How to Teach Language Through Poetry

The use of literature in the EFL classroom through three different perspectives. Exploring poetry as a strong option.. Most of the time literature is mainly related to reading and writing, but it may play the same meaningful role in teaching speaking and listening if we design creative activities. Teachers can use literature in the classroom for different purposes such as reading aloud and dramatizing a poem, teaching pronunciation, and many other activities. There are many advantages of using literature in the EFL classroom.To talk about the general advantages of literature can be a broad approach thus; we will not focus on them. Instead, we will have a look at the benefits from three different perspectives: literature as genuine and authentic material, as a good language source and as a bridge to get the learner interested and also, we will mention poetry as a strong option to develop students’ skills. MATERIAL Literature is authentic material that makes students travel to f oreign countries and fantastic worlds. This keeps our students motivated and promotes favorable attitude toward learning.Poems, novels, and stories can bring powerful emotional responses to the classroom. Furthermore, students can relate their own real lives to the stories they read. Literary texts help EFL students to improve language learning. However, literature by itself is not enough; teachers need to use imaginative techniques for integrating literature work with language teaching. It is also necessary to bring motivating methodology and to choose the right material to keep students interested. LANGUAGE Language is the most prominent feature of literature.Through literature students learn about syntax and discourse, different structures, functions, and the different ways of connecting ideas, all these help students to develop their writing, listening, reading and speaking skills. As they use literature they learn about language structure without even noticing, this helps to de velop their communicative competence, what as we know, is the ultimate aim of English learning. LEARNER In the classroom the use of literature encourages learners to get involved ith the stories they read or hear; the understanding of the words becomes less important as they get involved in trying to figure out what is happening with a character or the end of a story. Students may also like using literature if the activities are oriented towards enjoyment and creativity instead of memorizing or following grammatical rules. Literature can be seen as the bridge between the learner and the culture of the people whose language they are studying; in order to get the learners interested in the culture, we have to carefully select the literary texts according to their interests and level of comprehension.WHY DO WE USE POETRY WITH THE LANGUAGE LEARNER? Poetry is a short piece of imaginative writing, of a personal nature and laid out in lines. In this sense, poetry is a product of the langua ge and a tool to teach it, a tool to teach grammatical clues and a product when students make a composition of any topic. Most of the poems include metaphors. Students can use cognitive skills by making comparisons between two different things and finding their similarities. The figures of speech used in poetry such as metaphors, similes and personifications help students to have a better understanding of the use of language in an unconscious way.Poetry is a way for teaching and learning basic skills. It can be used as an enjoyable and a rewarding tool with the properties of rhyming and rhythm. It helps students to easily learn with the supra-segmental aspect of the target language, such as stress, pitch, intonation. Using poetry while teaching English can have many benefits: * It encourages creative writing. * It helps students appreciate sounds words and patterns. * It develops phonic skills. * It makes students express feelings and opinions. * It provides a great opportunity to p lay with language. It reinforces the ability to think and to experiment with students’ understanding of the world. * It helps to acquire vocabulary, creativity and imagination. * it reveals, restates, reinforces and affirms those things which we think are true. * It gives the chance to discover and explore the use of the language. * It generates collaborative activities (pair and group work). Poetry and the four skills We can develop the four skills while using poetry: Poems are good to reinforce grammar structures and to improve writing abilities, bringing out creativity and rhythm in the classroom since students have to use their imagination to write.Also, poems help to develop oral and mental capacities. They should be read aloud to reinforce the student’s phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary as well as to sharpen their receptive language skills by learning rhyming, sounds, stresses, pauses, alliteration and syllables. Ideas for using poetry in the c lassroom * Discussing the theme of a poem and writing out personal experiences related to the theme. * Deducing meanings from the context. * Completing a paraphrase of a poem (cloze-style). * Choosing the best paraphrase among a few. Predicting what’s coming next after reading only one verse at a time. * Ordering jumbled stanzas or lines in the correct sequence. * Rewriting a part of a poem in one’s own words and ideas to offer different messages. * Filling an omitted word, phrase, or line in relation to its context. * Discussing similarities and differences between poems of the same subject or theme. * Identifying any aural or musical qualities in the poem (rhyme, alliteration, and simile). * Reading aloud poems (choral reading) and making a song. This teaches intonations and stress. Using visuals images such as paintings to help pupils envisage settings, historical periods, etc. * Imitating o parody the style of poem. * Acting the poem: mime, role play, performance, etc. * Making a peer or group composition, writing together. Useful Web sites www. readwritethink. org/lessons/lesson_view. asp? id=391 www. poetryteachers. comh www. poetry4kids. com www. poetryzone. co. uk www. michellehenry. fr/poems. htm www. poemhunter. com www. tooter4kids. com/classroom/poetry_in_the_esl_classroom. htm www. teachingenglish. org. uk/think/literature/poems_prod. html http://www. youtube. com/user/b4uguy#g/u Conclusions Using poetry in the classroom is a great tool, but we cannot forget that we have to choose the right material, so students can maximize their learning. It has to be interesting and adequate for each student level, reading about new things is usually interesting for students. Learners will benefit from literature; we are responsible of putting in touch our students with material that catches their interest, so they want to read and listen more, which turns out in further and richer learning.Also, it can create opportunities for personal expression as well as reinforce learner? s knowledge of lexical and grammatical structure giving the opportunity to develop their communicative and cognitive skills. Many teachers think that including poetry in the EFL classroom can be a very heavy and useless work. However, we have analyzed some of the benefits that working with poetry can bring to the learning process. Also, we pointed that not only it is useful but also, students can have great fun if we choose the correct activities and poems.

Management Case Study Essay

I.CURRENT SITUATION A.Past Corporate Performance Indexes i.Marvel Enterprise Incorporated Marvel Enterprises, Inc. is an industry-leading firm whose core business is character-based entertainment. Marvel’s foundation and success is built on their proprietary library of over 4,700 characters featured in a variety of media for nearly seventy years (1939-2004). Marvel utilizes its character franchises in licensing agreements, and publishing of comic books through the division of Marvel Comics. ii.How it was formally organized: First Management Marvel had its first taste of corporate culture when founder Martin Goodman sold the publishing outfit that began life as Timely Comics to Perfect Film and Chemical– a company known for film processing and mail order drug sales in 1968. Perfect grouped Marvel under the Magazine Management brand. 1972 saw Stan Lee stepping in for Goodman as publisher, while parent company Perfect rebranded itself as Cadence Corporation the following year. The wonky Magazine Management Co. now officially became known as Marvel Comics Group. iii.New World Pictures purchased Governance of Cadence Industries for Marvel Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. (Marvel or MEG), the parent company of Marvel Comics and Marvel Productions, was put up for sale as part of the liquidation of its then parent corporation, Cadence Industries. Marvel was sold to New World Pictures. Cadence Industries, formerly Perfect Film & Chemical Corporation, was an American conglomerate owned by Martin â€Å"Marty† S. Ackerman. In 1989, Ronald Perelman’s MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings group of companies bought Marvel Entertainment Group from New World for $82.5 million, not including Marvel Productions, which was folded into New World’s TV and movie business. â€Å"It is a mini-Disney in terms of intellectual property,† said Perelman. â€Å"Disney’s got much more highly recognized characters and softer characters, whereas our characters are termed action heroes. But at Marvel we are now in the business of the creation and marketing of characters. iv.Going Public, Bankruptcy and Acquisition: Perelman’s Governance Marvel made an initial public offer of 40% of the stock in July 1991, giving $40 million from the proceeds to Andrews Group, Marvel’s then direct parent corporation within MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings. Marvel purchased the trading card company Fleer within a year of going public. In April 1993, Marvel acquired 46% of ToyBiz, for the rights to make Marvel toys.] The Andrews Group named Avi Arad of ToyBiz as the president and CEO of the Marvel Films division and of New World Family Filmworks, Inc., a New World Entertainment subsidiary. New World later became a fellow subsidiary of the Andrews Group. In 1993 and 1994, Marvel’s holding companies — Marvel Holdings, Inc. and Marvel Parent Holdings, Inc. — were formed between Andrews Group and MEG and issued over half a billion dollars in bonds under the direction of Perelman, secured by Marvel’s rising stock, which was passed up in dividends to Perlman’s group of companies. Marvel continued acquisitions with Panini, an Italian sticker-maker, in August 1994, and SkyBox International in April 1995. Under the governance of Perelman, Marvel also purchased Heroes World Distribution, a regional distributor to comic-book shops. Marvel’s attempt to distribute its products directly led to a decrease in sales and aggravated the losses which Marvel suffered when the comic book bubble popped.While licensing revenue reached $50 million in 1995, MEG laid off 275 employees on January 4, 1996. Perelman offered to have the Andrews Group purchase additional shares with an issue for $350 million in November 19 96, which would have required ToyBiz to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Marvel. Meanwhile, Carl Icahn began buying Marvel’s bonds at 20% of their value and moved to block Perelman’s plan. The Marvel group of companies  filed for bankruptcy on December 27, 1996, but the note holders, led by Icahn, blocked this. v.Marvel as Disney Subsidiary On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4.24 billion, with Marvel shareholders to receive $30 and about 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Marvel they own. The voting occurred on December 31, 2009 and the merger was approved. The acquisition of Marvel was finalized hours after the shareholder vote, therefore giving Disney full ownership of Marvel Entertainment. The company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange under its ticker symbol (MVL), due to the closing of the deal. On June 2, 2010 Marvel announced that it promoted Joe Quesada to Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment. In June 2010, Marvel set up a television division headed by Jeph Loeb as executive vice president. Three months later, Smith & Tinker licensed from Marvel the character rights for a superhero digital collectible game for Facebook and Apple’s mobile platform. On October 1, 2010, Marvel moved its offices to a 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) suite at 135 W. 50th Street, New York City, New York, under a nine-year sublease contract. Stan Lee Media’s lawsuit against Marvel was dismissed again in February 2011. In July 2011, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that Marvel characters co-created by Jack Kirby would remain the property of Marvel. In March 2013, Feld Entertainment agreed with Marvel to produce a Marvel Character based live arena show. Marvel was also launching a new pop culture and lifestyle web show, â€Å"Earth’s Mightiest Show†. Current Mission Marvel Enterprises Inc. aims to successfully meet the needs of its customers by continuing to design, develop, market and distribute character superheroes that made the Company’s name famous. It also aims at offering its customers fresh and different characters all the time. Not only that, but Marvel’s goal was also to secure the â€Å"best-in-class† licensing partners in all categories of its divisions in business. Current Objectives 1.To determine if Marvel can still increase the growth in their profit at a higher level. 2.To widen the range of their licensing activities. 3.To continue to maintain control over the quality of the product, from design to final engineering and execution. 4.To determine if Marvel could continue to capitalize on a limited set of prominent characters, most notably Spiderman or could decide to shift focus to a larger set of lesser- known characters that might have the potential of becoming blockbuster characters but were largely unknown to the wider public. 5.To determine if Marvel could venture beyond its current business model and take on more capital-intensive but also profitable activities. Current Strategies Marvel was acquired by Toy Biz and was named as Marvel Enterprises Inc. In line with the change of its name was the total change in its management. The start was a difficult one. Marvel’s new strategy was first aimed at monetizing the content library via licensing characters for use with media products (such as toys, apparel, collectibles, and food). Managing the library of characters to foster long-term value was the second key focus of Marvel’s new management. Retaining some form of control over the creative process- to ensure the quality of the content that featured Marvel characters was the third main strategic dimension. Marvel’s management team hired well-known artists and writers to lead its creative efforts in the publishing division, including popular writers from the film and television industry, and had started to sign exclusive contracts with key creative talent. Current Policies Some of the policies implemented by Marvel Enterprises Inc. to its management are: 1.Excluding its â€Å"Spider- Man† character from the deal with TBW (Hong Kong based independent Company) in creating the product design, marketing  and sales because Spider-Man has a separate deal with Sony Pictures. 2.Maintaining an incredible performance for its Toy division because competition was so intense at this industry. 3.Maintaining a wide channel of distribution of its products. 4.Pursuing a diversified base of studio partners, both to ensure their commitment to each project and to mitigate risks regarding Marvel’s motion picture division. 5.Widening the range of its licensing activities for its characters. 6.Investing in profitable investment-related activities. 7.Strictly implementing rules and regulations in its management. 8.Maintaining an effective internal control over its management. II.Corporate Governance A.Board of Directors i.Directors Marvel’s Board of Directors has three classes of directors with staggered three-year terms. Sid Ganis and James F. Halpin were elected at the 2008 annual meeting as Class I directors to serve a three-year term. Morton E. Handel, F. Peter Cuneo and Isaac Perlmutter were elected at the 2007 annual meeting as Class III directors to serve a three-year term. Richard L. Solar was elected, along with Avi Arad, who later resigned, at the 2006 annual meeting of stockholders as a Class II director to serve a three-year term. The Board of Directors elected James W. Breyer to replace Mr. Arad in June 2006, and Mr. Breyer is serving out the remainder of Mr. Arad’s term. In July 2007, the Board of Directors increased the size of the Board by one Board seat and elected Laurence N. Charney to serve as a Class II director until this annual meeting. Each of Mr. Solar, Mr. Breyer and Mr. Charney has been nominated for election to a new three-year term at this annual meeting. ii.Other Directors James W. Breyer (Class II), 47, has been a Marvel director since June 2006. Mr. Breyer has served as a partner of the Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, Accel Partners, since 1995. Laurence N. Charney (Class II), 61, has been a Marvel director since July 2007. Mr. Charney retired from his position as a Partner of Ernst & Young LLP in 2007, having served that firm for over thirty-five years and engagement acceptance across all service lines. Mr. Charney served previously at Ernst & Young as an audit partner and was Marvel’s audit partner for its 1999 through 2003 audits. Mr. Charney is a senior advisor to Plainfield Asset Management LLC, a hedge fund based in Greenwich, CT that specializes in special and distressed situations. Richard L. Solar (Class II), 69, has been a Marvel director since December 2002. Since February 2003, Mr. Solar has been a management consultant and investor. From June 2002 to February 2003, Mr. Solar acted as a consultant for Gerber Childrenswear, Inc., a marketer of popular-priced licensed apparel sold under the Gerber name, as well as under licenses from Baby Looney Tunes, Wilson, Converse and Coca-Cola. iii.Directors Who’s Terms Are Continuing For each member of the Board of Directors whose term of office as a director continues after the annual meeting, set forth below is the director’s name, age as of March 9, 2009, principal occupation for at least the last five years, selected biographical information and period of service as a director. Sid Ganis (Class I), 69, has been a Marvel director since October 1999. Mr. Ganis is the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that awards the Oscars. Mr. Ganis has been President of Out of the Blue†¦Entertainment, a company that he founded, since September  1996. Out of the Blue†¦Entertainment is a provider of motion pictures, television and musical entertainment for Sony Pictures Entertainment and others. From January 1991 until September 1996, Mr. Ganis held various executive positions with Sony Pictures Entertainment, including Vice Chairman of Columbia Pictures and President of Worldwide Marketing for Columbia/TriStar Motion Picture Companies. James F. Halpin (Class I), 58, has been a Marvel director since March 1995. Mr. Halpin retired in March 2000 as President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of CompUSA Inc., a retailer of computer hardware, software, accessories and related products, with which he had been employed since May 1993. Mr. Halpin was a director of Life Time Fitness, Inc. from February 2005 until August 2008. F. Peter Cuneo (Class III), 64, was Marvel’s President and Chief Executive Officer from July 1999 through December 2002 and served as the part-time Special Advisor to Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer from January 2003 through December 2004. Mr. Cuneo has been a Marvel director since July 1999, and since June 2003 he has served as a non-executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Cuneo is a senior advisor to Plainfield Asset Management LLC, a hedge fund based in Greenwich, CT that specializes in special and distressed situations. Mr. Cuneo is a also director of Iconix Brands, Inc. Morton E. Handel (Class III), 73, has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Marvel since October 1998 and was first appointed as a director in June 1997. Mr. Handel served as a director of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. from June 2005 until November 2008 and as a director of Linens ‘N Things, Inc from 2000 until February 2006. Mr. Handel is also a Life Regent of the University of Hartford and is active on the boards of not-for-profit organizations in the Hartford, CT area. Isaac Perlmutter (Class III), 66, has been Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer since January 1, 2005. Mr. Perlmutter has served as a senior executive of Marvel Characters B.V. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. that owns and licenses Marvel’s intellectual property library) and its predecessor-in-interest Marvel Characters, Inc. since January 2007 and has been employed by Marvel as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors since November 2001. Mr. Perlmutter has been a Marvel director since April 1993 and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors until March 1995. B.Management i.Board Meetings and Committees The Board of Directors held at least 10 meetings annually. Each incumbent director attended, during the year, at least 75% of the aggregate number of Board of Directors meetings and applicable committee meetings held during the period in which he served as a director. The Board of Directors’ committees include the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Film Slate Committee and Strategic Planning Committee. ii.Corporate Governance Committee The Corporate Governance Committee’s function is (i) to identify individuals qualified to become members of the Board of Directors; (ii) to recommend individuals for selection by the Board of Directors as nominees for election as directors at the next annual meeting of stockholders; and (iii) to develop and recommend to the Board of Directors a set of Corporate Governance Guidelines and the modification of those guidelines from time to time. The Corporate Governance Committee is comprised of Messrs. Halpin (chairman) and Ganis. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee met three times annually. The Board of Directors has determined that each of Messrs, Halpin and Ganis is â€Å"independent† iii.Audit Committee The Audit Committee’s function is (i) to directly appoint, retain, compensate, evaluate and, where appropriate, terminate Marvel’s independent  registered public accounting firm; (ii) to assist the Board in its oversight of: the integrity of Marvel’s financial statements, Marvel’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, the independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and the performance of Marvel’s internal audit function and the independent registered public accounting firm; and (iii) to prepare the report required to be included in Marvel’s annual proxy statement, which follows. The Audit Committee is ultimately responsible for pre-approving audit and non-audit services provided by its independent registered public accounting firm including the compensation to be paid for those services. The Audit Committee has established a policy regarding pre-approval of audit and non-audit services, and has delegated its authority to pre-approve audit and non-audit services to its chairman, who reports any such pre-approvals to the Audit Committee at its next meeting. In accordance with the Audit Committee’s pre-approval policy, the Audit Committee does not engage its independent registered public accounting firm to perform non-audit services that are precluded by law or regulation or any services that would impair the firm’s independence. iv.Compensation Committee Our chief executive officer is invited to attend meetings of the Compensation Committee and to offer recommendations on compensation of other executives or directors, but he does not vote in the committee’s final determinations, and decisions concerning his own compensation are made in his absence. The Compensation Committee has the authority to retain compensation consultants to assist it in making its decisions. During 2008, the members of Marvel’s Compensation Committee were Messrs. Halpin and Ganis. Neither of those individuals was an officer or employee of Marvel, or of any of its subsidiaries, during 2008 or formerly, nor did either of them have any relationship requiring disclosure in â€Å"Transactions with Related Persons, Promoters and Certain Control Persons,† below. None of our executive officers served in 2008 on the compensation committee of any  other company that had an executive officer serving as a Marvel director. None of our executive officers served in 2008 as a director of any other company that had an executive officer serving on our Compensation Committee. . v.Executive Officers Below are the positions held with Marvel, and selected biographical information for our executive officers, other than Mr. Perlmutter, whose information is found under â€Å"About Our Directors,† above. 1.Alan Fine , 58, has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Marvel Characters B.V. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. that owns and licenses Marvel’s intellectual property library) and its predecessor-in-interest Marvel Characters, Inc. since May 2007. Mr. Fine also has served as Chief Executive Officer of Marvel’s publishing division since September 2004. Mr. Fine served as Chief Executive Officer of Marvel’s toy division from August 2001 until that division was closed in early 2008. 2.David Maisel , 46, has served as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chief Executive since September 2006 and became Chairman of Marvel Studios in March 2007. From September 2005 until September 2006, Mr. Maisel served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and from September 2005 until March 2007, Mr. Maisel served as Vice Chairman of Marvel Studios. From January 2004 to September 2005, Mr. Maisel served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Marvel Studios. From October 2001 to November 2003, Mr. Maisel headed Corporate Strategy and Business Development for Endeavor Agency, a Hollywood literary and talent agency. 3.Simon Philips , 40, has served as President, Worldwide Consumer Products since October 2008 and as CEO of Marvel Animation since January 2008. Mr. Philips served as President, Marvel International from November 2006 to October 2008. From November 2003 to November 2006, Mr. Philips served as the Managing Director of 4Kids Entertainment International. Mr. Philips served as chief executive officer of LDI, a licensing and merchandising company, from 1996 to 2003. 4.John Turitzin , 53, has served as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chief Executive since September 2006. From February 2006 until September 2006, Mr. Turitzin served as Marvel’s Chief Administrative Officer. Mr. Turitzin has also served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel since February 2004. 5.Kenneth P. West , 50, has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since June 2002. vi.Code of Ethics Marvel has adopted a code of ethics applicable to its principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller and persons performing similar functions. We have also adopted a code of business conduct and ethics which is applicable to all employees and directors. III. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS A.Social Environment Economic/Demographic Forces Entertainment industry is targeting segmented groups that have been long ignored including ethic cultures, language, religion and women and in case by case basis adult’s only products. Technological/Physical Forces Entertainment is available in variety of ways including online, cell phone, and on-demand video. Sales in traditional entertainment merchandise has dropped. Social/Cultural Forces Entertainment has reached out to the community conscious in educating it on events and beliefs in the community. Political/Legal Forces Entertainment outlets are facing parental lawsuits to prevent particular products from being place and/or sold in a market or setting. Producers must  keep vigilant on product content in order to deal with either self regulated or government regulation in order to guarantee an investment return. The threat of piracy and illegal licensing is at stake in the entertainment industry. The entertainment industry lobbies to protect copyrighted product. B.Task Environment Competitors The entertainment industry no matter how fragmented it appears much of what is produced. In terms of entertainment is held closely by three US based media conglomerates, Disney, Viacom, and Time Warner. These conglomerates direct the entertainment market and the direction of the media. The Licensing segment competes with a diverse range of entities that own intellectual property rights in characters. These include DC Comics (a subsidiary of Time Warner, Inc.), The Walt Disney Company, NBC Universal, Inc. (a subsidiary of General Electric Company), DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. and other entertainment-related entities. Many of these competitors have greater financial and other resources than we do. The Publishing segment competes with numerous publishers in the United States. Some of the Publishing segment’s competitors, such as DC Comics, are part of integrated entertainment companies and may have greater financial and other resources than we do. The Publishing segment also faces competition from other entertainment media, such as movies and video games. The Toy segment competes with many larger toy companies in the design and development of new toys, in the procurement of licenses and for adequate retail shelf space for its products. The larger toy companies include Hasbro, Mattel Inc., and Jakks Pacific, Inc. Many of these competitors have greater financial and other resources than the Company. The toy industry’s highly competitive environment continues to place cost pressures on manufacturers and distributors. Discretionary spending among potential toy consumers is limited and the toy industry competes for those dollars along with the makers of computers and video games. The Film Production segment competes with other film producers, including major studios such as Twentieth Century Fox and Sony Pictures (which also produce films licensed by our Licensing segment). Many of these producers are part of integrated ente rtainment  companies and have greater financial and other resources Threat of New Entrants There is always the possibility of new entrants in the entertainment industry. Producers and/or manufacturers may create a product to carve out a particular market or segment niche. The industry has a history of employees banding together to create a new product to compete in the already in the full field, but getting a local or national distribution is challenging smaller entertainment providers team with already established distribution unit have an excellent chance of breaking ground into the market. Threat of Substitute Products The threat of any type substitute in the entertainment industry is high. Most often than not, the threat comes in time of gift giving season when marketing dollars are spent more to sway people from one product to the other. This time of the year is also filled with hopes of new products entering the market to capture a hungry audience. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Suppliers are creating new outlets for the entertainment industry through technological advances. The winner for battle technological supremacy will lie solely on which technological outlet has the most partners. Bargaining Power of Buyers Consumers have the ability to patronize or not to patronize an entertainment outlet. However, the limited ownership prevents consumers from believing they will never deal with a company they have been dissatisfied with in the past. IV. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES A.Corporate Structure Marvel is a multidivisional company that has three segments which are highly integrated and vertically differentiated. ï‚ §Licensing – The Licensing segment earns revenues from selling rights to movies, television production companies, video game publishers, and merchandise manufacturers to use its  character properties. The licensing business concentrates on a few large licensees, and attempts to manage and re-segment opportunities with its characters, creating â€Å"classic† editions, â€Å"youth† editions, and â€Å"movie† editions to take advantage of every revenue opportunity. ï‚ §Publication – The Publishing segment produces, markets, and sells comic books. This business publishes comic books and novels about the company’s characters, and licenses characters from other sources and turns them into graphic novels. ï‚ §Toys – The Toys segment collects royalties and service fees from Hasbro. The company has an exclusive to y merchandising agreement with Hasbro (HAS) until December 31, 2011, that began in 2007. Prior to this, most revenues in the Toy segment were made from toys produced by Marvel. ï‚ §Movie Production – The movie production arm of the company was set up to independently produce films and grow revenues. The new Films segment produces films featuring Marvel’s characters like Iron Man. B.Corporate Culture Honesty and integrity are the key organizational values of Marvel. The company gives importance in maintaining company reputation as well as fairness and awareness even with competitors. Marvel considers its almost 5000 character library as 5000 assets. The company looks forward to become even larger with the Disney merger. The company shares many shared values and maintains a constant renewing process. Marvel provides its people with Corporate Governance Guidelines, Corporate Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and Code of Ethics for CEO and Senior Financial Officers. These provides them with a brief description of their obligations and offer guidance concerning how to conduct their business in a manner consistent with their high ethical value. C.Corporate Resources 1.Marketing 2.Finance 3.Research and Development 4.Operations and Logistics 5.Human Resources 6.Information Systems

University Life

It has already passed more than one year since I entered this university. Now, I think that it is good for me to talk about my university life. I want to focus on an aspect this time. It is also relevant to my aim which I had had when I entered this university. It is the language study. I am majoring in English, so I have many English classes every week. At first, I got very nervous whenever I have to give my opinion and make a presentation in class, because I had not had such experiences before. However, I think that it is the valuable exercises to get accustomed to express my own opinions and feelings.Besides, I am challenging to get a high score in TOEIC. It is also an important target. My second foreign language is Spanish. I feel that all of European languages are very difficult in grammar and paradigms. I like Spanish, however, because it has a cheerful mood. However, I think my true second foreign language is Chinese. It is also spoken by so many people. I have Taiwanese frien ds and got interested in it. I took Chinese lessons last year. This year, I am planning to start a private lesson by a native Chinese next week.I think that I can make such an effort because I got incentive to study Chinese from the meeting with my Taiwanese friends. By experience, I learned that the language study needs an incentive. A pleasant part of university life is long vacations. It is very good to consider a plan. I am considering about staying in Australia in next summer vacation, and I also hope to stay in Taiwan in next spring vacation. I think it will be an enjoyable vacation and an opportunity for me to get an incentive for the language study. I should have such unforgettable experiences in my university life.It is a great use of vacations, isn’t it? However, I have sometimes lost my original aim in my university life. In my curriculum, there are not only languages but also other various subjects such as social subjects and sciences. I have to take those classes too. When I am plowed under with homework for the classes and work to the deadline of reports, I often failed to attend to studying of languages. I was content with only finishing those assignments in time. In order not to waste the lesson, I am trying to set the order of priority this year, so that I can get satisfied when I graduate.My aim is not to write reports for sociology and history. I came to this school to improve my English, study other languages, and become able to orient myself to life in other countries. As a conclusion, I am determined to enjoy learning foreign languages. I really appreciate I can do so. I think that my university life will be fruitful, no, I will make it meaningful. Of course, I do not have to become a perfectionalist. As long as I came to this university, I want to achieve my original aim. I really hope that I can enumerate what I gain in my university life, when I am asked, â€Å"What have you got in four years? †

The concept of Corporate Responsibility has been defined as 'An Essay

The concept of Corporate Responsibility has been defined as 'An umbrella term embracing theories and practices relating to how - Essay Example The society plays a very important role towards the success of a given business. The goods and services provided by a given business organization will be of value to the organization if they can be marketed within the society. The economic status of the society will determine the types of businesses that are likely to prosper in the area. The extent to which a given society reflects what is observed in the international market will influence how a given organization can adopt the international standards. Origin of corporate responsibility The market is characterized by high level of competition with the needs of customers constantly changing. Successful organizations are those that continuously monitor the changing market trends and making the adjustments as they are observed (Zadek, 2004, p.1). As a way of gaining competitive advantage, a business organization would be prompted to develop its reputation within a given society by giving back to the society (Warburton, 2004, P.2). The organization can decide to initiate charity programs aimed at social development like providing some free education scholarships or providing healthcare services to some vulnerable community (Metaxas & Tsavdaridou, 2010, p1). The views of every stakeholder in the organization need to be sought in developing these adjustment mechanisms. These are then applied towards the general development in the society. The contributions that a business organization has towards the improvement of the society have been a point of concern for the scholars, politicians and the common person in the recent years. Over a long period, ideas had been developed by businesses that suggest a need for them to contribute to the development of the society. Various organizations had opted to use their assets to improve the living standards of their employees (Blowfield, Blowfield, and Murray, 2008, p.12). These initiatives generated a mixture of views relating business to the society. It was acceptable that the businesses operated to generate profits by meeting the customer demand. However, it was noted that there would be lack of control over the amount of profit to be gained and the quality of the products given by the businesses (Blowfield, Blowfield, and Murray, 2008, p.12). Issues arose concerning the prices of goods and even the wages for the employees of an organization as to who should be responsible for setting the standards. There has also been a question as to whether the business should actually give back to the society. An attempt to derive a solution to these conflicting issues called for what we term as corporate responsibility. This involves the participation of various parties in ensuring that business activities are carried out in a manner that does not violate the rights of the individuals in the society and that it contributes to the general wellbeing of the members of the society (Taming the Corporation, 1998). The government is one such party that intervenes to enact legislations that govern procedures like wage and price establishment by the companies (Tuccille & Stone, 2003, p.6). The kind of management and leadership in the organization and specifically the roles of the leaders in the business are then important issues to be addressed. The overall responsibility of the company/organization is also considered in examining what constitutes corporate respon

Nukes; Who Has the Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nukes; Who Has the Power - Essay Example State Department 1). In addition, the agency also ensures that there is peaceful exchange of equipment and use of nuclear energy (U.S. State Department 1). The Nuclear Weapons Council (NWC) plays a major role in maintaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The department ensures that U.S. nuclear weapons are safe, secure, reliable, and effective. The NWC department facilitates cooperation and establishes priorities that govern the management of U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile through the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy (Natural Resources Defense Council 1). Indeed, the Department of Defense (DOD) administers the countrys military units prepared to work nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles (Natural Resources Defense Council 1). The department oversees the uniformed military and agencies handling nuclear weapons issues. It also drafts arrangements for utilizing nuclear weapons and oversees the transaction of nuclear arms control understandings. On the other hand, the Department of Energy researches, produces, and dismantles nuclear warheads and materials (Natural Resources Defense Council 1). The National Nuclear Security Administration oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons design facilities and safeguards the safety, reliability, durability, and security of U.S nuclear weapons and naval nuclear reactors (U.S Department of Energy 1). The National Nuclear Security Administration responds to nuclear emergency in America and addresses global nuclear nonproliferation issues. The agency seeks to reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction and offers safe and effective nuclear propulsion to the American Navy (U.S Department of Energy 1). The National Security Council is an executive branch in the Office of the President that coordinates efforts among government offices trying to control the spread of nuclear weapons and to address nuclear deterrence and security

Why Obama won Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Why Obama won - Essay Example Campaign strategies are based on what people value and what affects the people. Politicians must always preach practical ideas, things that can be implemented, not ideas that are out of reach. That is where campaign strategies come in. Speaking of campaign strategies, the just concluded United States of America election was based on issues, ideas and issues that give solutions to problems that are very close to the heart of the Americans. United States of America as the most powerful country in the world would never endorse strategies that will drag them behind, strategies that do not consider gender, age, social status, race and any other issue that affect America both within and abroad. President Obama re-election bid was about how United States of America can move forward, and was strategically planned to appeal to the electorates (Americans) as the best strategy for America. President Obama re-election bid was all about issues that affect the poor and the rich, young and old, bla cks and whites, educated and non-educated, gay marriage and straight marriage. Unlike President Obama, his main challenger Mitt Romney’s campaign was majorly based on Obama’s failures, what the president promised and never accomplished. Romney’s ideas were viewed as not to be â€Å"touching† the hearts of Americans. Romney was more of what will be done if he is elected and not how they will be done if elected, unlike president Obama who preach practical ideas and how they will be done. ... President Obama scored 50.5% (61,907,639) while Mitt Romney scooped 49.5% (58,648,640) of the popular votes. President Obama won the election despite the state of the economy because Mitt Romney never addressed issues that have close impact to the live of Americans. Mitt Romney’s stand on legalization of marijuana, same sex marriage, immigration reforms, corporate affairs and dealing with Middle East and China did not correspond well with the Americans views. Unlike Romney, President Obama was able to consolidate the sentiments of emerging voters like legalizing same sex marriage, increase social spending, legalizing the use of marijuana, reforming immigration law and withdrawal of United States of America Military from Afghanistan and Iraq. This gave President Obama an upper hand to wins votes from Hispanics, Black Americans, Millennial and Asians that boosted his victory. Furthermore, President Obama won the election because he was able to appeal to two very important consti tuencies namely; Millennial and Hispanics. These two groups played a very critical role in President Obama’s re-election bid. President Obama’s stand not to deport young illegals should they come to United States of America as a child and has reached the required criteria avoided any bad impact on the state of the economy. Unlike Obama, Mitt Romney view on illegals did not go well with the group thus earning President Obama their votes. According to CNN, the millennial generation, which constitutes of 19% of the total US population up from 17% in the year 2008, 60% - 36% of the millennial generation voted for president Obama. President Obama’s position on gay marriage and immigration reforms

Microeconomics issue-airline market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Microeconomics issue-airline market - Essay Example However, these airlines can justify their imposition of penalties in the terms of microeconomics. These fees, according to a source in the market says has been implemented to discourage people from making irrational booking at the online source of airline. If we link this statement to the lens of microeconomics, we can see that this fee has been imposed to even out or to pay for the social costs of ticket changing or cancelations. Theses social costs may include additional cost for the company to change tickets, cancel booking of each tickets etc. Furthermore, as a result of ticket cancellations, it may happen that many planes of the company would operate below their capacity and hence incur social costs like additional fuel, additional clerical costs to change or cancel the tickets, some people who will be in need to travel urgently will be denied a ticket because company may be assuming that it has sold all the tickets and at the last minute they will find out that some of the pass engers have either returned or changed their tickets. This is a social cost to the entire society and thus higher prices imposed through these penalties are going to reduce irrational buying and reduce the quantity of tickets bought and hence reduce the societal costs, which are discussed above. Another article also makes a good assumption that since these costs are incurred for the benefits of the society they should be used to counter the life-threatening diseases that are prevalent in the society. A United Nations program has raised around $1.2 billion from a small fee that was added to airline fares. The program was that passengers were asked to contribute voluntarily towards the programme by adding a small amount to their total ticket fare. This program was a success and raised huge amount of funds for the United Nations. However, if this program would have forcefully increased the ticket prices, than this would have been disastrous for the airline

Scope and Kinds of Cyber Security Research Paper

Scope and Kinds of Cyber Security - Research Paper Example The researcher states that one can hardly imagine an activity that would not involve the computer and other digital equipment being used in digital devices. Their usage is furthermore visible in the organizational structures, both on managerial front, educational and governmental level. Having explained its dominance and presence all over in our surrounding, at the same time, it must be said that computing world which is an online world is a fragile one and is extremely vulnerable to the external threats and challenges. These threats come in form of security concerns. While it is an outer world where there is no restriction on anyone who may want to join the network of World Wide Web, it becomes imperative to create a security factor consideration which would enable safe operations. Since all kinds of activities are being performed over the computer and internet, ranging from private data exchange to financial records, governmental records, other documents of national security, centr al databases and various other elements, in such cases it becomes important to establish a mechanism that would ensure safer operations on the internet. Internet is being termed as one of the least equipped and least reliable source of communication when it comes to privacy and security. This has been proven in cases and forms of all kinds of breaches in different parts of the world from time to time. no bank, no individual, no organization , no website is safe from the attack of these insurgents who pose threat to the common flow of traffic across the board. Scope of cybersecurity: The scope of cybersecurity is a very large one and it finds its application in any place where there is computer and internet in function. It would find its usage in home applications, official applications, educational institutes, governmental, even in the aeroplanes where most of the transmission is done over computer and digital means, require safe coding methods. Anything that is on the board of onli ne interface is included in the scope of cybersecurity since it requires protection in one way or other. Even the domestic users of computer who may use it for ordinary online operations, require security and safety since any kind of malware or bug can penetrate into their computer and cause the desired damaged. The need for cybersecurity: Cyberworld is just like the society of human being. While over 3 billion people from across the world are on board on the digital interface, it does require patrolling and controlling of the entire traffic. Just like the society would need law and order, police control and patrol, in the same way a medium that has over 3 billion users would require a scheme which would ensure safe usage of internet and computers. With all kinds of operations subject to the usage of online resources, it is highly imperative to create a zone that is shielded with secure browsing of computers and the world of internet. Kinds of cybersecurity threats: Just like a phys ical society may face threats in different forms, the cyber world is no exception and it is faced with challenges and obstacles in various forms. These come in form of cybersecurity concerns.

Reading the Bones of La Florida Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reading the Bones of La Florida - Essay Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that Clark Spencer Larsen explores the engagement of Southeast Spanish missions in La Florida, identifying the cultural and traditional diet and work habits of the natives prior to the settlement of Europeans. Larsen capitalizes on the recent development and advancement of bio-archeology to present his arguments concerning health deterioration of the natives. Because human tissues contain stable isotopes such as nitrogen and carbon elements, bioarcheologists may utilize this information to reconstruct and determine the diets of ancient humans. Larsen revisits findings of carbon three and carbon four chemical signatures, different ratios of carbon 12 and carbon 13 isotopes, and different ratios of nitrogen 14 and nitrogen 15 isotopes in human beings to argue that the Native Americans on La Florida experienced a change of diet after the settlement of Europeans. Larsen focuses on research evidence on the chronological and ge ographical variations from Margret Schoeninger, Nikolaas van der Merwe, and Lynnet Norr concerning the difference in diet. The article emphasizes on three tribes: the Guale, the Timucua, and the Apalachee, all served by Spanish missions in coastal Georgia and Florida. Larsen builds a strong case against the change of diet as a major cause of health deterioration, providing the readers with bioarcheological bone evidence. Furthermore, he analyzes the working habits and living conditions, as well as the occurrence of rampant infections and easy onward transmission as other propagating factors to the poor health of the native Indians. With respect to the work habits, Larsen examines the working bones in the human skeleton. He argues that the human skeleton responds to physical activities in their entire lives, changing the structure and shape of the individual’s bones in order to respond to the mechanical forces acting upon them. Larsen further argues that the body weight or the pull of muscles triggers cellular activities that cause remodeling of the skeleton. This is in accordance with his findings from the La Florida Bioarchaeology Project. Larsen’s arguments and evidence ventures into the world of forensic science, particularly bio-molecular archeology in analyzing and studying DNA traces in ancient bones. The relatively new study of DNA focuses on fossilized teeth and bones. Moreover, adopted methods form immunology, analytical chemistry, and protein biochemistry enables scientists to investigate and analyze the fate of individual human communities. With particular emphasis has been the study of agriculture invention in human populations, diseases, and health. The great agricultural revolution of Mesopotamia that led to humans planting food crops and domesticating animals had a profound impact on human history. Nonetheless, the traditional assumption has been that this transition from a hunter-gatherer and foraging diet to another based on crop s would enhance the health of humans. This is where Larsen begins his arguments, stating that the revolution had both positive and negative impacts. Larsen refers to the agricultural revolution as an environmental catastrophe that led to the decrease in the quality of life for many human populations, with emphasis on La Florida. It is evident that the lives of Native Americans living in La Florida had an impact, but concluding that the revolution had similar impacts in other communities occupying other areas may be incorrect. Interestingly, critiques of industrial revolution express similar sentiments, arguing that the revolution minimizes the quality of human life.

Consulting Sanario Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Consulting Sanario - Research Paper Example Being a person that pays attention to detail, I would see myself as a note taker and organizer. As others propose ideas, I can then assimilate tasks to individual team members based on their ascribed strengths and weaknesses (Miller, 2008, p. 19). Working with a timeline, I can then strive to propose set deadlines that each task should be completed under in order that we are successful. In addition, I will work to allow enough flexibility to account for any last minute emergencies that may arise. The key component in a consulting firm is to deliver a quality product to customers, on time, every time (Larbi and Springfield, 2004, p. 102). That should be our primary focus as a team moving forward. During this program of study, I have learned the importance of follow-through in the business world. As such, it would be my aim to be a part of a consulting firm who only accepts projects that they know fits into their area of expertise and they are confident they can perform an excellent an d effective job. If we do that, then we should be well on our way to

The Great Gatsby Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby Essay Both Fitzgerald and Gatsby vowed early in life to be successful and prosperous. The underlining symbolism in The Great Gatsby is well presented and can be analyzed through deeper literal examination of quotes such as (pg. 16) I didnt call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone he stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness. This chapter therefore comes to an end with the symbol of the green light that is mysterious. The readers first knowledge of the green light is depicted when Gatsby tries to reach out towards it, like he is worshipping it. As we progress, we discover that the green light is at the end of Daisys dock and is a symbol of Gatsby dream and hope for the future. On page 115, Fitzgerald proceeds to compare Gatsby green light to the green beast of the world. This demonstrates that even though Daisy is a symbol of power and wealth, there are underlying evil aspects that surround the beauty and comfort and envisaged by Gatsby. The word time appears 450 times in the novel either by itself or in a compound word. Fitzgerald obviously wanted to emphasize the importance of time to the overall design of the book. Time is most important to Gatsbys character. Gatsbys relationship with time is a major aspect to the plot. He wants to erase five years from not only his own life but also Daisys. Gatsbys response to Nick, telling him that he can repeat the past, is symbolic of the tragic irony that is behind Gatsbys fate. Gatsby exclaims (pg. 116), Cant repeat the past? Why of course you can! Gatsby cannot accept Daisy until she erases the last three years of her life by telling Tom that she never loved him to his face. Gatsby fully believes what he says and thinks or desperately hopes, that is true about Daisy. At one part of the story he actually tells Nick how, as soon as Tom is out of the picture, he and Daisy were going to go to Memphis so they could get married at her white house just like it were five years before hand. In another scene, when Gatsby and Nick go to the Buchanan’s for lunch towards the end of the book, Gatsby sees Daisys and Toms child for the first time. Nick describes Gatsbys expression as a natural surprise and suggests that Gatsby probably never before believed in the girls existence. Gatsby is so caught up in his dream that he becomes vulnerable to the worlds brutal reality. Daisy like so is characterized as a symbol of wealth and power; Fitzgerald distinctively creates a time symbolism in the scene when Daisy and Gatsby meet for the first time in five years. As Nick enters the room where Daisy and Gatsby have just met, Gatsby is leaning nervously against the mantelpiece while resting his head upon the clock on the mantle. At an awkward pause in the conversation, the clock starts to tip as if to fall off the mantle. Gatsby dramatically catches the clock before it falls and all three characters are speechless, stricken with a strange awe of the precious clock. Nick, narrates, I think we all believed for a moment that it had smashed in pieces on the floor. The clock was symbolizing time and Gatsbys head resting on it was all the pressure that Gatsby was putting on time. Time could not support the demands that Gatsby was making. Gatsby gingerly catching the clock and his resultant apology symbolizes the sensitivity of his plan and how necessarily delicate his methods were. The main theme of Scott F. Fitzgeralds book The Great Gatsby is the demonstration of how Americas culture of material wealth and sophistication desire has gone beyond the complete search for comfort in life to levels of worship. This ends up in harmful consequences outlined by the flaws in life. Fitzgerald used not only himself but also people he met and knew. Fitzgerald’s message in writing The Great Gatsby was the life of the â€Å"Jazz Age†. And the book tells about riches and glamour, as well as the materialism and the lack of morality of the Jazz Age.

Pistahan Sa Mdeo Essay Example for Free

Pistahan Sa Mdeo Essay It has been Montessori De Oro’s tradition to celebrate Buwan ng Wika annually. Last August, we once again celebrate it with the theme â€Å"Tatag ng Wikang Filipino, Lakas ng Pagka-Pilipino.† Students worked hand in hand with the faculty and staff in coming up with an exciting event. Hence, Poster Making and Essay Writing Contests were held. Students from different year levels were encouraged to showcase their artistic views and informative ideas. The best posters were chosen according to the relevance of the theme, neatness and creativity. While the best essays were chosen on how the ideas were arranged, concretized and expounded. Thus, the winners for the Poster Making Contest starting up with the Lower Division were; 1st place- Klient Aà ±over and Charles Enriquez both from Silver Team and Danica Antigua from the Gold Team. 2nd place- Ann Ross Fernandez from Green Team, Alexandra Femielle Santander from Silver Team and Angelica Olarte from Silver Team. And 3rd place- Nichole Solon from Silver Team. And for the Upper Division winners we have; 1st place – Paola Angelika Agpawa from Silver Team and Kim Zalsos from Green Team. 2nd place- Sherina Ann Afdal, Cara Antigua and Krishna Louise Valdehueza all from Gold Team and 3rd place- Alden Acdal Jr. from Green Team. And for the winners of the Essay Writing Contest in the Lower Division we have 1st place – Ann Ross Fernandez from Green Team. 2nd place- Nichole Solon from the Silver Team, and 3rd place- Alexandra Femielle Santander and Famela Clarice Paghasian both from Silver Team and Danica Antigua from Gold Team. And for the Upper Division, the winners were; 1st place- Paola Angelika Agpawa from the Silver Team, Nie Coleen Ebajay from the Gold Team and Hasmin Pascasio from the Green Team. 2nd place- Mari Chelsi Rey from the Gold Team and 3rd place- Krishna Louise Valdehueza and Minette Cheska Rey both from the Gold Team. The highlight of the festivities was the â€Å"Tagisan ng Talino†. It is composed of chosen students from 1st year to 4th year and were grouped according to their school spirit color- the Green, the Silver and the Gold. Thus, the Representatives for the Green Team were Loulanie Grace Bello from 4th Year, Hasmin Pascasio from 3rd Year, Ann Ross Fernandez from 2nd Year and Mary Margareth Gonzalez from the 1st Year. For the Silver Team, the representatives were Paola Angelika Agpawa from the 4th Year, Kayra Andrea Salcedo from the 3rd Year, Nichole Solon from the 2nd  Year and Famela Clarice Paghasian from the 1st Year. And lastly the representatives of the Gold Team were Mari Chelsi Rey from the 4th Year, Minette Cheska Rey from the 3rd Year, Danica Antigua from the 2nd Year and Tristan Tuazon from the 1st Year. All of the contestants did their best to answer the questions correctly despite the time pressure. Finally, the Silver Team garnered 21 pts and won 1st place, followed by the Green Team with 20pts that made them in the 2nd place and lastly the Gold Team in 3rd place with 18 pts. For the contestants, it was truly a remarkable experience for they were challenged on how far have they learned the Filipino subject. Right after the â€Å"Tagisan ng Talino†, all year levels presented a song and dance number. The 1st year Emerald gracefully performed Kuratsa (a Waray dance). Also, some students from the same section prepared a verse choir speech entitled â€Å"Ako’y Pilipino† which was written by Isabel Empimo Mendoza. A remix of popular Filipino dance songs such as Kapayapaan, Matinik and Bebot were presented by the 2nd year Diamond. The 3rd Year Pearl sang and danced their hearts out with the song â€Å"Wikang Filipino†. And lastly the 4th Year Amethyst danced in the tune of â€Å"Choose Philippines† in katutubo costumes. They also prepared a song number entitled â€Å"Ligaya† by the iconic band Eraserheads. But the celebration didn’t end there yet. On the following day, the Senior students prepared Mga Palarong-Pinoy. These were encouraged to instill the Filipino Culture within the students. Such games were patintero, dancing ball, takyan, luksong lubid and many more. Despite the blazing sun, everyone still managed to play the games with beaming smiles. Right after the Palarong-Pinoy was the much awaited- Kakaning Pinoy. Different varieties of Filipino delicacies were presented and shared among the students and teachers including the faculty and staff members. It also lifted everyone’s festive spirit since the act of sharing and giving were observed during the said event. Everyone was indeed thrilled for the fun-filled activities that happened during the celebration. For us Seniors, Montessori De Oro is a school were students are developed through showcasing their talents and skills in the field of performing, playing sports, writing, drawing and many more. We are not only taught to grasp the knowledge and information we get from our daily encounter with the surroundings but also exposed us to recreational activities that can hone our physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual development. For we  believed, that in Montessori De Oro, every student will soar up high!

Electronic Music Origin And Effects Music Essay

Electronic Music Origin And Effects Music Essay In Bernard Wiletss discovering electronic music, Bernard states, We live in an age of technology in which machines touch every part of our lives; it is not surprising that music has also been influenced by technology. (Bernard). The sound of music has undergone massive changes since the dawn of the synthesizer. When once a band relied solely on the instruments its members could play in order to forge their thoughts into sound, they now can purchase a piece of hardware or software to add an array of instruments to their music. However, due to this technological advance many argue that talent is no longer required to be a musician and that synthesizer programmers are lazy hacks but I beg to differ. To understand exactly what it takes to be an electronic musician and or synth programmer you must first understand electronic music and its components. Wilets describes the production of sounds by means of conventional instruments, using a string bass as an example as When a string on a string bass is made to vibrate or oscillate a sound is produced. By changing the length of the oscillating strings with the left hand, the instrument produces different pitches. (Wilets). If the sound created was displayed visually, it would look like what is called a wave pattern. The electronic sound synthesizer or synth for short is a device designed to create or manipulate sounds. A synthesizer is composed of many ways to create and manipulate sounds. Depending on the synth the options range from filtering out certain frequencys and distorting sounds to pitching them higher than any know instrument can achieve. However, there is one component of design of which all the others build upon, the oscil lators. The oscillators or Oscs for short, produce sound electronically. Each oscillator produces a unique sound and waveform. Common waveforms found on most synthesizers are the square; saw tooth, sine, and triangle waveforms. These four waveforms serve as the basic building blocks for most conventional instruments. Often instruments are grouped together depending on their similarities in sound and technique. Instruments such as flutes, piccolos, and ocarinas fall under the category of wind instruments. Wind instruments are grouped together because they rely on air to create sound. Instruments that share the same means of sound production often share an audible similarity as well. This similarity extends to each instruments waveform. By modifying one of the four basic waveforms, a synthesizer could recreate virtually any known instrument, making it massively appealing. Although the idea of electronic instruments and electronically produced music has been around since the 1800s it was not until around the 1940s that the concept was fully realized. Although inventions such as the musical telegraph and theremin served as a testament to the future of electronically produced music, the idea still needed to be refined. It wasnt until the invention of the Moog synthesizer, invented by Robert Moog and Don Buchla, did the synthesizer begin its musical takeover. The very first Moog synthesizers were massive and resembled machines seen in old science fiction movies before the computer age. They were extremely expensive, extremely hard to program and used mostly in film scoring and music houses. After refining his invention however, Moog compressed the massive instrument into a portable and affordable device thus making the synthesizer something anyone could afford. This innovation would eventually go on to change the face of music forever. . While most still used the synthesizer as a means to replicate existing instruments others saw the deeper potential it held. Based on simplistic waveforms that required modification to attain certain sounds, the synthesizer held limitless sonic capabilities. Bands such as the Moody Blues and Emerson, Lake and Palmer were among the first to use the synthesizer to achieve more abstract sounds. Their sonic creativity would lead others to do the same and eventually synthesized sounds began to serenade all types of music. Due to the demand to create unique sounds and music, companies wishing to cash in on this new device made many types of synthesizers. Due to copyright, other companies had to veer away from the subtractive analog synthesis used in Moog synthesizers. They had to create their own synthesizers thus creating new ways to approach sound synthesis. Over time, a slew of ways to approach sound synthesis came about. Synthesizers based on additive synthesis, frequency modulation, granular synthesis and phase distortion to name a few began to hit music stores. While the design became seemingly more small and simplistic, the ways to manipulate and create sound became vast. Programming each of these types of synth required knowledge in the specific form of synthesis it implored. When once a synth programmer had to simultaneously play keys, pull and plug cords into various inputs and outputs he can now do the same thing by simplistic digital means, which often only require the flicking of a switch. This advance in technology is what people claim to be the reason why talent is no longer required. Of course holding down a single key and playing an entire riff or ensemble may seem lazy in practice. People forget that that entire riff started as dull waveforms. In order to produce something like that an electronic musician must have vast knowledge in not only music, in order to achieve a good sounding riff, he must also know how to program his synthesizer. Take for example the arpeggiated synth lines heard in most trance songs. In order to create these sounds the synth programmer must first create the sound he wishes to arpeggiate. This process can be as simple as combining three saw tooth waveforms, pitching one in a high octave, another in a lower and the last one in an extremely almost un-audible low octave. Then filtering most of the high frequencies out, adding a low frequency osc after filtering and adjusting the way in which the sound is unleashed, sustained and how it decays, to linking the frequencys cutoff to the low frequency osc, running it through another filter and programming the sound to continually morph its velocity to a prerecorded pattern. After that, the programmer must then use an arpeggiator, arpeggiator range from simplistic preset patterns to possessing the ability to adjust its velocity one hundred times during the course of the sounds procession. This process is known as tweaking the sound. After programming his arpeggiated synth patch the electronic musician might go on to program a synth to stand in for bass sounds and then another for keyboard which all are as complicated as making an arpeggiated sound. After the electronic music has finished all the synth parts of his songs, he must then turn his focus to the percussion. Although a synthesizer is capable of producing drum sounds, the sounds created often had a synthetic sound to them that most electronic musicians did not find appealing. Most electronic musicians then would turn to another piece of equipment or software known as a drum machine. A drum machine is a sound module that specializes in the production of percussive timbres. Drum machines followed a similar path to synthesizers, first being complicated large pieces of machinery to becoming hand held devices. Programming these are equally complicated. As drum machines involved they began to be capable to record sounds and edit them to programmers wishes thus making things like heartbeats the kick drum of many songs. These two pieces of hardware or software became the instruments of choice to most electronic music producers, whether they are in the form of hardware or software. Now programming a riff or drum pattern was hard enough the programmer also has to humanize his track or else it would sound too robotic. By humanizing, I mean the process in which they make the drumbeat sound as if someone was actually playing a drum kit. This implies varying velocity, panning the sounds to encompass the space drums demand, and adding digital effects, the same thing implies to the synth. So in order to produce electronic music, the electronic musician must know all of the things I discussed as well as music theory and how instruments work. For example, you could not create an organ synth sound and play it like guitar it just would not work. So that being said I think the electronic musician if far from lazy and that, the simplification of electronic instruments only makes their capabilities greater as they do not have to worry about attaching cybernetic arms to their body in order to fiddle with more cords. Alot of people however say that anyone could become an electronic musician. That the style can be taught and is not heartfelt. That electronic musicians lack the talent of other muscians. This is what an electronic musician credits his inspiration to Im a very curious person, and I tend to find new obsessions every few years. I love the energy that lives on the border of human ingenuity, the edge where scientific curiosity, spiritual wonder, and technological invention meet in explosions of beauty and truth. I love to celebrate those people whose spark ignites at that juncture. As I seek new musical inspiration, (sometimes I do run dry for periods) I look for energetic examples in other fields besides music. I often find them in the realms of physics, poetry, architecture, biology, history anywhere actually. I guess Im a bit insatiable, and I want to explore the best that humanity has created, and echo it as well as I can in my own work. That statement, to me, is what music is all a bout. Holmes, Thomas B. Electronic and Experimental Music: Pioneers in Technology and Composition. London: Routledge, 2002. Print. MOOG [a Film by Hans Fjellestad]. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2010. . Moog. Dir. Hans Fjellestad. Perf. Robert Moog. ZU33, 2004. DVD. Shapiro, Peter, and Iara Lee. Modulations: a History of Electronic Music : Throbbing Words on Sound. New York: Caipirinha Productions, 2000. Print. Â  YouTube Discovering Electronic Music Part 1. YouTube Broadcast Yourself. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. . Rich, Robert. Robert Rich Interview -. Synthesizer Music and Electronics | Join the Electronic Music Revolution NOW! Web. 28 Nov. 2010. .

Analysis of Baxters Gryphon Essay -- Charles Baxter

In â€Å"Gryphon† by Charles Baxter, a class of fourth grade students gets a substitute teacher. She is very eccentric but knowledgeable and tells the whole class a lot of myths and facts. It is up to the class to decide what is true or not. In â€Å"Gryphon,† Miss Ferenczi specifically calls her wronged math answer a â€Å"substitute fact† but also tells the class many other things and myths that are true. For example, she tells the class a great deal about Egypt and that â€Å"features of the Constitution of the United States are notable for their Egyptian ideas.† (145) Her whole lecture was complete fact about Egypt, a country she had a passion for. However, it left the kids wondering if what she said was false, for she misled them earlier that day. Although the kids argued about her, this leaves the grea...

Temperamental Contributions to the Development of Social Behavior :: Jerome Kagan

The comprehensive research conducted by Jerome Kagan was very interesting but extremely complex regarding the temperamental concepts that contributed to the development of social behavior. I was surprised to learn that based on Freud’s psychoanalysis minds were turned â€Å"away from a temperamental category of person who was especially vulnerable to acquiring a symptom to a category of environment that produced systems. The adjective fearful became a continuous dimension on which any person could be placed† (p.377). Moreover, I strongly disagreed with the Thomas-Chess temperamental dimensions that were obtained from questionnaires by parents or other adults, as it related to their child. The information obtained could bias the study or research. However, I strongly agree with the descriptive perspective of observation to define temperament. In addition, I strongly agreed with how Kagan viewed the two profiles of inhibited and uninhibited temperaments: â€Å"Qualitative, defined by behavioral observations, influenced by genetic Factors and leading to distinctly different psychological outcomes with growth† (p.379). On the other hand, infant reactivity was complex and unclear relative to inhibited and uninhibited temperaments of infants. Are high reactive infants inhibited? Are low reactive infants uninhibited? What about the remaining infants in the research who had high motor arousal with low irritability or low motor arousal with high irritability? In addition, I strongly agreed with Kagan’s concept that inhibited and uninhibited behaviors are heritable. The study by Matheny regarding identical and fraternal twins as it related to inhibited and uninhibited behavior was very informative and clear.

PCI Compliance Essay -- PCI DSS Credit Card Fraud Security

What is PCI Compliance? PCI Compliance is maintaining adherence to the PCI DSS standard that was developed by major credit card companies as a â€Å"guideline to help prevent credit card fraud† ("PCI DSS"). Credit card fraud has taken the spotlight in the past several years due to the massive growth of e-commerce and online transaction processing. With the proliferation of e-businesses, it has become easier than ever to commit fraud over the internet. Major credit card issuers such as MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, and JCB International joined together to create a standard known as PCI DSS or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. In order to process credit card payments merchants and vendors are required to be compliant with the standard based on the Merchant Level of the organization. This standard was created in response to a dramatic rise in credit card data breaches at many high-profile organizations. This standard defines a set of twelve requirements for compliance. In order to validate a company is in compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard, large organizations are audited by external auditors that are PCI Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs). Smaller companies that process less than 80,000 transactions per year are allowed to perform a self-assessment questionnaire, which determines if the merchant is within compliance. Who owns the PCI Data Security Standard? In June of 2005, these five major credit card issues came together and founded the PCI Security Council. The main purpose of the PCI Security Council was to create, own, and manage the PCI Data Security Standard for credit card data. However, the PCI Security Council is not a policing organization and does not enforce PCI... ...g merchant account is PCI DSS compliant? Is sensitive information being stored? How safe is your data? Works Cited "An Introduction to PCI Compliance." PCIComplianceGuide.org. 2008. PCI Compliance Guide.org. 17 Apr 2008 . McCarthy, Caroline. "T.J. Maxx parent company sued in credit card hack probe." CNET News. 21 Mar 2007. CNETNews.com. 17 Apr 2008 . "PCI DSS." Wikipedia. 5 Apr 2008. Wikipedia. 5 Apr 2008 . Vijayan, Jaikumar. "Minnesota becomes first state to make core PCI requirement a law." ComputerWorld.org. 23 May 2007. Computer World.org. 4 Apr 2008 .

Apple Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix is the set of marketing tools that the firm uses to produce the response from its target market. Price, product, place and promotion are the 4 P's that make up a marketing mix. Apple 1. Product – Apple’s key products are the iPhone, iPad, and the Mac line of personal computers. Steve Jobs has always maintained that first and foremost Apple is an industrial manufacturing firm with a mission to create innovative and compelling products that are unmatched in their visual appeal and intuitive nature.For apple, this is the most important P as they have the most of a product can offer and then the three other P’s simply fall after in their place. 2. Price – Apple has always been more worried about their product than their price, but they do have the advantage with its competitors with their previous successes with the iPad and iPhone.They have the leverage in materials, such as touch screens and flash memory, to help them keep the price staying low er than its competitors and it is obvious that Apple won’t be threatened any time soon. 3. Promotion – Apple’s commercials are instantly recognizable as they stick to the simplicity of their design which the layout of their product is featured on a white background, with catchy music playing in the background. Everything is visual, and visually plentiful, but not overpowering as some ads can be.Even their walk-in stores have the same simple design featuring nothing but their products and their own features. 4. Place – Apple has expanded its company to nearly all regions both big and small. Their iPods, iPads, and iPhones are just about any store that sells electronics these days. From hundreds of retail outlets to a great e-commerce website to even an app on their own, Apple’s products are just about as easy to buy as a pair of jeans.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Suitors After enduring a reasonable amount of bitterness from the crew over using his position to make a move on the girl in the parking lot, Tommy was able to persuade them to get back to work. Simon, Drew, and Jeff performed some mechanical magic on the meat case with a hammer, some jumper cables, and a can of Bondo, and by morning everything was running as if greased by the gods. Tommy met the manager at the front door with a smile and a report that his first night had gone great. The best crew he had ever seen, he said. He rode to Chinatown with Troy Lee. They found a parking place a few blocks from Tommy's room and walked the rest of the way. The sun was up only an hour, but already the merchants were open and the sidewalks crowded. Delivery trucks blocked the streets as they dropped off their loads of fresh fish, meat, and vegetables. Walking through Chinatown with Troy Lee at his side, Tommy felt as if he were carrying a secret weapon. â€Å"What's that stuff?† Tommy asked, pointing to a stack of celerylike stuff on a produce table. â€Å"Bok choy – Chinese cabbage.† â€Å"And that?† â€Å"Ginseng root. They say it's good for the wood.† Tommy stopped and pointed in the window of a herbalist. â€Å"That looks like hunks of deer antler.† â€Å"It is,† Troy said. â€Å"It's used to make medicine.† As they passed the fish market Tommy pointed to the huge spiny turtles trying to escape their milk crates. â€Å"Do people eat those?† â€Å"Sure, people who can afford them.† â€Å"This is like a foreign country.† â€Å"It is,† Troy said. â€Å"Chinatown is a very closed community. I can't believe you live here. I'm Chinese and I've never even lived here.† â€Å"This is it,† Tommy said, stopping at the door. â€Å"So you want me to ask them about the flowers, and what else?† â€Å"Well, about vampires.† â€Å"Give me a break.† â€Å"No, this guy I met, the Emperor, he said it could be vampires.† Tommy led the way up the steps. â€Å"He's bullshitting you, Tommy.† â€Å"He was the one that told me about the job at your store, and that turned out to be true.† Tommy opened the door and the five Wongs looked up from their bunks. â€Å"Bye-bye,† they said. â€Å"Bye-bye,† Tommy said. â€Å"Nice place,† Troy said. â€Å"I'll bet the rent is a killer.† â€Å"Fifty bucks a week,† Tommy said. â€Å"Fifty bucks,† the five Wongs said. Troy motioned Tommy out of the room. â€Å"Give me a minute here.† Troy closed the door. Tommy waited in the hall, listening to the nasal, banjo sounds of the conversation between Troy and the five Wongs. After a few minutes Troy emerged from the room and motioned for Tommy to follow him back down to the street. â€Å"What goes?† Tommy asked when they reached the sidewalk. Troy turned to him; he seemed as if he was trying to keep from laughing. â€Å"These guys are just off the boat, man. It was kind of hard to understand them, they speak some regional dialect.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"So, they're here illegally, smuggled over by pirates. They owe the pirates like thirty grand for the trip, and if they get caught and sent back to China, they still owe the money. That's like twenty years' wages in the provinces.† â€Å"So?† Tommy asked. â€Å"What's that got to do with the flowers?† Troy snickered. â€Å"I'm getting to that. You see, they want to be citizens. If they become citizens, they can get better jobs and pay off the pirates faster. And they can't be sent back.† â€Å"And the flowers?† â€Å"The Wongs are leaving the flowers. They're courting you.† â€Å"What!† â€Å"They heard somewhere that in San Francisco men marry men. They figure that if they can get you to marry them, then they can be citizens and stay here. You've got secret admirers, dude.† Tommy was indignant. â€Å"They think I'm gay?† â€Å"They don't know. I really don't think they care. They asked me to ask you for your hand in marriage.† Troy finally lost control and started laughing. â€Å"What did you tell them?† â€Å"I told them I'd ask.† â€Å"You fucker.† â€Å"Well, I didn't want to tell them no without asking you. They said that they'd take good care of you.† â€Å"Go tell them I said no.† â€Å"You got something against Asians? Too good for us?† â€Å"No, it's not that. I – â€Å" â€Å"I'll tell them that you'll think about it. Look, I've got to get home and get some sleep. I'll see you at work tonight.† Troy walked away. â€Å"You're cleaning garbage cans tonight, Troy. I'm in charge, you know? You better not tell Simon and the guys.† â€Å"Whatever you say, Fearless Leader,† Troy called over his shoulder. Tommy stood on the sidewalk trying to think of a better threat. A half block away Troy turned and yelled, â€Å"Hey, Tommy!† â€Å"What?† â€Å"You'll make a lovely bride.† Tommy, murder in his eyes, broke into a run after Troy Lee. Sunset. Consciousness hit Jody like a bucket of cold water. She thought, I miss waking up groggy and waiting for the coffee to brew. Waking up with your worries already in full stride just sucks. What was I thinking? Giving myself only a half hour to get ready for a date? I have nothing to wear. I can't show up in a sweatshirt and jeans and ask this guy to move in with me. I don't even know anything about him. What if he's a drunk, or a woman beater, or a psycho killer? Don't those guys always work nights in grocery stores? The neighbors always say that: â€Å"He worked nights and kept to himself. Who would have thought that he stir-fried the paperboy?† He did say I was beautiful, though, and everybody has their faults. Who am I to judge? I'm a†¦ She didn't want to think about what she was. Jody had thrown on her jeans and was furiously trying to put on what little make-up she had with her. She thought, I can read small print in the dark, I can see heat coming off a hiding rat from a hundred yards, and I still can't put on mascara without poking myself in the eye. She stepped back from the mirror and tried to fight the self-criticism – tried to look at herself objectively. I look like a late-night TV plea for the fashion-impaired, she thought. This won't work. She broke away from the mirror, then took one last look and primped her hair, then started out the door, then took one last look, then started out the door, then paused for a last look†¦ â€Å"No!† she said aloud. She ran out the door, down the steps, and to the bus stop on the corner, where she bounced from foot to foot as if waiting for the bathroom at a beer-drinking contest. Tommy had spent the day trying to avoid the five Wongs. He watched the room until he was sure they had all left, then he sneaked in and grabbed some clean clothes, showered, dressed, and sneaked out. He took a bus to Levis Plaza, where he napped on a park bench while pigeons and seagulls scavenged around him. Late afternoon brought a cold wind off the bay that chilled him awake. He walked up Sansome toward North Beach, trying to rub the crease out of the back of his head left by the bench slats. As he passed a group of teenagers who were posturing and panhandling at the curb, one pudgy boy shouted, â€Å"Sir, can you spare a quarter for some eyeliner?† Tommy dug in the pocket of his jeans and handed the kid all of his change. No one had ever called him ;sir; before. â€Å"Oh, thank you, sir!† the kid gushed in a high feminine voice. He held the fistful of change up to the others as if he had just been handed the cure for cancer. Tommy smiled and walked on. He figured that panhandlers had cost him about ten dollars a day since he had come to the City – ten dollars that he really couldn't afford. He didn't seem to be able to look away and walk on like everyone else. Maybe it was something you developed after a while. Maybe the constant assault of despair callused your compassion. A plea for money for food always made his stomach growl, and a quarter was a small price to pay to quiet it. The plea for eyeliner appealed to the writer part of him, the part that believed that creative thought was worth something. Yesterday he had heard a tourist tell a homeless man to get a job. â€Å"Pushing a shopping cart up and down these hills is a fucking job,† the homeless guy had said. Tommy gave him a buck. It was still light when Tommy reached Enrico's on Broadway. He paused momentarily and looked over the few customers who were eating on the patio by the street. Jody wasn't there. He stopped at the host's station and reserved a table outside for a half hour later. â€Å"Is there a bookstore around here?† he asked. The host, a thin, bearded man in his forties, with perfect anchorman-gray hair, raised an eyebrow, and with that small gesture made Tommy feel like scum. â€Å"City Lights is one block up on the corner of Columbus,† the host said. â€Å"Oh, that's right,† Tommy said, batting himself on the forehead as if he'd just remembered. â€Å"I'll be back.† â€Å"We are giddy with anticipation,† the host said. He spun curtly on one heel and walked away. Tommy turned and started up Broadway until he was accosted by a barker outside a strip joint, a man in a red tailcoat with a top hat. â€Å"Tits, slits, and clits. Come on in, sir. The show starts in five minutes.† â€Å"No, thanks. I have a dinner date in a few minutes.† â€Å"Bring the little lady back with you. This show can turn a maybe into a sure thing, son. We'll have her sitting in a puddle before you leave.† Tommy squirmed. â€Å"Maybe,† he said. He hurried along until the barker two doors up, this one a buxom woman wearing leather and a ring in her nose, stopped him. â€Å"The most beautiful girls in town, sir. All nude. All hot. Come on in.† â€Å"No, thanks. I have a dinner date in a few minutes.† â€Å"Bring her – â€Å" â€Å"Maybe,† Tommy said, walking on. He was stopped three more times before he reached the end of the block, and each time he declined politely. He noticed that he was the only one who stopped. The other pedestrians just walked on, ignoring the barkers. Back home, he thought, it's impolite to ignore someone who is speaking to you, especially if they call you â€Å"sir.† I guess I'm going to have to learn City manners. She had fifteen minutes before she was supposed to meet Tommy at Enrico's. Allowing for another bus ride and a short walk, she had about seven minutes to find an outfit. She walked into the Gap on the corner of Van Ness and Vallejo with a stack of hundred-dollar bills in her hand and announced, â€Å"I need help. Now!† Ten salespeople, all young, all dressed in generic cotton casual, looked up from their conversations, spotted the money in her hand, and simultaneously stopped breathing – their brains shutting down bodily functions and rerouting the needed energy to calculate the projected commissions contained in Jody's cash. One by one they resumed breathing and marched toward her, a look of dazed hunger in their eyes: a pack of zombies from the perky, youthful version of The Night of the Living Dead. â€Å"I wear a size four and I've got a date in fifteen minutes,† Jody said. â€Å"Dress me.† They descended on her like an evil khaki wave. Tommy sat at a patio table with only a low brick planter box between him and the sidewalk. To avoid the titty bar barkers, he had crossed the street eight times in the half block from City Lights Bookstore to Enrico's and he was a little jangled from dodging traffic. He ordered a cappuccino from a waiter who fawned over him like a mother hen, then stared in amazement when the waiter returned with a cup the size of a large soup bowl and a plate of brown crystalline cubes. â€Å"These are raw sugar cubes, honey. So much better for you than that white poison.† Tommy picked up the soup spoon and reached for a sugar cube. â€Å"No, no, no,† the waiter scolded. â€Å"We use our demitasse spoon for our cappuccino.† He pointed to a tiny spoon that rested in the saucer. â€Å"Demitasse,† Tommy repeated, feeling reckless. In Indiana the use of the word ;demitasse; was tantamount to leaping out of the closet in scandalous flames. San Francisco was a great city! A great place to be a writer! And gay guys seemed like pretty nice people, once you got past their seeming obsession with Barbra Streisand music. Tommy smiled at the waiter. â€Å"Thanks, I may need a little help with the forks.† â€Å"Is she special?† the waiter asked. â€Å"I think she's going to break my heart.† â€Å"How exciting!† the waiter gushed. â€Å"Then we'll make you look marvelous. Just remember, use from the outside first on the forks. The big spoon is for winding pasta. Is this your first date?† Tommy nodded. â€Å"Then order the raviolis – bite-size – no muss, no fuss. You'll look good eating them. And order for her, the rosemary chicken with roasted bell peppers and wild mushrooms in cream sauce – a beautiful dish. Tastes horrid, but on a first date she won't eat it anyway. You don't have time to run home and change, do you?† The waiter looked at Tommy's flannel shirt as if it were a foul, dead animal. â€Å"No, this is all I have clean.† â€Å"Oh well, it does have a certain Mr. Green Jeans charm, I guess.† Tommy caught a flash of red hair out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see Jody walking into the cafe. The waiter followed his gaze. â€Å"Is that her?† â€Å"Yes,† Tommy said, waving to catch her attention. She spotted him, smiled, and approached the table. Jody was dressed in a khaki skirt, a light-blue chambray blouse, light-blue leggings, and tan suede flats. She wore a woven leather belt, a green tartan scarf tied around her shoulders, silver earrings, bracelet, and necklace, and carried a suede backpack in place of her airline flight bag. The waiter, keeping his gaze fixed on Jody, bent and whispered in Tommy's ear, â€Å"The flannel is fine, honey. I haven't seen anyone that over-accessorized since Batman.† He stood and pulled the chair out for Jody. â€Å"Hi, we've been waiting for you.† Jody sat. â€Å"My name is Frederick,† the waiter said with a slight bow. â€Å"I'll be serving you this evening.† He pinched the fabric of Jody's scarf. â€Å"Lovely tartan, dear. Sets off your eyes. I'll be back with some menus.† â€Å"Hi,† Jody said to Tommy. â€Å"Have you been waiting long?† â€Å"A little while, I wasn't sure of the time. I brought you something.† He reached under the table and pulled a book out of a City Lights bag. â€Å"It's an almanac. You said you needed one.† â€Å"That's very sweet.† Tommy looked down and mimed an â€Å"Aw, shucks, it was nothing.† â€Å"So, do you live around here?† Jody asked. â€Å"I'm sort of looking for a place.† â€Å"Really? Have you been in town long?† â€Å"Less than a week. I came here to write. The grocery store is just a†¦ just a†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Job,† Jody finished for him. â€Å"Right, just a job. What do you do?† â€Å"I used to be a claims clerk at Transamerica. I'm looking for something else, now.† Frederick appeared at the table and opened two menus in front of them. â€Å"If you don't mind me saying,† he said, â€Å"you two are just darling together. There's a Raggedy-Ann-and-Andy energy going between you two that is simply electric.† Frederick walked away. Jody eyed Tommy over the menu. â€Å"Have we just been insulted?† â€Å"I hear the rosemary chicken breast is wonderful,† Tommy said.