this soundtrack afterward, ad nauseam, took me back to that surge of adolescent emotion. And my dad was happy to endure it because it featured oldies like “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes. Now it seems sort of lame that “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” is used to sell us resort vacations. Back then, though, it really did feel like the time of our lives.
Tonight, Chris and I are attending The Nicolas Cage Party Los Angeles, an art exhibit downtown which could be incredibly strange and wonderful (like Cage himself). This got me thinking about a Five Most list I did of his best performances back in January 2011. Which films would you pick?
5 most memorable Nicolas Cage performances
By Christy Lemire
LOS ANGELES — No matter the role — and he’s played a diverse array of them over the past three decades — Nicolas Cage often seems to be teetering on the brink of his own personal, self-inflicted insanity.
Sure, he’s done plenty of forgettable action movies, and lately he’s been at the fore of some family-friendly Disney adventures. Then there was that period in the late ’90s where every movie he made was a drag, and it was a drag watching him in them. But when he’s at his volatile best, it’s an exciting place to be.
This week, with Cage starring in his latest in a series of wheels-off thrillers, “Season of the Witch,” here’s a look at his five most memorable performances. Like the best-of-Jack-Nicholson list recently, this one was hard to narrow down:
_ “Adaptation.” (2002): Cage earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and his identical (and fictional) twin brother, Donald, in Spike Jonze’s brilliantly mind-bending comedy. And he seemed to be having the time of his life playing these contrasting roles: the self-loathing and stumped Charlie, as well as the goofy and garrulous Donald. After brooding his way through a series of films leading up to this (“8MM,” “Bringing Out the Dead,” “Windtalkers”), he lets loose again here even while creating two distinct, structured personalities, and his enthusiasm is contagious.
_ “Raising Arizona” (1987): One of the Coen brothers’ earliest, most playful and visually inventive films features a deliriously nutso starring performance from Cage. Hi McDunnough is a loser and ex-con who seemingly can do no right, but he finds a way to make his wife Edwina (Holly Hunter) happy when he steals a baby for her from furniture tycoon Nathan Arizona, the father of quintuplets. Like “Moonstruck,” “Raising Arizona” allows Cage to tap into his unique brand of off-kilter, romantic goofiness. He’s a grubby, lovable cartoon character.
_ “Leaving Las Vegas” (1995): Cage won a best-actor Oscar for playing an alcoholic, failed screenwriter hell-bent on drinking himself to death. He and Elisabeth Shue, excellent as a hardened prostitute, forge a twisted, codependent bond in which neither will interfere with the other’s self-destruction. But Cage never devolves into a drunk cliche; rather, he finds shadings within this lost soul’s deep despair. Director Mike Figgis’ film is intense and unflinching, which just happen to be two of Cage’s strong suits. While the movie itself is often hard to watch, Cage’s performance is mesmerizing.
_ “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” (2009): Here he is in classic crazed mode. Werner Herzog’s wacked-out remake is fueled by a wacked-out performance from Cage, whose character is himself fueled by a steady supply of cocaine and heroin, gambling and violence. His Terence McDonagh is a brazenly corrupt detective, a man infested with dark proclivities. As he descends further into drug-induced mania in post-Katrina New Orleans, we don’t know what’s real and what’s in his mind, and it doesn’t matter. Cage makes it all wild and riveting, and all you can do is watch in awe of how far he’ll go.
_ “Valley Girl” (1983): Cage’s first starring role, the one that put him on the map, and a personal favorite of mine, having grown up in the San Fernando Valley in the ’80s myself. So please, indulge me for a minute. “Valley Girl” came from an era of dumb teenage sex comedies, but it’s got an undeniable sweetness that most of those films lack. Much of that comes from the tender way Cage’s L.A. punk, Randy, courts the stylish and pristine Julie (Deborah Foreman), who lives on the other side of the Hollywood Hills. It’s “Romeo and Juliet” set in Southern California, but in his endearing awkwardness, Cage breathes new life into a familiar figure.
Clint Eastwood’s big-screen version of the smash Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” debuted in theaters this weekend. It’s not the best film he’s directed and it’s not the worst. As I said in my two-star review, it’s very glossy and entertaining as it traces the origins of the ’60s pop group The Four Seasons, but it’s also very conventional and safe.
Still, “Jersey Boys” got me thinking about other movies Eastwood has directed over his prolific career, and about Eastwood’s opinion of his own work. Back in October 2010, when “Hereafter” opened, Eastwood was kind enough to take the time to be a guest programmer for me in my weekly Five Most feature. I asked him to pick his five favorite films from all the ones he’s directed. He wanted to pick six. What am I going to do, say no to the man? Here are his choices, in alphabetical order, with his comments and insights in quotes.
_ “Bird” (1988), Eastwood’s biopic on jazz legend Charlie Parker: “It was a nice story about someone whose musicianship I admired so greatly. It was a good script on the analysis of the self-destructiveness of personality: people who insist on sinking into the abyss. Success, being idolized by other musicians — none of it was enough.”
_ “Letters From Iwo Jima” (2006), one of two World War II films Eastwood released that year: “I got the idea of doing it while doing ‘Flags of Our Fathers,’ which is about the American invasion of the island. But the film pointed out what it must have been like to have been one of the defenders of the island — to have been there, and been told not to plan on returning home. What a difficult request to make of people. Also, the Japanese soldiers were facing certain annihilation. They never gave up hope. A lot of them would have loved to have been out of the war and home, just like soldiers from any nation.”
_ “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), starring Hilary Swank as a boxer and Eastwood as her reluctant trainer: “It appealed to me because it was a story regarding family — a search for the daughter he never had a relationship with, and the search for the father that was no longer there for her. They were both sort of reticent, and ended up putting themselves through the most emotional test possible, ending with her desire to be euthanized.”
_ “Mystic River” (2003), about childhood friends reunited by tragedy in an insular part of Boston: “I liked the book and the screenplay by Brian Helgeland. The way sometimes fate deals a bad hand, and it just keeps getting worse and worse, and there is nothing anyone can do. No amount of sane advice can stop the train.”
_ “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (1976), starring Eastwood as a Missouri farmer out for revenge after the Civil War: “It was the first Western I had done in some time since the 1960s Leone movies. It came out in the ’70s when the country was restless about Vietnam. It addressed the divisiveness of war, and how it can tear at heart and soul. But it also dealt with the rejuvenation of a cynic, re-instilling his life with purpose, and with a surrogate family.”
_ “Unforgiven” (1992), with Eastwood as a retired gunslinger taking on one last job: “I loved the ‘Unforgiven’ script. You had to get a ways into it before you knew who was the protagonist and who was the antagonist. Even the villains, with the exceptions of the renegade cowboys, had good points to their character, and had dreams. Little Bill (played by Gene Hackman) just wanted a peaceful life. He believed he was doing the right thing. The film dealt with issues — gun control, and the struggles people have ‘within.’ The hero went against instinct. It was a very rich story, involving loyalty to friends, family and rationalizing deeds. It was a very intelligent script.”
Damn, I love “Rango” so much. It is absolutely gorgeous: vividly detailed, wildly colorful and thrillingly inventive from start to finish, even as it pays homage to such classic and eclectic films as “Chinatown,” “Apocalypse Now” and Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti Westerns. I had the pleasure of revisiting the 2011 animated comedy tonight with my son, Nicolas, who finally wanted to watch it with me now that he’s 4 1/2. I’d been suggesting it for a while because I knew he’d love it — and sure enough, after about 10 minutes, he turned to me and said: “Mommy, I love it!”
Here’s a look back at what my old co-host, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, and I said about “Rango” when we reviewed it on “Ebert Presents At the Movies.” Hopefully it’ll encourage you to seek it out or revisit the film yourself — whether not you have a kid to share it with.
We finally reached the end of our “Star Wars” journey tonight. After showing Nicolas the first five films in George Lucas’ saga in the order they were released, we wrapped up with “Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.” I hadn’t seen the finale since it first came out in 2005 and was surprised at how engrossing it was. In retrospect, I’d always lumped the prequels together as being inferior to Lucas’ original trilogy. And for the most part, they absolutely are. But going back and looking up my review of “Episode III,” it seems I gave it a rave.
Nic liked it too, by the way — he was dancing around in front of the television with a pretend light saber, trying to cut down Darth Sidious. “I want to watch another one,” he said once the credits rolled. Sorry, dude — we all have to wait for Episode VII. ‘Til then, enjoy.
20th Century Fox
PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some intense images.
Running time: 142 minutes.
Three and a half stars out of four.
The Force is strong with “Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” the sixth and final piece in George Lucas’ galactic saga, which represents a welcome return to the ideas and the spirit that made his original “Star Wars” a pop-culture juggernaut 28 years ago.
The circle is now complete, as Lucas’ characters are fond of saying, and much of the film’s joy comes from watching these familiar names and events fall into place.
It is enormously satisfying to see young Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) teeter along the edge that separates good and evil, and to see what finally pushes the would-be Chosen One over to the dark side of the Force.
It’s a wonderful, small discovery when Anakin receives the name Darth Vader once he finally swears his allegiance to Chancellor Palpatine, who reveals himself here as Darth Sidious, a Sith master and the eventual evil Emperor. (And all the other words that ooze from Ian McDiarmid’s mouth leave you feeling so slimy, you’ll want to take a shower afterward.)
But the moment we’ve all been waiting for is one that simply must be experienced in a packed theater: when the mask goes on and the helmet comes down and Anakin takes his first raspy breath as Darth Vader in all his dark, gleaming glory. (You won’t hear anyone else breathing, it’s such an absorbing sight.)
The iconography is powerful to behold, especially when compared to the horrendously disappointing Episodes I and II. In retrospect, the first two “Star Wars” prequels seem even more useless, with their stilted dialogue and their numbing, CGI-infused clone battles.
Lucas wisely has placed the emphasis this time on elaborate lightsaber duels – between Anakin and mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) against the Sith lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), and ultimately between Anakin and Obi-Wan themselves. Some of the biggest thrills come from tiny Yoda, the Jedi master who’s at the height of his powers here. He does as much damage with a well-chosen, structurally inverted phrase or the subtlest wrinkle of his round, green face as he does with a swing of his lightsaber. (And Yoda has mad skills.)
Lucas’ writing still clangs, though, especially during the exchanges between Anakin and his secret bride, Senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), who announces in Episode III that she’s pregnant (with twins we’ve come to know as Luke and Leia in Episode IV, the original “Star Wars”).
“You are so beautiful,” Anakin dreamily tells Padme as she brushes her dark, flowing locks on a balcony in the moonlight.
“Only because I’m so in love,” Padme coos back to him.
Thankfully, Lucas also didn’t saddle her with the heavy headgear and distracting dresses she wore in Episodes I and II, or else she would barely be able to get up and move about the galaxy.
That love for Padme, though, is partly the inspiration for Anakin’s conversion. Not to give too much away, but he becomes convinced that Padme is in danger, and the only way to save her is through the powers that come with dark-side membership.
He’s actually just being manipulated by Palpatine/Darth Sidious, who wants to turn the Galactic Republic into his own Empire and sees him as a malleable apprentice, especially at a time when Anakin isn’t getting the respect and authority he craves from the Jedi Council.
“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose,” Yoda warns Anakin, but it’s too late – and we know it’s too late, and that built-in expectation is much of what makes “Revenge of the Sith” so riveting.
It’s also a visually wondrous film, though. Lucas uses the digital technology to far greater advantage than he did in the first two prequels, which too often had the glossy, detached look of a video game. Crisp daylight streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Padme’s apartment, and the cityscapes consist of silvery skyscrapers and golden sunsets. Even Chewbacca and his Wookiee buddies look lifelike as they scamper in battle across the beaches and jungles of the planet Kashyyyk.
Clearly, this is Lucas’ war protest movie _ Obi-Wan shoots a character down with a gun once his lightsaber is knocked away from him, and afterward sniffs, ”So uncivilized.” But it’s also, at its core, a soap opera. It always has been. Think of Darth Vader telling Luke Skywalker, ”I am your father,” during the heat of battle in ”The Empire Strikes Back.” Episode III features fast-paced parallel editing between two staples of daytime TV: a childbirth and a complicated operation.
But despite its drama and darkness, Lucas gives us some light moments, too. He slips in a glimpse of the much-maligned Jar Jar Binks at the very end, and although the big, goofy Gungan doesn’t say anything, his presence alone feels like Lucas’ last little dig at the naysayers – and a reminder with this final farewell that, nearly 30 years later, he’s still doing it his way.


Community concerts set
MANISTIQUE – The Community Concert Committee has announced its concert dates for summer.
All concerts are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Church of the Redeemer Presbyterian, 314 Main St., in Manistique.
The series begins June 24, with “A Tour of Europe”, featuring piano, violin and cello. The second concert, July 22, is called “Point/Counterpoint”, with violin, viola and cello.
The summer concert series concludes August 19, with “A Night at the Opera”, featuring violins, viola and cello.
All concerts include an art showing during intermission, and a reception at the conclusion of the concert. Tickets are $7 for adults, students under 18 are free. Tickets are available at the door.
For more information or questions, contact Mary Ellen Debelak at 341- 6371.


text:
Surviving a heart attack (myocardial infraction) can be tough. You will likely constantly wonder if you are going to have another one. In this video, Dr. Holly Phillips shares some tips to lower your risk of having another heart attack and getting back to your regular life.
The most important step to a heart attack recovery is to reduce or eliminate factors that put you at risk for another one. These include high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, physical inactivity, obesity and diabetes.
Eventually, once you've discussed it with your doctor, you'll likely need to make physical activity a part of your daily life. In fact, your doctor may suggest that you exercise more than you did before the attack. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to participate in a cardiac rehabilitation program after a heart attack, as it can speed the recovery process significantly and help you gain a sense of well-being and optimism about the future.
Heart Attack: Getting Back Into Your Life After a Heart Attack.Leawood, KS.: American Academy of Family Physicians, 2008. (Accessed October 18, 2009 at http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/heartdisease/recovery/002.html.)
Heart Attack.Washington, D.C.: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute Diseases and Conditions. (Accessed October 18, 2009 at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/HeartAttack/HeartAttack_Treatments.html.)
Thompson DR. Home-based cardiac rehab was as effective as hospital-based rehab in improving cardiac risk factors. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 3.
©2005-2017 HealthiNation, Inc. All rights reserved. HealthiNation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

domain: medical


text:
So Saturday just gone, I went on an amazing day trip to Bruges. And as I love sharing my travel articles, I thought I would write an article all about the food and my time exploring this beautiful city. It was brilliant day, we travelled through three different countries in just one day and sampled some really amazing food and also saw some brilliant sites. To take you back to the start of the day, we woke up early (4:30am!) and travelled to the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone. Then it was good bye England and bonjour France just 35 minutes later. We arrived in Calais, and then travelled about an hour journey along North-Eastern France and arrived in Bruges just before mid morning local time. I was really excited to travel back to Belgium, I’ve visited once before for a Battlefield’s trip which was an amazing experience, so coming back again was really great fun. It was also my first time visiting Bruges/Brugge. The day was really lovely and Bruges is such a lovely & idyllic city worth visiting!
The beautiful Koning Albertpark full of tulips
The Belfry/Belfort of Bruges- Medieval Bell Tower
Bruges is famous for it’s lace making
Walking around the Sint-Salvatorskathedraal (Holy Savior Cathedral)
ROZENHOEDKAAI- this is one of the most photographed spots in Bruges
Walking around the Markt (market square)
Now for the food…
I’ve picked my three top foods to try in Bruges. All of these foods included are street foods- so you can enjoy eating whilst walking around the city. I really love the simplicity of Belgian food, it’s edgy, quick to make and tastes really good.
Traditional Belgian Frites & Mayo
This is a traditional Belgian food- if you thought the French created this, then you’re wrong. The locals are very proud of their cuisine and as a tourist I couldn’t wait to try! Make sure you buy your Frites from a Friterie and I recommend eating the frites, or frietjes as they’re known in Flemish with some sort of condiment (we LOVE mayo, so that was our choice!), but there are other sauce choices such as ketchup, curry ketchup and tartare sauce. Enjoy whilst sitting or strolling around the Markt and soak up the atmosphere. As you can see from the picture below, the Frites are mega in Belgium, for very little money you get a really generous portion. The frites were also really well salted and the homemade mayo was the best I’ve had. I’m now going to try my best to recreate a recipe for you, so do watch out for that very soon!
We were actually in a chocolate shop just by the Waterways and we noticed the shop sold waffles. I’ve had Belgian waffles from Ypres before, and these waffles were equally as tasty and very luxurious! We had a choice of chocolate sauce, caramel or whipped cream. So of course, as the Belgians are famous for their chocolate I had no other choice but to dig into a delicious and very moorish chocolate sauce-drizzled waffle. Between us, we also tried a caramel waffle and a whipped cream topped waffle (looking at the picture, they’re very generous with the cream!). I would’ve loved all the three different combinations on one waffle! These waffles were also cooked to order and you could definitely tell they were freshly made to order. Amazing, buttery, and one of my favourites for sure!
I think we can all agree that Belgian chocolate is probably some of, or if not the best chocolate in the world. Rich, smooth and full of so many different chocolate flavour/filling combinations. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many different chocolate flavours ever before, anything from Tia Maria Cream (I love coffee and chocolate!), to hazelnut and to the classic sea shell chocolates. Also, when you go to Belgium there is literally a chocolate shop around every corner you turn- so you’re spoilt for choice! There are some benefits to travelling to Bruges at Easter, many of the chocolate shop windows are full of Easter chocolate displays- I love the tea cup full of Easter egg truffles in the below photos! Next time I’m in Bruges I will definitely visit the Chocolate museum- as I read about it and it sounds great fun.
Look at all that chocolate heaven…you can even buy your own chocolate bar to remember Brugge by!
Even though I’ve listed three of the must try foods, you can also try looks of other things! I took a few photos as we were walking around the city…
Lots of sweet and savoury food…and how about some chic cupcakes too?
I loved everything about Bruges, the atmosphere, culture, the friendly and welcoming people, and of course the brilliant food we got to try! We decided to walk around the city, but you could cycle around or tour by boat- both choices being very popular.
After one day in Bruges we’re already planning another trip back in the Summer and we would also LOVE to explore more of Belgium as well. I would definitely recommend Bruges as a lovely break. Whether it’s for one day or more, you’ll love it!
To find out more about the city click here.
88 thoughts on “A Day in Bruges: Food & Travel Highlights”
I’ve never been to Bruges (and never visited Belgium). Looks like a lovely city. It is rather close to London… I should plan a short-break there soon. Beautiful pics.
Thanks Dani! I really recommend Bruges and Belgium for a holiday- such a great place! Bruges is very close to London- which is always a positive!
Lucky you, beautiful weather nice food, absolutely stupendous !
Thanks! I was! The food is amazing and the weather was stunning too!
Oh your time in Bruges sounds amazing!! I didn’t have enough time to visit Bruges when I was in Belgium, so I’m totally living through your photos! The Market Square looks absolutely ADORABLE, and I bet it was amazing being in Belgium in the lead up to Easter. Thanks for sharing (and giving me travel envy haha)
Thanks Gab! If you’re ever travelling around Europe again, I definitely recommend Bruges- beautiful city! The Markt was amazing- full of so much history and some amazing Friteries! The Easter chocolate displays are amazing as well!
I lloooveeee Bruges!! Thanks for this amazing post, makes me want to go back!!
Hi Sophie! Yes, I really miss the city now, can’t wait to plan my next visit too!
Looks like a fantastic trip! I always love seeing pictures from others’ travels – especially the food. Those little chocolates look incredible.
It was, Lisa! I’m the same regarding travel, I love reading about new places and countries to visit! The chocolates are, bought some extra home!
Looks like an amazing trip! Those tulips are just gorgeous!
Thanks Kelly! I was amazed by the stunning scenery and the park was just beautiful to walk through into the city centre!
What an amazing city with beautiful sights and amazing food! Can I come in your suitcase next time?
Bruges is so beautiful! And of course Erin! Hahaha!
I am fairly certain I’d gain 20 pounds after visiting Belgium – look at those chocolates! I’d have to try one of every kind! And those waffles! 🙂
Haha, I could’ve eaten so much whilst I was there! Moules Frite is definitely on my list next time and I could have run the shops out of chocolate too! The waffles were so good too! 🙂
Oh my gosh – so many beautiful pics!! And the food – YUM. I made a belgian waffle over the weekend but I’m sure it was no comparison to the ones you had! They look so yummy!
Thanks Leigha! I saw the waffles you made- look delish! Really happy you like the article!
So much gorgeousness! And deliciousness. Give me pretty architecture and chocolate and I’m one happy girl!
Hi Mary Frances! Really happy you like my article- the chocolate definitely is the best in Bruges!
What an awesome way to spend a day! The tulips make me happy just looking at them. And the frites and waffles are making me hungry!
It was a brilliant day- can’t believe we saw that much in just one day!
What a wonderful post! Love the lace and I’m not a lace fan…but it’s so delicate and pretty. And the food is to die for!
Thanks! I was amazed by the beautiful lace all around the city- really pretty! The food was to die for good!
Oh my goodness, what a great trip, Jess! Thanks for sharing with us. I love all of your photos, especially the food ones! 😛
Hi Patty! My pleasure, I really enjoyed writing about my trip! The food ones are pretty good- full of deliciousness! 🙂
The French are very scathing about the Belgians, saying the only food that comes out of Belgium are “frites”, I’d say that’s not a bad thing to export 😉
I know, typically French way of thinking! The Belgian food is definitely more than just Frites- delicious chocolate and beyond amazing waffles slathered in sauce- I pick that kind of food any day!
Beautiful pictures !
what a beautiful city!!
It is! Thanks for reading Sarah!
Ugh! Pure food paradise! I love the french fries and mayo! I do that too!! SEE I am not the only oddball out there 🙂
It is pure paradise! Fries and mayo- always a big hit! I’ve been eating chips and mayo for as long as I can remember- so we both have something in common with the Belgians! 🙂
That sounds like an amazing trip! And don’t hesitate to share your travel adventures, I love reading about other places, especially the food there, on other blogs. 😀
It really was an amazing experience to see the city in a day! I’m the same regarding travel, I love reading about other countries food and travel hotspots! 🙂
I’ve never been to Belgium so thank you for this gorgeous tour. Everything looks so neat and tidy there! And Belgian chocolate…swoon!
You really must visit, Lorraine! My pleasure, it was great fun to write up about my trip. And don’t get me started on the amazing chocolate shops…:)
Thank you Jessica for taking us along to your enchanting trip! Love the market and the tulips are gorgeous, it reminds us on our visit to Amsterdam.
My absolute pleasure- was a lot of fun! The Markt is an amazing area, lots of history and full of various brilliant restaurants and street food stalls. I bet Amsterdam was an amazing city to visit- definitely down on my go-to list!
These pictures truly capture the beauty of it all, but I couldn’t stop salivating over the chocolates. Drool!
Thanks Kathy! The chocolate makes me salivate too- so good and luxurious!
I am so jealous of your trip, these pictures are stunning, while everything looks delicious the waffles in particular have gotten me hungry, hope you have the best time 🙂
Thank you! Really happy you like my photography! The waffles were seriously good- I just need to buy a waffle maker now! I had a brilliant time! 🙂
Wow – what beautiful tulips!!! The waffles and chocolates look to die for too, but I’m not so sure about the fries with mayo. I’ve heard that homemade mayo is a completely different creature than storebought – maybe I’ll have to give it a try after all!
Thank you!! The waffles were all amazing- I devoured my portion without any problems! I LOVE frites and mayo- so I knew I was gonna love the proper Belgian kind- fresh mayo is better on so many un-describable levels! You definitely need to try, I’m actually hoping to put up a recipe in a few weeks too!
Jessica, I’ve been to Brugges a few times and LOVE it! Especially the frites, waffles and chocolate!! You’ve made me think about visiting again, now!
Thanks so much Helen! Brugge is such an amazing place, you’ll love revisiting the city again! Aren’t frites, waffles and chocolate the best foods ever?! Hope you do go back!
I couldn’t agree more with you about Bruges. I visited it like 15 year ago (maybe more); my first thought was how such a small place can possibly house so many beautiful treasures!!!
Great pics, Jess; now I positively long to go back there…
Hi Rosa! Wow, you’ll definitely LOVE to visit again! I think it’s such an underrated city! Really happy you like my article- thanks for stopping by!
Such a beautiful city with great street food! I’d love a waffle right about now! Great post
Thank you! The street food scene is amazing- definitely worth a visit!
I’ve been to bruges during the fall but your photos make me want to plan a trip in the spring when the tulips are in bloom.
Hi Karen! I bet Bruges in Autumn is amazing- the Spring tulips were definitely a beautiful highlight! Hope you do plan a trip!
Jess! This is crazy good timing. I’m actually heading over to Brussels (and of course Bruges) in a couple of weeks. I totally took notes from your pictures and advice. Thank you for posting this!! And to think that we almost crossed paths, too. 🙂
Hi David! Wow, so happy you’re going to head over to Brussels and Bruges- super exciting! I really enjoyed just one day- definitely could’ve spent even longer in beautiful Belgium. It’s weird nearly crossing paths as well! 🙂
OMG, those waffles look amazing!
I know, waffle heaven! 🙂
Oh my goodness – lovely trip and great photos…but I really, really love all that chocolate! Sounds heavenly!
Thank you Monica! It was a great trip- wish I could’ve stayed longer! And, yeah the chocolate really is heavenly!
Waffles and chocolate?! Can it get any better? The photos are great!
Thanks Lillian! I know, best thing ever, right?!
Such a delicious Post Jess. I went to the world expo a few years back and in the belgium pavillion we went nuts and ate so many tasty things. Including frites with mayo, waffles and yes, the best beers ever. Europe is high on my #wishlist indeed.
Hi Amy, thanks for stopping by! That sounds absolutely amazing fun, the Belgian food is so good! I was meaning to try some beer as well too- maybe next time! See i’d love to see more of Europe, but a tour of Australia is on my wish list now!
WOW, looks like an amazing trip! And all the food looks delicious 🙂
Thank you- it was! 🙂
Too funny, my mother went to Bruges last week too!! I have never been but would love to. Such a lovely post Jess, and all that delicious Belgium food….;-)
That’s so cool Jo! Bruges is certainly very popular isn’t it?! Really happy you like the article and yeah, the Belgian food is amazing! 🙂
Your photos are gorgeous and the food looks absolutely incredible!
Thank you Amanda!
What lovely pictures! Can I come????
All of these pictures look amazing, Jess. But I must admit that I am dying to grab a couple of those candies. So jealous!!
Yes, the sweets/chocolate were amazing!
Bruges sounds like a lot of fun! Beautiful city and beautiful food… the waffles look delicious!
It really was fun!
Your site is so beautiful!! Thanks for passing by my blog so that I could find yours! =)
Thank you so much- you’re really kind! 🙂
Sigh! So beautiful…! I wish. It’s so cool that you can breeze through three different countries in a morning’s time! And there’s so much to see in Bruges. Thanks for sharing, it’s fun to live vicariously through you!
Hi Allie! Bruges was amazing, I can’t wait to go back and visit again! I know, it’s weird living in the South-East of England we’re quite close to other countries- so a day trip sometimes is a brilliant, fun thing to do! Glad you like the article, thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I am so jealous that you live close enough to do a day trip. I have wanted to visit for a long time but haven’t had the chance. Your pictures are beautiful, and I’d love to try the foods. Looking forward to your recipe recreation!
Thank you Tiffany! I can’t wait to recreate the frites- all the food was amazing!
I am LOVING this post Jessica and am completely feeling like I am living the European life through you!!!! Your pictures are gorgeous and your descriptions mesmerizing!!
Thank you Renee! Really pleased you like the article- it was a great city and brilliant fun! Have a great weekend!
What a fantastic day trip Jessica! Everything looks gorgeous – I love all the pictures and yummy food – thanks so much for sharing with us 🙂
My pleasure! It was so super fun as you can possible tell! 🙂
lovely pics 🙂 It looks like a lovely day in beautiful Bruges!
Thank you- and it was! 🙂

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Flashback … Andy Dodd in New Zealand Under-19 colours in 2008. PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES
Andy Dodd made his Hawke Cup representative debut for Wairarapa as a 15-year-old Rathkeale College student in 2004.
Today, the batting allrounder will make a surprise return to the Highmark Homes Wairarapa team to play Hawke’s Bay in their final Furlong Cup two-day match at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval.
Dodd and his family have returned to the region for work, and although he has yet to play any club cricket here, his experience and representative experience was too good for coach Neil Perry to overlook.
After leaving Wairarapa as a teenager Dodd, now 30, played Hawke Cup cricket for Hawke’s Bay, Southland, and Hamilton, for whom he scored a century in Wairarapa’s unsuccessful challenge in 2012.
He went on to represent New Zealand at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup, replacing an injured Jeet Raval in a team that included New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, and pace bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee.
Dodd, who will bat at number five, will add much needed starch to the Wairarapa batting order that has often struggled to put together competitive scores.
He is also a very capable left arm spinner and could provide a useful bowling option on what is likely to be a dry Oval pitch.
Dodd comes in for regular captain Jaco Vorster who is unavailable. The experienced Gordon Reisima will lead the side.
It will also be special day for another former Rathkeale student who will make his long-awaited debut.
Eighteen-year old Jacob Osborne had been named in the squad to play Wanganui in December but missed final selection.
The medium fast bowler gets his chance after some impressive form in the Coastal Challenge, which included three wickets for 20 runs in knocking off the Wanganui United top order last Saturday.
The rest of the side is the same that took first innings points off Manawatu on January 18-19.
Marist’s Jared van Deventer gets another chance to impress at number three after looking the goods against Manawatu.
Robbie Anderson, John McKenzie, Brock Price, and wicketkeeper Jack Forrester complete the batting line-up.
The pace bowling duties will be shared by Stefan Hook, Ethan Childs, Peter Sigvertsen, and Osborne. Left-arm spinners Quinn Childs and Dodd can expect plenty of work with the pitch expected to provide spin and bounce.
Hawke’s Bay come into the match on the back of a comprehensive innings victory over Horowhenua-Kapiti two weeks ago.
The make-up of the side is unknown, but with several players including Kieran Noema-Barnett, leg-spinner Jayden Lennox, spinning allrounder Brad Schmulian in the Central Stags squad for the Ford Trophy One-Day series, the team will have a different look.
One player sure to be there is seam bowler Ben Stoyanoff, who dominated the second innings with 5-37 in the win over Horowhenua-Kapiti, and has previous success over Wairarapa sides.
Hawke’s Bay lead the Furlong Cup standings on 42 points, six clear of Manawatu in the race to secure the Hawke Cup challenge, with Wairarapa fourth on 26 points.
Sixteen points, including four batting and four bowling bonus points, are up for grabs in each match.
Play got under way at 10.30am yesterday and again today at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval.
Wairarapa team from: Gordon Reisima [captain], John McKenzie, Robbie Anderson, Jared van Deventer, Brock Price, Andy Dodd, Jack Forrester, Stefan Hook, Ethan Childs, Quinn Childs, Peter Sigvertsen, Jacob Osborne.


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2. At least 120 million American voters had been expected to cast votes in the race between the Democratic incumbent and Romney after a campaign focused on how to repair the ailing U.S. economy。
4. McCarthy took home $33 million in earnings, up $10 million from 2015.
6. With all its eccentric beats and bubblegum, Number 1 Angel feels like the purest distillation of the U.K. star's pop brilliance, whether she's working with up-and-coming rapper Cupcakke on "Lipgloss" or collaborating with M? on "3AM (Pull Up)."

domain: news


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Giving credit to the state government’s startup policy for the achievement, a spokesperson said, “Till 2017, there were only 200 startups in UP. Today, more than 22,000 people have got employment through new startups.”
Additional chief secretary, IT and Electronics, Alok Kumar said, “Startups established in 73 districts have provided direct employment to 10,000 people and indirect employment to 12,000.
‘10K more startups to be set up, will generate 1.5L jobs’
The government is expecting that at least another 10,000 more startups will be established, providing direct employment to over 50,000 people and indirect employment to over 1 lakh, Kumar added.
Sharing the break-up, he said 1,154 startups have been established in Noida, 533 in Ghaziabad, 500 in Lucknow and 186 in various districts of Bundelkhand and Purvanchal.
Kumar said lakhs of migrant workers who had returned to the state after Covid-19 lockdown were being helped in establishing their own startups as a means of ensuring employment. “The UP government provided employment to more than 4 lakh migrant workers who had returned from other states. The aim of the government was to provide such jobs to the workers which would suit their profession and also promote self-employment opportunities in various sectors,” he said.
The new startups are coming up in information technology, public services, education, health, agriculture, textiles, and other sectors, Kumar added.
Courses on innovation and entrepreneurship development will be included in the curriculum of schools and universities, the official added.

domain: sociology


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Renner Business News, February 15, 2018
Tax Prep Tip: are medical deductions worth my time?
It’s too late for the Big Game, and too early for March Madness. Yet there’s a universal event taking place in dining rooms and home offices all across America. You’re probably about to join in yourself. This is the time when taxpayers sit down and pull together their tax reporting statements and deductions, to get their tax information ready for the preparer.
When it comes to medical expenses, summarizing them can be tedious. No one wants to spend any more time on this than necessary, so we’re sharing some of the most frequently asked questions about medical deductions, to help you keep the ball rolling.
Is it worth my time to pull together all my medical expenses?
Thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the 2017 medical deduction threshold is 7½% of adjusted gross income *. For example, if your total gross income is $200,000, only your medical expenses in excess of $15,000 are going to be deductible. Does that help you decide? Many taxpayers with two wage earners and good insurance, don’t even get close to deducting medical expenses.
What medical expenses are deductible?
Deductible medical expenses include the costs of diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease, and the costs of treatments affecting any part or function of the body, for yourself and your dependents. Some common medical expenses include amounts you pay for:
- Other medical practitioners,
- Diagnostic devices,
- Prescription drugs,
- Mileage at 17 cents per mile,
- Health insurance premiums, and
- Long-term care insurance premiums within limits.
What about nursing care?
The cost of care is deductible for individuals unable to perform at least two activities of daily living for at least 90 days, or those requiring substantial supervision to be protected from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment. Costs include medical and nursing treatment as well as maintenance and personal care such as cooking and cleaning.
What if my insurance paid the bill?
Medical expenses are NOT deductible if they were paid or reimbursed by your health insurance or paid from your Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account.
What if I’m self-employed?
Your health insurance premiums are generally deductible on the front page of your individual return as a reduction of adjusted gross income. This is better than taking them as an itemized deduction, so don’t include self-employed health insurance premiums in the amount of medical deductions needed to get you over the 7½% threshold.
My employer deducts insurance from my pay pretax…
You’re already getting a deduction for these health insurance premiums because they’re excluded from your taxable wages on your W-2. You can’t deduct health insurance premiums again if your employer deducts them from your pay pretax.
OK, my medical deductions will probably exceed 7½ % of my income. Should I start gathering receipts?
First make sure you benefit from itemizing your deductions at all. Married taxpayers already get a standard deduction of $12,700 ($6,350 for single taxpayers) without even trying. If all your deductions from medical, interest, taxes and charitable contributions total less than that, you’re better off taking the standard deduction.
*Adjusted Gross Income includes all your taxable income on the front page of your tax return reduced by certain adjustments like deductible IRA contributions and self-employed health insurance.
NOTE: there are many more details related to the deductibility of medical expenses. This is just a general summary of basic concepts. To find out how this information applies to your facts and circumstances, consult your tax advisor.
©2018 Renner and Company, CPA, P.C. All Rights Reserved.

domain: finance


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'Nebulae' Mosaic Inlay Necklace, by Mary L. Tafoya
Mosaic Inlay Surrounds the Shell; graduated turquoise heishi, with a touch of coral atop.
Turquoise, phosphosiderite composite, lapis, various stones, inlaidd on a jet back with jeweler's epoxy; graduated Kingman turquoise heishi hand-rolled beads on sturdy, flexible wire. A beautiful new world?
- 25 inches long, including pendant
- pendant 3" length
- pendant 2" at widest

domain: design


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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (VVNG.com) — Two pedestrians standing outside their vehicles were killed in a crash on the I-215 freeway in San Bernardino Tuesday night, officials confirmed.
On June 30, 2020, at about 11:45 PM a 22-year-old male resident of Ontario, CA was driving a 2013 White Ford E350 box truck, southbound on the 215, south of Palm Avenue. CHP logs reported the truck was a Budget moving truck.
According to California Highway Patrol officials, two pedestrians were standing outside two parked vehicles along the right shoulder of the freeway.
“For reasons still under investigation, the driver of the Ford allowed it to travel to the right shoulder. The front of the Ford collided into the rear of a disabled 1997 Beige Toyota Camry and subsequently struck the two pedestrians,” stated a CHP news release.
As a result of the collision, both pedestrians, a 54-year-old male, and a 50-year-old female, both residents of Perris, CA succumbed to their injuries and were pronounced deceased at the scene.
CHP officials said at this time, there is no evidence to suggest that alcohol or drugs were a factor in this collision.
The identity of the deceased is being withheld pending identification and notification of next of kin by the San Bernardino County Coroner’s office.
The collision is still under investigation, anyone with information regarding this collision is encouraged to contact Officer J. Izydorek at the San Bernardino CHP Office at (909) 383-4247.
To follow updates to this article and more, join our newsgroup on Facebook with over 165,000 members. Like our Facebook page, and Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

domain: law


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If you're looking for indoor grill recipes, this article has several ideas. These are easy and delicious ways to make a tasty, fun meal. Using a stovetop oven to cook your food is a great alternative. Once you have your cooker, make sure it has a lid. Here are some of our favorites. Here are more tips on how to use an indoor grill.
Before you begin cooking, dry your meat and lightly brush with olive oils. You should also season your food. Next, heat your indoor grill pan on medium. The temperature of the indoor grill pan should be kept at medium to low, but not too low that it smokes. After you're done grilling, transfer the food to a dish or plate. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes before you serve. Turn off the heat once the meat and vegetables have been cooked. Let the food cool.
To prepare these recipes, place the steak in a gallon-size plastic bag. Combine the shallots and ginger with the garlic. Add the lime juice to the mixture. Season with salt. Mix well. Marinate for 30 minutes. Once the steak has been marinated for 30 minutes, turn it over and place it on the grill. It should take 5 minutes to cook. Place it on a grill for 5 minutes. Garnish with sesame seeds. These sandwiches are delicious and can be prepared ahead.
It's an important part many barbecue dishes. But it can be hard to cook outside. The heat can also make it difficult to control. Luckily, an indoor grill pan can make it easier to get sushi-grade tuna steaks without a problem. You can prepare this delicious meal using a smoker. This will require a smoking gun, a specialized pan and some time but it'll be well worth the effort.
There are many indoor grilling options. You can use your smoker or indoor grill to make grilled meats. There are two main styles. Open-grill grills are great for smokingless cooking. They also have an enclosed drip pan. Contact-grill grills have a hinged lid, heat sources in the top and bottom of the cooker, and a hinged lid. The drip pan is located outside the cooking surface, which means that the food will not smoke.
The George Foreman grill is another popular indoor grill. These grills come with two-sided electric grills and nonstick plates. The grilling plates have raised edges that prevent them sticking. An electric grill can hold two people while a George Foreman can accommodate four. An electric grill can also be used for indoors. You can cook eggs by removing the shell.
Are there any ingredients I can buy to cook?
There is no need to purchase all the ingredients. Many grocery stores carry pre-made sauces and items that can be used as substitutes. However, you can save money by buying pre-made meals.
Do I require any special equipment?
To learn to cook, you don’t need to have any special equipment. However, the right tools can make it easier to cook. For example, a knife could be used for pasta making or a whisk would be better than a hand mixer for whipping egg whites to stiff peaks. Having the right tools can make cooking less daunting and allow you to get started faster.
What Are the Requirements To Be a Chef?
To become a chef, you must have a bachelor's degree in culinary arts. You will also need to pass several tests administered by ACF. You will be issued a certificate once you meet all the requirements.
How can I get hired to be a chef?
A culinary arts degree is the first step to a career as a chef. The next step is to join a professional association like the American Culinary Federation. This association offers certification exams as well as networking opportunities.
How can I learn to cook like the pros?
Cooking is one way to be a better cook. Being able to cook healthy food is a great skill to improve self-confidence. Begin cooking at your own home if you are looking to improve your culinary skills. Finding out your favorite recipes is the first step. You can then read books about other cuisines like Mexican, Chinese and Italian. Finally, make sure you practice different recipes until you feel confident.
Do I have to learn how to cook with my children?
Yes! Children love to help in the kitchen. It's a fun activity which teaches children responsibility and teamwork. Children can help in everything, from washing vegetables and cutting onions. Children will love helping to cook if they are taught safe knife handling techniques.
- According to the BLS, chefs earn $58,740 a year. (learnhowtobecome.org)
- under 10 Kids have been taught that there is special food just for them, and Fiese says that 10 percent of kids will throw a tantrum if they don't get the food they want. (washingtonpost.com)
- In the United States, the category is estimated at $23.2 billion annually and is growing faster than the market. (washingtonpost.com)
How to make Apple Pie
The process of making an apple pie consists of several steps. The first step is to wash the apples; then, peel them and cut them into small pieces. Then you add sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and lemon juice. Mix everything together and place it in an oven at 350°F for 15 minutes. After this, you remove the apple mixture from the oven, let it cool down, and then pour some cream on top. Finally, you sprinkle some powdered sugar on top and serve it.

domain: food


Corey Brown serves as the current Director of R&D, Air and Cooling and Filtration BU, North America, Sogefi Group, facilitating the development of advanced automotive components through continual innovation. Having started his journey at Sogefi as an enthusiastic product engineer over a decade ago, transitioning into a dual role as test lab manager and VAVE engineer. In 2020, Brown was promoted to Director of R&D to accelerate Sogefi’s electrification growth as well as continue to serve their internal combustion customers. Brown draws on his technical expertise to design intake manifolds, cam covers, air cleaners, and turbo ducts. His efforts and industry knowledge have been instrumental in positioning Sogefi as a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of technical under hood components. With Brown at the helm, Sogefi is delivering on its commitment to designing, developing, and manufacturing high-quality products through its air and cooling, filtration, and suspensions divisions.
In an interview with the Manufacturing Outlook magazine, Brown sheds light on some of the current challenges prevailing in the global auto manufacturing industry and how companies can convert those challenges into unique opportunities.
What, according to you, are some of the challenges that the auto manufacturing sector faces today?
One of the biggest challenges the global automotive manufacturing industry faces today is the unexpected surge in the cost of raw materials. The price of commonly used raw materials, such as nylons and polypropylene, has skyrocketed. This spells trouble for auto manufacturers, who are already struggling to keep costs down in the face of supply chain disruptions. Another major challenge weighing down the automotive industry is the shortage of raw materials, such as Nylon 6 and 66 resins.
What are some of the key trends disrupting the auto manufacturing sector today?
Vehicle electrification is gaining momentum, transforming the mobility industry and presenting major opportunities in all vehicle segments. Companies are embracing this trend with full gusto to stay ahead of the competition. Sogefi made the leap to electrification development a few years ago to keep pace with the momentum behind clean, electric, connected mobility.
"One of the biggest challenges the global automotive manufacturing industry faces today is the unexpected surge in the cost of raw materials."
Historically, we have been producing several critical parts for the internal combustion engine which include but not limited to air intake manifolds, cam covers, turbo ducts, transmission oil pans, mechanical water pumps, and thermostats. We are leveraging the technical competencies in injection molding developed over the past 25 years to create value-added products for hybrid EVs or BEVs.
Could you please walk us through some of the latest projects you have been working on?
At Sogefi, we have several technical developments in the pipeline, including integrated cooling modules consisting of electric water pumps, electric ball valves, and temperature and pressure sensors. By leveraging the latest technologies, we are incorporating several components and consolidating them into a convenient little package. This way, it helps reduce the module's weight and makes room for components that demand larger space to function. Sogefi also offers three unique battery cold plate technologies to optimize the thermal management of the battery pack.
How do you envision the future of the auto manufacturing industry?
With a focus on sustainability, the automotive industry is at the tipping point of transformation, driven by electric vehicles, connected cars, new business models, and always-on connectedness.
Here I would like to emphasize that thermal management is key when developing a well-balanced cooling system for today's electric cars. It enables batteries to run efficiently and extends battery life. By preventing overheating of batteries, a thermal management system can reduce the chances of thermal runaway, explosions, and the release of toxic gases.
Along with our air and cooling division, our suspensions division is gaining major traction. By producing stabilizer bars for several different electric vehicle OEMs, we have a clear advantage over our competitors.
Sogefi's history as a leader in engine cooling, filtration and vehicle suspension components is a testament to its commitment to innovation and excellence. Bringing value from its operations to all stakeholders has always been Sogefi's top priority, and we believe we have been able to accomplish our goal. The Sogefi team is keen on learning about new opportunities and networking, and we are planning to expand even further on electrification components.


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ICAO, Middle East Office
Egyptian Civil Aviation Complex, Cairo Airport Road, Cairo, EgyptMail: P.O. Box 85, Cairo Airport Post Office Terminal One, Cairo 11776,Arab Republic of EgyptTel.: +20 2 2267 4840Fax: +20 2 2267 4843
A list of preferred hotels can be downloaded from this link.
For additional information, click here
To download the agenda (Cairo, Egypt) follow this link.


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Law Firm Risk Factors
Technology Adoption: Law firms have been proactively adopting technologies to share legal data more efficiently and improve productivity. However, these solutions often expose firms to greater cybersecurity risks. Does your firm have any of these risky technologies or policies?
- Work remotely. When lawyers work remotely, they can access sensitive data from unsecured locations.
- Bring your own device. Personal devices operate outside of your organization’s IT parameters and expose your firm.
- Cloud-based office solutions. Cloud office tools, such as Office365, Google apps, and Dropbox, streamline document management and sharing. However, these solutions increase the risk of exposing confidential legal data.
Cybersecurity Threats: law firms are at risk for a wide range of cyberattack types, like all businesses. Furthermore, legal work and firm policies may put law firms at elevated risk for many attack types. Is your firm vulnerable to any of these attacks?
- Phishing attacks: Targeted social engineering emails that steal credentials of high-ranking organization members. Legal partners are at high risk, because their credentials are so valuable to fraudsters.
- Insider threats: a malicious insider steals legal data for personal gain. Partners and associates have deep knowledge of which firm data is most valuable, and constitute a high risk insider threat.
- DDoS attacks and hacktivism: politically motivated actors attack an organization’s systems, not for material gain, but to harm a perceived enemy. Because law firms often represent controversial figures, they are at high risk for these types of attack.
- Ransomware attacks: targeting employees that unknowingly download malware from malicious websites to encrypt all data on the machine.
Sensitive Data at Risk:
Law firm computer systems represent the densest concentration of high value confidential information in business systems today. Every line of practice represents a unique and tempting target for cybercriminals Does your firm have sensitive data in the following practice areas?
- Corporate clients share material non-public information (MNPI) with law firms. In March 2016, the FBI warned law firms that criminal groups are known to be actively seeking cybercriminals to carry out MNPI theft attacks.
- Trust and estate clients share the personal information of high-net-worth individuals, including information that could be used to fraudulently access these clients’ personal accounts.
- Litigation teams retain information—litigation strategies, significant evidence, smoking-gun documents, etc.—that can determine the outcome of pending lawsuits.
Obligation to Secure:
All businesses are bound by a number of industry-agnostic regulations to secure their sensitive data. However, law firms also have unique mandates and other pressures to secure.
- ABA Resolution 109 specifies that “[c]ontinuous monitoring and log analysis are a critical part of an organization-wide risk management,” a professional obligation for lawyers. Has your firm implemented continuous monitoring and log analysis?
- Resolution 109 states that “To maintain a highly proactive security posture, potential threats must be investigated and targeted attacks detected in advance or addressed as they occur.” Does your firm have dedicated staff prepared to detect and respond to threats as they occur?
- Amendments to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct (Model Rules) adopted in 2012 explicitly state that “a lawyer’s duty of competence includes keeping abreast of changes in relevant technology.” Does your firm have the expertise to remain abreast of changes in cyber-threats and cybersecurity?
- As a law firm, the most important data you hold is client information. Clients and prospective clients will each have their own cybersecurity requirements: a combination of regulations, professional mandates, and internal policy directives. Can your firm provide and demonstrate the level of security your clients require, including meeting regulatory standards for their industries, such as HIPAA, SOX, and others?


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Project title is Home. I’ve immediately this week thought about different types of home situations. I immediately started to think about locations that weren’t the 4 walls of a house – instead these areas that I feel most at home are generally far from it. I often tended to find myself at ‘Home’ riding a bicycle up mountains and small narrow trails taking in the scenery.
- MTB Video + Darkroom Photos + Audio Recorded
-Shot on go pro in the DYFI forest – somewhere I feel like I am at home. Shot was on a long descent called DIcko’s Track which is an off piste trail which is used on the DYFI winter warmup ride.
Off Piste trail’s are ones built by local riders and are more personal perhaps than most trails as they are almost always built by hand by one individual or a very few people.
There was no idea particularly, I more was inspired by the recent class to just get up and do something – which is not often how I like to work, normally having an idea that is already clear in my head.
Final work had water marks on which I was unhappy with, and the image isn’t actually great quality. I had intended to get some more varied shots, including riding up a hill, and longer descent, however the go – pro died as I had impromptu charged it an hour before I had left. I intended to either create a voice over or write a poem etc to go with the footage.
Audio recorded on phone
Photos taken on ride – darkroom photos yet to be completed – I hope that they are nostalgic in some way I used fomapan 400 which has a higher silver content to give richer blacks.
From my written notes and ideas etc…
-photos of home past and present etc
-other peoples/ animals’ homes
-Welsh animals close to aber – red kites ?
-Lots of research etc
– Where do animals live? -Where do animals like to live? – What are their homes like ? – do they move their homes ?
Home To Me
Trees- Bikes -Motion
Nature -Calm -View
On the Edge- Exercise
Old Negatives Overlayed with New Negatives
Same Room Years Apart ?
Overlaying Colour Negatives ?
What do you want to say about your work ?
One of the most useful pieces from the lecture was the triangle trying to always test my ideas. Something that I will try and come back to with my work in the future.
Best part of the class was looking at what previously had been done for the arts centre takeover. I was inspired using the darkroom by a previous student. It was such a creative way to use the space. Excitement created by simply using the darkroom – exciting for the public to view, creative use of space. BE AWARE WE CANNOT HANG PICTURES….
Love this work creating a fantastic, fantasy landscape to walk around. Interesting to hear that most people went into the room and simply sat – down. Interesting as that is perhaps the calming affect of nature. Lighting clearly plays and important role in the work.
AT HOME WITH YOURSELF
Monday 7th February
Where are you at with HOME?
Went out on mountain bike with a GOPro, analogue camera and audio recorder
We watched the GoPro footage and listened to some disconnected audio
Ideas for how this could progess i.e. next steps:
1) Going out again
2) Going out alone or not if no one is in front if the camera is facing forward, or behind if the camera is facing backwards
3) placing the GoPro on different parts of the bike
4) recording a longer continual ride
5) filming the ascent and descent
6) doing it in different weather at different times of the day and night
Don’t worry about the mud and water on the camera
7) don’t use the sound from the GoPro
8) record disconnected audio from the landscape
9) record the workshop at Summit Cycles
10) record friends on the trip
11) record a voice over
14) slower routes
15) steeper route
16) night and lights
What do you want us, the audience to feel and think?
How can you make ‘home’ a prominent aspect of the work i.e. its focus
It’s your – solace – what is a solace?
Why do you go there, keep going back there, what is there?
To improve on the progress of your project I advise:
1) post the footage so far on the notebook
2) interrogate the questions
3) look at other Gopro footage films – look at Adventure Uncovered Film Festival, I am in it, was a winner!! Just as a starting point for a load of adventure films, Banff Film festival..other adventure, explorer films for reference of what to do what not to do
4) go out again and again and try all of the above
5) keep faith in its simplicity
6) keep focussing it on Home otherwise it could lose itself
^ Above notes from my tutorial. Really useful research to look into, in particular artists using go pro. Also very affirming to know I was right to just go out and do work rather than being unsure of the work and waiting before going out and completing work. I clearly need to push this go pro idea further and see what happens with it! – FOCUS ON SIMPLICTIY DON’T SPOON FEED !
I think the most important thing is to focus on is to not loose sight of home which could be so easy to do with such a route I am currently going down.

domain: artistic


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Fresh Greens with Hot Bacon Dressing
Spinach, lettuce, mushrooms and tomatoes tossed with a hot sweet and sour bacon dressing make a great salad with a 13% calorie reduction from the traditional recipe.
3 cups torn spinach leaves
3 cups torn romaine lettuce
2 small tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 slice bacon, cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon, crushed
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon Equal® for Recipes or 1 packet Equal® sweetener or 2 teaspoons Equal® Spoonful™
- Combine spinach, romaine, tomatoes, mushrooms and carrot in large bowl; set aside. Cook bacon in 12-inch skillet until crisp. Carefully stir in vinegar, water, tarragon and pepper. Heat to boiling; remove from heat. Stir in Equal®.
- Add spinach mixture to skillet. Toss 30 to 60 seconds or just until greens are wilted. Transfer to serving bowl. Serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/4 of recipe): 51 cal., 3 g pro., 9 g carbo, 1 g fat, 1 mg chol., 74 mg sodium.
Food Exchanges: 1 1/2 Vegetable.
Recipe and photograph provided courtesy of Merisant Corporation ® and the NutraSweet Company, makers of Equal®.


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Two eighth-grade students from Flagstaff Academy brought home first-place honors from Friday night’s Regional Science Fair awards presentation in Boulder.
Teegan Oatley won first in the energy and transportation category for her hydroelectric phone charger, which allows her to charge her phone while fishing or camping. Julia Curd took home a first place award in the biology and health category for her work examining the differences between proteins in cancer, and the genetic significance of one protein being created over another.
Joe Ciminski got a second place award in the computer science category with software to remind users when take their medicine.
“It keeps track of your dosage and lets you know when to take it, and also lets you know how many you have left in your prescription,” said science teacher Boone Starr.
Ciminski’s sister, Marie, was given an honorable mention in the soil and water conservation category for her work looking at bacteria in the soil that create electricity.
“We’re very proud of all these people,” Starr said. “We have the entire school, sixth through eighth grade, do a science fair project, a STEM project. We don’t make them compete, unless they want to. Science, technology, engineering and math is really what is going to drive these kids’ futures. We think it’s very important that every student should have the opportunity to be their own scientist here at this school.”
The children were working on the projects since the beginning of the school year and were encouraged to come up with the ideas on their own. The school provides the framework, but the children think independently while doing the work.
“It’s fairly hands-off,” said Starr. “They get to do what they want to do. We went back and forth on how much structure we should provide. We figured the more student voice, the more excited they’re going to be about science, technology, engineering and math. We let them have that choice, to drive their own projects.”
Middle school Assistant Principal Katie Gustafson said that the projects are a collaborative effort among staff members, led by the science teachers, and that she is very proud of the winners.
“Both of the girls that are going to the Colorado State Science Fair will represent us well and show Colorado what it means to be a Flagstaff Dragon,” she said. “Flagstaff has a world class science program and we’re ready to show the state what it’s all about.”
The Colorado State Science Fair is April 7-9 in Fort Collins.