Beefheart: Shiny Beast of Thought
foolish_Paeter • July 27th, 2003
Don Van Vliet (alias Captain Beefheart) is most (in)famous for his music, music that you either love or hate. I could say something about him being one of the most important composers of the 20th century, but that would just be my opinion. I will say that anyone not acquainted with his playful, inventive work is missing out on something.
Being a huge fan, it's hard for me to write about Don Van Vliet and keep it down to a short article. He was an artist on so many levels: a sculptor, a painter, a musician, a poet. I will refer to him simply as "Don," as "Captain Beefheart" does not really represent the whole man (as Don once said, "It makes me itch to think of myself as Captain Beefheart. I don't even own a boat").
He was born Donald Vliet (no "Van" then; he later added that) to parents Glen and Sue in Glendale, CA, 1941. From the very start, Don rejected American traditions and culture, preferring to go about things his own way. He called his mother Sue, saying that "mother" was too cold and formal of a word. He developed an interest in nature very early and began sculpting (at his youngest ages, out of soap) every animal he had ever seen or could find a picture of in an encyclopedia or dictionary, and some he imagined. His distrust towards mankind began when he discovered that many of his favourites were already extinct. At age 3, his parents took him to see the La Brea Tar Pits, and, in hopes of seeing a dinosaur on the way down, he attempted to jump in but was caught before making it over the railing.
Don claims he never went to school. Ever ("if you wanna be a different fish, you gotta jump out of the school"). He spent his days holed up in his room sculpting, vacuuming hair from the cat to give his sculptures fur, and having his mother slide meals in through a slot in the door. He appeared on a TV show with his sculptures along with Portuguese sculptor Antonio Rodriguez, who discovered him. At age 13 he was offered a 6-year art scholarship in Portugal, but his parents wouldn't allow it, saying "All artists are queers," and then they took him and moved to Lancaster in the Mojave Desert.
It was in the desert at high school age (since Don denies ever attending school) that Don met Frank Zappa. Zappa was walking about in a graveyard (next to the school) and Don offered him a ride home. They became friends, and it was Zappa who got Don involved in music. Together they comprised a band called The Soots and did nothing aside from record some songs. It was from one of these songs and a screenplay written by Zappa that the name "Captain Beefheart" emerged. In a 1982 appearance on the Late Show, Don said it came about because he has a "beef in his heart" with mankind and the way they treat each other & nature.
Zappa pushed Don to get serious with music, and Don got together a group of musicians, forming Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. They became a local hit with a powerful version of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy." They played blues and Rolling Stones covers mainly. Don began playing harmonica a lot, because at first his singing wasn't very good; however, it rapidly improved.
Eventually came the first album, 1967's Safe As Milk, featuring a 16-year old Ry Cooder. It was 60's blues rock, but not unaffected by Don's unique creative vision. It included a bumper sticker, two of which John Lennon had on display in his apartment. Also, the inner jacket contained the words "MAY THE BABY JESUS SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND OPEN YOUR MIND" and "CAUTION: ELECTRICITY MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO HEALTH." "Electricity," the album's most innovative track, made such use of Don's allegedly 5-and-a-half octave voice (I'm not disputing, but he later also claimed 7 octaves) that he destroyed a $1200 microphone. On this track, Don insisted on avoiding the usual 4/4 rhythm because he thought it was corny. Also, just before the time came to record it, Don changed the drum line to a set of shifting, syncopated patterns unlike anything that had ever been heard in rock and roll; drummer John French stepped up to the challenge incredibly well. "Electricity" was a harbinger of the coming storm.
Before it was time to work on the next album, the Magic Band lineup changed almost entirely, which would end up happening many more times. However, the music was pretty much unnaffected, because it all originated from Don (well, on Safe As Milk, guitarists Ry Cooder and Alex Snouffer were given quite a bit of freedom, and Cooder is actually credited with some arrangements). Knowing absolutely nothing about music theory, Don had to communicate melodies to his band through whistling, humming, or harmonica, and it proved to be a lot of work, because he demanded that the compositions be played exactly as he wanted them.
The next recording sessions were meant to be for a double album, but ended up being two different records: Strictly Personal (with a jacket designed to look like a brown paper wrapper with stamps attached, addresses handwritten on, and "Strictly Personal" stamped on; a reference to mailed pornography packaging), which was phased by the producer and then released, all without the permission of Don or the band, prompting their quitting from the label; and Mirror Man, which was sold to another company for release. Mirror Man is regarded by fans as Beefheart at his bluesiest; it consists of four long, lumbering songs with lots of improvisation. One song, "Tarotplane," features Don wailing on a shenai, which is essentially an East Asian musette. Strictly Personal was more "far-out," more "psychedelic," but only a hint of what was to come next. Songs continually moved away from the normal 4/4 rhythm, carried along greatly by John French's mind-boggling skill with a drum set. However, Don stil clung to his blues roots, borrowing musical phrases from actual blues songs in songs such as "Ah Feel Like Ahcid" and "Gimme Dat Harp Boy." One song, "Beatle Bones 'n Smokin' Stones," which I interpret to be about the apocalypse, actually irked John Lennon with its "strawberry feels [sic] forever" refrain.
By this time, there were producers and managers ready to, as Don said, "throw money at me if I would 'just sing the blues.'" They wanted Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band to be just a blues rock band, they wanted an American answer to the Rolling Stones. And Don certainly could've competed in that arena; but he didn't go for it. His "baby," as he often referred to his creative muse, wouldn't let him.
Don got a house in Woodland Hills and was given a piano as a gift. A new Magic Band lineup accompanied him to live in the Woodland Hills house. This lineup is regarded as THE Magic Band by most fans, and is quite possibly the most important. It consisted of Bill Harkleroad and Jeff Cotton on guitars, Mark Boston on bass, and John French on drums. Don gave them stagenames: Zoot Horn Rollo, Antennae Jimmy Semens, Rockette Morton, and Drumbo, respectively. This lineup is important because they were the band at ground zero when IT happened.
Don began writing songs on piano, which John French transcribed, and the band split up into parts between each other. It was extremely difficult work; the parts were strange, with all preconceived notions of music thrown out the door (Harkleroad remembers thinking "where are all the blues tunes?"). It didn't help matters that Don didn't understand how difficult they were to play, and would berate the musicians to no end for playing them wrong. He would tell them to play a part, then say they played it wrong, it goes like this; then he had them play it until they got it right, and to the other musicians each version sounded the same. Sometimes the parts required playing 7 notes at once, which is of course impossible on a 6-stringed guitar; but it took a while to make Don realize this.
The writing was quick. Don claimed that he did the whole thing in 8 hours straight, one session at the piano, which is a total lie. But it was quick. It was the learning on the musicians' behalf that took a lot of work. They rehearsed on every available day. They were only allowed to leave for shopping. When it started, the whole thing was okay; but Don's dark side began to reveal itself. Frustrated, Don became a slave-driver. At one point, Harkleroad attempted to escape. Jeff Cotton became keeper of the lyrics, and would be forced to recite in a high-pitched voice until his throat bled (that could be some hyperbole in the account). There were what Harkleroad called brainwashing sessions, in which Don would pick a member of the band and treat him as the enemy of the day, keep him awake on coffee for hours, accuse him of trying to sabotage the music and ruin everyone's chances of success, and basically just torture him mentally to the point where he was saying "OK, OK, I'll do anything you say!" The only thing that kept the band from quitting was a deep admiration for Don's creativity and art, and knowing that they were doing something that had never been done before; they had to put Don's paranoia and neurotic bullshit aside. Which is exactly what it was. Don was later diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic.
After about six months of constant rehearsal (by everyone but Don, who almost never rehearsed with the band), Don decided that they were ready to record. They were signed to the Straight label on Warner Brothers. Frank Zappa produced, and started to record the album at the house, but Don objected and demanded it be done in an actual studio. So Zappa allowed the band 8 hours to do about 70 minutes worth of backing tracks, and they did it in 6. When time came to add the vocals, Don couldn't stand the headphones, and so only had the leakage through the windows of the recording room to go by. Of course, as soon as he opened his mouth he couldn't hear anything.
The result of all this was the 1969 lumbering 80-minute 2-disc watershed monster Trout Mask Replica. This album marked the outer limits of rock and roll. The twin guitars played gloriously complicated angular counterpoint, rooted in the blues but injected with jazz and expelled into an alternate universe. The bass was nothing more than a guitar with lower strings. The drums were a melody instrument, and yet, every instrument on the record was a rhythm instrument. Each instrument played in a different time signature. Don's skronk saxophone antics blew across the arrangements like insane gusts of wind; his vocals were improvised, the lyrics not even memorised (he referred to them from a book). The notions of normal beats, melodies, and chord changes were thrown out the window in favour of shapes, aural sculpting. There were no straight lines; this was natural music (look in nature and tell me if you see any straight lines). The lyrics were full of playful exercises in free-association & word images, filled with such delicious lines as "an oriole sang like an orange, his breast full of worms/and his tail clawed the evenin' like a hammer" and "the white ice horse melted like uh spot uh silver well." The titles say it all. "Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish." "Ant Man Bee." "Hobo Chang Ba."
Not surprisingly (to everyone but Don), TMR didn't sell. One reporter remarked that it sounded like a blues band being pushed down a flight of stairs. Others have said that if your favourite part of going to see an orchestra is the part where they're all tuning up, you'll love this record. Some said it sounded like it was being played backwards. Many people assumed that they were just playing random notes. So many have listened and turned away from the caucaphony, saying "this is awful!"
But they missed the point. To say that Trout Mask Replica sounds like it is played backwards is to assume that Neil Diamond plays forwards. "There's no pleasant melodies," (actually, there's one, at the end, but everyone neglects that fact) "there's no rhythm, there's no form!" listeners may scream. Well, since when has "music" meant something with a pleasant melody, an easily danceable rhythm, and a predictable form? I challenge that music is nothing but organised sound, and the level of organisation may vary. People listen to TMR and say "that's not music!" If I'm not mistaken, people also said that Marcelle Duchamp's work wasn't art. Heck, they said Monet wasn't art, they said Matisse wasn't art. It's a bit more difficult now to find someone who agrees with those statements now. They may not like it, but they'll concede that it's art. For some reason, people are willing to accept abstractness in visual art, but not music. Well, that's exactly what TMR is, abstract music. And if Dadaism is all about the spirit of play, then I will be more specific and say that TMR is Dada rock.
Some of the lyrics on TMR are serious. "Dachau Blues," "Ant Man Bee," and "Veteran's Day Poppy" all contain messages about the evils of war; "Frownland" is like "Are You Experienced?" taken to a deeper level; "Moonlight on Vermont" and "My Human Gets Me Blues" reflect Don's disgust with organised religion; "Wild Life" and "Steal Softly Thru Snow" have shades of the naturalism and ecology that runs throughout Don's body of work, going all the way back to "Plastic Factory" from Safe As Milk.
It was after TMR that Don met Jan Jenkins at a party, and had her move in with him. She was a fan of his music and was 12 years younger than him. They were married shortly, and remain married today. In a short documentary made in 1980, when asked what was most important to him, Don answered "My wife. Definitely my wife. Sorry, girls. I'm taken." Jan brought an organization to Don's life of which he was incapable, keeping track of his enormous catalogue of work (Don wrote hundreds of pages every day) and providing emotional support. Also after TMR, Don and the band all quit doing drugs (although Don would periodically lapse). For the band, it was a necessity for playing the music. For Don, it was just a decision that he didn't want to do it anymore. Although I think Jan had something to do with it.
Following TMR, the band (including Victor "The Mascara Snake" Haydn, Don's cousin, who has some spoken parts and plays bass clarinet on one track) played one show, and then started working on another album. At one point, Don became angry with John French for some reason (one of his paranoid neurotic moments) and threw him down a half flight of stairs, telling him to "take a walk." So he did, and Don replaced him with a hippy-in-the-park-with-bongos drummer who couldn't handle the parts, who Don christened "Drumbo," as though he could conceal the fact that French was gone. The "Fake Drumbo" also got in a fight with Jeff Cotton, breaking several of Cotton's ribs, so Cotton quit. Eventually, former Mothers of Invention drummer Art Tripp III (named Ed Marimba by Don) filled in, and French came back, so they had two drummers (when Tripp wasn't playing marimba) with very different styles, creating an unparalleled explosive sound. The next record was written on piano like TMR, but conditions for the band were slightly better. It was entitled Lick My Decals Off, Baby, and was just as weird as TMR, but shorter. It contains Harkleroad's finest hour, the complex guitar solo piece "One Red Rose That I Mean," and a beautiful guitar and bass duet entitled "Peon," which was an exact replication of a once-through piano piece played by Don. Also on the album is the ecological warning "Petrified Forest," my favourite lyrically. Don wrote a surreal TV commercial for the album, but it was banned by the local stations, who said the title was "obscene." This album is considered by many to be Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's finest, but is sadly the only one out of print. The Decals tour (which also featured TMR material) was arguably Beefheart's best and was full of bizarre theatrics. They picked up Elliot Ingber to replace Jeff Cotton, and Don named him Winged Eel Fingerling. It was also during this time that Don's career as a painter began. His first exhibit was in England, and showcased a set of black and white paintings he had done while on the tour.
After Decals, John French again quit, which resulted in a necessity for making the music simpler; despite his immense talent, Art Tripp found it too difficult to play drums in French's style. Plus, the far-out records weren't selling and Harkleroad & Mark Boston almost starved to death. So Don put away his piano, again relying on his harmonica and his voice, used his sax sparingly, and allowed the band more freedom (but it was still a pain in the ass working with Don). Songs were composed loosely and then hammered out in lengthy jams. The next two albums were slower (Harkleroad hates the first one, says it made him feel like a zombie playing it), more basic blues-rock albums, but were still Beefheart; meaning that they were still "weird." These were Spotlight Kid and Clear Spot, and contained such fun classics as "Big Eyed Beans from Venus" and "I'm Gonna Booglarize Ya, Baby," the short, surreal accompanied poem "Golden Birdies," and the instrumental "Alice in Blunderland" in which Ingber was given complete freedom on the guitar.
Both albums had limited success, and Don finally decided to "go commercial" (actually, the working plan for the past three albums was to try to be more commercial, to not scare listeners away so much; although Decals came nowhere near that idea). The next album was Unconditionally Guaranteed, on which Don allowed producers to sugarcoat the music with overdubs. As soon as the record was finished, the entire Magic Band quit, and Don was forced to play the tour with a pickup band from Vegas who were used to accompanying lounge acts; they weren't capable of playing real Magic Band music. This became known by fans as the Tragic Band. Don recorded one album with them, Bluejeans and Moonbeams, his darkest hour. Don put his imagination on a tight leash, trying to make a commercially acceptable record. And he acted it up in interviews; he praised this new band as "the best batch yet," and pushed the tepid new album, acting very enthusiastic about the whole thing. The magic was gone. It's depressing, it's an artist practically selling his soul, and it's all made worse by the fact that it didn't work. These albums didn't sell either.
(Well, okay, Moonbeams isn't all that bad. It's actually some good music, but in comparison to the rest of the Beefheart catologue, it's bad.)
After the failure of Bluejeans and Moonbeams, Don took a hiatus from music, until Frank Zappa approached him with an offer. The friendship between the two had been all but broken after the failure of TMR, which Don blamed on Zappa's shoddy production (I happen to like the production, but oh well). Zappa asked Don to sing and play on the Bongo Fury tour, and Don obliged. Don got another record deal put together a new Magic Band and wrote (with the piano again) and recorded the album Bat Chain Puller, which was never (legitimately; somehow, someone's selling it under the title Dust Sucker) released. The Bat Chain lineup did, however, play a few live shows.
After a few changes in band lineup, Don wrote 6 new songs and took 6 from Bat Chain Puller, and released Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) on Virgin, marking his "comeback" and the return of the magic. Half the songs are fairly "normal," as if Don was saying "Listen, I AM capable of normal music," but for the most part, Beefheart was back, and the music was "weird" again. This album showcased such wonders as the carnival(ium) party song "Tropical Hot Dog Night" and a Beefheart twist on the old farmer-defeats-the-devil theme "The Floppy Boot Stomp." Also included is "Bat Chain Puller," a rhythmic track that paints vibrant images of a rainstorm and an unearthly, surreal train (which I interpret to be an evil entity equivalent to Moloch in "Howl"). The drum part on that track provides the rainstorm all by itself; it's drummer Robert Williams playing a reproduction of a recording made by Don of the windshield wipers on his Volvo. "When I See Mommy I Feel Like a Mummy" is a strange track. If you read the lyrics, they sound kind of lame, especially by Beefheart standards; and then when you hear them in the context of the music the first time, it's disturbing, sounds Oedipal; but repeated listening reveals it to be a chilling rumination of mortality. And then there's "Apes-Ma," a bone-chilling warning to mankind. It's so short, I'll just quote the whole thing:
Apes-Ma, Apes-Ma
Remember when you were young Apes-Ma?
And you used to break out of your cage?
Well you know that you're not
Strong enough to do that anymore now
And Apes-Ma... The little girl that
Named you years ago died now
And you're older Apes-Ma
Remember when she named you
And it was in the paper Apes-Ma?
You're eating too much
And going to the bathroom too much Apes-Ma
And Apes-Ma, your cage isn't getting any bigger Apes-Ma
By this time (late '70s, early '80s), Beefheart influence had spread all over music, and especially the punk/new wave movement. Groups like the B-52's, Devo, Pere Ubu, Public Image Ltd., and Talking Heads all cited Beefheart influence and praised the man's music. Don was uninterested. "Why should I look through my own vomit?" he said. He also didn't like that the punk movement that drew so much from TMR was clinging to that same old 4/4 rhythm, that "mama's heartbeat" as Don put it.
Don's music in this period was also more structured and accessible, but not in any cliched way. What I mean is that it was more controlled, less rambly and bulbous. But this doesn't mean it lost any edge. In fact, the next album, 1980's Doc at the Radar Station, proves it. The music may be simpler, but the sound and lyrics are so much harsher that many people have difficulty listening to it even if they've been listening to TMR. Titles like "Ashtray Heart" and "Making Love to a Vampire With a Monkey on My Knee" tell the story. However, there are "quieter" moments, such as the sterling guitar solo "Flavour Bud Living." The Doc band was basically the Shiny Beast band, but without the AMAZING Bruce Fowler on trombone (who achieves things I didn't even know were Possible on the trombone; listen to Shiny Beast. There's only one horn sound that's not his trombone, and that's Don's unmistakeable sax skronks on "Suction Prints"). This band played on Saturday Night Live twice one night, playing "Hot Head" and "Ashtray Heart" from Doc. It was a horrible episode (I saw a re-run), but the performance by the band was excellent, and superior to the album versions of the songs (in my opinion).
After the Doc tour, Don went to work in 1982 on the next album, with mostly the same musicians. By this time, Don was doing cocaine, and his voice was beginning to suffer from it. John French chalks the cocaine use up to fear, he believes that Don already knew by that time that he had the disease that would later prevent him from ever coming out of retirement. He was also getting tired of the music business, especially after asking Zappa for the rights to One (just ONE) song from the original Bat Chain Puller and being denied. Don proceeded to go home, take a hit of marijuana, turn on the tape recorder, sit at the piano, and crank out "Skeleton Makes Good," one of my favourites lyrically, in time for the album deadline. The album was titled Ice Cream for Crow, and a music video was shot for the title track. The video was rejected by MTV for being "too weird," so Don went on the Late Show and had the video shown.
There was no tour following ICFC. Don decided he was sick of the music business and went full time into painting. This makes ICFC his final album, and I can't think of anything better to end with. The album has a sort of sad bleakness to it, full of farewell. And the photograph on the cover breaks my heart every time. It's beautiful.
His paintings are wonderfully imaginative, wild little things, that look like his music sounds. He had several exhibits, but nothing recently. He now lives reclusively in a trailer in the Mojave Desert. He will never perform again; h e is taken with an illness that prevents him from it. Everyone is very quiet about the exact nature of his illness, but it is apparently multiple sclerosis.
The secret of Don's creativity has always been childishness. Long ago, he decided not to grow up. So he didn't, and he remained creatively free. This also left him without a normal concept of reality or any way of dealing functionally with society, which is probably responsible for the neurotic way he treated his musicians (but it must be said that he never forced them to stay; they could have quit at any time), but the wonderful body of work it resulted in is well worth it. It also resulted in him being a beautiful and deeply interesting human being, which is more than can be said about some other people with a "normal concept of reality."
I kinda get the feeling that I didn't describe the music well enough, but, how do you describe it in words? All I can say is, "go buy it and listen." I dream of a world where everyone owns a copy of TMR and plays it enough so that it grows on them (which it does) if they didn't like it at first. I will leave you with some quotes from Don Van Vliet's mouth, and then some links you can check out if you want to read more.
"You should know by the kindness of uh dog the way uh human should be."
"Why would I want to do something like anyone else? Then I'd just be contributing to the sameness of things. I say, Lick my decals off, baby!"
"Modern man keeps wanting to graduate, but they graduate in the areas that seem to be so solitary instead of the kind areas, like dolphins graduating across the horizon into the sun. Man graduates with no sand and sun and water. I think more children should play with mudpies, but that's out now."
"The largest living land mammal is the absent mind."
"I don't like music; I like sounds. Because Music is just black ants running across white paper."
"People use funny toilet paper because it means they're rich if it's perfumed. I think perfumed toilet paper causes rectal cancer. You can almost judge how screwed up somebody is by the kind of toilet paper they use."
"I became a vegetarian because I couldn't imagine biting an animal and spitting out the fur and eating the meat. I said, why should I bite an animal? But then why should I bite a vegetable, it's the same thing. I eventually resigned myself to the fact that I had to eat something to survive."
"Be kind, man -- don't be mankind."
The Captain Beefheart Radar Station: excellent site, loaded with interviews (text And streaming audio) & lyrics & record info & pictures of the paintings. You can also watch the "Ice Cream for Crow" video, the Lick My Decals Off, Baby commercial, the SNL performance, both of Don's Late Show appearances, and a segment about Don from a 1980 biography show, which includes an interview with Don. And a bizarre clip of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band's feet.
The Captain Beefheart Timeline: last I checked, this was down. But it was great. Chronicled everything Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band did from beginning to end. Most of the info in this article came from this site; everything else came from the Radar Station.
Trout Mask Replica Replica: this is a little tribute I did.
No Responses to "Beefheart: Shiny Beast of Thought"
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On the Screen
Debate welcomes new season
Adria Watson
Richard Stanfield
Joshua Wood, jwood@lmcexperience.com
The LMC debate team has grown this semester with a burst of new members. Last week's practice hosted a massive 26 participants, with 16 newcomers.
Debate Team Coach Kasey Gardner said the team was comprised of around 16 people," which means the team has grown by 10.
Co-Coach Marie Arcidiacono explained that the increased size of the team is great for practice. "We can immediately start running rounds," said Arcidiacono.
She further explained that the typical practice consists of a short lecture, then debates and feedback. Returning team member Richard Stanfield shared Arcidiacono's excitement, indicating that he is "excited the class is so large!"
The influx of students has also been met with the appearance of a new coach. Professor of Political Science David Zimny retired, and Prof. Edward Haven has joined the debate team this year to fill in as a volunteer coach, bringing his philosophical expertise to the arena.
At its core, debate is about pitting great minds against one another in a collaborative and competitive learning environment.
There are multiple styles of debate, and what style the team competes in varies from college to college. The LMC debate team uses British Parliamentary format, commonly shortened to BP or worlds. BP focuses on large-scale issues, and aims to make the debates accessible to the audience by avoiding technical language and obscure facts.
Teams are presented the motion, a kind of prompt, and the side they will argue for only a short 15 minutes before the debate. Each team is comprised of two teams of two debaters. The individual pairs are not allowed to plan together, and must adapt their arguments as the debate progresses.
Stanfield notes that one of the key aspects of the practices is "training to look at things from more than one perspective." He also added that, "World's, more than other debates… focuses on arguing a good argument," as opposed to a more jargon-filled speech.
Haven explained that, because BP asks broad questions, often times students are posed with "what should we do" scenarios. "It's important to have flexibility," Haven added. "You need to be able to pivot your moral argument as a response."
The team's first debate will be at Dominican University in San Rafael, Nov. 4 and 5. Students interested in the debate team are encouraged to enroll in Speech 160, or drop by practice, Wednesday in room CC1-115, 4-7 p.m.
Adria Watson, Editor in Chief
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Story From MidHudson Regional Hospital: MidHudson Regional Hospital welcomes longtime local orthopedic surgeon
MidHudson Regional Hospital welcomes longtime local orthopedic surgeon William O. Thompson
MidHudson Regional Hospital welcomes longtime local orthopedic surgeon MidHudson Regional Hospital welcomes longtime local orthopedic surgeon William O. Thompson Check out this story on poughkeepsiejournal.com: https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/sponsor-story/mid-hudson-regional-hospital/2019/06/13/midhudson-regional-hospital-welcomes-longtime-local-orthopedic-surgeon/1418158001/
Story from
MidHudson Regional Hospital welcomes longtime local orthopedic surgeon
MidHudson Regional Hospital Published 6:00 a.m. ET June 13, 2019 | Updated 2:49 p.m. ET Nov. 5, 2019
Dr. William O. Thompson specializes in arthritis treatment and sports medicine, including arthroscopic surgery, arthroscopic shoulder reconstruction and joint replacement. (Photo: MidHudson Regional Hospital)
MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), welcomes longtime local orthopedic surgeon William O. Thompson, M.D., FAAOS, to the hospital's medical staff.
Dr. Thompson — certified by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, with a certificate of added qualification in sports medicine by the ABOS — practices at WMCHealth's Advanced Orthopaedics office in MidHudson Regional Hospital's Atrium, 1 Webster Ave., Suite 502, in Poughkeepsie. The office's phone number is 845-896-4178.
Before joining Advanced Orthopaedics, Dr. Thompson practiced at Advantage Orthopaedics in Poughkeepsie since 2001.
Dr. Thompson served as the Mets' assistant team physician from 1997–1998, was the Marist College Athletics Department's team physician from 1997–2000 and was the Vassar College Department of Athletics & Physical Education team physician from 1998–2015.
Originally from Kingston, Dr. Thompson received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed a general surgery internship through Pitt Med at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a research fellowship at Pitt Med and an orthopedic surgery residency at UPMC. Dr. Thompson was also an orthopedic surgery clinical instructor at Pitt Med.
He followed his Pittsburgh training with a sports medicine and shoulder surgery fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
His special interests now are in arthritis and sports medicine, including arthroscopic surgery, arthroscopic shoulder reconstruction and joint replacement.
Dr. Thompson lives in Saugerties and is an avid triathlete, completing many Ironman triathlons and national and international marathons since 2008.
About MidHudson Regional Hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network
MidHudson Regional Hospital, located in Poughkeepsie, New York, is home to the mid-Hudson Valley's most advanced healthcare services. This 243-bed facility cares for more than 10,000 inpatients annually while performing hundreds of thousands of outpatient procedures each year. MidHudson Regional Hospital operates the area's only ACS-verified Level II trauma center, is home to the Redl Center for Cancer Care and Center for Robotic Surgery, and operates one of the busiest emergency departments in the region, with most patients seeing a healthcare provider in 30 minutes or less. For more information on MidHudson Regional Hospital, visit MidHudsonRegional.org or follow the hospital at Facebook.com/MidHudsonRegional and Twitter.com/MidHudsonRH.
About Westchester Medical Center Health Network
The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with 10 hospitals on eight campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 12,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. From Level 1, Level 2 and Pediatric Trauma Centers, the region's only acute care children's hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, homecare services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State, today WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated healthcare in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit WMCHealth.org.
Members of the editorial and news staff of the USA TODAY Network were not involved in the creation of this content.
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Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
The imaginative world of Dr. Seuss comes to life like never before in this visually spectacular adventure from the creators of Despicable Me! Twelve-year-old Ted will do anything to find a real live Truffula Tree in order to impress the girl of his dreams. As he embarks on his journey, Ted discovers the incredible story of the Lorax, a grumpy but charming creature who speaks for the trees. Featuring the voice talents of Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle, Jenny Slate, and Betty White, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax is filled with hilarious fun for everyone!
Chris Meledandri
Janet Healy
Cinco Paul
Ken Daurio
Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle, Jenny Slate, Betty White, Nasim Pedrad, Stephen Tobolowsky
Critics Consensus: Dr. Seuss' The Lorax is cute and funny enough but the moral simplicity of the book gets lost with the zany Hollywood production values.
The man otherwise known as Dr. Seuss has been injured by Hollywood.
Bowling Green Daily News
Micheal Compton
A storybook come to life. It works really well thanks to the keen visual eyes of Renaud and Balda.
CineVue
Its execution lacks a great deal of finesse and too often opts for methods that cheapen the overal...
HeyUGuys
Jamie Neish
While director Chris Renaud's experienced animation-orientated eye may account for some of its suc...
Easy Reader (California)
Neely Swanson
The animation is absolutely eye-popping with super bright neon colors.
Fortunately, there were lots of kids at the screening. You gotta watch 'em. They were giggling, si...
Cinema Sight
Wesley Lovell
It's heart is in the right place, but the execution isn't quite what it needs to be to excel.
Daily Star (UK)
Andy Lea
The flat, non-rhyming dialogue and mainly dull new characters don't feel particularly Seussian. Bu...
Billy Tatum
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax is an entertaining and cautionary tale that stays true to the spirit of the g...
Witney Seibold
Three minutes of substance, 91 minutes of shrill filler.
Dr. Seuss classic is cute, but watch for product tie-ins.
Parents need to know that this animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss' beloved tale of The Lorax is age-appropriate for younger kids; there's little scary stuff, and the pro-environmental message is a positive one. The main issue here is really the movie's huge number of consumerist tie-ins -- at least 70 different marketing promotions. For an anti-materialism story to advertise so many products to kids and their parents sends a particularly confusing message. Still, the movie itself -- like the original story -- promotes conservation and protecting the environment. Kids will leave the film wanting to do more to help the natural world ... too bad that take-away will be diluted by the onslaught of available merchandise with the Lorax's bright-orange image on it.
Educational Value
Positive Role Models
Violence & Scariness
Genre:Family, Comedy
Release Date:March 2, 2012
Illumination Presents: Dr. Seuss' The Grinch
The Ant Bully
The Little Vampire
Camp Nowhere
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
Zebra in the Kitchen
Doctor Dolittle 2
Dr. Seuss: The Lorax


Tag: karl urban
Riddick Official Motion Comic – Blindsided
For those looking forward to the upcoming Riddick movie, there's a little prequel you should probably watch first. It's what's known as a Motion Comic, which is basically video short made up of animated cells. Picking things up where Chronicles of Riddick left off, it tells of what happened that sent Riddick from the seat of Lord Marshall to a remote corner of the universe, once again reprising his role as a wanted man.
Let me be clear, this is not a fan made video. This is a studio-approved short and stars Vin Diesel and Karl Urban, providing the vocals for Riddick and Lord Vaako. And I can honestly say, its not bad. Like many people, I was wondering how the movie makers would tackle the issue of Riddick's ascension to the Necromonger throne and how he went from that to basically reliving the plot from Pitch Black.
I mean, it's not every day you become leader of an apocalyptic army. And you don't just go from that to being a fugitive again, right? So with this short filling the narrative gap, fans will pretty much be set for the upcoming movie. Though I'm not sure I'm going to be seeing the movie when it comes out, I do feel prepared for it now!
By storiesbywilliamsin Movies, Sci-Fi, Video August 22, 2013 August 23, 2013 223 Words2 Comments
New Movie Trailers: Catching Fire and Riddick
It's been a boon week for movie news and previews, and I've found myself quite behind on a few things. Good thing it's not my job to stay current, otherwise I would have been fired a long time ago! But as a genre fan, I feel the need to keep up with sci-fi news and pass it on whenever possible. And lately, the big news items have had to do with upcoming adaptations, sequels, relaunches, or all of the above.
So to save some time I thought I'd do a two-fer trailer post today and feature the newest trailers for Catching Fire and Riddick. Though I'm sure the former needs no explanation, for those who haven't read or seen The Hunger Games, this would be the much-anticipated sequel. Still trying to finish this book myself, mainly because I promised I'd review the whole trilogy. Still, the plot for this one is really quite clear.
After winning the 74th annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta are called upon to do the Victory Tour, an event which occurs between games and showcases the winners. During the tour, Katniss is made aware of how their victory has inspired dissent, which puts her in a compromising position. Between fulfilling her role as a symbol of resistance and keeping up appearances, there's plenty of high drama to be had!
As for the latter, this would the latest installment in that particular Vin Diesel antihero engine known as the Riddick franchise. It began with Pitch Black, a movie who's script was originally proposed for Alien 3 but rejected in favor of the whole prison planet plot. It went on to become a cult classic, spawning the much higher-budget Chronicles of Riddick.
In this third installment, its clear the movie makers have decided to recycle the plot from the first movie and have once again put Riddick on some remote planet where he is being pursued by Bounty Hunters and Necromongers. No sooner is he captured that hostile aliens show up and they all have to work together to survive. As he said in first movie, "It ain't me you gotta worry about now." At least Karl Urban is back, and Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from BSG) is part of the cast!
Catching Fire is set to be released on November 22, 2013, while Riddick will be premiering on September 6th. Enjoy!
By storiesbywilliamsin Movies, Sci-Fi, Video August 22, 2013 418 Words7 Comments
Dredd 2012
Hey all! My apologies for my absence of late, but life has been very busy on the teaching front. Cold season always brings big stretches of busy work, and I've been on call steadily for the past three weeks. Luckily, I find myself with a day or two to catch up on other things, and so I decided I'd get back on this horse and start things off right.
Today, I'd like to share a review of a movie I recently enjoyed, the summer remake known as Dredd. Based on the graphic novel Judge Dredd, this movie was an attempt by writer John Wagner and director Pete Travis to reboot the franchise after the semi-disastrous 1995 adaptation that starred Sylvester Stallone.
Though the film failed to recoup its production budget at the box office, which was expected, it was reviewed much more favorably than the original and earned a small following. What's more, it is expected the movie will continue to gross now that it is released on DVD and will be available on cable and home movie providers.
The movie opens in the streets of Mega City One, a post-apocalyptic urban environment that stretches from Boston to Washington DC. Dredd's voice provides voiceover, describing the urban environment in all its bloody, crowded, and dirty glory. We then cut to a scene where Dredd (Karl Urban) is pursuing three criminals that have been spotted by an aerial drone. A tense chase ensues, during which time multiple civilians are killed. After taking out their vehicle and chasing the last man into a Block – one of the cities many massive apartment structures – Dredd concludes that the men were carrying a new drug known as Slo-Mo.
We then cut to Peach Trees, another major block, where we meet Ma-Ma (Lena Headey). She is a notorious crime boss that runs Peach Trees and is responsible for the manufacture of Slo-Mo, and who is plotting to expand production and bring it to the rest of the city. We get a glimpse into just how ruthless she is when she dispenses justice against three men who have been dealing in their Block and that she decides to make an example of. This consists of skinning them and then dropping from the top floor to the bottom level, but first giving them a hit of Slo-Mo so it will seem imperceptibly long.
Dredd is then called back to the Grand Hall of Justice to inspect a new recruit named Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), who is reportedly a psychic. She and Dredd are dispatched to Peach Trees as part of her final evaluation to investigate the dead bodies. After the paramedic examines them, he explains that they all had Slo-Mo in their system, and gives them a rundown on who Ma-Ma is and how she came to be the master of the Block.
They then proceed to the nearest distribution center on the Block and take it down, securing one of Ma-Ma's men (Kay) in the process. Anderson probes his mind and deduces he was the one who threw the men over the balcony and they decide to take him in for interrogation. When word reaches Ma-Ma, she has her thugs seize control of building security and lock the entire Block down, which consists of external shields closing in around the structure to resist a nuclear blast. All communications with the outside are cut off, and Ma-Ma announces over the PA system that she wants the Judges killed.
Dredd and Anderson begin fighting their way through several groups of armed residents with Kay in tow. Eventually, Ma-Ma orders her men to bring out their greatest weapon, a bunch of Vulcan cannons, and use them to shoot up an entire level. Dredd and Anderson narrowly survive by breaching the outer wall and calling for help, and Dredd then tosses Caleb, one of Ma-Mas henchmen over the balcony in full view of her. Down below, two Judges show up on the scene, but are unable to get through the Block's sealed walls, and Ma-Ma's hacker insists this is all part of a security drill.
Retreating to a school house, Dredd concludes that Ma-Ma is desperate to kill Kay to keep him for revealing her secrets and begins beating him. Anderson intervenes and begins mind probing him instead, learning that Peach Trees is the center for the production and distribution of Slo-Mo. Shortly thereafter, Dredd and Anderson are distracted by some armed teens, which allows Kay to kidnap Anderson and escape using the freight elevator to get to the top levels.
Dredd continues to work his way towards the top, prompting Ma-Ma to call in four corrupt Judges. They relieve the men at the front, enter without incident, and agree to take down Dredd for one million credits. Meanwhile, Kay attempts to kill Anderson using her gun, and loses his hand in the process. She escapes and begins working her way down, and becomes a target of the crooked Judges as well. Between the two of them, they manage to take out all four and meet up in the Slo-Mo production lab. Dredd is wounded by Lex, the last of the Judges, but Anderson saves him and the two carry on.
After finding Ma-Ma's hacker, they manage to obtain the code from him to her private cell. Rather than Judge him, Anderson sees that the man only worked for Ma-Ma out of fear, and that she was the one who took his eyes, forcing him to get bionic enhancements. She lets him go, even though Dredd tells her it could result in an "automatic fail". She responds by saying she was already taken hostage and her gun was confiscated, which is also grounds for an a fail grade, and they move on.
They finally reach Ma-Ma's cell and take out the last of her men, though Anderson is also wounded in the process. Ma-Ma then tells Dredd she has the upper levels lined with explosives and the detonator is mounted on her wrist. If her heart stops, the device will go off and everyone in the top 50 floors will die. Dredd shoots her in the stomach and responds by saying the he doubts the device has a range that can reach from the ground floor to the top, and Judges her. Sentencing her to death, he gives her a hit of Slo-Mo and tosses her from the balcony. She falls in slow motion to her death, and the building doesn't blow up.
Convening with reinforcements and paramedics below, Anderson hands her shield to Dredd and walks away. However, when the Chief Judge comes to him and asks how she did, he replied that she passed. The movie then ends with Dredd providing voice over once again, about how the city is a corrupt mess, and the only thing standing between it and total chaos are the Judges.
Consistent with what I heard in advance, this movie was actually pretty good. And even though it didn't do well at the box office, the result of the meme working against it, I can see it developing a cult following and becoming something of a personal classic to many in the coming years. Despite some flaws, such as the excessive gore and some self-indulgent special effects, it had some noticeable signs of quality.
For starters, the look and feel of the Megacity environment was pretty awesome. The gritty, grimy nature comes through immediately, and without any of the overdone campiness of the original movie. Rather than shooting it in a massively constructed environment with flying cars and lavish costumes, the movie is shot in Cape Town and Johannesburg and uses real locations as a backdrop and relies on CGI and models only to supplement the already dense and dirty urban environment.
And of course there was the attention to detail with the centerpiece of the movie, the building known as Peach Trees. As a Mega City Block, this building is essentially an arcology where all the basic needs of the residents are taken care of in-house. This includes schools, medical care, food, entertainment, and all of these were illustrated at one point or another in the film. And you'll notice that in all cases, their was graffiti on the walls, garbage on the floor, and metal bars on everything, signifying just how dirty and dangerous the environments are.
And I really enjoyed the whole "lock down" procedure, which was more than just a convenient plot tool. In a world where nuclear holocaust has already taken place and every Block acts as a self-sustaining arcology, the concept of shield walls was just plain genius in my mind. Visually it was quite cool, but it also made perfect sense and it beautifully illustrated the shock mentality and survivalist instincts that are so common to this world.
And of course the movie was thematically consistent. On the one hand, you had the nature of the city, which was packed to the brim with 800 million people and with a homicide rate of 1700 people a day. Whereas Dredd is the perfect symbol of social fascism in this context, a man who has little faith in people and absolute veneration of the law, Anderson is the bright-eyed rookie who wants to help people and believes there is good to be found, even in an overcrowded block like Peach Trees.
These archetypes are offset by characters such as Ma-Ma and Lex, the leader of the crooked Judge. As her back story presents it, Ma-Ma is essentially a sociopathic product of the Mega City environment, a former prostitute who killed her pimp after he cut up her face and who has been on a non-stop mission ever since to bring her own sense of order to the city. Lex, meanwhile, is an embittered veteran who has lost all faith in the system and helping people and is simply looking out for number one.
Through it all, Dredd is softened somewhat by his encounter with the corrupt Judges and Anderson's gentleness. Naturally, his war of ideology with Ma-Ma ends with him taking her out, but not before a long battle of wills takes place. This is exemplified by the way the two dual for control over the hearts and minds of people in Peach Tree. Whereas Ma-Ma uses their fear to obtain their help in hunting Dredd, Dredd fights back with his unflinching dedication to take her down and anybody who gets in the way. Ultimately, Dredd wins in part because Ma-Ma's insanity and willingness to kill her own convince people to keep out of the way and let Dredd do his job.
What's more, the movie was well cast. Karl Urban fits the bill as the surly, sour-faced Judge who never shows his face and is never to be found doing anything other than his job. And Thirlby pulls off the role of the green, untested rookie who comes through in the end quite well. And Lena Headey, whom fans know from 300, the Sarah Conner Chronicles, and (best of all) as Cersei Lannister from a the HBO adaptation of A Game of Thrones, was also very convincing as Ma-Ma.
I was surprised really, seeing as how the previews kind of lent the impression that her role was overdone or just too plain evil. But it is a testament to this woman's ability to act that she pulls off the psychotic crime boss who knows no mercy. Somehow, between her cut up face, evil eyes and bloody grin, you become convinced she was a victim who turned her abuse into complete madness and shouldn't be messed with! What's more, Urban's usual combination of deadpan frowns and monotone voice worked in his favor, much like how Keannu Reeves same combination of method and monotone allowed him to pull of Neo.
And of course, there were the visual effects. There are those who would say that this movie was just an ultra-violent gorefest with overblown special effects. But to that, I'd say it was a lot more genuine that the original, and much of the gore and violence was appropriate given the setting and tone of the movie. Mega City One is a massively overcrowded, decaying cesspool of humanity, where thousands of murders happen a day and human bodies are recycled for food and goods.
Such a place is neither safe nor sanitary, and violence is a constant, pervasive element. And sure, the concept of Slo-Mo may very well have been an excuse to employ some over the top 3D and slow motion sequences. But after watching the movie, I was forced to admit, it was a pretty damn good one! In the end, you can't help but feel that these two factors are somewhat excessive but still appropriate.
Naturally, the original movie tried to gloss over this since they wanted to give it as wide an appeal as possible. This failed, as much of the material was just too adult for kids, but the tone and feel of it was too cartoony to be taken seriously. Basically, the movie tried to hedge its bets and ended up flopping for it. But this time around, the directors and producers were going for a cult appeal and stuck to their guns, which I have to respect. By aiming for a smaller range of consumers and a less broad appeal, they were able to keep the movie honest and truer to the source material.
In short, I give it a 7.5/10. And man, I want to see more of Mega City One! That urban landscape had a kick-ass art team putting it together! I'd recommend the movie for that much alone, especially to fans of the Blade Runner, urban noire and post-apocalyptic series', but the rest of the movie is fun watching too. So get it and contribute to the cult following people. The producers still need to recoup their dough!
By storiesbywilliamsin Comics, Movies, Reviews, Sci-Fi January 23, 2013 January 23, 2013 2,316 Words6 Comments
2012: the Year of Reboots
If you've been paying attention to the trailer circuit lately, you might have noticed some new previews making the rounds. A few weeks ago, it was the trailer for the reboot of Spider-Man, this time with the prefix "The Amazing". Shortly thereafter, a new trailer came out previewing the relaunch of the 1990 movie Total Recall, this time starring Colin Farrell, Jessica Biel and Kate Beckinsale. And now, there's a third trailer making the rounds. This last one previews a relaunch of the 1994 Judge Dredd, the one-time Stallone vehicle that will star sci-fi/fantasy veteran Karl Urban and Lena Headey, who's fame is exploding due to her role as Cersei in Game of Thrones.
What do all these movies have in common? Well, for one, they are relaunches of relatively recent movies. Second, all these movies are scheduled for relaunch in 2012. That means for anyone old enough to have seen the originals, this summer is going to be jammed packed with remakes of movies they've already seen… I'm thinking Hollywood needs to just come out and admit that they have no new ideas left!
Now to be fair, some of these movies can get away with being remade. The original Total Recall came out 22 years ago, but for most people in my generation, it was a hit while we were tweens. I can't imagine many people are going to be seeing it for more than the nostalgic appeal, even if it is packed with headliners. And you can just tell that casting it with Ferrell, Biel and Beckinsale and pitching it as a big FX romp was done to ensure it has a big draw. Still, expect people to comparing it endlessly to the Schwarzenegger original!
Dredd is even more recent, with most fans of the comic being the age of majority when it came out. But a relaunch of this movie seems good given that the last one was such a disappointment. But judging by the trailers, it seems like just another excuse to shoot something in 3D. The storyline also looks pretty contained, focusing on a single mission rather than the larger picture of Mega City One, the Judges and the irony of trusting quasi-fascists to bring order to a chaotic society.
And Spider-Man? Hell, the third movie in that trilogy aired just five years ago! And the original was produced when, in 2002? That's just a ten year gap between this new one and the first of the originals! Isn't there a statute of limitations on this kind of thing? Why does this movie even need to be remade, and now of all times? The others featured perfectly good CGI effects and good story lines, and was ably acted by Toby McGuire and Kirsten Dunst. And of course, most people seeing this one already saw all the others.
So really, what possible reason is there for making this version? I have heard some people speculate that it's because they want to include Spider-Man in the next Avengers movie. So… what happened to Toby McGuire? Is he too old? Was he not returning the studios calls? Did he say there was no POSSIBLE way he'd ever do a Spider-Man movie again? Is that why they're doing this, so people won't be surprised when a new guy shows up to play Spidey in Avengers 2? That seems silly!
Oh Hollywood. When did you lose your way? Was it the money, the phoniness, the mountains and mountains of blow? Yeah, I'm betting somewhere between the money and the nose candy, you all just went a little batty and stopped being able to come up with new ideas. So here's a few ideas. Hire some new people. Pitch to new writers. Try making something though-provoking and avant-garde. Do something other than throw up the same old formulaic crap and rebooting old concepts!
And before you make the excuse that audiences are stupid and won't buy into something half-way decent and brainy, might I remind that you guys pioneered those low expectations in the first place? Were it not for you constantly trying to appeal to the lowest-common denominator, you wouldn't be in this creative tailspin. You might say this trend is the end result of underestimating the intelligence of the average person for so very long. Them chickens roosting in your backyard seem to have brought a batch of avian flu with them! In short, Hollywood, back your shit up, get your shit together, and then get your shit off our floor!
Sorry, that got a little rant-y towards the end there. But for me, this is just the straw that broke the camels back. I'd like to see some better movies, and these guys are the one making it hard for independent producers and studios simply because they suck up so much money and produce so much PR. Still, I might see one of these movies. During Prometheus, my wife was more than impressed by the preview for Total Recall, so we'll see. If I seem stupider once I get back, blame Hollywood!
By storiesbywilliamsin Movies, Video June 21, 2012 June 22, 2012 877 Words12 Comments
More Badasses!
Last time, my list was already going kind of long with everyone from Alucard to Private Vasquez. So I thought I might make a second installment and include all the people I couldn't, and break the mold a little by venturing outside of the world of science fiction. But as usual, the only real criteria is sheer badassness, those people who went above and beyond at kicking ass, keeping their cool and staying alive when all around them was dying or exploding! So here they are, the other badasses who deserve recognition for all their awesomeness!
Bill Kilgore:
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like … victory."
These are the words that soldier, surfing enthusiast and notorious badass Lt. Col Bill Kilgore is most remembered for. A seminal character is the 1979 epic war film Apocalypse Now, Kilgore was the commander of the an Air Cavalry brigade that was responsible for getting special agent Capt. Benjamin L. Willard and his PT Boat escort up the Mekong River. This he did by assaulting a company of Viet Cong that was controlling the mouth of the river, flying in low in attack choppers to the tune of "Flight of the Valkyries" by Wagner, blowing the shit out of everything, distributing death cards on the corpses of the enemy, and then ordering his men to surf on the breaking waves!
That's right, in the midst of enemy fire, he disembarked on the Mekong Delta and told his men that it was either "fight or surf". When told that this was too risky, Kilgore replied simply that "if I say it's safe, it's safe!" He would also remark in the midst of it that "Charlie don't surf!" Loved by his men and feared by his enemies, Kilgore combined balls, daring, eccentricity and wry humor into one package. As if this wasn't enough, Kilgore seemed to lament the fact that one day, the war would end. And why not? With no asses to kick and no death to defy, men like him would surely run out of things to do and die from boredom.
And as Willard himself remarked in his journal, Kilgore had a certain aura about him, as if nothing could touch him. Yes, given his indifference to explosions and bullets' ability to miss him, Kilgore could only strike audiences as crazy, invincible, or some odd combination of both. But given his reputation, I wouldn't be surprised if Kilgore survived the war and went on kicking ass until the day he died. I'm sure there's even shrines somewhere along the Mekong river that are dedicated to him!
Bo:
Man, demon hunting has been growing in popularity in recent years! And with more and more heroines taking to the stage, its also been getting a lot sexier! This is especially true of Bo, the an ass-kicking vixen of Lost Girl and a leather-wearing succubus to boot! Much like her male peers, Blade and D, she is a supernatural being with mixed origins who uses her abilities to help those in need. Largely, this consists of hunting other supernatural beings who prey on the innocent and just like to stir shit up. In addition to her leather getup, her weapons of choice appear to be traditional in nature, crossbows and blades rather than guns.
Working with the only real friend she's known since discovering her true identity, Bo and Kenzi run a sort of Fae/Human detective agency where they investigate paranormal events and learn more about the world she comes from. In the course of learning about her true origins, Bo is brought face to face with the Fae world and its particular struggles. After being told that she must choose between "the light or the dark" of the Fae world, Bo chooses instead to remain neutral and fight for humanity, largely out of loyalty to her friend.
In time, she meets and develops relationships with other beings, like the wolf-shifter Dyson, who holds down a day job as a police detective, and a human doctor named Lauren. These relationships, in addition to the nature of her job, allows Bo to keep one foot in both worlds, which seems to be the natural resolution to her predicament (i.e. having "lost" her humanity years before).
Bryan Mills:
"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."
Just as Ellen Ripley taught never to come between a mother and her child, Mills taught us never to come between a father and his daughter. Yes, with the release of Taken in 2008, we were all indebted to Liam Neeson for proving that a retired father-figure can still be the biggest badass on the block! Within ninety-six hours of learning that his daughter had been kidnapped, Mills flew to Paris and took down an entire Albanian mob ring and all those involved in their human smuggling. And part of what made it so damn cool was how effortless he made it look!
After spending years honing his skills with the CIA, a job which eventually cost him his job and custody of his daughter, Mills quit his job and moved to LA to be closer to her. However, things went awry when his daughter decided to take a trip to Europe to follow U2 on tour and ended up being kidnapped by a bunch of sex-slave traffickers. Thus the very thing that cost him a life with his daughter would allow him to bring her back home safe and sound! Not only was he able to deduce the identity of her kidnappers from a single phone call, he was also able to determine who amongst the authorities were on the take from them, where the bad guys safe houses were, and who they were doing business with. Not bad for an old man!
But really, the scene that took the cake for me was when he walked right into one of the Albanian mobs hideouts, impersonating a French government agent, and extorted the bad guys for more money!
Awesome, especially when you consider that it was all an act so that he could find out which amongst them was the guy he had a phone conversation with. And once he knew, he says so cooly, "You don't remember me? We spoke on the phone two days ago. I told you I would find you." Then proceeds to take them all out with his bare hands and their own guns! Oh, and that torture scene afterwards, where he hooks up Marko to the power grid? It was so good, I feel the need to quote his opening threat in full:
"You know, we used to outsource this kind of thing. But what we found was the countries we outsourced to had unreliable power grids. Very Third World. You'd turn on a switch – power wouldn't come on, and then tempers would get short. People would resort to pulling fingernails. Acid drips on bare skin. The whole exercise would become counterproductive. But here, the power's stable. Here, there's a nice even flow. Here, you can flip a switch and the power stays on all day."
Bad-Ass! If only Mills and Ripley could get together and make a baby, that kid would be the safest, most badassed kid in the world!
Dirty Harry:
"You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well do ya, punk?" One of the most quoted lines in Hollywood history. You almost forget that the man saying it was threatening to blow the head off some thug with an empty .44 magnum. And this was after he single-handedly foiled a bank robbery. Yes, this scene not only made Clint Eastwood's career, it also immortalized Inspector Harry Callahan as one of the baddest dudes of all time!
Working for the SFPD, Inspector Callahan became the template for an entire generation of movie cop. Nicknamed "Dirty" because of his reputation for crossing boundaries in order to get the bad guy, Callahan was also a man of deep principles who believed very strongly in what he was doing. Always, his weapon of choice was his trusty .44 magnum service revolver, a gun that is notorious for packing an incredibly punch! Though he might use other weapons in the course of duty, or just his bare hands, the magnum was always the gun he is seen wielding in iconic images.
Often condemned by higher ups and authorities for being a "rogue" or "loose cannon", he was in fact the kind of guy who only broke the rules – including his own – when it was absolutely necessary. And when it came right down to it, his rough exterior hid a semi-tortured soul that longed for a world in which life was simpler, people were civil, and no one committed grisly crimes. But as long as they still did, he was prepared to whip out his gun and shoot them up!
Sounds like a cliche now doesn't it? Well, that's because Eastwood established it as a household theme! Callahan was, for all intents and purposes, the original bad-boy cop, willing to bend, grease and even break the rules in order to take down the criminal psychopaths and avenge the victims of violent crime. But always, he loved what he did, and was a hell of a lot more committed than the pencil-pushing bosses and red-tape bureaucrats who complained about his methods! (Whoa, speaking of cliches!)
John McClain:
The man who put the hard in Die Hard! Unlike most of his peers, Detective John McClain of the NYPD was good at taking down bad guys not because of his big brain or super human fighting skills, but because of his raw, unrelenting determination. Relying on a cop's instincts, a strong sense of duty and the desire to protect the ones he loved, McClain triumphed over criminals and terrorists through persistence and his refusal to just roll over and die. Basically, he was like an itch they couldn't scratch, slowly driving them mad until they lost all control and died in a fiery explosion or a spectacular fall.
A veteran cop with the NYPD, McClain established his reputation as a badass by taking down twelve terrorists in LA who decided to celebrate Christmas by seizing control of a multinational corporate building and taking its employees (including his wife) hostage.
This reputation was further cemented when, on the following Christmas, a bunch of paramilitary goons decided to hold an airport hostage so they could fly a Central American war criminal in safely and then ferry him away. His third stint involved stopping a former East German infiltration expert-turned mercenary who also happened to be the brother of Hans Gruber (his first victim) . Last, but not least, he managed to foil a bunch of cyber terrorists who chose July 4th to stage a massive heist involving "fire sale"ing the US economy and all its utilities. Again and again, McClain brought them down by enduring endless beatings, running around, and getting there just in time to screw up some element of their plan.
In this way, McClain did demonstrate a sort of subtle genius by being able to get under the bad guy's skin. In all cases, the criminals he was dealing with were adept at planning and manipulation, relying on fear, feints and bluffs that would make their opponents play into their hands. Intrinsic to their plans was a sense of control, ensuring that all things went according to schedule so they could get in and get out without being caught. By putting himself at the center of things and constantly gumming up the works, McClain robbed them of this control, thus making them act rashly and stupidly until their plans unraveled. But of course, the bad guys were always on the verge of getting away when McClain finally did them in, ensuring that things stayed suspenseful until the end.
Tragically, his commitment to badassery and being in the wrong place at the wrong time cost him his marriage and pretty much alienated him from his daughter. It also led to a love-hate relationship with the bottle and a 401k that had seen better days. And though it seemed like time had run out on his marriage, John was ultimately able to rebuild things with his daughter, mainly because he saved her life! And, as predicted, she was pretty ballsy and tough herself. Guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree
Rambo:
Much like Dirty Harry, John Rambo is one of those heroes that has been imitated so many times over the years that he's become somewhat of a cliche. However, if one were to dig deep beneath all the merchandizing, knock-offs, and half-assed imitations, one finds an original creation who was quite the badass indeed. And like most of Stallone's roles, there was some real substance to this character before a series of sequels buried it under a mountain of cliches and repetitive plotlines.
Born to a Navajo father and Italian/German mother, Rambo enlisted in the army at an early age and was sent to Vietnam where he served two tours: one as a regular solider and another with the Green Berets. After being taken prisoner and tortured, he escaped and deployed one last time. After all that, Rambo returned to the US to find that people had turned against the war and hated him for being a veteran. This led to a severe case of PTSD and some serious trouble with the law.
In the original novel, Rambo was arrested, escaped from jail and became the target of a manhunt. This ended with his death in a secluded wood after he had taken down several officers and National Guardsmen. In the movie however, Rambo doesn't die but surrenders, speaking of the horrors he's witnessed and lamenting how he cannot return to a normal, civilian life. He then is taken to jail where he remained until the second movie came out.
In the sequels, Rambo finds a sort of resolution to his conflict by returning to active duty, again and again. Ultimately, it seems that the solution to his inability to reintegrate into a peaceful lifestyle is to embrace a life of violence, but for the sake of helping those in need.
His first redeployment (in First Blood, Part II) is to his old stomping grounds of Vietnam where he is tasked with rescuing POW's who never made it home. His second is to Afghanistan, where Soviet forces have taken his old friend and mentor Col. Trautman prisoner and he and a bunch of mujaheddin warriors must break into the camp to save him. In the fourth and final installment, Rambo comes out of retirement one last time to help a bunch of missionaries who have been taken hostage by the military Junta in Myanmar/Burma. In every case, Rambo racks up the kills, relying on his trusty bow and arrow, M60, KBAR knife, and any machinegun he can get his hands on to eviscerate, carve, punch holes in or blow the bad guys away!
Yes, as I said, things got pretty cliche with this series, relying on the latest news sensation and the repetitive theme of an old warrior returning to what he knows to make the carnage seem emotionally accessible. But who the hell cared? If there was one thing Rambo was good at, it was kicking some serious ass and it didn't really matter who's it was! In the end, they fell by the hundreds, overwhelmed by his mighty arsenal and signature sneer!
Raylan Givens:
What do you get when you cross a cowboy with a Federal Marshall? Why, Raylan Givens, of course! The star of the hit series Justified, Raylan Givens is a no-nonsense, gun-toting, wisecracking lawman who seems to have learned the art of law enforcement from guys like John Wayne and Dirty Harry. Much like his predecessors, he has a penchant for breaking the rules and pissing off his superiors in order to reign in the bad guys. But of course, no one can fire him because he's just too damn good!
Born to a criminal family in Harlan County, Kentucky, Raylan joined the Marines in order to get away from the drugs, criminals and white supremacists that his hometown was known for. After becoming an expert in small arms and the quick draw, he enlisted with the US Marshalls and became a law man. Known for his accuracy, fast hands, tendency to wind up shooting people and signature cowbow hat, Raylan quickly earned the reputation of being a "cowbow", both in terms of appearance and sensibilities. Naturally, he would be the first to say that he tries to resolve things peacefully, but somehow, violence keeps breaking out.
After a "justified shoot" involving an arms dealer whom Raylan told to leave Miami in 24 hours or risk getting shot on sight, Raylan was transferred back to his home state of Kentucky. Here, he found the county of his youth overrun by the Oxycontin trade, prostitution, and violence, often involving people he used to call family and friends. More often than not, Raylan is forced to reign in people who are much like him, people who he could have easily become if he had made slightly different choices (echoes of Garry Cooper there!).
Xena:
Don't ask me how I managed to forget Xena last time around! This iconic, heroine, warrior-princess, inspirational figure is someone without whom no list of inspirational badasses should even be written! So I amend my previous mistake, and include her here and now. I knew not what I did, please don't send me hate mail. Moving on…
Xena is without a doubt one of the most popular heroines to come out of popular culture and fantasy/sci-fi in recent decades. Tough, smart, and sassed mouth, she is anything but prim and proper and has been generally known to kick some serious ass and look good while doing it. Whether she's high-kicking, wielding that Chakram (throwing disc), slashing through bad guys with her sword, or just leering at people with those eyes, Xena is to badass heroines what AC/DC is to classic rock. In short, it's dam hard to imagine one without the other! Originally appearing in the series Hercules as a villain, Xena went on to become his friend and lover and even earned herself a spin-off which did better and ran longer than its forebear.
Her own back story begins with her as a pirate and criminal, until she met and was double-crossed by a young, ambitious Roman officer named Julius Caesar (played by none other than Karl Urban). After surviving his brutal betrayal, she went to the East and joined some warlords, losing herself in revenge and violence until she tired of it and returned to the west. Here, she continued warring and raiding, until she met a demi-God named Hercules whom she initially tried to kill, but soon joined forces with him in order to defeat a warlord who had taken control of her army.
In time, she and Hercules had a love affair and she decided to change her ways. Nicknamed the "warrior-princess", she soon teamed up with a young woman named Gabrielle who she taught to fight. Together, the two began roaming the lands of the ancient world, seeking out injustice and fighting for what was right. As she fights the forces of evil, Xena must also fight the forces of her own past, striving to resist the temptation to return to her old ways. Oftentimes, Gabrielle's friendship and company prove to be the difference between resisting and succumbing.
Sounds cheesy, no? But it's also pretty effective. In addition to being a hero to women and young girls everywhere, Xena's relationship with Gabrielle has proven to be an inspiration to the lesbian community who claim that this powerful bond is a prime example of love which transcends gender norms or social mores. So in addition to her trademark war cry, disc-throwing and swashbuckling skills, Xena is a hero for being brave in a way that has nothing to do with ass-kicking or weapons. She is brave just for being true to herself and not giving a damn what anybody else thinks!
Okay, now that I've paid homage to all these badass icons, I think I got what I need to draw some tentative conclusions. Basically, it seems to me that all of them share certain characteristics that set them apart and make them so damn unforgettable. So if you want to be badass like them, you better start thinking about adapting some of the following to your repertoire:
Roguish Personality: Whether we are talking about detectives, mercenaries, or freelance hunters, it seems that in order to be badass, you need to be willing to break the rules a little. Things like convention, regulations, and red tape are the kind of things that inspire annoyance, tediousness and the desire for you to do something outlandish and possibly reckless. Screw what other people think, you know what needs to be done and someone's got to do it! If not you, then who?
Strong Values: But it's not enough to simply break the rules. There has to be a higher purpose to what you are doing to justify this disregard for procedure and discipline. Basically, you need to have a strong commitment to what is right and know the difference between simply following orders and doing what needs to be done. After all, people following orders led to some of the worst crimes and miscarriages of justice in history! You gotta see the big picture and circumvent those who don't sometimes, otherwise shit can happen!
Mad Skills: Whether you're weapon of choice is a gun, a sword, some high-tech device, or just your hands and feet, you need to practice hard and be good at what you do! No hero has ever excelled by being lazy or neglectful of their basic fighting skills. You don't need to be the best, mind you. Many a time you will confront someone who is more skilled than you are. But in these cases, your wits and your righteousness will overcome. Hell, you may even find yourself being rescued by a sidekick or someone you thought was against you. Heroes are good like that. They have friends and helpers where the bad-guys do not 😉
Troubled Past: Let's face it, all this ass-kicking and smart-ass talk can't conceal the fact that you've got some demons! Hell, all heroes do. Perhaps you're struggling with your past, perhaps you're not 100% okay with where you came from. But whatever the case, you know that ultimate resolution will come only through confrontation. Only by facing those who best embody your fears and demons will you prevail over the darkness you hold inside. But don't do it too quickly! Chances are, you'll become boring once you've vanquished your enemies and found inner peace!
Well that's my assessment at least. But of course, if you are a true badass, you aren't going to follow MY rules are you? Of course not! So take what you will from these "guidelines" and find your own path to badassery. For no matter what people may tell you, badasses are all rugged individuals at heart. If everybody did it, it would cease to be badass wouldn't it?
By storiesbywilliamsin Movies April 17, 2012 April 17, 2012 4,046 Words8 Comments


Will All Wheel Drive Save the Sedan?
Car makers are adding some of the features that people love about SUVs and applying them to their smaller, squatter counterparts.
Edmunds.com says that more than 63 percent of the new vehicles sold last year were SUVs or trucks, which is no surprise to automakers who have spent the last few years slashing their small car models to line up with the market.
But they're not ready to fully let go just yet. According to Bloomberg, automakers have a plan to save some of their dying sedan models, but it's not exactly novel: a recent report says car makers are adding some of the features that people love about SUVs and applying them to their smaller, squatter counterparts.
One of these more sought after details is all wheel drive and if everybody wants it, then the Toyota Prius should have it, right? And the Mazda 6 and Nissan Altima, a few of the sedans that have lived to tell the tale of the great SUV craze of the 21st century.
All wheel drive and four wheel drive used to matter to only those enthusiasts who really liked to offroad -- or the casual driver who lived in a particularly slippery or snow-covered terrain. There was a time where using it came with a fuel economy penalty that most drivers didn't find to be worth it.
But today, low gas prices make that less of a hurdle. Add that to the fact that technology has caught up a bit and, according to Toyota, there is no fuel economy penalty with its Prius. It says at 50 MPG combined, using an all-wheel-drive Prius is as -- or more -- efficient than driving most other front wheel drive vehicles.
Bloomberg says the latest effort from more mainstream carmakers and models have taken the feature from more niche and luxury sedans and attempted to democratize it. Rumor has it that Fiat Chrysler is even looking to put all wheel on its Pacifica minivan. The more the merrier, right?
Details Emerge on Mustang-Inspired CUV
Ford Dumps All-But-Two Cars
Dealer Sues Toyota Over Prius
GM May Ax Six Models


Jump to: SynonymsCommon NamesEconomic ImportanceDistributional RangeReferencesOther Web ReferencesImages
Taxon: Symphoricarpos albus (L.) S. F. Blake
Symphoricarpos
Caprifolioideae
Rhodora 16:118. 1914
20-May-1992 by ARS Systematic Botanists.
26 (20 active, 5 available) in National Plant Germplasm System (Map)
Other conspecific taxa:
Symphoricarpos albus var. albus (0 accessions)
Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus (1 accessions)
(=) Symphoricarpos racemosus Michx.
common snowberry (Source: NRCS Cons Pl Mat) - English
snowberry (Source: Hortus 3) - English
waxberry (Source: Hortus 3) - English
symphorine blanche (Source: Zander ed17) - French
gewöhnliche Schneebeere (Source: Zander Ency) - German
Knallerbsenstrauch (Source: Zander Ency) - German
Environmental: erosion control (for mine reclamation fide NRCS Cons Pl Mat 2002) ornamental; revegetator (for mine reclamation fide NRCS Cons Pl Mat 2002) wildlife habitat (for mine reclamation fide NRCS Cons Pl Mat 2002)
Vertebrate poisons: mammals; mammals
SUBARCTIC AMERICA: Canada, [Northwest Territories] United States [Alaska]
EASTERN CANADA: Canada [Ontario, Québec]
WESTERN CANADA: Canada [Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan]
NORTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio (n.), Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont]
NORTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin]
NORTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming]
SOUTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [California]
Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. 1998. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning Note: poisonous
Eilers, L. J. & D. M. Roosa. 1994. The vascular plants of Iowa
Englert, J. M. et al. 1999-. USDA-NRCS Improved conservation plant materials released by NRCS and cooperators
Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen
Gleason, H. A. & A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, ed. 2
Hara, H. 1983. A revision of Caprifoliaceae of Japan with reference to allied plants in other districts and the Adoxaceae. Ginkgoana 5:101.
Harrington, H. 1954. Manual of the plants of Colorado.
Hitchcock, C. L. et al. 1955-1969. Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest.
Jones, G. N. 1940. A monograph of the genus Symphoricarpos. J. Arnold Arbor. 21:214-218.
Krüssmann, G. 1984. Manual of cultivated broad-leaved trees and shrubs (English translation of Handbuch der Laubgehölze. 1976)
Lampe, K. F. & M. A. McCann. 1985. AMA handbook of poisonous and injurious plants Note: poisonous
Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. 1999. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York.
McGregor, R. L. et al. (The Great Plains Flora Association). 1986. Flora of the Great Plains.
Munro, D. B. Canadian poisonous plants information system (on-line resource).
Ohio Flora Committee (E. L. Braun, T. S. Cooperrider, T. R. Fisher, J. J. Furlow). 1967-. The vascular flora of Ohio.
Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
Rehder, A. 1949. Bibliography of cultivated trees and shrubs.
Strausbaugh, T. D. & E. L. Core. 1978. Flora of West Virginia, ed. 2.
Voss, E. 1972-. Michigan flora.
Welsh, S. L. & G. Moore. 1973. Utah plants
Check other web resources for Symphoricarpos albus (L.) S. F. Blake :
PLANTS: USDA-NRCS Database of Plants of the United States and its Territories
BONAP North American Plant Atlas of the Biota of North America Program:
ICRA: International Cultivar Registration Authority (on-line resource). for Symphoricarpos albus cultivars
Seed: U.S. National Seed Herbarium image


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Paul Schempp
How Does Shadow Banking Influence Financial Stability?
Paul Schempp How Does Shadow Banking Influence Financial Stability?
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Paul Schempp is Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in Bonn (Germany). He holds a PhD from Bonn Graduate School of Economics. In his research he concentrates on financial economics and applied microeconomics. For his work on liquidity provision by banks, shadow banks and the government, and the implications for financial stability Schempp was awarded the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck society.
Area of Research
Financial Economics, Banking, Applied Microeconomic Theory
Stephan Luck and Paul Schempp. "Outside Liquidity, Rollover Risk, and Government Bonds." MPI Collective Goods Preprint (in press) (2014).
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Stephan Luck and Paul Schempp. "Sovereign Defaults, Bank Runs, and Contagion." MPI Collective Goods Preprint (in press) (2014).
Stephan Luck and Paul Schempp. "Banks, Shadow Banking, and Fragility." ECB Working Paper No. 1726 (2014).
Stephan Luck and Paul Schempp. "Regulatory Arbitrage and Systemic Liquidity Risk." Unpublished (2015).
Academic and Professional Positions
Max Planck Society (more details)
Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods
Visiting PhD Student
PhD Program in Economics
University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)
Bonn Graduate School of Economics
- Otto Hahn Medal (2016)
- Best Poster Award at the 1st ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal for the Project "Banks, Shadow Banking, and Fragility" (joint work with Stephan Luck) (2014)
- Scholarship of the "Max Planck Gesellschaft" (2013-2014)
- Scholarship of the "Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft" (German Research Foundation) (2009-2012)
- German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (2008-2009)
© Maximilian Dörrbecker
"The Max Planck Society is Germany's most successful research organization. Since its establishment in 1948, no fewer than 18 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of its scientists, putting it on a par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide. The more than 15,000 publications each year in internationally renowned scientific journals are proof of the outstanding research work conducted at Max Planck Institutes – and many of those articles are among the most-cited publications in the relevant field." (Source)
"Many goods are not obviously best provided by unregulated markets. This does not necessarily imply that government does a better job. But research can do society a service in defining why markets have a hard time with some goods, and in comparing institutional arrangements aiming at their provision. In a precise way, the problem is defined by the concept of public goods. Capitalising on the theory of mechanism design, it can be further improved. Using experimental methods, it can be put into perspective. Yet some social dilemmas are better analysed in alternative categories. It may even be preferable to start analytically from the political decision to intervene into markets. The institute tackles these questions from the combined perspectives of economics, law and psychology. While the institute started with applications from environmental problems, current work focuses on antitrust, regulation and financial stability." (Source)
In the banking model of maturity transformation presented in this video, the features of the shadow banking sector and its influences on financial stability are analyzed. As PAUL SCHEMPP explains, the model shows that banks and shadow banks can co-exist without harm to the financial sector as long as the shadow banking sector is small. However, liquidity guarantees from banks to shadow banks and a growing shadow banking sector increase the risk of bank runs.
LT Video Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10003
Banks, Shadow Banking, and Fragility
Stephan Luck and Paul Schempp
ECB Working Paper
Earlier Draft
Stephan Luck; Paul Schempp
Stephan Luck and Paul Schempp. "Banks, Shadow Banking, and Fragility." Unpublished
Viral V. Acharya, Philipp Schnabl and Gustavo Suarez. "Securitization Without Risk Transfer." Journal of Financial Economics 107 (2013): 515-536.
Antoine Martin, David Skeie and Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden. "Repo Runs." Review of Financial Studies 27 (2014): 957-989.
Arvind Krishnamurthy, Stefan Nagel and Dmitry Orlov. "Sizing Up Repo." The Journal of Finance 69 (2014): 2381-2417.
Adam Copeland, Antoine Martin and Michael Walker. "Repo Runs: Evidence from the Tri-Party Repo Market." The Journal of Finance 69 (2014): 2343-2380.
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