Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/01/03/john-dies-at-the-end-exclusive-clip/
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Friday, January 4, 2013
'John Dies At The End' Exclusive Clip: Doorway To Crazy Town
Are you going to stand by while some white fuzz from another dimension invades our world and infects every last man, woman and child? If not, then prepare yourself to go through that crazy ghost door in our exclusive clip from "John Dies at the End," written and directed by "Bubba Ho-Tep" madman Don Coscarelli [...]
Midwestern Gothic ? A Literary Journal ? Blog Archive ? An ...
And now, Part 2 of our interview with Scott Dominic Carpenter, author of This Jealous Earth: Stories, the debut collection by MG Press due out January 15, 2013.
Check out Part 1 here.
Find out more about This Jealous Earth, including how to pre-order for only $1
SDC: On the one hand, I firmly believe that the best way to understand one?s own language is to learn another. On the other, sometimes other languages interfere with your native tongue. If I?m lucky, I can use this to my advantage: one of the hallmarks of literary writing is that a strangeness inhabits the language. Literary language should always sound a little bit non-native, as though spoken by a newcomer who doesn?t know all the set expressions.
Sometimes an image will come to me in French?inspired perhaps by a sound, or by the fact that French happens to have the word I need and English does not?and then I have to convert it into English. It?s like other kinds of metamorphoses: a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, but in some way the original worm is still there on the inside.
MG: How is literature different overseas? Any significant or interesting similarities or differences between American writing and other countries?
SDC: The biggest difference is in the area of plot. Americans hunger for story. They want their narratives whipped forward in a forced march. A lot of the European literature I read is more relaxed, with authors taking more time for reflection and description.
MG: You?re publishing your debut short story collection later in life?did you get a late start to writing as well?
SDC: It depends on how you count. I?ve been writing my whole life and publishing since my early twenties?with four books before This Jealous Earth, and a scad of articles. It?s true that most of that work was in the area of non-fiction, predominantly in literary scholarship. I?d done creative writing in college, when I published work in a now-defunct journal. Then, except for a bit of dabbling, I abandoned it for academic writing for a long time. Several
years ago I started again, gradually publishing one or two stories a year.
I?d say that fiction is similar to non-fiction?at the same time that it?s very different. Both kinds of writing need to develop their content in the form of a story, and I find that my preoccupations as a creative writer overlap considerably with my interests as an engaged reader. Probably that?s not so surprising.
Anyway, I?m about to turn fifty-four. I think I still have some good miles left.
MG: How do you think your writing journey is different from someone who got their start in their twenties?
SDC: A writer in his or her twenties would have the good sense to do an MFA. Not having had time for that, I took the option of the ?MFA of hard knocks,? which left me with a lot of bumps and bruises. It?s terribly important to get honest, critical feedback, and I?ve been lucky to find that support in a less formal environment. But it took a while.
On the other hand, because I?ve been writing non-fiction for a long time?often pieces that required months or years of research?I have a lot of patience and perseverance. I can revise, and then revise the revision, and then revise that, and then throw it away and start over. That?s hard for a lot of people.
MG: Has the teaching of others the craft of writing influenced your own work?
SDC: Not only that, but teaching the craft of reading has been a major influence. I never really understand something until I have to teach it. Working with students in literature classes has helped me to read, and reading deeply has been crucial to my own writing. When I have the opportunity to teach creative writing, I find that it?s once again the teaching of reading: students critique each others? work, and their ability to articulate their reactions
guides them in their own writing.
And, of course, after I harp on the importance of characters with my students, I sometimes go back to my desk and find that I need to take my own advice.
MG: What?s next? What are your plans for the next year or two?
SDC: I have a novel coming out in June of 2013, (Theory of Remainders, Winter Goose Publishing), and there?s still quite a bit of editing and promotion to be done. After that, there are more projects in the pipeline. I don?t like to speak in detail about work that?s not yet finished, but I can tell you that I have a couple of stories in progress, a travel essay, and the beginnings of a new novel. I?m also working on another academic book. What can I say? I don?t know how to stop.
MG: You can only do one thing on your bucket list?imagine that it becomes reality?talk about how you see it going down.
SDC: I have this dream. I sit down at my desk one evening with a foggy notion for what might be an OK story. I start sketching it out, jotting a few notes. It?s not too bad. In fact, as I work away, I find I?m breathing hard. With excitement. I?m smiling and talking to myself. It?s a good story. A helluva good story. Pretty soon I?m typing on my laptop. Just a rough draft. But it doesn?t feel rough. It?s smooth. The words flow from my fingertips into the
keys, streaking across the screen, line after line. I finish it at three a.m. I re-read the whole thing, changing two words and fixing one typo. It?s the best damn thing I?ve ever written.
A swagger to my step, I go over and pour myself a scotch, which I nurse for an hour, marveling at the night sky until the horizon starts to glow. Finally, I fall asleep.
And then, when I wake up, for once?just one freakin? time?I read over my night?s work and decide that it?s not crap.
MG: Tell us your favorite joke.
SDC: I would, but my favorite joke is from Monty Python?The Joke That Won The War. By definition, if I told it to you, it would kill you.
MG: If you could go back and talk to your younger self for one minute only, what would you tell him?
SDC: Run!
MG: If you only had a sentence to write the story of your life, what would that sentence be?
SDC: ?For what other life was he saving himself up before expressing, at long last, his true feelings about things, before crafting opinions he didn?t need to put in quotes, before ceasing to devote himself, with punctilious decorum, to endeavors that he claimed at the same time to be ridiculous??
Of course, Marcel Proust already wrote that sentence before I had the chance, but I would have written it if he hadn?t. And that?s why I chose it as the epigraph for the book. Don?t wait. Do.
Find out more about This Jealous Earth, including how to pre-order for only $1
Source: http://midwestgothic.com/2013/01/an-interview-with-scott-dominic-carpenter-part-2/
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Thursday, January 3, 2013
Study: Generational changes cause drop in US support for school prayer
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Public release date: 3-Jan-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Philip Schwadel
pschwadel2@unl.edu
402-472-6008
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Support markedly lower among Catholics, mainline Protestants; unwavering among evangelicals
There's a saying that goes, "as long as there are tests, there will be prayer in public schools." At one time, that likely reflected a fairly uniform view about school prayer: that despite what federal law said about the practice, religious Americans by and large approved of it.
A new study, however, paints a more complicated picture of attitudes toward school prayer over the last four decades, finding sharp differences in school-prayer support between different generations and their religious denominations.
Forthcoming in the journal Sociological Forum, the study maps a general decline in advocacy for school prayer starting in the mid-1970s and accelerating as skeptical Baby Boomers became ascendant through the 1980s. According to the study's findings, school-prayer support remains markedly lower today among Catholics and mainline Protestants yet unwaveringly high among their evangelical counterparts.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln sociologist Philip Schwadel modeled data from the General Social Survey from 1974-2010 and created a measure for Americans' support for prayer and reading of religious scripture in public schools over the decades. The results tracked the impact of religious affiliation and generational differences on the role of religion in public education, he said.
"Social and cultural changes have led to greater opposition to state-sanctioned prayer and reading religious materials in public schools among some segments of the population," Schwadel said. "Specifically, there's growing opposition among non-evangelicals but not evangelicals, and these changes manifest across generations."
While these generational shifts have spurred changes among some denominations, evangelical Protestants have remained staunchly pro-school-prayer over the years, Schwadel said. As other religious denominations faced generationally influenced fluctuations on the topic, evangelicals persisted more than 70 percent of evangelicals expressed support for school prayer, regardless of what generation they came from.
"What we see in these results is that there's a very clear, unwavering perspective in the evangelical community on the role of prayer in public life," he said. "While younger evangelicals seem to be more open to some issues, such as environmentalism, when it comes to key issues, they simply do not change across generations. There seem to be some bedrock issues they won't budge on."
There once was very little difference between Catholics and evangelical Protestants on the topic, particularly among those born in the early 1930s, Schwadel said. The findings also showed a relatively small difference in opinion between evangelicals and mainline Protestants for those born during that same time period.
But differences grew tremendously across generations so that by the time those born in the 1960s and 1970s came of age, a large gap had emerged between evangelical Protestants and both mainline Protestants and Catholics.
Why? According to Schwadel's findings, the drop was related to both "period effects" and "cohort effects" the events of the times, highlighted by several high-profile court cases on the subject, likely began to affect opinions among people of a certain age; at the same time, the general disposition of the generation going through those times was playing a major factor.
The start of the time frame in the study the mid-1970s were a time of high levels of support for prayer in schools compared with the following three decades, Schwadel said; at the same time, Baby Boomers began to make up more of the population. Known for their skepticism for organized religion, the Boomers likely contributed to a consistent, decade-long drop in support of school prayer to a lower overall level that remains today.
Schwadel said he had anticipated the decline among mainline Protestants; however, he was surprised to see a parallel slide in support for school prayer among Catholics, who began the 1970s virtually tied in their level of approval with evangelicals.
One possible explanation, Schwadel said, is that over time, Catholics have become more "mainstreamed" than they were in the first half of the 20th century, when they either attended parochial schools or public schools that were predominantly Catholic. Their integration into public schools may have cut into their support for school prayer because that prayer was not exclusively Catholic, Schwadel said.
The study also found:
- Highly educated and younger respondents in the study were relatively unlikely to support prayer and reading scripture in public schools.
- African Americans and Southerners registered the highest levels of approval.
- Jewish respondents indicated the lowest levels of support, at 24 percent. Those who said they are unaffiliated with an organized religion were at 37 percent.
"These results are relevant to debates regarding the social impact of religious affiliation, generational differences and Americans' views of the role of religion in the public sphere," he said.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 3-Jan-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Philip Schwadel
pschwadel2@unl.edu
402-472-6008
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Support markedly lower among Catholics, mainline Protestants; unwavering among evangelicals
There's a saying that goes, "as long as there are tests, there will be prayer in public schools." At one time, that likely reflected a fairly uniform view about school prayer: that despite what federal law said about the practice, religious Americans by and large approved of it.
A new study, however, paints a more complicated picture of attitudes toward school prayer over the last four decades, finding sharp differences in school-prayer support between different generations and their religious denominations.
Forthcoming in the journal Sociological Forum, the study maps a general decline in advocacy for school prayer starting in the mid-1970s and accelerating as skeptical Baby Boomers became ascendant through the 1980s. According to the study's findings, school-prayer support remains markedly lower today among Catholics and mainline Protestants yet unwaveringly high among their evangelical counterparts.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln sociologist Philip Schwadel modeled data from the General Social Survey from 1974-2010 and created a measure for Americans' support for prayer and reading of religious scripture in public schools over the decades. The results tracked the impact of religious affiliation and generational differences on the role of religion in public education, he said.
"Social and cultural changes have led to greater opposition to state-sanctioned prayer and reading religious materials in public schools among some segments of the population," Schwadel said. "Specifically, there's growing opposition among non-evangelicals but not evangelicals, and these changes manifest across generations."
While these generational shifts have spurred changes among some denominations, evangelical Protestants have remained staunchly pro-school-prayer over the years, Schwadel said. As other religious denominations faced generationally influenced fluctuations on the topic, evangelicals persisted more than 70 percent of evangelicals expressed support for school prayer, regardless of what generation they came from.
"What we see in these results is that there's a very clear, unwavering perspective in the evangelical community on the role of prayer in public life," he said. "While younger evangelicals seem to be more open to some issues, such as environmentalism, when it comes to key issues, they simply do not change across generations. There seem to be some bedrock issues they won't budge on."
There once was very little difference between Catholics and evangelical Protestants on the topic, particularly among those born in the early 1930s, Schwadel said. The findings also showed a relatively small difference in opinion between evangelicals and mainline Protestants for those born during that same time period.
But differences grew tremendously across generations so that by the time those born in the 1960s and 1970s came of age, a large gap had emerged between evangelical Protestants and both mainline Protestants and Catholics.
Why? According to Schwadel's findings, the drop was related to both "period effects" and "cohort effects" the events of the times, highlighted by several high-profile court cases on the subject, likely began to affect opinions among people of a certain age; at the same time, the general disposition of the generation going through those times was playing a major factor.
The start of the time frame in the study the mid-1970s were a time of high levels of support for prayer in schools compared with the following three decades, Schwadel said; at the same time, Baby Boomers began to make up more of the population. Known for their skepticism for organized religion, the Boomers likely contributed to a consistent, decade-long drop in support of school prayer to a lower overall level that remains today.
Schwadel said he had anticipated the decline among mainline Protestants; however, he was surprised to see a parallel slide in support for school prayer among Catholics, who began the 1970s virtually tied in their level of approval with evangelicals.
One possible explanation, Schwadel said, is that over time, Catholics have become more "mainstreamed" than they were in the first half of the 20th century, when they either attended parochial schools or public schools that were predominantly Catholic. Their integration into public schools may have cut into their support for school prayer because that prayer was not exclusively Catholic, Schwadel said.
The study also found:
- Highly educated and younger respondents in the study were relatively unlikely to support prayer and reading scripture in public schools.
- African Americans and Southerners registered the highest levels of approval.
- Jewish respondents indicated the lowest levels of support, at 24 percent. Those who said they are unaffiliated with an organized religion were at 37 percent.
"These results are relevant to debates regarding the social impact of religious affiliation, generational differences and Americans' views of the role of religion in the public sphere," he said.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uon-sgc010213.php
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RPG Knight of the Earthends (for Android)
Knight of the Earthends is the latest RPG from Kemco, which churns out decent-quality Android and iOS RPG games at a fearsome pace. This one falls in the middle of Kemco's quality lineup; it's more diverting than DarkGate, but nowhere near as good as Symphony of Eternity. Still, for classic RPG fans, it's worth a look.
Kemco's secret looks to be that it's building a lot of these games on the same engine. So, like in other Kemco games, your party is made up of 16-bit sprites who wander through a relatively open overworld and a series of towns and dungeons. The game is relatively linear, using cut-scenes to push you from each town-dungeon combo to the next. Each new town has better equipment to buy, of course, and dungeons are very easily mastered because of an extremely revealing mini-map mode. There are no in-app purchases, which I absolutely love.
Moving around maps is very easy thanks to a tap-to-move system which does away with virtual D-pads. In battles, you can go purely turn-based or auto-fight; if you choose auto-fight you won't get to use spells or special attacks, though.
Spend a Few Hours With Friends
The company's specialties, story and character, buoy you along through the relatively short 10-hour main plot. (After you complete the plot, some bonus dunegons appear to hack your way through.) Knight of the Earthends is easier than some other RPGs I've played recently; I didn't find any hitches or need to grind levels as long as I played my battles smartly.
The characters in this case are Reiya, a very businesslike knight; Raud, a cranky android, and Yuinika, a kind of elflike creature with a horn. Yuinika is both literally and figuratively horny, and keeps hitting on Reiya; the banter never gets R-rated, but it's probably PG-13. The three start out defeating demons, and end up embroiled in global politics. Naturally, along the way they become friends.?
The English-language translation is clunky at times. It never quite reaches "all your base are belong to us" levels, but you're very conscious that you're playing a translated game. Still, though, the characters have strong personalities.
The actual adventure also suffers a little bit from being too predictably structured: it's never a JRPG spoiler to tell you that our heroes are going to have to defeat two essentially concentric sets of four main dungeons each before killing the big boss and saving the world. That said, Kemco has offered more complex plots such as in Aeon Avenger, and I hope they do so again.
A Classy System
Knight of the Earthends' creativity comes in its level and class system. Each of the characters is essentially a different, fixed class. Reiya buys "skill books" which give her individual skills that can then be combined into custom, special combo attacks. Raud levels up by buying him parts and upgrades, which have various attacks and powers attached to them.?
Yuinika's skill is the most brilliant. The horn-girl levels up in "styles" acquired by killing batches of various kinds of monsters; Demon, Golem, Beast, Slime, and Mimic are five of the 14 styles Yuinika can pick up, and each style has different stats, spells and attacks.?
The styles approach makes you want to "collect them all," hunting down different categories of monsters so you can find out what that mysterious level six spell is for each style. Since wandering monsters are invisible here until they attack you, that takes luck and patience. Not too much patience, though; as I said, this is a relatively short game.
Knight of the Earthends costs anywhere between $1 and $8 depending on what kind of a sale Kemco is running at the time. If you've already played through the deeper and better Symphony of Eternity and Final Fantasy III and you enjoy some frisky inter-character banter, this can be your next stop on the Google Play market.
For more Android App Reviews, see:
??? RPG Knight of the Earthends (for Android)
??? Google+ Mobile App (for iPhone)
??? Snapseed (for Android)
??? Asphalt 7: Heat (for Android)
??? WhatsApp Messenger (for Android)
?? more
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/MizxEkkXZAc/0,2817,2413652,00.asp
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Unleash Your Creative Thinking | Nightingale Conant Audio And ...
So how do you unleash creative thinking? Well, the first thing is to take in as much knowledge and learning as you can find. Read everything available, both good and bad, and keep your mind open to all the possibilities of the universe. The more you know, the more you want to know, and the more your faculty of awe will be exercised through self improvement. Prepare to be amazed at all the little facts that add color into your life.
Focus on a creative activity every day. Even doodling is creative. Don?t let anything stop you. Practice drawing for a little while each day. Bring out your camera and start snapping photos. Keep a diary and write in it religiously. Pretty soon those things will become a part of your self improvement and you?ll be addicted.
Try something new every day and let your experiences expand your perspective. Explore a new area in your neighborhood. Chat up someone new on the bus. Open up to other people around you. As you move yourself out of your comfort zone more each day, your sense of adventure will grow and so does your zest for life. When was the last time you did something new for the first time? If it?s been a while, you?ve been missing out on a whole lot that could?ve added to your growth and personal development ? emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually.
Creativity is really breaking through barriers. Yes, this includes the bizzarre as well as the downright strange, though it?s important that your creativity doesn?t get you detached from the real world completely.
Perhaps this article will inspire you to start thinking beyond your ?limits.? If you follow these steps soon you?ll be living a life of interesting adventures through personal development.
Unleashing your own creative thinking will bring about a brand new zest for living life.
????????????
Source: http://nightingale-conant.makingit.info/blog/personal-development/unleash-your-creative-thinking/
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Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Is Tom Cruise still a go-to action hero? Hollywood, "Jack Reacher" say yes
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Given his age and the tough year he's had in the tabloids, is Tom Cruise still a go-to guy when Hollywood is looking for an action hero?
The answer is yes, based on the performance of his current movie, Paramount's "Jack Reacher." It's taken in $45 million in the 10 days since opening with $15.6 million in a very crowded and competitive holiday market. Its second week was a solid $14 million, and it's added $22 million from overseas.
Holiday movies tend to have legs and "Reacher" has yet to roll out in the majority of major foreign territories, so both of those numbers, particularly the international, will be growing. All signs point to it surpassing $200 million at the worldwide box office. That's not a blockbuster figure, and Paramount is staying mum on a sequel, but with a $60 million budget, "Jack Reacher" will make money for Paramount.
There were questions coming in. With his divorce from Katie Holmes and subsequent custody battle, Cruise is carrying plenty of public relations baggage. His foray earlier this year into musicals with "Rock of Ages" was critically applauded but proved a box-office dud. That's on top of his well-known support for Scientology.
He's 50 now, which might be the new 40 in the real world, but is starting to get on in years in the realm of action heroes. Daniel Craig is 44. Jeremy Renner is 41. We are a long way from "Top Gun" - that was 1986 - so it probably won't be too, too long until "The Expendables" franchise comes calling for Cruise.
But in the meantime, "Reacher" is going to be profitable for Paramount and Cruise's portrayal of the tough, ex-military drifter has drawn critical kudos, so there's a bit of momentum now. And it's clear from his upcoming schedule that Hollywood is still convinced he can carry an action film.
Next for Cruise will be two sci-fi movies: Universal's "Oblivion" is due in April and "All You Need is Kill" is set for March 2014 from Warner Bros. After that, there's a potential "Van Helsing" remake at Universal and "Mission: Impossible 5" is on Paramount's 2015 slate.
His recent track record at the box office, particularly when you look at his performance in the action genre, suggests the studios are making a pretty good bet.
"Rock of Ages" may have crumpled, but "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" was a huge hit for Paramount, taking in nearly $700 million worldwide in 2011. "Knight & Day," from Fox in 2010, and "Valkyrie," from United Artists in 2008, both made over $200 million worldwide.
Supporting roles in "Tropic Thunder" and "Lions for Lambs" preceded those, but those came on the heels of two Paramount movies: "Mission Impossible 3," which made nearly $400 million worldwide in 2006, and "War of the Worlds," which did $592 million in the previous year.
The bottom line: Hollywood is still convinced you can still take Tom Cruise, movie action hero, to the bank.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tom-cruise-still-action-hero-hollywood-jack-reacher-004950241.html
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GigaOM: Intel Media TV service won't launch at CES, but it is coming soon
We've seen several reports over the last week about Intel's set-top box efforts, and an impending CES launch. According to GigaOM, some of those rumors simply aren't true. The site has confirmed with several sources at Intel that a set-top box (and a whole lot more) is in the works, but a CES announcement has not been planned. Instead, Media, the mysterious Intel division, which is run like a startup with staffers hired from other Silicon Valley companies rather than shifted from different departments, could be unveiled in March, or perhaps even at the AllThingsD Dive Into Media conference in February.
A detailed GigaOM report outlines the company's plans, which do include a STB manufactured by Intel that would compete with Apple TV, but also solutions for other platforms, including computers, tablets and smartphones. According to GigaOM sources, the company has spent more than $100 million on Intel Media, so it's clearly taking the effort seriously. Still, until Intel Media has been exposed to the market, it's too soon to judge its success. Hit up our source link for the full scoop.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Intel
Source: GigaOM
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/01/intel-media-tv-service/
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