İngiliz zoolog, yazar ve ressam Desmond Morris’ten yaşama bakışınızı değiştirecek bir başka kitap daha… 1970’li yıllarda Türkiye’yi de sarsan kült kitap Çıplak Maymun’un (1967) çokyönlü eksantrik yazarı öğretmeye, şaşırtmaya ve eğlendirmeye devam ediyor. 2004’te yayımlanan Çıplak Kadın’ın ardından bu kez tepeden tırnağa çıplak kalan, erkek.

Çıplak Adam gözlerden penise, ellerden omuzlara erkek vücudunu mercek altına alırken, bilimsel ayrıntıların bile kolayca anlaşılabileceği eğlenceli bir okuma vaat ediyor.

Erkeklere gerçekten ihtiyaç var mı? Av peşinde koşmaya gerek kalmayınca avcılık dürtüsüne ne oldu? Hayatta kalma stratejisi içinde erkek tekeşli mi kalmalı? Eşcinsel erkekler daha mı başarılı? Erkeğin beden dilinin ardında yatanlar… Sünnettin eksileri ve artıları… Çıplak Adam’da Desmond Morris bir kez daha tabuları sarsarak hararetli tartışmalar yaratıyor…

Çeviren: Nurettin Elhüseyni
Yayın Yılı: 2009
296 sayfa
Kitap Kağıdı
15,5×23,5 cm
Ciltli
ISBN:6055813338
Dili: TÜRKÇE

Desmond Morris
NTV YAYINLARI

Aquí os presento una agenda de acontecimientos para el próximo año, en el que todos los amantes de Lost esperamos que nos entusiasmen con el final de la serie.

17 de enero 2010. 41º cumpleaños de Naveen Andrews (Sayid)

2 de febrero 2010. Emisión capítulo 1 y 2, season 6. “La X” (Multicéntrico)

9 de febrero 2010. Emisión capítulo 3, season 6. “What Kate Does”/”Lo que hace Kate”

2 de marzo 2010. Emisión capítulo 4, season 6. “The Sustitute”/”El sustituto” (Locke)

9 de marzo 2010. Emisión capítulo 5, season 6. “Lighthouse”/”Faro” (Jack)

16 de marzo 2010. Emisión capítulo 6, season 6. “Sundown”/”Puesta de sol” (Sun y Jin)

23 de marzo 2010. Emisión capítulo 7, season 6. “Dr. Linus” (Ben)

27 de marzo 2010. 40º cumpleaños de Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet)

30 de marzo 2010. Emisión capítulo 8, season 6. “Recon”/”Nueva estafa” (Sawyer)

17 de abril 2010. 43º cumpleaños de Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond)

28 de abril 2010. 37º cumpleaños de Jorge García (Hugo)

7 de mayo 2010. 63º cumpleaños de Alan Dale (Widmore)

25 de mayo 2010. 5 años desde el final de la emisión de la primera temporada en la ABC

6 de junio 2010. 36º cumpleaños de Sonya Walger (Penny)

14 de julio 2010. 44º cumpleaños de Matthew Fox (Jack)

15 de julio 2010. 58º cumpleaños de Terry O’Quinn (Locke)

20 de julio 2010. 41º cumpleaños de Josh Holloway (Sawyer)

3 de agosto 2010. 31º cumpleaños de Evangeline Lilly (Kate)

4 de agosto 2010. 42º cumpleaños de Daniel Dae Kim (Jin)

7 de septiembre 2010. 56º cumpleaños de Michael Emerson (Ben)/ 55º cumpleaños de Mira Furlan (Rousseau)

22 de septiembre 2010. Se cumplen 6 años de la emisión del capítulo piloto en la ABC

8 de octubre 2010. 41º cumpleaños de Jeremy Davies (Faraday)

7 de noviembre 2010. 37º cumpleaños de Yunjin Kim(Sun)

1 de diciembre 2010. 42º cumpleaños de Néstor Carbonell (Richard)

8 de diciembre 2010. 33º cumpleaños de Dominic Monaghan (Charlie)

27 de diciembre 2010. 28º cumpleaños de Emilie de Ravin (Claire)

Aquí tenemos una promo de la próxima temporada:

First Published Monday 23rd November 2009 here at Ace Gamez - Admitting you were wrong takes a lot of guts in this industry. Any developer willing to throw its hands up and come clean about its shortcomings is to be applauded. But rather than champion these studios, the typical reaction is one of scepticism from gamers who feel burned by a lacklustre title or by promises the developer failed to keep.  Just look at Sega which, year after year claims to have listened to the opinions of Sonic the Hedgehog fans desperate to see their favourite platform hero restored to his former glory, only to be disappointed time and time again. Ubisoft Montreal suffered a terrible backlash over the original Assassin’s Creed and, to be frank, the whole thing became an absolute circus for no good reason. Sure the game was repetitive and the stealth mechanic was broken in several places, but as a technical yardstick, it was highly impressive.

Two years on, the launch of Assassin’s Creed II was in some ways a lot more exciting than the release Modern Warfare 2. The gaming majority knew Infinity Ward’s shooter would be good, but how would Ubisoft’s sequel stack up to the original? Would it make good on the developer’s promise to make things right again or would it fall completely flat? With so many questions surrounding the story and how the war between the assassins and the shadowy templars would play out this time around, it was surprising to see Ubisoft scale back on the pre-release media hype. The game was visible, but it was promoted with a muted confidence that seemed to suggest the studio was on to a winner.

So after much waiting and debating, the game has finally been released and thankfully, it is indeed a vast improvement over the original in almost every aspect. But instead of hitting the ground running, the opening 20 minutes are more of an awkward stumble as we see Desmond and Lucy escaping the Abstergo labs and engaging in some clunky stealth sections and clumsy fighting. Don’t let this put you off however as the core of the campaign will have you hooked, delivering a balance of well-paced action and a narrative that is rammed-full of gripping twists and turns. Before the escape sequence, Desmond hops onto the Animus one last time to pin point the birth date of Ezio Auditore, the lead character of Assassin’s Creed II and the potential key to bringing down the templars once and for all. We see him being born in the 15^th century, shortly accompanied by a brief control tutorial that shows baby Ezio learning how to use his hands, feet and head.

It’s a touching scene that is let down slightly by your arrival at the assassin’s hideout. Once there, you meet two awkwardly stereotypical characters; one being a chap that takes an instant disliking to Desmond and the other is a quirky tech girl with a screw loose and an annoying voice. When compared to Ezio himself, this pair is as deep and as colourful as a murky puddle. You quickly learn that the assassins have busted Desmond out of Abstergo to hook him up to the Animus 2.0 and learn years of master assassin training in just a few hours thanks to the machine’s bleeding effect. It’s the same effect that unlocked Desmond’s latent eagle vision power at the end of the first game.

Once you boot up, you are whisked away to sun-drenched Florence and guided through a combat tutorial that sees Ezio and his brother scrapping with members of the Pazzi, a rival family that cause you a great deal of grief throughout the campaign. Many of the vast improvements on the original are apparent from the outset and while the combat system still sees enemies circling you and politely attacking one at a time, the pace has been ramped up here and you now have a greater range of attacks at your disposal. In fact, Ezio is much more adept than Altair was at the start of the first game, with improved speed, fighting skill and free-running ability, making things all the more enjoyable from the outset.

The first few hours follow Ezio as he runs errands for his father, defends his sister’s honour by beating up her unfaithful boyfriend and evading guards after being caught in the sack with his love interest. He’s a great character, coming across as a loveable rogue but he also hides a ruthless temperament that explodes into a flourish of violence at several points throughout the campaign. It is only after his family gets caught up in a conspiracy that we see his transcendence from street fighting nobleman to cold blooded assassin out to get revenge. In order to bring those responsible to justice, Ezio must work his way closer to the truth by completing missions for key figures around the cities of Florence, Venice and Rome.

While the original game suffered from a lack of mission variety, Ezio will have to prove his worth by completing a wealth of tasks ranging from simple courier errands to the key assassinations that drive the plot forward. There are also plenty of hidden collectibles to distract you from the core mission strands, but rather than serve as bragging rights, these actually have a purpose in the greater scheme of things. Treasure boxes are hidden in every nook and cranny of each city and these can be ransacked for Florets that can be spend on armour, clothes, maps and other useful items. Ezio can also pickpocket currency from civilians and thankfully, this is much simpler to execute than the erratic system of the first game.

Feathers replace flags in this game and these can be collected to complete pieces of a much bigger story, as well as glyphs that have been coded into the Animus by the mysterious Subject 16, Abstergo’s previous test subject. These well-hidden symbols unlock puzzles that all relate to the Pieces of Eden, a mysterious set of relics hinted at by Altair’s leader Al Mualim. Once you crack each puzzle, you are given a piece of an encoded video called ‘The Truth’ that, when completed, will reveal the truth behind the original of the Pieces of Eden. It’s genuinely intriguing stuff that keeps you pressing on to reveal more snippets of the overarching plot.

Each glyph is hidden on landmarks dotted around the cities and will require a lot of climbing to reach. Thankfully, Ezio is an adept free-runner, leaping and bounding across a vast playground of architecture with little effort. Another welcome addition to this instalment is the ability to swim. While you are restricted to swimming on the surface and unable to dive down, it does remove all of the annoyances of the first game’s instant-death water. Walking the streets has also become less laborious this time around. If you remember back to the first game, Altair had to walk painfully slow to avoid arousing the suspicion of guards and even the slightest increase in pace would send a handful of guards bearing down on your position with extreme prejudice. In short, it was annoying, but now Ezio is free to stroll around without too much hassle thanks to a brilliant notoriety system.

City guards are not permanently suspicious of you and are more or less likely to react to your presence based on your notoriety. For example, as you pickpocket, scrap with the Pazzi and kill targets, the guards will become even more aware of you and will try and stop you for questioning. Unless you evade their line of sight or distract them somehow, they will turn violent and attempt to kill you. Notoriety can be reduced by tearing down wanted posters with your face on them or bribing city officials. It’s a great mechanic that asks you to walk fine line between meeting your goals and keeping your status in check.

Status and wealth also play a significant role in the Auditore home town of Monteriggioni, which is where Ezio meets with his uncle Mario to further his assassin training. This serves as a central hub and by paying local architects you can restore the dilapidated town to its former glory and unlock new mission strands along the way. It is here that you first come across the pages of a mysterious codex that was written by Altair many years ago. Each page contains vital information regarding the methodology of the assassins, as well as blueprints for the tools of the assassin trade. These can be passed back to Leonardo da Vinci, a close friend of the Auditore family, who can then make new equipment such as dual wrist blades, concealed firearms and even a hand glider. The pages can also be taken back to Monteriggioni and re-arranged to reveal a greater truth about the assassins.

Needless to say, Assassin’s Creed II is a game full of intrigue and mystery that will keep you engrossed from the awkward opening to the epic finale. However, this is not a game that relies solely on myth or the creation of more and more questions. Ubisoft Montreal has worked wonders to salvage the series and deliver the game it always intended. While the combat still feels disjointed and at points, turn-based, it is the only slight downside in a game packed full of positives and although the campaign will take you around 20-30 hours to complete, you will be entirely captivated for the duration. Surely a measure of how to improve on an original design and one that other developers might do well to acknowledge.

93%

I’ll admit it.  I would never, in a month of Sundays, put Sadie on my daughter’s birth certificate.  It would be Sarah, thanks very much, just in case she grows up to run for office or take up brain surgery or otherwise wants to sound like a mature, serious adult.

I’m not necessarily in the majority.  And I’m not necessarily right, either.  Plenty of women named Julie and Jodie have turned out just fine.  And plenty of Sarah/Sadies are irritated at having to constantly explain that yes, Sadie is a nickname for Sarah.

So for your consideration, I’ve pulled together a list of ends-in-ie-names just might stand on their own.

I’m excluding choices like Katie and Maggie -  names easily connected to formal versions, as well as feminizations like Billie and Charlie.  And if it more commonly ends in -y, you won’t find it here – so no Mollie, Lillie or Lucie.

That still leaves bunches of names:

• Arlie – Arline started out as a well-born child kidnapped by gypsies in a nineteenth century opera, but today she’s the outdated Arlene.  Arlie might be a short form, or she may related to a surname.  Either way, she sounds fresher than the -een ending original.
• Birdie – Lady Bird was worn in the White House.  Actress Busy Phillips bestowed this avian appellation on her daughter.  While there are more subtle ways to evoke the finely feathered, Birdie isn’t quite unthinkable.
• Bonnie – Worn by the ill-fated daughter of Rhett and Scarlett in Gone With the Wind – who was actually named Eugenie Victoria.  She means pretty – and she is just that.
• Callie – If Kelly and Kaylee are independent given names for girls, why not Callie?  She’s also a possible nickname for classics like Caroline and Charlotte, as well as the less-expected Calla, Calista or Calliope.
• Dessie – In Ireland, Dessie is a nickname for Desmond – and thus, exclusively masculine.  In the US, it sounds more like a riff on Bessie.
• Dulcie – She’s sweet – literally, from the Latin dulcis.  Longer form Dulcinea conjures up the Judybats, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Don Quixote – though the literary Dulcinea was actually named Aldonza.
• Erie – Eir was a Norse goddess; Éire, a Celtic one – she lent her name to Ireland.  Eiry is a Welsh girl’s name – related names abound, all meaning snow.  Erie may be linked to any or none of the above, and could rhyme with fairy, or have a totally other pronunciation.
• Hattie – You might put Harriet or Henrietta on the birth certificate, but millinery references aside, Hattie has some style.
• Hettie – Another possibility for Henrietta,  as well as Hester or Hestia.
• Lettie – Formal name options include the salad-esque Lettice, or the lacy Letitia.  If Victorian valentine isn’t your style, Lettie might appeal.
• Lindie – Lucky Lindy was aviator Charles Lindbergh’s nickname.  The Lindy Hop was a swing-era dance craze named in his honor.  Linda is a Baby Boomer – as are elaborations like Melinda and Belinda.  But today, Lindie might work as a nickname for hippie chic tree name Linden – or on her own.
• Lottie – Charlotte is in the US Top 100 and rising, but it seems as very few Charlottes are answering to this nickname – so far.
• Maisie – Like Maggie, she could be a diminutive form of Margaret, via the Scottish Mairead.  But if Daisy stands on her own, maybe Maisie does, too.
• Millie – Mildred might be too dowdy to ever make a comeback, but Millie is Thoroughly Modern.  She’s also a spunky nickname for the super-sweet Millicent.
• Minnie – Yes, there’s the mouse.  But there’s also the actress – who was actually born Amelia Fiona Driver.
• Tillie – Matilda is ever so fashion forward.  Short form Tilda brings to mind the actress.  Then there’s Tillie – perhaps a bit too cute, but possibly wearable on her own.
• Trudie – It’s hard to imagine naming a daughter Gertrude.  But Trudie seems like a logical sister for Sadie – spunky, retro and not too flimsy to stand on her own.
• Zadie – If Sadie stands along, why not her zippy cousin?  The z-to-s switch has worked out just fine for novelist Zadie Smith.
• Zelie – There have definitely been women named Zelie, but her exact origins are unclear, though some link her to the French Zéline and she brings to mind the Yiddish Zelig.

I could go on – there’s Winnie and Elsie, Flossie and Roxie.  But I’ll stop here and just ask: would you consider a short, ends-in-ie name for a daughter?  And if so, would you put it on her birth certificate or opt for a more formal version?

I have just been confirmed as a potential UK delegate.

Visto il lungo periodo di assenza dovuto a imprecisati motivi da parte del servizio pubblico wordpress.com abbiamo deciso di trasferirci in uno spazio dedicato che sia la nostra nuova casa nella speranza di non dover più vedere il sito “oscurato”.

 

Il diario di Locke

Alerte (re)mets tes hauts !

Réservé aux plus de 18 ans, du fait de ses nombreuses cinématiques pornographiques et zoophiles, Assassin’s Creed… attendez, le rédac chef d’EcchiGaming me crie dans l’oreillette qu’il ne s’agit là QUE de contenus extrêmement violents, sans filles dévêtues ou chiens à poil. Que vous devez être déçus !

Séchez vos larmes, de toute façon, on ne parlera ni du jeu vidéo événement d’Ubisoft, ni du film éponyme diffusé sur NRJ12 hier soir et aujourd’hui sur le site PlayStation.fr, mais uniquement de la bande dessinée Assassin’s Creed : Desmond de Corbeyran et Defalt, parue ce 13 novembre aux éditions Les Deux Royaumes pour la modique somme de 13,50€ net d’impôt.

Alors parlons-en. Non ? Bon, c’est vous qui voyez !

Aquí os presento algo más sobre los ‘menos protagonistas’, con vídeos suyos en sus respectivos nombres.

CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD: Padre de Jack. Viajaba muerto dentro de un ataúd en el Oceanic 815 y cuando el avión se estrelló en la isla su cadaver desapareció. Sin embargo, su fantasma ya ha hablado con varios protagonistas adquiriendo un papel cada vez mayor en la trama de la serie. También es padre de Claire, aunque de diferente mujer, y ella nunca lo conoció como tal.

CLAIRE LITTLETON: Hermanastra de Jack sin saberlo. Viajaba en el Oceanic embarazada de Aaron, al que dio a luz en la isla y forma, junto a Charlie, una de las parejas más entrañables de la serie, que se rompe con la muerte del último. Fue raptada por ‘Los Otros’ y perseguida por Rousseau. A día de hoy se desconoce su paradero, aunque sabemos que se encuentra con Christian y eso da seguridad.

CHARLIE PACE: Miembro de ‘Drive shafts’, una banda de rock en decadencia. Llega a la isla siendo un drogadicto y Locke le ayuda a dejar las drogas. Se enamora de Claire y forman una ‘familia’ con Aaron. Protagonista principal en las primeras temporadas que, junto a Hugo, son ‘la sonrisa’ del espectador. Muere por amor y amistad. Un ejemplo a seguir.

AARON LITTLETON: Hijo de Claire al que Charlie apadrina como un hijo. De los únicos que nació en la isla. Actualmente está en tierra firme pues Kate, que fue como una madre adoptiva para él durante un tiempo, lo dejó allí cuando volvió de la isla.

HUGO ‘HURLEY’ REYES: Mantiene el ‘buen rollo’ entre los supervivientes del Oceanic 815; es el personaje cómico de la serie. Ganó la lotería con unos ‘números malditos’ (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) que se repetirán a lo largo de las temporadas, lo que da un suspense bastante interesante. Estuvo internado en varias ocasiones en manicomios por tener visiones de gente que ha muerto y es perseguido por la policía por los secretos que guardaron al abandonar la isla. Actualmente se encuentra en la isla y, aunque durante poco tiempo, trabajó en la Iniciativa Dharma.

MICHAEL DAWSON: Superviviente del Oceanic que llega a la isla con su hijo Walt, al que apenas conoce por haber estado éste con su madre. Construye una balsa para sacar a Walt de la isla y Los Otros se lo roban. Para recuperarlo, se convierte en un traidor al asesinar a dos compañeros para salvar a Ben, líder de Los Otros. Regresa a su casa y, tras intentar suicidarse en varias ocasiones, vuelve a la isla “para morir” ayudando a los supervivientes en un barco que manda Charles Widmore.

WALT DAWSON: Hijo de Michael. Llega a la isla e intima mucho con Locke, algo que no gusta a su padre. Siempre inseparable de su perro Vincent, los flashbacks demuestran que tiene poderes antinaturales. Sabe que su padre asesinó a dos supervivientes y por eso deja de hablarle. En estos momentos se encuentra fuera de la isla, aunque en un capítulo se le aparece a Locke para darle fuerzas a continuar con su trabajo.

SAYID JARRAH: Torturador que trabajó en la milicia iraquí y llega a la isla siendo un experto con los aparatos electrónicos. Al salir de la isla acaba trabajando para Ben como sicario tras enterrar a la mujer de sus sueños por culpa de los enemigos de éste, los hombres de Charles Widmore. Otro que ha dado, está dando y dará mucho juego a la serie.

JIN SOO KWON: Pescador coreano, esposo de Sun y sicario del padre de ésta. En un principio no sabe hablar inglés lo que le da problemas con los supervivientes del 815 pero acaba aprendiendo a la perfección. Parece que muere en el barco que los va a salvar pero finalmente acaba viajando en el tiempo con Sawyer y los otros donde conoce a Rousseau de joven. Ahora está trabajando en la Iniciativa Dharma.

SUN HWA KWON: Mujer de Jin e hija de un empresario coreano multimillonario, que no acepta su relación hasta que Jin trabaja como sicario para él. Al principio es reprimida en la isla por su marido pero poco a poco las cosas se calman, aunque en los flashbacks veamos que lo ha engañado con otro hombre. Se queda embarazada en la isla pero da a luz en Corea, cuando es una de ‘Los Oceanic Six’ que habían salido. Está enfrentada con Ben por pensar que había matado a su marido y cuando éste le dice que no está muerto, ella vuelve a la isla.

DESMOND HUME: Llega a la isla antes que los supervivientes y se pasa tres años de su vida pulsando un botón para ‘salvar el mundo’. Es la pareja de Penny, hija de Widmore, quién cree que no se merece a su única descendiente aunque la relación entre ambos sea envidiable -sobre todo por esa preciosa conversación que tienen tras tres años sin verse-. Antes de que Charlie muera, tiene una compenetración especial con éste al salvarle la vida en varias ocasiones por visualizar el futuro. Otro que tiene mucho que dar a la serie.

PENNY WIDMORE: Hija de Charles, hermanastra de Faraday y pareja de Desmond, lo que la convierte también en un personaje importante. Enfrentada con su padre, busca a ‘Des’ alrededor del mundo durante tres años hasta hallarlo vivo y rescatarlo, junto a otros supervivientes, en un barco que iba en su búsqueda. Éste es el momento cuándo Penny y Desmond se conocen por primera vez.

DANIELLE ROUSSEAU: Superviviente francesa de otro naufragio anterior al Oceanic, el de ‘La Roca Negra’. Estuvo durante 16 años viviendo en la isla escapando de ‘Los Otros’, quienes le robaron a su hija Alex, y evitando cruzárselos en su camino. Deja un mensaje en la torre de radio que se repetirá todos esos años y por ello los supervivientes descubren su existencia. Intenta llevarse a Aaron de las manos de Claire. La conocimos de joven cuando su barco llegó a la isla. Los hombres de Widmore acaban asesinándola cuando intentaba proteger a su hija y al novio de ésta.

ALEX ¿LINUS? ROUSSEAU: Hija de Rousseau y robada por Ben, a quién ella conoce como padre. Un lío, vamos. Vivió toda su vida en la isla con ‘Los Otros’ hasta que conoce a su madre y a los supervivientes del Oceanic 815. La acaban matando en los ojos de su padrastro Ben, que la deja morir. Aquí lo vemos.

JULIET BURKE: Médica especializada en reproducción, es reclutada por Richard para conseguir hacer nacer a niños en la isla, que hasta ese momento es imposible por un error electromagnético que ya explicaré más adelante. Se convierte en una de ‘Los Otros’ durante tres años hasta que se escapa con los supervivientes por medio de Jack, con el que parece que va a iniciar una relación. Finalmente, y tras quedarse en la isla mientras Jack y los demás se van, se convierte en la pareja de Sawyer en 1977 cuando están con la Iniciativa Dharma y acaban viviendo juntos. Con la vuelta de Kate, peligra su relación.

RICHARD ALPERT: Interesante y muy importante personaje que conocemos en diferentes épocas y siempre está con el mismo aspecto físico, es decir, nunca envejece. Es uno ‘Los Otros’ y, aunque nunca ejerce como líder, siempre es un fiel consejero de todos ellos para comunicarse con Jacob y también para traer a gente que ellos necesitan a la isla, como Juliet. Le salva la vida a Ben y está en muchos momentos con John Locke.

DANIEL FARADAY: Físico y profesor que se lanzó a la isla en paracaídas (a los primeros que encontró fue a Jack y a Kate: de ahí la famosa frase entre los Losties de ‘Are you Jack’?) desde un helicóptero que venía del barco de Widmore. Era hijo de Eloise y de Charles Widmore, pero de éste sólo lo supimos al final, por lo que es hermanastro de Penny. Es uno de los protagonistas y es muy entrañable por su actitud distraída, sus buenas maneras y su interés científico por las misteriosas propiedades de la Isla. Se pasó toda su vida adulta estudiando el espacio-tiempo y su constante es Desmond porque se le apareció del futuro. Era muy cariñoso con su amiga Charlotte, de la que estaba enamorada y la vió morir en sus manos por los continuos flashes y viajes en el tiempo.Cuando acude armado al campamento de ‘Los Otros’ para buscar a su madre en 1977, ésta lo mata sin saber que era su hijo.

Y no me olvido de estos que están o han estado y que han tenido importancia, pero por unas razones u otras no los debo meter en este ‘Quién es quién’:

- Mr. Ecko
- Libby y Ana Lucía
- Rose y Bernard
- Boone y Shanon
- Nikki y Paulo
- Vincent
- Ethan, Tom, Goodwin y Mikhail
- Horace, Mr. Chang, Radzinsky
- Charlotte, Naomi, Lapidus, Minkowski, Keamy

Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s daughter, Nontombi Naomi Tutu, will  be on campus this Nov 13 at 7.30 pm  at the Rackham Graduate School Auditorium. Don’t miss this unique opportunity!

Check out <http://www.lsa.umich.edu/caas/newsandevents/calendar> for more details if you are interested in attending this event!

MIA ROSENBERG ’13 & DESMOND MAHONEY ‘13

DES: La Moustache is an interesting and exotic movie. It is totally different from your typical American movie like Transformers.

We watched this French film a few weeks ago with subtitles. The movie is more artistic than a normal story driven film. The movie has an indie feel and revolves around the reaction of Marc’s friends and family (mostly his wife’s) to the fact that he has shaved his mustache.

At times the movie can be boring, but the acting carries it over. Marc shaves his mustache, and the film then mainly focuses around how his family and friends ignore it and act like he never had one, which drives everyone in the movie a little crazy…and maybe even you.

The movie seemed to be building up to a cool ending, but what we saw was very disappointing and weird. It really wasn’t even an ending; it was just a collection of confusing scenes that ended an obtuse, seemingly never-ending movie. It ended abruptly and felt like the filmmaker chopped it together to end his run-on movie.

If you know someone who likes this movie…they have horrible taste in movies and should see something that makes sense and actually relied on an understandable story arc. I mean really “Gossip Girl” actually makes more sense than this.

I’m telling you, if you want to see it, see it. However, at the end you’ll either be asleep or want to be. All and all this movie wasn’t for me, but if you are into independent, weirder films it might be for you.

MIA: Desmond’s review really hits the nail on the head. Although I do not completely agree with the way he ends his review, for the most part, his review mimics my feelings. The movie was definitely geared towards more exotic, indie types of people.

The movie has a bit of confusion etched into it by the dreary, somewhat chaotic story line. Despite all this I liked the movie at times, and at other points I felt indifferent. I do agree with Desmond on the part where he says that everyone is going crazy while watching this movie…and maybe even you are. While watching this film you feel like you can empathize with Marc because you can feel his emotions.

This movie deals a lot with the brutal fact that you can lose your identity in a matter of seconds. When Marc shaves his mustache, no one remembers him with it. As more and more people seem to think he never had a mustache, Marc slowly begins to lose himself, and this is what makes up the vast majority of the plot.

All in all I think that besides the ending of the movie, I enjoyed it to a certain extent. After seeing it for the first time, it left me very confused, but after the second time, it got a little boring.

I think the main message here is that even though you might not think you enjoy these types of movies, you might like it if you watch it and get into it. You should try watching movies that aren’t as mainstream to get the feel for different aspects of culture, instead of just staying within one genre.

On a side note, if you have a Netflix movie account, you can watch this movie instantly on your queue.

Last weekend I went to visit Kathryn in Ireland, which was “brilliant,” as they say over there.

After a very rainy Friday, we seized the night: party Irish style! Irish old lady-style, that is: we made chocolate chip cookies and caught up on Grey’s Anatomy.  This may not sound that fantastic to you, but it was a magical evening.  McDreamy, McSteamy, pretending to make the oven mitt talk, learning to brown butter (!), and having a real, chewy cookie for the first time in months! (Why are European baked goods so disgustingly brittle?) Plus we needed to save our energy for a very full day of Irish sightseeing and activitydoing on Saturday.

And to think that we're known as hard partying hot messes in some circles...

On Saturday we took this delightful tour through the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, both of which are impressive sites of physical beauty and imposing size in the general vicinity of Galway. Although much of the Burren looks a lot like the moon, it was apparently the place to be about 15,000 years ago.  Our cute and slightly senile tour guide, Desmond, really liked to say everything happened 15,000 years ago and make wildly inappropriate jokes. Sometime between 15,000 years ago and now, old Celts left all sorts of stone clues about their mysterious activities around the Burren. We saw lots of these remnants, lots of cows (apparently the Irish government prefers to employ grazing cows instead of lawn mowers), and lots of verdant vistas.

I don’t really know much of anything about Ireland, so the tour seemed really, really informative to me.  A certain grad student and Ireland enthusiast traveling with me sometimes corrected Desmond’s facts, but I was still  impressed.  Unfortunately, some aspects of the tour were a little murky because I am absolutely incapable of staying awake while riding on something as big and yacht-y as a bus (or a train, or the backseat of a car, or a plane, or the metro…).  But it added a touch of mystery and excitement to hop off the bus sometimes without any context about where we were.

The Cliffs of Moher - beautiful AND windy. I more glimpsed this place during brief pauses between gales of blinding wind than outright saw it...

antisocial ancient irish people used to surround their homes with huge earthen walls here... AND THIS IS WHERE LEPRECHAUNS ARE FROM! I FOUND ONE!

Saturday night: apparently Halloween began here to celebrate the Celtic new year, when the line between the living and the dead was thinnest.  So they had to wear scary costumes to look dead so the already dead folks wouldn’t take the living people… or something.  I’d had a fair amount of tequila by the time this explanation was being offered…by someone dressed quite convincingly as a zombie.  But the important takeaway from this information is that Irish people prefer more “realistic” and scary costumes. Ireland’s ratio of girls in lingerie with animal ears to girls who look like “Thriller” video extras is the exact opposite of America’s.

Seriously, though. Scary costumes

As Denny would say, "This is nor-mahl."

Despite a lot of scary costumes (but also a lot of slutty Snow Whites — why was that so popular?), Halloween was wonderful.  We went to one of Kathryn’s friend’s houses for a while, then we went into the crazy streets of Galway! All the pubs were overflowing with people and the party spread through the whole city.  It was great!!

This will come as a surprise since I’m studying in Italy and we all know Ireland’s reputation for food, but some pretty crucial culinary developments occurred there:

1. Guinness! I was afraid of it.  But it’s actually delicious!
2. Chinese food!  Mexican food!  Diversity! New flavors! (That said, I was really craving pasta by the time I got home.)
3. STARBUCKS. Let’s not talk about how overpriced it was, let’s focus more on how magical it was. I had a grande peppermint mocha because they were advertising the impending arrival of red cups and I decided to kick off the Christmas season with my coffee. It was so great!  (Actually it was not well made at all, but I guess Irish baristas just aren’t as skilled as their pro American counterparts) But after tiny Italian espresso drinks, a grande felt like the super gulp. I couldn’t even finish it!

On Sunday we oozed out of bed and went to Dublin.  Dublin was so cool!  All the buildings were so new and multi-colored! Basically, Dublin is the complete opposite of Florence, which was a cool change.  Favorite site? Oscar Wilde memorial.  Perhaps the first time stone has so perfectly captured a subject. Step aside, Michelangelo. This is a masterpiece:

Sass incarnate.

Conclusion: I was blown away by Ireland!  It was wild and beautiful, full of new stuff and diversity, but also a lot of nice Irish-ness. Italy is the beautiful family heirloom chair in the house where you aren’t actually allowed to sit, and Ireland is the comfy chair with the mid-century modern upholstery where you do all your best reading. Ok now it sounds like I don’t like Italy, which is obviously false because who doesn’t like la vita dolce?

Offizieller deutscher Assassins Creed-Youtube Channel

Nur vom aussehen her würde ich sagen, dass Ezio ebenso ein Vorfahre von Desmond ist, wie Altair.

-Fenrol

Despite all the ghastliness that is around, human beings are made for goodness. The ones who ought to be held in high regard are not the ones who are military powerful, nor even economically prosperous. They are the ones who have a commitment to try and make the world a better place.

Desmond Tutu

yep. sold it to a good friend.
pretty flush if you ask me.

I have always wanted a set of Regamaster wheels. They’re what spoon rebadged and I think their simplicity makes them really attractive. I have found a few places that sell them but I can’t afford a set right now. The version that I REALLY want is actually the “Brights”, which are chrome like and shiny. When I’m a little further into the build of my car, I’ll seriously consider seeking those out. They are just so fresh.

¡Hemos vuelto! Y, como no podía ser de otro modo, nos despachamos con las nuevas series de la temporada, diseccionando con especial mimo la nauseabunda Flashforward. Sí, ya sabemos que a ti te gusta y te entretiene muchísimo, pero a nosotros no. ¿Qué le vamos a hacer?

Dentro de nada, os hacemos un comentario más picadito que este. Mientras, podéis hacer clic en la imagen o aquí y escuchar la tertulia.

Como siempre, los teleginios fuimos Irene de Bytheway, Marina de El diario de Mr. McGuffin y Juanjo de Mi caja tonta. Con la camisa de fuerza en una mano y el látigo en la otra, la gran Arena de el Reloj de Arena.

…just so you don’t think I’ve vanished off the face of the earth, taking promised thoughts and speech with me; scheduled recording of What Katy Said – Episode 5 – is Saturday morning.

Have some good thoughts on Desmond and Penny to contemplate, and a really interesting contribution or two to discourse upon – if you want to add your thoughts (particularly if you’ve got anything negative to say about them as a couple, but any thoughts, love, comments etc welcome), head over to the Contact Me page on the right hand side and throw them this way!

Ano que vem é a última temporada de Lost, prevejo suicídio coletivo, mas ok.. vamos enfeitar o blog com o Desmond-brotha (Henry Ian Cusick) fazendo um biquinho digno:

NOT PENNY'S BOAT

todo encardidinho diretamente para vocês (e pra mim, principalmente).

Quem gosta do loirão-belzebu-provocante do Sawyer (Josh Holloway), fica dica desse post aqui. Acho assim, depois da foto que ilustra o tal post nem precisa explicar muito, né?

sort snute
på arket
dikt lukter godt

Fra spor, snø, 1970

((klikk her for å komme til forsiden av “t e r s k l e r”))

Desmond har puttet sitt “lesestoff” i bokhyllen.

Desmond er en liten sort Schnauzer som vet å benytte seg av biblioteket.

Desmond Dekker – Israelites