Sunday, April 21, 2024

Artists Are All-In On Vinyl. See How Records Are Made In 2024.

 (By Rachel Lerman, Photos - K. Dearman, Washington Post, 20 Apr 2024)

 A 12-inch vinyl record can hold about 44 minutes of music. But manufacturing one can take multiple days — a complex but delicate process involving sapphires, rubies and silver.  Music fans may love the immediacy of streaming music, but that hasn’t stopped them from bringing vinyl records mainstream. Revenue from vinyl jumped 10 percent to $1.4 billion in 2023, and outsold CDs for the second time since 1987, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.  Artists like Taylor Swift, BeyoncĂ© and Kacey Musgraves are leaning in, releasing vinyl albums with new colors, cover art and, sometimes, exclusive tracks.

Last week, The Washington Post visited Nashville’s United Record Pressing, which made the first Beatles single in the United States in 1963, to witness the 2024 vinyl-making process and watch a Tyler, the Creator record get pressed.  Follow along and find out how records are made — from lacquer to label.

Making the ‘DNA’

First, the artist records their album. Then a relay race begins. A sound engineer masters the digital files, sending a high-quality version of the tracks to the cutting engineer.  A lacquer, a soft material similar to nail polish, is attached to an aluminum plate. 

At United Record Pressing’s facility, a stylus with a sapphire or ruby point vibrates with the sound of the music, and cuts the sound waves onto the lacquer, creating the grooves that allow you to hear music.  “The cut is almost like DNA,” said Matt Lindsey, United Record Pressing’s chief technology officer. “It’s specific and unique to that music content only.” 

A plating technician then drills the lacquer to create a hole in the middle, and scores the edges so an electrical current can carry through the material. 


Silver ‘spray paint’

Long before the vinyl record is made, the lacquer has to be carefully cleaned and rinsed before it is “silvered” — sprayed with a liquid silver solution. The liquid silver makes the lacquer disc electrically conductive, so it can be copied.  “It’s like a spray paint booth,” Lindsey said. The tool used for silvering is basically the same thing as a spray paint head, he said.

The disc is mounted to be put into a nickel plating bath where it will be copied.  This disc is still not a record we buy — but it’s getting closer.


Peeling off the copies

Next come large chemical baths with electricity running through them, where the silvered lacquer disc is submerged.  “Its like a cooking a really slow temperature meat,” said Dustin Blocker, chief creative officer of vinyl manufacturing company Hand Drawn Records, in Dallas. Dissolved pellets of nickel in the bath are attracted to the silvered disc and conform to the shape and grooves of the lacquer.

About 12 hours later, the nickel creates a mirror image copy of the lacquer disc. “The longer you can roast it, the better that copy is going to be,” said Blocker, who is also president of the Vinyl Records Manufacturing Association. 

That mirror image copy is peeled from the lacquer disc — and copied again.

 


 


This critical process eventually creates metal copies called “stampers,” used on the pressing machine to create an actual vinyl record that can be sold.  “We try to make that stamper as closely resembling the grooves of that lacquer as possible,” Lindsey said. 

But first, the stampers must be prepared so they will fit in the pressing machine.  Their centers are punched out, and edges are formed using a machine.


A final stamper looks like a metal-plate, mirror-image version of a vinyl record. Its ridges will create the record’s grooves, which ultimately allow music to play.


A ‘giant waffle maker’ for records

At last, it’s finally time to press the record — the complex process is nearing an end.  The actual material you feel on a vinyl record is PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, which often comes in the form of small pellets.  The PVC is fed into a part of the record pressing machine where it is melted at 250 degrees into a hockey-puck-like shape.

The puck, with a consistency like taffy, gets sent to the hydraulic press. There, the machine squishes the two stampers — for the A side and B side of a record — applying heat with high pressure steam and forcing the puck to conform to their shape.

Think of it as a “giant waffle maker,” said Jenn D’Eugenio, president and founder of Austin-based Women in Vinyl. This part only takes about 20 to 30 seconds, she said.  A quick 10-second water cooling in the press forces the record to hold its shape.  The imprinted vinyl record is next trimmed, cooled and packaged for music lovers.

 


United Record Pressing has different machines to make various sizes of records, including a 7-inch machine, for pressing an Elvis record, and a 12-inch machine, shown pressing a 2017 Tyler, the Creator record, “Flower Boy.” Colored PVC is used to make records in vibrant colors, a trend that has gotten more popular as artists experiment with different versions of their albums.



The cost of making one record varies in the industry depending on the size of the manufacturer and the packaging, but could be between $6 and $9, Blocker said.

As demand surges, some record pressing plants, like United Record Pressing, have significantly expanded their operations. The company, which is marking its 75th anniversary this year, expanded its plant starting in 2016, moving from a 25,000-square-foot plant to a 155,000-square-foot facility. It now has 66 pressing machines, triple the number of presses than when CEO Mark Michaels bought the company in 2007, and has the capacity to press up to 80,000 records per day.

Seventeen years ago, Michaels thought he was buying a business that would stay fairly niche.  “I didn’t think it would die, but I didn’t think it would go crazy with growth,” he said. “Its gone from kind of a forgotten industry to something that drew more intention, more investment and has become increasingly sophisticated.”

 Source: How vinyl records, like Taylor Swift’s, are made - Washington Post

Sunday, October 2, 2022

Candy Corn: The Halloween Candy That Divides A Nation.

(Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 2 October 2022)

 Autumn resurfaces the annual argument: Are you Team Candy Corn or not?  For some, just the name of the candy makes them salivate. Others recoil at the re-emergence of the Halloween treat.

For many, candy corn represents the reason for the season. Most of the 9 billion kernels, more than 35 million pounds, produced annually – according to past pronouncements by the National Confectioners Association – are eaten around Halloween.

Like everything else, candy corn will likely cost more than in the past. For instance, Brach's Candy Corn at Walmart is priced about 4.7% higher than last year, according to consumer data financial platform Klover.  However, the price increase is lower than that for Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars (increased by 15%) and Reese's King Size Peanut Butter Cups (up 14%), Klover found.

Higher prices won't likely deter those who love candy corn. "I will fall.on.a.sword.for my CANDY CORN!" exclaimed business development guru Perrin Kaplan on a Facebook thread about the candy.

That sweet, waxy texture isn't for everyone though. And investigating how the candy is made might give some pause – confectioner's glaze on the treat contains a bug secretion.


The ingredients in candy corn might surprise some candy lovers. In addition to sugar, corn syrup, salt, sesame oil, honey, artificial flavor, and food colorings, candy corn also has gelatin and confectioner's glaze as ingredients.

Those last two items have led some candy corn detractors to note that candy corn is made of animal hides and bones, like Jell-O gelatin. And confectioner's glaze, also known as shellac, is made from lac-resin, which – are you ready for this? – is a bug secretion. The lac bug – a parasite found in tropical and subtropical regions, according to news site Science Daily – secretes a waxy, waterproof coating to protect itself.

Workers scrape those secretions from plants and, as education site ThoughtCo.com notes, some of the bugs are gathered in the process. The shellac is also used in paints, cosmetics and plenty of other products, according to The Vegetarian Resource Group.

Wait, bug secretions in my candy? Yes. "It's not unusual at all," said Paul Adams, a senior editor at Cook's Illustrated Magazine, which is published by America's Test Kitchen. "The lac insect produces a shiny, durable resin that's used as the basis for all kinds of coatings: the words 'shellac' and 'lacquer' both come from the name of the bug."

Typically found under the name "confectioner's glaze" or "pure food glaze," lac coating is used in making gum and on all sorts of shiny candies including jelly beans, Milk Duds and Whoppers, Adams said. "It's also responsible for the glossy coating on many pharmaceutical pills, as well as citrus fruits and cosmetics."

Good news for chocolate lovers: M&M's do not use the substance.

The caloric breakdown: Each piece of candy corn has 4 calories, according to Jelly Belly. But Brach's puts the caloric count at about 7, since 15 pieces add up to 110 calories on its packaging of Classic Candy Corn. That serving has 22 grams of sugar – experts recommend no more than 25 grams per day. 

Candy Corn: Why Is It So Divisive?

Candy corn traditionally ranks high has a Halloween candy, with it grabbing came in third behind chocolate and gummy candy in a survey last year by National Confectioners Association. This year, the NCA estimated consumers will buy 5% more chocolate and candy than in 2021.

As for candy corn, not everyone loves, or even likes, the candy. Many despise it.  "Run away. Gross. Weird consistency. Corn isn’t candy and even kids don’t like it," tweeted public relations executive Patrick Seybold. "So … why does it still exist?"  About 22% said, "Candy corn is the best!" in an unscientific survey I conducted on Twitter (it got 550 votes). But 49% disagree ("Nope. I'll pass."). For about 29%, "Candy corn is just OK."

Perhaps those who dislike it do so because of its texture and humdrum flavor. "From a sensory perspective, the hatred of candy corn can be explained because, unlike many candies, its flavor profile doesn't incorporate contrast," Adams told USA TODAY. "It's just intensely sweet-tasting, which can produce palate fatigue, like eating spoonfuls of honey or sugar."

Those who despise candy corn can cherish that it earned the title of Worst Halloween Candy last year for the second consecutive time, ahead of circus peanuts, those orange peanut-shaped marshmallow spongy candies, according to CandyStore.com. Favorite Halloween candy? Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Candy corn still ranked as No. 10 among overall favorite candies.  Yet, for those who love candy corn, the treat can be transportive, says Adams, who recalls his mother eating just the white tips of each piece. "Why is it loved as much as hated? If you grew up eating it, it probably has delightful associations in your mind," he said.

The Origins Of Candy Corn

Candy corn was first harvested in the late 19th century. Most histories have the Wunderle Candy Co. of Philadelphia inventing the kernel-shaped treat in the 1880s.  The Goelitz Confectionery Co. in Cincinnati acquired the recipe and began making candy corn about 1898, according to National Geographic. The Goelitz Confectionery Co. changed its name to the Jelly Belly Candy Co. in 2001.

Decades ago, candy corn was a year-round candy called "chicken feed," and aimed at agricultural and rural families, according to History.com. (You can see Jelly Belly vice chairman Bill Kelley, the great-grandson of Gustav Goelitz and a fourth generation candy maker, talk about candy corn in an CBS Sunday Morning video from 2011.)   "It wasn’t made for fall, but it became a fall thing ultimately," said Marie Wright, chief global flavorist at food processing company ADM, which makes corn syrup, sweeteners and natural flavorings and colorings used in candy corn.

Originally, candy corn was made by hand with candy makers pouring a sequence of passes of different colored hot edible icing called fondant into kernel-shaped molds, according to Jelly Belly, which claims to be the longest continuous maker of the candy and will make about 250,000 pounds, or 125 tons, of it this year. 

Today, candy corn is made the same way – using essentially the same recipe – by machines. Where some candies' flavors change over time, candy corn "tastes exactly how I remember it. Everybody says the flavor doesn’t change," Wright said.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2022/10/02/candy-corn-halloween-candy-trick-or-treat/8105627001/


Saturday, January 15, 2022

Fact Check: Timeline Of U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan - Key Decisions By Two Administrations

(By Eugene Kiely and Robert Farley, Factcheck.org, 17 August 2021)

The blame game has begun over who lost Afghanistan.  The fact is, President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, were both eager to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and end what Biden referred to in his Aug. 16 speech as “America’s longest war.”

The Trump administration in February 2020 negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the Taliban that excluded the Afghan government, freed 5,000 imprisoned Taliban soldiers and set a date certain of May 1, 2021, for the final withdrawal.

And the Trump administration kept to the pact, reducing U.S. troop levels from about 13,000 to 2,500, even though the Taliban continued to attack Afghan government forces and welcomed al-Qaeda terrorists into the Taliban leadership.

Biden delayed the May 1 withdrawal date that he inherited. But ultimately his administration pushed ahead with a plan to withdraw by Aug. 31, despite obvious signs that the Taliban wasn’t complying with the agreement and had a stated goal to create an “Islamic government” in Afghanistan after the U.S. left, even if it meant it had to “continue our war to achieve our goal.”

Biden assured Americans last month that a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was “not inevitable,” and denied that U.S. intelligence assessed that the Afghan government would likely collapse. But it did — and quickly.

Here we lay out many of the key diplomatic decisions, military actions, presidential pronouncements and expert assessments of the withdrawal agreement that ended the U.S. military’s 20-year war in Afghanistan — a war that has “taken the lives of nearly 2,500 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen, cost a trillion dollars, and occupied the attention of four presidential administrations,” as the Afghanistan Study Group put it in a February report.

Trump Strikes a Deal

Feb. 29, 2020 — U.S. and Taliban sign an agreement that sets the terms for a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, but do not release two classified annexes that set the conditions for U.S. withdrawal. At the time of the agreement, the U.S. had about 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, according to a Department of Defense inspector general report.

The withdrawal of U.S. troops is contingent on the “Taliban’s action against al-Qaeda and other terrorists who could threaten us,” Trump says in a speech at the Conservative Political Active Conference. (U.S. withdrawals, however, occurred despite the fact that the Defense Department inspector general’s office repeatedly reported that the Taliban worked with al-Qaeda.)

The pact includes the release of 5,000 Taliban fighters who have been held prisoners by the Afghanistan government, which is not a party to the agreement.

March 1, 2020 — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani objects to a provision in the agreement that would require his country to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners. “Freeing Taliban prisoners is not [under] the authority of America but the authority of the Afghan government,” Ghani says. “There has been no commitment for the release of 5,000 prisoners.”

March 4, 2020 — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley tells the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Taliban pledged in the classified documents not to attack U.S. troops and coalition forces or launch “high-profile attacks,” including in Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals. “[T]he Taliban have signed up to a whole series of conditions … all the Members of the Congress have all the documents associated with this agreement,” Milley says.

Despite the agreement, the Taliban attack Afghan forces in Helmand province, and the U.S. responds with an air strike.

March 10, 2020 — Under pressure from the U.S., Ghani orders the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners, but at the rate of 100 per day.

May 19, 2020 — In releasing its quarterly report on Afghanistan, the DOD inspector general’s office says the U.S. cut troop levels in Afghanistan by more than 4,000, even though “the Taliban escalated violence further after signing the agreement.”

“U.S. officials stated the Taliban must reduce violence as a necessary condition for continued U.S. reduction in forces and that remaining high levels of violence could jeopardize the U.S.-Taliban agreement,” according to the report, which covered activity from Jan. 1, 2020, to March 31, 2020. “Even still, the United States began to reduce its forces in Afghanistan from roughly 13,000 to 8,600.”

Aug. 18, 2020 — In releasing a report that covered activity in Afghanistan from April 1, 2020, to June 30, 2020, the Defense Department inspector general’s office says, “The Taliban did not appear to uphold its commitment to distance itself from terrorist organizations in Afghanistan. UN and U.S. officials reported that the Taliban continued to support al-Qaeda, and conducted joint attacks with al-Qaeda members against Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.”

Sept. 3, 2020 — Afghanistan releases the final 400 Taliban prisoners, as required under the U.S.-Taliban agreement, clearing the way for intra-Afghan peace talks to begin.

Sept. 12, 2020 — After seven months of delays, Afghanistan government officials and Taliban representatives meet in Qatar for peace talks. The U.S.-Taliban agreement called for the first peace talks to begin on March 10.

Sept. 16, 2020 — The Taliban continued attacks on government forces. The Voice of America reported that “Taliban attacks in three provinces across northern Afghanistan since Tuesday killed at least 17 people, including six civilians, and wounded scores of others even as a Taliban political team was negotiating peace with Afghan government representatives in Doha, Qatar.”

Sept. 18, 2020 — At a press conference, Trump says, “We’re dealing very well with the Taliban.  They’re very tough, they’re very smart, they’re very sharp.  But, you know, it’s been 19 years, and even they are tired of fighting, in all fairness.”

Nov. 16, 2020 — Congressional Republicans, responding to news reports that the Trump administration will rapidly reduce forces in Afghanistan, warn of what Sen. Marco Rubio calls “a Saigon-type of situation” in Afghanistan. “A rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan now would hurt our allies and delight the people who wish us harm,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says.

Nov. 17, 2020 — Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller formally announces that the U.S. will reduce U.S. forces in Afghanistan to 2,500 by Jan. 15, 2021.

On the same day, the Defense Department IG’s office released a report for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2020, that said the peace negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban representatives had stalled and violence increased. “At the same time, the Taliban increased its attacks against Afghan forces, leading to ‘distressingly high’ levels of violence that could threaten the peace agreement,” the report said.

Dec. 2, 2020 — After past false starts, Afghan and Taliban negotiators agree on a framework to govern peace negotiations. “At the same time, the Taliban continued its ‘fight and talk’ strategy, increasing violence across the country to increase its leverage with the Afghan government in negotiations,” the Defense Department IG’s office said a quarterly report covering this period.

The IG report also continued to warn that the Taliban was apparently violating the withdrawal agreement. “This withdrawal is contingent on the Taliban abiding by its commitments under the agreement, which include not allowing terrorists to use Afghan soil to threaten the United States and its allies,” the report said. “However, it was unclear whether the Taliban was in compliance with the agreement, as members of al-Qaeda were integrated into the Taliban’s leadership and command structure.”

Jan. 15 — “Today, U.S. force levels in Afghanistan have reached 2,500,” Miller, the acting defense secretary, says in a statement. “[T]his drawdown brings U.S. forces in the country to their lowest levels since 2001.”

Afghanistan’s First Vice President Amrullah Saleh tells the BBC that the Trump administration made too many concessions to the Taliban. “I am telling [the United States] as a friend and as an ally that trusting the Taliban without putting in a verification mechanism is going to be a fatal mistake,” Saleh says, adding that Afghanistan leaders warned the U.S. that “violence will spike” as the 5,000 Taliban prisoners were released. “Violence has spiked,” he added.

Biden Follows Through

Feb. 3 — The Afghanistan Study Group, which was created by Congress in December 2019 and charged with making policy recommendations for a peaceful transition in Afghanistan, releases a report recommending changes to the agreement with the Taliban. “The most important revision is to ensure that a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops is based not on an inflexible timeline but on all parties fulfilling their commitments, including the Taliban making good on its promises to contain terrorist groups and reduce violence against the Afghan people, and making compromises to achieve a political settlement,” it said.

Feb. 19 — Biden reiterates his campaign promise to bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan, saying during remarks at the Munich Security Conference, “My administration strongly supports the diplomatic process that’s underway and to bring an end to this war that is closing out 20 years. We remain committed to ensuring that Afghanistan never again provides a base for terrorist attacks against the United States and our partners and our interests.”

March 7 — Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells Afghanistan President Ashra Ghani that, despite future U.S. financial assistance, he is “concerned that the security situation will worsen and the Taliban could make rapid territorial gains.”

March 25 — Gen. Richard Clarke, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, tells the Senate Armed Services Committee that “it is clear that the Taliban have not upheld what they said they would do and reduce the violence. While…they have not attacked U.S. forces, it is clear that they took a deliberate approach and increased their violence…since the peace accords were signed.”

March 25 — During a press conference at the White House, Biden says “it’s going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline. Just in terms of tactical reasons, it’s hard to get those troops out.” He assures that “if we leave, we’re going to do so in a safe and orderly way.” Without committing to a pullout date, Biden says, “it is not my intention to stay there for a long time. But the question is: How and in what circumstances do we meet that agreement that was made by President Trump to leave under a deal that looks like it’s not being able to be worked out to begin with? How is that done? But we are not staying a long time.”

April 14 — Saying it is “time to end the forever war,” Biden announces that all troops will be removed from Afghanistan by Sept. 11.

In a speech explaining the decision, Biden says he became convinced after  trip to Afghanistan in 2008 that “more and endless American military force could not create or sustain a durable Afghan government.” Biden says the U.S. achieved its initial and primary objective, “to ensure Afghanistan would not be used as a base from which to attack our homeland again” and that “our reasons for remaining in Afghanistan are becoming increasingly unclear.”

Biden says he “inherited a diplomatic agreement” between the U.S. and the Taliban that all U.S. forces would be out by May 1. “It is perhaps not what I would have negotiated myself, but it was an agreement made by the United States government, and that means something,” Biden says, adding that final troop withdrawal would begin on May 1.

“We will not conduct a hasty rush to the exit,” Biden says. “We’ll do it responsibly, deliberately, and safely.” Biden assures Americans that the U.S. has “trained and equipped a standing force of over 300,000 Afghan personnel” and that “they’ll continue to fight valiantly, on behalf of the Afghans, at great cost.”

April 15 — In response to Biden’s decision to delay full withdrawal until Sept. 11, the Taliban releases a statement that says failure to complete the withdrawal by May 1 “opens the way for [the Taliban] to take every necessary countermeasure, hence the American side will be held responsible for all future consequences.”

April 18 — In a released statement, Trump criticizes Biden’s Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline saying, “we can and should get out earlier.” He concludes, “Getting out of Afghanistan is a wonderful and positive thing to do. I planned to withdraw on May 1st, and we should keep as close to that schedule as possible.”

May 18 — The Defense Department IG releases a report for the first three months of 2021 that says the Taliban had increased its attacks against Afghanistan government forces during this period and appears to be preparing with al-Qaeda for “large-scale offensives.”

“The Taliban initiated 37 percent more attacks this quarter than during the same period in 2020,” the report said. “According to the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Taliban maintained close ties with al-Qaeda and was very likely preparing for large-scale offensives against population centers and Afghan government installations.”

May 18 — In a House hearing on U.S. policy in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, downplays the prospect of a swift Taliban takeover when U.S. forces leave. “If they [Taliban] pursue, in my judgment, a military victory, it will result in a long war, because Afghan security forces will fight, other Afghans will fight, neighbors will come to support different forces,” Khalilzad says.

Later Khalilzad added, “I personally believe that the statements that the [Afghan] forces will disintegrate, and the Talibs will take over in short order are mistaken. The real choices that the Afghans will face is between a long war and negotiated settlement.”

June 8 — Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tells Foreign Policy that after foreign forces leave Afghanistan the group’s goal is to create an “Islamic government,” and “we will be compelled to continue our war to achieve our goal.”

June 26 — At a rally in Ohio, his first since leaving office, Trump boasts that Biden can’t stop the process he started to remove troops from Afghanistan, and acknowledges the Afghan government won’t last once U.S. troops leave.

“I started the process,” Trump says. “All the troops are coming back home. They [the Biden administration] couldn’t stop the process. 21 years is enough. Don’t we think? 21 years. They couldn’t stop the process. They wanted to, but it was very tough to stop the process when other things… It’s a shame. 21 years, by a government that wouldn’t last. The only way they last is if we’re there. What are we going to say? We’ll stay for another 21 years, then we’ll stay for another 50. The whole thing is ridiculous. … We’re bringing troops back home from Afghanistan.”

July 6 — The U.S. military confirms it has pulled out of Bagram Airfield, its largest airfield in the Afghanistan, as the final withdrawal nears.

July 8 — Saying “speed is safety,” Biden moves up the timeline for full troop withdrawal to Aug. 31. Biden acknowledges the move comes as the Taliban “is at its strongest militarily since 2001.” Biden says if he went back on the agreement that Trump made, the Taliban “would have again begun to target our forces” and that “staying would have meant U.S. troops taking casualties. … Once that agreement with the Taliban had been made, staying with a bare minimum force was no longer possible.”

Biden assures Americans that a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan “is not inevitable,” and denies that U.S. intelligence assessed that the Afghan government would likely collapse.

Asked if he sees any parallels between the withdrawals from Vietnam Afghanistan, Biden responds, “None whatsoever. Zero. … The Taliban is not the south — the North Vietnamese army. They’re not — they’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability.  There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the — of the United States from Afghanistan.  It is not at all comparable.”

Biden adds that “the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.”

Biden also promises to help accelerate the issuance of special visas for Afghan nationals who helped the U.S. during the war.

July 24 — At a rally in Phoenix, Trump again boasts, “I started the move out of Afghanistan,” adding “I think it was impossible for him [Biden] to stop it, but it was a much different deal.”

Trump says that when he was president, in a phone conversation with the leader of the Taliban, he warned that after U.S. troops leave if “you decide to do something terrible to our country … we are going to come back and we are going to hit you harder than any country has ever been hit.” Trump says he believes the two “had a real understanding” but that after Trump left office “now they’re going wild over there.”

Aug. 6 — The Taliban takes control of its first province — the capital of Nimroz province in Afghanistan — despite the agreement it signed with the U.S.

Aug. 15 — Taliban fighters enter the Afghanistan capital Kabul; the Afghan president flees the country; U.S. evacuates diplomats from its embassy by helicopter.

Aug. 16 — In a speech to the nation, Biden says, “I do not regret my decision to end America’s warfighting in Afghanistan,” and deflected blame for the government’s swift collapse.

“The truth is: This did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. So what’s happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight,” the president said. “If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision.”

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/08/timeline-of-u-s-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Family behind Cheese Shop marks 50 years. The bad news: Sandwich-making is going away until further notice.

(By Ben Swenson, Virginia Gazette, 13 December 2021)

The storefronts of Power Family establishments The Cheese Shop and Fat Canary along Duke of Gloucester Street. (Ben Swanson)

Some people thought Thomas Power was crazy.  The idea of opening a specialty shop selling fine wines and cheeses in Newport News, of all places, seemed like a long shot. Even those close to him expressed doubts. But Power, a military veteran and determined entrepreneur, had a vision and a family willing to work as hard as he did, and The Cheese Shop of Virginia was born.

That was in 1971, and it turned out to be a good decision. Fifty years later, The Cheese Shop and Fat Canary in Merchants Square remain iconic Peninsula small businesses, but the Power family’s ventures represent something more, too — an enduring effort to act as a force for good in the community that supports them.

Yet even after five decades of service in the local hospitality industry, the Power family isn’t immune to economic challenges, and these disruptions continue to guide decisions about the course of their business and what they see as their responsibility as a local employer.

                  

The Power family, from left: Mary Ellen Power Rogers, Tom Power, Jr., Mary Ellen Power (seated) and Cathy Power Pattisall. Against the far wall to the right is a photo of Tom Power. Courtesy of Corey Miller (HANDOUT)

Mary Ellen Power Rogers now runs the family’s businesses with her siblings Cathy Power Pattisall and Tom Power Jr. They’ve taken the reins from their parents, Tom Power, who died in 2017, and matriarch Mary Ellen “Myrt” Power, who still stops by The Cheese Shop and Fat Canary frequently, but no longer has the active role in day-to-day operations that she once did.

Rogers said that she and her siblings have decided not make its renowned sandwiches until further notice.  They are simply too short-staffed to continue to operate business-as-usual, Rogers said. The Fat Canary, the cheese board, wine shop and the retail sales will continue.  Rogers said that the family sees this sandwich-making pause as another one of many challenges they’ve encountered running a community-focused small business — something the family has been navigating for half a century.

The first Cheese Shop opened in Newport News’s Warwick Shopping Center in 1971.  The storefront was small, Pattisall said, but an expansive storage area in the back, set up with bean bag chairs and other kid-friendly accommodations among the inventory, was where she spent countless hours during childhood. She remembers trips in the family station wagon, which was stuffed with cheese bound for the shop. When she was naughty, the punishment could be putting price tags on endless boxes of Stoned Wheat Thins.

The Cheese Shop got its French bread from a facility in Norfolk. The same day that Pattisall got her driver’s license at age 16, her mother sent her by herself to go get the bread.  “We were young, but there was a vibe, and we understood how important this was,” she said.

Former Newport News city councilman and vice mayor Bert Bateman knew the Power family and said they established The Cheese Shop as a community cornerstone early on. Bateman’s father, the late Congressman Herb Bateman, always looked forward to conversations with the elder Power about wine and cheese.  “I tried many things I never would have because of the Powers,” he said.

In 1973, the family opened a second Cheese Shop on Prince George Street in Williamsburg. Locals, college students and tourists frequented the location. A large part of the appeal, said Pattisall, was Tom Power’s genuine interest in people.  Mary Ellen Power was responsible for the unending and thankless task of all the behind-the-scenes work, such as payroll and accounting. She was the rock upon which the family business rested, Pattisall said.

The children remained active in the business through college and into adulthood. But it was the elder Tom Power who was the public, friendly face of the operation.  “Daddy thrived in that environment,” Pattisall said. “He was meant for that.”  The Cheese Shop established itself and its products as a local institution. The Cheese Shop sandwich, with its secret recipe Original House Dressing, became “the tail that wagged the dog,” she said.

Nevertheless, over the years, the family business changed and grew. In 1978, the Powers sold the Newport News Cheese Shop to George Ackerman, who independently operated the store until his death in 2014. In 1980, Tom Power partnered with John Curtis and Marcel Desaulniers to open The Trellis, and the family kept a stake in the popular restaurant for 14 years.

The Cheese Shop, one of Williamsburg's most popular eating spots, has settled into its new location on Duke of Gloucester St. in Merchants Square. (DAVE BOWMAN / DAVE BOWMAN)

The Cheese Shop, one of Williamsburg's most popular eating spots among tourists. It has settled into a new location on Duke of Gloucester St. in Merchants Square. (DAVE BOWMAN / DAVE BOWMAN)

In 2003, The Cheese Shop moved from Prince George Street to a larger space on Duke of Gloucester Street in Merchants Square, and the Power family launched Fat Canary, with Tom Power Jr. at the helm as executive chef.

David Niebuhr, a longtime Williamsburg resident, said that Williamsburg hasn’t always been the cultured town it has become today. The Cheese Shop helped usher in a transformation because it was the only place one could get better wines, cheeses and specialty foods, such as pate.  “Even now that Williamsburg is so much more sophisticated, it’s still a go-to place to get unique hors d’oeuvres, olives or bread for a dinner party,” Niebuhr said. “And, of course, the sandwiches are legendary.”

The product and customer experience remained a priority, but the Power family, from the beginning, saw their role in a broader context, aiming to be a good community partner and generous employer.  Tom Power became involved in local causes and organizations. He helped establish the Williamsburg Farmers Market and served on the board of directors for TowneBank Williamsburg, a role later assumed by his daughter Cathy.

The Power family forged a deep connection with the College of William & Mary. Williamsburg city councilman Caleb Rogers, who graduated from W&M in 2020, and who is not related to Mary Ellen Power Rogers, said that when he arrived in town for a campus tour the year before he matriculated, he asked for a recommendation for a lunch spot. The reply was swift and fervent: The Cheese Shop. And be sure to get the house dressing.  “It’s one of those few places in Williamsburg that’s on the bucket list of places to go to get the full experience of the city,” he said.

In May 2017, the president of W&M at the time, Taylor Reveley III, presented Tom and Mary Ellen Power with the university’s Prentis Award, which recognizes distinguished community service and a W&M connection.  In nearly half a century in Williamsburg, the Powers employed many hundreds of people, a significant portion of whom were W&M students. Every year on homecoming weekend, hundreds of alumni stop by The Cheese Shop, Pattisall said.  In his acceptance speech for the award, Power talked about the importance of his employees. His words were not just idle chatter.

For 25 years, the family businesses were closed on Sundays — a result of Virginia’s blue laws — and employees and their families were often invited to the Power home to enjoy a cookout. To this day, employees of The Cheese Shop and Fat Canary are provided a meal before their shift, often eaten together, family-style.

For Niebuhr, who has lived in Williamsburg since 1978, the family’s philosophy and way of conducting business is a glimpse of a different time in the city’s history.  “It’s more than their philanthropy and interest in and service to the community,” he said. “The business still reminds me of small-town Williamsburg.”

A month after receiving the Prentis Award, Tom Power, age 81, died while vacationing in Bermuda with Mary Ellen, whom he’d been married to for 56 years.  The businesses were strong enough to withstand the passing of the patriarch, but Mary Ellen Power Rogers said that the pandemic has offered an unprecedented set of circumstances. Typically, the businesses employ about 80 people. Today, there are around 50 people on the payroll, with few or no applications for open positions.

Weijia Jiang moves through the crowded Cheese Shop in Williamsburg with a bowl of Orzo Spinach and Feta Cheese in this undated photo. The restaurant serves hundreds of people during the mid-day meal. Staff file (DAVE BOWMAN / DAVE BOWMAN)

The employees are stretched too thin to keep all the components of the operation running safely, according to Rogers.  “We’re so short-staffed it’s unhealthy, and we have an obligation to keep our staff healthy,” Rogers said.  Already the Powers have reduced the number of days the businesses operate. The Cheese Shop started closing on Mondays in June and later narrowed the time window during which they made sandwiches.

Rogers said the family looked at this from every angle and tried to figure out how to keep the sandwich-making going, but it’s just not possible to continue at current staffing levels. “We really hate to disappoint people,” she said.

According to Rogers, the family understands that unfilled positions are a national problem, and that small, independent businesses are feeling the pinch especially hard. She hopes that people will consider supporting local establishments and, if they can, apply for jobs.  Rogers said that the family can’t say when The Cheese Shop sandwich will return, only that they hope it’s sooner than later.  “We will resume,” she said. “It’s what we do.”

https://www.dailypress.com/virginiagazette/va-vg-cheese-shop-1215-20211213-i5kdpvsq35e4rl6qqvx6gxyrqu-story.html







Saturday, September 4, 2021

Abba Reunite With First New Album In 40 Years

 Swedish hitmakers return with "Voyage", an album of brand new material and digital avatars will perform in a London concert residency in 2022

(Ben Beaumont-Thomas & Mark Brown, The Guardian, 2 September 2021)

One of the most anticipated comebacks in pop culture has finally come to pass: the return of Abba.

Forty years after the bitter songs written in the wake of two band divorces for their last album, 1981’s The Visitors, the Swedish pop quartet has reunited for Voyage, an album of brand new songs that will be released on 5 November – including, they say, a Christmas song. Two tracks from it, the stately and epic ballad I Still Have Faith in You and the shimmying Don’t Shut Me Down, are out now.

The group – Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus – have also announced a new concert experience in London, also called Voyage, beginning in May 2022. Digital versions of themselves (not holograms, their team asserted) will appear nightly alongside a 10-piece live band at a new 3,000-capacity venue in the city’s Olympic park, called the Abba Arena. Tickets go on general sale on Tuesday 7 September.

Lyngstad said of their reunion: “Such joy it was to work with the group again – I am so happy with what we have made,” and called Andersson and Ulvaeus “exceptionally talented, truly genius songwriters”.  Ulvaeus said of Fältskog and Lyngstad: “I was completely floored by the way they delivered those songs,” with Andersson saying: “I think hearing Frida and Agnetha singing again is hard to beat.”  Andersson added: “We’re truly sailing in uncharted waters. With the help of our younger selves, we travel into the future.”

Abba’s digital avatars were created using motion capture technology, similar to that used by Andy Serkis and others to portray CGI beasts in Hollywood movies: the group was filmed in skintight suits for the lifelike recreations. Wayne McGregor, resident artist at London’s Royal Ballet, choreographed the band’s performance, and an 850-strong team from George Lucas-founded effects company Industrial Light & Magic designed and animated the de-aged avatars from the footage.

McGregor said: “Imagine: growing up in the north of England in the 70s and learning to ballroom, Latin and disco dance to the incredible songs of Abba. I was eight and I was totally transported. Fast forward to 2020, being in Sweden and dancing with Abba – in real life! I was about to be 50 and I was totally transported again. That is the magic of Abba.” He promised “technological wizardry, state of the art immersion and entertainment innovation. And still at its searing heart we simply have new songs, new moves, classic songs, classic moves.”

The footage is directed by film-maker Baillie Walsh, and produced by Johan Renck – best known as the Emmy-winning director of TV miniseries Chernobyl – and Svana Gisla, who worked with Renck on videos for David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar. Also on the creative team is Benny Andersson’s film producer son, Ludwig.

Both the concert and album have been mooted for some time. The avatar concept – or “Abbatars” as Ulvaeus has called them – was announced in 2016 by music manager Simon Fuller (who is not involved with the 2022 iteration). In 2017, Andersson elaborated on the project, saying: “It will take a bit of time, it takes time to digitalise a face. It’s fun that it’s so technologically advanced.” In 2018, a TV show featuring the avatars was announced, co-produced by the BBC and NBC, which has not yet been aired.

The group also announced that meeting up for the project had “an unexpected consequence. We all felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and we had only been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”

Two songs were initially written and recorded, including I Still Have Faith in You, but their release was pushed back to early 2019, then late 2019, but never emerged. Since then the group have continued writing and recording, eventually ending up with a full album of material.

In the interim, their pop cultural heft has continued to grow. The stage musical Mamma Mia!, debuted in 1999, and recently reopened in London’s West End, reintroduced the group’s hits to new generations. A 2008 film version made more than £440m in global box office takings and is an enduring family favourite: it is the UK’s biggest-selling DVD ever. A 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, made £285m globally.  Their ongoing popularity has meant that their 1992 greatest hits collection, Abba Gold, is the longest-running album in the UK album chart. In July, it became the first to surpass 1,000 weeks there, and is currently sitting at No 14.

Long before the musical and movies, however, their song catalogue was already one of the most successful – and brilliant – in all pop music. Having formed in 1972, at the height of their fame in the mid-1970s six out of seven singles in a row reached No 1 in the UK: Fernando, Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, Knowing Me Knowing You, Name of the Game and Take a Chance on Me. They had three further No 1s and a total of 19 Top 10 hits.

The reunion also brings two pairs of once-married couples back together. Lyngstad and Andersson were engaged in 1971, the same year that Fältskog and Ulvaeus married, but by 1981, both couples had divorced within a year of each other. Their romantic strife was explored with great candour in songs such as The Winner Takes It All, and in the psychodramas of their final album in 1981.

The group fizzled out in 1983 without an official breakup announcement. In the years since, Fältskog released 12 solo albums, most recently A in 2013; Lyngstad released three albums and made occasional one-off recordings.  Andersson and Ulvaeus co-wrote numerous musicals, including Chess with Tim Rice, and in 2013 they worked with EDM producer Avicii to compose the theme for the Eurovision Song Contest, which they had won with Waterloo in 1974.

The group have long denied they would ever perform live again. In 2014, Lyngstad said: “We only have one answer and that is no … No amount of money would change our minds. Maybe we sometimes say it would be good to do a song together again, just a recording and nothing else.”  In 2016, they did perform one song together at a party to celebrate 50 years of the Andersson-Ulvaeus songwriting partnership: The Way Old Friends Do.

Speaking at a London launch event for Voyage, Ulvaeus said the band was as close as they ever were. “It is incredible to be where we are, no imagination could dream up that. To release a new album after 40 years and to still be the best of friends … to still have a total loyalty. Who has experienced that? Nobody … It is such fun and we have been longing for this for such a long time.”  Why do the project now? “We wanted to do it before we were dead,” he said.

Andersson, also appearing, said the worst of the filming was when they had to shave their beards. “I’ve had mine 50 years.”  Ulvaeus said they chose London to host their live show because “London is the best city to be in when it comes to entertainment, theatre, musicals … We have always felt that the Brits see us as their own.”

Asked what the best thing about being in Abba is, Andersson replied, with refreshing candour: “Not having to worry about the money. You are free to do anything, to keep on writing the music.”

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/02/abba-reunite-for-voyage-first-new-album-in-40-years?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Fandango Survey Of The Most Popular Holiday Movies

 By Sydney Bucksbaum, Entertainment Weekly, 19 November 2020)

Since the holidays are going to look quite a bit different this year, so too will everyone's holiday movie-viewing habits. That's why Fandango surveyed more than 1,000 film fans age 18-34 during the first two weeks of November to find out which films and genres they'll be watching during the holidays from the comfort (and safety) of their own homes, and EW exclusively has the results.

New favorite Knives Out, starring Chris Evans' delicious cream sweater, was voted the top film to watch for Thanksgiving, while the Macaulay Culkin classic Home Alone took the prize for favorite family-friendly film. And no surprise here, but Die Hard won top unconventional holiday film to watch over Christmas (so don't even try to argue that it's not a Christmas movie!)

As for how movie fans will stream films over the holidays this year, 92 percent said they plan to watch more movies at home than in previous years, with 71 percent planning to binge-watch. Sixty-two percent plan to watch and then rewatch their favorite holiday classics more than once, and 61 percent are most interested in streaming a classic holiday movie rather than a new one (not great news for new fare like Happiest Season).

“Watching a favorite classic movie is part of a beloved holiday tradition for many families,” says Fandango managing editor Erik Davis. “This year there’s an extra nostalgia factor because many of us cannot gather together in front of the same screen. The top picks center on the power of families, warts and all, and serve as the kind of cinematic comfort food we look forward to enjoying during the holiday season.”

Check out the full list on winners below.

Top Movies to Watch for the Holidays

Knives Out

Addams Family Values

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Home for the Holidays

Grumpy Old Men

Free Birds

Scent of a Woman

Pieces of April

The Oath


Favorite Family-Friendly Holiday Movies

Home Alone

Elf

The Santa Clause

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Polar Express

A Christmas Story

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

It's a Wonderful Life


Favorite Unconventional Christmas Movies

Die Hard

Edward Scissorhands

Gremlins

Bad Moms Christmas

Bad Santa

Krampus

Office Christmas Party

The Night Before

Trading Places

Anna and the Apocalypse


Favorite Performances as Santa Claus

Tim Allen, The Santa Clause

Edward Asner, Elf

Billy Bob Thornton, Bad Santa

Tom Hanks, The Polar Express

James Cosmo, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Richard Attenborough, Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

Paul Giamatti, Fred Claus

Edmund Gwenn, Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Rickey Smiley, Friday After Next

Alec Baldwin, Rise of the Guardians


Favorite Holiday Movie Villains

Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern), Home Alone

Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), Die Hard

Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), It's a Wonderful Life

The Grinch (Jim Carrey), Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Oogie Boogie (Ken Ross), The Nightmare Before Christmas

Frank Cross (Bill Murray), Scrooged

Scrooge (Jim Carey), Disney's A Christmas Carol

Fulton Greenway (Michael Lerner), Elf

Ted Maltin (Phil Hartman), Jingle All the Way

Scut Farkas (Zack Ward), A Christmas Story

https://ew.com/movies/favorite-holiday-movies-fandango-survey/?did=582685-20201122&utm_campaign=entertainment-weekly_newsletter&utm_source=ew.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=112220&cid=582685&mid=45299653926