Findcate

Local school officials deserve praise for banding together to figure out how to provide the region’s youth with a quality education while dealing with increasing costs and stagnant state aid. Their efforts might have a better chance of success, however, if they focused more on the local spending.

Representatives from school districts in Beverly, Danvers, Ipswich, Marblehead, Swampscott, Hamilton-Wenham, Manchester Essex, Gloucester, Rockport and Chelmsford have begun to compare notes and share stories. The discussions have only reinforced the fact many districts are facing similar problems.

“There’s something wrong when a community that has double the income and property value as Swampscott gets more funding than Swampscott,” said David Whelan, that town’s School Committee chairman.

The Beverly state representative, who was at the group’s first meeting, noted the state doesn’t have extra money to pass on to local school districts. With the economy remaining stagnant and support for the income tax-eliminating Question 1 continuing to grow, there’s little chance of that changing anytime soon.

School districts could find power in numbers, however, by regionalizing some services and pooling resources wherever possible, saving money while preserving or even expanding educational opportunities for their students.

One school district, for example, may not be able to support a Russian language program on its own. With students from other districts, such a program may thrive. Schools such as Hamilton-Wenham, Rockport and Ipswich already share some sports programs.

A regional coalition could also allow for group purchases of utilities and supplies, and less expensive bus service in some communities.

There is still much work to be done to move past the discussion stage and into action. Any movement in that direction should be welcomed by educators and taxpayers alike.

Tags: ford

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Yards and lots throughout Springdale are looking more like hayfields than lawns, but mowing the yards could take more effort than baling hay.

A change in state law added days, weeks and sometimes months to the time needed for the city to legally mow property the owner let return to a natural state. The state legislature, according to Ernest Cate, assistant city attorney, changed the notification requirements in 2007 for cities that want to clean up private property deemed unsafe or unsanitary.

Before doing any work, the law states, the city must notify any lienholder, such as a mortgage bank, before starting work.

“Before the law changed, code enforcement would post a notice on the property,” Cate said. “After seven business days, you could start mowing. The attorney’s office wasn’t involved.”

“People are frustrated,” said Sgt. Billy Turnbough, who heads the police department’s Springdale Nuisance Abatement Partnership. “I’m frustrated. This is hurting people’s quality of life and their property values.”

The problems range from affordable housing to much more expensive neighborhoods.

Tags: cate, ford

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Spiralling food costs could cause a new crisis in Africa’s HIV programme, a UK aid agency has warned.

Speaking ahead of an HIV-Aids conference in Mexico, Cafod said advances in treatment for the virus could be swiftly undermined by the soaring price owf foodstuff.

Its partners in Africa have reported sufferers coming off anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, while the effectiveness of the treatment was being weakened by poor diets.

The last few years have seen a surge in the availability of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs in poor areas of Africa. But as the cost of food continues to rise, people are increasingly struggling to afford a balanced diet essential for the success of ARV treatment.

HIV patients are also coming off treatment to avoid the cost of travelling to clinics and in some cases buying the drugs, Cafod said.

There is also evidence that some people are coming off ARV treatment so that they do not incur the increased appetite that the treatment gives.

If people stop taking ARVs there is a higher risk of resistance. This in turn could lead to a drug resistant strain of the virus being passed on, aid workers have warned.

Tags: Food, food crisis, ford, rvs, spira

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As a city heralded for its cowboys and culture, one essential aspect of Fort Worth’s charm is the occasional clip-clop of hooves down Main Street.

Five carriage companies currently are licensed by the city’s Department of Transportation to serve Fort Worth and often can be seen waiting in front of the Worthington Hotel on weekends or weaving around traffic with bridal parties waving to passing cars.

Tracy Pratt is one businesswoman who capitalizes off tourists and local interest in horses, as an owner of Brazos Carriage Co. Pratt’s business is a recent addition to the companies that serve downtown. Brazos  Carriage was established in 2004 and the business has been operating primarily in Granbury.

During Pratt’s previous experiences riding through Downtown for scheduled events, such as weddings or funerals, her interest was piqued as she saw the existing companies blossom off Downtown clientele.

“We’re not in a nasty competition by any means – there’s enough business to go around,” Pratt said. “The thing with Downtown is that we all have to distinguish ourselves as being the elite service next to the other guy.”

The Ground Transportation Coordinator for Fort Worth’s Department of Transportation, Jerald Taylor, said there is no limit to the number of companies that may operate in the area between Lancaster Avenue and Weatherford Street and between Henderson Street and Interstate 35W.

When Billie Cate, owner of Classic Carriages, started operating Downtown in 1987, Fort Worth was a one-horse – or carriage company – town. She applied to the city to create a parking spot in front of the Worthington Hotel where she and her horses could wait for customers without being hassled by traffic.

Now, Cate said the city deemed this spot a parking area for all carriage companies, which, she said, causes a crowded confusion for customers who can’t tell which buggy belongs to which company now that there are several companies.

Though some customers who hop into a carriage on a whim might not have a preference for a certain carriage company, Cate emphasized the importance of knowing who a client is riding with.

“This is not like choosing ice cream,” Cate said. “This is putting your family in a vehicle in high traffic with a live animal.”

While the city requires drivers to take a defensive driving course as well as a drug test and carriages to meet with inspection standards, Cate said customers should do some homework before going for a ride.

Taylor said he hasn’t heard any reports of accidents or customer complaints since he started in the Fort Worth transportation department in 2000.

“Carriages are required to be inspected annually and horses are required to have vaccinations, plus every so often a random carriage inspection might pop up,” Taylor said.

Still, Pratt said she looks forward to joining the carriage business Downtown and working the job she loves.

Tags: cars, cate, ford, job

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Though the star-struck citizens of Toronto didn’t mind, there was heard a lot of grumbling last week at the Toronto Film Festival about how this venerable showcase for world cinema has been turned into a mere stepping stone for the Hollywood studios’ Oscar campaigns. With the likes of Jodie Foster, Brad Pitt, Keira Knightley, George Clooney and Tommy Lee Jones parading down Bloor Street, one could be forgiven for mistaking North America’s most influential film festival for an out-of-town Hollywood press junket.

It’s true that for a member of the press it was harder than ever to pursue hidden foreign gems such as the charming Israeli comedy “The Band’s Visit” or Mexican visionary Carlos Reygadas’s mesmerizing, demanding “Silent Light,” about adultery and transcendence in a Mennonite community. The pressure was to keep up with the fall’s major prestige items, such as “Atonement” or Ang Lee’s Chinese-language potboiler “Lust, Caution” or the Coen brothers‘ riveting film noir “No Country for Old Men,” their best film in ages.  

The spirit of Terry Malick (”Badlands,” “Days of Heaven”) hovers over “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” a poetic, melancholy, leisurely reverie on the last years of the legendary outlaw’s life. Brad Pitt is terrific as the manic Jesse, alternately charming and paranoid, and Casey Affleck superbly creepy as the callow Judas who grabs fame with a bullet. New Zealand-born writer-director Andrew Dominik’s uncompromising, ’70s-style Western, like Penn’s sprawling odyssey, turns its back on the fast-cutting, action-dominated style in current fashion.

Though it courts tedium at times, it’s clearly the work of an immensely talented filmmaker. Much more audience-friendly but equally indebted to the ’70s (think of such paranoid thrillers as “The Parallax View”) is Tony Gilroy’s dense, gripping anticorporate thriller “Michael Clayton,” with George Clooney as a law firm “fixer” attempting to staunch a corporate scandal, and risking his life in the process. Coproducer Clooney, who has often proclaimed his love for ’70s American films, seems determined to revive the socially conscious genre movies of that era.

Tags: brad pitt, brother, ford, hollywood, zeal

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Actress Cate Blanchett’s kids were thrilled when Steven Spielberg gave them the chance to step behind the camera and direct their mother in the new Indiana Jones movie.

Blanchett stars in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull alongside Harrison Ford and often brought her children Dashiell, seven, and Roman, four, onto the set.

And director Spielberg was so happy to have to the young family there, he let the kids take on his job and direct a scene featuring their mum.

“Steve was so welcoming to my family. And that was really special.”

Tags: actress, cate, cate blanchett, crystal skull, dashiell, director spielberg, ford, harrison ford, indiana jones, job, new indiana jones, new indiana jones movie, spielberg, steven spielberg

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By the time Chelsea’s managerial pursuit had officially begun, with the sacking of Avram Grant in May, it appeared that they had limited options to choose from. Sven Goran Eriksson, thought to be Roman Abramovich’s first choice back in 2003 after ‘purely a social meeting’, had already been courting the Mexican FA after being axed by Thaksin Shinawatra. Frank Rijkaard was mentioned, but he hasn’t enjoyed as much success as he did whilst Henk Ten Cate was involved with the coaching at Barca.

Ten Cate is also a man who, ironically, has also just been sacked by Chelsea. Marco van Basten had already signed a contract to take over at Ajax after this summer’s Euro tournament, back in February. Similarly, Jurgen Klinsmann was already in line to replace the retiring Ottmar Hitzfeld at Bayern Munich, a deal that was arranged at the turn of this year. AC Milan claim that Carlo Ancelotti has been pursued by Chelsea, yet would he have even been the right man for the Russian owner so adamant on his footballing investments playing an attacking brand? Ancelotti has come under fire for favouring a defensive style of football, and could well have ended up like Capello under the Madrid regime of you’re out if you win ugly.

You have to give credit where it is due though, and Scolari did mastermind three successive international tournament knock-outs to the English national team. It just strikes me as odd that if you are scouting the Euro internationals for footballing talent, in terms of both players, and managers, then why not go for one of the up and coming coaches who are certain to have successes in front of them given the right opportunities.

In the English leagues stability and success seem synonymous. Look at Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger, and even, to a lesser degree, Hereford United and Graham Turner. All at their clubs for 22, 12, and 13 years respectively. Wenger was a little known French coach with experience in the Japanese J League and French Ligue Une, and Ferguson had enjoyed successes in the Scottish Premier division.

Tags: ac milan, ajax, arsene wenger, avram grant, bayern munich, boise, carlo ancelotti, cate, chelsea, defensive style, first choice, ford, frank rijkaard, french coach, french ligue, goran eriksson, graham turner, henk, hereford united, j league, jurgen klinsmann, knock outs, manchester united, marco van basten, ottmar hitzfeld, roman abramovich, sir alex ferguson, ten cate, thaksin shinawatra

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When ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ opens the year is 1957 and we find our hero has been taken prisoner by a group of Soviets who have infiltrated the US Army’s notorious ‘Area 51′ looking for something the army has secretly stored there.

After Indy helps them locate what they’re looking for he expedites a ‘high speed’ escape before falling into the clutches of the US Army, after almost getting caught in the middle of a major nuclear weapons test.

After all this excitement Indiana returns to teaching only to be told, by his college principal, that because of the FBI’s ‘interest’ in him he is going to be suspended.

As Indy is about to head off on a trip to England he meets a young man  who asks for his help to find his mother, and his old professor, who have gone missing in South America.

Before the professor went missing he was searching for the mythical Crystal Skull of Akatar and this, along with the arrival of a number of KGB agents, prompts Indy to agree to help young Mutt and the pair head off in search of this elusive archaeological treasure.

Shortly after arriving in Peru Indy picks up the trail left by his old friend and he soon finds himself in an old graveyard where he discovered a hidden chamber where he locates the Crystal Skull.

However, the pair have been followed and, once again, Indy finds himself captured by the Russians, led by Cate Blanchett.

Aside from a few more wrinkles, and a tendency to wear his khakis a bit high at the waist, Harrison Ford rolls back the years to reprise one of the roles which made him a Hollywood megastar.

The film is directed by Steven Spielberg and rolls along at a pretty hectic pace. The opening half hour is non-stop and highly watchable although I felt a chase sequence through the jungle looked like it was all done in front of a blue screen, or on a computer.

If ‘Crystal Skull’ has an Achilles heel and it does it’s the story. The plot starts off fairly interesting but turns into complete hokum as it develops, and would be more at home in an episode of ‘X-Files’ than in a Indiana Jones movie.

What you do get with ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ is some excellent chase sequences, lots of high speed action, some exotic locations and the re-introduction of one of the big screen’s favourite characters to the movie going public.

And while the movie is very enjoyable, and well put together, the plot is very weak and unfortunately lets down what is otherwise a very enjoyable adventure romp.

Tags: achilles heel, archaeological treasure, area 51, cate, cate blanchett, chase sequences, clutches, college principal, crystal skull, ford, harrison ford, hectic pace, hero, hokum, hollywood, indiana jones, indy, kgb agents, khakis, megastar, mutt, nuclear weapons test, old graveyard, pace, romp, soviets, spielberg, steven spielberg, us army

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Lopsided haircuts made popular by 1980s pop stars not only risk making those sporting them look silly but also go against the evolutionary process itself, according to a professor of mathematics.

Now Prof Marcus du Sautoy, of Oxford University, says that as well as being in questionable taste some of the more bizarre haircuts of the 1980s actually run counter to the path of evolution.

Over the centuries people have developed to find symmetry attractive but the decade remembered for yuppies, mullets and ra-ra skirts saw a host of stars choosing daring asymmetrical haircuts, which flies in the face of nature’s rules of attraction.

Prof du Sautoy, author of Finding Moonshine, a book about symmetry, will single out asymmetrical haircuts for particular criticism as the worst of the Eighties excesses at the Cheltenham Science Festival, which is sponsored by The Daily Telegraph.

Mike Score, the lead singer of Flock of Seagulls and a former hairdresser, had a lopsided hairstyle that has been copied, and parodied many times, most notably in a flashback episode of the American television sitcom Friends and his hair style has also been referred to in movies such as Pulp Fiction and The Wedding Singer.

But these go against nature’s key message that symmetry is beautiful, so the decade will never be stylish, concludes Prof du Sautoy.

“As a student in the 80s I was never attracted to the music of the likes of Flock of Seagulls or Human League. Now I know why. The maths just says all that asymmetry just adds up to a fashion disaster. In the natural world, symmetry is always an indicator of something significant it is there to attract attention’, says Prof du Sautoy.

This indicator of beauty is more than skin deep. ‘What this symmetry is really indicating’, he says. ‘Is that the individual has a good genetic heritage and is therefore a ‘good’ mate’.

Research at the University of Stirling shows that symmetry transcends racial and national boundaries: a lopsided face is less attractive to both Hadza hunter gatherers in Tanzania and Britons.

Whether or not an asymmetrical haircut can detract from natural facial symmetry has not been researched, but the message from nature is clear, he concludes: Eighties fashion should be consigned to history.

Make-up artists work with shadow and light to achieve facial symmetry as clients old and young alike ask to have the appearance of their eyes accentuated and cheeks to look flushed. Women’s lips are perhaps the least even or symmetrical aspect of the face and to create the appearance of fuller, symmetrical lips, the tools of our trade are lip pencils, lipsticks and glosses.”

Prof du Sautoy will be in discussion with TV Presenter and author Nicky Hambleton-Jones in the event entitled Beautiful Beings, at the Cheltenham Science Festival.

Tags: american television, asymmetrical haircuts, daily telegraph, fashion disaster, flashback episode, flock of seagulls, ford, genetic heritage, hadza, marcus du sautoy, mike score, mullets, national boundaries, oxford university, pulp fiction, questionable taste, ra ra skirts, science festival, sitcom friends, television sitcom, university of stirling

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AGEING gracefully is a difficult art. So, hats off to Harrison Ford and Spielberg for showing that when 20 years pass by unless you live in a soap opera two decades do pass by.

The archaeologist-adventurer made famous by George Lucas, Spielberg and Ford returns as an older, wiser and a little slower Indiana Jones, who remains as fallible and as likable as in his first outing in 1981.

Spielberg insisted that the special effects would be kept to a minimum in keeping with both the spirit of the three previous Indiana Jones films and the period in which The Kingdom of the Skull is set, and this does give the film an old-worldly, hands-on feel missing in similar adventures shot now like, say, National Treasure. This includes a sword-fight between two people balanced on two parallel racing jeeps.

Still, sometimes it’s better to adopt a little change. The Kingdom of the Skull moves at a desultory pace and its storyline has few surprises. And then, suddenly in the end, it takes off in a direction that bears the special touch of Lucas and Spielberg.

What’s also surprising is how many parallels it has with National Treasure 2, released just earlier this year from mythical cities to estranged families. Sure, there is a new character being introduced, in the shape of the young flavour of the season Shia LaBeouf. But even with the Marlon Brando get-up, he looks like he has been plonked in the film from sometime else.

Tags: archaeologist, crystal skull, decades, few surprises, flavour, ford, george lucas, harrison ford, hats, indiana jones, indiana jones films, jeeps, marlon brando, national treasure, national treasure 2, pace, parallels, shia labeouf, soap opera, special effects, spielberg, sword fight

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