Ayla Review

I just love the Financial Times!!

Natasha asks:
Dear Economist,I have been going out with a school friend for nearly a year and I think he’s “the one” - but we are heading off to university at opposite ends of the country. Will the relationship survive? Is there anything I can do to keep it going?Yours sincerely,Natasha, Co. DurhamThe economist replies:
Dear Natasha,I understand your concern, but your future looks bright. A long-distance relationship will always put pressure on both of you, but it’s a question of how you use that to your advantage.Economist Tyler Cowen, a professor at George Mason University, has pointed out that the Alchian-Allen theorem applies to any long-distance relationship.The theorem, briefly, implies that Australians drink higher-quality Californian wine than Californians, and vice-versa, because it is only worth the transportation costs for the most expensive wine. Similarly, there is no point in travelling to see your boyfriend for a take-away Indian meal and an evening in front of the telly. To justify the trip’s fixed costs, you will require champagne, sparkling conversation and energetic sex. Insist on it.Meanwhile, optimal- experimentation theory suggests that at this tender stage of life you are highly likely to meet someone even better. Socialise a lot while your boyfriend is not around.Finally, consider your bargaining strength with potential new boyfriends with regard to, for instance, who pays for dinner. Your best alternative to a negotiated agreement with the new boyfriend is. your old boyfriend, who by your admission is an excellent catch.This puts you in a sound negotiating position - unless, of course, the boy is maintaining a long-distance relationship of his own.

Away, away, from men and towns,
To the wild wood and the downs–
To the silent wilderness
Where the soul need not repress
Its music lest it should not find
An echo in another’s mind,
While the touch of Nature’s art
Harmonises heart to heart.
I leave this notice on my door
For each accustomed visitor:–
“I am gone into the fields
To take what this sweet hour yields.
Reflection, you may come to-morrow,
Sit by the fireside with Sorrow–
You with the unpaid bill, Despair–
You, tiresome verser reciter, Care–
I will pay you in the grave–
Death will listen to your stave.
Expectation too, be off!
To-day is for itself enough;
Hope, in pity mock not Woe
With smiles, nor follow where I go;
Long having lived on thy sweet food,
At length I find one moment’s good
After long pain–with all your love,
This you never told me of.”

Radiant sister of the Day,
Awake! arise! and come away!
To the wild woods and the plains,
And the pools where winter rains
Image all their roof of leaves,
Where the pine its garland weaves
Of sapless green and ivy dun
Round stems that never kiss the sun;
Where the lawns and pastures be,
And the sandhills of the sea;–
Where the melting hoar-frost wets
The daisy star that never sets,
And wind-flowers, and violets,
Which yet join not scent to hue,
Crown the pale year weak and new;
When the night is left behind
In the deep east, dun and blind,
And the blue moon* is over us,
And the multitudinous
Billows murmur at our feet,
Where the earth and ocean meet,
And all things seem only one
In the universal sun.

–Percy Bysshe Shelley

*a blue moon is the second full moon within a single month. In England this year the blue moon fell on June 30. In the Americas (west of Greenwich) the blue moon appeared in May, and east of Greenwich it will appear in July).

Reagan on 106.5 pointed out in his entertainment report this morning that blogs were saying that Nicole Richie was spotted in the Annapolis Mall Food Court dining at California Pizza Kitchen. Two of the morning show staff on that station are on vacation right now, which probably explains why the latest entertainment report (which usually links to all his sources) isn’t up on Reagan’s blog yet. His report also indicated that the pregnant celebrity may be there to visit the mother of her boyfriend (and baby’s daddy) Joel Madden, who reportedly works at the mall. Waldorf is Madden’s hometown.
The only thing I’ve found in blogs so far is a report from Perez Hilton that Richie was spotted in the Annapolis Mall at California Pizza Kitchen.
Added to today’s Beltway Traffic Jam.

Although I have boundless admiration for the work of Robert Altman in general, I’ve never much cared for M*A*S*H, unfortunately the film of his most popular among casual viewers. Its humor seems pretty sophomoric to me (especially in comparison with a truly great work of “black humor” set in wartime such as Heller’s Catch-22) and what it has to “say” about war–it’s really bad, and thus invites compensating “bad” behavior–seems rather trite. Every time I rewatch it–this time as part of a career survey of Altman’s films I am hereby initiating–I think perhaps I’ll finally get it, will understand why everyone else likes it so, but I never do. (I actually like the tv show much better, especially the first couple of seasons.)

But at least this time around I was able to see those things in it that are of a piece with Altman’s later and better work, even how directing this film might have inspired him to further pursue its strategies, with greater success, in the later films. It may not be one of his best movies, but it probably will still turn out to be one of his most important.

M*A*S*H is, of course, an “inversion” of the war film, just as McCabe and Mrs Miller inverts the Western, The Long Goodbye the detective film/film noir, Thieves Like Us the gangster film, etc. Rather than focus on scenes of battle and heroism, it depicts the results of battles–carnage–and the decidedly nonheroic behavoir of its protagonists (except when they’re in the operating room trying to undo the damage inflicted by war heroism). Rather than extolling the scene of war as one in which traditionally “masculine” virtues are revealed at their best, in which boys become men, M*A*S*H shows men acting like boys. This is presented as the most authentic response to the stupidity of war. And rather than portray war with the solemnity that might seem its due, the film offers outrageous humor, humor that exceeds in its acidity all those previous war comedies that tried to find the “lighter” side of war.

The subsequent exploded genre films will continue this strategy, reversing our expectations of the genre in question, upending assumptions about gender, in general mocking the conventional practices that pretend to represent American life and attitudes in the movies. That M*A*S*H did it first and in 1970 perhaps partly explains why this movie became popular–such questioning of inherited beliefs and conventions was surely reaching a receptive audience at that time.

M*A*S*H also shows Altman developing (or refining) what will become his signature methods and techniques, an approach that here and afterward can be identified as his distinctive (and, for American cinema, innovative) fillmmaking style. Most discussion of Altman’s style focuses on his use of long takes and overlapping dialogue–both are on display in M*A*S*H, although the latter somewhat less so–but to me what stands out most in Altman’s use of such techniques, including his restless camera, is the way in which it works to substantially underdramatize his films’ narratives. This can be seen in M*A*S*H, and also in That Cold Day in the Park, Altman’s most immediately previous film, released in 1969. Both films are deliberately and episodically developed, although That Cold Day in the Park is ultimately more linear in its narrative strategy that M*A*S*H, which is literally presented as a collection of episodes. That Cold Day in the Park, in fact, could almost be called a thriller of sorts, although the story is told in such a matter-of-fact, understated way that one is almost caught offguard when it eventually makes its way into Pyscho/Peeping Tom territory. Sandy Dennis’s underplayed performance as the psycho (again a reversal of our expectations of such a character), whose diffidence and adherence to class norms mask her mounting frustration and despair, anticipates all the similarly underplayed, ad hoc performances Altman managed to elicit in his subsequent films from all of his actors (occasionally at some cost, if Altman’s reported conflicts with Donald Sutherland and Warren Beatty are to be credited).

Altman’s style and his unhurried, off-the-cuff mode of storytelling have the effect of almost de-familiarizing the filmgoing experience. We don’t expect movies, or at least American movies, to proceed in this way. Where’s the melodramatic conflict, the overwrought gestures, the clearly signalled plot twists? Altman’s films force our awareness of them as films, or at least enforce our recognition of the formulas employed in most other films, formulas Altman either attacks or ignores. And this happens even though the techniques Altman does employ are otherwise unobtrusive, more authentically realistic as aesthetic choices than most of those used to create “realism” in American cinema. The ultimate effect of Altman’s approach to filmmaking, it seems to me, is to more fully immerse us into the filmgoing experience, make us more aware of viewing films as an experience, very much in the spirit of John Dewey’s notion of “integrating the parts” I discussed in the previous post. Very few other American filmmakers encourage us to ponder the nature of aesthetic experience in its cinematic form in quite the way Robert Altman does.

In my opinion, That Cold Day in the Park actually performs this task in a more satisfying way than M*A*S*H. It is, I think, one of Altman’s more underrated films, even while M*A*S*H is one of his most overrated. Its exploration of the conflict between classes and between “liberated youth” and the repressed older generation might seem to fix the film to the 60s era it to some extent does seek to render, but its very lack of affect and its unostentatious surface (the youth with whom Sandy Dennis’s character becomes obsessed is not a blustering radical but for much of the film simply remains silent) lure us in and prevent it from being an obvious period piece. In some ways, M*A*S*H, with its willed anarchy and its scarcely hidden analogies to Vietnam, seems more dated. Neither film really shows Robert Altman to be the great film artist he will demonstrate himself to be in just a few years hence, but That Cold Day in the Park, at least, does announce he has the promise to become one.

This side of the equator, it’s no longer news that the AU summit will be held in Ghana’s capital in July.

As such, a number of public events questioning the utility of a union government in Africa have been held in the country. To ensure that there is open and public discourse on the topic, an open forum was held last week at Ghana’s teacher’s hall, with the theme: “Achieving African Union Government by 2025″.

The forum was packed to capacity as speakers from all sectors of society–from civil society to the private sector, and members of the government and its opposition–were present. The debate lasted a good two hours and a half, and saw many animated interventions and submissions that made the forum worth attending.

As the programme was about to end with interventions, I stepped in, and made one (which will be the subject of a later entry). This prompted a few headshakes in agreement as to my submission–as well as being approached by one Roland Aquah-Stevens. The man has been described in some quarters as “indefatigable”, and I only got to know this when I realised much later that he was not just scouting for young people — the youth — to make interventions in the flaship Radio Gold programme “Platform Africa”, but that he was also reading “Confessions of an Economic Hit-Man”. He is, in fact, a very learned man.

So there I was being approached to appear on radio–for the first time ever. Despite my initial apprehension, I reluctantly agreed.

Two days later, I defied the Andy Warhol conception of short-term fame to be interviewed on Radio Gold, one of Ghana’s private radio stations broadcasting in English. I was there with two other panellists–one “Grandfather”–a Pan-Africanist journalist–and James Kwabena, a youth activist. The interviewer/host was Matuli Muntara–also the brainchild behind the entertainment website ShowGhana.com.
Below is a short transcript of what some of my thoughts from the outset.

MATULI: That was the voice of Osagyefo Dr.Kwame Nkrumah, and I think that the insert is germane to the discussion we are having this evening on Platform Africa. The Grand Debate of the Union Govt for Africa: Perspectives of the Youth. I’d like to say, gentlemen, welcome to the programme. Let me start with you Emmanuel. When mention is made of the Union govt for Africa, what comes to mind?

EKB: What I see when there is mention of the union govt of africa is an africa that comprises five main regional blocs, because I think it is important we don’t forget that in conceiving of a United Nations of Africa, to include the regional economic communitites. They are so critical to that development. Already the african economic community–the main charter–the basis upon which AU govt is supposed to be established has set five main regional blocs–ECOWAS in West Africa; SADC in South AFrica; ECCAS; IGAD; Arab Maghreb Union. However, because there is a plethora of regional economic communities–mostly now eight–there is some talk of rationalising–there is ongoing research in Nairobi on rationalising some of tehse RECS so that it is important to look at the overlap –or lack thereof — of these RECs. When I talk of overlap, it’s about some countries belonging to two or more RECS. When we begin to talk about union govt and we exclude this fact, I do not think we are going anywhere.

MATULI: So you think union govt is possible through these five or eight regional blocs?

EK: I really do think that is possible, but it is important also for there to be information strategies/information sharing on these regional economic communities, because a lot of africans–at least some of those who I have talked to… in this country and beyond — have no idea. Even ECOWAS, I meet a number of Ghanaians who know there is ECOWAS, because you go to the border of Togo–it’s French-speaking and you can pass with your passport. But beyond that, ECOWAS is something –an idea that is very difficult to comprehend in their mind, and I think the problem is because it has not been broken down by our policy-makers sufficiently for them to understand the value of, let’s say, being West African.

MATULI:To you, what is the union government of Africa?

EK: The union govt of Africa would be decentralised:I would see an AU commission–we already know there is an AU Commission headed by Alpha Kounare–with these RECS linking/liaising with main AU commission in Addis Ababa, taking instructions from there, on how to manage their regional economic communities. Because I think West Africa and Southern Africa and Eastern Africa, there are differing levels of development.

So, supposing there in West Africa, ECOWAS remained the main regional organisation — instead of UEMOA or smaller regional RECS– we would take instructions from the AU Commission in Addis, and we would look at our political, economic, and social institutions that are there–including our health, through the West African Health Organisation-. All the institutions that are important need to be strengthened so that it would make more sense, rather than trying to devolve all the power to the AU, because it’s big. Already, the AU is under-staffed; it has some 500 members of staff– as compared to the EU, which has about 20,000 members of staff at its commission in Brussels. So already, we are seeing a problem with finances.

I am working on the transcipt, but in the meantime, let me just say that my major contribution for that got me on the programme involved three simple points.

First, there needs to be identification of imperatives of its region. Simply put, what is unique about a particular region that that region can capitalise on to bring to bear in the conception of an AU government? So, we can say, for example, that ECOWAS’s sub-regional imperative is that of conflict prevention/resolution /management, given its experience with Liberia/Sierra Leone/and the instrumentality of ECOMOG. SADC’s might be a different one; the EAC’s might be on, say, regional infrastructure. For example, § A paper from UNU-CRIS cites that: “the AU has been the first regional organization to establish a clear relationship with the UN as it is consciously aspiring to closely coordinate, if not integrate, its mission planning and execution of peace and security action with the prevailing structures/plans of the UN”.

Secondly, there needs to be comparative approaches. By this I mean what best practices are there from each of these regional communities that can best be put to good use in any conception of an AU government? This means that ECOWAS’s peacekeeping/peace enforcement wing ECOMOG could be analysed for use in a regional organisation like SAARC that has experienced problems over Kashmir/India and Pakistan. What is it that ECOMOG has been able to do in enforcing peace that SAARC can learn from?

Thirdly, there needs to be collaboration, as exemplified by the donation of $1m by the Arab League to the African Union’s peacekeeping

I have further arguments that can be elaborated on in later entries, but for now, these three points remain the crux of my personal vision of an AU government. Even then, ramifications of these elements remain, and can be very much expounded upon.

–If you missed Triumph at the red carpet of the Tony Awards, please review it.
–School’s out for the summer… for everyone except Baron Vaughn! We hear that he’s taking classes at the Queens Driving School. A driver’s license might come in handy for all those road gigs he’s booking lately. Ladies love a man with a car!
–Honesty, the web show produced for Comedy Central which later inspired a campaign to sell delicious McGriddles, has been nominated for an Emmy Award.
–Max Silvestri took over one of the Sunday night hosting spots at Rififi. His new show features a different co-collaborative co-host each week. His show is aptly titled I Like Attention.
–OVERHEARD IN MO PITKINS: We learned that Matty Goldberg is besties with the dude who invented The Slanket! You don’t know what a fucking Slanket is?? It’s a blanket with holes to put your broke-ass arms through. And it’s taking the nation by storm!
–The Comedy Igloo, a Canadian themed comedy show hosted by Kevin Janus, makes the jump from the teeny tiny space at Under St. Marks to the grand concourse of Comix on June 28th.
–A rave review has come thru the inbox regarding the Street Meat debut of The Fabulous Belly Brothers–the belly slapping musical duo comprised of Brett Gelman and Jon Daly. Imagine your favorite death metal song or power ballad–but with belly slapping. If that’s the hook, then consider us a big ol’ trout on the end of a fishing stick.
–ACTOR/IMPROVISER Nick Cannon has been recruiting some NYC comics and sketch groups for upcoming spots in his MTV show Short Circuitz.
–The Kissing Booth held a prom-themed show recently. Watch your favorite drunk comedians attempt to do the Macarena.
–SketchFest NYC was a big success. The production staff always does a killer job. The sold out shows of the fest were MEAT, Summer of Tears and Elephant Larry. Personal highlights of the weekend included Kurt & Kristen’s totally sick set and Dusty Warren calling us a pussy for not sticking around to slam beers with him. (We’re sorry, but tummy-aches come first!) Another neat thing worth mentioning, there’s a dude from Portugal who’s been at every NY SketchFest–we met him three years ago and he keeps flying back just for the show because he has such a great time.
–The title of this post came out of Dion Flynn’s mouth last night during The Ali Hour–a perfect pre-primetime show that’s been quickly nestling its way into our weekly routine.

Today I am bragging blogging about my blog.

Vegas swimming pools, niteclubs, gentlemen’s clubs, buffets, tourism, etc. are all fair game topics here. “All Things Las Vegas!”

Lately, the imagination seems to be drawn to the pool area. Wonder why?

Our “webmaster” keeps all kinds of statistics. It is interesting to see which WHV topics are visited most often. Here are the current hottest topics or most popular posts, starting with the most popular first:

European Style Sunbathing

Criss Angel Book Signing Tour

Top 10 Las Vegas Pools

Las Vegas Nightlife

Opening Of Taos Beach Club

“Vegas Eye” Article About Palms Pool Party

Tourism

Gentlemen’s Clubs

Buffet Restaurants

Jimmy Limo

Viva Las Vegas!

Top WHV Pages For The Last 30 Days
According to Google Analytics:

Criss Angel Book Signing Tour

Top 10 Las Vegas Pools

European Style Sunbathing

Industry Opening Of Tao Beach

Top Ten Best Nightlife In Las Vegas

Top Seven Broadway Style Shows

Top Las Vegas Strip Attractions

Top Seven Las Vegas Gentlemen’s Clubs

Michael Jackson’s New Las Vegas Home

Top 15 Comedy Acts In Las Vegas

Rating Las Vegas Buffet Restaurants

Top Ten Las Vegas Comedy Clubs

Top Ten Romantic Restaurants

Search Criss Angel

The most notable of this triple-header (originally advertised as a double of the two first ones) was necessarily In The Mood For Doyle. It was what impressed festival programmers and movie-goers alike. If you are a fan of Christopher Doyle, which is the case for most fans of Wong Kar-wai, then this is a must-see, if you can find it. The director, Yves Montmayeur, was in fact present to introduce the films. In a single ride, we’re able to meet all the characters of Mister Doyle, a really really crazy (dingue) man, as translated by singing on Night Shyamalan’s set, or pseudo-impromptu disruption of the Olivier Assayas interview.

The other two were 30-minute episodes destined for TV. The Milkyway Image one was more a sort of making-of for several movies of the HK-based independent film production house. The treatment for the latter two was also different, as there was no narrator in In The Mood For Doyle. unny bit in the Milkyway one where Andy Lau attempts English - he should never do that again.

Mr Montmayeur stayed 15 minutes after the movie answering questions, from whether he was influenced by Chris Doyle for the making of the documentary, and how long it took him to know this fantastic circle of HK celebrities.

.
Update: Shelley has received an apology (of sorts) and permission to use the material. Power to the blogers!.Shelley Batts of Retrospectacle was sent a threatening email by one Lisa Richards, an “Editorial Assistant” of that world-renowned publication, the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (All together now! Whaa?).

It seems that Shelley wrote a brief article that used an image from a graph taken from a study published in that journal. As I understand it, Shelley’s article was not even critical of the study but she was, in fact, really writing about the reaction in the popular press that “Alcohol ‘makes fruit healthier’.”

It is clear that, even if by some stretch of the law, Shelley’s use was not protected under “fair use,” it was an utterly minor violation without any financial damages to the publisher. In fact, it would have only served to bring this obscure journal to the attention of a wider audience.

But hey! Guess what! There is one of those “For Dummies” books about copyrights: Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks For Dummies.

And guess who it is published by: Wiley Publishing, Inc., which is an American subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. who … you got it … are the publishers of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

Looks like a slight adjustment in the title is necessary…

________________________

P.S. And Lisa, just in case you get any bright ideas … I’m a lawyer and I know my right to publish parody. .P.P.S. Here are other bloggers who are upset by this. If you are too, join ‘Fair Use’ Piling on Tomorrow: Take Part!:.Mark Chu-Carroll at Good Math, Bad Math Razib at Gene ExpressionOrac from Respectful InsolenceTyler at Greedy, Greedy AlgorithmsRomonov at romunov’s blog et alZuska of Thus Spake ZuskaRichard Baker of Sharp BlueJason Rosenhouse of EvolutionblogReed A. Cartwright at The Panda’s Thumb and De Rerum NaturaRebecca Hartong of Fantasies, Epiphanies, Rants …Corey Tomsons at Thought CapitalDan at tdaxp.comDan at tdaxp.com (2nd)Guru at Entertaining ResearchRob Knop at Galactic InteractionsJen at Synthesis of ThoughtAfarensis at Afarensis Mike at Mike the Mad BiologistRory Hester at Kitchen Table Math and ParentalcationRW Donnell at Notes from Dr. RWBill at SemnomaDr. Free Ride at Adventures in Ethics and ScienceBora at A Blog Around the ClockJohn Wilkins at Evolving ThoughtsChris of Mixing MemoryDuane Smith of TelecomtallyPithLord at Pith and SubstanceLarry Moran at Sandwalknsaunders at What You’re Doing Is Rather DesperatePedro Beltrão at Public RamblingMatsu at Matsu’s World: The One Less TraveledKristjan Wager at Pro-science Sandra Kiume at Omni BrainJim River ReportLab Cat at Lab CatCory Doctorow at Boing Boing0xDE at Live JournalRevere at Effect MeasureChad Orzel at Uncertain PrinciplesChris Rowan at Highly AllochthonousDave Munger at Cognitive DailyAbel Pharmboy at Terra SigillataSteve Higgins at Omni BrainBill LaLonde at Oaksong’s NemetonDeepak Singh at bbgm.________________________ .P.P.P.S. John Hawks is in general agreement but has some quibbles based on the fact that the ScienceBlogs have advertisements and, therefore, may have less leeway than noncommercial sites. While it is true that, in a close case, a court might be more disposed towards a use that wasn’t generating income in any way connected to the disputed material, the rules are basically the same in terms of fair use for commercial and noncommercial use. Also, the lack of income on the disputed material affects the damages that the plaintiff could collect. But that is pretty much it. I think that the commercial aspect is less of a distinction than Professor Hawks believes..

“Driving through a small town,” said John Badgerow, “my wife firmly instructed me to drive around the block and get out my camera. No further instructions were necessary as to what to do next.”

John used a Canon PowerShot A80 in auto mode to capture this striking colorful shot.

If you have a candid you’d like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you’ll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

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candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story