INDIA IPPON DESU
Sunday, July 07, 2019
War Voyeurs by Juan Felipe Herrera
War Voyeurs
By Juan Felipe Herrera
for Clara Fraser
I do not understand why men make war.
Is it because artillery is the most stoic example
of what flesh can become?
Is it because the military plan is the final map
drawn by the wisest hunter?
Is it because the neutron ray is the invincible finger
no one will disobey?
or
Is it because the flood of blood is the proper penance
workers must pay for failing tribute at the prescribed
hour?
I do not understand why men make war.
Is it because when death is multiple and expanding, there
among the odd assemblages, arbitrary and unnamed, there
among the shrivelled mountains, distorted and hollow, there
among the liquid farms and cities, cold and sallow, there
among the splintered bones of children, women, men and cattle
there and only there, the eerie head of power is being born?
Is it because submission is the only gesture to be rehearsed,
to be dressed, to be modeled, to be cast, to be chosen
in the one and only one drama to be staged in the theater of
this world, where everyone must act with the backbone humbled
with the mascara of bondage, with the lipstick of slaves under
the light of gentle assassination with applause piercing the ground
forever?
or
Is it because war is the secret room of all things to be kept
sealed and contained, to be conquered and renamed woman
enclosed by an empire of walls, vaults, hinges and locks with
the hot key that men and only men must possess for an eternal
evening to visit and contemplate, to snap open a favorite window
and gaze at the calibrated murder as lovers of beauty?
Open Banking
Open banking: the quiet digital revolution one year on
Low public awareness of the many benefits that come with the new rules Lucy Warwick-Ching January 11, 2019
Imagine a world in which, with a few swipes on a smartphone, you could find a better mortgage, compare household bills, cancel unwanted subscriptions, control direct debits and track payments across each of your accounts.It’s not a fantasy. A new wave of apps powered by our personal financial data already exists and has done for the best part of a year — but comparatively few people know about them.This weekend marks a year since the launch of open banking, a government-backed initiative that introduced a secure way for consumers to give financial providers the ability to access their financial information. The rules require UK banks to share their current account holder data through an integration technology called application programming interfaces (API). These APIs can then be used — with the customers’ permission — by third parties, including challenger banks, fintech firms, tech companies and credit reference agencies to open up the financial services industry, and provide consumers with products better suited to their individual needs
.Despite the hype around the launch, public awareness remains low. Just one in four people have heard of open banking, according to a survey of 2,000 people by Splendid Unlimited, a company that helps banks design and build digital platforms. Worse, only one in five of those who had heard of open banking said they knew what it meant or entailed.Here, FT Money presents a user’s guide to this quiet digital revolution, highlighting apps that could save you time and money, future innovations and how the industry is addressing security concerns.Connected Money This app allows HSBC customers to see all their accounts in one place — including those with rival banks — in order to assess where their money goes and see how much cash they will have to spend once bills have gone out.Chip This app uses an algorithm to analyse a person’s spending and work out how much they can afford to save each month — then it siphons that cash away into a separate savings pot.Open for businessWhen asked to describe open banking in their own words, the top two responses in Splendid’s survey were “banks sharing your information” and “all accounts in one place”. Beyond this, understanding of the rules was hazy.
Respondents were also cynical that open banking was more self serving for finance companies than beneficial to customers. “Open banking has been a bit of a damp squib until now,” says James Daley, managing director of consumer group Fairer Finance. “One year since launch we’ve seen very few of the banks make good use of the new technology and some have struggled even to keep up with the pace required by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). There’s very little that can be shown for all the work that has gone into open banking at this stage. But hopefully there is plenty to come this year.”The concept was dreamt up in 2016 by the CMA which ruled that nine of the biggest banks and building societies would have to allow customers to share their financial data securely with other banks. The rate of bank switching is very low in the UK. It is said that you are more likely to get divorced than break up with your bank. It follows that when looking for an overdraft, loan, credit card or mortgage it is more likely that customers will resort to their existing bank, rather than shop around.The idea was that by opening up data to third-party apps, customers would easily be able to compare competing products from different providers.
The CMA hoped this would lead to more choice and better products to help manage people’s finances.Open banking allows customers to log into one website, or open one app on their phone or tablet, and see all of their current accounts, savings and credit cards in one place — regardless of who they bank with.Yolt Yolt gives you oversight of your current and savings accounts, plus credit cards, on a single interface. It sends customers insights into how they are spending money and what their major expenses are.Bean By using this app, customers can compare deals on all of their household bills, cancel any unwanted subscriptions and track payments across every account, all from within a single dashboard.
According to research by PwC, more than 33m people are expected to have signed up to open banking driven services by 2022. However, PwC said customers had been slow to do so because of concerns over companies they had never heard of having access to details of what they have spent and when they spent it.“The idea of open banking was to drive competition and innovation and to give consumers the ability to save money and give them more financial choices, but it’s been overshadowed by fears over privacy and security of personal data,” says Andrew Hagger, personal finance expert at MoneyComms. “It was always going to be a slow burn, and people need to recognise a real benefit before they are prepared to dip their toe in the water.”Mr Hagger said the launch had not been helped by the fact that some UK banks “have a poor record of keeping existing computer systems up and running, so bolting on new applications may not be a priority and seen as a bit of a risk.”But the landscape is changing and experts predict that this year will see challengers, fintechs, and the high street banks continue to invest in open banking products — which most believe will result in tangible benefits for consumers. The company overseeing the rollout, the Open Banking Implementation Entity, revealed this week that more than 100 regulated financial companies have enrolled in open banking. It says it has another 100 waiting to join.
Imran Gulamhuseinwala, one of its trustees, says consumers are gradually being offered products and services which will securely help them move, manage and make more of their money.Credit Kudos A free online service which uses an individual’s financial data to assess their financial behaviour and work out whether they are eligible for a range of financial services and demonstrate their creditworthiness. Plum Plum connects to your current account and monitors your spending habits, setting aside an amount of money every few days that it has worked out is affordable for each user to save.“Banks have very firmly moved from viewing open banking as a compliance exercise to an opportunity to compete and innovate,” he says. “They have worked hard to implement the standards despite many challenges and an ambitious timescale.”The tipping point is likely to be when consumers feel such apps are not a gimmick and can usefully save them money or time. Examples could be giving an app permission to make an automatic “sweep” from a savings account into a current account to avoid unnecessary overdraft fees, or “informative nudges” that can save consumers money on their mortgage when new rates are released, says Samantha Seaton, chief executive of Moneyhub, a financial management platform.She says such changes will “empower consumers and businesses in the UK and across Europe to achieve greater financial wellbeing” and adds that “as the potential is realised, the next few years will be transformational”.
High street versus superhighway Traditional UK high street banks have been slowly but surely working on new digital services for customers. HSBC was one of the first to release an open banking app last year, Connected Money. By using the app, HSBC customers can see their current account as well as online savings, mortgages, loans and cards held with any other bank. The app is able to group customers’ total spending across 30 categories including grocery shopping and utilities, making it a nifty budgeting tool. Santander has partnered with the Moneybox app to offer its customers the chance to connect their accounts and “round up” their spare change from banking transactions into a savings account. Barclays customers can also view all of their bank accounts — even ones held with rival banks — in one app. The service uses new open banking technology to ensure that customers’ accounts are linked into the app securely without ever asking for sensitive details such as passwords. And as per open banking rules customers will be able to switch off access instantly at any time, at the touch of a button, through the same app.Moneybox With this app, users can invest their spare change by rounding up the cost of digital payments. For example, if you pay £2.79 for a coffee, you can round up the transaction to £3 and swipe to invest the extra 21p into a stocks and shares Isa or Lifetime Isa. It is designed to help people with little spare cash to build savings via micro-payments.Money Dashboard This app brings together your “accounts and assets” on a central dashboard, including current accounts, credit cards and savings. The app lets you seamlessly analyse your income and outgoings, see where your money is being spent, and understand how much progress you’ve made towards your financial goals. However, it is new fintech savvy digital-only banks such as Monzo and Starling that have truly embraced open banking, according to experts. “It’s easier for them with in-house IT capability and without all the headache of big bank legacy IT systems — so at least they know they are not building on sand,” says Mr Hagger.Starling Bank is particularly innovative, and allows customers access to its “Marketplace” where they can choose from a range of products and services that can be integrated with their account. So far, the offering includes Wealthify, a place to go for your Isas and investments, Pension Bee to view pension balances, Yoyo Wallet, which allows customers to collect rewards and points automatically, online mortgage broker Habito and Kasko, a travel insurance app where people can compare policies.Debt management The latest development in the open banking arena, says Mr Gulamhuseinwala, is the move towards apps that “help address some of society’s issues, in particular in the debt advice area”.
Credit scoring companies such as Experian and Equifax report that fintech companies have approached them to talk about how data sharing can enhance their own products and services — especially where it can be used to increase financial inclusion and help people access more affordable, streamlined services. “We’ve seen a number of exciting new personal finance management tools emerge, helping people manage their money more effectively with the extra insight provided through open banking,” says Jon Roughley, director of innovation at Experian. “This additional source of data can also be particularly helpful for building out the financial records of the ‘credit invisible’ population — people with little or no viable financial information to draw upon — helping them to access both mainstream finance and crucial public services online.”Flux This app digitises, automates and organises receipts from a growing range of retail partners, including Eat, Itsu and Costa, and enables users to collect loyalty stamps and special offers digitally through their smartphones. To use Flux, customers must have a mobile banking app from one of Flux’s banking partners, including Starling, Monzo and Barclays.Trussle This online-only mortgage broker’s switching alert helps property buyers find the best home loan, and lets existing users know when they should remortgage to find a better deal. It monitors factors including the value of the home, fees for an early exit and charges on a new loan to identify when the time is right. Experts believe open banking may even bring access to financial advice to those who need it most — people in debt. “If you make things more efficient, it makes it easier to reach people who might otherwise ignore their finances,” says Sean Hawkins, strategic partnerships manager at Ascentric, an online platform that brings together investments and pensions from different providers. Speaking at a recent roundtable hosted by technology provider Bravura Solutions, he added that people leaving university with debts “might simply think their finances are bad and ignore the issue. Open banking makes advice more inclusive.
A question of trust Despite the numerous applications of the new technology, concerns about security that are yet to be dispelled and the industry is seeking ways to reassure customers. The promises that open banking pioneers have made are easier budgeting, better deals and more control. If these translate into pounds and pence gains, trust is maintained and data are respected, experts say we can expect the mass adoption of innovations like budgeting apps, digital money assistants and dashboards in the future. Becky O’Connor, a personal finance specialist at life insurer Royal London, said: “At the moment, what we have is a lot of competing apps that, to the average user, do roughly the same thing — track and categorise spending, add savings goals and let you see if you are on course to achieve them. Many providers are not on board. The industry is still finding its feet, working out how to be most useful to banking customers and there are kinks to iron out.”Although awareness of open banking is still low one year on, Ms O’Connor says: “In a way, people don’t really need to know the term. What matters more is that as more people sign up to services that have adopted open banking, they actually see some financial benefit — and their data are not misused.”For open banking to gain traction in the year ahead, banks and app providers will need to build trust and educate customers on the safety of their data — and to prove that by sharing this information it delivers value. Listen: Open Banking: what is it and how can you benefit from the new rules Get alerts on Personal Finance when a new story is published Get alerts Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2019. All rights reserved.
Low public awareness of the many benefits that come with the new rules Lucy Warwick-Ching January 11, 2019
Imagine a world in which, with a few swipes on a smartphone, you could find a better mortgage, compare household bills, cancel unwanted subscriptions, control direct debits and track payments across each of your accounts.It’s not a fantasy. A new wave of apps powered by our personal financial data already exists and has done for the best part of a year — but comparatively few people know about them.This weekend marks a year since the launch of open banking, a government-backed initiative that introduced a secure way for consumers to give financial providers the ability to access their financial information. The rules require UK banks to share their current account holder data through an integration technology called application programming interfaces (API). These APIs can then be used — with the customers’ permission — by third parties, including challenger banks, fintech firms, tech companies and credit reference agencies to open up the financial services industry, and provide consumers with products better suited to their individual needs
.Despite the hype around the launch, public awareness remains low. Just one in four people have heard of open banking, according to a survey of 2,000 people by Splendid Unlimited, a company that helps banks design and build digital platforms. Worse, only one in five of those who had heard of open banking said they knew what it meant or entailed.Here, FT Money presents a user’s guide to this quiet digital revolution, highlighting apps that could save you time and money, future innovations and how the industry is addressing security concerns.Connected Money This app allows HSBC customers to see all their accounts in one place — including those with rival banks — in order to assess where their money goes and see how much cash they will have to spend once bills have gone out.Chip This app uses an algorithm to analyse a person’s spending and work out how much they can afford to save each month — then it siphons that cash away into a separate savings pot.Open for businessWhen asked to describe open banking in their own words, the top two responses in Splendid’s survey were “banks sharing your information” and “all accounts in one place”. Beyond this, understanding of the rules was hazy.
Respondents were also cynical that open banking was more self serving for finance companies than beneficial to customers. “Open banking has been a bit of a damp squib until now,” says James Daley, managing director of consumer group Fairer Finance. “One year since launch we’ve seen very few of the banks make good use of the new technology and some have struggled even to keep up with the pace required by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). There’s very little that can be shown for all the work that has gone into open banking at this stage. But hopefully there is plenty to come this year.”The concept was dreamt up in 2016 by the CMA which ruled that nine of the biggest banks and building societies would have to allow customers to share their financial data securely with other banks. The rate of bank switching is very low in the UK. It is said that you are more likely to get divorced than break up with your bank. It follows that when looking for an overdraft, loan, credit card or mortgage it is more likely that customers will resort to their existing bank, rather than shop around.The idea was that by opening up data to third-party apps, customers would easily be able to compare competing products from different providers.
The CMA hoped this would lead to more choice and better products to help manage people’s finances.Open banking allows customers to log into one website, or open one app on their phone or tablet, and see all of their current accounts, savings and credit cards in one place — regardless of who they bank with.Yolt Yolt gives you oversight of your current and savings accounts, plus credit cards, on a single interface. It sends customers insights into how they are spending money and what their major expenses are.Bean By using this app, customers can compare deals on all of their household bills, cancel any unwanted subscriptions and track payments across every account, all from within a single dashboard.
According to research by PwC, more than 33m people are expected to have signed up to open banking driven services by 2022. However, PwC said customers had been slow to do so because of concerns over companies they had never heard of having access to details of what they have spent and when they spent it.“The idea of open banking was to drive competition and innovation and to give consumers the ability to save money and give them more financial choices, but it’s been overshadowed by fears over privacy and security of personal data,” says Andrew Hagger, personal finance expert at MoneyComms. “It was always going to be a slow burn, and people need to recognise a real benefit before they are prepared to dip their toe in the water.”Mr Hagger said the launch had not been helped by the fact that some UK banks “have a poor record of keeping existing computer systems up and running, so bolting on new applications may not be a priority and seen as a bit of a risk.”But the landscape is changing and experts predict that this year will see challengers, fintechs, and the high street banks continue to invest in open banking products — which most believe will result in tangible benefits for consumers. The company overseeing the rollout, the Open Banking Implementation Entity, revealed this week that more than 100 regulated financial companies have enrolled in open banking. It says it has another 100 waiting to join.
Imran Gulamhuseinwala, one of its trustees, says consumers are gradually being offered products and services which will securely help them move, manage and make more of their money.Credit Kudos A free online service which uses an individual’s financial data to assess their financial behaviour and work out whether they are eligible for a range of financial services and demonstrate their creditworthiness. Plum Plum connects to your current account and monitors your spending habits, setting aside an amount of money every few days that it has worked out is affordable for each user to save.“Banks have very firmly moved from viewing open banking as a compliance exercise to an opportunity to compete and innovate,” he says. “They have worked hard to implement the standards despite many challenges and an ambitious timescale.”The tipping point is likely to be when consumers feel such apps are not a gimmick and can usefully save them money or time. Examples could be giving an app permission to make an automatic “sweep” from a savings account into a current account to avoid unnecessary overdraft fees, or “informative nudges” that can save consumers money on their mortgage when new rates are released, says Samantha Seaton, chief executive of Moneyhub, a financial management platform.She says such changes will “empower consumers and businesses in the UK and across Europe to achieve greater financial wellbeing” and adds that “as the potential is realised, the next few years will be transformational”.
High street versus superhighway Traditional UK high street banks have been slowly but surely working on new digital services for customers. HSBC was one of the first to release an open banking app last year, Connected Money. By using the app, HSBC customers can see their current account as well as online savings, mortgages, loans and cards held with any other bank. The app is able to group customers’ total spending across 30 categories including grocery shopping and utilities, making it a nifty budgeting tool. Santander has partnered with the Moneybox app to offer its customers the chance to connect their accounts and “round up” their spare change from banking transactions into a savings account. Barclays customers can also view all of their bank accounts — even ones held with rival banks — in one app. The service uses new open banking technology to ensure that customers’ accounts are linked into the app securely without ever asking for sensitive details such as passwords. And as per open banking rules customers will be able to switch off access instantly at any time, at the touch of a button, through the same app.Moneybox With this app, users can invest their spare change by rounding up the cost of digital payments. For example, if you pay £2.79 for a coffee, you can round up the transaction to £3 and swipe to invest the extra 21p into a stocks and shares Isa or Lifetime Isa. It is designed to help people with little spare cash to build savings via micro-payments.Money Dashboard This app brings together your “accounts and assets” on a central dashboard, including current accounts, credit cards and savings. The app lets you seamlessly analyse your income and outgoings, see where your money is being spent, and understand how much progress you’ve made towards your financial goals. However, it is new fintech savvy digital-only banks such as Monzo and Starling that have truly embraced open banking, according to experts. “It’s easier for them with in-house IT capability and without all the headache of big bank legacy IT systems — so at least they know they are not building on sand,” says Mr Hagger.Starling Bank is particularly innovative, and allows customers access to its “Marketplace” where they can choose from a range of products and services that can be integrated with their account. So far, the offering includes Wealthify, a place to go for your Isas and investments, Pension Bee to view pension balances, Yoyo Wallet, which allows customers to collect rewards and points automatically, online mortgage broker Habito and Kasko, a travel insurance app where people can compare policies.Debt management The latest development in the open banking arena, says Mr Gulamhuseinwala, is the move towards apps that “help address some of society’s issues, in particular in the debt advice area”.
Credit scoring companies such as Experian and Equifax report that fintech companies have approached them to talk about how data sharing can enhance their own products and services — especially where it can be used to increase financial inclusion and help people access more affordable, streamlined services. “We’ve seen a number of exciting new personal finance management tools emerge, helping people manage their money more effectively with the extra insight provided through open banking,” says Jon Roughley, director of innovation at Experian. “This additional source of data can also be particularly helpful for building out the financial records of the ‘credit invisible’ population — people with little or no viable financial information to draw upon — helping them to access both mainstream finance and crucial public services online.”Flux This app digitises, automates and organises receipts from a growing range of retail partners, including Eat, Itsu and Costa, and enables users to collect loyalty stamps and special offers digitally through their smartphones. To use Flux, customers must have a mobile banking app from one of Flux’s banking partners, including Starling, Monzo and Barclays.Trussle This online-only mortgage broker’s switching alert helps property buyers find the best home loan, and lets existing users know when they should remortgage to find a better deal. It monitors factors including the value of the home, fees for an early exit and charges on a new loan to identify when the time is right. Experts believe open banking may even bring access to financial advice to those who need it most — people in debt. “If you make things more efficient, it makes it easier to reach people who might otherwise ignore their finances,” says Sean Hawkins, strategic partnerships manager at Ascentric, an online platform that brings together investments and pensions from different providers. Speaking at a recent roundtable hosted by technology provider Bravura Solutions, he added that people leaving university with debts “might simply think their finances are bad and ignore the issue. Open banking makes advice more inclusive.
A question of trust Despite the numerous applications of the new technology, concerns about security that are yet to be dispelled and the industry is seeking ways to reassure customers. The promises that open banking pioneers have made are easier budgeting, better deals and more control. If these translate into pounds and pence gains, trust is maintained and data are respected, experts say we can expect the mass adoption of innovations like budgeting apps, digital money assistants and dashboards in the future. Becky O’Connor, a personal finance specialist at life insurer Royal London, said: “At the moment, what we have is a lot of competing apps that, to the average user, do roughly the same thing — track and categorise spending, add savings goals and let you see if you are on course to achieve them. Many providers are not on board. The industry is still finding its feet, working out how to be most useful to banking customers and there are kinks to iron out.”Although awareness of open banking is still low one year on, Ms O’Connor says: “In a way, people don’t really need to know the term. What matters more is that as more people sign up to services that have adopted open banking, they actually see some financial benefit — and their data are not misused.”For open banking to gain traction in the year ahead, banks and app providers will need to build trust and educate customers on the safety of their data — and to prove that by sharing this information it delivers value. Listen: Open Banking: what is it and how can you benefit from the new rules Get alerts on Personal Finance when a new story is published Get alerts Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2019. All rights reserved.
Saturday, June 01, 2019
NBA finals game 1
Strength in numbers: The Raptors beat the Warriors at their own game
JACKIE MACMULLAN
ESPN Senior Writer
9:44 PM IST7 Minute Read
Leonard, Siakam lead Raptors to Game 1 winKawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam combine for 55 points as the Raptors beat the Warriors 118-109 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
TORONTO -- When you are champions, you stick with what got you here. For the Golden State Warriors, the formula in these 2019 playoffs had been fairly transparent: identify the best player on the opposing team -- see James Harden and Damian Lillard -- and harangue him into a night of frustration and disappointment.
Thus, the blueprint against the Toronto Raptors was to reduce Kawhi Leonard's basketball life to misery, or at the very least considerable discomfort. Blitz him, double him, triple him if necessary, force him to give up the ball and dare the others to beat you.
It was a sound strategy on paper -- except the "others" were not only expecting it, they were aiming to exploit it. So, it was a collection of "complementary" Raptors who vaulted Toronto to win Game 1 of the NBA Finals 118-109 in a raucous Scotiabank Arena, delivering a roundhouse right to a team that so often has seemed invincible.
On a night when Leonard, who had been the most transcendent player in the playoffs, was a mere mortal, players such as Pascal Siakam happily filled the void. Siakam, the 24-year old forward who once was on a path to the priesthood -- until a visit, on a lark, to a summer basketball camp in his native Cameroon detoured him on an improbable basketball journey -- scored 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting. It was a prolific performance that would have been unthinkable two short years ago, when he was a raw, unpolished player who couldn't shoot.
At all.
"I was joking with him the other day," teammate Fred VanVleet told ESPN. "We used to shoot together in my rookie year, and me and the guy rebounding used to duck sometimes because his shots would come off the rim so hard.
"He had some bad misses. But what you are seeing now is the result of a lot of hard work. You can just see his confidence soaring."
The same can be said of VanVleet, who struggled mightily in earlier rounds of the playoffs but, following the birth of his son, has rediscovered his shooting stroke.
Pascal Siakam's team-high 32 points -- on 17 shots -- helped Toronto secure a clutch Game 1 win.
John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports
Then there's center Marc Gasol, who heard all the chatter about how this was a poor matchup for him, particularly if DeMarcus Cousins found his way onto the court (he did, in an unremarkable eight-minute cameo). Gasol was also a benefactor of the exorbitant amount of attention paid to Leonard, scoring 20 points and stretching the floor for his teammates on what Warriors coach Steve Kerr termed "dare shots."
"Dare, no dare, if you are open, you shoot them," Gasol said.
Said VanVleet: "Kawhi has been having such an unbelievable playoff run, I think it would have been disrespectful not to give him a lot of attention. We know that. We've been dealing with that all of these playoffs.
"You can see teams try to balance it -- 'should we help too much; are we not helping enough?' For the rest of us, it means we've got to be ready for the opportunity when the kickouts come."
Even Danny Green, who hadn't drilled a 3-pointer since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, hit three of them Thursday night.
And yet, in a spirited Raptors locker room after the game, the topic of discussion was not their marksmen, but a collective defensive effort that held a terrifying Golden State lineup in check.
Stephen Curry (34 points), per usual, got his, but the Raptors took turns bumping and chasing him and his Splash Brother Klay Thompson. They weren't stopped, but contained, and that was good enough.
"We've tried to hang our hat on our defense all year,'' Kyle Lowry said. "One thing about Golden State is you can't give them space. When we did, Steph and Klay made every shot."
It was Curry's 11 first-quarter points that kept Golden State within striking distance in the opening frame. In fact, for all the good vibes the Raptors' shooters were experiencing, the Warriors were constantly lurking. Because the defending champions can score so quickly and in such explosive fashion, even when Toronto pushed the lead to double digits, it never quite felt safe.
But as Siakam continued to wreak havoc in transition, the Raptors were able to maintain their lead wire to wire.
The most critical shot of the night came courtesy of VanVleet with 3:20 to play, shortly after the Warriors had cut the deficit to 10, 108-98. With the shot clock ticking down, VanVleet found himself pinned in the corner and let one fly. The shot rolled halfway down, halfway back up, and finally settled on counting after all.
"Klay didn't leave me as much as I thought he would, so I didn't have a clean look right away,'' VanVleet said. "By the time I thought about it, there was only one second left, so I got a little separation, a little look, a little bit of luck.
"About time, you know? I was in a little slump, but now I've got some of those in the bank."
VanVleet gets friendly roll on jumper
Fred VanVleet pulls up for a long jumper and the ball bounces on the rim before rolling through to beat the shot clock.
The Warriors were hardly devastated by the events of Game 1, though they were most certainly irritated by them. They once again exhibited their maddening tendency to be careless with the basketball, and the Raptors transformed their 16 turnovers into 17 points.
Golden State also recognizes it needs to do a better job of limiting Siakam in the open floor and identifying Toronto's shooters.
"Our transition D was horrible,'' Draymond Green said. "You give guys those type of shots, they get comfortable and it's a different beast."
Said Curry: "You can't give [Siakam] any dare shots, and you can't give him any straight-line drives to the basket. That's just an effort thing we all can be more mindful of."
No coach wants to hear their players admit they need to be mindful about more effort; the Warriors' swagger has always been their greatest strength -- and their greatest weakness. And while acknowledging being up 1-0 is better than being down 1-0 -- something this group has never experienced in the Finals -- Shaun Livingston insisted his team embraces these moments. "I like the vibe," Curry said.
The Game 1 loss did one thing, for sure: It quelled the notion the Warriors will cruise to a title with or without Kevin Durant, who probably will miss Game 2 as he continues to heal from his calf strain. Toronto expects to see KD at some point in the series -- and will plan accordingly. As Leonard pointed out, Durant "can score 30 in his sleep."
After Thursday, the Raptors can be sure of one thing: The champions might have been slumbering before. But they are most definitely awake now.
JACKIE MACMULLAN
ESPN Senior Writer
9:44 PM IST7 Minute Read
Leonard, Siakam lead Raptors to Game 1 winKawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam combine for 55 points as the Raptors beat the Warriors 118-109 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
TORONTO -- When you are champions, you stick with what got you here. For the Golden State Warriors, the formula in these 2019 playoffs had been fairly transparent: identify the best player on the opposing team -- see James Harden and Damian Lillard -- and harangue him into a night of frustration and disappointment.
Thus, the blueprint against the Toronto Raptors was to reduce Kawhi Leonard's basketball life to misery, or at the very least considerable discomfort. Blitz him, double him, triple him if necessary, force him to give up the ball and dare the others to beat you.
It was a sound strategy on paper -- except the "others" were not only expecting it, they were aiming to exploit it. So, it was a collection of "complementary" Raptors who vaulted Toronto to win Game 1 of the NBA Finals 118-109 in a raucous Scotiabank Arena, delivering a roundhouse right to a team that so often has seemed invincible.
On a night when Leonard, who had been the most transcendent player in the playoffs, was a mere mortal, players such as Pascal Siakam happily filled the void. Siakam, the 24-year old forward who once was on a path to the priesthood -- until a visit, on a lark, to a summer basketball camp in his native Cameroon detoured him on an improbable basketball journey -- scored 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting. It was a prolific performance that would have been unthinkable two short years ago, when he was a raw, unpolished player who couldn't shoot.
At all.
"I was joking with him the other day," teammate Fred VanVleet told ESPN. "We used to shoot together in my rookie year, and me and the guy rebounding used to duck sometimes because his shots would come off the rim so hard.
"He had some bad misses. But what you are seeing now is the result of a lot of hard work. You can just see his confidence soaring."
The same can be said of VanVleet, who struggled mightily in earlier rounds of the playoffs but, following the birth of his son, has rediscovered his shooting stroke.
Pascal Siakam's team-high 32 points -- on 17 shots -- helped Toronto secure a clutch Game 1 win.
John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports
Then there's center Marc Gasol, who heard all the chatter about how this was a poor matchup for him, particularly if DeMarcus Cousins found his way onto the court (he did, in an unremarkable eight-minute cameo). Gasol was also a benefactor of the exorbitant amount of attention paid to Leonard, scoring 20 points and stretching the floor for his teammates on what Warriors coach Steve Kerr termed "dare shots."
"Dare, no dare, if you are open, you shoot them," Gasol said.
Said VanVleet: "Kawhi has been having such an unbelievable playoff run, I think it would have been disrespectful not to give him a lot of attention. We know that. We've been dealing with that all of these playoffs.
"You can see teams try to balance it -- 'should we help too much; are we not helping enough?' For the rest of us, it means we've got to be ready for the opportunity when the kickouts come."
Even Danny Green, who hadn't drilled a 3-pointer since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, hit three of them Thursday night.
And yet, in a spirited Raptors locker room after the game, the topic of discussion was not their marksmen, but a collective defensive effort that held a terrifying Golden State lineup in check.
Stephen Curry (34 points), per usual, got his, but the Raptors took turns bumping and chasing him and his Splash Brother Klay Thompson. They weren't stopped, but contained, and that was good enough.
"We've tried to hang our hat on our defense all year,'' Kyle Lowry said. "One thing about Golden State is you can't give them space. When we did, Steph and Klay made every shot."
It was Curry's 11 first-quarter points that kept Golden State within striking distance in the opening frame. In fact, for all the good vibes the Raptors' shooters were experiencing, the Warriors were constantly lurking. Because the defending champions can score so quickly and in such explosive fashion, even when Toronto pushed the lead to double digits, it never quite felt safe.
But as Siakam continued to wreak havoc in transition, the Raptors were able to maintain their lead wire to wire.
The most critical shot of the night came courtesy of VanVleet with 3:20 to play, shortly after the Warriors had cut the deficit to 10, 108-98. With the shot clock ticking down, VanVleet found himself pinned in the corner and let one fly. The shot rolled halfway down, halfway back up, and finally settled on counting after all.
"Klay didn't leave me as much as I thought he would, so I didn't have a clean look right away,'' VanVleet said. "By the time I thought about it, there was only one second left, so I got a little separation, a little look, a little bit of luck.
"About time, you know? I was in a little slump, but now I've got some of those in the bank."
VanVleet gets friendly roll on jumper
Fred VanVleet pulls up for a long jumper and the ball bounces on the rim before rolling through to beat the shot clock.
The Warriors were hardly devastated by the events of Game 1, though they were most certainly irritated by them. They once again exhibited their maddening tendency to be careless with the basketball, and the Raptors transformed their 16 turnovers into 17 points.
Golden State also recognizes it needs to do a better job of limiting Siakam in the open floor and identifying Toronto's shooters.
"Our transition D was horrible,'' Draymond Green said. "You give guys those type of shots, they get comfortable and it's a different beast."
Said Curry: "You can't give [Siakam] any dare shots, and you can't give him any straight-line drives to the basket. That's just an effort thing we all can be more mindful of."
No coach wants to hear their players admit they need to be mindful about more effort; the Warriors' swagger has always been their greatest strength -- and their greatest weakness. And while acknowledging being up 1-0 is better than being down 1-0 -- something this group has never experienced in the Finals -- Shaun Livingston insisted his team embraces these moments. "I like the vibe," Curry said.
The Game 1 loss did one thing, for sure: It quelled the notion the Warriors will cruise to a title with or without Kevin Durant, who probably will miss Game 2 as he continues to heal from his calf strain. Toronto expects to see KD at some point in the series -- and will plan accordingly. As Leonard pointed out, Durant "can score 30 in his sleep."
After Thursday, the Raptors can be sure of one thing: The champions might have been slumbering before. But they are most definitely awake now.
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Indian household debt is rising
India’s household debt has risen 80% in 2017-18. It could bite if incomes don’t grow
Illustration by Arindam Mukherjee | ThePrint
We have heard these last few years about the twin-debt problem faced by companies and banks. We’ve read reports like Credit Suisse’s ‘House of Debt’, on companies that don’t have the earnings to pay interest on debt, let alone the principal. And of course we have read more than we would wish to about how banks have been writing off record sums of bad loans. So far, though, no one seems to have looked at the extent of money that is being borrowed by individuals, and the rising levels of household debt. Time to look at it when the consumption engine that has kept the economy going through a multi-year investment slowdown has stopped firing as before.
We have heard these last few years about the twin-debt problem faced by companies and banks. We’ve read reports like Credit Suisse’s ‘House of Debt’, on companies that don’t have the earnings to pay interest on debt, let alone the principal. And of course we have read more than we would wish to about how banks have been writing off record sums of bad loans. So far, though, no one seems to have looked at the extent of money that is being borrowed by individuals, and the rising levels of household debt. Time to look at it when the consumption engine that has kept the economy going through a multi-year investment slowdown has stopped firing as before.
Individual or household financial stress is usually the result of lost jobs or livelihoods, and there is some of that. Look at depressed farm incomes, the fate of Jet Airways, or the effects of demonetisation. But there seems to be a deeper problem building up, one that is not linked to economic downswings or disruptions. Personal debt has been climbing and we must ask whether the burden of repayment is eating into disposable incomes — especially if loans taken for housing have to be repaid even when the housing project is stuck. Take a look at the numbers.
Between 2013-14 and 2017-18, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) ‘Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy’, personal loans given by banks went up in by 89 per cent to Rs 19.1 lakh crore. This, when private consumption increased by only 53 per cent, and overall non-food credit went up by an even more sedate 39 per cent. There was an increase of 82 per cent in borrowing for housing, 54 per cent for consumer durables, and 78 per cent for vehicles. The most striking was a 154 per cent increase in “other personal loans”, even as credit card outstanding went up by an even bigger 176 per cent. The only modest increase was for education loans (up about 16 per cent).
These numbers on borrowings are compelling when placed against the figures for household savings, which, in the three years to 2016-17, went up by just 18 per cent, while physical household savings actually declined, though fractionally. The household figure for savings includes unincorporated enterprises, so the numbers are not strictly comparable.
Nevertheless, the growing tendency to borrow more to consume is clear: The ratio between borrowings and overall consumption (including of the daily necessities) moved up in four years from 15.6 per cent to 19.3 per cent.
That’s just bank credit. There is then the money that people borrow from non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), usually for housing and cars but also for consumer durables and spending occasions like weddings. RBI numbers suggest that banks account for only about two-thirds of household financing, and the overall financial liabilities of households went up by Rs 6.7 lakh crore in 2017-18. This was an astonishing 80 per cent step up from the increase in (not total) liabilities of a year earlier.
India’s household debt in relation to its GDP is low — barely 11 per cent — compared to the other BRICS countries: 17 per cent in Russia, 26 per cent in Brazil and 48 per cent in China. But loans have to be repaid out of disposable income. This will be lower in India, where most people still live hand-to-mouth, than in the rest of BRICS, which has per capita income about five times India’s. For that reason, straight comparisons with such countries on the levels of personal debt can be misleading. That apart, at their present rates of growth, personal loans in India could well become the largest category of bank credit in just two or three years, replacing large industry and services which lead the tables now. Bank credit to all of industry, for instance, grew just 7.3 per cent in the four years to 2017-18. The financing of households is fine if incomes keep growing. If not, high debt levels could begin to bite, and we will have a double whammy.
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Uber drivers are not employees
Uber Drivers Are Contractors, Not Employees, Labor Board Says
For The New York Times
By Noam Scheiber
May 14, 2019
The National Labor Relations Board, handing an important victory to Uber, has concluded that the company’s drivers are contractors, not employees.
The move, outlined by the board’s general counsel in a memorandum released Tuesday, deals a blow to drivers’ efforts to band together to demand higher pay and better working conditions from Uber and its main rival in the ride-hailing business, Lyft. It is the first major policy move the board has made concerning the so-called gig economy under President Trump.
Contractors lack the protection given to employees under federal law — and enforced by the labor board — for unionizing and other collective activity, such as protesting the policies of employers. As a practical matter, the conclusion makes it extremely difficult for Uber drivers to form a union.
The board’s general counsel, Peter B. Robb, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, does not have purview over other laws applying to employees, such as minimum wage and overtime protections.
Still, had Mr. Robb’s office found that drivers were employees rather than contractors, the decision could have put pressure on the regulators who enforce such laws to reach the same conclusion.
The labor costs of companies like Uber and Lyft would probably rise 20 to 30 percent, according to industry estimates, if regulators or courts forced them to treat drivers as employees. Both businesses have seen their stock prices fall after recent public offerings amid questions about their financial prospects.
The companies appear to be walking a delicate line: Investors and analysts have suggested that the businesses might have to slash their labor costs to become profitable. Drivers frequently complain that pay is already unacceptably low.
Uber lost nearly $2 billion last year, and Lyft lost nearly $1 billion.
“We are focused on improving the quality and security of independent work, while preserving the flexibility drivers and couriers tell us they value,” Uber said in a statement on Tuesday.
The memo follows an opinion last month by the Labor Department arguing that workers at an unnamed company with a business model like Uber’s were contractors, not employees.
In both cases, the conclusions reversed the approach adopted by the Obama administration, which had suggested that people who found work through apps were likely to be considered employees. In 2016, the labor board issued a complaint against Postmates, an app-based delivery service, over allegations that the company had interfered with workers’ ability to exercise their labor rights.
The agency could not have issued that complaint without first concluding that Postmates couriers were employees.
The memo released on Tuesday, which was dated April 16, has no long-term value as a precedent and can be reversed by a future general counsel. But it carries considerable weight in how the board enforces federal labor law.
The general counsel is the labor board’s chief prosecutor and has authority over whether or not to issue formal complaints against employers, which are analogous to indictments in criminal law. The memo essentially tells Uber drivers and many other gig-economy workers that they should not bother reporting a labor rights abuse to the board because Mr. Robb has deemed them to be outside its jurisdiction.
Mr. Robb has had a long career in labor law largely spent representing employers. He was involved in the Reagan administration’s legal fight with the air traffic controllers’ union, which went on strike illegally in 1981. Labor experts have said the government’s decision to fire the controllers contributed to organized labor’s decline.
The immediate consequence of the memo is to render moot three formal accusations, filed in different parts of the country, that Uber had violated federal labor law. The memo instructs the board’s regional offices to dismiss the charges if the people who made them do not withdraw them first.
In its analysis, the general counsel’s office listed 10 factors that collectively determine whether a worker is an employee or a contractor, including the extent to which the company can control how the work is performed and whether the company or the worker provides equipment.
But, citing a federal appeals court decision, the memo also said the “animating principle” used to make the determination of contractor status was whether the worker had an opportunity to profit from the activity in the way an entrepreneur would.
“The drivers had significant entrepreneurial opportunity by virtue of their near complete control of their cars and work schedules, together with freedom to choose login locations and to work for competitors of Uber,” the memo stated.
Marshall Babson, a former labor board member appointed by President Ronald Reagan who is now a labor lawyer representing management, said the general counsel’s conclusion had largely been dictated by the limitations of federal law.
While the conclusion may not be satisfying to those who believe the National Labor Relations Act, enacted in 1935, does not reflect the realities of today’s workplace, Mr. Babson said the board did not have the authority to expand the boundaries of the act on its own.
“Congress has to do it, not the N.L.R.B.,” Mr. Babson said.
But Wilma Liebman, a board chairwoman under President Barack Obama, said the memo elevated the importance of factors that indicate a contractor relationship, like whether both the company and worker believe the person is a contractor, and underplayed factors that suggest employment, like the fact that drivers perform a function that is central to Uber’s business.
Ms. Liebman added that the memo took an extremely permissive view of entrepreneurship, given that drivers cannot set prices or market their personal services to potential customers. The driver’s entrepreneurial opportunities are almost “completely circumscribed by the company’s control of the price,” she said.
Some labor groups insisted that drivers would not be deterred from mobilizing for better treatment, even without the protections of federal labor law.
“Drivers across the globe are organizing and demanding rights,” Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, said in response to the memo. “The road may be long and difficult, but one way or another Uber will have to answer to its workers.”
Monday, May 13, 2019
Dark matter season 1
This is the series which I hopped onto when I had the inkling for a sci fi series. There is a scarcity of good science fiction nowadays . Nope the superhero series don't count
Looks like I missed it when it aired in 2015 and the only familiar face is Roger cross from continuum.
My opinion
After finishing the thirteen episodes of the first season I can safely conclude that this is a solid series
There was never a dull moment in the entire 13 episodes kudos to the writers who made it as engaging as possible. The fact that the primary characters still call themselves by a number which they gave themselves when they woke up with their memories erased at the start was interesting. They continued to follow the same even after they learn of their real identities. It gets the question whether sometime in the future humans will have a service to erase their memories to escape a traumatic past or guilt. This would be the real pursuit of happiness. Imagine every day is a new day wouldn't that be exciting
One has a past of Fortune and tragedy which he is trying to piece together
Two is a criminal with a bio mod which her almost invulnerable to anything
Three is a journeyman criminal who seems to be the only one who behaves the same way before losing his memory I.e he doesn't have any emotional baggage
Four is royalty and is the first one to learn his past and act on it
Five is the free loader to the criminal spaceship
Six is the man with morals which is contrary to his criminal past
Despite it's very thin budget , the special effect in this series is a joke ,the selling point is the manner in which they maintain intrigue in every episode by adding layers to each character
Somehow they make the audience invest in their stories and would like to unfold the story along with them
The acting is good and there was no moment where I had to facepalm which is impressive for a cast which I haven't seen anywhere else
Looks like I missed it when it aired in 2015 and the only familiar face is Roger cross from continuum.
After finishing the thirteen episodes of the first season I can safely conclude that this is a solid series
There was never a dull moment in the entire 13 episodes kudos to the writers who made it as engaging as possible. The fact that the primary characters still call themselves by a number which they gave themselves when they woke up with their memories erased at the start was interesting. They continued to follow the same even after they learn of their real identities. It gets the question whether sometime in the future humans will have a service to erase their memories to escape a traumatic past or guilt. This would be the real pursuit of happiness. Imagine every day is a new day wouldn't that be exciting
One has a past of Fortune and tragedy which he is trying to piece together
Two is a criminal with a bio mod which her almost invulnerable to anything
Three is a journeyman criminal who seems to be the only one who behaves the same way before losing his memory I.e he doesn't have any emotional baggage
Four is royalty and is the first one to learn his past and act on it
Five is the free loader to the criminal spaceship
Six is the man with morals which is contrary to his criminal past
Despite it's very thin budget , the special effect in this series is a joke ,the selling point is the manner in which they maintain intrigue in every episode by adding layers to each character
Somehow they make the audience invest in their stories and would like to unfold the story along with them
The acting is good and there was no moment where I had to facepalm which is impressive for a cast which I haven't seen anywhere else
Friday, April 26, 2019
Wonderbread by Alfred corn
Wonderbread
BY ALFRED CORN
Loaf after loaf, in several sizes,
and never does it not look fresh,
as though its insides weren’t moist
or warm crust not the kind that spices
a room with the plump aroma of toast.
Found on the table; among shadows
next to the kitchen phone; dispatched
FedEx (without return address, though).
Someone, possibly more than one
person, loves me. Well then, who?
Amazing that bread should be so weightless,
down-light when handled, as a me
dying to taste it takes a slice.
Which lasts just long enough to reach
my mouth, but then, at the first bite,
Nothing! Nothing but air, thin air ....
Oh. One more loaf of wonderbread,
only a pun for bread, seductive
visually, but you could starve.
Get rid of it, throw it in the river—
Beyond which, grain fields. Future food for the just
and the unjust, those who love, and do not love.
BY ALFRED CORN
Loaf after loaf, in several sizes,
and never does it not look fresh,
as though its insides weren’t moist
or warm crust not the kind that spices
a room with the plump aroma of toast.
Found on the table; among shadows
next to the kitchen phone; dispatched
FedEx (without return address, though).
Someone, possibly more than one
person, loves me. Well then, who?
Amazing that bread should be so weightless,
down-light when handled, as a me
dying to taste it takes a slice.
Which lasts just long enough to reach
my mouth, but then, at the first bite,
Nothing! Nothing but air, thin air ....
Oh. One more loaf of wonderbread,
only a pun for bread, seductive
visually, but you could starve.
Get rid of it, throw it in the river—
Beyond which, grain fields. Future food for the just
and the unjust, those who love, and do not love.
Saturday, April 06, 2019
Chelsey minnis - clown
Clown
It seems like I'm growing more and more like a clown. First of all, I'm always
sad. Secondly, all my knives are made out of rubber. Thirdly, it's like my house
is on fire.
No, I'm definitely becoming more like a clown. I have a tendency to want to put
on clown clothes. As soon as I put the clown clothes on I feel faintly happier...
Another sign is that I constantly feel like I'm alone in a dressing room. Most
of the time I feel amused. Anyway, the only thing good about the circus is
the tigers.
I realize that I could get both legs cut off by the circus train or get frightened
by an elephant. But it's very depressing to sit around in a clown suit and think
about death.
Sometimes I don't feel happy unless I'm in my clown suit. And I enjoy hitting
people on the head with a foam club. I really do...
When people see me they realize that it looks very sophisticated to wear a clown
suit and smoke a cigarette. This is how I get all the ladies because they think I'm
very droll.
People don't understand how you turn into a clown. You turn into a clown
because you feel more and more like putting on a clown suit. When you're
around people you sense a kindliness. It makes you so nervous you can't
stay calm. Which is why it feels perfectly normal to wear orange pants.
Plus, it's very subversive to wear bow ties. You can't imagine how jolly
everything is. And the fright wigs... I don't want to be a clown but I'm
sure to be one. My mother was a clown.
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Ode to teachers
Ode to Teachers
BY PAT MORA
I remember
the first day,
how I looked down,
hoping you wouldn't see
me,
and when I glanced up,
I saw your smile
shining like a soft light
from deep inside you.
“I'm listening,” you encourage us.
“Come on!
Join our conversation,
let us hear your neon certainties,
thorny doubts, tangled angers,”
but for weeks I hid inside.
I read and reread your notes
praising
my writing,
and you whispered,
“We need you
and your stories
and questions
that like a fresh path
will take us to new vistas.”
Slowly, your faith grew
into my courage
and for you—
instead of handing you
a note or apple or flowers—
I raised my hand.
I carry your smile
and faith inside like I carry
my dog's face,
my sister's laugh,
creamy melodies,
the softness of sunrise,
steady blessings of stars,
autumn smell of gingerbread,
the security of a sweater on a chilly day.
Friday, March 15, 2019
Pigeons by Huang fan
I’ve never seen pigeons argue
I only see them soar
I don’t know if a pigeon is naïve or worldly
I just know it has no past to make it toil through life
Maybe they’re the tongues of the air Lazily expressing cars’ sighs Maybe they’re lined up on the roof Vying to perform snow’s wedding
One day I stick my head out the window And realize their nation is the act of soaring Soaring makes my silence meaningless Thank god, they’ve taught me how to talk about nations!
Standing under a flock of pigeons, I think oh People aren’t even worth one flower blooming toward them
Maybe they’re the tongues of the air Lazily expressing cars’ sighs Maybe they’re lined up on the roof Vying to perform snow’s wedding
One day I stick my head out the window And realize their nation is the act of soaring Soaring makes my silence meaningless Thank god, they’ve taught me how to talk about nations!
Standing under a flock of pigeons, I think oh People aren’t even worth one flower blooming toward them
Conan on his shelf life
Calvin Coolidge was a pretty popular president. I’ve been to his grave in Vermont. It has the presidential seal on it. Nobody was there. And by the way, I’m the only late-night host that has been to Calvin Coolidge’s grave. I think’s that what separates me from the other hosts.
I had a great conversation with Albert Brooks once. When I met him for the first time, I was kind of stammering. I said, you make movies, they live on forever. I just do these late-night shows, they get lost, they’re never seen again and who cares? And he looked at me and he said, [Albert Brooks voice] “What are you talking about? None of it matters.” None of it matters? “No, that’s the secret. In 1940, people said Clark Gable is the face of the 20th Century. Who [expletive] thinks about Clark Gable? It doesn’t matter. You’ll be forgotten. I’ll be forgotten. We’ll all be forgotten.” It’s so funny because you’d think that would depress me. I was walking on air after that.
I had a great conversation with Albert Brooks once. When I met him for the first time, I was kind of stammering. I said, you make movies, they live on forever. I just do these late-night shows, they get lost, they’re never seen again and who cares? And he looked at me and he said, [Albert Brooks voice] “What are you talking about? None of it matters.” None of it matters? “No, that’s the secret. In 1940, people said Clark Gable is the face of the 20th Century. Who [expletive] thinks about Clark Gable? It doesn’t matter. You’ll be forgotten. I’ll be forgotten. We’ll all be forgotten.” It’s so funny because you’d think that would depress me. I was walking on air after that.
Saturday, January 19, 2019
True detective is back
Season 3 is here. This is the Tv series which started the golden age of television. This seems to be more in the genre of Season 1 which is welcoming....... and it is directed by Jeremy Saulnier who did "Hold the Dark" , "green Room"
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Spider Man : Into the Spider Verse
This has to be a groundbreaking animated movie as it will revolutionize superhero movies in the future. Thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie.
Friday, December 28, 2018
Family - Josephine Miles
Family
BY JOSEPHINE MILES
When you swim in the surf off Seal Rocks, and your family
Sits in the sand
Eating potato salad, and the undertow
Comes which takes you out away down
To loss of breath loss of play and the power of play
Holler, say
Help, help, help. Hello, they will say,
Come back here for some potato salad.
It is then that a seventeen-year-old cub
Cruising in a helicopter from Antigua,
A jackstraw expert speaking only Swedish
And remote from this area as a camel, says
Look down there, there is somebody drowning.
And it is you. You say, yes, yes,
And he throws you a line.
This is what is called the brotherhood of man.
Chris Abani : In the middle of Dinner
In the Middle of Dinner
BY CHRIS ABANI
my mother put down her knife and fork,
pulled her wedding ring from its groove,
placing it contemplatively on her middle
finger. So natural was the move,
so tender, I almost didn’t notice.
Five years, she said, five years, once a week,
I wrote a letter to your father. And waited
until time was like ash on my tongue.
Not one letter back, not a single note.
She sighed, smiling, the weight gone. This
prime rib is really tender, isn’t it? she asked
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Bird Box :Another Netflix thriller
Review: Sandra Bullock makes the creepy, derivative 'Bird Box' worth a look
By JUSTIN CHANG
FILM CRITIC
DEC 12, 2018 | 5:30 PM
Sandra Bullock in a scene from "Bird Box." (Merrick Morton/Netflix)
In Susanne Bier’s “Bird Box,” an end-of-days freak-out starring Sandra Bullock, the world is overrun by an inexplicable menace with a clever plan for wiping out humanity. To those of us in the audience, the creatures (or whatever they are) remain entirely invisible, represented by a sudden rush of wind, which makes them about as scary as a leaf blower. But if you were a character in the movie and happened to look in their direction, your eyes would turn blood-red and you would be seized by an immediate, irresistible urge to kill yourself, probably by dashing your head repeatedly against the nearest hard surface.
I am glad to report that the movie itself, creepy and diverting enough on its own workmanlike terms, induces no such impulse. It could have, I suppose, but Bier is too much of a professional to drop a stray reel from “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” mid-picture. Instead, she applies herself — as does the screenwriter, Eric Heisserer (“Arrival”), adapting Josh Malerman’s 2014 debut novel — to the challenge of representing a horror that, in every sense, cannot be seen.
This is a different order of business from the year’s other high-concept sensory-deprivation thriller. In “A Quiet Place,” the characters must avoid making noise to evade the attention of murderous monsters. In “Bird Box,” the survivors must constrain their own senses, which might be even harder. For much of the picture, we watch a tightly wound Malorie (Bullock) and two quietly obedient children (Julian Edwards and Vivien Lyra Blair) make their way around in blindfolds — a task that becomes trickier when they are forced to spend hours kayaking down an icy, turbulent river.
What happened? How did they get here? Where are they going? The movie begins to provide answers — not all of them, but a few — by flashing back to five years earlier, when a wave of mass spontaneous suicides breaks out worldwide. Chaos erupts at the hospital where Malorie, six months pregnant, is seeing a doctor with her sister (Sarah Paulson, gone too soon). Malorie’s frantic drive home becomes a bravura piece of doomsday action choreography, with self-crashing vehicles and people screaming and fleeing en masse, as one after another makes the mistake of laying eyes on the creatures in their midst.
Amid the fiery chaos, Malorie is pulled into a large house whose inhabitants have the good sense to lock the doors and cover the windows. At this point, “Bird Box” effectively becomes a zombie movie sans zombies, in which a motley crew of survivors — Malorie’s new housemates include Trevante Rhodes, Lil Rel Howery, BD Wong, Jacki Weaver and a surly, shotgun-toting John Malkovich — find themselves trapped in a single location.
This one is fairly spacious, all things considered. The usual clash of personalities ensues, plus moments of teamwork, bonding and what-the-hell-it’s-the-apocalypse sex. Rations and supplies run low; the slightest glimpse of daylight can prove deadly. Desperate survivors come pounding at the door at night, including another pregnant woman (a touching Danielle Macdonald) and a man (an unnerving Tom Hollander) who provides a chilling clue about the rapidly evolving nature of the outside threat. And then there are the caged birds, which turn out to have useful perceptual powers where the monsters are concerned, and whose imprisonment is clearly a metaphor for the characters’ own.
The actors give the material an appreciable boost: Much as he did in “12 Strong” and “The Predator,” the handsome Rhodes emerges as a kind of B-movie ensemble MVP — after Bullock, of course, with whom he strikes up a warmly emotional rapport. For her part, Bullock remains an effortlessly watchable action heroine, though her natural comic spark has been tamped down in service of a character who becomes increasingly humorless and raw-nerved as the body count spikes.
Presumably, we will learn how Malorie becomes the joyless, no-nonsense mom she is five years later, someone who denies her poor kids even the slightest moment of levity and, as the movie notes in some overly emphatic dialogue, has sacrificed living for the sake of survival. “Bird Box” keeps cutting back and forth in time, between the house under siege and the boat on the river, a seesaw tactic that opens up the story visually but also undercuts the suspense on both ends. One form of narrative monotony is effectively replaced with another.
More celebrated for the nimble early pictures she directed in her native Denmark (“After the Wedding,” “Brothers”) than for her rickety forays into Hollywood melodrama (“Things We Lost in the Fire,” “Serena”), Bier plunges herself into mainstream horror filmmaking with a gusto that doesn’t always offset her lack of precision. For visceral intensity, she never tops the early scenes of mayhem and mass panic; slow-building, artfully modulated tension in close quarters seems beyond the movie’s interest or purview. The scares keep getting more and more desperate, cranking up the volume with gale-force winds and eerie voices, en route to an ending that’s silly verging on offensive.
Although far better than M. Night Shyamalan’s mass-suicide thriller “The Happening” — scant praise, I know — “Bird Box” never really makes its unseen villains work conceptually. The horror remains strictly theoretical when it should instead be palpable. The movie’s wan, derivative pleasures fly completely in the face of its premise: You’ve seen this all many times before, which doesn’t mean you’ll mind seeing it again.
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