Bless This Mess

Earl Sweatshirt is a rail-thin kid with a big mouth, arched eyebrows and a shadow of a mustache. He has a faux black leather couch, a massive TV and a sink full of dirty cups—just cups—and in tandem, these cues serve to remind you that the 19-year-old rapper born Thebe Neruda Kgositsile is a kid. Wearing a Supreme hat, his baby face belied by eyebags, he holds for a deadpan high five at his front door and turns around to smoke a cigarette out the back. It’s shortly after 1:00PM and he’s just woken up. “You don’t want to sit there,” he says, motioning to an enormous black bean bag. He’s right. It’s lousy with carpet hair.

Earl came up as a member of the Los Angeles-based rap collective, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, which rose to internet infamy in 2010. The clan’s numbers vary from 20-something to 60 depending on whom you ask, the most visible members being the irascible polymath rapper Tyler, The Creator, and R&B outlier Frank Ocean. In May of 2010, the then 16-year-old Earl Sweatshirt released the video for “Earl,” the title cut of his 10-track eponymous mixtape. The lyrics are heinous, chronicling kidnapping, rape, murder and cannibalism. The video features Odd Future members marauding,RFID tag, and bleeding out from ODing on a putrid drug cocktail. Teeth are dislodged, as is a fingernail, and the footage, which includes nipple hemorrhaging, has been viewed over 12 million times on YouTube. “Talking about outlandish shit had become a competition between me and Tyler,” Earl tells me, packing a joint with the aglet of his shoelace while sipping on a Budweiser. “We were so fucking cocky.” The mixtape as a whole boasted such vivid storytelling and startling linguistic agility that fans drew comparisons to Eminem, with one crucial distinction: Odd Future had the internet. The combined fervor on YouTube, Tumblr and Twitter established the L.A. crew as a marketing juggernaut. Earl Sweatshirt, the runty kid with the outsized brain, looked like an underdog but felt like a sure thing.

By the end of 2010, Earl had earned its rightful place among early-adopter music sites’ “Best Of” lists—as did Tyler’s album, Bastard, despite dropping in late 2009. Odd Future’s mixtape, Radical, was released the same May as the “Earl” video and only served to galvanize the crew’s cult following. It looked like the ragtag family was having a blast. And then somewhere in the fray, like a patsy in his own songs, Earl Sweatshirt went missing.

“Free Earl” became a rallying cry amongst Odd Future members and their rapidly multiplying followers. His absence would last two full years and it would later come to light that his mother, Cheryl Harris, a professor and lawyer, had shipped him off to reform school overseas. On April 14th 2011, Complex magazine discovered a student by the name of Thebe Neruda Kgositsile attending Coral Reef Academy, a military school in Polynesia. A month later, an eight-thousand word article in The New Yorker written by Kelefa Sanneh confirmed Earl’s whereabouts with official word from his mother and his estranged father, the South African poet laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile. Earl became a celebrity in absentia, a profoundly new phenomenon and a strange byproduct of Internet fame. There were “Fuck Earl’s Mom” chants at shows and even threats. In support of his mother and in defiance of every convention in rap, Earl asked to be left alone. “The only thing I need as of right now is space,” he said to The New Yorker in an email. “I’ve still got work to do and don’t need the additional stress of fearing for my family’s physical well-being. Space means no more ‘Free Earl.’”

Samoa, meanwhile, was rough. “You cleaned a lot,” Earl says, a year after his return. “You had therapy two or three times a day, and you’re with the same fucking 20 dumb-asses who are just like you. Every day. There were the behavioral kids and the drug kids. I was both.” The experience was designed to be isolating: “You’re not allowed to have contact with none of your homies. No Facebook. No internet.” But Earl did everything he could to keep up with his friends’ thriving careers. “It was some conniving shit,” he says. “I read Hacking For Dummies and set up a keylogger to get the administrative password to get onto the internet. I’d log onto the Odd Future Tumblr and leave shit in drafts and then Tyler would write me back.” These days, Earl smokes cigarettes and a fair amount of weed, but little else. He’s also simultaneously on his phone and laptop for most of his waking hours. Samoa may not have been a cure-all for Earl’s hard-bitten habits, but emotionally, his outlook has improved. “Things used to be dark and weird,” he says.

Shortly before his 18th birthday, Earl graduated from reform school to finish the rest of senior year in LA, a prospect fraught with anxiety. “My friends were on eggshells, I’d get nervous and my palms would get sweaty,” he says. “Not only was I coming back to Los Angeles, I was coming back to Odd Future Los Angeles.” He was recognized at LAX arrivals by a police officer who looked him dead in the face and said, “Earl Sweatshirt.”

Today, Earl is cautious when discussing the frenzy his absence created. “I’m not gonna lie and say that whole shit hasn’t changed my relationship with my fans,” he says. “People being that pissed off at my mom—it hit really hard.” Before being sent away, Earl had been acting out at home and in school. “I didn’t have a dad coming up,” he says. “I didn’t have someone to be scared of.”

Earl saw his dad, upon his return from Samoa, but is not wordy on the experience. “It was crazy,” he says. In the New Yorker article, when Earl’s father was asked whether or not he was familiar with his son’s work, he said he was not. The poet was disinclined to pry, reasoning that when Earl was ready to share music with him, he would. Earl finds reassurance in his father’s response. “I fucked with him after that,” he says, punching a palm for emphasis. “I would’ve been sad as fuck because I actually would’ve never talked to that nigga again. I’m so glad my dad’s not thirsty.” Earl gets up abruptly from the couch to find a lighter, a quest he embarks on several times over the course of the day. He gives up and lights the joint on the stove, changing the subject from his dad to his debut album, Doris, slated for a May release and named after his late grandmother.

Earl is anxious to release new material. His absence and the dearth of songs led to the unearthing of a mixtape he made under his previous moniker, Sly Tendencies, a discovery that embarrasses him. “That was never supposed to come out,” he says. “I recorded it in my room and you can hear the third-grade basketball medals hitting my computer.” The first single from Doris, “Chum,” was released this past November. It has somber lyrics, and the video’s set in black-and-white, featuring Earl staring straight ahead. Losing the creaky, pre-pubescent timber of his youth, Earl’s voice is considerably deeper, authoritative. “Chum” doesn’t glitter with inchoate glee at notional ultra-violence like “Earl” does. In fact, the lyrics are in large part about his dad: It’s probably been 12 years since my father left, left me fatherless/ And I used to say I hate him in dishonest jest. The song is revealing, a fair vantage from which to lambaste those who intruded on his privacy two years ago: Craven and these Complex fuck niggas done track me down/ Just to be the guys that did it, like, I like attention/ Not the type where niggas tryna get a raise at my expense/ Supposed to be grateful, right, like, Thanks so much, you made my life harder and the ties between my mom and I are strained and tightened. He reinforces that he’s a real kid with a traumatized family, and not the prize to an elaborate scavenger hunt of the internet’s making.

Tributes paid to girl attacked by dogs

The death of a 14-year-old girl in Greater Manchester who was savaged by dogs must be a wake-up call to the government, MPs and charities have warned.

The calls come as it emerged that the death of Jade Anderson, who was discovered at a house containing five "out of control" dogs in Atherton, near Wigan on Tuesday, may not lead to any criminal prosecutions. Police confirmed they were investigating if any criminal offences had been committed.

Tory MP Anne McIntosh, chair of the select committee on environment, food and rural affairs, said the government must implement stricter regulations around the control of dangerous dogs to prevent further smart card.

McIntosh said the government had failed to take action on proposals to change the law surrounding dangerous dogs put forward by the select committee on 15 February. Recommendations would see laws extended to include dogs on private property and could see the introduction of dog control notices, which are used in Scotland, which can be issued by police or local authorities.

The government had to draft legislation "as a matter of urgency", McIntosh said. "Five or six weeks later and we have not seen anything. We stand ready to scrutinise that legislation. We said that any act on a person particularly by a dog acting dangerously should be regarded as criminal activity."

She added: "It's such a tragedy to see such an attractive teenage girl lose her life in such an act of violence caused by five dogs, seemingly without any adult supervision. It's a wake-up call for the government to bring forward the proposals. The law should be there to protect vulnerable members of the public such as Jade."

Jade was discovered with wounds consistent with a dog attack and was declared dead at the scene by paramedics. Her family have been left devastated by her death, police said.

The breed of the dogs has not been confirmed but two are thought to have been bull mastiffs and two staffordshire bull terriers. Four dogs were shot dead by armed police at the scene, while a fifth was safely contained and remains with police.

Supt Mark Kenny said police were trying to establish exactly what happened and expected the investigation to take a "considerable" time. "We are not going to jump to any conclusions, we want to work out exactly what has happened before we make any decisions," he said. No one has been arrested and Kenny said the dogs' owner, who was out of the house when the attack took place, had been interviewed and was co-operating with police. "There is an investigation which will establish whether there are criminal offences so we are speaking to everybody who was involved to establish what has happened. They are in shock as well and we have got to find out what happened for them, too."

Specialist vets will confirm the dogs' breed and establish if they were legal. Police had not been called to the property on previous incidents, Kenny added.

Chief executive of Guide Dogs, Richard Leaman, called the law on dangerous dogs "totally inadequate". He said: "We welcome the compulsory microchipping of all dogs in England from 2016, but this is only the first step. The current law on dangerous dogs is totally inadequate and must be changed as a matter of urgency.

"We will continue to put pressure on the Home Office to ensure that irresponsible owners who breed, train and incite their dogs to behave badly are punished."

Eight guide dogs are attacked by other dogs every month, he said. "Until the law is made more robust, irresponsible dog owners will continue to escape sanction."

Kim Hamilton, chief executive of the animal welfare charity Blue Cross, said current dog legislation was putting children at risk.

"All our thoughts are with Jade's family and friends but until we see a radical overhaul of the law that allows authorities to step in at the first sign of aggressive behaviour these shocking incidents will continue to happen."

Jade's family and friends paid tribute to a "lively" and "smart" girl. Jan Garretts, headteacher at Fred Longworth high school in Tyldesley, where she was a pupil, said: "We are all deeply shocked and saddened by Jade's tragic death," she said.

"She had only been a pupil at the school since the summer but had made a real impact in that short time. Jade was a lively student who always had a smile on her face. She loved music and dance and was a regular at our after-school dancing club. At what turned out to be her last day at school, Jade was given a progress report by her teachers and was told that everyone was delighted with the progress she was making."

Flowers and soft toys were left outside the house. One message, attached to a pink teddy bear, read: "We were blessed to have known you, you were a smart girl forever in our plastic card. Simply the best. God bless from Peter, Nicola, Grandad Jack, Samuel and Lilly Rose. God bless your family."

The result was only the second time the US have earned a point from a qualifier at the Azteca and the gutsy display with an injury-hit squad took the US to four points from their three games.

Panama top the standings on five points from three games with Costa Rica second in the table, ahead of the US on goal difference.

The third straight draw leaves Mexico in fifth place in the six-team group, a point behind Honduras with Jamaica propping up the table on two points

The top three teams qualify automatically for next year's finals in Brazil with the fourth-placed team going into a two-legged playoff New Zealand for a chance of securing a fourth berth from the regionA battling United States held Mexico to their third straight draw in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, grinding out a goalless stalemate in a tense encounter at the Azteca Stadium yesterday.

Complaining Just to Get Free Stuff

We all want to be treated fairly and receive the products and services that we pay for. We want things to match our expectations and the manufacturer’s promises. When things fail to live up to those promises or expectations, it’s up to us to complain, to let the companies know that we won’t be messed with. However, there is a special type of person who has elevated complaining to the level of sport. This is person who complains just to get free stuff. The question is: Is this a wise, frugal move, or bad behavior?

I know quite a few people, both in real life and online, who complain to manufacturers and service providers when there is no legitimate complaint. Why? To get freebies and comps. These people think that they’re being financially smart. After all, why pay for something when you can get it for free? But if the complaint is faked, it’s closer to fraud than effective complaining.

Take for example the person and situation I read about on a money-saving forum (not Saving Advice). Best Buy had intended to issue coupons to a select subset of their Reward Zone program members, but something went awry and not only was the coupon posted online for all to use, the terms were incorrect. Once Best Buy stopped honoring the fraudulent and misprinted coupons, the predictable outrage ensued online about how Best Buy wasn’t being fair by not honoring the deals.

Whether it was fair or not, this person that I saw gleefully posted about writing to Best Buy’s corporate office to complain about the situation. Two things about this person’s complaints rankled me. First, he or she was not a member of the Reward Zone program, so would never have been eligible for the coupon in the first place. The deal was never intended for this person. Second, they complained only after the outrage had reached full force online and he/she saw that Best Buy was giving some people (who were legitimately entitled to use the deal that went awry) gift cards for their trouble.

After raising a big stink to the corporate offices, this person was given a gift card for troubles that he/she had never experienced, since they were never the target of the original deal and were never “cheated” out of using the coupon. Now, I realize that Best Buy didn’t have to give this person anything and that it’s up to them what they want to do for customer service. But this person complaining about being shut out of a deal to which they were never entitled seems wrong.

I see this happen in other areas, too. I go to Disney World a lot and Disney is famous for giving customers freebies and compensation to make up for bad experiences. They’re so famous for this that some people write to the corporate offices or talk to managers in the parks and report fake dissatisfaction with meals, interactions with employees, theft, and issues of every other kind you can imagine. People also complain to food manufacturers to get coupons, and they complain to retail stores to get gift cards or free merchandise. Again, it’s up to Disney and other retailers what they give out and to whom, but people creating complaints just to try for freebies is unethical.

Over the years, companies have doled out so many freebies to stave off negative publicity that some financial sites support this behavior by encouraging people to complain to get the freebies. This tip appears online and even in books. But it’s just wrong. Aside from the bad karma points that you’re sure to get (if you believe in karma or cosmic retribution), it may eventually backfire on you. Many companies keep lists of people who have complained. Chronic, aggressive complainers are likely to be blacklisted eventually to the point that when the day comes that you have a legitimate complaint, no one will listen to you.

It also makes you a terrible example for others. Is this the sort of behavior that you want to teach your kids? That you want your friends and family to see? Sure, you may, like one woman I saw, get free park passes for you and your family off of a faked complaint, but was it really worth it? Is saving money worth compromising your values? Just because the company gave it to you doesn’t make it right that you faked a complaint. Bragging about how you got those tickets to anyone who will listen doesn’t make you a hero, it makes you a jerk.

You’re also raising prices for legitimate customers. Those freebies cost the company money and they’re going to make it up somewhere. If they’re doling out lots of comps and freebies on fake complaints, you can bet that the rest of us are going to see it in the prices we pay. You may not care right now, but one day you’re going to have to pay those higher prices, too.

And, worst case, you can cost someone their job. If you mention an employee’s name in your fake complaint, or give enough information that an employee could be potentially identified as having caused your “distress” (which you likely did if your complaint was at all believable), you can get a person fired or suspended. Was it worth it for a free meal or coupon?

Writer-director Roland Emmerich and his writing-producing partner Dean Devlin were the disaster-movie kings of the 1990s, with the back-to-back hits Stargate and Independence Day. But the pair stumbled in 1998 with their ill-conceived Godzilla remake. Matthew Broderick starred alongside Spinal Tap’s Harry Shearer and France’s Jean Reno, all of whom had to spout some truly awful dialogue. When the monster attacks New York City, officials lay a trap involving a huge pile of fish, to which Broderick’s character observes: “That’s a lot of fish.”

Earlier Godzilla movies also suffered in the dialogue department, with awkward dubbed translations from Japanese to English.

But with the currently-filming remake penned by some of the talents behind The Dark Knight Rises, The Shawshank Redemption and The Walking Dead, we can at least hope that there might be some smart words to go along with the big pictures.

Word is that in director Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla, the big guy will fight one of his monster rivals from the classic-movie era. There are more than a dozen of those to choose from, so here’s our top-three wish list:

King Kong (from 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla): I must have had the flu and stayed home from school one day when this golden oldie showed up on TV, so my memories are somewhat feverish. A pharmaceutical company captures King Kong and brings him to Japan, where he escapes from captivity and battles a recently released Godzilla. The ape won the fight in the U.S. version I saw, while Godzilla won for the Japanese hometown crowd.

Hedorah a.k.a. The Smog Monster (1971’s Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster): An alien crash-lands on earth, and starts eating the world’s pollution. Here’s a monster David Suzuki could get behind and by June, there might be some real Vancouver summer smog to help cut the movie’s special effects budget. The creature grows huge on its smoggy diet, turning into a flying pile of crud as it battles the big guy.

The Joys of Imperfection

I remember opening the package of my new electric double-breast pump, shortly before the birth of my first child, and holding up the plastic cups and tangled tubing while staring at my own reflection in the mirror.

I was supposed to strap these things on, with the help of the “hands-free pumping bustier” (complete with nipple cut-outs) and crank up the power dial? It looked more like a medieval torture device with a pornographic twist than a tool to feed and nourish my newborn.

A glance at the colorful insert showed a business woman happily typing away at her computer, sporting a stylish suit and conveniently pumping breast milk into two bottles as she multitasked. Although suspicious of the skinny, well-rested woman in the photo, I embraced the hopeful notion that fitting nursing into my busy professional life would be as easy as depicted.

The realities of nursing an infant were quite different. I was constantly sleep-deprived from around-the-clock feedings; suffered chapped and bleeding skin that made pumping excruciating; had to lug a giant bag of breast pumping supplies to work every day, then hide in the break room and hope nobody walked in (they did). Unlike in the pretty picture, my shirts were always spotted with milk and I could never escape that faint smell of sour spit-up that permeated all my clothing.

Six years later, after breastfeeding all three of my boys while juggling a full time career, let me be the first to say to that woman in the glossy photo: Shame on you for deceiving impressionable new mothers! Breastfeeding is not always easy. True, I know many mothers who found it as natural as breathing and effortlessly blended nursing into the rhythm of their daily routines. At times I felt that same euphoria, but other times I really struggled.

I wish someone had explained to me in those early days of motherhood that recognizing breastfeeding for what it is – an enormous commitment of love from a mother to her infant – would bolster my confidence and carry me through the frustrating and painful moments.

For baby, breast milk is nature’s magic concoction of exactly the right mixture of fat, sugar, water, and protein to nourish the tiny body. Scientists have not been able to duplicate the disease-fighting qualities in breast milk, so although formula is an acceptable alternative, it is not equal. Multiple studies have shown that natural human breast milk decreases an infant’s risk of infections, diabetes, asthma, and obesity. It is rich with Immunoglobulin A (IgA), an antibody passed from the mother that protects the infant until their own immune system can mature.

It’s great news is that breastfeeding is on the rise in California as more mothers become educated about its benefits. The 2012 CDC breastfeeding report card stated that 56% of mothers in California are breastfeeding at their infant’s six-month mark, and 31% at one year.

For mothers who are discouraged, whether from low milk supply or difficulty in getting their infant to latch properly, there is help. La Leche League, established in 1956, is a world-wide group offering mother-to-mother support, encouragement, and education. Theirs was the number I called when I hit rock bottom trying to feed my two-week-old infant, and within the hour they had connected me with a woman who could teach and mentor me through the unfamiliar terrain. They told me that I wasn’t a failure just because I didn’t look like the woman in the glossy photo. Thanks to their support, I continued to breastfeed through all three of my pregnancies.

Another major advocate for breastfeeding in our county is the WIC program (Women, Infants, and Children), a division within the Public Health Department. WIC promotes breastfeeding as part of its larger mission to improve the nutritional status of low-income women and children, and does a phenomenal job supporting and educating mothers who choose to breastfeed. The national rate for exclusive breastfeeding among WIC recipients is 11%, but in the Santa Barbara County WIC program the rate is 34%. They employ International Board Certified lactation consultants who show mothers how breastfeeding saves money, promotes mother-child bonding, and is healthiest for their infant.

As for hiding in the break room at work, there are laws in most states that protect nursing mothers’ rights. In California, the law specifically allows women to breastfeed in any public or private location, exempts breastfeeding from public indecency laws, exempts nursing mothers from jury duty, and accommodates breastfeeding in the workplace. The more mothers nurse their babies in public, the more it becomes the norm and the better we can collectively support other women doing the same.

Breastfeeding improves the health of mothers and their children. If you are a mother who wishes to breastfeed, remember that there are experts in your community you can turn to no matter how your experience actually looks – glossy, milk-stained, or somewhere in between. We are cheering you on.

There's No Law Against Making Stupid Decisions

Howard, 92, loves women.  He has dementia and is legally blind.  He likes to give women checks when they tell him their sob stories about needing money.  He has one daughter, Missy, who is aghast at his conduct.

After her mother died, Missy felt obligated to try to keep Dad from throwing away all his money.  He would use up everything in the checking account and then use credit cards to the max. He got into debt. Missy warned him and warned him, but he just didn’t get it.  She had no legal authority to stop him from his stupid decisions about money.

He  got a housekeeper, Flossie, recommended by the manager of his building.  Flossie didn’t have much money, and needed to get her car fixed.  She hit up Howard and wrote herself a large check from his account, which she had him sign.

When Missy confronted him about giving Flossie money, he lashed out and tried to hit her.  He had a history of violence and Missy was fearful as well as very angry.  Dad had given away cash to five other women before Flossie!

Finally, Missy was able to get the checkbook away from dad and no one else could write checks for this blind man to sign.  He was now out of money.  She had not taken legal steps to do this before he was broke. Not smart.

Flossie decided she was “in love” with Howard.  She assured his daughter that she just wanted to be with him but they weren’t going to get married. Then Howard took a fall, was hospitalized and soon after, went to a nursing home.  Flossie kept hanging around. One day, she went down to City Hall and got a marriage license. She never told Missy. She found an officiant for marrying them and had the ceremony right there in the nursing home.

Missy was beyond furious.  She had reported Flossie to Adult Protective Services. The worker told her that Howard was “entitled to his folly”. She thought that was just plain stupid. She was advised that she could go to court and get a guardianship over her Dad. But, he had no money left and it seemed pointless by then. It was going to cost thousands of dollars too.

Missy wanted to have the marriage annulled.  She wanted Flossie to be able to visit Howard, as he did seem to like her company and he was lonely.  Missy and her  husband had a suspicious and mistrusting relationship with Flossie, but in a way she was actually helping them by keeping Howard company while they were at work. Flossie didn’t want an annulment. She liked the idea of being married. Apparently, she didn’t consider Howard’s credit card debt. She just wanted to get something from Howard, like his Social Security survivor’s benefits.

The dispute was mediated without involving lawyers or the court. Missy proposed that she would allow Flossie to continue to visit Howard as she wanted.  But, she was to refrain from discussing money and would report to Missy. When Missy asked Flossie if she was going to pay her Dad’s credit card bills, Flossie blanched.  Suddenly, she seemed a lot more interested in the annulment.

She agreed to Missy’s conditions. A deal was worked out between them with the mediator’s help. Flossie agreed not to tell Howard about the annulment. He had been declared incompetent long before, and would forget what it meant anyway.  Flossie agreed to the legal annulment.  In exchange, Missy and her husband agreed to attend a “marriage” ceremony between Flossie and Howard at Missy’s home, without any paperwork, without it being legally recognized, and Howard would be none the wiser.  Flossie could play married, without any legal consequences good or bad.  Howard would still have Flossie’s companionship and Missy was okay with that.

The resolution gave everyone at least some of what they wanted.  Before it got as far as it did, however, Missy might have tried other options.

By the second or third time a woman had ripped Howard off, she might have worked on persuading him to give her a Durable Power of Attorney for finances.  She could have moved funds out of his checking account and stopped the ripoffs by his “girlfriends”.  He eventually did sign one, but it was too late to keep his funds in the bank when he did.

She also could have gone to court for that guardianship.   His doctors were cooperative in declaring him incompetent to handle money.  Guardianship was a last resort, but it would have protected him.  He ended up on Medicaid, in a 3 bed room in a mediocre nursing home.  He will likely stay there for the rest of his days. Guess that’s how it works when one is “entitled to his folly”.

I’m hoping that anyone with an aging parent who is like Howard will look ahead.  Sometimes, your aging parent makes a string of stupid decisions and you can’t stop them. But sometimes you can stop the folly before it’s too late.  If you don’t know what to do, seek some outside advice.

“He wasn’t happy and nobody in here is going to be upset that we got yelled at,” forward Adam Burish said. “We’re adults. We’re pros. You know if you did your job or you didn’t. Sometimes you deserve a little ass-kicking and then you move on. Guys handled it, guys responded.”

Also in that story is a Ryane Clowe update – he did not return for the second period after a hit in the first aggravated an existing shoulder problem. Clowe was the only Shark who didn’t skate Sunday and his status for Monday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks is uncertain.

What isn’t in that story is a deeper look at what had McLellan upset and how he expects more from his players.

“For me, it wasn’t anything about systems last night. It wasn’t about Xs and Os,” McLellan said. “It was all about five-on five play and being competitive. You’ve got to be smart when you’re competitive and competitive when you’re smart. That didn’t come out in all areas of the game.”

Are you ready for some Lafayette football?

Coach Tavani said the other day that the only date that matters to him right now is Sept. 7, when his Lafayette team opens the season at home against Sacred Heart.

But truth be told, he’s not entirely certain yet that Sept. 7 will be opening day at all. In fact, if he is still hoping to land another opponent for this year and next – and that extra game just might be scheduled during the final week in August.

“This year is pretty much done,” Tavani told me, but then he added, “there could still be some changes. I’m looking at possibly doing something. “

A quirk in the NCAA calendars for 2013-14 means teams are permitted a 12-game regular season. The last time Lafayette played 12 games in a regular season was 2002. Ironically, Lafayette added Monmouth to the schedule that year, and Monmouth is one of the main reasons that making a late addition to this year’s card is a possibility. Monmouth dropped out of the Northeast Conference, leaving a bunch of teams with openings, and Coach Tavani said that other FCS schools are also exploring the possibility of adding a game these two years.

Lafayette has a bye after the third game this fall, and while Tavani welcomes that, he also said that the Sept. 28 date is one that could be used for a 12th game.

More and more teams seem to be playing games the Thursday night of the last week orf August. That is also a possibility for this year, though probably remote, but Tavani did say, “We’d like to look at that down the road; that would be an ideal time for a an FBS game – get a TV deal, then have 10 days before you have to play again.”

Lafayette’s 2014 and 2015 schedules have an open date listed for the week before the big Lafayette-Lehigh game, and Tavani said if things remain that way, it’s possible that the Leopards would look for a natural-grass facility on which to practice. Why? Well, the 2014 finale, the 150th Lafayette-Lehigh game, is scheduled for Yankee Stadium and the 2015 game is at Lehigh’s Goodman Stadium, both natural-grass surfaces. “There’s not a lot of difference when you go from grass to FieldTurf, but going from FieldTurf to grass is a little different.

Leopard coordinators Mickey Fein (offense) and John Loose (defense) spent their 2012 game days working from the press box, and Coach Tavani liked the way that worked out and plans to have them upstairs this season, too. “Both of them are very cerebral guys and bright coaches,” Tavani said.  “It took some adjustments for both, but it’s a much calmer atmosphere. I felt there were better adjustments and we were always lined up and ready to go, particularly defensively. The sideline is chaos. There are different schools of thought about it, and there are a lot of reasons to do it the other way, too, but I felt that we had greater improvement with communications, and I think it will get even better.”

“As coaches, we know a lot of football, and we can draw things up on the board and scheme things out, but it’s not what we know (that is important), it’s what the kids know,” Tavani said. The Lafayette game plan each week can get pretty complex, but in analyzing last year’s game films during the offseason, the coaches noted that “some of our breakdowns were because our technique wasn’t very good.” So, spring ball will focus on technique – “we’ll try to master a few, and get really good at them before we move on,” Tavani said. You aren’t going very far in 15 practices. If you are, it’s because you’re watering things down. We’ll try to get as sharp as we can.”

Because of the way Lafayette’s spring-Easter break is arranged this year, the spring “camp” will have three, not just two, extensive scrimmages, the last being the Maroon and White Game on April 20. “You’re only going to be as good as the number of repetitions you get done in practice,” Tavani said. “There are no scout teams in the spring. Everybody will get plenty of chances to show us what they can do.” The next month could be especially important for the rising sophomores on the squad. “A lot of freshmen get frustrated by midseason,” Tavani said. “They think, ‘Geez, I’m just a blocking dummy; I should be playing; I’m better than this; I was a star in high school.’  I talk to them about that ahead of time, but until they go through it, they don’t know. They’re all realizing it now. Every day, they can get reps they weren’t getting last season.”

Every year, it seems more teams are working the no-huddle offense into their game plans, and Coach Tavani said that while “were practice two-minute (drills) every day,” he’s not sold on going fast from beginning to end. “It’s all about trying to gain an advantage,” he said. I think it’s good in situations. If you’re going up and down the field and scoring points, it’s fine; but if you’re not, you’re turning the ball over to the other team’s offense quicker and it hurts your defense. I like it situationally. The game is about spreading people out now; the days of lining up with a basic tight end, flanker, I-back and slamming the ball 30 times (is past). People wouldn’t put eight or nine guys up to stop run; now they do. But Chip Kelly says they didn’t go to that offense (at Oregon) to throw the ball; they did it to run the ball.”

Make no mistake about it, things still begin with Ross Scheuerman, who has 1,200 net yards rushing and 2,558 all-purpose yards in his first two seasons. “He’s getting better and better, and the only thing that held him back at the end of last season was that hip pointer,” Tavani said. “But he’s feeling better and the inside reads, and with his speed and power, we can use him many ways.” Greg Kessel, who is now listed at 248 pounds, is listed second on the depth chart right now, even though he had only two net yards rushing in 2012. He had 11 touches – six rushes, five pass receptions – and scored three touchdowns. “He runs faster than you think and he is a brute,” said Tavani, who could also use him as a pass protector-outlet receiver. Greg Rabb came to Easton at 240 pounds; he is now down to 217, and he’ll get a chance to show if he might be the power back the Leopards have been looking for. Deuce Gruden has been moved to RB, and while he is only 182 pounds, he’s also only 5-6 (maybe); and, shame on me but I remember a Lehigh running back by the name of Ronald Jean who played way above his stature some years back. And Tavani is touting  freshman Kyle Mayfield out of North Penn as another power guy. This position looks great to me.

I would have thought this was Kessel’s domain, but if he remains at TB, and if Pat Creahan doesn’t make a better impression than last year, look for rising sophomore Dan Dellovade  to move right in. Tavani says Dellovade, who is another 240-pounder, bowls people over. That would be a big asset on some of those third- and fourth-and-ones that have often been a sore spot for the offense. Tavani said he also wants to get a look at another sophomore, Freddie Hess, too.

Because three of the starters will be new, this position looks like one where some youngsters – and I’m talking about freshmen – will have a chance to make an immediate difference. You won’t see the names Robin Cepeda, Matt Rothrock or Collin Albershardt on the two-deep chart – in fact, none of the incoming scholarship class is on the list. But Coach T’s eyes lit up when he mentioned those names. So, we’ll have to wait until this summer. In the meantime, Steve Mercado, who was the defensive scout team MVP for 2012, Darius Glover and Shane Dorner will get the first shots. Tavani really seemed to like rising sophomores Ryan Sanders and Bobby DiPietro, too. James Coscia has gotten bigger over the winter. I see big improvement coming in this area before September rolls around.

A Terrible Party of Opportunistic Mediocres

Sometimes when people lose hope in politics and its practitioners, it is only fair to understand and empathise with them. For it is becoming quite embarrassing to see our country in this quagmire after 56 years of political independence. Where did we go wrong at all as a nation? Our forebears, especially the “Big Six” namely, Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah, Emmanuel Obetsebi Lamptey, Edward Akufo-Addo, Ebenezer Ako Adjei, William Ofori Atta, and Kwame Nkrumah struggled to free us from political bondage at the peril of their lives. They made these sacrifices just to ensure that you and I take control of our own destiny, and of our own resources in order to live a better life than them.

Right from the independence, the first president, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah set the pace for our industrial take-off. The Akosombo Dam with its hydro-electric power was built likewise the Tema township, and other manufacturing industries. We had our own national courier, the Ghana Airways, our own ship, the Black Star line. Nkrumah envisaged that Ghana could strike oil one day hence the construction of Tema Oil Refinery to refine our crude oil. But what happened to our success story afterwards, my dear reader?

Instead of expanding our industrial base, the PNDC led by Jerry Rawlings did exactly the opposite. After killing innocent Ghanaians, including High Court judges, former Heads of State, and bringing many businesses to a halt, Rawlings sold over 300 hundred public-sector companies outright and privatised the rest but could not account for the $335m realised from the sales. The Kumasi Jute Factory, the Black Star line, the Meridian and City Hotels, Pwalugu Tomato factory etc never saw the light of the day. His own wife, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings became a direct beneficiary of the Nsawam Food Cannery. By the time he removed the letter “P” from the PNDC and left power in 2001, all that Ghana could boast of were dilapidated classrooms without trained teachers and tools, cash and carry system, Value Added Tax, Academic Facility User fees, high interest rate, and massive unemployment among the youth. What was most serious of all the social ills was the serial killings of our women. In a nutshell, Ghana had to join the Heavily Indebted and Poor Countries’ (HIPC) initiative in 2002, an indication of a wasted 19 years of our independence through the P/NDC.

Fortunately for Ghanaians the New Patriotic Party (NPP) under the able leadership of His Excellency, John Agyekum Kufuor was able to put things right. The discovery of oil in commercial quantities, the construction of Bui Dam and major trunk roads, the implementation of many pro- poor policies – NHIS, free maternal care, no doubt made Ghana not only a recipient of $547m from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, but also a participant of all G-8 Summits between 2001 and 2009. By the time the NPP handed over power to the NDC in 2009, Ghanaians were enjoying electricity and all other utilities to the maximum. Drinking water was not a problem and neither did people queue for gas to fill their cylinders. Sensing the imminent danger to the Akosombo hydro-electric power as a result of low rainfall in 2007, the visionary Kufuor solicited for funds to construct the $622m Bui Dam, and provided all the financial and technical assistance for Togbe Afede XIV to start the Asogli Power Plant. So why blame the NPP for the current energy crisis?

Having wasted 24 out of the 56 years of our independence, one expected the P/NDC to blame itself for its own mess. With our country being immersed with streams, rivers, waterfalls, underground water, and lakes, notwithstanding our closeness to the sea, why should Ghanaians struggle everyday for common water?Today, gas and electricity cannot be provided for the citizenry in spite of the high utility tariffs and the high level of water in the Akosombo dam. If this is not as a result of bad leadership, what else can we say? Ghana’s economy is in tatters as every Tom, Dick and Harry is affected by poverty. The only people who are probably exempted from this hardship are those in the NDC because they seem to defend the government irrespective of its abysmal performance. All the social interventions implemented by the NPP administration are malfunctioning. Expectant mothers cannot access the free maternal care, acids are being thrown on political opponents, and high taxes are being imposed on basic food items. Our currency, the Ghana cedi, has a few metres to overtake Usain Bolt-the fastest man in the world even in an atmosphere of single digit inflation. The price of petrol, which they promised to reduce to 2 Ghana cedis has jumped from 3 Ghana cedis per gallon in 2009 to 9.3 Ghana cedis amidst frequent shortages. Our cities are still filthy with many people dying as a result of cholera outbreak. This sad situation makes a mockery of the NDC’s promise of clearing all cities of filth within 100 days into office. Seriously, the frequent power outages (dumso dumso) have brought untold hardship to the small-scaled industries and one wonders how this government intends to create jobs through foreign direct investment. When Ghana began to experience complete darkness on three occasions, excluding the black out at the Baba Yara stadium during the Black Stars World Cup qualifier, the NDC was not proactive enough to put measures in place to forestall our current predicament. Is it not a sign of short-sightedness on the part of the current leadership?

Presently, our public funds are being misappropriated and misapplied as if there is no tomorrow for our children. Expensive vehicles are being used to entice voters, $20m to build party headquarters, and $250m for military jets, though we are not at war with Iraq. The amount devoted for the payment of fraudulent judgement debts could empower millions of market women to expand their businesses to generate further revenue for the state. Just a few days ago $1m has been given to a “weed” smoker, Chris Brown, and plans are far-advanced to erect a statue in honour of Kwame Nkrumah. The over $48m devoted for Nkrumah’s birthday was not enough for this visionless and insensitive NDC government. They do not even have sympathy for our university graduates who cannot access jobs. For the past 12 years, a poor country like Ghana has been giving her Parliamentarians $20,000, $50,000, and GHC50,000 for car loans and rent allowance respectively. As to how many MPs have repaid such loans, it is still a mystery for us to unravel. The numerous ex-gratias to the E.T. Mensahs, Doe Adjahos and other Metusella MPs cannot be recounted. In sum, there is no hope and absolutely no direction for Ghana towards the attainment of economic independence under this present government. Our politicians are unable to provide the ordinary citizens with basic necessities of life – water, electricity, clinics, good roads, shelter, and market for our agricultural commodities to justify their huge salaries. You only hear about parliamentary consensus when the issue at stake revolves around car loans, accommodation, salary, or offices.

In the name of multi-partisan politics, any corrupt presidential candidate such as John Mahama could deceive the electorate with sugar-coated words. The electorate in turn would give their collective power to one person as their leader. Then as a nation, we make sure such a person sleeps comfortably in a presidential palace with his family. He never gets stuck in traffic because of the presidential motorcade so how does he solve the problem of congestion in the cities? He drives in the best of cars, ironing of his clothes, food, drinks, water, and medical care are paid for by the poor taxpayer. So how does he understand poverty? Unfortunately, an incompetent leader like John Mahama is paid 4m cedis a day which translates to 120million old cedis every month as his salary. We still plead with him not to pay any tax on his income but the poor iced-water seller is forced to pay tax as a responsible citizen. He flies in a presidential jet anyhow and gets free travel and risk allowances even on his holidays in South Africa so how does solve motor accidents? Whilst he sleeps and snores, and produces children as he wishes, the country puts able-bodied men as security to guide and guard him. Therefore, he has no knowledge about how to tackle armed robbery in the society. Fortunately for him, all the cost of his education from the kindergarten level to the university level was paid by the state so how does he sympathise with the poor subsistence farmer who pays astronomical school fees? He never struggled to become an MP, a deputy minister, minister, Vice President and president. His brother owns a private jet and nearly collapsed Merchant Bank. The oil revenue keeps coming; cocoa, timber, and other minerals still command high prices at the World Market. Our National Debt stock is hovering around GHC33.5bn due to excessive borrowing. His bank account is full so how does John Mahama sympathise with the poor?

But all that we request from John Mahama as citizens of this country is that, he should THINK and initiate policies to make our lives better as enshrined in his own “Better Ghana” agenda. Regrettably, the past 4 years has been a disaster as far as our quest to build on the gains of our forebears are concerned. A simple distribution of free school uniforms to only 12 million pupils has been a mirage. Four (4) years down the line, the elimination of the so-called 4,000 “schools under trees” has become a burden. Besides, pupils in the basic schools are yet to be hooked unto the school feeding programme. For over 4 years the Eastern and Western Corridor roads continue to feature in every State of the Nation Address, budget statement, and campaign messages. SADA, which was supposed to bridge the poverty gap between the North and the South has now given way to $10bn Hope City project in Accra. For 4 years not a single minister of state or public official has declared any asset, as we were told to witness within 6 months into office of the NDC government. For 4 years, the freedom of information bill is still on the drawing board; and the NDC is yet to find the killers of Ya Na and his elders. For 4 years the NDC is yet to transfer administrative functions such as company registration and passport processing to the District level as explicitly stated in the party’s manifesto. For 4 years they are yet to support small businesses in the trades (mechanics, electricians, drivers, hairdressers, dressmakers, masons, plumbers, carpenters and others) with credit and training. For 4 years, the NDC is yet to improve the capacity of small-scale operations and reduce illegal galamsey which is now in the hands of Chinese. For 4 years they are yet to give Ghanaians a national courier like the Ghana International Airlines and refund the passengers’ airfares to them. So how do we believe John Mahama when he says he would build 250 SHSs and 10 Colleges of Education? Why is he silent on the proposed one-time premium? Why is he not talking about the 10% oil revenue to the people of Western Region and what happened to the 200,000 affordable houses from the STX Korea deal?

American Indian Pop Art sizzles at All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis

That’s what some contemporary American Indian artists claim that pop culture is doing to their heritage, and they’re not amused. Their critique of the broader culture rolls out in “Make It Pop,” a sassy, savvy little show of paintings, drawings, sculpture and ornaments on view through May 4 at All My Relations Gallery in south Minneapolis. The most effective criticisms arrive in clever, meticulously executed designs buttressed with smart, informative labels. While the show’s quality is uneven, its high points argue provocatively that these are all talents to watch.

Vegas showgirls have probably always worn feathered plumage, but flaunting a chief’s floor-length feathered bonnet is “In-Appropriate,” as Frank Buffalo Hyde titles his painting of a curvaceous woman sporting the headgear above a leopard-spotted bikini bottom and turquoise jewelry. A pale-skinned bronco buster with war paint streaking his cheeks, and a black dude wearing star-spangled shades and a red-white-and-blue feathered headdress are likewise “In-Appropriate,” as is an “Indian” princess with blond hair and a beaded headband.

As Hyde, a Nez Percé/Onondaga, observes in an accompanying text, such images “do not pay homage to the indigenous people of North America” but are “Red-Face racism that is effortlessly marketed to the masses.” Taking the show’s most uncompromising position, he insists that Indians can only win “this conflict of idea versus ideal … when we own our own image.”

Cannupa Hanska Luger deftly skewers non-natives’ stereotypes of American Indian culture and dress. His ceramic sculptures, shaped like boomboxes, are embellished with fur-wrapped handles, leather toggles and feathered headdresses. One was inspired by an Edward Curtis photo of Sitting Bull that Luger claims was inaccurately posed. Another references the way Hollywood hipster Drew Barrymore affected faux native dress. A third alludes to pop singer Gwen Stefani and her band No Doubt, which he says offended native audiences in 2012 with a video performance as an oversexed “Hollywood Indian.”

In his eloquent commentary, Luger complains that popular media riffle through stereotypical images from native culture as if they were “public domain,” available for unlimited use by anyone. His own sculptures use those signifiers — fur, feathers, fringe — so reverentially that it would be difficult to see the sculptures as critiques were it not for his explanations.

Most of the artists are less ideological. Wisconsin native Jodi Webster merely raises a bemused eyebrow at the cross-cultural stew that is contemporary America. Sympathetic affection suffuses her beautiful drawings of a sweet-faced boy wearing a basketball jersey with leggings, feathered headdress and bandolier bag and a winsome girl in a Hello Kitty T-shirt and native-patterned skirt. Like all Americans, Indian kids, too, have a right to play as they wish and shape their identities as they choose, she seems to suggest.

Far from criticizing multicultural borrowings, Rose B. Simpson produced three handsome constructions in homage to her own heroes — a rapper, an actress and a graphic artist. With a nod to the “good and bad of Indian Gaming, ” jewelry designer Pat Pruitt created a scary looking “Wampum Belt” garnished with stainless steel flowers, casino chips and dice.

Other artists are less ambivalent about the larger culture. Heidi Brandow’s resin-coated collages offer wry commentary on gender stereotypes. Micah Wesley riffs on eagles as a national symbol. Doug Miles — the impresario behind Apache Skateboards — adapts graffiti and manga cartoon styles for a tribute to tough women. Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano collaborate on traditional pottery enlivened with modern figurative motifs. Jason Garcia offers a sweet ceramic tile hand-painted with a girl daydreaming of Starbucks coffee.

What is zero waste? In manufacturing zero waste's goal is to reuse left over materials from the manufacturing of products, putting them back into the process to manufacture new products. Zero waste can also be carried out when a manufacturer of a product that is recyclable takes it back to its facility to reuse recycled product in the production of a new similar product. This closely resembles circular economy, but not completely, because all older products cannot be brought back for feed for reproduction, due to possible hazardous and toxic contaminants, asbestos being one.

The construction industry is continuously toiling to bring construction and demolition debris to zero waste to reduce, reuse, recycle, and salvage, but the construction industry is only accomplishing a 95% recycling rate. Again, hazardous and toxic wastes, like asbestos, are one of the problems standing in the way of 100% recycling.

Although recycling and zero waste are becoming a way of life, to get to zero waste takes hard work and constant diligent-awareness of how to avoid creating waste.

Recycling will continue to eliminate waste to the landfill, especially in the construction debris area. This was proven to me when I met the chief environmental engineer for the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), Thomas Abdallah, who is faced with a herculean challenge of dealing daily with a subway system that is more than 100 years old. How Abdallah sleeps at night, I haven't been able to figure out. As I got to know Abdallah, I found him to be a "in the present thinker" but always looking to the future of how to improve the system and how to eliminate wastes, like asbestos, that are a constant pain. Abdallah recently told me that in the last renovation project he recycled 95% of the construction debris.

Rock of Ages Still Breaking Records On Broadway

They surely never imagined the show would still be selling out about 90 percent of its seats four years later and if you asked them why it worked so well, the only honest answer is "Who knows!" A recent visit to the show found it in typical form for a long-running hit -- perhaps a little flabby (just like many audience members, including myself) but clearly offering what people expect: a cascade of '80s pop-rock hits (heavy emphasis on hair metal bands like Whitesnake and Poison) and a boy-meets-girl storyline just cause you have to have a story as an excuse for the songs, dude! The theater that night was apparently sold out almost entirely to employees of a company taking its team on a junket so they were even more rambunctious than usual, especially after the show worked in a quick joking reference to the company's business.

You can't help pondering what elements of "the best night on Broadway" -- as their ads cannily tout this crowd-pleaser -- have helped it hit such rarified heights. Most people would begin with the roster of familiar hits that fill the show -- songs like Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" and Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and Europe's "The Final Countdown." Amusingly, "Cum On Feel The Noize" is here and Americans will think of Quiet Riot while in London they surely recall the original smash hit by Slade. But lots of jukebox musicals have famous catalogs but close quickly. If all you needed were familiar songs, this spring's Motown The Musical will run for 20 years.

But my first choice for the most essential elements of the show are the scantily clad women. The female chorus and lots of the actresses are dressed in sexy, cute clothes, whether waitressing at the Bourbon Room where our hero is hoping to become a famous rock star (after he finishes cleaning out the bathrooms and taking out the garbage) or at the strip club where they head when acting doesn't quite pan out. Broadway caters heavily to women (they make up 60 percent of theatergoers in a typical season) so shows like Jersey Boys and this that can appeal to men without alienating women are manna from heaven. You can just see the guys in the audience watching the girls in their naughty outfits dancing and singing "I Hate Myself For Loving You" and thinking to themselves, this Broadway isn't so bad.

Then there's the gay subplot, which reminds the audience, hey this is a Broadway show after all. It's a bait and switch, actually. The son of a German developer who wants to tear down the Bourbon Room for a strip mall seems gay and proudly displays more spandex than Olivia Newton-John in the "Let's Get Physical" video. He seems like jokey gay comic relief until the lad insists, "No, I'm not gay. I'm just German!"

It turns out the real gay subplot involves the two regular, middle aged guys who run the bar. They finally declare their love for each other by singing REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling" to raucous applause and laughter at the performance I attended. (The laughter is over silly choreography the cast indulges in.) It's a canny choice of song. Something like an Air Supply tune might have been too much like mocking them; but a cooler song might have spoiled some memories. Even in the pantheon of 80s pop-rock hits, REO Speedwagon falls comfortably in the anonymous middle -- catchy enough to be recognized but not "important" enough to ruffle any feathers.

But I think one key element seems almost like a throw-away at the very end. The show finale (before they all sing Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'") involves a run-down of what happens to the various characters. Their fate -- almost always happy -- is revealed along with the comforting aside that "they're still rocking!" And what happened to our hero with dreams of being a rock star and his girlfriend Sherrie who dreamed of being an actress? Their dreams of fame didn't come true. Turns out they live in suburbia and have a kid. But the show quickly reassures us that sometimes the dreams you arrive with aren't the dreams you leave with and, hey, they're still rocking!

So a show about rock stars and wannabes ultimately celebrates making a regular life for yourself and not getting all worked up over what might have been or never could be. It's a comforting message for people who may have been in a band in high school or performed in a play or two in college and wondered "what if." And even if you never dreamt of fame, you can at least sing along to all the hits.

Still, my two favorite moments came out in the lobby. Right before the end of act one, that's where I spotted one of the staff members by the bar (surely an aspiring actor) singing along and recreating the moves on stage that were happening right at that moment. Then heading downstairs to the restroom I saw walls lined with rock photos and posters...and in pride of place, a large oil painting of Helen Hayes, the first lady of the American theater. Draped over one corner of the frame? A pink bra.

“The purpose was that there are local artists in the community and to the extent that being able to display their art in Town Hall helped them to publicize their work, we thought it was a good idea,” said Hampstead Mayor Chris Nevin.

According to Lorena Vaccare, administrative assistant for the town of Hampstead, the opening of the space for artists last year was actually a continuation of what had once been a common practice; the Town Hall space had previously been open to artists from 1999 until 2007.

Neither Vaccare nor Nevin knew why there was a break in exhibitions between 2007 and 2012, as neither was directly involved in the project at the time, but Vaccare said it may have been due to a lack of interest, which is why a present drop off in interest is worrisome.

“When we first started up the space in Town Hall last year, the interest was wonderful. Artists left and right were booking contacts but then interest waned. We would really like to get more artists in there,” Vaccare said.

According to Vaccare, there are presently two artists exhibiting at the Town Hall and they have had their work up for several months since no one else has yet come forward to request the space.

One of those artists presently exhibiting their work is Gail Mancha of Glen Rock, Pa., who paints still life and landscape subjects in oil and watercolor.

Mancha first exhibited her work last June and was surprised to have the opportunity for another, and extend showing, considering what an opportunity her first exhibition had been for her in terms of sales and exposure.

The problems with video game writing and what we can do to help

Video games: the newest, hippest, fastest growing entertainment medium in the world. More profitable than movies, by some estimates. They're mainstream now, don't you know. Your grandparents are probably playing them. We've moved on from the semi-mythical days when playing video games on your Commodore 64 would get you beaten up at school.

And yet while games continue to change and evolve in the breadth of gameplay experiences they offer (not always in positive ways, it needs to be said) the quality of video game storytelling has stagnated or even receded in the past decade and a half. Counter-examples to this trend can be found on every platform for every year, but they continue to be bright, shining pinnacles rising above a sea of mediocrity.

As someone who loves both games and well crated, original stories this situation has always bothered me. Over the years I've discovered that the problems in video game writing can usually be broken down into a handful of distinct flaws, many of them stemming from one original sin. In this post I'll go through them and then offer some constructive advice on how we as consumers can help to rectify the situation.

Note: for the purposes of this post I am mostly talking about western made games published professionally for retail, either in stores or downloadable, ie what most would consider the current "mainstream" of gaming in the America and Europe. Japanese developed and indie games have their own writing flaws, but they tend to be quite different.

"There are no new stories" is a phrase that often gets trotted out when it comes to writing. The intent of the statement is that certain genres tend to follow the same basic template- for example, romance will always involve people falling in love - so the writer must try to handle it in an interesting way. It does not mean that every story that could ever be told already has been and so we might as well stop trying to be original.

Nobody appears to have informed video game writers of this, because by God are they taking the concept at face value.

Picture the following scenario: you play as a lone agent operating in a dangerous situation. You're acting not on your own initiative, but according to the instructions of someone else isolated from the action. Maybe you return to a central location between missions, or perhaps your contact is a distant voice over a radio. You fight through hordes of bad guys and finally take out the villain. What happens next?

If you're at all familiar with video game narratives- if you've played even a handful of prominent games over the last five years- you should have been able to instantly guess the plot twist: the entire mission was a ruse designed to play into the hands of your mission control, who betrays you in order to further their own sinister agenda. You must then hunt them down to get revenge/rescue your love interest/stop the world from exploding. This has gotten so bad that when I played Dishonored last year I correctly guessed that the Royalist conspiracy was going to double cross me before I even bought the game. I spent two-thirds of Mark of The Ninja waiting for my ninja master to play his hand and reveal himself to be an asshole. It's like game writers have gotten it into their heads that this is just how you write a story, that if they crack open the Bible there'll be a bit halfway through Revelations where God turns out to be Satan in disguise and Jesus has to go on a one-man crusade to kick him out of heaven.

I think Bioshock is to blame for all of this. It used this formula so well that everyone rushed to copy it without realizing how much effort Irrational put into pulling it off. Did you know they went through several different accents for Atlas before making him Irish? They got test audiences to play through the opening of the game specifically looking for a voice players would trust, just to make sure the twist would completely blindside them. There are hints scattered throughout the game that he isn't who he appears to be, but they're subtle and very easy to miss if you aren't paying attention.

Now Irrational are making Bioshock Infinit,e and according to interviews with Ken Levine they decided not to go with the "voice over the radio" format partially because they knew players would spend the entire game waiting to be double crossed or to have it revealed that their unseen ally is actually a three headed sentient venus fly-trap. The twist has become so ubiquitous that it's impossible to pull off successfully. Gamers are going to expect it even if it's not in the game.

This is far from the only way videogame story-telling endlessly recycles familiar tropes, of course. There's the old Damsel in Distress scenario that's been going on since the early days of the medium, widely recognized as outdated and sexist but still a staple of the industry. Amnesiac heroes have decreased in frequency but still linger on as a cheap source of mystery. The rise of the gun as gaming's sacred totem has brought with it hordes of faceless soldiers hell-bent on destroying everything in their path for no obvious reason (Killzone, Gears of War, Resistance, Call of Duty, Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3, Medal of Honour, Medal of Honour: Warfighter, every Mass Effect game, damn near any game made this generation that involves holding a firearm). "There are zombies" is of course a concept that became over-used almost as soon as it appeared on the scene, now only considered acceptable when it's paired with innovative gameplay concepts or a story that's widely championed as among the best in the industry.

Sometimes developers decide that their characters shouldn't be empty cyphers, that they should have personalities. Horrible, horrible personalities.

I don't know why so many games force us to play as assholes. They snarl and scowl through all of their lines, they have no setting between "off" and "angry". They don't have friends, they have people they won't punch or murder on sight. Most of the time, anyway.

The violent sociopath that is Kratos in the second and third God of War games may be the worst example of this, but there are plenty of others. Sam Fisher, Jak in the post-Jak and Daxter games, Cole from InFamous, Nico Belic, what's his face from GTAIII, Wei Shen from Sleeping Dogs.....

Most of these characters are supposed to be conflicted or multi-faceted. I get that. You can write characters who are unlikable on many levels but still ultimately someone we can relate to and empathize with. Case in point- James Marston of Red Dead Redemption. We spend a lot of time at the start of the game not really sure what to think of the guy. He has a history of violence and a short temper, but he's also polite and corteous to ordinary people. We see him go out of his way to help people in danger but we also see him try to shoot someone for annoying him. He's got different sides to him and not all of them are good, but there's an underlying sense of something decent trying to come through. When he acts like an asshat it's tragic because we know he's trying to be someone better, and under the tough veneer he is better.

No pause to think in a world that's in touch while on the go

I confess to a having an old fogey's ambivalence towards mobile phones. There are times when it suits me to keep in touch, but most of the time I don't want a phone taking over my life - or even interrupting it. And I figure I'm old and odd enough to get away with rarely using one.

But of all the amazing things going on in the digital revolution - the spread of computers, the internet, the declining cost of telecommunications - nothing is more remarkable than the growing ubiquity of the mobile.

According to a report by Ric Simes and John O'Mahony of Deloitte Access Economics, ''it is undeniable that mobile telecommunications are altering the way the world conducts business''.

Now, the report says, everything digital is going mobile: software, the internet, the cloud and social media.

What are young people doing when you see them incessantly fiddling with their phones? They may be playing games, but they're more likely to be checking emails or reviewing their ''twitter feed''.

Do you realise that we 23 million Australians now use more than 30 million mobile services? As well as phones, this would include tablets such as iPads and the dongles that link laptop computers to the internet.

Because the sales of the mobile telecommunications industry have largely been driven by increasing subscriptions, this penetration rate of well over 100 per cent means the industry's sales are faltering. Last financial year they actually fell by 1.5 per cent. The report predicts no sales growth in real terms this year, with a modest recovery in 2013-14.

But just because sales revenue has stagnated doesn't mean the use of mobiles isn't continuing to balloon. In 2011, mobile broadband traffic averaged 8.8 petabytes a month. Cisco Systems predict this will grow by 68 per cent a year until 2016.

It's worth noting that if industry revenue is stagnant while usage continues to explode, the use of mobiles is becoming cheaper.

It may help make sense of all this to know that, according to Ericsson, voice calls now make up only a quarter of the time people spend on their mobile devices. In June 2009, less than 10 per cent of people used the internet via a handset; three years later, almost a third did.

Old fogeys like me think email and mobiles are a very mixed blessing in terms of the efficient use of our time, but the report argues valiantly that they increase the productivity of businesses.

Mobile technology can improve the productivity of employees by allowing communication on the go. Workers who are travelling can be in touch with others in the office by making calls as well as by sending and receiving emails. They can use their mobiles to access information on the internet.

Mobiles allow workers to make more productive use of down time. Time previously underutilised because of lack of access to a desktop computer is no longer so. Smartphones and tablets can be used to review documents and make changes without being in the office.

Some applications (or apps) can increase productivity. ''Voice notes'' allow people to store audio information, calendar apps help with time management and various apps allow you to streamline repetitive tasks. And as well as increasing the productivity of labour, mobiles can make capital equipment more productive. Desktop computers can be replaced by laptops or sometimes smartphones. Employees can be allowed to bring their own laptops or mobiles.

If mobiles and laptops allow more people to work at home, businesses can save on office space. Retailers who sell more over the internet can save on the cost of bricks and mortar, or store more of their stock in warehouses rather than city shops.

To its credit, the report considers those implications rather than ignoring them, as economists and business people tend to. On the plus side, it notes that, for the individual, mobile devices offer not just communication but ''rich digital experiences on the go'' - photos, music, games, location-based services (such as getting directions to a place), maps, the internet and the millions of features offered by apps. And all this fits in your pocket.

But being always contactable can make you feel ''always on''. And Hugh Mackay, the social researcher, offers a more sceptical perspective: ''You have this sense of continuous connection; it's like being in a strand of a web which is continually vibrating. Part of this feeling of being in a 'cyber crowd' is illusory, but some of it is real; it is important to note that some of this tribalism is purely cyber . . .

From just two guys at rented desks to a $715 million sale to Facebook, a second wind on Android and a mess of privacy scares, Instagram today announced 100 million people use it every month to share the way they see the world. The startup hedged its bets by being acquired just as it expanded beyond iOS, but despite what it could have sold for now, there’s no disputing Instagram’s success.

In a heartfelt blog post that smooths over the rough patches, co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom explains the journey to building an app that’s created “a world more connected and understood through photographs.”

The untold story is that Instagram made a tough decision right after its April 3rd launch on Android. Before that it had 30 million installs on iOS. Whether it would succeed outside of the design-focused iPhone was a gamble. It could have flopped, attrition could have set in, and it was still small enough to be vulnerable to competitors. So despite racking up 1 million new users in the first 12 hours, there was a lot to lose. $1 billion (at the time) in cash and stock from Facebook for a company with just 13 employees was too good to pass up, so it sold.

If Systrom had foreseen what would happen next, he may have held out longer. The Android app maintained its sprint, and the iPhone version continued to pick up steam. Even without much help from Facebook, and in fact despite Facebook’s own competitor Camera, the Instagram juggernaut could not be stopped.

At over three times as many users now as when it sold, and seemingly beyond quick disruption, would Instagram have sold for $2 billion or even $3 billion today? Would anyone have been willing to pay that? Remember this was when fervor was frothy for the coming Facebook IPO. Social companies still saw going public as a lucrative option.

But Systrom chose to become a made-man (and make made-men out of many of his employees), rather than roll the dice. He chose greater impact by aligning with the world’s premier social network over total control. He still runs Instagram somewhat independently from Facebook, so he may be getting to have his cake and eat it too.

The Ten Best National Park Webcam Sites In America

They allow armchair travelers to follow activity outside a Dublin pub, monitor traffic on San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, and check on what’s happening at the International Space Station. Webcams also provide windows on nature, some of the best of which comes by way of cameras stationed in our national parks.

Below are ten of our favorite sites for viewing activities and scenery in our national parks (click on the park's name to go to their webcam sites). Most provide access to several webcams that cover a range of impressive views throughout a park. For example, eight webcams in Glacier National Park offer views from both the east and west sides of the park. A streaming webcam in Yellowstone allows viewers to follow Old Faithful’s eruptions in real time. A cam on the Statue of Liberty torch focuses on the picturesque New York skyline.

Webcam junkies will be familiar with the occasional electrical or mechanical problems that can result in downtime, sometimes for extended periods. Repairing the cameras is not always a high priority on a park’s maintenance list. In addition, cameras in remote locations or locations with particularly severe winters may occasionally be taken out of service.

Views from many of the Western parks vary depending upon the season. Rugged summer mountain peaks become majestic snow-covered mountains during the heart of winter. Snow and ice may occasionally adhere to the camera lens and obscure views during winter months. Still, viewing a location like Mount Rainier’s Paradise area in February can be awesome on a clear day.

During winter the webcam focused toward the Steel Visitor Center is likely to display the building buried in snow. This isn’t surprising because this national park annually averages over 44 feet of snow that remains visible much of the year. Portions of Rim Road that circles beautiful Crater Lake may close in October and not open until late June. A link near the bottom of the page provides access to additional webcams of Rim Village and Crater Lake.

The Tetons are considered by many travelers to be the most picturesque mountain range in the lower 48 states. This site offers three webcams, one with views of the Teton Range from West Gros Ventre Butte. A second cam provides a view of Climbers Ranch, a lodging facility for mountain climbers near Jenny Lake. The third webcam offers a view from Lost Creek Ranch on the east side of the park. The Tetons are especially beautiful at sunrise on a clear morning.

This scenic and uncrowded northern California park has been one of our favorite stops since our first visit in the early 1970s. Even many Californians don’t seem to know much about Lassen which is fine by us. The site offers three webcams in different areas of the park. The view of Lassen Peak from the Manzanita Lake area is particularly spectacular. Lassen last erupted in 1915. Another cam offers a good view to the north from the visitor center.

The Mount Rainier site provides access to six webcams in the Paradise area and one in the Longmire area where park headquarters is located. During summer, a webcam provides views of the Sunrise area. Paradise offers spectacular views of picturesque Mount Rainier during summer and some amazing views during the winter when 70 to 90 feet of snow can cover most of historic Paradise Inn.

This busy Colorado park offers four webcams, including one that provides a view of the park’s best-known feature, 14,259-foot high Longs Peak. A seasonal cam at the Alpine Visitor Center offers views of Fall River Canyon and the Mummy Mountains. Another webcam on the park’s west side provides a view of the Never Summer Range where the Colorado River begins.

Access to five interactive webcams (zoom in and out) at the Statue of Liberty requires a one-time log in. Four of the webcams are located in the Statue’s torch, with one offering a view inside the torch, an area closed to the general public. Another focuses downward toward the ground where visitors may be walking. One webcam is aimed across the harbor to show the New York City skyline, an amazingly beautiful scene on a clear night. A panoramic harbor view is available on another cam. The fifth cam, located in Brooklyn, provides a full view of the Statue of Liberty and frequently shows boats chugging by or airplanes flying over.

The Yellowstone site opens windows on the world's first national park and includes a live-streaming webcam of Old Faithful Geyser, along with other steaming geysers in the background. An eruption of another geyser or the appearance of bison will likely cause the webcam to change direction and focus for a better view. Two additional webcams in the Old Faithful area include one that provides a view of Upper Geyser Basin. The site also includes webcams at Mammoth Hot Springs near the park’s northern entrance and in the Mount Washburn area.

Yosemite has one of the best national park webcam sites with seven webcams providing views of this popular park. The majority of webcams are focused on features in the valley, such as Upper Yosemite Falls. Half Dome can be seen in three webcams: viewed from the valley floor‘s east side; from an elevation of 8,000 feet with the surrounding mountains; and with El Capitan in the foreground. The scenes are especially beautiful when scenery glistens in the afternoon sun. Additional webcams are on Turtleback Dome looking to the west of the valley and near the Merced River at Happy Isles. The park’s concessionaire operates a webcam that offers a good view of the Badger Pass Ski Area.

PIMS in deplorable condition

Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (PIMS), the largest public hospital of the federal capital, is in a pathetic condition because of the unhygienic environment, lack of burning incinerators and basic facilities like beds, latest medical equipments and an adequate amount of staff.

Talking to Pakistan Today, patients complained that many sick and injured people were not getting the care that they needed because of a massive shortage of medical equipments, beds and doctors, which undermined the quality of healthcare in the hospital.

A senior member of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) told Pakistan Today that there was no burning incinerator in the hospital while the MRI machines and oxygen flow meters of medical wards were dysfunctional since the last three years.

“The patients here are advised to approach private outlets for common medical tests,” he said.

He admitted that because of the shortage of beds, patients are usually discharged prematurely and thus face the danger of relapsing.

“Over 80 percent of the people have no medical aid, and have no choice but to seek treatment at PIMS which lacks basic facilities of beds, medicines and staff,” he maintained.

Ramiz Mugal, a 70 years heart patient from Mianwali said that the hospital’s laboratory had no proper equipment and was unable to carry out reliable tests.

“We are compelled to go to private laboratories in the blue area,” he added.

The YDA leader further said, "There is no proper ventilation system for the air-conditioning system in the emergency ward. This results in emanation of a bad odour. The toilets were in a deplorable condition and were source of infection. Scores of patients use them daily and these are not even cleaned twice a week"

The General Report Section, where only three staff members were setting, told Pakistan Today that doctors work on 12-hour shifts and had to treat around 1,700 patients in this time. Many patients in the emergency wards were not given proper care due to lack of proper facilities.

A huge number of people from far flung rural areas of Punjab could also be seen at every section of the hospital, particularly outside the X-ray and ultrasound rooms where only two out of four X-ray machines were operational in the evening due to lack of staff. Therefore, patients and their attendants had to wait for hours to get their test report.

A shortage of staff such as nursing assistants, cleaners and porters meant that nurses often had to carry, wash and feed patients, which kept them from nursing responsibilities.

Meanwhile, all the wards and departments of the largest public hospital in Islamabad gave a dirty look due to irregular cleanliness, while Out-Patient Department (OPD), Orthopedic and Neurology Departments, Gyne Ward, Emergency Centre and the laboratory needed urgent attention of the higher authorities.

PIMS spokesman Waseem Khawaja confirmed that there was no burning incinerator and added that the waste was sent to the Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi for disposal. He said the emergency wards, including the operation theater, was equipped with latest machines.

“Nevertheless, it has yet to be determined why these desaturation events occur,” Dr. Brinkman added. “One suggestion is that it may be due to decreases in cardiac output, so we sought to determine its relationship, if any, with cerebral desaturation.”

Dr. Brinkman and his colleagues enrolled 23 patients into the trial, each of whom was undergoing surgery with one-lung ventilation. Cerebral oxygenation was monitored using a cerebral oximeter (Fore-Sight, Casmed) and cardiac indices were measured with the FloTrac system (Edwards Lifesciences).

Each participant underwent a standard anesthetic regimen, with an FiO2 of 1.0 for the duration of the case. Anesthesiologists provided positive end-expiratory pressure and continuous positive airway pressure to the nondependent lung to maintain peripheral oxygen saturations of at least 90%. Serial blood gases were drawn before induction and then every 15 minutes for two hours. A cerebral desaturation event was defined as a decrease of at least 10% from baseline, which was defined as the highest recorded saturation on two-lung ventilation with an FiO2 of 1.0.

As Dr. Brinkman reported at the 2012 annual meeting of the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society (abstract 1310840), data from 18 patients were analyzed; 10 of these patients (55.5%) had significant cerebral desaturation events.

“We didn’t find a statistically significant difference between groups in terms of cardiac output, blood pressure or heart rate,” he told Anesthesiology News. Similarly, there was no correlation between cardiac output, mean arterial pressure, stroke volume, or cardiac index and cerebral desaturation events.

“We also calculated the area under the curve for the amount of time patients were desaturated,” Dr. Brinkman added. “And we showed that heart rate would go down in patients with longer desaturation time, but stroke volume would increase significantly to maintain cardiac output. It was something we didn’t expect to find, but it’s an interesting reflex that hasn’t been shown before, as far as I can tell.” No correlation was found between peripheral arterial saturation and cerebral oxygen saturation.

Dr. Brinkman suggested that future research should focus on outcomes of patients who sustain cerebral desaturation. “And if down the road we show that there is potential for harm in these individuals, then maybe a device like the Fore-Sight needs to be a more standard monitor, even if it’s just in selected high-risk groups.”

Bruce D. Spiess, MD, professor of anesthesiology at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, said physiologic effects of one-lung ventilation are farther reaching than merely a reduction in blood flow to the nonventilated lung.

Point Phillips to reopen in Moore Township

For decades, LeRoy Eckert looked down the hill from his front yard and watched as his birthplace seemed to sink into the water that gathered around its foundations.

By the time it closed five years ago, mud was climbing the Point Phillips Hotel's exterior walls. The business, once known in different circles for its cheesesteaks, video poker machines and barroom brawls, had become a crumbling stack of asphalt shingle siding. The centuries-old tavern it had been — the place where Eckert's parents carved out a living —- had long since dissolved.

Then Dan Tanczos stepped in. In 2008, he sold his interest in a Bethlehem beer distributor and bought the old tavern, namesake of the unincorporated Moore Township village of Point Phillips. Tanczos spent the next five years researching its history, damming the water and buffing the place to a sheen it never had .

In a few weeks, Tanczos says, he'll reopen the hotel as a bar and restaurant with two apartments.

"I'm looking forward to giving the people of this area a nice place to go," he said, pressing his palms to the polished bar he installed in a room where a grocer once sold flour and salt. "Something they can be proud of."

Tanczos, a broad-shouldered guy with a smile stamped above a dimpled chin, hopes visitors will come from all over the Lehigh Valley. But he renovated it — learning how to install floors and Victorian ceiling tiles on the fly — for people like Eckert and himself.

On Aug. 6, 1928, in the same room where Tanczos recently planted his bar, Eckert was born. Growing up, he could step out the front door of his parents' house behind the hotel and find forest and swampland to hunt deer and squirrels. He played shortstop and second base on the old Point Phillips Hotel baseball team. In the bar, his dad served Horlacher, Old Dutch and Neuwiler, three mugs for a quarter. State law required you to offer hotel rooms, so, in six rooms on the second floor, they changed sheets on beds nobody ever slept in.

Since those days, ranchers and Cape Cods have pushed the forest aside. The one-room Point Phillips School, where Eckert learned English and math, closed eons ago. Even the 4-foot-high concrete letters that spelled "Point Phillips" his father installed on the embankment across from the hotel — the town's version of the Hollywood sign — eventually toppled.

When Eckert built the stone house next to the hotel in 1956, his mom asked him to take over running the place. Eckert said no. Tavern ownership wasn't for him. In those days, he explained, the place was pretty rough. Brawls were par for the course for neighborhood bars all over the area, in Petersville and Beersville, for example.

The quickest way to add a fresh look to a room or any part of a home (door or even a floor) is a fresh coat of paint. Every year - paint manufacturers come out with a new color to satisfy whatever trends might be going on. “Neutrals such as C2’s Scout - which is a kind of taupe and Reindeer which is a darker brown, are still popular. But eggplant and lime green are among the trendy colors this year,” said Frank Agrusa, who owns Van Jaarsveld Decorating Center in Utica.

You can also add richness and depth by applying a specialty paint treatment. As one decorator explains Trompe L’oeil is French for an art technique that involves using realistic imagery to create an optical illusion. Instead of rolling out two coats of flat paint you can use several paints to create the look of linen or leather. There are also metallic paints that can be used to create patterns. One of the home office photos on Houzz showed a walls covered with a black paint - once dry becomes a chalkboard surface.

Sculptures, hand blown glass vases, tile work and jewelry sparkled in the sunlight Sunday as people made their way through artists’ displays at Frances Stevens Park.

The three-day Desert Art Festival continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today with more than 100 artists presenting original work in all mediums of two- and three-dimensional art, including paintings in acrylic, oils and watercolors, photography and etchings, all sprawled out on the corner of North Palm Canyon Drive and Alejo Road.

It’s the diversity of art and the quality of the work that keeps festival-goer Marilyn Dorman of Boise, Idaho, coming back, she said, along with the scenery of the surrounding mountains.

She and her daughter, Diane Dorman, also of Boise, were looking over the mixed media work of Fortune Sitole of Oakland.

Sitole’s depictions of life in South Africa are made with recyclable materials — wood, sand, aluminum, oil and acrylic paint, sticks, bottle caps, soup cans, and other objects on a plywood background.

Across the way from Sitole, Marquis Leo of Palm Desert was surrounded by his brightly painted, glossy, ceramic tiles that varied in size from coasters to wall hangings.

The figures on each were painted on canvas first and embedded into the ceramic through a firing process.

Artist Rutherford Chang's "We Buy White Albums" and the origins of fandom

The blog Dust & Grooves has a new interview with the artist Rutherford Chang, who currently has an exhibit showing at Recess gallery in New York called "We Buy White Albums." It consists of Chang's collection of nearly 700 copies of the Beatles' self-titled 1968 double LP, starting with his first one, which he picked up at a garage sale in California as a teenager. The show's set up like a record store devoted entirely to the White Album, with shelves of them sorted by the serial number printed on its original pressing (Chang only collects numbered copies, which he says, "[implies] that it is a limited edition, although one running in excess of 3 million"). Select specimens are displayed on a "staff picks" wall, and the album itself plays perpetually over the "store" stereo. True to the exhibition's title, Chang will buy any numbered copies of the White Album that you bring him.

Chang's obsessively single-minded curatorship has turned up a few interesting facts about the record. For instance, his collection is entirely devoid of copies numbered between 2,700,00 and 2,800,00, which Chang says is "statistically unlikely" and suggests that something weird happened to 100,000 copies of the White Album to keep them off the market. He's also collected a large number of copies with sleeves decorated by their former owners, who seem to have taken Richard Hamilton's brutally minimalist cover art as an invitation to supply their own.

From what I can tell from the D&G post, most of the fan-drawn covers are of around a "stoned doodle" level of execution, but this hand-painted one has its own 70s-mellow charm, and the copy where the previous owner seems to have used it as a kind of countercultural guest book is fairly fascinating. And who can resist the folksy charms of this lovingly rendered portrait of a roach clip?

What's really interesting is how spontaneously emergent it is. If you wrap a Beatles record in a plain white sleeve, a certain percentage of listeners will naturally use it as the platform for their own visual interpretations. Humans raised in the modern media-rich environment seem to almost instinctively want to interact with the cultural artifacts that they love by creating more artifacts in various media. The extent of that drive is only recently becoming clear, as the Internet has begun connecting creatively minded devotees of specific cultural properties into the massive, noncanonical content-generating hive mind known collectively as "fandom."

Modern-day fandom can be remarkably serious and sophisticated, not to mention strange. Hatsune Miku, the computer-generated Japanese pop star, has intensely devoted groupies who write songs and choreograph dance moves for her, and others who design her outfits or create the Hatsune Miku-themed pornography that her owners seem remarkably OK with. And One Direction fan-fiction writers have created a romance between two of the boy-band members that, remarkably, has made the transition into the real world, at least in the minds of some fans.

The Japanese, who remain the gold standard for obsessive fandom, have a name for this:niji sousaku, literally, "secondary creation." But the phenomenon isn't limited to the Japanese. It's cross-cultural, and may be a natural reaction of the human mind to the amount of information it's being fed in Internet-enabled societies. Maybe one day the drive to make niji sousaku will be considered just as much a part of the human condition as the need to make art in the first place. In that case these hand-decorated White Albums might be fandom's equivalent of the cave paintings of Lascaux.

An allergy is defined as an abnormal sensitivity to a substance normally tolerated and generally considered harmless such as pollen, food, drugs or even an insect sting. This means that while some substances are as a rule well tolerated by most people, they can induce an allergic reaction in others, mainly due to the presence of the IgE antibody.

Our immune system can produce five distinct classes of immunoglobulins: IgA, IgG, IgM, IgD and IgE. IgA, IgG and IgM protect our bodies against foreign organisms. Despite its presence in our body in only a minute quantity, IgE is a key player in allergic reactions. The reason why some substances induce IgE production and others do not, or why only some individuals develop an allergic reaction is still not fully understood. However, we do know that genetic predisposition plays a significant role in developing allergies.

Allergic reactions are linked to allergen-IgE- mast cells/basophils and chemical mediators that induce immediate symptoms which can be easily controlled with antihistamine. Typically, sneezing, a runny, itchy nose, or wheezing peaks rapidly, but subsides within a few hours. However, some patients can also experience a so-called "delayed phase reaction" after the initial allergic reaction. The delayed phase reaction usually appears about four to six hours after allergen exposure. Delayed phase reaction is caused by inflammation which can only be treated with nasal or inhaled steroids.