text:
He had a career that spanned 18 years where he won nine Grand Slam doubles titles. A former world No1 in doubles and No4 in singles, Jonas Bjorkman quit tennis aged 36 back in 2008.

The Swede made a surprise appearance on tour last month in Stockholm, where he briefly stepped out of retirement to partner his countryman Robert Lindstedt in the doubles draw of a tournament, of which he is also the Marketing Director.

We caught up with him in Dubai at the Jebel Ali Golf Resort where he was giving tennis lessons.

Q YOU PLAYING STOCKHOLM WAS QUITE A SURPRISE CONSIDERING YOU’RE RETIRED AND HAVEN’T PLAYED IN FIVE YEARS…

A It was a surprise for me as well – I didn’t expect it at all. I’m a good friend of Robert Lindstedt – he’s the best doubles player in Sweden right now – and I’m a little bit of a mentor for him.

This year has been very tough for him. He played with (Nenad) Zimonjic first, didn’t work out. Then he played with Daniel Nestor, didn’t work out.

And after the Open, he lost the inspiration and fun to be on the court. So he asked me if I can start training and maybe just play Stockholm because he didn’t have anyone to play with for the rest of the season.

The best part was that my son was able to see it. He was travelling on tour with me for five years but he was too young to realise when he said hello to Roger Federer, he didn’t really know Roger (the player), it was more that he was a friend of dad.

So for him to be watching, I could see how excited he was. In the end it turned out to be a much better week than I expected, us being in the final. But it was only one shot, there will not be a repeat that’s for sure. I told Robert, this was truly a favour for him as a friend.

IT’S QUITE A COINCIDENCE THAT JOACHIM JOHANSSON ALSO STEPPED OUT OF RETIREMENT AND QUALIFIED FOR THE SINGLES DRAW AND EVEN MADE IT TO THE SECOND ROUND…

I think he saw that I did it then he felt that he had to do it. He felt ‘Jonas is getting all the attention now, so maybe I have to do it as well’ (laughs).

It was very surprising, we didn’t even know. The owners of the tournament wanted to give him a wildcard. It was a big issue back home because he took a wildcard from the junior that he’s coaching. So good things and bad things. It was good for us as a tournament because he drew the attention and maybe more people coming because he was doing well. For Swedish tennis maybe it wasn’t that good because some of the juniors didn’t get the possibility to play.

I think for Joachim, it was a strange decision when he tried to come back and then once he started to play one or two tournaments he stopped and said he’d retired. I think mentally he wasn’t ready to stop but he still stopped, I don’t know why, nobody knows why, and I think it’s a shame because he could have done so much more with his tennis and I think maybe he regrets that he stopped and maybe that’s why he came back now.

I think yes, he could have done something more out of it. To come back now, most likely he could but it depends how far up. He might be able to get to top 50 but it’s a long way to do it week by week and I’m not if he’s mentally ready to do that and it’s unfortunate because I think he should’ve done that four, five years ago.

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS BIZARRE DECLINE IN SWEDISH TENNIS, YOUR HIGHEST RANKED PLAYER IS NO409 IN THE WORLD?

Starting with Bjorn Borg we had such a great run in the 1980s and ‘90s with Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander and all of them. People took for granted that Swedish players would dominate. We were almost too good to be true in a way.

Joakim Nystrom was No11 in the world but he was not good enough to be on the Swedish Davis Cup team. We are suffering a little bit because of that because everyone expects it to be like it was in the ‘80s.

Tennis has changed, many more countries are playing, so it’s a much wider sport than before.

We have dropped also because we lost all our great coaches. All the great coaches that we had got great offers from international sides. Peter Lundgren was coaching Roger Federer, my coach was coaching Mario Ancic and we had some in the English federation. So our juniors haven’t been able to get the coaching level they should have.

ANY NEWS ON ROBIN SODERLING, HAVE YOU SEEN HIM RECENTLY?

He wants to be back, there’s no doubt. Every time we come to Bastad or Stockholm, he more or less disappears because he doesn’t want to be too close. But I practised with him two weeks before the tournament.

He plays maybe twice a week but very very slow. Maybe five, 10 minutes then he rests for 10 minutes. So he’s still suffering from his illness and it’s a shame. Because the way he hits the ball, if he’s able to be completely healthy, it’s no doubt that he’ll be top 20 in six to eight months because he hits the ball so well.

He has to do a lot of work obviously because he’s dropped so many kilos because he has no muscles left. His physique is not there, he has to do a lot, but once he gets to that stage he can be top 20, I think even top 10.

YOU’RE SOMEONE WHO WAS RANKED NO4 IN SINGLES AND ALSO MADE IT TO NO1 IN DOUBLES, DO YOU THINK IT’S HARD NOW FOR PLAYERS TO BE ABLE TO PLAY BOTH CONSISTENTLY?

I disagree that it’s tougher now to play singles and doubles. It’s just a question of how strong you are mentally.

I think it’s a shame that more players aren’t playing more doubles because I think they can benefit from it. You have four guys who are winning almost all the Grand Slams, Masters 1000 and even the 500s. You have Berdych who is a solid top 10 and he still hasn’t won a tournament this year. So obviously he’s missing something to challenge the top guys.

I think players should definitely work on their volleys and the best way to improve your volley is match practice – that’s doubles. It would be like homework, how to challenge the top four. That all comes to volley.

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR CAREER, WHICH MOMENTS STAND OUT THAT YOU’RE MOST PROUD OF?

Most proud of would be Davis Cup. As a Swede it’s the biggest achievement to represent your country. That was a dream I had since I was 12 years old when Mats Wilander, Henrik Sundstrom and Anders Jarryd and Stefan Edberg beat the US, who had the No1 and No2 John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. Peter Fleming and McEnroe had never lost a doubles match so beating them was almost impossible. And Sweden won. And from that time I already felt that that was something I always wanted to do. It was a big goal. And once I got to play for Sweden, there was nothing better, to hear the national anthem, to be standing there with a Swedish jersey, that stands out. And to be able to win three times was phenomenal, I’m so happy with that.

I would also say Wimbledon stands out because for me it’s the biggest event you can ever play in tennis. So winning Wimbledon with Todd Woodbridge that’s something that I also feel very proud of and also winning the Stockholm Open. Because winning at home is something you always want to do.

YOU REACHED YOUR FIRST GRAND SLAM SEMIFINAL IN SINGLES IN 1997 AT THE US OPEN, THEN NINE YEARS LATER YOU REACHED ANOTHER ONE AT WIMBLEDON AT 34. NOT A TYPICAL PATTERN FOR A TENNIS CAREER…

I had my best time in 1997, ranking-wise, when I reached No4 in the world and made the US Open semis. If you come to one match that I regret, it’s that I lost to Greg Rusedski in those semi-finals, because I think I was 8-1 head-to-head going into that match. It was a match I felt very comfortable with because I beat him so many times and then I let myself down.

In 2006, that year I only won two matches going into Nottingham and that was the first time I thought maybe it’s time to stop. I remember I asked Todd Martin in the locker room in Queen’s about how I would know when to stop and he said since I’m still enjoying practising and playing then I’m not ready to stop yet.

So I changed my approach. Going into Nottingham was just about enjoying it, having fun and trying to win the match. And all of a sudden I made the final.

WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES FROM THE 2006 WIMBLEDON AND YOUR SEMI-FINAL WITH ROGER FEDERER?

The best part is that at 34 I could enjoy it much more than I did in 1997. I would walk from the house over to Wimbledon meeting many people on the way who congratulated me and I enjoyed that.

Everything around that great run was something I can remember and appreciate much more because I was more experienced. Even though I was beaten badly by Roger, I couldn’t be disappointed because he was hitting the ball so well.

I felt that I just had the best seat in the house watching him playing at his best. I asked him afterwards, ‘how did you see the ball, it must have been this big?’ (gestures to something big with his hands) and he said ‘no, maybe more like a basketball’. I still remember it.

YOU ALSO HAD A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE PLAYING DOUBLES WITH JOHN MCENROE WHEN HE MADE A SUDDEN COMEBACK IN SAN JOSE IN 2006…

That was phenomenal. When I got that call I was like ‘why me?’ It was the easiest decision I ever made. Him and Borg are still the two icons in tennis I think and it was such a great honour.

He’s such a fantastic character. There was one call, I hit a volley and the umpire called it out. I was about to object and then I’ve never seen someone so quick getting from the baseline, I was at the net, and he was pushing me away saying ‘I got this’. It was so funny.

HOW DO YOU SPEND MOST OF YOUR TIME NOW?

When I stopped and got the opportunity to be involved with Swedish tournaments, first Bastad and now the same group runs Stockholm, I never expected it to be that much work. If I had known I wouldn’t have complained as much as a player. It’s been a great experience, I’ve done it now for four years as a marketing director of the tournament. I also do commentating from Sweden and also Bastad and Wimbledon live, which is more fun than sitting in a box in Stockholm when they’re playing in Cincinnati.

Thomas Johansson and myself started a tennis academy in Sweden but we run it in Portugal, it’s called Peak Tennis Academy. It’s for happy amateurs, passionate about tennis and they get four and a half days to live like a pro. They play tennis in the morning, then massage, lunch, tennis in the afternoon, massage and then presentations every night, how to play against a pusher, how to play doubles, equipment… we have a personal trainer as well that can give them programmes to do at home and we film them as well so they can see themselves playing. It’s a lot of fun.

READ MORE:

– Boris Becker: 'I totally believe I'd beat Roger Federer'

* For breaking news, follow us on @Sport_360 or find us on Facebook.

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question: What are the differences between the Swedish tennis of the 1980s and that of the 2000s?

answer:
In the 1980s the Swedish tennis had a lot of good international coaches which resulted in great players who won lots of medals and trophies for the country. Also, a lot of countries initially underestimated Swedish tennis players, which helped Sweden win lots of matches.

In the 2000s, Sweden is producing fewer tennis coaches, which has negatively impacted the quality of tennis players produced by the country. Also, a lot of countries are now involved in tennis compared to the 1980s, which has made competition quite fierce.


split: test

text:
Researchers at Ontario’s University of Guelph are the first to uncover how the cannabis plant creates important pain-relieving molecules that are 30 times more powerful at reducing inflammation than Aspirin.

The discovery unlocks the potential to create a naturally derived pain treatment that would offer potent relief without the risk of addiction of other painkillers.

“There’s clearly a need to develop alternatives for relief of acute and chronic pain that go beyond opioids,” said Professor Tariq Akhtar, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, who worked on the study with MCB professor Steven Rothstein.

[]
Professor Tariq Akhtar

“These molecules are non-psychoactive and they target the inflammation at the source, making them ideal painkillers.”

Using a combination of biochemistry and genomics, the researchers were able to determine how cannabis makes two important molecules called cannflavin A and cannflavin B.

Known as “flavonoids”, cannflavins A and B were first identified in 1985, when research verified they provide anti-inflammatory benefits that were nearly 30 times more effective gram-for-gram than acetylsalicylic acid (sold as Aspirin).

Stalled

However, further investigation into the molecules stalled for decades in part because research on cannabis was highly regulated. With cannabis now legal in Canada and genomics research greatly advanced, Akhtar and Rothstein decided to analyse cannabis to understand how _Cannabis sativa_ biosynthesizes cannflavins.

“Our objective was to better understand how these molecules are made, which is a relatively straightforward exercise these days,” explained Akhtar.

“There are many sequenced genomes that are publicly available, including the genome of _Cannabis sativa_, which can be mined for information. If you know what you’re looking for, one can bring genes to life, so to speak, and piece together how molecules like cannflavins A and B are assembled.”

With the genomic information at hand, they applied classical biochemistry techniques to verify which cannabis genes were required to create cannflavins A and B. Their full findings were recently published in the journal _Phytochemistry_.

These findings provide the opportunity to create natural health products containing these important molecules.

“Being able to offer a new pain relief option is exciting, and we are proud that our work has the potential to become a new tool in the pain relief arsenal,” added Rothstein.

Currently, chronic pain sufferers often need to use opioids, which work by blocking the brain’s pain receptors but carry the risk of significant side effects and addiction. Cannflavins would target pain with a different approach, by reducing inflammation.

Not feasible

“The problem with these molecules is they are present in cannabis at such low levels, it’s not feasible to try to engineer the cannabis plant to create more of these substances,” said Rothstein.

“We are now working to develop a biological system to create these molecules, which would give us the opportunity to engineer large quantities.”

The research team has partnered with a Toronto-based company, Anahit International Corp, which has licensed a patent from the University of Guelph to biosynthesize cannflavin A and B outside of the cannabis plant.

“Anahit looks forward to working closely with University of Guelph researchers to develop effective and safe anti-inflammatory medicines from cannabis phytochemicals that would provide an alternative to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,” said Anahit chief operating officer Darren Carrigan.

“Anahit will commercialise the application of cannflavin A and B to be accessible to consumers through a variety of medical and athletic products such as creams, pills, sports drinks, transdermal patches and other innovative options.”

question: What are the benefits of Flavonoids?

answer: Cannabis makes cannflavins A and B, which are flavonoids that provide anti-inflammatory benefits. Research suggests that these were nearly 30 times more effective gram-for-gram than acetylsalicylic acid.

question: How are Cannflavins different from opioids?

answer: Cannflavins target the pain by reducing the inflammation. Opioids, on the other hand, work by blocking the brain's pain receptors. They carry a significant risk of side effects and addiction.

question: Provide more insight on the different research going on at the University of Guelph.


text:
TYRRELL COUNTY is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 4,407[1] making it the least populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Columbia.[2] The county was created in 1729 as Tyrrell Precinct and gained county status in 1739.[3]

Tyrrell County is included in the Kill Devil Hills, NC, Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC Combined Statistical Area.

History

The county was formed in 1729 as Tyrrell Precinct of Albemarle County, from parts of Bertie Precinct, Chowan Precinct, Currituck Precinct, and Pasquotank Precinct. It was named for Sir John Tyrrell, one of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina.

With the abolition of Albemarle County in 1739, all of its constituent precincts became counties. In 1774 the western part of Tyrrell County was combined with part of Halifax County to form Martin County. In 1799 the western third of what was left of Tyrrell County became Washington County. In 1870 the half of Tyrrell County east of the Alligator River was combined with parts of Currituck County and Hyde County to form Dare County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (35%) is water.[4]

Adjacent counties

-   Washington County - west
-   Dare County - east
-   Hyde County - south

National protected area

-   Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Major highways

-   -

Demographics

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 4,149 people, 1,537 households, and 1,055 families residing in the county. However, the North Carolina Department of Commerce 2015 County Economic Development Tier Rankings place the current population at 3,653. The population density was 11 people per square mile (4/km²). There were 2,032 housing units at an average density of 5 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 56.47% White, 39.43% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.75% Asian, 2.05% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.62% of the population.

There were 1,537 households, of which 28.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.40% were married couples living together, 16.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.30% were non-families. 28.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.70% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 30.30% from 25 to 44, 22.70% from 45 to 64, and 16.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 114.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $25,684, and the median income for a family was $32,468. Males had a median income of $26,227 versus $18,403 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,326. About 19.10% of families and 23.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.50% of those under age 18 and 20.80% of those age 65 or over.

Law and government

Tyrrell County is a member of the Albemarle Commission regional council of governments.

Tyrrell County is governed by a 5-member Board of County Commissioners. The elections for County Commissioners are partisan and at large. In 2013, the County became the last county in North Carolina to adopt the County Manager form of government.

Tyrell County is represented by Bob Steinberg in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Politics

  Year                               REPUBLICAN                                DEMOCRATIC                                  THIRD PARTIES
  ---------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------
  style=“text-align:center;” |2016   style=“text-align:center;” |56.1% _975_   style=“text-align:center;” |41.4% _720_     2.5% _44_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2012   style=“text-align:center;” |52.2% _930_   style=“text-align:center;” |46.9% _837_     0.9% _16_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2008   style=“text-align:center;” |50.3% _960_   style=“text-align:center;” |48.9% _933_     0.9% _17_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2004   style=“text-align:center;” |53.8% _855_   style=“text-align:center;” |46.0% _731_     0.3% _4_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2000   style=“text-align:center;” |45.1% _706_   style=“text-align:center;” |54.2% _849_     0.7% _11_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1996   style=“text-align:center;” |32.3% _488_   style=“text-align:center;” |60.0% _908_     7.7% _117_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1992   style=“text-align:center;” |33.0% _553_   style=“text-align:center;” |55.4% _928_     11.5% _193_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1988   style=“text-align:center;” |44.7% _637_   style=“text-align:center;” |55.1% _785_     0.2% _3_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1984   style=“text-align:center;” |48.9% _774_   style=“text-align:center;” |51.0% _807_     0.1% _2_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1980   style=“text-align:center;” |34.0% _466_   style=“text-align:center;” |64.7% _887_     1.2% _17_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1976   style=“text-align:center;” |30.9% _403_   style=“text-align:center;” |69.0% _900_     0.2% _2_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1972   style=“text-align:center;” |59.3% _676_   style=“text-align:center;” |40.3% _459_     0.4% _5_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1968   style=“text-align:center;” |22.6% _291_   style=“text-align:center;” |45.1% _581_     32.3% _415_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1964   style=“text-align:center;” |27.3% _374_   style=“text-align:center;” |72.7% _996_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1960   style=“text-align:center;” |27.4% _349_   style=“text-align:center;” |72.6% _926_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1956   style=“text-align:center;” |40.6% _420_   style=“text-align:center;” |59.4% _615_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1952   style=“text-align:center;” |29.6% _385_   style=“text-align:center;” |70.4% _916_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1948   style=“text-align:center;” |30.2% _336_   style=“text-align:center;” |65.8% _732_     4.0% _45_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1944   style=“text-align:center;” |31.5% _281_   style=“text-align:center;” |68.5% _611_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1940   style=“text-align:center;” |26.7% _415_   style=“text-align:center;” |73.3% _1,140_   style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1936   style=“text-align:center;” |22.5% _304_   style=“text-align:center;” |77.5% _1,049_   style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1932   style=“text-align:center;” |22.7% _258_   style=“text-align:center;” |76.8% _873_     0.5% _6_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1928   style=“text-align:center;” |51.5% _505_   style=“text-align:center;” |48.5% _475_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1924   style=“text-align:center;” |40.9% _442_   style=“text-align:center;” |59.0% _638_     0.1% _1_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1920   style=“text-align:center;” |42.6% _532_   style=“text-align:center;” |57.4% _718_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1916   style=“text-align:center;” |48.5% _392_   style=“text-align:center;” |51.5% _416_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1912   style=“text-align:center;” |35.8% _224_   style=“text-align:center;” |47.5% _297_     16.6% _104_

  : PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS RESULTS[6]

Economy

Tyrrell County, due to its close proximity to the Outer Banks, has been designated 1 as part of the IBX -Inner Banks.

The North Carolina State University (NCSU) Tyrrell County Extension Center provides the county residents easy access to the resources and expertise of NCSU and NC A&T State University.2

The community is serviced by the Inner Banks Hotline, a non-profit women's community shelter.

Communities

[Map of Tyrrell County, North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels]

Town

-   Columbia (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

-   Fort Landing
-   Frying Pan
-   Jerry
-   Pleasant View
-   Kilkenny

Townships

-   Alligator
-   Columbia
-   Gum Neck
-   Scuppernong
-   South Fork

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

title: Tyrrell County, North Carolina

question: What does the text say about South Carolina?

question: Summarize what the text says about Tyrrell County's borders.

answer: Washington County is to the west, Dare County is to the east, and Hyde County is to the south. It is not mentioned what lies directly north.

question: What does the text say about bodies of water?

answer: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, water constitutes 35% of the total geographical area of the county. The Alligator River is west of a former part of Tyrrell County that was separated to form part of Dare County.

question: What does the text say about criminal rehabilitation?


text:
They still think they can fix me.

See, I'm the kind of guy that likes to live in the moment. We can't always be looking back, now can we? And instead of putting me in prison, I'm put in Arkham Asylum. They thought it would be too dangerous having me around to mastermind those criminals. Ho-ho-he-he-ha.

As if my jokes weren't getting any worse.

No, see, now I can have even better people to work with. And it's all gonna lead up to when me and Bats can meet up again. And it will happen, don't worry, don't worry.

They say I'm crazy. I'm not crazy, I'm not. I'm ahead of the curve. Schemers are crazy. Planners. People who think that they can bend the world to their own will. Tell me tell me, how often, do your, uh, plans, work out? Do you really think that, for a moment, that harpy, Mother Earth, is gonna care about your plans?

See, I realize that planning is useless. Chaos, now that's a different story. Things naturally go towards chaos. I mean, look around you. Everything is hell. All I did was give it a little push, to start rolling. The rest it did by itself.

And now they hate Bats. Now, now they throw him out. I warned you, Bats, I told you. But no, not the unstoppable force, you wouldn't give up. That's why I'm around, to give you purpose. Just like you give me. It's amazing, isn't it? I mean, that's something to smile about, right?

And Harvey. Harvey, Harvey, Harvey. I didn't have to tell you to do anything. The coin was a nice touch, I must say. Thanks to you, I've won. See, Bats may have everyone else fooled. But we know, we know the truth. You, me, Bats, even Gordon. We know how good the people of Gotham really are. Harvey, Harvey, Harvey.

And the doctors here, they still think they can fix me. I tell them, I say, there is nothing to fix. But they try and try. They are terrified of me. That's good, that's chaos. There is one doctor here who isn't, though. Harleen Quinzel. Interesting woman. She isn't a schemer. I know the schemers when I see them. That's why I've always loved Bats. He isn't a schemer. He doesn't plan, he acts. I like that.

But this doctor, this squeeze, is intrigued. I know, I can tell. I've had enough doctors poking at me over the years to know when they are just doing their job, and when they are actually listening to me. She's curious. That's good, that's very good.

I have a surprize for you, Bats. I know you can beat him, I know. But that's not the point. The point is that you will have to try. Oh, and just to make it interesting, I haven't told him anything about your being Brucie. Oh, you didn't think I knew about that? Hehe-ho! I did, I do! But I won't tell him anything. Makes it a little more interesting.
Quin-something, doctor lady, is coming again. She visits me more and more often. I must be ready for her, right? Right, right.

Why so serious?

*(edit: "I'm the kind of guy that likes to think ahead" to "I'm the kind of guy who lives in the moment")

title: Thoughts of an InSane Mind (Joker Monologue)

question: What does the Joker have in store for batman, and what secret has he kept from him?

answer: The Joker has prepared an enemy to fight Batman. However he has kept from this enemy Batman's true identity as Bruce Wayne. He tells Batman (or maybe just mutters to himself) that he always knew Batman's real identity, but will not tell his pawn, as that makes the fight more interesting.


text:
ANDREW TIMOTHY BIRKIN (born 9 December 1945) is an English screenwriter, director and occasional actor. He was born the only son of Lieutenant-Commander David Birkin and his wife, actress Judy Campbell. One of his sisters is the actress and singer Jane Birkin.

Work

Birkin was educated at Elstree School and Harrow School. At the former he was remembered by a teacher as being “one of the naughtiest boys ever to have passed through Elstree”[1] and his record at Harrow was no better. He left school at the age of 17 to work as a mail boy at 20th Century Fox's London office, graduating to Elstree Studios as a production runner in 1963 on _Man in the Middle_ and _The Third Secret_. After hitch-hiking and freight-jumping across America in 1964, he returned to England in 1965 and began work as a runner on Stanley Kubrick's _2001: A Space Odyssey_, but soon became Kubrick's location scout.[2] By the summer of 1966, Kubrick had promoted Birkin to Assistant Director on Special Effects;[3] Birkin later proposed the shooting and colour transposition of aerial footage for the 'Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite' sequence. Kubrick dispatched him to Scotland with cameraman Jack Atcheler and a 65mm Panaflex camera bolted to the floor of an Alouette helicopter; but Atcheler soon quit the enterprise, deeming Birkin to be reckless. Birkin continued alone and shot most of the resulting footage himself.[4][5][6] In 1967 Birkin supervised the shooting of 'The Dawn of Man' front projection plates in the Namib Desert.[7][8][9]

After working as First Assistant Director to the Beatles on _Magical Mystery Tour_ in 1967, Birkin served as Location Manager on _Play Dirty_ in Spain before again working for Stanley Kubrick, this time as his assistant director and location scout on his unmade epic of Napoleon.[10][11][12] Following second unit directing work on _Melody_, Birkin began writing scripts for producer David Puttnam, including _The Pied Piper_ (1971) for director Jacques Demy,[13] _Slade In Flame_ (1974) for the rock band Slade (which won the Vision Award at the 2007 MOJO Awards, and was described as the “Citizen Kane of rock musicals” by BBC film critic Mark Kermode [14]), and an unmade adaptation of Albert Speer's _Inside the Third Reich_ for Puttnam and Paramount, which involved a year's collaboration and taped interviews with Speer in 1972.[15][16]

Having worked on an adaptation of _Peter Pan_ for NBC in 1975, Birkin conceived and wrote _The Lost Boys_ (1978), a 3-part mini-series for the BBC about Peter Pan's creator J.M. Barrie, which won him writing awards from the Writers Guild of Great Britain and the Royal Television Society. The critic Sean Day-Lewis wrote in the _Daily Telegraph_, 'I doubt if biography has ever been better televised than in this sensitive and beautifully crafted masterpiece, and I am quite sure such excellence is beyond any other television service in the world.'[17] The BBC's Director-General Sir Ian Trethowan called it 'a landmark in television drama'.[18] Birkin has also written a biographical account of Barrie's relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family, _J. M. Barrie and the Lost Boys_ (1979; 2nd edition 2003), described by _The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature_ as 'the most candid and perceptive biography to have been written of Barrie'.[19] Birkin also hosts Barrie's official website on behalf of the Great Ormond Street Hospital, to whom he donated his Barrie/Llewelyn Davies/Peter Pan archive in 2004.[20]

In 1980, Birkin won a BAFTA award and an Academy Award nomination for his short film _Sredni Vashtar_, based on the short story by Saki, which he wrote, produced and directed for 20th Century Fox. In 1984 he wrote the shooting script for _The Name of the Rose_ (in which he also had a small acting role), and in 1988 he wrote and directed _Burning Secret_, based on the novel by Stefan Zweig, which won two awards at the 1989 Venice Film Festival, as well as the Young Jury prize for Best Film at the Brussels Film Festival. In 1993, Birkin wrote and directed _The Cement Garden_, based on the novel by Ian McEwan, for which he won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival,[21] as well as Best Film at several film festivals, including Dinard, Fort Lauderdale, and Birmingham.[22] In 1998 he collaborated with Luc Besson on the script of _The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc_, and in 2004 co-wrote the screenplay for _Perfume: The Story of a Murderer_.

In 2013, Taschen published a selection of his photographs and an autobiographical essay in _Jane & Serge: A Family Album_. In 2017 he wrote an adaptation of Peter Pan for Radio France.

Private life

Birkin has four sons and a daughter. David Birkin (born 1977), artist and photographer, is his eldest son, followed by Anno Birkin (1980–2001), poet and musician, and Ned Birkin (born 1985), whom Birkin directed in _The Cement Garden_. He is married to artist Karen Birkin, with whom he has a daughter, Emily Jane (born December 2008) and a son, Thomas Bernie (born April 2011). Two of his nieces are actresses: Charlotte Gainsbourg, who also appeared in _The Cement Garden_, and Lou Doillon.

He lives on the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales.

Birkin is a trustee of the children's arts charity Anno's Africa.

Filmography

-   _The Pied Piper_ (writer)
-   _Slade in Flame_ (writer, Mojo Vision Award winner, 2007)
-   _Peter Pan_ (1976 musical) (co-writer)
-   _ The Thief of Baghdad_ (1978) (writer)
-   _The Lost Boys_ (writer, won Royal Television Society Award for Best Writer, Writers Guild of Great Britain Award)
-   _Omen III: The Final Conflict_ (writer, associate producer)
-   _Sredni Vashtar_ (writer, producer, director, winner of BAFTA Award for Best Short Film, 1981; nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action)
-   _King David_ (co-writer)
-   _The Name of the Rose_ (co-writer)
-   _Burning Secret_ (writer, director; winner of Young Jury Prize, Brussels Film Festival, 1989)
-   _Salt on Our Skin_ (co-writer with Bridget Gilbert; director)
-   _The Cement Garden_ (writer, director; winner of Silver Berlin Bear for Best Director, 1992; nominated for Golden Berlin Bear; winner of the Golden Hitchcock at the Dinard Festival of British Cinema; nominated for Best Film at Mystfest)
-   _The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc_ (co-writer with Luc Besson)
-   _Perfume: The Story of a Murderer_ (co-writer)

Books

-   Author, _J. M. Barrie and the Lost Boys_ (Constable, 1979; Revised Edition: Yale University Press, 2003)
-   Author, _Jane & Serge: A Family Album_ (Taschen, 2013)

[1]

[2] Dan Richter, _Moonwatcher's Memoir: A Diary of 2001: A Space of Odyssey_ (2002)

[3] *

[4] Michel Ciment, _Kubrick_ (1999)

[5] Rolf Thissen, _Stanley Kubrick: Der Regisseur als Architekt_ (1999)

[6] Michael Benson, _Space Odyssey_ (2018)

[7]

[8]

[9] John Baxter, _Stanley Kubrick: A Biography_ (1997)

[10]

[11] John Baxter, _Stanley Kubrick: A Biography_ (1997)

[12] Deutsches Filmmuseum (Ed.): _Stanley Kubrick_ (2004)

[13] Andrew Yule, _Fast Fade: David Puttnam, Columbia Pictures, and the Battle For Hollywood_ (1989)

[14] Mark Kermode (31 August 2012). “Blogs – Kermode Uncut – Film Club – Slade in Flame”

[15]

[16] James Park, _Learning to Dream: The New British Cinema_, 1984

[17] _The Daily Telegraph_, 30 October 1978

[18] _The Guardian_, 6 November 1978

[19] Humphrey Carpenter & Mari Prichard, _The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature_, 1984

[20] Sotheby's Catalogue, _English Literature, including the Archive of J. M. Barrie and The Lost Boys_, 16 December 2004

[21]

[22] _Time Out_, 20–27 October 1993

title: Andrew Birkin

question: What does the text say about the origin of the BAFTA Awards?

question: What does the text say about Andrew Timothy Birkin's character?

answer: When he was young, he was described as extremely naughty. As an adult, Birkin is described as reckless. Many esteem Birkin for his creative capacity. Birkin may be generous, as he is a trustee of a children's arts charity.

question: What is Andrew Timothy Birkin's relationship to the other Birkins in the text?

answer: He is the son of Commander David Birkin. He's the brother of actress and singer, Jane Birkin. He is the father of David Birkin, Anno Birkin, and Ned Birkin. He is married to the artist, Karen Birkin. He and Karen have a daughter, Emily Jane, and a son, Thomas Bernie.


text:
Overview

-   Name: rpi_tempmon
-   Title : Display the ARM CPU and GPU temperature of Raspberry Pi
-   Description: This python program will display the ARM CPU and GPU temperature of a Raspberry Pi
    features include command line display, GPIO (LED) output, logging, alarm limit, graphing, desktop notification, stress tests and e-mailing options. The program is written in python 3. It is run in terminal and uses matplotlib plots for graph modes. This software was built and tested on a raspberry pi 3 model B, running Linux, Raspbian 8.0 jessie, LXDE lxpanel 0.7.2, Python 3.4.2.
-   Author: Gavin Lyons
-   URL: https://github.com/gavinlyonsrepo/raspeberrypi_tempmon
-   Communication: Upstream repo at URL github site above or glyons66@hotmail.com
-   History: Changelog is at repository in documentation section
-   Copyright: Copyright (C) 2017 - Gavin Lyons - GPLv3 License is at repository in documentation section

Table of contents

-   Overview
-   Table of contents
-   Installation
-   Usage
-   Files and setup
-   Output
-   Dependencies
-   Features

Installation

For Linux OS users. raspberrypi_tempmon is a python 3 program Make sure that:

-   python3
-   pip3

Have been installed on your machine,

Then Install with:

    sudo pip3 install rpi_tempmon.py

Usage

Program is a python 3 package.

Run in a terminal by typing rpi_tempmon.py or python3 rpi_tempmon.py:

rpi_tempmon.py -[options][arguments]

Options list _(Note: Options are standalone, not designed to be combined)_:

  Option   Description
  -------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  -h       Print help information and exit
  -v       Print version information and exit
  -c       Enters continuous mode, optional number of seconds as a argument eg (-c 5)
  -l       Creates and/or appends to log file at output folder
  -L       Creates a sub-folder at output folder with date/time stamp and puts a log file in it
  -m       Sends the log file to an email account
  -g       graph mode, Generate a menu where 11 types of graphs can be selected
  -a       parse log file and produces a data report in terminal
  -n       send notifications to desktop, Number argument to define behaviour
  -s       CSV mode , parses log.txt and converts it to log.csv, CSV file
  -ST      Stress test CPU and measures temperature output to graph and csv file , optional number of test runs as a argument eg (-ST 5)

Files and setup

rpi_tempmon files needed are listed below:

  File Path                                   Description
  ------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
  rpi_tempmon.py                              The main python script
  RpiTempmonWork.py                           python module containing various utility functions used by main
  RpiTempmonGraph.py                          python module dealing with graph output by matplotlib
  $HOME/.config/rpi_tempmon/rpi_tempmon.cfg   config file, user made, NOT installed
  README.md                                   help file

Config file: The user MUST create a config file at path in table above. The config file is NOT installed by setup. A dummy config file is available in documentation folder at repositry , used for -m mail option, GPIO/LED feature and the alarm function.

The setting "RPI_AuthUser" the is email address destination of data from -m option.

Mail_Alert(one: mail alert on with -l option, zero: off)

The other settings are ALARM_MODE which should be set to one or zero(one: alarm on, zero: off)

CPU_UPPERLIMIT is the temperature limit of CPU in Centigrade, should be a positive integer. If alarm mode is on when CPU temperature goes above this limit, the alarm function will activate.

LED_MODE which should be set to one or zero(one: LED mode on, zero: off) if on an GPIO pin will swicth on during an alarm state in continuous and normal mode. The RPI GPIO pin as defined by GPIO_LED number. You can connect an LED or another electronic component to this pin.

Make sure to include the [MAIN] header and all settings just as below or copy from the example file.

Settings:

[MAIN]

  RPI_AuthUser=examplemail@gmail.com

  MAIL_ALERT = 1

  ALARM_MODE = 1

  CPU_UPPERLIMIT = 60

  LED_MODE = 0

  GPIO_LED = 26

Screenshots, example config/log files are also available in documentation.

Output

The output folder for log files is currently fixed at:

    $HOME/.cache/rpi_tempmon/

Dependencies

1.  simple MSMTP - Version: 1.6.6-1- Program which delivers email from a computer to a mailhost. MSMTP help Optional, only used by mail functions. light SMTP client with support for server profiles client that can be used to send mails . (SMTP server), needed only for -m mail option. Also needs to install another few small dependencies (mpack etc) in order to send attachment. See mail mode in features for setup.

    $ sudo apt install msmtp msmtp-mta mailutils mpack

2.  sysbench - Version 0.4.12-1.1 - benchmarking tool. sysbench Optional, only used by stress test option -ST.

    $ sudo apt install sysbench.

3.  libnotify-bin - Version 0.7.6-2 - sends desktop notifications to a notification daemon. libnotify Optional, This is only needed if using the -n option which uses the notify-send command.

    $ sudo apt install libnotify-bin

4.  matplotlib - Version: 2.2.2 - Python plotting package. matplotlib help The graph modules requires python module _matplotlib_ to draw graphs, This is for -g and -ST options. Should be Installed by rpi_tempmon setup.py during installation.

5.  psutil - Version (2.1.1) - Library for retrieving info on PC. psutil Used to retrieve some CPU and memory information. Installed by setup.py during installation.

6.  RPi.GPIO - version0.6.4) - This package controls the GPIO on a Raspberry Pi. rpi.gpio Should be installed by default on most OS, like Raspibian.

Features

For a raspberry pi the official operating temperature limit is 85°C, and as a result the Raspberry Pi should start to thermally throttle performance around 82°C. The GPU and CPU are closely correlated to within a degree usually.

The program calculates the ARM CPU and GPU temperature of a Raspberry Pi and outputs them in Centigrade together with datetime stamp. Also shows CPU, RAM memory usage .

The program has ten features

1.  Normal mode - output to screen with optional GPIO output, prompt for update.
2.  Continuous mode - output to screen with optional GPIO output, updates based on timer.
3.  Logfile mode - output to single logfile(also mail mode if mail alert mode on and triggered).
4.  Logfolder mode - output to multiple logfile in separate folders.
5.  Mail mode - output to email.
6.  Graph mode - Displays a graph of logfile created in mode 3
7.  CSV mode - parses log.txt and converts it to log.csv for external use
8.  Data mode - parses log file and produces a small report.
9.  Notify mode - send notifications to desktop, Number argument to define behaviour
10. Stress test mode - Stresses the CPU with math and records results in csv file and graph.

1. NORMAL MODE

Normal mode is run by running program with no command line arguments. In normal mode output, Data is sent to the terminal with prompt to repeat or quit. The GPIO pin in config file will be turned on and Data in red is displayed in screen for an Alarm state, if setup in config file.

2. CONTINUOUS MODE

Same as normal mode except in continuous mode. The program enters a delay between scan. This delay is set by positive integer argument placed after -c. For example "-c 30" will wait 30 seconds between scans. Data is sent to terminal screen. The GPIO pin in config file will be turned on and Data in red is displayed in screen for an Alarm state, if setup in config file.

[ScreenShot cont mode]

3. & 4. LOG MODES

In logfile mode the data is appended into a file log.txt at output folder. With optional mail setup if alarm mode setup. For mode 3 an email is sent using mode 5 function, but with warning in title.

Sample output of logfile:

    TS = 18-04-22 14:19:42
    EP = 1524403183.0
    GPU temperature = 48.3'C
    CPU temperature = 48.3
    Cpu usage = 40.4
    RAM usage = 45.0
    Swap usage = 98.6
    Raspberry pi temperature monitor: raspberrypi

The log file is appended with "Warning:" text message if alarm state entered.

In logfolder mode in the output folder, a new sub-folder is created each time it is ran and a new log-file put in here. The sub-folder has following syntax 1250-02Jul17_RPIT HHMM-DDMMMYY_XXXX. This folder mode does not work with mail or graph mode at present.

Logging modes are designed to be used with UNIX automation like crontab. For example this crontab entry will run logfile mode once an hour, Note: The path to executable may differ on each users system.

    0 * * * *  /usr/local/bin/rpi_tempmon.py -l >/dev/null 2>&1

5. MAIL MODE

In mail mode an email is sent using msmtp. The mail contains the data from logfile mode only, it will NOT work with sub-folders from logfolder mode.

msmtp is used rather than than python inbuilt smtplib module as this program was originally a bash program and this a legacy of that, also allows access to msmtp config file for greater portability and security. The program originally used ssmtp but this is now obsolete in latest raspbian software.

In order to get mail mode working you must complete 3-4 steps.

1.  Set settings in rpi_tempmon config file, see Files and setup section. This file allows for user to set an email address without access to msmtp config file which should be set up just for root account.
2.  Install msmtp and dependencies as per installation section
3.  Configure msmtp configuration file MSMTP help A working example msmtprc config file for gmail is in documentation folder, see link for details.
4.  Optional, It is also possible you may need to configure your email account to accept msmtp mails this was the case for gmail and ssmtp. See here Login credentials not working with Gmail SMTP

6. GRAPH MODE

In graph mode, the program using matplotlib (plotting library) creates a plot of various data versus time. The logfile.txt created by logfile mode 3 is used for data for graph 1-8. graphs 1-4 use time-date stamp as yaxis value graphs 5-8 use Unix Epoch stamp as yaxis value, this is better for irregular data points across multiple dates. The graphs 9-11 are live plots sampled every two seconds for 150 points, so five minutes of live data.

[graph menu]

Sample graph screenshot, screenshots of all others are in screenshot folder of repo.

[graph mode 6]

7. CSV(COMMA-SEPARATED VALUES) CONVERT

New in Version 2.0. Run with -s on the CLI. Parses log.txt and creates log.csv. This csv file can be then used by user in another app. A comma-separated values (CSV) file is a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. This file can then be loaded into libreoffice calc. for further processing, for example.

sample output = time-data, CPU temp, GPU temp, CPU usage , RAM usage , swap usage

    18-04-04 09:46:51,61.5,60.7,25.8,33.9,11.6

8. DATA MODE

Parses log file created by logfile mode 3 and produces a data report on console.

9. NOTIFY MODE

Send notifications to desktop, Numbered argument to define behaviour After installing notify-send, Additional packages or steps MAY be required to get notify-send working, depending on system. for example
Jessie

-   -n 2 = argument 2 = If run always display CPU temperature , no warning.
-   -n 3 = argument 3 = If run only display if CPU temperature exceeds limit

[notify mode]

10. STRESS TEST MODE

This mode uses the sysbench benchmarking tool. The test request consists in calculation of prime numbers up to a value of 20000. All calculations are performed using 64-bit integers. 4 worker threads are created. The number of test runs is passed on command line as integer max 50 min 2. CPU temperature and freq are recorded for each test run and are outputed to a csv file, called stresslog.csv . sample output = test run num, CPU temp, CPU usage.

At the end of test, there is an option to display results in a graph.

[stress test results]

Stress data carried out by rpi_tempmon for a RPi 3 can be found in repo here

question: What does the text say about Intel?

question: What does the text say about rpi_tempmon?

answer: rpi_tempmon is a python 3 program used to display the ARM CPU and GPU temperature of a Raspberry Pi. Its features include command line display, GPIO (LED) output, logging, alarm limit, graphing, desktop notification, stress tests, and e-mail options. It is run in terminal and uses matplotlib plots for graph modes. The software was built and tested on a raspberry pi 3 model B running Linux, Raspbian 8.0 jessie, LXDE lxpanel 0.7.2, and Python 3.4.2. The program was authored by Gavin Lyons.

question: Summarize how the rpi_tempmon works.

answer: The official operating temperature limit of a raspberry pi system is 85°C. The system should start to thermally throttle performance around 82°C. The GPU and CPU are closely correlated to a degree. The rpi_tempmon program calculates the ARM CPU and GPU temperature of a Raspberry Pi and outputs them in Centigrade together with the DateTime stamp. It also shows CPU and RAM memory usage.


text:
  My eyes opened suddenly, my heart raced in my ears, a panic brought from the depths of a dream ending. Something was watching me, I felt it in that subhuman part of my brain that we all have, that animal instinct that told us of danger unseen. Something was watching from those dark recesses of my room, those corners that held shadow just so perfectly to invite the imagination to cast horrors unknowable. And so my heart races as my eyes scanned the room that I knew so well, the room that held me safe against all things.

  Eyes do not see entirely correctly when they are suddenly forced out of REM sleep and back into reality. Things are distorted, a haze that shrouds things for the briefest moments of time. They bring with them the fragments of dreams and force them into reality, but they aren’t quite there, so as I peered into the darkness that blanketed my room, I saw things that weren’t there.

  Yet something lay there, watching with eyes unseen. My heart raced still, drumming endlessly in my ears. What intention did it have, whatever it might be? My left over animal side knew of danger, but my human brain questioned. Did it want to watch me in my most vulnerable of moments, knowing that it could end me without a fight? Or did it want something worse?

  And then my eyes beheld something I wanted to believe came from the remainder of my dream, but I knew it was not. A grim visage indeed, the outline of a man that wasn’t a man, some dark mockery of our form cast in that forbidding gloom and I knew it was staring at me.

  The head was too pale, I saw as my eyes slowly began to adjust, and utterly without features except for two eyes and a mouth, though they weren’t quite right. They eyes were pits, swirling pools of void that drew in the darkness around it. The mouth opened, splitting decayed lips and revealing the same void that were its eyes. My ears were assaulted with the sound of rushing air and groaning metal, the sound of screams from every thing that ever existed, all pleading out for mercy that they would never receive from a master that didn’t know the concept.

  And then silence…

  All sound stopped, every background sound that our ears adjust to over the years of living in a time of constant noise, including the drumming of our own hearts and the rush of our blood, stopped. The true silence fell on my ears and threatened my mind with madness, maybe even more so than the sight of the thing before me.

  The darkness around the horror warped, distorted to conform to its shape, shimmering yet completely still at the same time like a ripple moving through the surface of calm water. The head moved in a way unnatural, like the still frames of a strobe light, one moment leaning left and the next right.

  Arms as pale as the head reached out toward me, and my fear grew a hundredfold, as razor wire, corroded by time and blood, seethed from the curve of the elbow and began crawling to cover them. They snake around those too pale arms and squeezed, bleeding that void made liquid from every inch, yet the blood refused to fall. Around the throat and across the torso it went, cutting deep to reveal not the fragility of a human form, but nothing.

  I pleaded with my mind to wake me, that this must be some dream. Nothing like this could exist in truth, for this was a creature born of horror and shadow. Yet as that thing stared at me, and as the silence pressed on me, I knew it was no dream, that this was real. Somehow, at that moment, I knew this thing was ancient, that it had existed all along the course of our short time on the planet. That this was the real reason we feared darkness, and begged for the light.

  The devil we fought against in every religion, the boogeyman we warned our children about, thinking it was some tradition that we all jokingly passed down. It was Hell, or The Abyss or the Inferno or Perdition, made real.

  I realized I had lain back down, having jumped with a start to my elbows when I’d awoken. How long had I been lying down again? It hovered above me; razor ripped false skin not dripping on me. A leg on each side of my torso, or was it floating above me? The head twitched back and forth and those eyes cast upon mine, and I knew death in that moment. I felt the loneliness of Ninth Circle of Hell, the cold of the void, and the agony of a wrathful god.

  It leaned down, ever closer, and I could smell it. The was the smell of the rotting flesh of one’s most beloved person, sulfur and frost, burning flesh and bile, rust and blood. My heart raced faster, and it pained me, a burning that spread too rapidly through my body, an agony that made me scream, but I found myself unable to open my mouth. Every inch of me begged to scream, and let my pain be known, but I found myself silent.

  I don’t know how long I have been like this, screaming in silent agony, freezing and burning and weeping no tears, begging for the end of this nightmare that could not be. A hundred thousand years passed, each second passing just a little too slow, and I felt every moment of it, and yet no time past. And I know that this will be my everything, forever.

  I’ve forgotten the warmth of another person’s touch, the embrace of a loved one, the feel of passionate lips on mine. The tastes of my favorite foods, the sound of my favorite band are all gone now. So too the feeling of a cool breeze at dusk on a hot day, even the simple joy of lying under a blanket in the depths of winter to read a book. My thoughts now are all the same, Let me die…

  A million billion years of suffering every second, and every second too slow every minute never becoming two.

Let me die…
Please…let me die…
…end this.

  But it never does quite end…it is always going on and on, all of time spread before me each moment a suffering. I sometimes wonder, now, what the man I used to be was like. I can no longer remember if that man, so long ago, was a happy man with a good life, or if I was reviled by those around me. Was I a funny man, cracking jokes all the time and able to get a room of people laughing? Was I sad with the things that brought to bed that night, whenever that last night in my bed was?

  That horrible silence is always my answer, a harsh truth that makes my questions meaningless. Only those pits of swirling blackness matter, that soul destroying gaze. It knew me, far more than I knew myself, and every moment it chipped away at me, an endless march toward nonexistence, but the pain makes it seem preferable. I would join that nothingness in time, but not before every ounce of suffering could be pulled from me, and it was.

 …let me die. A plead that lingered unnoticed forever, an endless begging ignored.

  My eyes opened suddenly, my heart raced in my ears, a panic brought from the depths of a dream ending. I did not know what woke me, be it my brain ejecting me from a dream it was finished with, or simply being rested. I scanned the room; parting the veil of sleep to discover my room empty, save for the darkness and myself. Outside I heard a car door close, no doubt my neighbor getting home from a midnight shift at the convenience store down the road.

  Rolling over I reached out and found my phone, which I took and pressed the button on time to engage the too bright, too sudden light from the screen. The clock read five in the morning, but one would hardly know it. The sun hadn’t yet breached the horizon, nor did it show any signs of attempting it today.

  That dream, that hell of an existence, remained in fragments, the entirety destroyed like the surface of a mirror. Hours and coffee would see it gone for good, as the rest of the day would greet me to bring me back to my life, a normal life of working a job I neither enjoyed nor detested. I rolled from my bed, placing feet to warm fuzzy rug, and yawned.

  I found myself in the shower; warm beads of water beat down on my tensed muscles. I didn’t remember the act of getting in the shower, but I was thankful for the warmth. The news had said it would be another cold day, at best being as high as forty degrees Fahrenheit. My heater was broken in my car, and I still hadn’t gotten around to fixing it.

  The rush of cold air as I stepped outside brought the remembrance of that horrible dream in portion.  I remember the feeling of floating through a cold too terrible to be real. I shook my head, trying to dispel it, it was only a dream. My jacket pulled tighter around my chest, I made my way to my car.

  My neighbor greeted me from his lawn as he retrieved his trash can from the curb, a gesture made and returned every day. Nothing was special about this day, only the remnants of that dream. I felt a smile cross my face, knowing that everything was okay.

  The sun shined down on my cold face, warming it for a moment, a perfectly normal yet sincere second of time that could exist only for those alive. The dead know not the feeling of warm sunshine, only cold dirt, and that was worth remembering.

  My eyes opened suddenly, my heart raced in my ears, a panic brought from the depths of a dream ending. The silence contained the world in perfect stillness, and my tormentor’s unforgiving eyes greeted my suffering again. I thought I saw a gleam of sadistic pleasure in there, somewhere, buried deep beneath the existing nothingness.

 A moment of sincere joy, the simple feeling of warmth from the sun, was given to me as hope. And it was taken from me, reminding me of my true fate.

 …let me die. I begged through silent eyes, for no scream could pass my lips.

 …let this be the end, I’ve suffered enough.

 …Finish this, please.

 Somehow I knew it would never end.

--Tommy Lawrence, 2013

title: Forever Agony, Forever Silent (horror short story, feedback wanted)

question: What does the story say about the unnatural features of the creature tormenting the narrator?

answer: Its presence wakes the narrator as it hovers in the air, its eyes seeming like a pit. Its mouth, when parted, shows only emptiness behind. It makes the narrator hear screams of agony before engulfing him in complete silence. It moves like stop-motion animation, and the razor wires that emanate from its elbow cut its flesh, revealing only the void. It smells like rotten flesh, sulfur, frost, bile, and rust. It makes the narrator feel like he woke up, feeling happy under the sun on a normal day, only to take it away. Throughout all this, the narrator screams without uttering a sound.

question: What does the text say about the creature's effect on the narrator?

answer: After waking up, the narrator is overwhelmed with fear, wanting to scream, but he can't open his mouth or utter any sound. His feeling of time is warped, and he suffers in agony for what feels like centuries. He forgets all positive memories and sensations under the creature's influence. He'd like to die but can't. Finally, the creature makes him experience a normal day and takes it away to torment him.

question: What does the story say about Cthulhu?


text:
	chapter 1: Thisbe

Nell sat on the great boardwalk and glanced nervously back. The fires would be coming, she knew this as surly as she knew the sun would rise. But for now all was peaceful, the bog in which she sat was entirely still other than the swarms of biting flies coating the landscape like an ominous and buzzing aura. Nell's face and arms had already been stripped bare by their assault, and teams of flies were working with a level of cooperation rarely seen in creatures of such small-mindedness to tunnel through the woman's flimsy armour to reach the rest of the adventurer’s supple flesh. Nell dibbled a toe in the bog, the splashing pleased her greatly.

Out of the bog walked a man, his features indistinguishable from the thick coating of bog over his being. The bog writhed with flies. It was the middle of fly season. "Thisbe?" Nell asked, hoping her search would finally be at an end. "I am Thisbe", the bog man replied. The flies buzzed, informing other flies in the area that this man was Thisbe. Nell nodded at Thisbe, Thisbe nodded back. Nell nodded at his nod and then they stopped. This was their exact level of agreement.

"You should leave this place" Nell informed the man, "The fires are coming". "I am Thisbe", Thisbe replied. Once again they nodded. The flies had finished their tunnel into Nell's chestplate. It was not a well-made tunnel and none of them were truly proud of it, but for the moment it would have to do. Each fly gave a nod to his companions and then they entered.

The flies consumed Nell, each bite a sweet reward for their effort. They stripped flesh from bone as they each took exactly seven bites each, the number of the Lord. They then left Nell's chest forevermore, leaving only a small brigade behind to work towards adding to the aesthetic appeal of their shoddy tunnel. Since Nell's task was too sacred to be interrupted by such petty annoyances she continued on as a hollow shell of her former self, forever hiding her terrible secret. The flies would go on to be mighty kings among the insects, until they all burned alive when the fires came.  Thisbe's body had been consumed long ago.

"I am Thisbe" said the flies, nodding at one another in apparent agreement.

	chapter 2: Tavern

The tavern had never been known as a pleasant place, but today the ear-splitting din outside was making it an especially unfriendly establishment. The house was packed; even the slightest of movements involved a struggle to displace the being currently occupying the space. Patrons were being hemorrhaged out the windows every second by the frenzied shoving to reach the bar, the screams of the ones ejected reminding those still in the tavern why they must remain where they are or die trying. Nell and Finnegan nursed their drinks. The drinks were warm; it was truly a terrible tavern.

“I don’t see why we came here today” Nell said, barely audible over the cries of a gnomish family she and her brother had flung from the tavern to get a halfway decent seat. This seat was next to a window; the view was picturesque. In the distance a mighty waterfall flowed into the ocean, the constant explosions only adding to its majestic beauty. In the foreground they looked over the seat of parliament, an intricate structure of marble that houses statues of mighty kings and priests none now dared to remember. Before the parliament was the family of gnomes, the unlucky survivors looking with envy at the gnawed carcases of their more fortunate kin. The survivors had been stripped, and each gnome held a stone; only the winner of the melee would be allowed to survive. Finnegan had no time to enjoy the view. He looked his sister in the eyes and slowly began to finish his drink, never breaking the stare.

“There weren’t any wars at home” Nell added. Finnegan’s cup was empty; he slammed it into his sister’s face. The glass shattered, leaving only a cloud of bloody shards where once Nell’s cheek had been, and knocking another gnome out into the bloodbath. Nell only flinched slightly from the blow, being well versed in taking such discipline. Outside the tavern, a rock wielding gnome wearing nothing but blood and fresh skulls screamed a mighty battle cry. A new challenger was approaching.

“You will speak only when spoken to” Finnegan spoke in a voice of incredible depth, his words providing the tavern a soothing baseline to the treble of the parliament exploding, “For that is the way of the lord”. Nell nodded, her brother was wise beyond his years.

	chapter 3: Fire

Nell bit in to her sandwich as she watched the ever spreading fames. The sandwich was decent, she felt. The villagers who crafted it certainly knew how to enjoy the simpler things in life, making it all the more shameful that most of them were now no longer. Still, Nell knew they would likely be proud to know their vital role in the ritual, if only they knew.

Water was pouring out of the east. Atop it rode villagers, each riding a little boat built for just this occasion, many drinking mugs of cider and laughing merrily. Nell looked back over her own people, the few still alive doing nothing more interesting than screaming and cursing their god for their recently fire-filled existence. Nell was jealous, she spoke to the water in the language of the old gods and it obediently ignited. The people on the boats continued to drink cider and be merry as it was the last chance they’d ever have to do either.

An old wizard walked over, who Nell recognised from his dashing hat as Rufus. “Where did my water go?” Asked Rufus, his puzzlement shining through his all-covering beard, his hat just beginning to combust at the tip.

“On fire” Nell replied.

“And the earth and air?”

“Also on fire.”

“So then what are we summoning?”

“I don’t know. More fire, I’d assume.”

Nell and Rufus nodded to one another. Nell bit into her sandwich once again, but found that it had been made crunchy and unpleasant by the flames. Rufus agreed, so they threw the toastwich into the inferno to be consumed just like the ones who made it.  Behind them the gateway stabilized and opened in a flash of unholy light. A single man exited, he introduced himself as Tybbolt and he wore a foppish hat. Rufus look at it suspiciously, as he had recently lost a hat much like it.

	chapter 4: Monks

Nell ran her blade along the dead monk’s face, the edge of her cut as complex and detailed as any average fractal. Around her were skins of monks just like this one, each one’s skin cut in a pattern equally as complex and arranged with care from horizon to horizon, covering every visible landmark and shrub. Beside Nell, the undertaker glanced nervously into the distance. He could see smoke rising over the peak of the mighty mountain Stranglehorn. Soon the air would be filled with the pounding of the war drums. They were running out of time.

“Can you hurry this up, they’ll be here soon” The undertaker said, his voice trembling with fear. Nell cursed under her breath, out of all the people who might be saved today it had to be the coward. “These things must never be rushed”, she replied.

The monk had been prepared. Nell grabbed a flap of skin and carefully peeled back, her skill made obvious as the infinitely complex pattern fell effortlessly off the flesh it had once housed. Three more monks ran over, two of whom grabbed the skin to lie decoratively over the mulberry patch while the third offered himself as yet another sacrifice. Nell left the undertaker to wash and shave the new monk in preparation; she had to lay the old one’s body on a hill with his feet facing towards the morning sun with the rest of the monastery’s former inhabitants. This last monk had taken only two hours to prepare, the first one took twenty. Nell beamed; she only rarely improved at things.

Figures were visible climbing over the mighty Stranglehorn. Each a warrior; each clad in burning pitch as a symbol of his zeal, some holding drums made from the skulls of dragons. Nell cared not; the ritual was almost compete. After the final monks were skinned and decoratively arranged only one final act remained. She and the undertaker stood on the hill and faced towards the morning sun. Nell spoke prayers in the language of the old gods, the undertaker recited mantras; with each unholy syllable they uttered their souls became a little more damned. Finally they both dropped to their knees. It was finished, they waited for their salvation.

In the distance, the drums were beating.

They waited. The drums grew louder. They continued to wait. The drums grew louder still. They waited some more. A fly discovered the pile of dead monks, crawled over them for a while and found the experience pleasurable. Nell swatted it, leaving it smashed into where the archbishop’s forehead usually was. It was a wasted effort, more flies were coming. Again they waited, and again nothing happened but ever-loudening drums and ever-increasing amounts of flies. Nell’s heart sank; she realized she had been tricked once again.

“Damn lying oracle bitch” said Nell.

title: Some short stories I've been working on (4 stories, <500 words each)

question: Summarize the chapter Thisbe.

answer: Nell is by the bog, and her face and arms had been stripped bare by flies' bites. She sees a man who walks out of the bog and asks him if he is Thisbe. He replies he is. She warns him that he should leave the bog because the fire is coming. The flies make a tunnel in Thisbe's chest plate and consume his body. At the end, the flies say 'I am Thisbe'.

question: What is the name of the book?


text:
*There was an ancient legend known throughout the land, a legend that tells of a door, a door protected by countless monsters, deadly traps, and a horrible beast of the name of Garthalon. It was told that Garthalon was a beast of monstrous proportions, and so strong that it could defeat anything unlucky enough to get close to it in a single blow. Many have tried before to reach the door, for it is told that this door leads to eternal life. But of all those that have tried, none came out alive.*

\----------------------------

“This is it”, Eugene thought. He has succeeded the impossible, what hundreds of others before him had attempted, but all failed. Eugene drew his sword from out of the monsters body. He had passed all the obstacles in his way to his destination. He had reached the door of eternal life. Inside was the secret to immortality. Oh, all the things he would do with immortality. He would no longer fear the ever creeping hand of death, he would travel for all eternity, discovering all that there is to discover.

As he went to the door to the final room, he thought of all what he had to do; slay hundreds of monsters, pass perilous traps, face his greatest fears. And now, finally, he would get his reward, he will be immortal, he shall be a true hero. Bards and minstrels would sing of his great deeds for decades ahead.

He opened the door, held his breath and looked inside. To his surprise, it was a small and simple room, not bigger then 10 meters in any dimension. it was very plain, the walls were all made of stone and there seemed to Eugene nothing in it at all. As he looked around, he suddenly noticed there was a man looking at him in surprise.

The man seemed ancient, his skin all wrinkly and pale. He was extremely skinny, almost as if he was just skin put over some bones. He looked into his eyes, they seemed cold and lifeless.

“you must be the final guardian to immortality” said Eugene.

“i guess you could say that, in a way” said the old man.

Eugene drew his sword out of its sheath and advanced over to the man. “May the best man win.” He charged at the old man, and the man just kept staring at him with his unfeeling eyes, not doing anything to evade the attack. He slashed his sword at him, and to his great surprise, the man did not even flinch, and as the sword connected, it simply bounced off his skin harmlessly. Eugene’s jaw opened in shock at what had happened, all the while as the old man kept on staring into his eyes. Eugene backed away in fear from the old man as he understood that he was not just a mortal man. He had gotten the gift of immortality.  Eugene realized he had no chance. The old man began to approach Eugene, and Eugene ran away in fear, going to the door out of the room to flee. But as he tried to open it, he noticed it was locked. He turned back and looked at the man who was still approaching, still staring at him with his cold and lifeless eyes.

“Wait! No! Please spare me!”, cried Eugene as the man was barely a meter away from him. “Please don’t kill me”. The man stopped at arm’s length of him and cocked his head to the side a little.

Eugene almost cried as he came to the realization that he was going to die at that moment. He closed his eyes and waited for the man to kill him. He started crying as he thought of how pointless it all was, all he did just to die so pathetically. He waited and waited for the blow to come, but it never did. He opened his eyes.

The man was standing there, still as a statue as he kept on staring at Eugene.

“i do not intend to kill you, lesser one” he said. “Quite to the contrary, in fact.” Eugene stared in disbelief. “Tell me, did you think of what you would do once you were immortal? Did you think about what it truly means?”

“Of course”, said Eugene. “I would have wandered the world without having to fear how fragile I am, without the impending touch of death always getting closer and closer.” As Eugene gazed into the old man’s eyes, he thought he saw a bit of remorse in them.

“That would be a good plan at first, but what about after 100 years? 200? 1000? Do you think you would still enjoy life as you do now?”

“We-well…” Eugene stammered as he tried to think of a response. The old man leaned in a bit closer to him.

“Would you enjoy it if you would be here for thousands of years, exhausting all possible ways to spend your time?” The man leaned even closer. “I have been here for so long…. Countless years…. I gained what I thought was the blessing of immortality, but it was a curse. They made it so that he who has received the curse cannot leave this room at all, left here to suffer for eternity. Do you  know how many times I have tried to kill myself? Slitting my wrists, hanging myself, trying to suffocate, stabbing myself in the heart…nothing worked…“ Eugene was speechless. The man somehow leaned even closer. ”all this time I had to suffer… so do you see now? This is not a blessing… this is the worst curse anyone can hope to receive.“ the man leaned back a bit. ”do you now understand? Would you like me to open the door so you can go while you still can?

“y-yes…” Eugene said. “i am sorry for you, and I wish you the best of luck with your life. I am sorry i cannot help you.” He started to open the door, which was now open. He was going to leave when suddenly the man clasped his wrist.

“Oh how I wish it was that simple…” the man pulled Eugene back in. Eugene struggled against him but his grip was like iron. “Now… now you shall carry my burden…” he put his hand on Eugene’s forehead. Eugene then understood what he was going to do.

“Wait no! Please don’t!” Cried Eugene. The old man stared at him once again in his eyes.

“Now…” he said. “Now I shall be free.”

For the first time, Eugene saw something in the old man’s eyes. Instead of the cold, lifeless, unfeeling eyes that once were, there was joy in his eyes. The man smiled and started crying from happiness. The little that was left of his body withered away, and Eugene saw the old man begin dissipate into thin air, with a smile on his face, he looked in peace with himself. Eugene bolted to the door in despair and tried to go through it, but an invisible force kept him within. Eugene fell down on his knees and started crying. Thinking about what was to be… Eugene lied down on his back and continued crying, for what would apparently be an eternity.

title: [FN] the door to immortality

question: Summarize everything to know about the door.

answer: An ancient legend that's well-known throughout the land talks about the door. It's protected by innumerable monsters and deadly traps. A horrible beast named Garthalon protects it too. Garthalon has been known to kill anything that gets close to it with a single blow. But many people have tried to get to the door as it supposedly leads to eternal life. However, none have managed to come back alive.

question: Summarize the conversation between Eugene and the old man.

answer: Eugene had managed to kill Garthalon and walked through the door to immortality. There, he saw an old man and tried to kill him but he realized that the man is immortal. The man walked towards Eugene, who thought that he was going to kill him. But the old man says that he doesn't want to kill him and asks him what he'd do with immortality. Eugene tells him his plans and the old man asks if he'd still like to live after a few hundred years. He talks about how he's tried to kill himself but failed all along. He says that immortality is a curse and gives Eugene the option to go away. But just when Eugene tries to leave, he brings him pulls him back in and passes on his immortality to Eugene and dies, while Eugene breaks down.

question: Summarize Eugene's life as an immortal.


text:
[Front page of an 1845 issue of _The Mystery_.] This is a list of African-American newspapers that have been published in the state of Pennsylvania.

This list includes both current and historical newspapers. In the 19th century, Pennsylvania saw a level of publishing that rivaled New York, with 14 African-American periodicals in circulation from 1838 to 1906. Pennsylvania's first African-American newspaper was _The Mystery_, published in Pittsburgh by Martin Robison Delany from 1843 to 1847.

Today, Pennsylvania is home to numerous active African-American newspapers, including the oldest such newspaper nationwide, the _Philadelphia Tribune_. Other notable current newspapers include the _New Pittsburgh Courier_ and _Philadelphia Sunday Sun_.

Newspapers

or 1883[1]

 | ceased publication  =  1885{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=541 | loc=¶ 5634 }}
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=541 | loc=¶ 5634 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -

 | remarks             =

}}

 | ceased publication  =  ?
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=270 | loc=¶ 2830 }}
 | call numbers        =

-

 | remarks             =

}}

 | ceased publication  =  1965[2]
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=461 | loc=¶ 4813 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -

 | remarks             =

-   Circulation of 18,496 in 1951.

}}

 | ceased publication  =  1920{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=150 | loc=¶ 1559 }}
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=150 | loc=¶ 1559 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -

 | remarks             =

}}

 | ceased publication  =  1952{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=151 | loc=¶ 1569 }}
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=151 | loc=¶ 1569 }}
 | call numbers        =

-

 | remarks             =

-   Circulation of 6,000 in 1951.

}}

 | ceased publication  =  1909?{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=189 | loc=¶ 1965 }}
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=189 | loc=¶ 1965 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -

 | remarks             =

-   One issue available online
-   Suspended publication in November 1905.[3]
-   Published by H.C.C. Astwood[4]

}}

 | ceased publication  =  ? {{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=228 | loc=¶ 2384 }}
 | type                =  Monthly newspaper{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=228 | loc=¶ 2384 }}
 | call numbers        =

-

 | remarks             =

}}

 | ceased publication  =  1985{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=391 | loc=¶ 4077 }}
 | type                =  Monthly newspaper{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=391 | loc=¶ 4077 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -   -

 | remarks             =

}}

 | ceased publication  =  current
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=462 | loc=¶ 4815 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -   -

 | remarks             =

-   Official site

}}

 | ceased publication  =  1983{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=430 | loc=¶ 4471 }}
 | type                =  Monthly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=430 | loc=¶ 4471 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -   -

 | remarks             =

}}

 | ceased publication  =  1917{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=438 | loc=¶ 4567 }}
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=438 | loc=¶ 4567 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -

 | remarks             =

-   One issue available online

}}

 | ceased publication  =  current
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=462 | loc=¶ 4816 }}
 | call numbers        =

-

 | remarks             =

-   Official site

}}

 | ceased publication  =  ?{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=567 | loc=¶ 5925 }}
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=567 | loc=¶ 5925 }}
 | call numbers        =

-

 | remarks             =

}}

 | ceased publication  =  current
 | type                =  Twice weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=462 | loc=¶ 4817 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -   -

 | remarks             =

-   Official site
-   Oldest continuously-published African American newspaper.
-   Circulation of 20,916 in 1951.

}}

 | ceased publication  =  current
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=412 | loc=¶ 4289 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -

 | remarks             =

-   Official site
-   Circulation of 268,447 in 1951.

}}

 | ceased publication  =  ?{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=465 | loc=¶ 4845 }}
 | type                =  Biweekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=465 | loc=¶ 4845 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -

 | remarks             =

-   Published from 1967 to 1976 by Erroll Davis.[5]

}}

 | ceased publication  =  ?{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=458 | loc=¶ 4770 }}
 | type                =  Unknown{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=458 | loc=¶ 4770 }}
 | call numbers        =
 | remarks             =

}}

 | ceased publication  =  ?{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=560 | loc=¶ 5848 }}
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=560 | loc=¶ 5848 }}
 | call numbers        =

-   -

 | remarks             =

-   Published by the United Movement for Progress and edited by Bouie Haden.{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=560 | loc=¶ 5848 }}

}}

 | ceased publication  =  1995{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=348 | loc=¶ 3649 }}
 | type                =  Monthly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=348 | loc=¶ 3649 }}
 | call numbers        =

-

 | remarks             =

}}

 | ceased publication  =  ?{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=567 | loc=¶ 5927 }}
 | type                =  Weekly{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=567 | loc=¶ 5927 }}
 | call numbers        =

-

 | remarks             =

-   Extant through at least 1993.{{ sfn | Danky | Hady | 1998 | p=567 | loc=¶ 5927 }}

}}

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

title: List of African-American newspapers in Pennsylvania

question: What does the text say about Asian newspapers in Pennsylvania?

question: Summarize what the text is all about.

answer: The text is a list of African-American newspapers published in the state of Pennsylvania, including both current and historical newspapers. In the 19th century, Pennsylvania saw a level of publishing that rivaled New York, with 14 African-American periodicals in circulation from 1838 to 1906. The first African-American newspaper was "The Mystery" published by Martin Robison Delany in Pittsburgh from 1843 to 1847. Today, Pennsylvania is home to several active African-American newspapers, including the oldest nationwide newspaper, the Philadelphia Tribune. Other notable newspapers include the New Pittsburgh Courier and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun.


text:
The Jacob Wetterling Documentary

Posted by on Apr 24, 2019 in Jacob | 5 comments

Back in August of 2015, just weeks before Danny Heinrich was arrested as a suspect in Jacob Wetterling’s kidnapping, a local filmmaker approached Patty Wetterling with the idea of making a documentary about Jacob’s story. His name was Chris Newberry and they were just in the early talking phases at that point. After a few more conversations, the Wetterlings agreed to let Chris begin filming later that fall.

[]
That’s when all hell broke loose.

From the very first day Chris began filming, he was right there in the thick of it, recording and watching history unfold as the mystery of Jacob’s 27-year-old disappearance came to a painful and dramatic conclusion.

Now, three and a half years later, Chris Newberry is finally nearing the completion of his documentary film. While filming for the “Jacob Wetterling Documentary” (a working title) is starting to wrap up, Chris and his team will soon begin the arduous process of editing together hundreds of hours of video footage in order to prepare a rough cut for potential distributors.

That takes time. And money.

Chris and his team just launched a fundraising campaign this week with a goal of raising $60,000 to help complete the film. It has been a labor of love – a legacy project for Jacob – and many of us have poured our hearts out onscreen trying to explain how Jacob’s disappearance not only changed the world, but also changed _us._

JACOB WETTERLING DOCUMENTARY on GoFundMe

For those of you who have followed Jacob’s story on my blog, this is your chance to support the film and contribute to Jacob Wetterling’s ongoing legacy. I promise I have no financial interest in this film, nor do the Wetterlings, nor anyone else for that matter. It’s simply a story that needs to be told, and with our help, Chris Newberry and his team can enter the final phase of production to get it done.

Click here to contribute to the GoFundMe campaign

When Chris told me he was going to launch a crowdsourcing campaign to help fund the film, I admit I was apprehensive. I know very little about the film industry or how these things work, so I had a lot of questions. He graciously took the time to answer all of them for me and asked for nothing in return. He is a kind, caring, honest person who has put much of his own heart and soul into this project.

I thought long and hard before deciding to write this article. I hate asking people for money, but I _so_ want to see this film get done… and get done right. I also figured if I had a lot of questions, others would, too, so I asked Chris if he would mind if I interviewed him for an article on my blog. Again, he graciously agreed.

THIS SEEMS LIKE A HUGE STORY WITH A LOT OF INTEREST. WHY DO YOU NEED FUNDING? IS THIS COMMON?

We’re an independent filmmaking team based in Minnesota, so we’re not a Hollywood entity coming in from out of town trying to tell a story from the heartland. This is a hometown story for us because we live here. Jacob is one of us.

Being an independent documentary crew, our resources are very minimal. We’ve been working on this project for three and a half years, and, to date, it’s mostly been through blood, sweat, and tears.  We received a little bit of funding early on from the Minnesota State Arts Board, but that was spent long ago.

We believe in Jacob’s story, and we hope that someday it’s going to find a bigger audience on a national platform. We can’t depend on that though. For an independent documentary of such a large scale, it’s pretty common to claw your way to this point and then have to pause and start fundraising when the expenses start to mount.

Our hope is that once we get a rough cut edited, we…ll get to a stage where resources will be easier to come by, once broadcasters and funders can see the vision. There are so many true crime stories out there right now, the field can be very competitive. However, so many of them focus their attention on the more sensational films and series. What we’re trying to do is something with integrity.

ASSUMING YOU REACH YOUR FUNDRAISING GOAL, HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE USED?

We are putting together a high quality film that we want everyone to be proud of once it’s done. That takes a lot of experience, plus the tools to do it, and that’s where the expenses come in.

Our first step will be to hire an experienced film editor who can help us pull everything together to make this the best possible film it can be.

WHY CROWDFUNDING?

From previous experience raising money for films, it takes a multi-faceted approach with many different options for support. Crowdfunding is just one of them. We know Jacob’s story has touched so many people, especially in Minnesota, so it seemed like a natural fit. Many Minnesotans have sort of “adopted”? Jacob after following his story for so many years. This is their chance to show their support. We wanted to giving everybody a chance to have a part in the making of this film.

Starting in May, we’ll also be hosting a series of Trailer Release Parties to help raise additional funds for the film. Each event will feature an exclusive sneak peek of the new film, as well as speakers from the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center (or other local child advocacy groups) and a conversation with the filmmakers.

  Click here to view the list of trailer release parties and to buy tickets.

ARE CONTRIBUTIONS TAX DEDUCTIBLE?

For those who wish to make a larger donation and get a tax deduction, we are set up to do that. Larger donors can make their contribution through FilmNorth, our fiscal sponsor. They are a 501(c)(3). More information is available on the Contribute page of our website.

WHY DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE THE RIGHT PERSON TO TELL THIS STORY?

I’m a Minnesota kid, born and raised here. I currently live in Minneapolis with my wife and two daughters. I was 14 when Jacob was abducted, and I remember it well. I watched the whole thing unfold on the news back in 1989, and it really affected me. The mystery of what happened to Jacob was always with me, just like it was for most Minnesotans.

I’d like to believe I have the compassion and sensitivity to navigate the telling of the story. My first contact was Alison Feigh at the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center. There was a billboard campaign back in the fall of 2014 surrounding the 25 year anniversary of Jacob’s disappearance. I researched his case for almost a year before I finally got up the nerve in August of 2015 to send a cold email to Alison. Bless her soul, she got back to me within a half hour, and five days later, I was sitting down with Patty and Alison in Minneapolis and having a “getting to know you”? meeting.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS ABOUT JACOB’S STORY THAT MADE PEOPLE HAVE THE KIND OR RESPONSE THAT THEY DID? WHY HAS IT RESONATED ALL THESE YEARS? WHY HAS MINNESOTA RALLIED AROUND THIS FAMILY?

Many people told me it had a lot to do with Jacob’s photo… his electric, magnetic smile. That school photo of him in his gold sweater is such a recognizable image, it helped form a connection for the wider public and made us all empathize for Jacob and his family. We all wanted to find out what happened to this boy.

Another factor is the circumstances of the case. Sadly, there are thousands of missing children in the U.S., but very few of their stories involve such chilling details as Jacob’s. He was kidnapped by a stranger, a masked gunman who came out of the shadows and stole Jacob away right off his own street. His younger brother and best friend were with him when it happened, so we knew it was real because there were eyewitness accounts. If you wrote it in a novel, it almost sounds too far-fetched, but it really happened, right here in small town Minnesota.

And, of course, the other key resonating factor is Patty. The story of how this unassuming person rose up and became this national advocate for missing and exploited children may have just as much to do with the public’s attachment to this story as Jacob himself.

ARE THE WETTERLINGS SUPPORTIVE OF THIS PROJECT?

Yes. It was really important to me, right from the beginning, to get the Wetterlings’ blessing. It was also important to me to hear the story in Patty and Jerry’s own words, and I feel really fortunate that this journey has allowed me to spend many, many hours on several different occasions speaking one-on-one with them. At this point, we’ve formed a pretty substantial bond that’s built on trust. I feel like I have an incredible responsibility to several people in the film who…ve given up their time, and also shared their deeply emotional feelings with me. I feel very honored to have been given all this access.

WHEN WILL THE FILM BE COMPLETED?

We hope to have a rough cut completed by the end of the year, with the final version available in mid 2020. We’re doing our best to get it done as soon as possible, and that’s where the community’s support comes in.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU…D LIKE TO ADD?

When I first started this project, I always considered Jacob Wetterling a household name because it is here in Minnesota. But, when I started interacting with people around the country, I started to realize Jacob’s story wasn’t as familiar to people outside the state. Even though it’s been almost 30 years, this is a story that is still in need of a national platform. It needs to be told.

There are all these inspiring people at the center of the story, none moreso than Patty herself, but there are also all these others who are doing good work in Jacob’s name. They are Minnesota treasures, and people across the country don’t know their stories. So, to me, I want to share Jacob…s story with the world, but also to raise up the profiles of some of these other people so Americans can be inspired by the examples they’ve set.

  You can show your support for this film by making a contribution of any amount to Chris Newberry’s GoFundMe campaign…

  Thank you for your support!

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question: What does the article say about corporate sponsors?

question: What does the article say about the subject of the documentary?

answer: Jacob Wetterling was a child abducted in Minnesota in 1989. His parents were Patty and Jerry Wetterling. His disappearance remained a mystery for 27 years.