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4.  Hopping GM's 6.0L LS-Series Small-Block

Pick Up 74 Hp And 53 Lb-Ft On A 6.0l Truck Engine With Basic Bolt-Ons And A Computer Tune-Up

General Motors' LS-series small-block engines have been in production for over a decade, but it's only been within the last few years that they have really hit critical mass among average hot rodders, who are now finding them to respond superlatively to traditional hot rod power adders. One engine builder that's jumped on the LS bandwagon is Duttweiler Performance, renowned for its hard-running, high-tech, EFI turbo Buick V-6 and classic Chevy V-8 engines. When HOT ROD decided to evaluate the current state of bolt-on LS hop-ups, Duttweiler was our first choice. Its sophisticated Froude F24 dyno controlled by state-of-the-art Digalog Benchmark software enables true wide-band pulls, so the facility provided the perfect opportunity for evaluating a late-model engine under simulated street-driving conditions-and proprietor Ken Dutt-weiler is totally at home with modern PC laptop tuning software.

All we needed was a representative motor. The all-aluminum Gen III LS1 and LS6 engines displace 5.7 liters (346 ci). Unfortunately, their cast-in-place engine liners make overboring difficult. Although their improved liner design makes them a more viable rebuild candidate, the late LS2 6.0L (364ci) all-aluminum cores are still relatively rare. That left the most bang for the buck: a 6.0L truck engine. Not only are the truck engines much more plentiful than the LS1/LS6 engines that are found only in selected high-perf rear-wheel-drive cars, but in the past most have been based on easily rebuildable iron blocks (max overbore 0.030 inch). Besides, a stock-bore 6.0 nets you 19 ci over the 5.7L car engines.

A 6.0L block has its displacement cast into the front driver side of theblock below the water pump. The LS6-like LQ9 truck heads are cast No.317 and were also used on some late LQ4 engines.

The best of the iron-block, aluminum-headed 6.0L truck engines was RPO LQ9, which General Motors Performance Parts (GMPP) also sold as a complete crate assembly that included just about everything from throttle body to flexplate. GM shipped us one for test-mule service. PN 19156262 was rated at 345 hp and 380 lb-ft (SAE net) with 10.08:1 advertised compression and heads similar to the vaunted Corvette LS6, except for larger combustion chambers (making them more suitable for a blower, if you're going that route).

Although this crate engine has recently been discontinued, some local dealers may still have a few. Mr. Goodwrench service replacement long-blocks are also still available, and there are also lots of cores in the wrecking yard: The 345hp, 6.0L LQ9 was installed in selected '02-'06 Cadillac SUVs and '04-and-later Chevy Silverado SS pickups. Look for a 6.0L block with the No. 317, LS6-like head castings. Some 325hp, 6.0L LQ4s also got these heads. Allegedly, the main difference between the two engines is the LQ4's half-point-lower 9.41:1 compression ratio.

BASELINEThe crate engine was installed on Duttweiler's dyno set up the way it would be in a production truck, less the factory airbox but with the factory exhaust system and accessories. Running off the stock computer using the truck fuel and spark calibration, the engine produced 355 hp and 396 lb-ft of torque, as measured with the standard temperature and pressure-correction factor. GM claims 345 hp and 380 lb-ft, as rated by the more conservative "net" correction factor.

HEADERS AND EXHAUSTTime for some breathing exercises-a set of equal-length Dynatech stainless steel '04-'05 GTO headers, 211/42-inch dual pipes (without cats), and dual, free-flowing Flowmaster Super 40 mufflers. While still running the stock long-runner truck intake manifold and stock fuel and spark calibration, freeing up the exhaust made the engine come alive and netted 24 hp and 25 lb-ft at the peaks. The engine was now churning out 379 hp and 421.7 lb-ft, with the overall powerband broadened over the baseline. From 1,600 to 5,700 rpm, average power and torque were up across the board by 15.8 hp and 21.5 lb-ft.

_Dynatech's '04-'05 GTO stainless steel headers were tested both withand without Dynatech's complementary high-flow catalytic converters. Thebig 13/4-inch primaries and 3-inch collectors turned out to be the bestsingle bolt-on power improvement in this test series._

TUNE-UPThe factory computer controls many more functions and is ultimately much more versatile and sophisticated than all but the highest-end aftermarket systems. Components are widely available in wrecking yards, but the problem has always been the factory hardware's non-user-friendliness. Average end-users couldn't reprogram them, and late models have sophisticated vehicle antitheft system (VATS) provisions built into the computer. But now programs exist for completely hacking every function of the factory computer-including VATS removal. They run on a normal Windows-based PC and look and operate just like any other Windows XP-compatible program. Duttweiler likes HP Tuners' VCM Suite. One $500 standard license for this software gives the end-user the right to tune at least two (and in some cases, four or more) vehicles; additional credits can be purchased to tune additional cars.

_The colored cells here show the amount added to the base map. The fuelcurve was also leaned out. This nearly doubled the power gain seen bybolting on the headers._

Five hundred bucks seems like a lot of money, but in the LQ9's case it was money well spent. Fuel and spark table analysis showed that the headers so increased the mass flow through the engine that the computer was now trying to read an area of the spark table that under the factory calibration was extremely conservative and was removing excessive amounts of timing lead from the engine. As is typical of wide-open-throttle factory calibration, the air-fuel ratio was also rich. Tuning up the spark and fuel netted 29 hp and 19 lb-ft, increasing peak output to 408 hp and 440 lb-ft. Dialing in the spark and fuel curves nearly doubled the headers' power and torque gains.

CATALYTIC CONVERTERSEveryone knows catalytic converters suck for performance-no true hot rodder wants to plug up the engine. Back in the days of crude, first-generation pellet-style converters, there was some validity to this belief. But engineers have had 30 years to refine converter technology, and as technology goes, 30 years is a lifetime. Dynatech makes some high-tech catalytic converters designed to be used with its headers. Installing dual miniconverters after the headers but still running through 211/42-inch dual pipes into the dual Flowmaster 40 mufflers cost only 0.3 hp and 7.1 lb-ft at the peak, and just 2.6 hp and 3.8 lb-ft on average between 1,600 and 5,700 rpm. Overall, the engine ran so well with the cats that they were left in place for all subsequent mods.

_Dynatech's miniconverters (arrow) bolt right to the header collectors._

INTAKE MANIFOLDSA commonly held belief is that a short-runner, car-style intake manifold should outperform a poky long-runner truck intake. On a truck engine, switching to a car-style, short-runner intake is not a straight bolt-on. You must install a passenger-car front accessory dress to clear the lower-mounted throttle body. Fortunately, Duttweiler had a complete Camaro drive setup handy.

Here's the long-runner LQ9 truck-style intake (left) compared to thecar-style intake on the right.

With the accessory drives switched over, Duttweiler tested the original stepped-floor LS1 intake (stock on '97-'01 Corvettes and '98-'01 F-cars), the flat-floor LS6 manifold (also used on most LS1 builds from late '01 and up), and the Generation IV LS2 intake. Compared to the LQ9 truck long-runner design, the LS1 intake lost 9 hp and 11 lb-ft. The LS6 intake was a hair better, but certainly not enough to justify the complexity of the changeover unless you had a hood-clearance issue. As for the LS2 configuration-fahgetaboutit! Despite a larger 90mm throttle body, when compared to the best headers/cats/truck intake configuration the LS2 manifold was down nearly 8 hp and 7 lb-ft at the peak and 6.7 hp and 9 lb-ft on average.

FAST's LSX intake is available in two versions: one with a smallthrottle body mounting flange (left) for LS1/LS6 and truck 75mm throttlebodies, and another with a large 90mm LS2 throttle body flange (right).Duttweiler says the big flange works best in nearly all cases. On theLQ9 it raised overall output to 420 hp and 440 lb-ft.

FAST's short-runner, car-style LSX intake is a popular bolt-on. And for good reason: In our tests, equipped with the 90mm throttle body, it raised the power and torque peak outputs to 419.8 hp and 440 lb-ft respectively, a gain of 11.5 hp and 6.9 lb-ft over the truck intake's headers-with-cats configuration. Although this hot rod manifold was down (just slightly) on torque below 2,800 rpm as well as in under-3,200-rpm horsepower production, it more than made up for it in the midrange and top end, to the tune of raising average 1,600- to 5,700-rpm output about 6 hp and 10 lb-ft. Power output above its 5,400-rpm power peak also fell off less precipitously. This manifold should be worth even more when coupled with a high-performance camshaft.

HIGH-RATIO ROCKER ARMSStock LS-series engines already have roller-fulcrum 1.7:1-ratio rocker arms (with roller fulcrums but not roller tips). Although a step up from the old-school small-block's 1.5:1 stamped rockers, unlike those legacy V-8s (except for the LT4), LS-series engines have a non-adjustable net-lash valvetrain. More radical cams require a means of adjusting the valvetrain, but even if you don't want to tear apart the engine to install a new cam, moving up to higher-ratio rocker arms is potentially worth some power-and is a quick and simple bolt-on with Crane's adjustable 1.8:1 full roller rocker arm kit. Stiffer pushrods are also included in the Crane kit, as experience has shown that the stock soft pushrods are one of the LS-series engine's weak links for performance usage

_Axing the stock net-lash 1.7:1 rockers (right) for a Crane bolt-onadjustable kit that includes beefy new 3/8-inch pushrods, guideplates,screw-in rocker studs, and its famous fully rollerized (tip and fulcrum)gold aluminum 1.8:1 rocker arms (left and center) was worth 9 hp and 9lb-ft--not quite Crane's claimed 20 hp, but then again the engine stillhad the stock mild cam._

Moving up from 1.7:1 to 1.8:1 is worth some more valve lift-in the LQ9's case, about a 0.027-inch increase to 0.494/0.507. But according to Crane, the average overall improvement is more than the raw numbers indicate because the rockers incorporate quick-lift technology. By positioning the pushrod cup lower in the rocker than stock, Crane effectively increases the rocker ratio during the early and late lift cycle as the rocker arm moves through its prescribed arc. As tested here, the Crane rockers helped the engine produce the highest numbers seen in this initial test series: 429 hp and 449 lb-ft.

OIL AND OIL PANSUp to this point all the tests had been conducted using the stock GM deep-sump truck oil pan and the 5W-30 factory oil (yes, GM delivers the crate engine with oil). It is felt in the enthusiast community that the truck pan is a rather crude design; its deep sump often presents ground-clearance issues when installed in a low-to-the-ground classic hot rod. Could another pan do better? Duttweiler had two he wanted to try-a factory LS2 Corvette pan and a new Moroso retrofit design-but to maintain consistency during the cam swaps, the 5W-30 GM factory oil was replaced by some of Duttweiler's normal in-shop Lucas 10W-30 oil supply and the engine rebaselined, still with the 6-quart truck oil pan and standard truck windage tray. With the slightly heavier oil, the engine was down a tad: 2.2 hp and 4.1 lb-ft at the peaks, 2.9 hp and 4.7 lb-ft on average.

The LQ9's deep-sump 6-quart oil pan (PN 12579273, use with pickupscreen PN 12563961) relies on sump depth rather than internal bafflingto manage windage and oil slosh. On a stationary engine dyno, it made asmuch power as the more sophisticated pans tested here.

Reputedly, the '05 and later LS2 Corvette oil pan with its sophisticated internal baffling is better for a handling application than the truck pan; its shallow sump is also more adaptable to older rear-steer chassis. (Do not confuse this pan with the '04 and earlier LS1/LS6 Corvette pan that had side kick-out wings and doesn't fit anything besides a Corvette.) The Moroso pan is specifically designed to clear most classic musclecar chassis, with the exception of early '62-'67 Chevy IIs. In actual testing, neither of these pans proved superior to the truck pan on a stationary engine dyno. However, these tests retained the stock truck full-length windage tray; results may differ with a tray optimized for the other pans.

Next UpAs the engine now stands, the highest recorded numbers were with the Dynatech headers, high-flow cats, recalibrated computer, stock truck oil pan, 5W-30 oil, and Crane 1.8:1 rockers. Compared to the initial stock baseline configuration, Duttweiler had gained nearly 74 hp and 53 lb-ft with bolt-ons and tuning. In the ultimate configuration so far, the engine was making almost 430 hp and 450 lb-ft at the peaks. It churned out over 400 hp from 4,700 rpm on up, with over 400 lb-ft of torque from 2,900 through 5,600. Of all the changes, adding the headers and tuning the computer garnered the most improvement, although the FAST intake and 1.8:1 rockers should really come into their own when coupled with big cams and higher-flowing heads. Big cams? High-flow heads? Come back next month. We're just getting started.

TEST DESCRIPTION
Letters below correspond to the test designators in the adjacent tables.
A
Stock baseline using factory ECM calibration, 75mm throttle body, truck long-
runner intake, 5W-30 oil in truck oil pan, and stock dual catalytic
converters, Y-pipe, and muffler
B
Dynatech headers, 2.5-inch dual exhaust, dual
Flowmaster Super 40 mufflers
C
Optimize ECM spark table
D
Optimize ECM fuel enrichment table
E
Add dual Dynatech high-flow catalytic converters
F
LS1 intake with 75mm throttle body
G
LS6 intake with 75mm throttle body
H
LS2 intake with 90mm throttle body
I
FAST intake with 90mm throttle body
J
Crane 1.8:1 rocker arms
K
10W-30 oil and stock LQ9 oil pan
L
LS2 Corvette oil pan
M
Moroso oil pan

BEST TEST DYNO RESULTS
TEST A
TEST B
TEST D
TEST E
TEST I
TEST J
RPM
LB-FT
HP
LB-FT
HP
LB-FT
HP
LB-FT
HP
LB-FT
HP
LB-FT
HP
1,600
353.6
107.3
360.0
109.7
359.1
109.6
359.6
109.5
355.3
108.4
356.9
109.0
1,700
354.0
114.1
363.5
117.7
363.2
117.9
362.0
117.1
357.9
116.1
361.1
117.2
1,800
355.7
121.6
367.0
125.8
366.7
125.9
364.6
125.0
360.3
123.7
364.2
125.0
1,900
358.3
129.5
370.3
134.1
369.7
133.9
367.5
133.0
362.7
131.3
366.8
132.7
2,000
361.1
137.7
373.6
142.3
372.5
141.9
370.3
141.1
365.2
139.1
369.2
140.5
2,100
363.8
145.7
376.7
150.7
375.2
149.9
373.1
149.2
368.0
147.0
371.7
148.5
2,200
366.2
153.7
379.8
159.1
377.8
158.1
375.7
157.4
371.0
155.3
374.6
156.7
2,300
368.3
161.5
382.8
167.6
380.4
166.4
378.3
165.6
374.2
163.7
377.8
165.3
2,400
370.1
169.2
385.7
176.2
383.1
174.9
380.7
173.9
377.7
172.5
381.3
174.2
2,500
371.6
176.8
388.7
184.9
385.9
183.6
383.2
182.3
381.2
181.4
385.1
183.3
2,600
372.9
184.4
391.7
193.8
388.9
192.5
385.6
190.8
384.8
190.5
389.0
192.7
2,700
374.2
192.1
394.7
202.9
392.0
201.6
388.2
199.4
388.5
199.8
393.0
202.2
2,800
375.6
200.0
397.8
212.1
395.2
210.8
390.8
208.3
392.1
209.1
397.0
211.8
2,900
377.2
208.0
400.8
221.4
398.6
220.2
393.6
217.3
395.6
218.6
400.9
221.5
3,000
378.9
216.3
403.9
230.8
402.0
229.8
396.6
226.6
399.0
228.1
404.6
231.2
3,100
380.9
224.8
406.9
240.3
405.5
239.5
399.8
236.1
402.4
237.6
408.1
240.9
3,200
383.1
233.5
409.9
249.8
409.1
249.4
403.2
245.8
405.6
247.2
411.4
250.6
3,300
385.5
242.4
412.6
259.4
412.7
259.4
406.6
255.7
408.8
256.8
414.5
260.3
3,400
387.9
251.3
415.1
268.8
416.3
269.5
410.2
265.7
411.9
266.6
417.4
270.1
3,500
390.2
260.2
417.3
278.1
419.9
279.7
413.7
275.8
414.9
276.4
420.3
279.9
3,600
392.3
269.1
419.1
287.3
423.3
290.1
417.2
286.0
417.9
286.4
423.1
289.9
3,700
394.0
277.7
420.5
296.2
426.6
300.4
420.5
296.3
420.9
296.4
425.9
300.0
3,800
395.3
286.1
421.4
304.8
429.8
310.8
423.6
306.4
423.8
306.6
428.8
310.2
3,900
396.1
294.1
421.7
313.0
432.6
321.1
426.4
316.5
426.7
316.8
431.8
320.7
4,000
396.3
301.6
421.5
320.9
435.1
331.3
428.8
326.4
429.6
327.1
434.8
331.2
4,100
395.8
308.8
420.7
328.3
437.2
341.3
430.7
336.0
432.2
337.4
437.8
341.9
4,200
394.7
315.4
419.4
335.3
438.9
350.9
432.1
345.4
434.7
347.7
440.7
352.6
4,300
393.0
321.6
417.5
341.8
439.9
360.2
432.9
354.3
436.8
357.7
443.5
363.2
4,400
390.7
327.3
415.1
347.8
440.3
368.9
433.2
362.9
438.5
367.5
445.8
373.6
4,500
388.0
332.5
412.2
353.3
439.9
377.0
432.8
370.9
439.6
376.8
447.6
383.5
4,600
384.9
337.2
408.9
358.2
438.7
384.3
431.9
378.4
440.1
385.5
448.7
392.9
4,700
381.4
341.5
405.1
362.7
436.6
390.8
430.3
385.3
439.7
393.5
448.9
401.6
4,800
377.6
345.3
401.0
366.5
433.6
396.3
428.0
391.4
438.4
400.7
447.9
409.2
4,900
373.4
348.6
396.4
369.9
429.6
400.8
425.0
396.7
436.1
406.8
445.8
415.8
5,000
368.9
351.3
391.5
372.6
424.7
404.3
421.2
401.1
432.6
411.8
442.3
421.0
5,100
363.9
353.3
386.2
374.9
418.8
406.6
416.6
404.6
428.1
415.6
437.6
425.0
5,200
358.4
354.6
380.5
376.5
412.0
407.8
411.2
406.9
422.5
418.2
431.7
427.5
5,300
352.2
355.2
374.4
377.7
404.5
408.0
404.8
408.2
415.8
419.6
424.7
428.8
5,400
345.3
354.9
368.1
378.4
396.2
407.3
397.4
408.3
408.3
419.8
417.1
428.9
5,500
337.9
353.9
361.6
378.8
387.3
405.6
389.1
407.2
400.0
418.9
409.1
428.4
5,600
330.4
352.6
355.2
379.0
378.1
403.2
379.9
405.0
391.2
417.1
401.1
427.6
5,700
323.7
351.4
349.5
379.2
368.6
400.1
370.0
401.9
382.1
414.7
393.7
427.2

question: What is the theme of this article?

answer: Motor vehicles

question: What is the source of this article?

answer: It is not mentioned in the article.

question: What engine builder is discussed in this article?

answer: Duttweiler Performance

question: What do the numbers listed at the end of the article indicate?

answer: It is uncertain what they indicate.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: This is an extensive article discussing motor vehicles. The author discusses in depth the engine builder Duttweiler Performance. This engine builder is known to be hard-running and high-tech. They discuss the baseline, headers, exhaust, tune-up, and catalytic converter.


split: train

text:
How had I never noticed how fresh the air here was? I took another deep breath, filling my lungs with crisp autumn. The voices of the tavern mixed pleasantly, a harmonious cacophony. Any other day so many people in my quiet seaside bar would greatly upset me, but this was a good day. I looked down at the stool next to me, where I’d sat my important package. Yes, today was the day I could feel it.

Other, more regular drinkers drained their lagers in flagons, but I was content with a simple pint. A nice frosty pint for me, thank you. The blonde serving the drinks had the most marvelous eyes, here blue or there green depending on which way they caught the light. Her hips were meant for children. She was an angel, even if she didn’t remember my name after a week straight of coming here. I saw her pleasant presence as a blessing, a sign that today was the day the seeds of my labors came to fruition.

I moved my hand to the next table and felt the brown paper wrapped around the package, the sculpted brass underneath, careful only to touch the edges, never disturbing the world I’d created within.

When my glass was near empty the lovely barmaid brought me another. A second time. A third time. A fourth. My head was swimming now, a pleasant buzz surrounded everything. Today was the day. One of the regular drinkers looked over to me and we locked eyes. I smiled. He raised his flagon. I raised my pint and we toasted silently. I’d like to think he wished me all the best in my endeavors. It made two of us.

I heard the door open and close and I looked up to see the most beautiful creature. She was from southern France, maybe Spain, judging by the dark tones of her skin. Her raven hair tumbled just to her shoulder blades and danced around her neck and back as she walked towards the bar. I wasn’t the only man in the room checking the placement of my jaw, I assure you.

But it was I, with the dumb smile on my face, who she came and sat down with. I won’t deny giving a smug look to the regular drinkers with their large flagons. Face to face she was almost too wonderful for words. She was brisk, plump, and jolly, and ever so slightly past her nineteenth birthday. She was open and honest to a complete stranger, a man she’d never even met. It was as if fate directed her to me, she said.

I was caught between wondering why such a beautiful girl would sit with me and amazement that she was speaking my language so fluently. She was a Spaniard, I noted from her accent.

Before I was even able to open my mouth to tell her my name (and I had to tell her more than once because she kept forgetting it), she was telling me of her grand plans. She had traveled this far alone after running away from her father. An alcoholic, prone to fits of anger, but he hadn’t always been that way. The death of her mother took a horrible toll on a previously gentle and loving family man, she’d said. She was going to continue north, keep seeing the world until she decided she was ready to settle down.

She didn’t know where or when or with whom, but she figured when the time was right, she’d be ready for anything.

“And how do you know the time is not now?” I asked her.

“Because I know.” She said, and she held my gaze for a long time.

“Then why are you here?”

“Because of all the men in this room, you are the only one with destiny about you.”

She could feel it too. The day itself was smiling on me, what could possibly go wrong?

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” I admitted to her. “Today I am delivering this important package.” I motioned to the seat next to me. “Once I have delivered this, my whole life will change. I will have fame and fortune and everything my heart desires.”

She smiled. I smiled. We smiled and laughed and drank. We toasted to destiny. And then she put her hand on my arm.

She sucked in air. Her eyes went white and wide and wild. When her pupils came back, she was breathing in ragged gasps, and her eyes darted around. She wouldn’t make eye contact with me.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, grabbing her lightly by the shoulders.

She shook me off violently and stood up. “You…what are you? What
darkness? What evil?” Tears were running down her cheeks. Her breaths came as sobs

“What in Hell are you talking about?” I demanded.

“Murderer!” She cried.

“I’ve never harmed anyone! Anything!”

“You will.” Her sobbing increased. The regular drinkers had first assumed I was harassing the poor girl, but they began to see the truth of her fit of insanity. “Oh God be good, you will.” And with that she ran out the door.

The room burst in to laughter. Everyone but me. I took a moment to collect my thoughts as I paid my tab and finished my last pint. I shook off the haunting feeling the young Spaniard had left me with. An anxiety. A pox on my perfect day. By sheer force of will I managed to convince myself to forget the whole thing. She was nothing more than a crazy girl. It might even have been her idea of a funny joke. Best not to dwell on such things.

Especially not on such an important day. I retrieved the package from the seat next to me. This thing was going to change my life. This was the one. No more failures. No more rejections. This was the best painting I’d ever done in my life.

It was mid-autumn in Vienna, eight years since the turn of the twentieth century, almost six months to the day ‘til my birthday. This was my day. Destiny awaited. And though I had spent my life thus far in obscurity, I knew that after today nothing would ever be the same.

No one would ever forget my name again.

title: The Important Package

question: What is it that attracts the girl to the narrator, and why does she leave?

answer: The girl is attracted to the narrator because he is the only man in the bar who has the feeling of destiny about him. Indeed, he informs her that he is about to deliver a mysterious package. However, the same intuition leads her to leave him when she sense that he will commit a murder.


text:
_THE BOOKSHOP_ is a 2017 drama film written and directed by Isabel Coixet, based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Penelope Fitzgerald.[1] The film stars Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, and Bill Nighy.[2]

The film was shot in Portaferry and Strangford, County Down, Northern Ireland, and in Barcelona during August and September 2016. The film won three Goya Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Plot

Set in the late 1950s, the film opens with an explanatory voice-over narration. Florence Green, a widow, has decided to open a bookshop in the small coastal town of Hardborough, Suffolk (a thinly-disguised version of Southwold),[3] acquiring as her premises the Old House, a damp and abandoned property that has been standing empty for many years. After refurbishing it and moving in, she learns that Violet Gamart, an influential and ambitious local resident, had privately earmarked the Old House for her own pet project, a local arts centre{{--}}a project that she has no intention of dropping even though the property is no longer empty. Aided by several of the townspeople Mrs Gamart attempts to get Florence evicted, and the shop closed.

Florence's business does well enough for her to need help in the shop from Christine, the young daughter of a neighbour. Christine is very effective, even though she says that she does not much like reading. Their best customer is the wealthy bookish recluse Edmund Brundish, who begins to have feelings for Florence as she introduces him to new authors, especially Ray Bradbury. Learning of the threats to Florence's business, he emerges from his seclusion, visits Mrs Gamart, and adamantly tells her to desist. The effort involved in doing so is too much for him, and he collapses and dies.

Mrs Gamart's nephew, a member of Parliament, sponsors a bill that empowers local councils to buy any historic building that has been left unused for five years. The bill is passed, the Old House is compulsorily purchased, and Florence is evicted without compensation. Defeated, she departs from the town by ferry, and is waved off from the quayside by Christine. As the boat draws away she realises that Christine has set the Old House alight with a paraffin heater.

The scene switches to the present day and it becomes clear that the narrator is the adult Christine, who now runs her own bookshop.

Cast

Release

_La librería_, the Spanish version of _The Bookshop_, premiered at the inauguration gala of the 2017 edition of SEMINCI, Valladolid, with excellent reviews.[4] The Spanish release took place on 10 November, with unanimous positive reviews[5][6] and grossed close to US$3.5 million during its run of more than fifteen weeks in Spanish theatres.[7]

On 18 December 2017 _Variety_ announced a Berlinale Special Gala with _The Bookshop_ in February 2018, during the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.[8][9]

Reception

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 72 reviews, and an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads: “A rare adaptation that sticks too closely to its source material, _The Bookshop_{{'}}s meticulously crafted world building gets lost in its meandering pace”.[10] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.[11]

Awards and nominations

Isabel Coixet's screenplay won the Frankfurt Book Fair prize for Best International Literary Adaptation 2017.[12][13]

On 13 December 2017, _The Bookshop_ received 12 nominations for the XXXIIIrd edition of the Goya Awards, by the Spanish Cinema Academy.[14] On 3 February 2018, it won three major Goya Awards: Best Film, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.[15]

On 28 December 2017, the film won 12 nominations for the Xth edition of the Gaudí Awards,[16] including Best Non-Catalan Speaking Film, Best Direction, and Best Screenplay. On 28 January 2018, it won two Gaudí Awards for Best Artistic Direction and Best Original Score.[17]

On 13 March 2018, the film won 4 nominations for the 5th edition of the Platino Awards[18] including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Music.

  Awards                               Category                                Nominated   Result
  ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------- ----------- ---------- --
  32nd Goya Awards (3 February 2018)   Best Film                                           [19][20]
  Best Director                        Isabel Coixet                                       [21][22]
  Best Adapted Screenplay                                                      [23][24]
  Best Actress                         Emily Mortimer                                      [25]
  Best Supporting Actor                Bill Nighy                                          [26]
  Best Cinematography                  Jean-Claude Larrieu
  Best Edition                         Bernat Aragonés                                     [27]
  Best Art Direction                   Llorenç Miquel and Marc Pou
  Best Production Supervision          Jordi Berenguer and Alex Boyd
  Best Original Score                  Alfonso de Vilallonga                               [28][29]
  Best Original Song                   “Feeling Loney on a Sunday Afternoon”               [30][31]
  Best Costume Design                  Mercè Paloma                                        [32]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

title: The Bookshop (film)

question: Who wrote "The Bookshop"?

answer: Isabel Coixet.

question: Who wrote the novel "The Bookshop" is based on?

answer: Penelope Fitzgerald.

question: Where was the film shot?

answer: Portaferry and Strangford, County Down, Northern Ireland, and in Barcelona.

question: What awards did the film win?

answer: Three Goya Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about "The Bookshop", a 2017 drama film based on the book of the same name by Penelope Fitzgerald.


text:
I sat alone on Loser's Day, a Thursday; Doug was out of commission.  The surly sun sat sheltered behind the woods, and threw my window only a few gobs of light at the hour.  A fuzzy TV droned and captured my tired, besotted eyes, there, in the cervix of teenage overstimulation.  Behind me, an empty bottle sat half-covered by the bedskirt, paying homage to a dead friend.

The math book was insistent in its intrusion, perched upon my dresser.  I loved it so, and yet, now monetized, now someone else's, I couldn't quite look at it squarely.  No one fell behind at Swindell, and I had to keep working, pounding all the knowledge in, for the next fellow was working harder-

A quiet ringtone.  I cringed.  Fuck.  The math book had betrayed me; no eyes, please.  I rolled back to the nightstand and took the call.

“Hey, what are you up to, love?”

I bit my lip.  Caitlyn?  No, no, no, some asshole...

“Who is this?”

“Your worst nightmare.”

“Ohhh...”

“No, no, listen, you piece of shit.  I've got two girls in the car.  Be ready in five minutes.  Wear something cute.”

I hung up.  The Duke, Cassius.  The very King himself was inviting me; I needed to cash in on the rare opportunity.  A white T-shirt, the Bluetones, and some other clothes- my belt- my phone- and uh...what else?  I whirled around, the hum of the ceiling fan grinding my bowels into something not fit for His Holiness.

Two girls in the car...too nice...the condoms!  That was it!  I dug around and pulled out the crumpled purple box, grabbed four or five and stuffed them into my pockets.  Then I hustled downstairs and waited for the unexpected arrival.

The sun came higher, the air heating up in anticipation of this high school hero they called the King.  I waited uncomfortably, prepared for his usual lateness.  The car flashed.

He rolled down the window.

“Elliott?  Elliott, fuck...”  He laughed.  “Get the fuck in.”

I obliged.  The girls were nowhere to be seen.

“Uh, Duke...you said-”

He howled with delight.  “Dropped off Mary Anne, you know how it is, I got down and dirty.   But then she started bitching, had to be home and Charisse went with her.  Jesus fucking Christ, Elliott, you don't know, I tried so hard to keep one of 'em here for you...”

We tore off.  He burped loudly, and asked me to put some music on.  I fumbled with the docking station, but found some rap I thought he'd like.  A smile crept across the King's face.  He was Duke to his face, Cassius Steeple, but others styled him the King to his great satisfaction.  Or when he wasn't within earshot, His Holiness, the one you don't turn down.  He was unrelenting in his coolness, an unexaggeratedly religious figure to the high school popular crowd, but still neurotic and compulsive enough to fit in with the downtrodden, to make love to the crooked-faced chemistry student and burn the leaf in a dank apartment, deep in the heart of Southbridge.

I relaxed around the King, a character always fearless and never to be feared.  He sped dangerously down a wealthy road, unquestionably bound for the built-up urban complexes miles away from where I lived.  The King had a special fondness for every girl this side of the water tower, but on weekends, he was a free jack, free to screw the shop attendant and her visiting niece from the city.  I shivered with the excitement that I, too, might ride the King's wave of sexual excitation, that I might pick up whatever dregs he left me in his endless hedonistic quest.

“The thing is, we've got to get you ready, Elliott.  We've got to get you ready for those Swindell chicks.  I hear they'll do anything.  You going to be the rooster?”

I grinned and nodded.

“I'm glad, Elliott.  The most important thing is-” he coughed- “the most important thing is that you're ready for college chicks.  You need to take the opportunity to find out what the inside of a vagina looks like before the end of this summer.”

He screeched into a parking lot.  The creamery was open, but was I in the mood?  It didn't matter- Cassius dictated everything here.  The passenger door flung open and I gasped for air in the sudden heat, the earth spinning beneath me in the wake of His Holiness's roadway impropriety.  We walked in like best friends.

Rita Kunz presided over the counter.  When she caught sight of the King, the change in her was immediate.  Her face flushed as she narrowed her eyes and bit her lip.  She swayed slightly and crossed her legs, bending slightly further towards us.

“We can't serve you,” she smiled, looking through me at her dream object.  Her eyelids fluttered, and she gave her thin brown hair a quick twirl.

“That's great- I wasn't expecting you here, either,” he said dismissively.  Rita covered her embarrassment with a deeper smile.

She fondled her apron and leaned back from the counter.  “I'm going on break.  You can deal with someone else.”  After she turned, Cassius shot me a grin.

Rita disappeared behind a door, and her assistant came to fill our orders.  Cassius chuckled quietly to himself, and furrowed his brow.  Something devilish came into his eyes as he turned; I was caught in his line of sight.  “Do you have money?” Cassius inquired.  A wave of some dispirited feeling washed over me.

Blondie Memaine scooped the ice cream this time, the pecans and vanilla beans sliding gracefully into her spoon as she prepared the King's dessert.  To me, she'd been the epitome of grace in high school: a slender and elegant diver, capturing the school record for whatever the hell with the butterfly.  Blondie was off to college, back again this semester, actually: all accounts indicated that she had enjoyed her first year immensely.  But to the King, it wasn't the grace, rather the result that counted.  The dessert in this case.  She'd been a fine one, His Holiness insisted, on multiple occasions.

We ate, and he jetted off to some sacred locale.  I wasn't invited.  I waited on the curb with my thumb up, and wondered if the problem was my own.

title: The Strawberry Blonde

question: Why does the title place importance on 'The Strawberry Blonde'?

answer: The story culminates in a blonde woman serving Elliott and Cassius ice cream at her workplace. Elliott remembers admiring her in high school. Placing this woman in the title role strengthens the story's central narrative of a young man wanting to lose his virginity.

question: What is the likely gender of the narrator?

answer: No pronouns are specified so context clues must be used to interpret the narrator's maleness. It is possible that the narrator (Elliott) is a homosexual female, but unlikely, given the recognizably teen-boy behaviours and approach to other females exhibited in the story.

question: How is the reader supposed to feel about Cassius?

answer: The reader is not supposed to take Elliott's perspective as realistic; popular kids in high school are glorified by their peers, which Elliott acknowledges, and Cassius's behaviour is simply that of an arrogant, inconsiderate young man. The reader is likely supposed to regard him with mild contempt.

question: Explain how the story fits its genre.

answer: The story includes the common features of a coming-of-age drama: an adolescent protagonist on the outskirts of the social sphere and on the cusp of a life change (college), a first-person perspective, and the characters of a 'cool' peer and unattainable sexual/romantic prospect.


text:
[Africa Proconsularis (125 AD)]THAGAMUTA was a Roman–Berber city in the province of Byzacena. The location of the town is not definitively known, but it was on the plain of Guemouda in modern Tunisia.

Thagamuta was also the seat of an ancient bishopric.[1][2] There are three known (ancient) bishops of this Catholic diocese.

-   Lupiano who participated at the Council of Carthage (397).
-   Then at the Council of Carthage (411) the Catholic bishop Milico attended. There appears to have been no Donatist bishop at this time.
-   In 484 Restitutus attended the synod called in Carthage by the Vandal king Huneric, after which Restitutus was exiled.

Today the bishopric survives as a titular bishopric and the current bishop is Jeffrey Robert Haines, of Archdiocese of Milwaukee.[3][4] He replaced Júlio Endi Akamine in 2017.

[1] Pius Bonifacius Gams, _Series Episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae_, (Leipzig, 1931), p. 468.

[2] Stefano Antonio Morcelli, _Africa Christiana_, Volume I, (Brescia, 1816), p. 297.

[3] Tagamuta at www.gcatholic.org

[4] La sede titolare at www.catholic-hierarchy.org.

title: Thagamuta

question: How old is the city of Thagamuta?

answer: More information is needed to answer the question: when it was founded and what year the article was written

question: Who was Donatist bishop when Bishop Milco attended the Council of Carthage?

answer: There appears to have been none.

question: What modern nation's borders contain the original site of Thagamuta?

answer: Tunisia

question: When did Thagamuta stop being a city?

answer: There is insufficient information to answer the question.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article discusses the history of an ancient city called Thagamuta. It also lists some ancient Catholic bishops from the diocese.


text:
RIVERSIDE >> University of California, Riverside, police and city police arrested a man Friday night suspected in two attempted carjackings on campus earlier in the day.

The arrest came after a UCR student who had received a text alert from the police department reported seeing someone who matched the suspect’s description.

The first incident occurred at about 1:30 p.m., when a female UCR student reported that a man attempted to wrest control of her car in a parking lot at the Bannockburn Village Apartments on Canyon Crest Drive.

She resisted and he fled on foot.

The woman was not injured.

At 2:43 p.m., UC police received another call of an attempted carjacking, this time at the University Plaza Apartments on Linden Street. The suspect again was unable to get control of the vehicle, and again fled on foot.

The second victim, also a female UCR student, was not injured. Neither victim reported seeing a weapon.

Police arrested Antonio Martinez, 25, of Riverside, at 5:50 p.m. after he was seen sitting on a curb near Campus View and Celeste drives, authorities said.

Martinez faces two counts of attempted carjacking, two counts of attempted robbery, violating parole, and resisting arrest. Martinez was being held without bond at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.

“We rely on all of the campus community to ensure its safety,” said UCR Police Chief Mike Lane. “We were able to do this with the help of a quick-thinking UCR student. We thank that student and the entire UCR community for its assistance with this search.”

question: What is the main subject of the article?

answer: The arrest of a man suspected of two attempted carjackings

question: Approximately when was the article written?

answer: That information can't be found

question: When did the arrest occur?

answer: 5:50 p.m.

question: How did the police find the suspect?

answer: A University of California student reported seeing someone matching the suspect's description from a text alert

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Police have arrested a man suspected of two attempted carjackings at the University of California, Riverside campus.


text:
2/11/1373, 6/30/1908, 7/7/1997, 11/1/2011, 6/21/2013, 11/18/2013, ?

32492/ 6 = 5415.33 194952/365=534.115 902.55

The Bloop...

That’s what it was called at the time, The “Bloop” , because I guess we didn’t have anything better to call it. And to be honest, after reviewing the audio several times, it did kinda sound like a bloop. The kinda noise when a large volume of water is displaced all at once. We were lucky on that one, or unlucky. Maybe if we had recognized it for what it was…

I’m getting ahead of myself.

I believe it was the Olmecs that first encountered the phenomena around 1831 BCE. There’s this monument, they call it the San Martin Pajapan Monument now, that was carved in approximately that time period. The statue is early example of their artwork, showing a young lord or demi god, holding up a ceremonial bar. The general consensus is that it was a figure meant to be establishing the center of the universe. What little we can translate of their culture and writing, the statue was placed at a location that they viewed as being a place of powerful energy. Maybe they saw something in the hills between those two volcanoes. Something that defied nature. There’s no fossil or archeological evidence, but it just fits, you know? By working backwards with the math?

The first recorded incident was February 11th, 1373CE outside of what is modern day Baghdad, Iraq. I say this is the first “recorded” incident for a reason. What happened outside of the recovering city was never properly documented. The Il-Khanids, Mongol rulers of their captured Arabian lands, weren’t too keen on writing down things that didn’t involve the glory of the Mongol empire. What can be gleaned from the entire TWO historical documents concerning the event, was a massive shockwave tipped over several ships on the river, as well as toppling dozens of homes within the city. The writings from the era said that a pressure wave, described by them as “the air punched at our chests as if a forceful man ” , originating from the desert sands east of the city. I calculate the epicenter to have been 1 mile east north east of the cities’ harbor, of approximately 63 kilotons of TNT in strength, somewhat less than the destructive threshold of the atomic warhead dropped on Hiroshima by the United States during World War 2. The effects of being so close to a blast of that magnitude would have been similar to what was described by the accounts. I can consequently see why no one cared. It was not a great era of scientific curiosity. It was written off like any myriad of events during that era.

The second recorded event occurred on June 30th, 1908. Centered around 5 miles South South east of Lake Cheko, in Tunguska, Russia. I’m sure you’ve heard of that one, though. What’s more commonly known as, The Tunguska Blast. Up until last month, it was easily attributed to a rogue asteroid or cometoid exploding in mid air over the deserted forest. Official estimates vary, but the explosive force rattled windows 400 miles away. It hammered the Siberian wilds with what we now know was around 2 megatons of explosive force. Speculation was, that had such an event occurred in a populated city in that era, say for instance, Paris, London, or New York City. The death toll would have numbered in hundreds of thousands. We were “lucky” though, it was a deserted location, very few people were injured. Hell it took months for a study team to even venture out into the frozen woodlands to survey the damage back then. Again, No one really cared.

cont-

title: Happy Early Halloween! I hope it's a fun read for you.

question: What is the "Bloop"?

answer: Based off of the text, it seems to be some sort of destructive pressure wave or blast. There doesn't seem to be any known causes for it.

question: What was the phenomenon first encountered around 1831 BCE?

answer: The phenomenon was the "bloop".

question: What is the event that only two historical documents covered?

answer: The event is the first ever recorded "bloop" incident in what is now modern day Baghdad, Iraq.

question: What is the context around "We were 'lucky' though"?

answer: In 1908, there was a documented "bloop" in Tunguska, Russia. It was a deserted location, so the author considers it lucky that it hadn't happened in a densely populated area.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator describes several examples of the "Bloop", which they describe as a sort of destructive pressure wave or explosive force that sounds like a large amount of water being displaced at once. The first recorded incident was February 11, 1373 CE, but it may have first been encountered in 1831 BCE.


text:
[A Hereford cow licks her newborn calf clean]

A COW–CALF OPERATION is a method of raising beef cattle in which a permanent herd of cows is kept by a farmer or rancher to produce calves for later sale. Cow–calf operations are one of the key aspects of the beef industry in the United States and many other countries.[1] In the British Isles, a cow–calf operation may be known as a SINGLE-SUCKLER HERD.[2][3][4] The goal of a cow–calf operation is to produce young beef cattle, which are usually sold. A rancher who works within such a model is often called a “cow–calf operator” in the United States.[5]

General characteristics

Cow–calf operations are widespread throughout beef-producing countries,[6] and the goal of a cow–calf operation is to produce young beef cattle, which are usually sold. True to the name, farm and ranch herds consist mostly of adult female cows , their calves, and young females, called heifers, which will produce calves once of breeding age. Some operations may raise their steers until slaughter weight, others sell them as weaned calves. They may have a few herd bulls and utilize natural mating, but may have no bulls and rely primarily on artificial insemination.[7] Cattle from a cow–calf operation may be sold after they have been weaned to be matured elsewhere, such as at a feedlot, or may be raised to near-slaughter weight and sold at the age of 1–2 years.[8] Older cows and bulls, if kept, may also be sold to slaughter after their reproductive years have ended.

Cow–calf operations generally raise their stock primarily on pasture and other forms of roughage rather than grain feeds,[9] though they may provide vitamin and mineral supplementation. For this reason, they require more land than other cattle operations,[10] such as feedlots, veal and dairy cattle production, or breeding operations that focus primarily on management of bulls for artificial insemination. Pastures may be native or “improved” with forage designed to withstand grazing pressure and help animals gain weight. During periods of shortage, supplementary feeding may be carried out but it is by no means universal. In some areas, pasture is supported by crops for fattening.[11] Intensive rotational grazing systems can reduce the amount of land required; an acre or an acre and half, in some climates, can support a single cow–calf pair for an entire year.[12] Conversely, in countries such as Brazil and Argentina, cow–calf operations may be forced to use more marginal grazing because of changes in the value of land due to high prices for cash crops like soybeans.[13]

Auctions are a common means of sale, although in some cases, prospective buyers inspect sale cattle on the producer's property with the price negotiated either by weight or on a dollars per head basis.[14]

In the United States

Cow–calf operations are generally divided into two types. First are those that produce feeder cattle to be raised by other agricultural enterprises, such as feedlots. These sell their calves after they have been weaned and are under a year in age. The second are those that raise the calves for 1–2 years before selling them directly to slaughter.[15]

The mother cattle, sometimes known as brood cows, generally come from one of two sources: either female calves raised on the farm itself and retained into adulthood, or cows that are purchased from a specialized seedstock operation which often produces purebred cattle.[16]

Cow–calf operations are widespread throughout the United States. A 1997 census found that this sector of the U.S. beef market produced over $40.5 billion.[17] As of 2007 there were more than 765,000 cow–calf operators in the country, mostly concentrated in the Western and Southeastern U.S. states.[18]

Sale prices for calves sold from a cow–calf operation are subject to fluctuation as part of the cattle cycle of financial markets.[19] The relatively long period it takes a cow–calf operator to build up a beef herd and raise new calves to the desired weigh tends to extend the length of such a cycle.[20]

In Australia

[Murray Grey cows and calves on the Northern Tablelands.]

Approximately 90% of Australian cows are in strictly cow–calf operations. In southern Australia (NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and south-western Western Australia) beef cattle are often reared on smaller properties as part of a mixed farming or grazing operation, but some properties do specialise in cattle breeding. The southern calves are typically reared on pasture and sold as weaners, yearlings or as steers at about two years old or older.

In the Top End, sub-tropical areas and in arid inland regions cattle are bred on native pastures on expansive cattle stations. Beef producers in northern Australia tend to operate more extensive pastoral enterprises than counterparts in southern Australia.[21] Anna Creek Station in South Australia, Australia is the world's largest working cattle station.[22] The North Australian Pastoral Company Pty Limited (NAPCO) is now one of Australia's largest beef cattle producers, with a herd of over 180,000 cattle and fourteen cattle stations in Queensland and the Northern Territory.[23] The Australian Agricultural Company (AA Co) manages a cattle herd of more than 585,000 head.[24] Heytesbury Beef Pty Ltd owns and manages over 200,000 head of cattle across eight stations spanning the East Kimberley, Victoria River and Barkly Tablelands regions in Northern Australia.[25] Most cattle from these regions are exported as manufacturing beef or as live animals under 350 kilograms live weight to South-East Asia for fattening in feedlots there. [Weaner calves for sale by auction.]

A variety of selling methods are used in Australia and cattle may be sold as studs, store or finished stock. A number of different selling methods are used, depending on the age, type and condition of cattle and the markets.[26]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7] Beattie, William A., Beef Cattle Breeding & Management, Popular Books, 1990,

[8]

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[26]

title: Cow–calf operation

question: Summarize the two types of cow-calf operations in the United States.

answer: In the United States there are two types of cow-calf operations. One type raises cattle until they no longer need their mothers and then sell them to other agricultural enterprises like feedlots. The other type raises the cattle for a full 1-2 years before selling them directly to a slaughterhouse.

question: Summarize the top cattle producers in Australia.

answer: The world's largest working cattle station is Anna Creek Station in South Australia. Other large producers include the North Australian Pastoral Company Pty Limited, the Australian Agricultural Company, and Heytesbury Beef Pty Ltd. A lot of cattle from these companies are transported to South-East Asia for fattening in feedlots there.

question: Summarize the key features of cow-calf operations.

answer: Cattle herds in cow-calf operations tend to be primarily adult female cows with their young. These herds tend to be raised on pasture and roughage rather than grain feeds. Because of this cow-calf operations tend to need more land than other cattle operations. Cows are sold by auction or negotiated prices based on weight or per head.

question: What details does the text include about the financial decisions made on a cow-calf operation?

answer: Cow-calf operations are one of the most important aspects of the beef industry in the United States and other countries. In 1997, cow-calf operations produced over $40.5 billion in the US. Cows are sold in a variety of ways depending on factors such as the age and condition of the cattle, and what the cattle market cycle is looking likes. Cattle may be sold at auction, or on price per head or price per weight.


text:
  *THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF MANU.*

First i'd like to say i have a idea of something medieval possibly lord of the ring style of writing. Somewhat mythological and full of medieval kittens.

Wish me the best of luck and enjoy.

There once was a boy named Manu from a village in the outskirts of Britain.
Mended by his pure loyalty to the crown in which he would prepare the finest blades to all the soldiers. His secret knowledge of metals and ores remained hidden, he would never speak about his ingredients. But these blades were the best, Never to be broken in battle and sharp enough to break through armor. Manu would often train his sword skills by hours of practice, he soon became one of the best swordsmen's in all of the castles.
Manus state was never peaceful his castle was always being attacked by the "gridlock" another state trying to concur the lands. Gridlock had concurred 10 previous castles and was heading directly towards manus home.

Manu wakes up in the middle of the night to screaming, it seems a lookout has spotted the gridlock clan moving in on their castle. All are beginning to prepare for battle, while the women and children seek shelter. Manu instantly understands what he must do, he walks towards his bed and sits down beside his kitten Medule.

Manu: Now i need you to know something medule, battle is upon us and we must not run, I CANNOT RUN, This is my home and i will FIGHT to protect it!"
Medule: Meow purrrr Meooow
Manu: Your gonna have a good life medule, i promise you, there will be tuna every night.
Medule: Meow! Meoow!.... Meow :(
Manu: I gotta do this medule. Good bye.

As Manu prepared his things and walked out, medule shed a single tear and began grooming itself with its tongue, you know why? Cause Medule is a cat and thats what cats do. Manu had never been in battle, the streets were full of many men willing to give their lives for the crown. Everyone soon surrounded Manu, they all knew of his skills and wisdom.
As this was all happening a slow pace cheer began to happen. They chanted ^Manu^^Manu^^^Manu! Manu! MANU! MANU! MANU!, out of all the commotion he noticed someone coming through the crowd. It was Medule, he swiped his legs puring. Then all of a sudden jumped onto his shoulders said

Medule: ^Manu^^Manu^^^Manu! ^Manu! ^^MANU! MANU! ^MANU!

Menu was speechless, Medule? you speak! YOU SPEAK!!! I always knew you could understad what i was saying!

Medule then said "Menu, you can do this but my people are calling me. It is my time to go.

Menu: "What go?! i can do this..! i can save my town and i can save you!

Medule: "You can but my future has already been determined, my family needs me"

Medule then floated away.

____________________

PART 2 COMING SOON.

title: A short story prepared on the spot.

question: Why is Manu surprised?

answer: Because he learns that Medule has been able to speak this entire time.

question: Why does Medule shed a tear?

answer: It initially appears that it is because Medule is concerned for Manu, but by the end of the story it is clear its because Medule is returning to his people.

question: What happens at the end of the story?

answer: Unclear--the source text does not contain the full story.

question: Summarize everything relating to Gridlock.

answer: Gridlock are an enemy state that are going around conquering castles. They conquered ten castles before attacking Manu's home village and advancing toward the castle there. Manu takes up arms to fight them off.


text:
SABAŁA or SABLIK, born JAN KRZEPTOWSKI (1809-1894) was a Polish highlander amateur musician, Tatra Mountains guide, storyteller and singer. A friend to many renowned Polish artists of the late 19th century, he is featured in numerous works of art of the epoch.

The nicknames such as _Sabała_ or _Sablik_ were traditionally used by highlander families to distinguish between various branches of extended families and are still in use today. Sabała, together with his brothers, adopted the surname of Krzeptowski to distinguish themselves from the rest of the large Gąsienica family.[1]

Life

[Jan Krzeptowski on a photograph by Stanisław Bizański] [Sabała's tombstone at Pęksowy Brzyzek cemetery] [Monument to Sabała in Zakopane. His right hand should be holding a bow, but it has been vandalised repeatedly.] [An encounter between Sabała and a mountain nymph, as imagined by Walery Eljasz] In his youth he was a poacher and, reportedly, also a mountain highwayman. He took part in the failed Chochołów uprising of 1846, following which he spent some time in an Austrian prison. Set free, he abandoned his earlier life and, instead of settling down as a farmer, took up storytelling and playing music. For this reason local highlanders, and particularly so the wealthier _gazdas_, considered him a freak or a beggar. However, for scores of artists visiting the Tatra Mountains he became one of the symbols of the region and its culture. He accompanied Tytus Chałubiński and Stanisław Witkiewicz in their mountain expeditions. The latter dubbed him the “Homer of the Tatras”.[2] In the end Sabała became a godfather to Witkiewicz's son, Stanisław Ignacy.

He was a frequent guest at Witkiewicz's house in Zakopane, where he entertained his host's guests with stories and songs, at one time he even staged a fake highwaymen attack on Helena Modjeska, in which he himself played the role of the harnaś.[3]

In his later years he settled in “Zacisze” villa in Zakopane, where Wanda Lilpop took care of him.[4] He died 8 December 1894. He is buried at the Pęksowy Brzyzek National Cemetery in Zakopane.

His brother's great-granddaughter was Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa, a conductor and one-time minister of culture of Poland.[5]

Music

The melodies composed by Sabała for an instrument called złóbcoki (a variety of gęśle) are collectively known under the name of _Sabałowe nuty_ (Sabała's notes) and are still being played by highlander folk ensembles. Sabała himself rarely did play in a band or for dance, for him his music was a form of personal expression. His compositions were an inspiration to many later composers and musicologists, including Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski, Stanislaw Mierczyński, Adolf Chybiński and Jan Kleczyński.[6]

Sabała's złóbcoki, as well as numerous instruments modelled after his own, are preserved in the Museum of Musical Instruments, a division of the National Museum in Poznań.[7][8]

Literature

[Krzeptowski Sabała with his wife, 1862] Sabała's folk tales (), both those invented by him and those he merely repeated after others, have been popularized by Stanisław Witkiewicz, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Wojciech Brzega and others, who have published them in numerous collections, including:

-   _Bajki według opowiadań Jana Sabały Krzeptowskiego z Kościeliska_, Bronisław Dembowski, 1892
-   _Sabała. Portret, życiorys, bajki, powiastki, piosnki, melodie_, Andrzej Stopka Nazimek, 1897.

Thanks to Sabała's friendship with some of the more renown Polish authors of late 19th and early 20th centuries, he was featured as a semi-fictional protagonist in numerous works of literature, including by Henryk Sienkiewicz (_Sabałowa bajka_, 1884), Stanisław Witkiewicz (_Na przełęczy_, 1891), Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (_Legenda Tatr_, 1910), Władysław Orkan (novella _Przez co Sabała omijał jarmark w Kieżmarku_), Jalu Kurek (_Księga Tatr_, 1955) and Józef Kapeniak (_Ród Gąsieniców_, 1954).

Legacy

In 1903 a monument to both Sabała and Tytus Chałubiński was unveiled in Zakopane by the Association of Friends of Zakopane. The monument was designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz and sculpted by Jan Nalborczyk. Although Sabała was thought of as a background for Chałubiński, the monument is commonly referred to as _Sabała's monument_, not _Chałubiński's_. Since the bow of Sabała's gęśle was frequently being stolen by vandals, the fifth (created by artist blacksmith Władysław Gąsienica-Makowski) was attached to the monument with heavy bolts and marked with an inscription asking _Vandal, do not take me_.[9][10]

In 1979 Sabała's house at Krzeptówki was turned into one of the branches of the Tatra Museum, it returned to private hands in the following years, but is still available for tourists.[11]

There are streets named after Sabała in numerous Polish cities, including Zakopane, Warszawa, Bydgoszcz, Kraków, Łódź and Jelenia Góra. In Wolsztyn there is a ZHP troop named after him as well.[12]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

title: Sabała

question: Who is Sabała?

answer: He was a Polish highlander amateur musician

question: Who was Sabala a friend of?

answer: Many renowned Polish artist of the late 19th century.

question: Where did Sabala settle?

answer: In "Zacisze" villa en Zakopane

question: Where is Sabala buried?

answer: At the Pęksowy Brzyzek National Cemetery in Zakopane.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Sabala, also known as Sablik, born as JAN KRZEPTOWSKI in 1809 was a Polish highlander amateur musican. He was a friend of many renowned Polish artists of the late 19th century. To commemorate his legacy, a monument was raised and streets were named after him in various Polish cities.


text:
Mike started the worm selling business back before the fishing craze made anybody any money.

He made good money off lots of other things and you only needed a certain amount of money anyway. Most everything was grown around these parts and his job was really just facilitating trade.

Mike watched with delightful wonder as the boys argued at the counter. The younger, whining, while the older, hushed him.
“We'll just get one!” Bobby held his squiggly worm, shaped like a note and then twisting into an 'S' up at his little brother's nose.
“I want one too,” His little brother's nose twitched in disgust. He took a step back, holding his little worm up to his wide open eyes.

Mike, knew the conversation well and almost hated the kids who didn't have it. He thought of the times he was young and things were so much bigger, especially held up to the eyes like that.

“Shh, you get the milk.” Bobby was stern enough that his little brother went to the beverage cooler and reached way up for the glass bottle of milk, almost too high for him to reach. The milk bottle teetered, Bobby watched in horror, even Mike ran out from his position, behind the counter, but the little boy was just competent enough to catch it before it crashed.

Mike "phewed", as he grabbed the bottle from the little brother and brought it to the counter and got back in his place. He knew a family's spilt milk got more than a 'licking' in these parts.
The shop's door's bells rang as a man in a white corn hat appeared pinker than the sun around here allowed.
“Mr.Splatter! How are you today? Mike made to help him, started a jerking gait, but stayed behind the counter in a retrospect that took him too long to realize. He quickly got back into his position and smiled sincerely.

“Oh, knock it off Mike we've been to the fishing hole together enough. Call me Ralph or nothing at all.”

“Ha! Ralph how are ya? The bean counters up at the Leg got you too busy to fish?”

“Shh, I said just the one.” The men looked over at the boys. Boddy was mad. His little brother had grabbed another worm and was playing with it, on the floor. The boy watched it squirm to each of his fingering probes. Bobby walked closer to him.
Kids never were good at quiet talk and his voice sneaked through his whispers. “We'll split it later, and then you get one and I get one and we can still get milk.”

Mr. Wood or Mike, as he was known in these parts didn't make a fuss about it, after all they were just worms, he got such an awful lot of them next to free, there were no taxes on worms at that time. and these kids were no different then he was, poor, but with a little extra money for a worm, they could split in two, they could split it in four for all he cared.

Ralph, sweating pink as a pig, thought nothing of it. “Yeah those bean counters always need support. It's my job to get it for them.”  His well rehearsed voice didn't match his bodies reaction to the summer day.

And then the fishing craze hit.

title: "Quit All the Downloadin"

question: Why did Mike insist on the worm selling business even though it might not make him any money?

answer: He still made money off other things and started the worm selling business because of his fishing hobby.


text:
Highway1 is a rare breed of accelerator that has realized the companies that most need help are the folks who are doing the startup thing with hardware products. In the final-version-is-final world of hardware startups, the companies passing through the accelerator are facing some of the biggest challenges in the startup world today. Here’s a salute to the teams that survived the Highway1 summer 2016 program…

Meet Okio

[Okio is creating wrist-wearable comms tools for kids. It's so clever it hurts. ]

Okio is creating wrist-wearable comms tools for kids. It’s so clever it hurts.

If you have kids, you’re facing a challenge: Do you give them a mobile phone (with all the negative aspects that brings), or do you not? Okio falls in between, creating a communications device that is an awful lot like a phone, but much simpler, and far easier for kids to get their head around. Okio creates age-appropriate communication devices for parents to stay in touch with their children; it’s a simple voice messaging tool utilizing a smartphone app and a discreet device kept by the child. Designed by parents to fit into a child’s lifestyle, Okio is a unique wearable that is convenient and unobtrusive for children ages 5-12.

I think Okio would really have to try hard to fail: They’re filling a gap in the market that hasn’t been properly addressed, and it feels like Okio have a product that parents have been clambering for a long time; it strikes the perfect balance between communication and letting your kids do their own thing, and having a way of communicating important messages without interrupting your kid in class seems like a no-brainer. If you’re looking to invest, this is my pick of the bunch.

Meet XO

[XO announced that Lady Gaga is joining the company as an advisor]

XO announced that Lady Gaga is joining the company as an advisor

Hiding behind the genuinely an un-googleable (and therefore terrible) name, XO has a fantastic idea with the execution skills to match. The company aims itself at the fashion-conscious ‘gen Z’ 10-to-25-year-old consumers who have a passion for fashion and tech, hoping to merge the two. The company has an incredible track record, working with icons like Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire and the Black Eyed Peas, having been featured on stage at the Grammy awards. At the demo day, the company announced that they signed up Lady Gaga as an advisor to the company.

I think the company has created a perfect storm of fashion and tech that is just _itching_ to go mainstream viral. The company has built a platform to make it easy to create wearable technology clothing items at an affordable price point, and it’s easy to imagine high-street brands embracing its tech in huge marketing campaigns. If the company can get its messaging right and market its products in the right way to the right people, they’re going to make it huge.

Meet Blümio

Blümio is a tremendously interesting startup that is trying to shake up the way blood pressure monitors work by adding a stick-on monitor using radar technology rather than an inflatable cuff. The company makes it possible to monitor a person’s heart health throughout the day.

I think Blümio has positioned itself in a tremendously competitive market, but with a potentially huge pay-out at the end — heart health is a big topic, and while their technology still has a lot of challenges ahead of it before it’s ready for prime-time use, it’s definitely one to keep an eye on if you’re a medtech investor or medical device manufacturer.

Meet Sensassure

If the TV show Silicon Valley is to believed, every company wants to change the world.Sensassure didn’t mention that in their post (thank god), but that may just be the path they’re on. The company is tackling a challenge in senior care — specifically, with its Talli product, taking on the challenge of incontinence in elder care. Talli is a reusable sensor that sits on the outside of incontinence product, which wirelessly alerts caregivers when wetness is detected. In essence, it tells nurses when it’s time to change a diaper. It’s a huge market worthy of disruption. The team deserves a mention for its dedication, too: They’ve been living in nursing and care homes for the past year, to really get on the pulse of the challenges that this market is facing.

I think Sensassure has a bright time ahead of it. It’s solving a very real — if not very sexy — problem in an industry that is both well-funded and desperately overlooked from a tech point of view. The company is certainly facing an adoption challenge, but it does find itself in the enviable position of being both needed and in a space where acquisitions are many and frequent. I’d be surprised if the company wasn’t facing a bright future.

Meet Cocoon Cam

Aiming squarely at the always-worried-parents market, Cocoon Cam is a wellness camera and software platform that provides real-time insight on the safety and well-being of your baby. The company is able to detect heart rate, respiration and skin temperature of a newborn, all without having to attach scary medical sensors to the child.

I think the company taps into a world of fears for first-time parents, which may just be enough to become a successful business. The company has shown tremendous hustle — including appearing at the White House to demo their product to the First Family of the United States — and is tapping into a staggeringly huge market. The team gets what’s at stake, and I’d be surprised if the company didn’t make a huge impact in the world of Tiny People Tech. Interestingly, the tech can be used beyond baby monitoring, too; the company showed off how they were able to detect signs of life on a sleeping inmate, which sparks some real inspiration; the technology can be used in all sorts of contexts.

Meet Courtmatics

Coming slightly out of left field — or is that a reference to a different sport — is Courtmatics. The company is aiming to help athletes up their game. The first sport they’ve aimed their wizardry at is tennis, with a in-racket (!) Internet of Things device in the form of a ‘smart dampener’ to help coaches and players improve their game. The product tracks gameplay and streams data to a mobile app, where players can see their strengths and development areas.

I think the product is more niche than some of the other ones presented today, but with “tennis players” as their audience, it’s certainly aimed at a generally affluent audience willing to spend the money. More interestingly, the company is aiming at a much broader audience than just tennis. Its name — Courtmatics — may just hold it back in its mission, but look beyond that, and you may just have a winner on your hands.

Meet OpenBike

If you’ve ever wished that bicycles had a common operating system, OpenBike is about to become your best friend. OpenBike is a connected bicycle ecosystem empowering the next generation of bicycle technology through an on-bike hardware product and software solution. One shared battery powers all accessories on the bicycle, charging your lights, your phone and other connected accessories. The platform enables interoperability between components, enables new features and integrates the hardware with apps and services in the cloud.

I think cycling is becoming a bigger part of our urban lives, and having a smart bike makes an awful lot of sense. The company is working with Marin bikes to create a series of prototypes, and it’s easy to see how a more in-depth partnership might just leap-frog the competitors to market. I remain to be fully convinced that a bike really needs to be part of the Internet of things, but there’s no denying that there’s plenty of cyclists who are willing to spend real moolah on their two-wheeled friends — and OpenBike may just kick open the door to a big change in our ideas about what a bike ought to have in its accessory package.

Meet OBE

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking that VR isn’t reality-like enough, OBE by Machina — where OBE is short for Out of Body Experience — might just have the answer. The company has found a way to blend the digital and physical worlds to create an immersive gaming experience. The company’s first product enables users to feel and control virtual reality worlds. The jacket seamlessly integrates motion sensors, directional control and full-body haptic feedback into a single garment. In short, it’s some truly sexy shit, and Samsung seems to think so, too; they ordered 500 of the OBE jackets for trialling and demoing in its retail stores.

I think OBE solves a problem I can’t really relate to; yes, haptic feedback seems like something that should exist, but I can’t really say it’s something that’s been missing from my life. They’re hoping to pair the experience with entry-level VR experiences like Samsung Gear or Google Cardboard, and I just can’t really see how there’s a need in this market for something like OBE — but, having said that, it’s cool enough that I’d be delighted to be proven wrong.

Meet Calliope

The team behind Calliope is trying to bring the Internet of Things to your water usage. The company’s first product is Buoy, a connected water meter that gives homeowners real-time information about their water use, with a remote shut off in case of emergencies. Water consumption data is presented with actionable insights and notifications in a user-friendly app, enabling homeowners to achieve up to 20 percent reduction in water use, without a huge impact to their lifestyle.

I think Calliope is thinking along the right lines, and that a big utilities provider may just see the need for the product in the marketplace. Having said that, they currently aim their product at consumers. To the utility companies, this may be a problem worth solving, but I have a hard time believing they’ll be able to find enough customers who care enough about the problem to build a viable business in the B2C space.

Applications open now

Not one to waste any time, Highway1 is sending the hopeful companies into the world to spread their wings and do their things, and at the same time opened applications for the next Highway1 cohort. If that sounds like your sort of thing, get your applications in now.

question: What is Highway1?

answer: Highway1 is an accelerator that specializes in helps startups improve their hardware products.

question: What is Okio?

answer: Okio is a company that offers a simple voice messaging tool utilizing a smartphone device as well as a device that is kept by a child.

question: What is Blümio trying to accomplish?

answer: Blümio is trying to change the way blood pressure monitors work by adding a stick-on monitor that uses radar technology as opposed to an inflatable cuff.

question: What products does OpenBike offer?

answer: OpenBike offers an on-bike hardware product as well as a software solution.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article describes the startups that worked with Highway1, an accelerator that helps startup figure out their hardware products.


text:
ELMWOOD TOWNSHIP is an inactive township in Saline County, in the U.S. state of Missouri.[1]

Elmwood Township was erected in 1870, taking its name from the community of Elmwood, Missouri.[2]

[1]

[2]

title: Elmwood Township, Saline County, Missouri

question: Where is the Elmwood Township?

answer: The township is in Saline County, Missouri.

question: When was the township made?

answer: In 1870.

question: Does anyone live in the township?

answer: No.

question: Where did the township get its name from?

answer: The township was named after the community of Elmwood.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The Elmwood Township is named after the community of Elmwood. It is situated in Saline County, Missouri. The township was built in 1870 and is currently inactive.


text:
[De Nieuwe Molen in 2012] DE NIEUWE MOLEN is the oldest and the largest extant mill in South Africa and was built in 1782 near the Black River. The mill is situated in the Alexandra Hospital in Maitland, Cape Town and was declared a National Monument in 1978.[1]

In 1780, master mason Johan Gottfried Mocke was employed to build the new mill.[2] It was built of imported Dutch baked bricks that were used by sailing ships as ballast material. The mill stood 42m high (including sails) with a diameter of about 10m at the base, and the blades had a flight of 23m. Around 1870, the sails of the windmill were torn off by a storm. The damage was not repaired and the mill became obsolete. The machinery and other woodwork were removed around the year 1920. In 1906, the Alexandra Institute for the disabled was opened near the mill and after 1928, the mill was included in the premises of this institution. The mill was renovated and used as a chapel. The most recent renovation of the mill was in 1996.

[1]

[2]

title: De Nieuwe Molen

question: What is De Nieuwe Molen?

answer: De Nieuwe Molen is the oldest and the largest extant mill in South Africa.

question: When was De Nieuwe Molen built?

answer: De Nieuwe Molen was built in 1782.

question: When was the most recent renovation of De Nieuwe Molen?

answer: The most recent renovation of De Nieuwe Molen was in 1996.

question: Who built De Nieuwe Molen?

answer: Master mason Johan Gottfried Mocke built De Nieuwe Molen.

question: Why did De Nieuwe Molen become obsolete?

answer: Because the sails of the windmill were torn off by a storm and the damage has never been repaired.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: De Nieuwe Molen is the oldest and the largest extant mill in South Africa. It was built by master mason Johan Gottfried in 1782. The mill is located in the Alexandra Hospital in Maitland, Cape Town. The mill is not in use today because the sails of the windmill were torn off around 1870 by a storm, and the damage has never been repaired.


text:
_ANACITHARA IONE_ is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Horaiclavidae.[1]

Description

A chaste pale violet species, with occasional brown dorsal shading. Sometimes, indeed, the ground colour is pale-brown or ochre, while other specimens are pure white The length of the small shell attains 5 mm, its diameter 3 mm. The shell has a thickened fusiform build. It is longitudinally thickly costate, the ribs few in number. The shell contains seven or eight whorls, slightly ventricose, uniformly spirally lirate. The interstices when viewed with a lens are beautifully decussate. The aperture is wide. The outer lip is thickened, transversely striate, as are the whorls. The columellar margin is simple. The short siphonal canal is wide.[2]

Distribution

This marine species occurs off the Loyalty Islands.

[1] WoRMS (2015). Anacithara ione (Melvill & Standen, 1896). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=432949 on 2016-12-21

[2] Melvill & Standen (1897), Catalogue of the Hadfield collection of shells from the Lifu and Uvea, Loyalty Islands Parts ii & III

title: Anacithara ione

question: Write a ~0 sentence summary.


text:
He was speeding. Driving twice the limit,
full of excitement and anticipation. He slowed down as his
automated direction giver announced a shorter distance
to his destination with every turn. Eventually he arrived,
his six hundred mile journey had finally reached its end.
And now his heart could start his first step. He parked
behind his arrival location, making every movement
discreet as possible. He looked over himself,  in his car's
mirrors, trying and hoping that he looked as good as
possible. When he deemed himself presentable, he grabbed
something from the glove compartment, and set out.

He was going to surprise her, the two hadn't spoken in
months; and now that they were of age, he could
finally make his intentions clear. He walked slowly, trying to
keep his composure, and his cocktail of emotions under wraps.
Excitement and nerves, it would be the first time that the two
would meet, yet they've known each other, and loved each other
for years by this point. They dreamed of this day, and hopefully
this would live up to all of their dreams and imagination.

He exhaled, and continued the final leg of his journey with
confidence in his strut. His hands in his coat pockets, fumbling
with the item he pulled from his car. He stepped up the steps to her
door, and knocked with three heavy knocks, quick in their repitition.

He could hear heavy footfalls coming from the other side of the door.
Hoping she would answer, he held a certain kind of joyful stance. The
composure would die as quick as a short breath after calisthenics. To his
surprise, she did not open the door, but a taller much more somber looking
woman answered. He tried to hide his intial disappointment, and cleared
his throat.

"Is Breanne there?"

There was a pause in the air, a lingering feeling of doubt, as if he asked the
wrong question. His doubts were answered as tears rolled down the woman's
face. He was clueless, wondering how such a question could cause this reaction.

"What's your name, son?"

He answered quickly."Edgar, Edgar Williams."

She nodded. "She's talked about you, I recognised you from a photo she shared with me"

There was a curious look on his face, then she motioned for him to come inside.
He walked in, and the door closed behind him. She pointed to the small, black
leather couch in the living room in front of him. He sat down, anticipating either
bad news or a stern talking to. She, though aware of the stranger in her home,
walked upstairs to get something. Edgar sat there in silence, observing the area
around him. She then came downstairs, hold a few pieces of paper in her ebony hands.

"This is for you, you were the only person she wrote to besides her actual note.
Seeing as how you're here, I can only assume you don't know."

She handed him the papers, her hands shaking, and him looking at her with a look
of curiosity.
"Don't know what, ma'am?"

She coughed, but then spoke. "She died last month, she killed herself."

Edgar's world just came crashing down on him. He looked at her in agony,
his caucasian complexion redding as he broke down in tears. She sat down
next to him, a smooth arm wrapping around him, consoling him as he cried.

"I didn't read the note she did put aside for you and you only. Not to push
you, but what did she say?"

He stopped, sniffed, and wiped his eyes. He took ahold of the papers. He looked
down at the papers to see a letter, a picture, and a folded paper heart. He
unfolded the heart first, and to his surprise he saw it was one of his own writings
to her, a poem he wrote to her when they first starting falling for each other. He
placed that down to the side, as the mother  picked it up and read it intently. He
looked at the photograph, a self potrait polaroid of Breanne. On the back of the
picture, it read this. "Don't ever forget my love is always here. I'm sorry"
Breanne's mother spoke up. "The letter"
He wiped his eyes from freshly falling tears, and held the letter up so he could read.

"Edgar

Our love may last forever, but alas, I cannot outlast Death. I could write novels as to
how I came to make this decision, but I will simplify. Life hit me in a wave that I could
not handle. I hope my mother is sober enough to provide further points of clarification.
I hold nothing against her, but she wasn't there like you were. So even if I pushed you
back, I always loved you. And I hope you know that for forever. And while we could
never be, I'll always be your darling, your darling, your life and your bride. I ask you
not to hate me for what I have done, as I know it may seem I've cheated you out of
forever, but I did what I thought was necessary. My heart is, and always was yours.

With love and apologies,

Breanne"

It was short, and to the point, like most suicide notes. No tears rolled down his face nor
the Mother's. The subsiding sniffles from earlier were dying out.
"Take me to her" He asked, almost demandingly.
"I don't think you want to do that," She said with a caring inflection.
He looked at her puzzlingly, and with a twisted look on his face, he was enraged.
"WHY!? She's dead and maybe because of you!"
He realised the sudden pang of his words, as he watched her collapse onto him.
He kept muttering apology after apology. Instead she just gripped harder, and
inbetween her sobs, she began to ask: "Her heart was to you, she told me that"

He was thinking about what she was going to ask.

"Did you love her back completely?"

"Take me to her, and I'll show you how much."

They collected themselves, and they went for their vehicles. Before they set off,
she asked where her other children were. She told him that she lost them in an
even more recent event, a divorce. He found it as a miracle that this woman could
hold her own, but her job as a soldier with military training can help greatly with
emotional silencing. they went to their cars and drove off. The drive was lengthy,
a decent 45 minutes until they reached a suburban environment,filled with green fields.
They reached a small cemetery, and stopped. Her grave was the only fresh one, flowers
still colored and soft from her recent burial. He, dressed in all black, fell to his knees on a
strangely cold summer day. From his coat pocket he pulled out the object from the glove
compartment, a ring box. The mother gasped at the object, staring in both awe and pity.
He opened the box, and placed the ring on her tombstone. Muttering, no one hearing but
her and him.

"One day after this life."

title: Shattered Promises

question: Who is the prtoagonist?

answer: Edgar Williams

question: How long did Edgar drive to reach his destination?

answer: He drove 600 miles.

question: Who answers Edgar at the door?

answer: Breanne's mom answers the door.

question: Why did Edgar come to see Breanne?

answer: He planned on proposing to her.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: Edgar Williams drives 600 miles to see the girl that he loves, Breanne. When he arrives, Breanne's mother answers the door solemnly. She explains that Breanne killed herself last month and left him a note. In the note, she apologizes and says she loves him. Edgar is distraught and Breanne's mom drives him to her grave. He pulls out a ring for her.


text:
Once upon a time there lived a man. He was quite a normal men as men go. He had worked all his life, he had paid his bills, his taxes, gotten married to a most amazing woman and had a few kids. His kids had grown up, married again and had another couple of kids in the normal way that people do.
This very normal man, on a very normal morning opened his very normal newspaper to something extraordinary. A little article towards the middle of the newspaper about gravity denial. At first the man dismissed the idea as lunacy, but the following week a similar article popped up, this time with some science to back it up. The scientist was not a physicist, he was in fact a biologist, but little matter, it was science.
The man was intrigued and started doing some research on the net. He searched 'gravity denial' and  found there was a large body of work dedicated to understanding how gravity in fact isn't real.
He started sharing his ideas with his friends and he expected to be ridiculed, but it turned out that there were many people in his generation that agreed with him. They had been reading the same news and in fact lots of other news too. There were many articles making and many experts that had started to refute the existence of gravity.
“Then what are we feeling?” his son would ask him! “Physicists all agree that the forces of gravity which are being felt around the world are in fact real, they have a real affect on our lives and the way we interact with the world around us.”
"It's a conspiracy to keep you down!" The man bit back. If more people would see that gravity just isn't there then we'd all be a great deal happier!"
The son went outside into the heat of the day, where his little son was playing on the swing and jumped up and down. "How can you deny this?"
The months past and the normal man went about his normal gravitied life reading more and speaking with like minded friends. As a colder winter passed and hotter summer set in he slowly drifted apart from his son because the two were so frustrated with one another. Finally one day he decided enough was enough and he wanted to do something definitive about the issue.
He took the train into town and picked a tall but convenient building, because the temperature was unseasonably hot that day. He stepped into the elevator and selected the highest floor. And when he finally stood atop the huge construction he could see the haze from the pollution drifting up into the atmosphere. He could see for kilometres how the aspect of the land had been moulded and altered by man and how even the waterways were diverted and manipulated to suit the needs of the people who lived near then. Looking down upon the tiny people going about their business, individually tiny amongst the mass of humanity, he finally faulted. "No. Not like this" he thought. On the way home he called his son.
The following day atop that very same building he said confidentiality "I just want to show you that I'm right. Scientific evidence related to gravity has been questioned by many many people and after all it's just a theory in the first place. The news papers have been denying it for years, it's right there in black and white. There are whole communities of people who really believe there is no gravity, especially among those in my age bracket. In fact I don't have any friends who believe in gravity any more.
“So..." he took another step forward "I'm going to jump off this building to prove it..." he took his son's hand firmly in one of his hands, and with the other arm held onto his grandson "and I'm taking you two with me."

title: I wrote this today in responce to Climate Chage denial. It's probably rusty, It's been a LONG time since I have written a short story.

question: What does the narrator's life look like, like what age in his life is he in?

answer: The narrator has fulfilled his familial responsibilities and his children are grown up, so he now has a lot of time for himself.

question: Do you think the narrator is feeling depressed?

answer: The thoughts of the narrator can allude to the feeling of depression as well as emptiness.

question: How can you describe the narrator's actions at the end of the story?

answer: The narrator's actions at the end of the story were far fetched as to prove to his son and grandson that there is no gravity would cause terrible harm to them.


text:
Definitely not enough MShenko in the world...

Sweet, and so very human. The intertwined fingers resting in Kaidan's lap, the arm curled up around Shepard, simple intimacy. The fingers tapping the chest fastenings of Kaidan's gear says, "I can get you naked later -- right now I just want to kiss you." Gestures that are small and domestic and tender, and so fucking normal and human, gestures they probably don't have a lot of time for given the constant movement and danger and galaxy always needing to drag them around running errands or something else that's a Big Freakin' Deal. Hence why Shepard has to ninja-kiss from behind, I reckon. It's not that he has to sneak up on Kaidan, it's that he has to sneak up on the whole fucking universe just to steal a sweet moment alone with Kaidan. Perhaps it's why they cling as they are, despite the fact that there are more comfortable positions from which to kiss your lover. The position's awkward and likely uncomfortable as hell but they're holding tight to what they've got while they've got it.

Or maybe I'm just a sanctimonious English major reading far too much into someone else's picture? Maybe it's just Kaidan and Shepard kissing, maybe you've got another story there altogether, and I'm searching in the wrong places for meaning. If that's the case I blame not sleeping in two days. Still, it's the kind of picture that makes you want to read something into it...

question: What is the narrator watching?

answer: Kaidan and Shepherd kissing in a picture.

question: How does the narrator describe the gestures in the picture?

answer: As normal and human, small and domestic and tender.

question: What does the narrator speculate about their own perspective?

answer: That they might be a sanctimonious English major reading far too much into someone else's picture.

question: How does the narrator describe the picture in general?

answer: Sweet, and so very human.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator describes a painting where Kaidan and Shepherd kiss and the intimacy of their gestures. They speculate about the feelings and motivations of the depicted characters and wonder if they are not just reading too much into it.