text:
Arches. Whorls. Creases. A Maze of Lines. Loops. Forks. Pathways.

Living in the suburbs of L.A., she has turned into a clone of the latest thing. She lives where superficial is the inner soul. Where trying to be someone else is the norm. Where uniqueness can only safely be expressed in a fashion statement. Where her fiery red hair is a flaw that needs to be changed and forgotten.

Trying to be someone else’s ideal is a tiring life long act. She begs the world to let her off of the stage. She begins to cry in her hands and notices that there is something that sets her apart in her little corner of the world. They can not be copied or altered. She can leave her unique stamp, imprint, and mark wherever she goes. Her fingerprints tell her, no matter how hard she tries, that she can never truly be anything else but herself.

title: A Maze of Lines

question: Who is she?

answer: She is someone who lives in L.A.

question: Whose ideal is she trying to be?

answer: The ideal of "the latest thing."

question: Why has she begun to cry?

answer: Because the constant fashion changes are tiring and she wants to be herself.

question: Is her hair actually red?

answer: Yes.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Living in L.A., the main character tries to transform herself into the latest trends. But this is tiring, and she knows deep down that she can never be truly anything but herself.


split: train

text:
Hi, it's my first post here, hope you enjoy it!
___________________________________

Grandpa Adam watched in disdain as his grandchildren sat in silence. They spoke only electronically: to update their friends every 5 minutes on the progress of their e-homework in the hit video-game "School Simulator".

"It's way better than real school - and more addictive!" posted 10 year-old Sharpiqua-Massachusetts.

Grandpa Adam scowled. "In my day, we kept our private lives private" he said as his FaceGoogle posted this as his latest status; "and we kept our private parts private too." - he motioned to the boob-tube hotpants combo his 14 year-old grandson was sporting.

"Uh oh, Grandpa's at it again" muttered Andromeda-Shoreditch to himself and 31 school-friends simultaneously.

"Just don't mention Pokémon!" tweeted little Sharpiqua-Massachusetts helpfully.

On hearing this, Adam's face went bright red as his WebMD bracelet warned him that this might be a sign of Madagascan Lemur Flu.

"THERE'RE ONLY 151 POKEMON YOU WHIPPERSNAPPERS!” he bellowed. “I HAVE PROOF! JUST LOOK UNDER THE TRUCK BY THE SS ANNE!! WHAT THE HELL KIND OF NEW POKEMON IS ‘BRICK’ THE ‘BRICK POKEMON’ ANYWAY?!?"

Grandpa Adam's daughter and son-in-law sighed and resigned themselves to carting him out of the room on their Amazon Anti-Grav Elderly-Scooper, again.

After watching Grandpa Adam get whisked back to the drive-thru old folk’s home, Sharpiqua-Massachusetts turned to Andromeda-Shoreditch.

“Shpeesh, I dunno why he’s so judgemental about what kids are into.”

“I know, right?” responded Andromeda-Shoreditch. “That said though, have you seen the kind of TV meant for nursery children these days? They’re premiering Nickolodean’s ‘A Serbian Tale’ next week, and I think it’s just a bit much. Not like the milder ‘Teletubby Sluts Xtreme’ we had when we were little.”

title: Image of the Future

question: What is "School Simulator"?

answer: It seems that it's a video game where kids do their homework.

question: How is Grandpa Adam's relationship with his grandchildren?

answer: It seems Adam doesn't understand the entertainment choices of his grandkids, and the grandkids seem to find this annoying.

question: Why does Andromeda-Shoreditch say that Grandpa's at it again?

answer: It can be assumed that Grandpa Adam regularly complains about the current state of the world, and how its different from when he was younger.

question: Who is Sharpiqua-Massachusetts?

answer: This may be Grandpa Adam's granddaughter.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: In a futuristic world, kids only seem to speak electronically. Grandpa Adam is irritated watching his grandchildren do this, and complains about how things are different from his day. After he has a fit about Pokémon, his daughter and son-in-law take him back to the old folk's home. His grandchildren comment how he is so judgmental about what kids are into, and then they begin to criticize what nursery children are now watching on TV.


text:
CHWA I NABAKKA was Kabaka (King) of the Kingdom of Buganda. He reigned during the mid 14th century. He was the 2nd Kabaka of Buganda.

Claim to the throne

He was the son of Kabaka Kato Kintu,[1] the first Kabaka of Buganda, who reigned in the early 14th century. His mother was Nambi Nantuttululu, of the Ngeye Clan. He ascended to the throne following the death of his father. He established his capital at Bigo Hill.

Marital life

He married two wives:

-   Naabakyaala Nakku, the Kaddulubaale, daughter of Walusimbi of the Ffumbe clan. After the death of Kabaka Chwa I, she married Sebwaana, a Regent.
-   Nakiwala, daughter of Semwanga, of the Ngonge clan.

Issue

-   Prince (Omulangira) Kalemeera, whose mother was Nakiwala. Kalemeera was driven out of Buganda and forced to seek refuge in Bunyoro, on the orders of his father. In Bunyoro, Kalemeera was accommodated at the court of his uncle, Omukama Winyi I of Bunyoro. There, he had an illicit sexual encounter with Lady Wannyana, daughter of Mugalula Buyonga, a Muhima, the chief wife of his uncle. The affair resulted in a son; one Prince Kimera Walusimbi.

The final years

Kabaka Kintu abdicated and settled in Magonga. He is said to have disappeared. Up to today, his place of death and burial are unknown. Following his death, there followed a period of Interregnum under the Prime Ministers Walusimbi and his successor, Sebwaana. This period lasted until 1374.

Succession table

[1]

title: Chwa I of Buganda

question: Why was Prince Kalemeera driven from his home by his father?

answer: Unknown.


text:
TOWN OF PACIFIC, Wis. — Tom Lichtfeld was standing outside his garage three years ago when he heard something rip through the air and land at his feet.

He bent down and picked a 9-mm bullet out of the ground — a stray round from the nearby makeshift shooting range at the Swan Lake Wildlife Area in south-central Wisconsin.

“I ran down there and yelled ‘What the hell are you doing?’ ” Lichtfeld said. “It’s a stupid setup.”

Gunfire has rung out at Swan Lake for years but neighbors say it’s getting out of control. Gun lovers are blasting away almost every day now and leaving behind so much debris that the site has become a dump.

The problems underscore the state’s love affair with all things firearms and have put the Republican-controlled Department of Natural Resources in a delicate position as it works to promote shooting sports. Residents and local officials have pushed for three years to force the DNR to prohibit shooting on the land but the agency won’t go that far. DNR officials hope to release an alternative plan soon but local leaders want more.

Swan Lake is a 2,466-acre mix of wetlands, grasslands and woods in the rural Town of Pacific in Columbia County. Visitors enter the area through a parking lot that lies at the base of sandy, 10-foot berms that make for a natural backstop for bullets. The result: a free makeshift firing range.

Shooting on public land is legal in 54 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, including Columbia. But shooting at Swan Lake has become problematic since 2011. It’s unclear exactly why the site’s popularity has spiked, although local officials speculate it might have to do with the state’s concealed carry law, which went into effect that same year.

Now, local leaders and neighbors say, the shooting starts as early as 6 a.m. and goes on past dusk four or five days a week.

More shooters have meant more stray bullets flying over the berms into Lichtfeld’s subdivision, which is only a quarter-mile or so away. A sign in the Swan Lake parking lot warns shooters of the neighborhood’s proximity but it’s so riddled with bullet holes it’s hard to read.

What’s more, shooters have been dragging anything they can find to the site to serve as targets, from beer cans and basketballs to computer keyboards and Xbox 360s.

“This, to me, is getting ridiculous,” neighbor Phil Manthey said.

The residents and local leaders have spent the last three years trying to persuade the DNR to prohibit shooting on public land in Columbia County, but the agency has been hesitant to pull the plug.

Since Republican Gov. Scott Walker took office in 2011, the DNR has been working to increase opportunities for shooting. Leaders in the Conservation Congress, a group of influential sportsmen who advise the DNR, have rejected a blanket prohibition on shooting in Columbia County, saying there’s too few places shooters can go as it is.

Instead, DNR officials plan to build a public range in the county, advertise existing ranges, rent time for the public at private ranges and potentially close off the Swan Lake berms to prevent people from setting up targets on them, DNR Regional Director Mark Aquino said. The agency expects to release a final plan in the next few weeks, he said.

Town of Pacific Chairman Bill Devine said he doesn’t understand why the agency simply won’t ban target shooting on the property.

“I don’t know where to go with these people,” he said. “That is an unsafe environment.”

So the shooting at Swan Lake goes on.

Krissi Jenkins, 22, of Pardeeville, spent a recent morning firing a .22-caliber pistol at a milk jug. She questioned why people moved into the subdivision knowing a shooting range is nearby, a choice she likened to moving to the country and then complaining about manure.

“There’s very few places you can go to shoot without paying,” her father-in-law, 66-year-old Wallace Jenkins, said. “(Swan Lake) is really neat.”

question: What is the name of the Wisconsin town mentioned at the beginning of this text?

answer: Pacific.

question: What is the acreage information for Swan Lake?

answer: It is a 2, 466-acre mix of wetlands, grasslands, and woods.

question: Who is Scott Walker?

answer: A Republican governor of Wisconsin, in office in 2011.

question: How old is Krissi Jenkins's dad?

answer: 66 years old.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: In Pacific Wisconsin, a natural area called Swan Lake doubles as a public shooting range. Nearby residents and citizens have voiced concerns about the proximity of dangerous gunfire, as well as the debris left behind by those using the area for shooting. The town-chairman of Pacific wishes the DNR would ban shooting on the property but as of the time of this article, there is only a plan to advertise and use other shooting ranges while a decision is made about closing Swan Lake to public shooting.


text:
There is no title. It's the beginning of something I've been messing with. It's mostly just fancy word play, it's coherent enough to follow, yet schizophrenic enough to personify what it's like to feel insane and confused -shrug- figured I'd share it. You're supposed to feel like you're in the mind of a mad man, I'm not sure how well I did.
 ___________

.

.

My mind warped and twisted. Thoughts and images of demons danced within my mind and around the room as I tried to hold onto reality. Shadows swirled, and I heard laughter coming from all around me. Screams cut through the silence and fires burned on the metal walls. I did my best to ground my feet in what I knew was rational, but it still felt like I was falling down a never ending hole; thoughts of grandeur, false senses of security, and overall apathy swept across my blank mind.

My face was like stone as I sat and looked out the window, the world racing by, night raining down like ash as it covered the world in darkness.  I felt like I was drowning as I sat, felt the water swirling around my ankles and the shackles as they clanked against the floor. It felt needles being pressed into my skin, and bugs crawling inside me. I brought my bound and chained hands to my forehead and pressed as hard as I could to keep my skull from splitting open. I screamed as the voices inside my head began to howl, and the world around me began to transform and mold itself around my “insanity”, or so they called it.
 “Hey…you…you. Shut the hell up! Stop yelling! I said stop!”

I heard the blow echo through my head even before I felt it. A blunt pain ripped through my skull, it was like the demons in my head had been smashed out. I saw flashing lights, like the cameras outside the court room on the day they convicted me. I heard ringing in my ears, like the sirens as they walked me in chains to my doom. The room seemed to be spinning on itself as I slumped over in the ratty bus seat, dizzy and lightheaded, gasping for air, trying not to choke on my own tongue and vomit.

 “Fucking nut cases.” I heard the guard mutter under his breath, as he wiped the butt of his rifle off with a rag and made his way to the front of the bus.
The vibration under me shivered and rattled up my spine, the wheels of the bus tore forward against the road, softly easing the sickly spinning. The world was coming to an end. My head had slumped on my shoulders, bobbing with the bumps on the road. I was too weak to hold my head up, from the corner of my eyes I saw the moon laughing at me. The scratched and tinted, metal barred windows seemed to twist the light in concerto with the trees outside as they blocked the moon from my sight, I grinned at the thought that the trees outside would do me such a favor.

 My hands ached. The water bellow me had retreated, I wondered…was ever there in the first place…? I looked at the floor below me, scuffled and scratched like the windows above…and everything else on this god forsaken bus. The shackles on my ankles clanked and clashed against the floor, while the orange on my arms seemed to burn my skin like an acid, the jump suit itching at my throat. I could almost taste the color. I smiled, closed my eyes and started to snicker again. I felt my head throbbing, pounding, trying to split from my body. I was helpless to lift my hands from my lap or sit up from my shackles, and that orange, that sickly orange seemed to be chasing me. I shut my eyes tighter and hoped it would leave, hoped it would all just stop...It was the only color, the only thought, the only feeling besides the sickly crimson, caked and scared onto my knuckles from the nights before. The entire world seemed to be a mess of black, gray and orange, and I wondered if the guards would let us trick or treat a few days early, since we were all already in costume. I heard laughter in front of me; I guess one of the prisoners found humor in that thought as well.

The bus rocked and swayed, like a subway, as it drove through the night. It was like a symphony. The beat of a bass tremorred around my head as the wheels bellow me kicked up rocks on the dark road and roared against the pavement. The percussions of the brass, as the chains and shackles clashes against the floor, the hums and howl of the winds as the night swept in through a cracked window. I found myself humming to fill the void of the strings, it was the only thing that gave me comfort as the bus pushed forward, closer to my fate, to my hell. I was glad it was almost over. All of this is so…familiar. The colored outfit, the guns, the moon, the bus ride…I guess it ends where it began, I thought with a smile on my face… Three years running. Three years since the razor wire fence maimed my finger as I leapt back into the realm of the living… Three years since my first escape. . . This time, it was all going to end. This time, there was no escape.

title: Schizophrenic Prisoner [870 words]

question: Where does the story take place?

answer: It is probably in an asylum, but it might also be in a prison. The main character is on a bus. They are clearly mentally ill, and are currently being watched by guards with rifles. The fact that there is razor wire fencing, and the narrator thinks about escaping, implies it might be a prison, and the main character was imprisoned for crimes of insanity.

question: What is the main character's mental state?

answer: The main character is clearly undergoing a psychotic episode. They feel that they are drowning where they sit. They hear screaming and perceive demons everywhere. They are convinced they are in chains. They also feel that the world is ending. At the beginning of the story the author states their intention is to convey the feeling of being in the mind of "a mad man" in the author's note.


text:
Rastus, the stand-up comic, grabbed the mike and began his routine:

“Yowie, Yowie, Yowie—fun night—Friday night. How are we—fun people?” He stretched the word “night” out and put a mad, contorted look on his face.

A few women laughed. What most of the audience didn't know was that Rastus was not funny at all; he was, like all the comics or professional funny people I’d met to date, a very serious and rote minded character.

He routinely stole jokes and one liners at every opportunity. For instance he would sit or stand around BBQ’s asking people if they knew any good jokes. If one came up, he would never laugh, never.

But he would say,”Hey, that is funny!”

In the same way another person might admire a piece of art.

Most people when they hear a funny or humorous line take their joy in the act of laughing or being amused, not a comedian, they only analyze it and put it in their bag of tricks, a collector of what makes people laugh without real enjoyment in the simple act of laughter and humor itself.

Rastus’s real name was Vinnie Vincenszo, now that is a perfect name for a funny guy—Vinnie Vincenszo, not Rastus, which is a contrived silly name of someone, quite obviously trying to be funny.

We had this conversation many times, I would say,

“Vinnie drop the Rastus, thing man, it’s not funny”

“I am Rastus, he is funny, you ask anyone, Rastus is the Funster, Vinnie is not funny—I don’t want to have this conversation again— O.K.!”

Vinnie had just finished half his gig and I had called around to see him perform. I don’t know why really, he was the most boring, repetitive comic. It did annoy me that other people would be amused by his antics.

A tipsy woman came passed us and noticed Vinnie, she said. ” My God, Rastus, you are the funniest guy ever, hilarious!”

Vinnie smiled and said. ” Yowie, Yowie, Yowie—thank you!”
She walked away giggling.

“You see that, you see that—that’s what Rastus does! Learn from the master if you ever want to get a laugh.” Vinnie bragged.

“Are You kidding, that woman would not know funny, you think that Yowie, Yowie crap, is funny, that is not funny, man, get rid of it, show some class, funny; that’s not funny Vinnie!” I said getting quite annoyed.

“You know what, it’s you who doesn't know funny, you know that. These people love me, they know funny— funny is Rastus!” Vinnie was raising his voice now.

He continued, “why do you come here every night, it’s always the same, you come to criticize me, I’m going to ban you, if you keep it up. You know your problem, you’re a comedian wannabe, that’s it, isn't it. You can’t stand the fact that people get a real lift out of my stuff—because you my friend would like to be funny like me, but can’t because you got no sense of humor, you’re an unfunny guy, that’s your problem.”

Vinnie actually had a grin on his face, he was enjoying himself now, he felt the flow, the roll of it. I on the other hand was really annoyed; perhaps there was some truth in what he said, maybe there was a component of the comic wannabe that kept me coming back.

He let out one final jab, “I’m going to ban you—unfunny guy.” He was laughing now and headed back to the floor.

Grabbing the mike he made a sort of “stewwwww,” sound, followed by a longer “naaaagggooa,” almost spitting into the mike. People actually sniggered in their beer over this puerile sound-blast.

“You know what peeps, I have a friend, I call him the unfunny guy. He’s the opposite of funny. I betcha when he was born he came out with a sour look on his face. Thing is he wants to be funny; he’s the sort of guy that does a course in How to be the *Funny Guy at Parties.* Anyway I’m going to ban him from my show. You hear that—Mr. Unfunny guy.”

The audience picked up on Vinnie’s enthusiasm, they were with him, he was carrying their expectancy and his delivery had a confident punch to it.

He was looking straight at me; it was time for me to leave. People laughed at my departure, it was a good joke at my expense. My point had been proven, Vinnie could only be funny with my help, I’d be back, he needed me.

title: Funny Guy (feed back, improvements?)

question: What does the text say about why Vinnie calls himself Rastus?

answer: The narrator feels that the name is contrived and Vinnie uses it because he is very obviously trying to be funny. Vinnie on the other hand seems to view Rastus as a comedic alter ego, and claims that people love Rastus, not Vinnie.

question: What does the text say about what the narrator thinks of Vinnie?

answer: The narrator feels that Rastus isn't funny at all. He knows that outside of his act, Vinnie doesn't laugh at any jokes and actively steals jokes from other people. The narrator is critical of Vinnie's stage name, but he keeps coming to see him perform. He is annoyed that other people enjoy Vinnie's performance, but part of him is also envious of Vinnie's success. In the end, the narrator feels that Vinnie needs him, because he can only be funny with the narrator's help.

question: What does the text say about Vinnie's other friends?


text:
RAY ARTHUR WANG, born RAYMOND WANG (pronounced Wong), is an American independent filmmaker.

Personal life

Wang was born and raised in Livermore, California, where he graduated from Livermore High School.

In 1999, he acquired his B.S. in electrical engineering and computer Science with music minor from University of California, Berkeley.[1]

He went on to receive his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Stanford University, where he researched wireless communication under the guidance of Donald C. Cox with the support of the National Science Foundation Fellowship and Stanford Graduate Fellowship (Ric Weiland Family Fellow).[2][3]

Film career

Wang pursued a career in electrical engineering but was increasingly moved by social injustices around him. He founded Raw Power Productions in 2004 with a mission of using the medium of film to effect social change.[4]

His directorial feature debut _Carma_ in 2005, starring actress Karen Black as the voice of a haunted Honda Accord,[5] toured local film festivals. It won “Best Picture” and “Indie Auteur of the Year” for Wang at the Bare Bones International Film Festival. _Carma_ premiered as a Special Presentation at Cinequest Film Festival under the name _Compartment._[6]

Wang and his team was invited to the Sundance Producers' Conference in 2006, where he was a producer on the women's rights documentary, _Tapestries of Hope._[7] The film was an early adopter of the crowdfunding site Indiegogo, which launched launched in 2008.[8][9] The film featured activist Betty Makoni and discusses sexual abuse in Zimbabwe.[10][11] It released 2010 nationwide in over 100 theaters.[12]

The San Francisco Chronicle praised Wang's debut directorial _The Profile_ for evoking memories of the infamous Wen Ho Lee case on its 10th Anniversary.[13] Film critic Richard von Busack also spoke positively on the film in the Metro Silicon Valley,[14] while Film Threat stated, “_The Profile_ feels timeless but is also clearly modern as we look at the recent illegal immigration laws enacted by Arizona.”[15]

His short _When Sally Met Rascal..._ is about homelessness and starred Sally Kirkland and Rascal, former winner of the World's Ugliest Dog Contest.[16][17]

In 2011, Wang released the 3D horror short _Down Under_ to raise awareness about the 2008–2010 series of hate crimes against Indians in Australia.[18][19][20]

His 2013 short _Oksana_ tells the story of a 9-year-old white girl adopted by an Indian American man and American Indian (Native American) woman and is loosely based on the controversial subject of Russian adoptions in America.[21][22][23][24]

In 2014, Wang completed the short _Circle of Life_, starring actors Graham Greene and Michael Horse, about the final years of human life.[25][26] Wang collaborated with writer Susan Black for the fourth time in 2014 for _Black and White.[27]_

His 2017 film _Disk 44_, an animated remake of _The Profile_,, placed 8th in the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) Amazon Audience Award.[28]

Music career

Wang started formal piano training at the age of five, shortly after his perfect pitch and ability to play by ear were noticed, and went on to win several piano competitions.[29] Wang was invited to perform as piano soloist with symphony orchestras over ten times,[30][31][32] starting at age ten when he won the Livermore-Amador Symphony's Concerto Competition.[33] After a guest piano appearance with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra for the U.S. Premiere of Philip Glass' Songs of Milarepa in 1999,[34][35] he then won the Stanford Concerto Competition in 2000, performing Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto with them.[36]

In 2006, The Oakland Tribune wrote in reference to his performance of Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto, “Wang received the Diablo Symphony's most vociferous ovation ever.”[37] A year later, Wang retired from the classical piano concertizing scene to focus on film and engineering but continues to play piano and/or compose music for his movie scores. Wang's debut CD, _RAW Encores_, was released in December 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14] http://www.rawpp.com/Metro.pdf

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19] http://www.kazv.net/uploads/8/5/3/0/8530330/shockerfest2012schedule.pdf

[20] http://www.baaff.org/fear-buffet-a-shorts-program.html

[21] http://lifefilmfest.com/lf14wrap/

[22] http://siaff.kr/xe/en_notice/449

[23]

[24] http://educationexpo.tv/dadasahebphalkefilmfestival/news.php?id=MTAw

[25] http://www.rawpp.com/circleoflife/includes/images/theandersonnewsprint.jpg

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29] http://townsendcenter.berkeley.edu/pubs/98_10_nl.pdf

[30] http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/morguepdf/2006/2006_05_05.pls.section1.pdf

[31]

[32]

[33] http://www.livamsymph.org/brochures-compwinners/LASCompetitionWinners.pdf

[34]

[35] http://www.21st-centurymusic.com/ML210305.pdf

[36]

[37] http://www.rayarthurwang.com/OaklandTribune_Rach3.html

title: Ray Arthur Wang

question: Why would Ray Arthur Wang care about social injustices?

answer: Wang's motivations are never discussed in the article, though his name implies that he is of Asian descent and may have had personally experienced various forms of social injustice. While it is possible that he simply chose this path because he felt strongly about the cause, or that he has seen it happen to people he knows, the fact that he turned away from his education in engineering to start up an independent film studio gives more weight that his decision is personal.


text:
Buy the Poster
from one of the sites below

Confirmed Links
The Room Poster $ 14.99

Click on the PayPal image and make a payment; on
the PayPal form list your shipping address and any request.

IN SIZES 27" x 40".

question: Write a ~0 sentence summary.


text:
Allen Larson lay sleeping, the ambient sound of rain as it struck the roof proving insufficient to rouse him. His rest was abruptly interrupted by a clamorous crash. Upon lethargically pushing the thick sheets off of him and listing out of bed, he made his way out of his bedroom with curiosity impelling him onwards. Other than the open front doorway, there was nothing to suggest that something had occurred; everything appeared as it was before he had dozed off. Having regained most of his adroitness he shut the front door and began heading back to his room, when out of the corner of his eye he noticed his parents’ bedroom door ajar and vacant. With that, the sound of screaming wheels filled his ears and his heart sunk as he became terribly aware that his parents had been abducted.

Just moments prior a lonely van, headlights piercing the rain, approached.

“Where are we headed this time, Zen?”

“1835 Madison Av” replied Driver.

“Reason for internment?” asked a member of the extraction team.

“Political subversion, undermining the Labor Party’s policies,” responded the driver, “I’m sure you all understand.”

As the van rounded the corner, Zen conferred with the driver; “Is this the house?”

“Chip readings confirm that a Mr. and Mrs. Larson are present here, heart rates 35 and 39 beats per minute respectively; given the time they are certainly sleeping.”

“Then it is a go” Zen confided within the team.

In the midst of the night it was pure darkness as the van pulled to a stop. The streetlights were off (to conserve energy for the Glorious War effort), the rain was pouring, and neither the moon nor the stars were discernible amid the overcast. The back doors flew open, and the taillights, appearing ethereal as the red glow waned and revived, illuminated the conspicuous and unmistakable words “Peace Detectives” along the back. The strike team composed of six men, with Zen at point, purposefully yet delicately crept towards the door, their leather boots turning from grey to black as they absorbed rain. Once under the relative dryness of the porch they dried the soles of their boots so as to remain obscured. Their intel had told them that the couple were heavily armed and as dangerous to the strike team as they were to the Western Confederation, for which they served proudly and unequivocally.

With great force, the group of detectives rammed the door off of its hinges and charged directly towards their living quarters, as indicated by the chip reader. Zen hastily opened the bedroom door and was passed by two detectives who, like clockwork, injected both the man and woman with a viscous serum before forcing bags over their heads and binding their hands to their legs, forcing them to contort awkwardly.
Wasting no time, the two were dragged out, held by their bindings by two men on each side. Their faces scraped along the floor, and even through the bags over their heads blood made its way onto the wooden floor and asphalt street. The detectives flung the couple head first into the van and began to make their way towards the euphemistically named Reassignment Center.

According to the records they had no living relatives, no close associates, no children. Thus, it didn’t bother them that they had left the front door open and driven off in a cloud of burning rubber. All citizens of the Western Confederation were required, under penalty of death, to be implanted with chips at birth to relay their whereabouts and statuses to the Peace Detectives, for their own welfare of course. They had only detected two chips in the house, and it was safely conjectured that the Larson’s would fade into obscurity, like the untold thousands of heretics before them and yet to come.
	Driving in the upper 80s the van progressed through the streets of Falton unnoticed. The
11 PM curfew, which was harshly enforced and monitored by the chips, ensured there would be no inquiring eyes.

Few words were spoken between the detectives, and only after an extended interlude did Driver call higher up, confirming the acquisition and their current destination. Arriving at the gates to Reassignment, it took Driver the better part of thirty seconds to punch in the entry code, during which time a plethora of obscenities were muttered. A combination of intrinsically poor eyesight and fatigue compounded the problems that are normally associated with seeing in the dark. As the imposing gates opened and the barely visible Western Confederation banner barely flew, weighed down by rain, the group was overpowered by a sense of pride, the end result of lifetimes worth of Labor Party propaganda.
After making the switch from pavement to gravel and bouncing on rough terrain all the way, the van ultimately arrived at Reassignment. Hidden amongst trees and a sheltered by a 200-foot cliff it was as unnoticeable as it was portending of agony.

After parking the van and exiting with the couple, both of whom were still sedated, a man with penetrating eyes, gray hair, ashy skin, and wrinkles carved into his face that made all too evident his guilt, approached his fellow detectives and asked “are these the Larsons?”

“Yes” replied the group, almost in unison. The man in turn glared at them, for it was Zen and only Zen to whom he had spoken.

“Very well then” the gray haired man responded. Gesturing towards a metal door, he said “take them there, where they will be processed and dealt with accordingly.”

As the sedative began to wear off, the two looked towards to ground, disparagingly and without hope. They had known the consequences of insubordination in any form, regardless of the cause, which was part of the reason they had joined the Reformation in the first place. To them, the chips were a sinister ploy to gain control over the people without their arbitration, which was why they had risked everything to hide the conception and birth of their child so that he would at least be absolved in his home. Of course, the despotic rule of the Western Confederation (which in reality was more of an oligarchy run by the Peace Detectives) had committed far more repulsive acts than the simple invasion of privacy. In attempting to divulge the tyrannous acts of their leadership (including the obliteration of the town of New Trent and each of its inhabitants) they had doomed themselves.

Just beyond the doors their chips were taken out and incinerated, their records deleted, and their possessions seized. Officially, they had never existed.

Following processing, the Larsons inched towards a glowing entrance, heat emanating and growing in intensity until it soon became a sweltering sauna. Now fully alert, they almost didn’t believe their eyes – gaunt men and women, now more skeleton than human, methodically forging weapons of war, burning incriminating papers, and some the targets upon which new technologies were tested. They knew they were finished, though knowing their son would live on kept their iconoclast souls intact.

Allen did not appear distraught– he knew that one day his parents might disappear, for they were not ones to keep secrets. Remembering what his parents had told him just days earlier, he took a piece of paper out from behind a government-issued picture of a smiling Peace Detective and read it aloud; “In the case of our demise or untimely absence, pick up where we left off.  However you can, make your way towards a Reform asylum, a trapdoor in between 1430 and 1432 Olany Road. There, you will find people who share in our hope for another future, free of this Confederacy.”

Allen proceeded to cry, and then laugh irrationally. He  sluggishly sauntered over to the old phone laying on his parents’ desk and called the Peace Detectives.

“I have another tip for you, which I would prefer to provide anonymously. There is a band of saboteurs, Reformers, those who wish to lay waste to the Western Confederacy in between 1430 and 1432 Olany Road. Provide me with a month, that is all I will need, and I will quite possibly distinguish yet another source of subversion. May our pursuit be unwavering and without mercy.”

With that, he nonchalantly hung up, gathered what few belongings he could carry, and stood at his front door, statue-like as an ear-to-ear grin broke out like a fissure across his face.

It ends pretty crappy, skips around a lot and could be expanded on but I had to keep it under a few pages.

title: Typed this up in an hour the other day for homework, unedited. What do you think?

question: Why were Allen's parents arrested?

answer: They were arrested for political subversion and undermining the Labor Party's policies.

question: What might have happened if Allen's parents were awake and put up a fight?

answer: It could've been bloody and the Peace Detectives may have overpowered them anyway, exposing the truth about Allen's existence.

question: How did the Peace Detectives know that Allen's parents were members of the resistance?

answer: Because Allen betrayed his own parents and told the authorities what they were up to.


text:
Well, do you guys remember Riley? We spoke with him a little bit earlier today, and got a little bit of insight on what this guy is really like. Amidst the dry humor and short fuse, is an intelligence that can not be taught in public school. An intelligence that comes from what he believes to be a dying trait, common sense. Today is a day not like most, you wont always get to talk to Riley more than once a day, so enjoy every time you are included, enjoy it, take it in, learn something, I know I do. Now here is this afternoons conversation:

Me: Good afternoon Riley, are you doing better this afternoon? You left here pretty bewildered.

Riley: Yes.

Me: Yes, what?

Riley: Yes, I am doing better, and Yes i was bewildered. You are quite observant.

Me: I'll accept the compliment, and ignore the context.

Riley: That's like banging your sister but ignoring the fact that she is your sister, it may feel good, but in no way, shape or form is it right.

Me: That is quite the analogy, but I can see where you are coming from.

Riley: Yadda yadda four eyes joke. You are too easy.

Me: So i have been told.

Riley: Been told what?

Me: That I'm easy

Riley: Slut

Me: Got me again.

Riley: Ok, Im done, moving on, now.

Me: Right, so whats something you wanna talk about? I always ask the questions, so you go on about whatever it is that you wanna go on about.

Riley: Hmmm? You know i dont like talking when told to talk.

Me: Yes, i know, no pressure, if you talk, then great, if not, thats ok too.

In this period of time, I looked at Riley, and he looked at me. He looked around the room as if he were looking in the deepest parts of his brain for something to talk about. While he thought, his lips would move, so little that it was barely noticeable, no sound would come out, just little whisps of air. He was talking, but he wasnt saying anything.

Me: Put sound to the words your lips are forming, Riley.

Riley: It has nothing to do with anything...

Me: So, take the mute off.

Riley: Well I was walking through a field on my lunch break, and played baseball since i was in tee ball, and I hate when people talk over me. When I get angry what i wouldn't give to hurt someone, and to just get the love that i feel i have been robbed of, but i didn't deserve Christmas presents anyway. Its dark, and it hurts when your back side is slapped with a belt, but i love my sisters despite what anyone thinks and why is there war overseas?

Me: ....

Riley:.....

Me: Wow....

Riley: Thats why I dont take mute off.

Again Riley has had enough and walked out. Im not positive how to comprehend what he said there, but nothing was a complete thought. Im done myself, for today.

title: Emotions Overriding Configurations pt. 2

question: What did Riley do?

answer: Unclear though seems to imply he sexually assaulted his sisters in some way.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator plays the recording of his conversation with Riley who seems to be locked up for something. The narrator tells Riley he can talk about anything. Riley doesn't say much since he doesn't like talking when told to talk. Eventually Riley starts talking about baseball, being angry and the fact that he loves his sisters despite what anyone thinks. After that Riley is done and leaves. The narrator feels he is one too.


text:
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1890.

Events

-   January – William Heinemann launches his Heinemann publishing business in London's Covent Garden with Hall Caine's successful novel _The Bondman_.[1]
-   March 8 – Bram Stoker begins work on _Dracula_.[2]
-   c. June–September – Joseph Conrad, at this time serving as Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski with a Belgian steamer company, makes a journey on the Congo River which will inspire his novel _Heart of Darkness_ (1899).
-   July 13 – Ambrose Bierce's short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, one of his best known works, is first published, in _The San Francisco Examiner_.
-   July–August – Bram Stoker holidays with his family at Whitby and from the library there reads William Wilkinson's _An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia_, all of which feed into his composition of _Dracula_.[3]
-   September – Arthur Morrison joins the staff of _The Globe_ (London newspaper).[4]
-   October 20 – A day after the death of Richard Francis Burton in Trieste, his widow, Isabel, burns his journals, a revised translation of _The Perfumed Garden_ and many more manuscripts and books, largely on account of their erotic nature.[5]
-   _unknown dates_
    -   Leo Tolstoy's novella _The Kreutzer Sonata_, suppressed in Russia, is published in Berlin in Russian, German, English and French, with other English versions issued in the UK and the United States. The United States Post Office Department prohibits mailing of newspapers containing serialized installments of it.[6]
    -   Macmillan Publishers in the U.K. begin to supply on “net book” terms, i. e. no discounts are available to consumers.[7]
    -   Hall Caine's four-act historical drama _Mahomet_, based on the life of Muhammad and written for the actor-manager Henry Irving, is banned by the Lord Chamberlain after it causes unrest in Britain's Muslim communities, threatens British rule in parts of India and strains Britain's relations with the Ottoman Empire.[8]

New books

Fiction

-   Rolf Boldrewood – _The Squatter's Dream_
-   Mary Elizabeth Braddon – _One Life, One Love_
-   Rhoda Broughton – _Alas!_
-   Hall Caine
    -   _The Bondman_
    -   _The Prophet: a Parable_ (novella)
-   Kate Chopin – _At Fault_
-   Wilkie Collins (completed after his death by Walter Besant) – _Blind Love_
-   Marie Corelli – _Wormwood_
-   Louis Couperus – _Footsteps of Fate_ (_Noodlot_ – Fate – in the magazine _De Gids_, dated October)
-   Florence Dixie – _Gloriana, or the Revolution of 1900_
-   Ignatius L. Donnelly – _Caesar's Column_
-   Arthur Conan Doyle
    -   _The Firm of Girdlestone_
    -   _The Sign of Four_ (Sherlock Holmes story originally published as _The Sign of the Four_ in _Lippincott's Monthly Magazine_ dated February)
-   Knut Hamsun – _Hunger (Sult)_
-   E. W. Hornung – _A Bride from the Bush_
-   William Dean Howells – _A Hazard of New Fortunes_
-   Rudyard Kipling – _The Light That Failed_ (in _Lippincott's Monthly Magazine_ dated January 1891)
-   Arthur Machen – _The Great God Pan_ (in the magazine _The Whirlwind_)
-   Karl May – _Der Schatz im Silbersee_ (The Treasure of Silver Lake, begins publication)
-   Mori Ōgai – “The Dancing Girl” (舞姫, _Maihime_, short story in _Kokumin no Tomo_)
-   William Morris – _News from Nowhere_ (serialized in _Commonweal_)
-   Octave Mirbeau – _Sébastien Roch_
-   Georges Ohnet - _Serge Panine_
-   Bolesław Prus
    -   _The Doll_ (_Lalka_; book publication)
    -   _The New Woman_ (_Emancypantki_; serialization begins)
-   Molly Elliot Seawell – _Little Jarvis_
-   Mary Taylor – _Miss Miles, or, A Tale of Yorkshire Life Sixty Years Ago_
-   Jules Verne – _César Cascabel_
-   Oscar Wilde – _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ (in _Lippincott's Monthly Magazine_ dated July)

Children and young people

-   Lady Florence Dixie
    -   _Aniwee, or, The Warrior Queen_
    -   _The Young Castaways, or, The Child Hunters of Patagonia_
-   Joseph Jacobs – _English Fairy Tales_
-   Kate Douglas Wiggin – _Timothy's Quest_
-   Dikken Zwilgmeyer (as Inger Johanne) – _Vi børn_ (We Children)

Drama

-   Hall Caine – _Good Old Times_
-   Clyde Fitch – _Beau Brummell_
-   James Herne – _Margaret Fleming_
-   'Bjarne P. Holmsen' (Arno Holz and Johannes Schlaf) – _Die Familie Selicke_
-   Henrik Ibsen – _Hedda Gabler_
-   Wilhelm Jacoby and Carl Laufs – _Pension Schöller_
-   Maurice Maeterlinck – _The Blind (Les aveugles)_
-   Arthur Wing Pinero – _The Cabinet Minister_

Poetry

-   Edwin James Brady – _The Way of Many Rivers_
-   Emily Dickinson (died 1886) – _Poems_
-   W. B. Yeats – “Lake Isle of Innisfree” (in _The National Observer_ (London) 13 December)

Non-fiction

-   Eliza Brightwen – _Wild Nature Won by Kindness_
-   Sir James George Frazer – _The Golden Bough_
-   Clarissa Caldwell Lathrop, _A Secret Institution_[9]
-   Alfred Thayer Mahan – _The Influence of Sea Power upon History_
-   Ragnar Redbeard (perhaps Arthur Desmond) – _Might Is Right, or The Survival of the Fittest_
-   James McNeill Whistler – _The Gentle Art of Making Enemies_

Births

-   January 9
    -   Karel Čapek, Czech author (died 1938)
    -   Barbara Euphan Todd, English children's writer (died 1976)
-   January 11 – Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian poet and polemicist (died 1954)
-   February 10 – Boris Pasternak, Russian author (died 1960)[10]
-   March 11 – Vannevar Bush, American author (died 1974)
-   May 15 – Katherine Anne Porter, American journalist and novelist (died 1980)
-   May 18 – Zora Cross, Australian poet and novelist (died 1964)
-   May 20 – Allan Nevins, American historian and journalist (died 1971)[11]
-   May 29
    -   Rhoda Power, English children's writer and broadcaster (died 1957)
    -   Martin Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan novelist (died 1976)
-   August 15 – Tsugi Takano (鷹野 つぎ), Japanese novelist (died 1943)
-   August 20 – H. P. Lovecraft, American horror writer (died 1937)[12]
-   August 24 – Jean Rhys, Dominica, West Indies-born English novelist (died 1979)[13]
-   August 28 – Ivor Gurney, English war poet and composer (died 1937)[14]
-   August 31 (August 19 O.S.) – August Alle, Estonian writer (died 1952)
-   September 6 – Brinsley MacNamara, born John Weldon, Irish novelist and playwright (died 1963)
-   September 10 – Franz Werfel, Austrian author (died 1945)
-   September 15 – Agatha Christie, English mystery writer (died 1976)[15]
-   September 24 – A. P. Herbert, English humorist and novelist (died 1971)
-   October 1 – Blanche Oelrichs, American poet and playwright (died 1950)
-   October 13 – Conrad Richter, American novelist (died 1968)
-   November 25 – Isaac Rosenberg, English poet (killed in action 1918)
-   December 2 – Károly Molter, Hungarian novelist, dramatist and academic (died 1981)

Deaths

-   January 2 – George Henry Boker, American poet and playwright (born 1823)
-   June 11 – George Edward Brett, American publisher (born 1829)
-   June 24 – Subba Row, Hindu Theosophist writer (cutaneous disease, born 1856)
-   July 15 – Gottfried Keller, Swiss novelist (born 1819)
-   August 9 – Eduard von Bauernfeld, Austrian dramatist (born 1802)
-   September 18 – Dion Boucicault, Irish dramatist (born c. 1820)
-   October 19 – Sir Richard Francis Burton, English explorer, translator and writer (born 1821)
-   October 26 – Carlo Collodi, Italian children's writer (born 1826)
-   November 1 – Júlio Ribeiro, Brazilian naturalist, novelist and grammarian (tuberculosis, born 1845)
-   December 6 – Richard William Church, English biographer and cleric (born 1815)
-   December 18 – Grigory Danilevsky, Russian historical novelist (born 1829)
-   December 19 – Zénaïde Fleuriot, French novelist (born 1829)
-   December 29 – Octave Feuillet, French novelist and dramatist (born 1821)[16]

Awards

-   Newdigate prize – Laurence Binyon

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[15]  Biography, Novels, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Agatha-Christie |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |accessdate=14 September 2020 |language=en}}

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title: 1890 in literature

question: Why does Heinemann launch the business at the Covent Garden?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: What is the book, The Squatter's Dream, about?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: How did Barabara Todd die?

answer: This information can't be found.


text:
BULELIANA was a _civitas_ (town) and bishopric in Roman North Africa and remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

History

The exact location of the town is not known but it was in the Sahel region of northern, Tunisia.

Buleliana was among the municipalities of sufficient importance in the Roman province of Africa proconsularis and latter Byzacena to become a suffragan diocese in the papal sway. The town remained the seat of a Christian bishopric through the Roman, Vandal and Byzantine era [1] but faded like most after the 7th century advent of Islam.

While Mesnage assigns three bishops to the see, other authors dispute two assignations :

-   Pancratius, Donatist (heretical) dissident in (393), alternatively assigned to the diocese of Baliana
-   Flavianus, participant at the synod called in Carthage in 484 by king Huneric of the Vandal Kingdom on the Donatist schism
-   Bonifacius, alternatively assigned to the diocese of Bavagaliana.

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1989 as titular bishopric of Buleliana (Latin = Curiate Italian) / Bulelianen(sis) (Latin adjective) as a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.

It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank:[2]

-   José Luis Astigarraga Lizarralde (Spain) (1991.11.26 – 2017.01.20) as Apostolic Vicar of Yurimaguas (Peru) (1991.11.26 – 2016.12.17) and on emeritate.
-   Bishop-elect John Đỗ Văn Ngân (2017.05.02 – ...), as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Xuân Lộc (Vietnam) (2017.05.02 – ...).

[1] Titular Episcopal See of Buleliana, Tunisia at catholic-hierarchy.org.

[2] Titular Episcopal See of Buleliana Tunisia at GCatholic.org.

title: Buleliana

question: What is Buleliana?

answer: It was a town and bishopric in Roman North Africa and now remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

question: Where was Buleliana located?

answer: The exact location is not known but it is known that it was in the Sahel region of northern Turkey.

question: When did Buleliana stop being a bishopric?

answer: Around the 7th century with the advent of Islam.

question: List the three bishops of the see in Buleliana.

answer: Pancratius, Flavianus and Bonifacius

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The article describes the town Buleliana and its Catholic history.


text:
[Sihem Bensedrine, President of the Commission, speaking in 2012] The TRUTH AND DIGNITY COMMISSION () (__) () is an independent tribunal established by law in Tunisia on 23 December 2013[1] and formally launched on 9 June 2014 by then-President Moncef Marzouki.[2] Established following the Tunisian Revolution, its purpose is to investigate gross human rights violations committed by the Tunisian State since 1955 and to provide compensation and rehabilitation to victims.[3] The Commission was given a four-year mandate (i.e. to 2018) with the possibility of a one-year extension.[4][5] Its president is the human rights activist Sihem Bensedrine.[6]

Final report

Bensedrine revealed the commission's final report on March 26, 2019. The 2,000-page, Arabic-language record of human rights abuses is available online. Among the offenses mentioned in the report are unfair trials in 1963 regarding an attempted military coup against President Habib Bourguiba; Tunisia's late president, Béji Caïd Essebsi, was involved in those trials as then-director of national security.[7]

Process

The Commission, which was designed to use judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, began gathering testimonies from victims of abuse under the old regime in September 2015. It continued to accept new cases until a cut-off date for registrations in June 2016,[8] by which time it had received over 62,000 submissions and heard testimony from about 11,000 people.[9] The Commission held its first public hearing in Tunis on 17 November 2016.[10]

The Commission has faced criticism on a number of grounds, including the slowness of its operations,[11] the basis of its approach,[12] and the fitness of its president,[13] among others. As a result of ongoing concerns, there was a delay in the parliamentary vote to approve the Commissions's budget for 2017[14] although it was eventually agreed by 121 votes to 28 with 21 abstentions.[15]

The Commission's members, as of late 2016, were Sihem Bensedrine (president), Ibtihel Abdellatif, Oula Ben Nejma, Mohammed Ben Salem, Ali Gherab, Khaled Krichi, Adel Maïzi, Hayet Ouertani and Slaheddine Rached.[16]

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title: Truth and Dignity Commission (Tunisia)

question: What is the Truth and Dignity Commission in Tunisia?

answer: The Truth and Dignity Commission in Tunisia is an independent tribunal established by law in Tunisia on 23 December 2013 and formally launched on 9 June 2014. It was established following the Tunisian Revolution to investigate gross human rights violations committed by the Tunisian State since 1955 and provide compensation and rehabilitation to victims.

question: When was the Truth and Dignity Commission's final report revealed?

answer: March 26, 2019

question: What language is the Truth and Dignity Commission's final report written in?

answer: Arabic

question: Who was president of Tunisia in 2013?

answer: Moncef Marzouki

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The Truth and Dignity Commission in Tunisia is an independent tribunal established by law in Tunisia on 23 December 2013 and formally launched on 9 June 2014. It was established following the Tunisian Revolution to investigate gross human rights violations committed by the Tunisian State since 1955 and provide compensation and rehabilitation to victims.


text:
ROMKE KLEEFSTRA is a musician from the Netherlands. Currently he is a member of Transtilla, Piiptsjilling, Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra, The Alvaret Ensemble and Tsjinlûd.

Biography

Romke Kleefstra was born on 28 July 1972 in Akkrum, Netherlands. From 1992 up to 2007 Kleefstra was singer and songwriter in the indie bands Shatterhole (1992–1995), Seascape Painters (1995–2000) and Polaroyd (2003–2007). In 2008 Kleefstra formed Piiptsjilling with his brother Jan Kleefstra (poet), Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek) and Mariska Baars (Soccer Committee). Since then he's been in numerous collaborations and projects with his brother, in which his music contains elements of ambient, post-rock, minimalism, drone, modern classical music up to free impro jazz. After releasing Piiptsjilling's first album in 2008 a solid stream of CD's, LP's, DVD's and cassettes followed on labels like Experimedia, Hybernate, Home Normal, Spekk, Low Point, Monotype, Denovali, Midira and Tombed Visions. Besides Piiptsjilling, Romke Kleefstra is a permanent member of groups like The Alvaret Ensemble and Transtilla.

As a member of Piiptsjilling Kleefstra co-initiated the film and music project Seeljocht for the Into The Great Wide Open festival in 2011 (Vlieland, Netherlands), with Piiptsjilling, Peter and Heather Broderick, Nils Frahm and Greg Haines. It was succeeded by the half-Icelandic project Skeylja for the Oerol festival 2012 (with The Alvaret Ensemble and Kira Kira, Eríkur Ólafsson, Ingi Erlendsson and Borgar Magnason). In 2015 the Frisian collective Tsjinlûd toured the Netherlands with Japanese film artists of the +Project from Tokyo. In 2016 the Kleefstra's did the same with a similar project called Ljerke, including the Norwegian musicians Alexander Rishaug, Hilde Marie Holsen and Michael Duch. In 2018 Piiptsjilling teamed up with Sylvain Chaveau, Joacim Badenhorst and Annelies Monseré in the project Fean. Visual artists that worked together in projects with the Kleefstra's are 33one3rd, Haraldur Karlsson, Kei Shichiri, Marco Douma, Rei Hayama, Sabine Bürger, Shinkan Tamaki and Takashi Makino.

Discography

Shatterhole

-   Mental Paradox (cassette, Bogmen Inc., 1993)
-   Swell Life (cassette, Bogmen Inc., 1994)

Seascape Painters

-   Seascape Painters (cd ep, Homebase Records, 1996)
-   Polder EP (cassette, Craneland Music, 1998)

Polaroyd

-   Thaw (3" cd, self-release, 2003)
-   Underworld (3" cd, self-release, 2003)

Piiptsjilling

-   Piiptsjilling (cd, Onomatopee, 2008)
-   Wurdskrieme (lp/cd, Experimedia, 2010)
-   Molkedrippen (cd, Spekk, 2014)
-   Moarntiids (cd, Midira, 2014)
-   Slieperswaar (3" live cd, self-release, 2015)
-   Kjeld (3" live cd, self-release, 2017)
-   Fiif (cd, Peter Foolen Editions, 2017)

Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra

-   Wink (cd, Appollolaan, 2009)
-   Griis (lp, Low Point, 2012)
-   Nacht en Dei (DVD, self-release, 2012)
-   Live March 2012 (cassette, Northern Twilights, 2012)
-   Sinne op 'e Wangen (DVD, Galerie Vayhinger, 2014)
-   Dage (cassette, Low Point, 2016)
-   Desimber (cassette, Tombed Visions, 2016)
-   Dize (cd, Midira Records, 2017)

Gareth Davis, Jan Kleefstra, Romke Kleefstra

-   Sieleslyk (3" cd, Rural Colours, 2011)
-   Tongerswel (cd, Home Normal, 2011)

Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra

-   Deislieper (cd, Hibernate, 2011)

Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kuitwaard|Kleefstra

-   Sinneplakken (cd, Time Released Sound, 2012)

The Alvaret Ensemble

-   The Alvaret Ensemble (2lp/2cd, Denovali, 2012)
-   Skeylja (lp/cd, Denovali, 2014)
-   Ea (2lp/cd, Laaps, 2020)

CMKK

-   GAU (cd, Monotype, 2013)

Tsjinlûd

-   Tsjinlûd (book + cd, self-release, 2016)

Ljerke

-   Ljerke (cd, Eilean Records, 2018)

Fean

-   Fean (cd, Moving Furniture Records, 2018)
-   Fean II (lp/cd, Laaps, 2020)

Kleefstra Bros

-   It Goeshoes (download, self-release, 2018)

Transtilla

-   Transtilla I (cd, Opa Loka Records, 2019)
-   Transtilla II (cd, Midira Records, 2019)

Various

-   That It Stays Winter Forever (cd, White Box, 2010), with Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra
-   Mort Aux Vaches (cd, Staalplaat, 2011), with Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra
-   Seeljocht (cd, Into The Great Wide Open, 2011), with Piiptsjilling
-   Elements I-V (5 cd, Home Normal, 2014), with Piiptsjilling
-   Stay Tuned (cd, Baskaru, 2014)
-   Past Disappears (download, Dronarivm, 2014), with Piiptsjilling
-   Moving Noises II (download, Midira, 2015), with Piiptsjilling
-   Into The White (download, Dronarivm, 2016), with Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra
-   Eilean 92 (cd, Eilean Records, 2018), with Ljerke

Projects

-   _Seeljocht_; artist in residence for Into The Great Wide Open Festival 2011 (Isle of Vlieland), also on Explore The North Festival (city of Leeuwarden) and Le Guess Who? (city of Utrecht)
-   _Skeylja_; artist in residence for Oerol Festival (Isle of Terschelling)
-   _Duif_, film by Dinanda Luttikhedde and music project with the Kleefstra's and Mike Kramer, for Cultura Nova Festival (city of Heerlen) and Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival (city of Groningen), also on Explore The North Festival (city of Leeuwarden)
-   _Klanklânskippen Japan_; touring film and music project, also on Noordelijk Film Festival (city of Leeuwarden)
-   _Ljerke_; touring film and music project, also on Le Guess Who? Festival (city of Utrecht (and Noordelijk Film Festival (city of Leeuwarden)

title: Romke Kleefstra

question: List three bands Romke Kleefstra has participated in.

answer: Piiptsjilling, Shatterhole, The Alvaret Ensemble.

question: Where was he born?

answer: In Akkrum, Netherlands.

question: What kind of music does he usually make?

answer: A fusion of different elements, from ambient, post-rock, minimalism, modern classical music, to free impro jazz.

question: What is Seeljocht?

answer: A film and music project for the Into The Great Wide Open festival in 2011.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The text is about Romke Kleefstra, a Dutch musician who has participated in many bands and audio-visual projects.


text:
Vika is just amazing. I’ve only just been alerted to her vast talent thanks to a very erudite piece over on Invisible Oranges about her cover of Sepultura’s Kaiowas.

Vika is a classically-trained Ukrainian pianist based in Amsterdam, whose hobby is REIMAGINING CLASSIC METAL FOR CLASSICAL PIANO. The covers are really interesting as she very creatively adapts and adds to the music.

There’s a whole slew of videos on her Youtube channel and you can take your pick from vintage Metallica and Slayer to NIN and System of Down (there’s no accounting for taste…).

Two of my favourites are of STONE COLD METAL CLASSICS: Metallica – Master of Puppets and Slayer  – Reign in Blood.

This is intro on the Slayer cover is just brilliant…

What’s your favourite?

Tags: classical, Heavy, piano

question: What sort of music does Vika create?

answer: Piano Music

question: What bands does Vika cover?

answer: Metallica, Slayer, NIN, System of Down, and Sepultra

question: What is Vika's nationality?

answer: Ukrainian

question: How did the author learn about Vika?

answer: A post on Invisible Oranges

question: Where does Vika post her content?

answer: Youtube

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: In this review, the writer comments on a musician they recently discovered. Vika covers popular metal songs on piano. The writer also lists a few of the covers she's enjoyed, with her commentary. Overall it is a positive review.


text:
The CZĘSTOCHOWA GHETTO was a World War II ghetto set up by Nazi Germany for the purpose of persecution and exploitation of local Jews in the city of Częstochowa during the German occupation of Poland. The approximate number of people confined to the ghetto was around 40,000 at the beginning and in late 1942 at its peak, immediately before mass deportations, 48,000. Most ghetto inmates were delivered by the Holocaust trains to their deaths at the Treblinka extermination camp. In June 1943, the remaining ghetto inhabitants launched the Częstochowa Ghetto uprising, which was extinguished by the _SS_ after a few days of fighting.[1][2]

Ghetto history

The official order for the creation of the Ghetto in Częstochowa was issued on 9 April 1941 by Stadthauptmann Richard Wendler. In addition to Jews from Częstochowa, more Jews were brought in by rail from nearby towns and villages of the _Generalgouvernement_ part of occupied south-western Second Polish Republic, including from Krzepice, Olsztyn , Mstów, Janów, and Przyrów, on top of expellees from Polish lands annexed into the Reich at the beginning of war, mostly from Płock and Łódź. The ghetto inmates were forced to work as slave labour in the armaments industry, a majority of them in the expanded Polish foundry “Metalurgia” located on Krotka Street (which had been taken over by the German manufacturer HASAG, and renamed Hassag-Eisenhütte AG) as well as in other local factories or workshops.[3]

The Nazis began liquidating the ghetto on 22 September 1942 during Operation Reinhard (the day after Yom Kippur). The first wave of deportations concluded on the night of 7 October. The action was carried out by German units together with their Ukrainian and Latvian auxiliaries (_Hiwis_), known as Trawniki men, under the command of captain of the _Schupo_ police, Paul Degenhardt. Every day, the Jews were being assembled on Daszyński square for “resettlement” and then transported by the Holocaust freight trains – men, women and children – to Treblinka extermination camp: around 40,000 victims in total.[4]

Righteous Among the Nations who helped Grodno Ghetto's Jews included Helena Sitkowska,[5] the Koźmiński family[6] the Klewicki family,[7] and the Sikora family.[8] Jan Brust from Żegota was shot in the first half of 1944 for delivering food to the Jewish inmates of the slave labour facility.[9] Other members of the Brust family in Częstochowa helped to aid and shelter Jews, and after the war received the Righteous award.[10]

The uprising

Those who survived the main thrust of ghetto liquidation (about 5,000–6,000 slave workers and their families) were put in the so-called Small Ghetto for the Hugo Schneider munitions factory. There, 850 Jews were executed. Soon, a clandestine _Jewish Fighting Organisation_ was formed by Mordechaj Zilberberg, Sumek Abramowicz and Heniek Pesak among others. The organization consisted of 300 members.[11]

[Częstochowa warning poster about death penalty for leaving the ghetto and aiding Jews, signed by Eberhardt Franke, 1942]

When the Germans moved in to liquidate the Small Ghetto on 26 June 1943 the Częstochowa Ghetto Uprising erupted. Zylberberg committed suicide when the Germans stormed his bunker. 1,500 Jews died in the fighting. On 30 June the resistance was suppressed with additional 500 Jews burned alive or buried beneath the rubble. 3,900 Jews were captured and put to work in labour camps Apparatebau, Warthewerk and Eisenhütte. 400 people were shot following a selection. In December that year 1,200 prisoners were transported to Germany. The men were sent to Buchenwald, the women to Dachau (all perished). However, the much needed foundry camps were revived in the second half of 1944 with around 10,000 new workers sent in from Łódź, Kielce, Radomsk and Skarżysko-Kamienna. On 15 and 16 January 1945, ahead of the Soviet advance, about 3,000 prisoners were sent to the Third Reich; all perished. The remaining 5,200 Jews employed in Częstochowa slave-labor camps were liberated by the Red Army.[12][13]

[1] The statistical data compiled on the basis of “Glossary of 2,077 Jewish towns in Poland” by _Virtual Shtetl_ Museum of the History of the Polish Jews  , as well as “Getta Żydowskie,” by _Gedeon_,   and “Ghetto List” by Michael Peters at www.deathcamps.org/occupation/ghettolist.htm  . Accessed July 12, 2011.

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

title: Częstochowa Ghetto

question: What was the Częstochowa Ghetto?

answer: A World War II ghetto.

question: Where was it located?

answer: Poland.

question: What year was the official order for the ghetto issued?

answer: 1941.

question: Who issued it?

answer: Stadthauptmann Richard Wendler.

question: Write a ~9 sentence summary.

answer: The Częstochowa Ghetto was a ghetto in Poland created by Nazi Germany. At its height, about 40,000 Jews populated the ghetto. In April of 1941,Stadthauptmann Richard Wendler issued the order. Jews from Częstochowa and surrounding areas were rounded up-some sent by railways-to the site. The Nazi liquidation of this larger concentration camp, with around 40,000 Jews sent to the Treblinka concentration camp. A smaller ghetto of approximately 6000 workers was assembled, and of that about a thousand were executed. In 1943 when the Germans moved to liquidate the smaller ghetto, an uprising erupted. The dissidents were mostly murdered in their efforts, or captured and sent to concentration camps. A small fraction would go on to survive the on-site labor camp when they were liberated by the Red Army in 1945.


text:
Bubbles

The short and turbulent life of a bubble

The life of a bubble begins before it is even aware of its upcoming existence as two strange but potent chemicals that are destined to come together intermingle and become one, often times in the form of dish soap and a sugary water.  This is to become the shell and physical presence of a bubble.

A mysterious force then dips a device that absorbs the bubble shell, then breathes it’s own breath into the shell, engorging the bubble to hundreds of times bigger than it had ever been.  The bubble then wraps itself around the life force it’s been blessed with in attempt to protect this precious resource.  Protecting this life force now becomes the primary goal of this bubble, and its existence now becomes a struggle to keep its coveted life from the dangers of the outside world. Unused to its new enormous size it bends, twirls and is blown around until ultimately its outer shell has no more strength to hold on.  The outside forces finally pierce the shell of the bubble and suck out all the life force, leaving nothing but an insignificant puddle on the ground.

Bubbles never survive long, nor do they ever have a chance at survival in the actual world, yet we breathe life into them in an attempt at our own pleasure without the slightest awareness of the turmoil filled journey we force unto these fragile beings.

title: Bubbles (244)

question: How does a bubble's existence come to be?

answer: Two strange but potent chemicals come together and become one.

question: What is the primary goal of the bubble?

answer: Protecting its life force

question: What becomes a struggle for the bubble?

answer: Its own existence to keep from the dangers of the outside world

question: What does the bubble break down to when outside forces finally pierce its shell?

answer: an insignificant puddle on the ground

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator describes the short and turbulent life of a bubble.


text:
Smoking meats at home just got smarter–as well as easier. This electric smoker from Masterbuilt uses Bluetooth technology for the most accurate smoking.

-   1,200 watt heating
-   Integrated Bluetooth Smart Technology
-   Side wood chip loading system
-   Built-in thermometer

Description

Get smokin'! The Masterbuilt 40" Electric Smoker with Bluetooth offers 1,200 watt heating, integrated Bluetooth technology and a side wood chip loading system. The smoker's built-in thermometer ensures that steaks, burgers and other grilled meats are perfectly cooked, every time.

[] BLUETOOTH SMART TECHNOLOGY Bluetooth Smart Technology lets you connect your smart phone or tablet to control time, temperature and light. Set the time and temperature with the digital control panel and let the smoker do the work for you. You’ll achieve competition-ready results in your own backyard.

[] CONVENIENT SIDE WOOD CHIP LOADING SYSTEM Add your favorite wood chips for great smokehouse flavor through this patented side system without opening the smoker door. Hickory chips are mild and pair well with most meat. Apple wood pairs well with chicken and pork. Mesquite has a stronger smoke flavor and is the perfect pairing with beef. When smoking fish, alder is a good choice.

[] BUILT-IN THERMOMETER Get perfect results every time with the convenient built-in meat probe thermometer. Know when your food is done cooking to the exact degree you want.

[] FOOD CAPACITY This smoker has the capacity to cook for a few or a crowd. Smoke up to 16 whole chickens, four whole turkeys, 12 racks of ribs, 76 sausages, 32 burgers or eight pork butts.

Policies & plans

Specifications

-   975 square inches of cooking space
-   Four chrome-coated cooking racks
-   Side wood chip loading system
-   Blue LED digital control panel with removal sunshade
-   1,200 watt heating for even, consistent smoking
-   Built-in meat probe
-   Bluetooth Smart Technology
-   Measures 27.36"L x 22.04"W x 50.39"H

_For additional questions or concerns regarding this product, please contact the Manufacturer's Customer Service Department at 1.800.489.1581_

Warranty

90 Days from Date of Purchase

Assembled Size

L 27.36 x W 22.04 x H 50.39

Component Country

Imported

Shipping Info

Standard - 2 to 6 business days

Premium - 2 to 5 business days

Express - 1 to 2 business days

California Proposition 65 WARNING

Member reviews & questions

"Membership is required to complete an in-club or curbside pickup purchase at Sam's Club."

question: How big is the Masterbuilt 40'' Electric Smoker?

answer: 27.36"L x 22.04"W x 50.39"H

question: How many cooking racks does the Masterbuilt 40'' Electric Smoker have?

answer: four

question: What is the bluetooth feature used for?

answer: The bluetooth lets you control time, temperature, and light from your smartphone.

question: What is the food capacity of the smoker?

answer: The smoker can hold up to 16 whole chickens, 4 whole turkeys, 12 racks of ribs, 76 sausages, 32 burgers, or eight pork butts.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This is an advertisement for the Masterbuilt 40'' Electric Smoker.


text:
“I had a dream about you last night” his eyes gazing deeply at the cold, unforgiving stone. “We were on the beach, the sun was just about to set.  It was the first time that I said that I loved you.  You just cocked your head to the side, smiled and said that you knew.”  Tears started to well in his eyes, his gaze shifting to the ground, pounding the firm dirt, driving down his knuckles.

Ten years had not been enough to dull the pain, he threw off his jacket and rifled through the pockets to produce a cigarette and lighter.  He sat beside the cold slab, inhaling deeply, trying to hold back the tears.

“God Emily, I always thought you were crazy.  Always going on and on about how it’s the little things in life that pull you through, keep you going.  The things that go without notice until they are taken away.  If there’s one thing you were right about, I’m lost without you.”  He took a long drag on his cigarette, exhaling slowly.

“Maybe if I told you more often how much I loved you, you wouldn’t have gotten in your car that day, maybe if…” his voice cracked and trailed off as tears streamed down his pale cheeks. He looked up at the sky, the mid-afternoon sun beating down on him as he dug through his jacket one final time.  He kissed the top of the headstone as he slowly cocked the hammer back.  Pressing it firmly under his chin he whispered, “I’m sorry,” as he pulled the trigger.

title: I don't have a title for this...

question: Who is the speaker?

answer: An unnamed male who knew the now deceased Emily.

question: Explain the main conflict.

answer: The narrator is still grieving the loss of Emily after 10 years.

question: Who is Emily?

answer: It's implied that Emily, who is now dead, was either in a relationship with or otherwise related to the narrator.

question: What happened on the beach?

answer: The narrator dreamed of Emily talking to him on a beach.

question: What happened 10 years ago?

answer: It's implied that Emily died in a car accident.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator expresses his regrets to Emily's grave stone, still grieving her death 10 years ago. He smokes a cigarette and says that he's lost without her. Maybe she wouldn't have gotten in the car that day if he'd told her more often how much he loved her. He puts something [a gun] from his pocket under his chin and pulls the trigger.


text:
[Happy Thanksgiving]

Have you ever heard of a Thankful Tree?  If not, it might be time to start a beautiful new Thanksgiving tradition!

WHAT IS A THANKFUL TREE?

A Thankful Tree is a decorative tree that you and your family or friends can create for the holiday season. You create leaves for the tree that have a brief word or description of what you are grateful for and hang them on the tree.  This can be as elaborate or as simple as you would like it to be – you can find many creative ideas and examples online.

One idea is to take a walk after Thanksgiving dinner to collect branches for your tree.  This can be especially enjoyable if there are children at your holiday dinner, since this is an activity that can include many ages.  You can pre-cut leaves in simple or elaborate shapes – you can even make heart shaped leaves, or draw leaf shapes on construction paper.  If you have a kid’s table, cutting out leaves can be a fun dinnertime activity!  Each person can be given several leaves to write down things they are thankful for and hang or place them on your tree.

WHAT DOES IT ADD TO THE HOLIDAY?

This is a really fun activity that can bring the focus back to the “thanks” in thanksgiving.  There are no rules for how to incorporate this into your holiday, so give a little thought to how you would like to work it.  Should everyone read what they are thankful for before they hang each leaf?  Or will everyone just add their leaves to the tree, not knowing whose is whose? No matter how you approach it, this can lead to a holiday tradition you may want to continue year after year.  You can even save the leaves to grow your tree every year, taking a photo each year and watching it fill with more leaves and gratitude over time!

question: What is the topic of the post?

answer: The post is about a "Thankful Tree".

question: What is a "Thankful Tree"?

answer: A Thankful Tree is a decorative tree one can create for the holiday season, specifically Thanksgiving.

question: What are the recommended steps in creating a Thankful Tree?

answer: First, pre-cut leaves from paper. Then, collect branches for the tree. All those involved should write down things they are thankful for on the leaves. Hang, or place the leaves on the tree.

question: What is the purpose of the tree?

answer: The purpose of the tree is to remind us what we are thankful for.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A Thankful Tree is a decorative tree one can create for the holiday season, specifically Thanksgiving.


text:
[Image of couple having open communication.]

_Last updated on February 22, 2020_

The first question I ask couples when they come in to meet with me is, "What brings you in today?"

The response is almost always something like, "We have communication issues." If I stopped there, I wouldn't learn much about what's going on for them because "communication issues" is defined differently for everyone. Even more challenging is that fact that within a relationship, couples will mean different things for what they describe as "communication issues."

Why a relationship cannot work without communication.

We are constantly communicating with each other, whether we believe we are or not. Literal words aside, we unconsciously communicate through nonverbals like facial expressions and body language, we communicate through the tone of our voice, and we communicate through our behavior.

Couples that don't learn to consciously communicate will face issues when it comes to intimacy, conflict, and relational growth. Understanding your partner's inner world and having them understand yours is pivotal to true connection. If you struggle to communicate in a way that evolves your relationship, then over time you will find that you grow apart.

Lack of communication in relationships can't be ignored, especially in situations when you actively feel like you can't communicate with your partner.

Effects of lack of communication in a relationship:

-   Escalated conflict
-   A negative perspective of your partner
-   Turning away from each other's attempts to connect
-   Feeling unseen or unknown
-   Loneliness
-   Lack of intimacy
-   Difficulty setting and reaching goals

Signs of bad communication in a relationship:

1.  Criticizing or belittling each other
2.  Getting defensive
3.  Stonewalling (i.e., giving the cold shoulder)
4.  Passive aggression
5.  Assuming you know what your partner is thinking
6.  Cyclical arguments that are never resolved
7.  Lack of compromise
8.  Fewer attempts to connect with each other
9.  Arguing about "the facts" behind a conflict instead of focusing on what the experience was like for each person

How to fix communication problems in relationships.

1. Look at your and your partner's attachment styles.

In psychology, attachment theory holds that each person's "style" of doing relationships is shaped by the type of care they received from their earliest caregivers. If one or both people have an insecure attachment style in their relationship—that is, they tend to form insecure attachments with others instead of steady and secure ones—then communication will be driven by anxiety rather than authenticity.

Insecure attachment is when a person responds to their own needs for connection by either desperately avoiding them (avoidant attachment) or desperately pursuing them (anxious attachment). In either case, it is important to learn about what will make it feel safe enough to engage in communication in a real way rather than by these measures of self-protection.

If you have a partner with an avoidant style, they'll typically have a need for space. You can respond to this by asking to communicate in small chunks, giving them time to think, or offering some of the conversation via text or email.

If you have a partner with an anxious style, it's important to communicate to them in a way that is predictable and actively reassuring of your feelings for them.

2. Explore any meta-emotion mismatch.

A meta-emotion mismatch means the two people have different feelings about feelings. One partner believes that feelings are helpful to discuss and feel, while the other partner believes they are unhelpful.

When couples have a meta-emotion mismatch, it can be really challenging to communicate. To get your partner to communicate with you, it's important to explore what you both think about emotions. How were they processed when you were a child? Did you believe it was helpful?

Then, you'll want to explore together how to communicate with each other more effectively keeping these facts in line. This might mean learning to allow your partner to experience their feelings before offering solutions or being more willing to look at solutions and compromise and skip over the feelings in some conversations.

3. Address past hurts that haven't been resolved.

Another reason you might be struggling to communicate is because something painful happened in your relationship that hasn't been fully resolved. Perhaps there was a betrayal, or someone said something that's never properly been amended. To move forward and to begin communicating better, you'll need to process these hurts, rebuild trust, and be willing to forgive each other.

If your partner isn't communicating with you, it's helpful to identify the "why"—is it something left over from childhood? Are they feeling hurt by you? Do they just have a different idea of what it means to communicate?

Try to bring these questions up with them and explore what you both need when it comes to open and honest communication. You'll likely find that you have different answers.

[Elizabeth Earnshaw, LMFT]

Elizabeth Earnshaw is a Philadelphia-based marriage and family therapist, certified Gottman therapist, writer, and the owner of A Better Life Therapy. She received her bachelor's in...

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14106/5-communication-mistakes-that-kill-relationships.html

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question: What is the unseen image supposed to depict?

answer: An image of a couple having open communication.

question: With what can't a relationship work?

answer: Communication.

question: Is arguing about the facts considered a good or bad sign for a relationship?

answer: According to this article, it is a negative thing in a relationship.

question: What is an avoidant style?

answer: It seems to mean they have a need for space-especially around conflict.

question: Where is Elizabeth Earnshaw based?

answer: Philadelphia.


text:
[]

Since MATT SMITH and BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH both made their respective splashes in the UK and the world beyond, fans have felt the two actors needed to work together. (Something about chins and cheekbones or something.) They were at least in the same room together a few times, which had fandom reeling, but did you know Smith almost played the role of John Watson in BBC’s _Sherlock_? Read on to find out why it didn’t happen.

Smith and _Doctor Who_ co-star KAREN GILLAN recently did an interview with The Daily Mail in which they discussed their casting stories from the sci-fi show. I’ve heard versions of both before but Smith included a juicy new tidbit.

  I nearly became Sherlock Holmes’s sidekick instead. Before _Doctor Who_ was even discussed I went to see STEVEN MOFFAT, the co-creator of the BBC’s _Sherlock_, to test for the role of Doctor John Watson. Steven saw me more as a Sherlock Holmes than a Watson, but the main part had already gone to Benedict Cumberbatch. However, Steven saw something in me that made him think I could be right for the role of The Doctor.

There’s a plethora of reaction gifs I could utilize here. I’m gonna go with this one.

Smith also talked to the Radio Times about the close call. “I thought my audition for Watson was very good,” says Smith. “But clearly not good enough! Basically they looked at it and went, ‘He’s not Watson. It’d be like having two Sherlocks in the room.'”

Obviously viewers have become quite smitten with the pairing of Cumberbatch as Sherlock and MARTIN FREEMAN as Watson but could you even imagine if Smith had landed that role? I don’t think it was the right pairing for them so I’m glad they decided to go in a different direction but I still want Cumberbatch to act next to Smith. Preferably as the Master.

(via Blastr)

-   HOW WILL THE NEW COMPANION CHANGE THE DOCTOR? MOFFAT EXPLAINS.
-   THE MARY SUE INTERVIEWED MATT SMITH!
-   NEIL GAIMAN IS WRITING ANOTHER DOCTOR WHO EPISODE

_Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?_

_Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com_

Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."

question: What are fans feelings towards a potential collaboration between Matt Smith and Benedict Cumberbatch?

answer: The fans are positive and willing it to happen.

question: What is the difference between Matt Smith and Karen Gillan's interview with the Daily Mail?

answer: Smith included a juicy tidbit.

question: How did Matt Smith get the leading Doctor Who role?

answer: He auditioned for the role of Doctor Watson but Steven Moffat, the co-creator of the BBC’s Sherlock, saw him as a potential Doctor.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The United Kingdom fans love Matt Smith and Benedict Cumberbatch ever since they graced the screens. Fans have always wanted them to be in a project together but it hasn't happened yet. Apparently, they were almost cast together in the BBC Sherlock, however, one of the directors decided Smith will be more suitable as a leading man for another project (Doctor Who).


text:
CANTAGALO–PAVÃO–PAVÃOZINHO is a _bairro_ (neighborhood) and a group of _favelas_ in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located between the _bairros_ of Ipanema and Copacabana. As of 2010, it has circa 5,000 inhabitants.

It was pacified by the Pacifying Police Unit in 2009,[1] and on June 30, 2010, the Rubem Braga Complex was inaugurated in it, composed of two towers, an overlook (named by the inhabitants of the region “Mirante da Paz”, or the “Peace Overlook”) and two lifts linking the _favela_ to the General Osório Metro Station.[2]

The Rio de Janeiro section of the 2009 first-person shooter video game _Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2_ was fashioned after the _favela_ complex. Gospel music singer Fernanda Brum has a song entitled “Pavão Pavãozinho”; it was inspired by and had its music video shot at the _favela_.[3]

[Then-Rio de Janeiro Governor Sérgio Cabral Filho and President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visiting the Cantagalo–Pavão–Pavãozinho complex in 2007]

[1]

[2]

[3] Pavão Pavãozinho - Fernanda Brum (Clipe Oficial MK Music HD)

title: Cantagalo–Pavão–Pavãozinho

question: What is a "bairro"?

answer: A neighborhood.

question: Where is the term "bairro" used for the purposes of understanding this article?

answer: Brazil.

question: Where is Cantagalo-Pavao-Pavaozinho?

answer: The South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

question: Between which two neighborhoods is it located?

answer: Ipanema and Copacabana.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Cantagalo-Pavao-Pavaozinho is a bairro, or neighborhood, located in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. It's situated between Ipanema and Copacabana. As of 2010, it had about 5,000 inhabitants.


text:
[Two unfinished _Gasing_.] GASING PANGKAH is a competitive Malay game of spinning tops in which two or more players compete to strike each other's top out of a circle or to make it fall over and stop spinning.[1]

Considered part of the Malay state heritage, official tournaments are held, with a declared goal of exposing the younger generation to the game.[2]

The game is also popular in neighboring Brunei, and in 2013, a Gasing Pangkah tournament was held as part of the celebrations of the 67th birthday of the Sultan of Brunei.[3]

[1] https://malaysiansinnewzealand.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/spinning-the-gasing/

[2] Selangor Open Gasing Pangkah Tournament announcement on the Malay Customs & Heritage Corporation in Selangor web site

[3] 'Gasing Pangkah' Top Spinning Contest on the Radio Television Brunei news center web site

title: Gasing pangkah

question: How can you describe Gasing Pangkah?

answer: It is a competitive Malay game of spinning tops in which two or more players compete to strike each other's top out of a circle or to make it fall over and stop spinning.

question: What is a goal of this game and the tournaments held for this game?

answer: The goal is to expose the younger generation to the game.

question: How did the Sultan of Brunei celebrate his 67th birthday?

answer: He held a Gasing Pangkah tournament as part of his birthday celebrations.

question: Where else is Gasing Pangkah played?

answer: This game is also played in Brunei.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article describes a Malay heritage game called Gasing Pangkah.


text:
Be careful what you wish for – how much truth hides behind those words.
Truth I had to learn in an horrible way – truth I had to pay an horrific price for....

It all started with this package I got. It seemed to be a completely normal day. Getting off at 7am, a quick breakfast with a strong coffee and then off to work. But as I got home it was standing there, right on my doormat. It was about half a meter wide and one meter in height.
I half expected the package had been delivered to the wrong house, but a small label with my name on it proved me wrong. Curious what it might be I took it inside. As it finally stood in my kitchen I started unwrapping it.
An old, worn down box was inside. It seemed as if it had been beautifully painted once, but now there were merely traces of it's beauty left. There also was a small bronze sign on the front of it saying 'Magical box of wishes'. Still, what strangest part of it was the completely white top of it. Whereas most the box was in a desolate state the top was completely clean and looked as good as new. It almost appeared to be out of place.
Anyways, I kept on examining the box and found a little letter inside. It explained, that if one spoke a wish in front of the box, whatever one wished for would appear inside.
“Box of wishes...”, I murmured to myself. “I wonder who's the one trying to pull that crap on me.”
I closed the box again and jokingly said: “Well 'box of wishes', then I wish for you to ease my life with...er...a thousand bucks, right. I'm sure you can easily do such a simple task.” I guess I don't have to explain how estranged I was when the words “Of course I can!” appeared on the white top.
I was even more astonished when I actually found ten one hundred dollar bills inside.
Needles to say, I used the box very often afterwards.  First because I still couldn't really believe it, then just because it was convenient. It always happened in the same pattern. First I'd wish for something, then an answer would appear on top and my desired object would be inside. It seemed perfect.
Well, but as everything good it had to turn bad one day.
The catastrophe happened one evening . My neighbor Lucy from across the street was accompanying me for a drink. She was 29, so just about my age. I've had a crush on her for quite some time, but I never had the guts to talk to her. We merely were friends and I guess this situation also had it's part in how everything ended.
We just finished our first glass so I went to the kitchen to refill. While doing so I was thinking aloud: “She really is such a lovely person....if only her heart would already belong to me....” As I kept on mumbling I suddenly realized a small text appearing atop of the box. “It shall be yours....”
Just as I read it I heard a loud, thumping noise coming from the living room. When turning around to see what happened I saw Lucy laying on the ground. Just then an horrible suspicion came to my mind. I turned to the box and opened it with shaking hands. I broke down with an horrified scream as I saw what lay inside....

title: The magic box

question: What was in the package?

answer: The package contained a huge box. On the front, was a small bronze sign that said "Magical box of wishes".

question: Who had sent the package?

answer: This information is not mentioned.

question: What did the man use the magic box for?

answer: The man used the box to gain a thousand bucks.

question: Explain how the box fulfilled the wishes.

answer: The man would wish for something which would be followed by an answer appearing on the top of the box and then his desired object would be inside.

question: Write a ~8 sentence summary.

answer:
The man finds a huge package at his doorstep and wonders what it may. After assuring the package is for him, he takes it to his kitchen. The package has a huge box with a sign "Magical box of wishes".

Mocking what he saw, the narrator whispers to the box to give him a thousand bucks. To his surprise, the box had one thousand dollar bills inside. This went on for a while, the man would ask for something and the object would be inside.

One day, Lucy, the neighbor, came over and the man whispers to himself in the kitchen about how he wanted her heart. Just then he hears a loud sound from the living room and finds Lucy on the floor.