1) The people behind newsy Dallas entertainment blog Central Track are throwing the sites second annual Central Track Music Honors, which are like the DOMAs, but with an expressed intention toward more rock, less talk. The event is free and is headlined by Sam Lao, whos worth showing up to see all by herself. But the bill is also stacked with some of DFWs best acts: Ottoman Turks, Kyoto Lo-Fi, Motorcade, Duell, Jayson Lyric, Claire Morales, Sub-Sahara, Ebo, Ariel and the Culture, Starfruit, and Electric Tongues. I dont know if this will fill the Granada or not, but you can guarantee admittance with a pre-sale ticket that also includes a complimentary surprise, which I suspect is a drink of some sort. The Central Track Music Honors is for ages 14 and up and begins at 7pm. Geez Sam Lao is the baddest:

2) Friday night, the Haltom Theater (5601 Belknap) has an all-ages, four-band bill for a mere $10, starting at 9pm with transcendental garage pop band Breathing Rainbow, followed by the Red Admirals classic indie-inspired rock, then long-running psychedelic rockers The Cush, and droll garage rockers The Prof. Fuzz 63 in the headlining slot at midnight. Awww, heres Breathing Rainbows first show:

3) Saturday night at Shipping and Receiving (202 S Calhoun), Art Tooth co-founder Shasta Haubrich is throwing a party in celebration of her 40th turn around the sun, and its themed around s80s sitcoms. Called Thank You For Being a Friend: Shastas Birthday Woo, attendees are encouraged to dress in their best s80s attire, though if youre able to, I suggest digging a little deeper and trying to look like a regular or guest star on any of the vast ocean of sitcom material spawned in that decade. Theres no cover, and the music will provided by DJs Soy Capaz and Wizardvizion, aka me. 21+, starts at 9:30ish.

4) Check out this weeks Weekly for more on The Hamiltons, the husband-and-wife-fronted country/rock/soul band playing the Ridglea Theater (6025 Camp Bowie) this Saturday; theyre releasing their debut CD, The Hamiltons Vol. 1 at the show with support from songwriter Dustin Massey. Show is all-ages, doors are at 7, and music starts at 8. Tickets are $20-25.

5) Sunday night at the Gas Monkey Bar N Grill (10261 Technology Blvd, Dallas), get bathed in the meditative heaviness of OM, the main band of Sleep bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros. You can file this under Shows Where You Are Likely To See An Electric Wizard Patch, but these days, my elevator pitch when Im trying to sell someone on this band is to ask them to imagine a yoga instructor who is vey obviously a stoner (super nice, sleeve tattoo, smells like nag champa, is vaping a weed vape), who gets to do a music class one day a week, and wants it to be super chill but still heavy. I am almost afraid to even suggest this, for fear that anyone might misread my intent, but the short of all that: OM is heavy music for yoga classes, or, even more reductively: OM is yoga metal.

Now granted, perhaps thats a little bit of wish-fulfillment, because I would be stoked as hell to go to an OM-themed yoga class, a music-and-flow for people who talk about Bongzilla in bars and attend Psycho Las Vegas every year. Perhaps this is something yoga studios in Oakland or Denver do, but anyway, doors to this show are at 7pm, and Denver-based, goth-influenced, alt-country act Wovenhand opens at 8pm. Its 16+, and tickets at the door are probably between $25-$30, because they are $18 (plus tax, title, and license fees) online until day of show, when they go up. Heres the video for OMs State of Non-Return:

Continued here:
Top 5 Shows: The One with Awards, Rainbows, and Yoga - Fort Worth Weekly

Vaping wasnt something I could stomp out on the ground and move on from. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

I like to think of myself as a healthy, calm lady-boss who aims to inspire others. My morning routine consists of transcendental meditation, light therapy and boxing before 8am. When Im not in front of my computer or traveling for a public speaking gig, Im usually in a hot yoga class. And so it may surprise my clients, family, and friends that I am one of the 50 million people around the globe addicted to e-cigarette juice.

If youve ever heard the phrase Juuling, you probably picture a teenager who rips a Juul thats hidden in the sleeve of their hoodie, holding in the hit so as not to get caught vaping in math class, not a middle-class woman in her early 30s who gets HydraFacials and sips turmeric tea.

The juice, better known as e-liquid, in a vape or e-cigarette usually contains nicotine and other ingredients like propylene glycol, and vegetable glycerin, which is heated to create an inhalable aerosol. Juul is the most popular vaping product. Using influencer marketing and with celebrity endorsements like Dave Chappelle hitting his Juul during his 2017 Netflix special, Sophie Turner proclaiming having her Juul taken away was the secret to acting, and an Instagrammable photo of Katy Perry sporting her Juul at the Golden Globes, the company went from selling an unknown product to owning the category and from $200m in sales in 2017 to $1.3bn the following year. According to a Jama study, more than one in four students (28% of high schoolers) vape nicotine. Dr Karen Wilson of the American Academy of Pediatrics said that she sees kids that are using four pods the nicotine equivalent of four packs of cigarettes a day. Adults who vape often use it as a smoking cessation tool. And some adults have entered vape culture, mixing and selling custom flavors and labeling themselves as do-it-yourselfers, cloud chasers, sub-ohmers, coil builders or modders. When it comes to culture I appreciate, Im more of a literature or health food aficionado. Ive never discussed my mod or coil on Reddit, nor do I know how to blow a vape cloud in the shape of a jellyfish.

Like many, I was surprised when the number of people with a severe lung illness linked to vaping had reached over 2,600 cases and nearly 60 deaths

Yet, like the teenager we envision being naively pressured into the habit, three years ago I adopted the common belief that e-cigarettes are less harmful than other forms of tobacco. Like many, I was surprised when the number of people with a severe lung illness linked to vaping had reached over 2,600 cases and nearly 60 deaths. Recently, weve learned that the key culprit behind those illnesses is probably black market THC vapes using specific additives including a form of vitamin E. Even so, the FDA and Trump administration are pushing for a national ban on most e-cigarette flavors and San Francisco became the first major US city to ban sales altogether. Students in Texas can face felony charges and expulsions from school for having a vape in their backpacks. Its an effort to keep the product out of the hands of teens, but the move will affect adults, too free-thinking adults who vape for a variety of reasons such as to quit smoking or for the subculture people like myself.

I was first introduced to vaping as a tool to quit smoking three years ago when I visited my family in Michigan. In my parents living room playing with my niece and nephew, my brother puffed clouds of white smoke from a device that looked like a walkie-talkie with a short antenna. My stepdad shook his head with every drag. My brother held the cloud in his mouth and said: Its just vape.

Technically, I had given up my half-pack a day habit and quit smoking years before, but the urge was still there. One beer and Id hide out in the garage with my mom bumming her Marlboro Lights in Michigan or find myself standing in the smokers circle outside my favorite East Village bar. Smoking was a form of social currency around other people. Alone, it offered an escape, a ceremony that felt secret and sacred.

Vaping had the same benefits but felt better than smoking because I could conceal my device in a pencil case like the colorful pens I carry around. It didnt leave a lingering odor that others could detect. No one gives you side-eye or a judgmental cough if they cant see or smell it. Home in Brooklyn, I noticed vaping was everywhere. Soon, a friendly guy behind a cloud of strawberry vanilla at the local smoke shop set me up with my own device.

The danger of vaping is that its hidden in plain sight. Smoking is banned in nearly all public spaces, but we havent figured out how to stop people from vaping. You can do it nearly anywhere without being noticed, and the amount of nicotine being consumed is also hidden, clicked into a sleek, Stanford University-born device. Juuls dont create a large cloud and can easily be hidden in your hand. Airports, the movies, classrooms, places where we would never think to light up a cigarette are spaces where you can take a hit without causing a scene.

Initially, it seemed innocuous, and yet, from the beginning, it negatively affected my lifestyle. Instead of the co-working spaces and coffee shops I patronized, I soon opted to work from home so I could enjoy mid-meeting puffs of mango delight. Once, I excused myself to the bathroom during a quarterly in-person meeting with my most loyal client. In the stall, I took a small toke and held it securely in my mouth until I was certain it disappeared. My relaxing moment turned to burning fear as the fire alarm sounded throughout the building. I thought about flushing my device; instead, I ran outside to meet my colleagues with a red face. I spent the night Googling whether I had caused the alarm to sound. Although it was a routine drill, after that incident, bargaining with myself to work from home became part of my morning routine.

We need to share tangible ways for people to quit and that information should be as easy to find as the steps to fix a leaking pod

In April, when I started boxing, my hunch that vaping was hurting my body was solidified. As soon as I got good enough to throw a strong jab, the congestion in my lungs hit like a body shot and moved its way up my torso until my ears were plugged. It was time for me to quit.

Its no surprise that experts say withdrawal from vaping can be more challenging than quitting conventional cigarettes. The first time I tried to break my own two-pod-a-day addiction, I promised myself I wouldnt buy another pack. I changed my walking route so I wouldnt pass my local smoke shop every night. But by mid-morning of day one, I searched pockets of pants in my dirty laundry and old purses for pods with enough juice to get me through the day. I ended up watching a YouTube video where a shirtless high schooler with a seashell necklace told me that putting a leaking pod into the freezer for three minutes would reactivate it. Ninety-nine-point-nine of the time it works. For you kids who are addicted to this thing like I am But I was not a kid, I was a 31-year-old grownup. The shame I felt when I popped my last non-working pod into the freezer felt like rock bottom.

Vaping wasnt something I could stomp out on the ground and move on from. Strong willpower, my embarrassment, and at the time, the CDCs recommendation that people give up vaping of all kinds until the cause of the lung damage was determined none of it mattered. The benefit of being an adult with this addiction is that I had the resources for cessation products, and if necessary I could work with an addiction specialist. It took hundreds of dollars worth of the highest-dose patches and a mix of nicotine mints and gum for me to stop searching for loose pods around my apartment. With 5 million teens caught in this trap, I dont think bans on e-cigarette flavors will stop resourceful young people like the shirtless high schooler from finding ways to fend off the agitation, inability to focus, and headaches that come with trying to quit. Instead of imposing unreasonable laws, we need to figure out and share tangible ways for different people who are addicted to quit and that information should be as easy to find as the steps to fix a leaking pod.

After Id been off the juice for a month, I was walking to my office one morning when I saw an empty cartridge on the sidewalk. I asked myself, if this were full, would I pick it up and use it? The answer was yes. Another hit, another drag, another puff, just one more. It doesnt have a flame, but it never burns out.

Here is the original post:
I'm into health food and hot yoga. I'm also addicted to vaping - The Guardian

Vincent Vadakkan, who is credited to be the writer of Malayalam movie Trance, recently took to his social media to announce the release date of the film. The post received a lot of appreciation andintrigue.People asked Vadakkan if the Fahadh Faasil and Nazriya Nazim starrer is inspired by Indian godman Osho. Here is what the writer had to say.

Also Read |Fahadh Faasil Starrer 'Trance' Gets A Second Trailer Two Days Before Release

Also Read |Fahadh Faasil's Trance In A Censorship Brawl Over A Provocative 8-minute Long Sequence?

Trance has been one of the most anticipated Malayalam movies of the year. The movie that is in the making for years, has the audiences intrigued after the makers released the trailer of the film. The 1 minute 25 seconds trailer takes the audiences on a mad ride with Viju's (character played by Fahadh Faasil) diverse characters. The trailer released on February 18 has puzzled the audiences with its similarities to godman Osho's life. So, when a social media user questioned the same to Vadakkan, he assured them that the movie is not inspired by Osho or any other literary work.

The movie, starring Fahadh Faasil, Nazariya Nazim, and Vinayakan in the lead, has an ensemble cast consisting of Vinayakan, Soubin Shahir, Dileesh Pothan, Arjun Ashokan, Chemban Vinod Jose, among others, will also mark the acting debut of Tamil director Gautam Menon. The Anwar Rasheed directorial is reported to narrate the tale of a fisherman, who after getting mystical powers turns into a goldlike figure for many.

Meanwhile, Fahadh Faasil is reportedly busy shooting for Mahesh Narayan'sMalik. The forthcoming movie, starring Fahadh Faasil, Joju George, and Maala Parvathi in the lead, is reported to be based on a real-life story. For the role in the film, Fahadh is reported to have lost a significant amount of weight. The Fahadh Faasil starrer is reported to hit the marquee by 2020.

Also Read |Fahadh Faasil's 'Trance' Gets Postponed, Will Now Release On THIS Date

Also Read |Nazriya Nazim's First Look From The Upcoming Movie Trance Is Out

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.

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Is Trance inspired by Osho? Writer of the Fahadh Faasil starrer clears the air - Republic World - Republic World

Over the past eight years, Line of Duty has evolved from a smallBBC Two drama to BBC Ones biggest ratings-puller.

The series, fromBodyguardcreator Jed Mercurio, follows AC-12, a fictional police squad assigned with uncovering corruption within the police force.

But what details do we know about the forthcoming sixth series? Below is a compilation of all the key information, from release date to the identity of the actor playing the next potentially corrupt officer.

There is no word on when to expect the new series, but filming is currently underway in Belfast. Excitingly, thefirst table read for new episodes took place earlier this month.

Going by how long fans have had to wait for previous outings, Line of Duty should be back next spring the most recent series began in March 2019.

However, writer Jed Mercurio told Radio Times in October that he would hope the show returns sometime in 2020.

Kelly McDonald will be playing the shady characterbeing investigated by AC-12. Shell appear as DCI Joanne Davidson, who is described as the senior investigating officer of an unsolved murder, whose unconventional conduct raises suspicions at AC-12. McDonald joins returning cast members Martin Compston (DS Steve Arnott), Vicky McClure (DI Kate Fleming) and Adrian Dunbar (Superintendent Ted Hastings).

Mercurio describedJoanne is the most enigmatic adversary AC-12 have ever faced.

Following Macdonalds casting, Compston wrote: Another magnificent addition to the Line of Duty team. Said it before [a] huge part of the shows success is the phenomenal guest actors weve had. Kelly Macdonald will be up there with the best of them what a talent, what a career.

Also joining the cast is Shalom Brune-Franklin (Our Girl), Andi Osho (Kiri) and Prasanna Puwanarajah (Doctor Foster).

Perry Fitzpatrick, who previously starred opposite McClure in This Is England, will also appear.

Few dead horses have been more flogged, but if you stretch your mind back enough, it is possible to remember a series with a fantastic premise that kept us guessing for 12 whole episodes. The question: had returning war hero Sgt Brody (Damian Lewis) been radicalised in a foreign jail cell? CIA officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) thought so, but she had plenty of problems of her own. I still think it would have been better if he'd detonated at the denouement. Twisty, compelling, briefly essential. (EC)

Showtime

The slow-burning relationship between Cathy (Lesley Manville), a widow and mother of superhuman forbearance, and her late husbands best pal Michael (Peter Mullan) elevated what could have been a run-of-the-mill suburban comedy into a beautifully composed portrait of friendship, grief and mid-life romance. (FS)

BBC

Hulus adaptation of Margaret Atwoods 1985 novel, set in a pious patriarchal state, lost its way in the second series, but the first, which arrived a few months after Trump entered the White House, was a triumph. As Offred, Elisabeth Moss seethed under her mask of impassivity, while the rich palette gave us a dystopian nightmare as imagined by the 17th-century Dutch school. (FS)

Hulu

Perhaps the trashiest show on this list, but trash of the highest grade, Money Heist is Netflix's most popular non-English series, a hit across Europe and South America, with 34m accounts watching this year's Part 3 in its first week of release. A mysterious mastermind known as The Professor gathers together a crew of misfit criminals to execute a robbery on the Royal Mint in Spain. Tense, funny, clever and often completely preposterous, La Casa del Papel has only been held back by its off-putting English title. (EC)

Netflix

It unfortunately inspired some of the worst fans on the internet, but that shouldn't detract from Rick and Morty's inventiveness. Ostensibly a parody of Back to the Future, about the adventures of a young boy and his alcoholic, mad scientist grandfather, the cartoon uses its set-up to put its heroes in an endless number of frenetic, frequently insane situations. Blink and you miss a gag and two pop-culture references. (EC)

Adult Swim

This exquisite French series is about the dead trying to return to their old lives in a secluded mountain town dispensed with the usual gory zombie tropes, instead dwelling on the human instincts of these confused beings specifically their desire to love and be loved and the grief experienced by those they left behind. (FS)

Channel 4

Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney were a masterful double act in this sitcom about a holiday fling resulting in an unplanned pregnancy. The pairs attempts to build a life together yielded scabrous gags about sex and post-partum leakage, a cameo from the late Carrie Fisher and an underlying tenderness that resisted spilling into sentimentality. (FS)

Channel 4

A wicked cocktail of comedy and humanity, shock and gore, the first series of Killing Eve, written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, was a subversive joy. Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer played, respectively, a spy and an assassin whose continental game of cat-and-mouse was a blood-spattered love story for the ages. Sadly, when Waller-Bridge handed off writing duties in the second series, the magic wasn't quite the same. (FS)

BBC/BBC America

The Killing may have started the Scandi craze, but it aired in Denmark in 2007, so it doesn't count for these purposes. Borgen was everything The West Wing wasn't: a clich-resistant drama that showed politics in grating reality, with plenty of plausible schemers in slick outfits and a wonderful central performance by Sidse Babett Knudsen as Birgitte Nyborg, the Prime Minister trying to balance principles with power. (EC)

DR Fiktion

Following the exploits of Lance (Toby Jones) and Andy (Mackenzie Crook), dedicated treasure hunters and members of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club, Detectorists was about people and their passions, community and camaraderie. Its a wonderfully tranquil meditation on male companionship. (FS)

BBC

Where other series burn brightly and fade after a couple of years, FX's Cold War spy drama took its time. Matthew Rhys and Kerri Russell, married in real life, shone as the Russian couple working as spies in suburban Washington DC. The tension built over six seasons to a magnificent finale, rewarding those who stuck with it. (EC)

Patrick Harbron/FX via AP

The premise is one of the most intriguing in television: people struggling to come to terms with something called the "Sudden Departure", a mysterious event in whichtwo per cent of the world's population simply disappeared. Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta's drama received iffy reviews at first, but its reputation grew through its second and final outings, with writing and performances that explored the full depth of the setup without losing the pervasive air of mystery. (EC)

HBO

The third series is a noticeable drop-off in quality, but for two series The Crown achieved a number of unexpected feats. It made viewers genuinely interested in the Royal Family, and not in a Prince Andrew "should they go to prison?" kind of way. With sumptuous sets and costumes and some excellent performances, especially Claire Foy as the young monarch, this remains the high-water mark of Netflix polish proof that money can, sometimes, buy you love. (EC)

Netflix/PA

Reports of the death of TVs baking behemoth have been greatly exaggerated: despite host departures, a channel move and the off-screen antics of a certain perma-tanned judge, this big-hearted competition in which friendships are forged and adults weep over sagging souffls remains the ultimate feel-good reality show. (FS)

Channel 4

Two men bicker over bottles of fine wine. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydons low-key, semi-improvised and implausibly funny tours of high-end European restaurants saw the pairs insecurities deliciously laid bare as they discussed sex, ageing and ambition. Michael Winterbottom directed. (FS)

IFC Films

This Yorkshire-set, Bafta-festooned series gave us Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), a pleasingly complex, no-nonsense police sergeant up to her neck in rapists, murderers, addicts and the odd ailing sheep, together with some superbly earthy dialogue courtesy of writer Sally Wainwright. (FS)

BBC

Without Girls there is no Fleabag or Adam Driver, and it would probably merit inclusion on those two facts alone. But Lena Dunham now attracts as much opprobrium as praise, and it's easy to forget how new her breakthrough comedy felt in its naturalistic depiction of young women in New York. This was Sex and the City for people who spent more time on Instagram than at work, created by people the same age as those they were portraying. Its look and feel have cast a long shadow. (EC)

Rex Features

Witty, inventive and dazzling to look at, Steven Moffatt and Mark Gatisss relocation of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories to the present day worked beautifully, as did the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch as the high-functioning sociopath Holmes and Martin Freeman as the put-upon army veteran Watson. While later series would drift, the first three were unbeatable. (FS)

BBC

A five-part drama about a nuclear disaster in 1986 is not the most promising prospect for a night in with a bottle of wine. It is a tribute to the writer, Craig Mazin, and director, Johan Renck, as well as its cast, especially Jared Harris, that Chernobyl managed to be totally gripping, with frequent moments of stark, horrendous beauty. (EC)

HBO

At first, the musician and comedian Donald Glover's series about struggling rappers in Atlanta looked like a familiar, safe kind of sitcom about loveable losers. But it quickly evolved into something fresh: a smart, occasionally surreal examination of life at the margins of America, whose angry heart never spilled into preachiness or got in the way of the jokes. (EC)

AP

Who could have anticipated a dating show in which twenty-somethings sit around in microscopic swimwear would tell us so much about the human condition? Gaslighting, bromances, the complexities of girl code Love Island delved beneath the spray tans and schooled the nation on modern manners. (FS)

Rex Features

An electrifying study of addiction, trauma and the corrupting power of privilege, based on the autobiographical books by Edward St Aubyn. Benedict Cumberbatch played the feckless antihero grappling with his past and trying (and mostly failing) to be better than the wretched aristos that raised him. (FS)

Sky

Ken Burns's epic 10-part documentary followed up his other conflict opuses, on The Civil War and The War, with a detailed story about Vietnam. Using new interviews from both sides as well as archive footage, the documentary shows in unrelenting detail a catastrophe that unfolded in slow motion. Some critics accused it of underserving the experience of the Vietnamese civilians. But it left viewers in no doubt that not only did the US leadership pursue it long after it was a lost cause, but they knew from the start it was unwinnable. (EC)

Trailer screenshot

Charlie Brooker sent every other TV critic, or at least one of them, into a spiral of envy by proving not only that it was possible to cross over into creation, but to do so in style. Black Mirror's taut near-future tales of techno-dystopia are almost always interesting, even if they sometimes fall short of their ambitions, as with the high-concept recent film, "Bandersnatch". The best episodes, like 2016's tour de force, "San Junipero", are gripping examinations of human connection in a world where interactions are increasingly by screens. (EC)

Getty Images

The first of the Attenborough documentaries to speak directly of the human impact on the natural world, this kaleidoscopic ocean odyssey provided a visual feast of clam-cracking tuskfish, alien-looking pyrosomes and anthropomorphic dolphins, while reminding us how it could all be lost. (FS)

BBC

Only in a world of Netflix budgets can you imagine a concept as wild as BoJack Horsemans getting off the ground. It's a cartoon set in LA, ostensibly a comedy about celebrity, except half the characters, including its lead, are anthropomorphised animals. Halfway through its final season, which has been split into two, its initial zaniness has given way to something darker and more interesting. Lurid colours and visual wit dress one of the most humane explorations of depression, addiction and cycles of abuse. (EC)

Netflix

What began, in its first series, as an enjoyably acid-tongued portrait of modern womanhood became a fully fledged masterpiece in the second. Written by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag gave us perfectly calibrated scenes of familial dysfunction and sexual longing the latter memorably culminating in the Priests simple, thrilling instruction: Kneel. (FS)

BBC

The first spin-off series from Shane Meadows 2007 film, about a gang of ex-skinheads from the Midlands, was set during the 1986 World Cup, and remains one of the great British dramas, depicting working class lives with humanity and humour. This is England 88 and 90 followed, both of them similarly infused with heart and soul. (FS)

Channel 4

Said to have been a decade in the making, Succession is worth every minute spent on it. Brian Cox enjoys a dream of a late-career role as Logan Roy, the ageing media tycoon unwilling to relinquish control of his company to any of his ungrateful and talentless children. There's oblivious eldest son Connor (Alan Ruck), troubled addict Kendall (Jeremy Strong), scheming daughter Shiv (Sarah Snook) and abrasive youngest Roman (Kieran Culkin), along with a host of hangers-on, partners and support staff. None of them seem to have the right stuff. It's an intriguing set-up, but Succession is lifted by its script, performances, locations, costumes, music and direction, which place it firmly in a tradition of laughing at our rulers, where the mirth comes tempered with the knowledge that these are really the people in charge. (EC)

Graeme Hunter

Yes, the final series went a bit weird. Maybe the final two series. A case could be made that the TV adaptation was never as emotionally resonant when it went beyond George RR Martin's novels. The final series were only disappointing compared to what had come before, which was a fantasy on an unprecedented scale that managed to be grandiose without slipping into melodrama. An invented universe with necromancers, dragons, magic swords and ice zombies was notable for its plausible realpolitik. At a time when viewing tastes were meant to be becoming more atomised, Game of Thrones was global event TV, which made household names of the Starks, Lannisters and Greyjoys and provided a whole generation of English character actors with a regular income. (EC)

AP

Few dead horses have been more flogged, but if you stretch your mind back enough, it is possible to remember a series with a fantastic premise that kept us guessing for 12 whole episodes. The question: had returning war hero Sgt Brody (Damian Lewis) been radicalised in a foreign jail cell? CIA officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) thought so, but she had plenty of problems of her own. I still think it would have been better if he'd detonated at the denouement. Twisty, compelling, briefly essential. (EC)

Showtime

The slow-burning relationship between Cathy (Lesley Manville), a widow and mother of superhuman forbearance, and her late husbands best pal Michael (Peter Mullan) elevated what could have been a run-of-the-mill suburban comedy into a beautifully composed portrait of friendship, grief and mid-life romance. (FS)

BBC

Hulus adaptation of Margaret Atwoods 1985 novel, set in a pious patriarchal state, lost its way in the second series, but the first, which arrived a few months after Trump entered the White House, was a triumph. As Offred, Elisabeth Moss seethed under her mask of impassivity, while the rich palette gave us a dystopian nightmare as imagined by the 17th-century Dutch school. (FS)

Hulu

Perhaps the trashiest show on this list, but trash of the highest grade, Money Heist is Netflix's most popular non-English series, a hit across Europe and South America, with 34m accounts watching this year's Part 3 in its first week of release. A mysterious mastermind known as The Professor gathers together a crew of misfit criminals to execute a robbery on the Royal Mint in Spain. Tense, funny, clever and often completely preposterous, La Casa del Papel has only been held back by its off-putting English title. (EC)

Netflix

It unfortunately inspired some of the worst fans on the internet, but that shouldn't detract from Rick and Morty's inventiveness. Ostensibly a parody of Back to the Future, about the adventures of a young boy and his alcoholic, mad scientist grandfather, the cartoon uses its set-up to put its heroes in an endless number of frenetic, frequently insane situations. Blink and you miss a gag and two pop-culture references. (EC)

Adult Swim

This exquisite French series is about the dead trying to return to their old lives in a secluded mountain town dispensed with the usual gory zombie tropes, instead dwelling on the human instincts of these confused beings specifically their desire to love and be loved and the grief experienced by those they left behind. (FS)

Channel 4

Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney were a masterful double act in this sitcom about a holiday fling resulting in an unplanned pregnancy. The pairs attempts to build a life together yielded scabrous gags about sex and post-partum leakage, a cameo from the late Carrie Fisher and an underlying tenderness that resisted spilling into sentimentality. (FS)

Channel 4

A wicked cocktail of comedy and humanity, shock and gore, the first series of Killing Eve, written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, was a subversive joy. Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer played, respectively, a spy and an assassin whose continental game of cat-and-mouse was a blood-spattered love story for the ages. Sadly, when Waller-Bridge handed off writing duties in the second series, the magic wasn't quite the same. (FS)

BBC/BBC America

The Killing may have started the Scandi craze, but it aired in Denmark in 2007, so it doesn't count for these purposes. Borgen was everything The West Wing wasn't: a clich-resistant drama that showed politics in grating reality, with plenty of plausible schemers in slick outfits and a wonderful central performance by Sidse Babett Knudsen as Birgitte Nyborg, the Prime Minister trying to balance principles with power. (EC)

DR Fiktion

Following the exploits of Lance (Toby Jones) and Andy (Mackenzie Crook), dedicated treasure hunters and members of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club, Detectorists was about people and their passions, community and camaraderie. Its a wonderfully tranquil meditation on male companionship. (FS)

BBC

Where other series burn brightly and fade after a couple of years, FX's Cold War spy drama took its time. Matthew Rhys and Kerri Russell, married in real life, shone as the Russian couple working as spies in suburban Washington DC. The tension built over six seasons to a magnificent finale, rewarding those who stuck with it. (EC)

Patrick Harbron/FX via AP

The premise is one of the most intriguing in television: people struggling to come to terms with something called the "Sudden Departure", a mysterious event in whichtwo per cent of the world's population simply disappeared. Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta's drama received iffy reviews at first, but its reputation grew through its second and final outings, with writing and performances that explored the full depth of the setup without losing the pervasive air of mystery. (EC)

HBO

The third series is a noticeable drop-off in quality, but for two series The Crown achieved a number of unexpected feats. It made viewers genuinely interested in the Royal Family, and not in a Prince Andrew "should they go to prison?" kind of way. With sumptuous sets and costumes and some excellent performances, especially Claire Foy as the young monarch, this remains the high-water mark of Netflix polish proof that money can, sometimes, buy you love. (EC)

Netflix/PA

Reports of the death of TVs baking behemoth have been greatly exaggerated: despite host departures, a channel move and the off-screen antics of a certain perma-tanned judge, this big-hearted competition in which friendships are forged and adults weep over sagging souffls remains the ultimate feel-good reality show. (FS)

Channel 4

Two men bicker over bottles of fine wine. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydons low-key, semi-improvised and implausibly funny tours of high-end European restaurants saw the pairs insecurities deliciously laid bare as they discussed sex, ageing and ambition. Michael Winterbottom directed. (FS)

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Line of Duty series 6: Everything we know, from BBC release date, new cast members to H theories - The Independent

What should be the role of religion in higher education? Should colleges and universities that are funded by a particular religion solely teach that theology? Should administrators use their faith to guide them to expose students to a broad set of views? Or should academics set their faith aside and allow a free-ranging debate? Give us your best arguments, ideas or personal experiences from a faith perspective.

Email your response to faith@dallasnews.com. Please limit the response to 250 words, and include your full name, address and phone number.

We plan to publish reader opinion on this question in coming weeks on the Living Our Faith page online and in the Sunday Opinion print section.

Get the weekly reader question and a roundup of the project in your email inbox every Sunday by signing up for the Living Our Faith newsletter.

Read these essays for inspiration on this weeks topic.

Read more here:
What should be the role of religion in higher education? - The Dallas Morning News

Teachers Pay Teachers represents a growing online marketplace once dubbed the Etsy of Education that now has seen 6 million teachers in the past year buy or sell classroom resources. Its part of an effort to help teachers help one another in creating fresh approaches to instruction while getting paid for their work.

And school districts are getting on board.

As a first-year teacher, you arent handed very much to work with, and you are expected to learn the ropes of being a great teacher while at the same time creating much of the material you use in your class, says Kristin Hodgson, vice president of brand marketing and communications. Many, many great teachers came before [founder Paul Edelman], and the things he was creating had already been created. He thought, What if I could get access to amazing resources from other teachers around the world?

Edelman, a former New York City public school teacher and now a Teachers Pay Teachers board member, created the site in 2006. Since then, there have been more than 1 billion downloads, and 4 million resources are available today.

Some educators sign up as authors/sellers, while others browse the site for materials that could work in their classrooms. The teacher-buyer is getting what they need and solving the problems around time and access, and the teacher-author is getting compensated for their work, Hodgson says. The average resource costs less than $5, and the average transaction totals about $15.

The resources span K-12 and include everything from math curriculum to art lessons, reading materials and science labs. Because we represent the collective wisdom of teachers, it is a swath of what has been tested and used across the community, Hodgson says.

Teachers Pay Teachers doesnt vet or review the teacher-authors of the roughly 150,000 of them, several thousand do the majority of the selling, creating community followings but users can rate each seller on the site.

Internal research has found that 98 percent of buyers use the lessons from the site to differentiate instruction in their classrooms at least once a month, and 67 percent do it at least weekly.

I find that many of my teachers just want additional lessons to either help students that are struggling with the concept or to enrich and push students who have mastered the concept and can work with the skill at a higher level, says April Becherer, principal at Parkview Elementary in Illinois.

Some lessons contain videos that model how to properly present the lesson or guide implementation of the resource, and once a purchase is made, the teacher has the right to future updates when the author adds, modifies or extends the material. This is something that is useful, says Becherer, as education continually evolves and changes.

As the site has grown, Hodgson says, its 130 employees have, among other things, created a crowdsourcing option to help specific teachers ask others to chip in for the resources they need. In the early launch stages in summer 2019, the pilot program saw 10,000 teachers quickly raise $100,000 toward resources. The initial signals show that by unlocking more access for teachers and getting them more funds, we are going to allow them to get more of what they need to reach their students, Hodgson says. That is the priority we are focused on.

Link:
Meet the Etsy of Education: Online Marketplace Lets Teachers Buy and Sell Millions of Classroom Materials and Lessons - The 74

It's only February and theS&P 500 has already set record highs multiple times this year. With the economy looking strong, an election making risky political moves unlikely, and new trade policies in place with China, Mexico, and Canada, 2020 is shaping up to be another bullish year.

There have already been a number of big winners this year. Tesla shareshave more than doubled this year on hopes for the company's disruptive potential in electric cars, batteries, and renewable energy, andVirgin Galacticshares have nearly tripled as bulls have pushed the only pure-play commercial space travel stock to new altitudes.

These won't be the only big winners this year. Let's take a look at three other stocks that could double by this summer.

Image source: Getty Images.

It may be surprising to see the struggling home goods retailer on this list, but investors are already starting to get clued in to the company's turnaround potential. The stock rallied all the way from $7.31 per share in August to more than $17 in December, after Mark Tritton was named as the new CEO in October. Tritton comes to Bed Bath & Beyond(NASDAQ:BBBY) after serving as Chief Merchandise Officer atTarget, where he helped guide that retailer to successful turnaround in part by launching a number of new owned brands at the big-box chain.

When Tritton has dropped hints about his strategy for Bed Bath & Beyond, investors have reacted favorably. Earlier this week, he said the company would sell personalizationmall.com for $252 million to help fund improvements in its stores, supply, and digital initiatives, pushing the stock up 7%.

It's also become clear that there's a lot of low-hanging fruit for Tritton to pick as he attempts to streamline the company. For instance, since taking the helm in November, he's cut the number of can openers the company sells from more than a dozen to three, and sales in the category rose. Doing so not only makes the customer experience better, but eliminates inventory and should help drive down costs and create economies of scale as the company can make bigger orders from the same suppliers.

The company earlier reported that comparable sales fell by an adjusted 13% in December and January, so its April earnings report will likely be a dud, but Tritton is preparing to roll out a comprehensive new strategy at an investor conference in May. If investors like what they hear and results improve, shares could make some serious gains.

China stockshave been rocked by the coronavirus outbreak, and it's still unknown how long the outbreak will persist and disrupt everyday business in China. However, some stocks have been surprising winners on the threat.

Youdao(NYSE:DAO), a Chinese online education specialist, spiked in the initial days after the outbreak became serious. As an online education provider, the stock was in a unique position to benefit from the coronavirus, which forced schools to close.

Schools are still closed indefinitely in China,but 200 million children are taking classes online.

Such an event gives Youdao the opportunity to raise its profile and grow its business. The company offers a number of online courses for K-12 students and others, as well as educational apps and devices like translators. The recent IPO is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The stock is lightly covered with just one analyst forecasting revenue of $453.7 million, but a better-than-expected report and a bullish outlook for 2020 could lift the stock and propel further gains over the coming months. Other Chinese online education stocks likeTAL EducationandNew Oriental Educationhave already been big winners, and Youdao could easily follow in their footsteps.

Another IPO debutante,Bill.com,(NYSE:BILL) has made a big splash since its December debut on the market. The stock jumped 60% on opening day and gained again in its first earnings report as a publicly traded company earlier in February.

Bill.com is a provider of cloud-based software to handle back office operations, including payments for small and-medium-sized businesses. In its second-quarter earnings report, which came out in February, revenue jumped 50% to $39.1 million, smashing expectations at $33.8 million, and subscription revenue rose 61%, a promising sign for a SaaS model.

In its outlook, Bill.com's forecast was also much better than analyst expectations, indicating Wall Street may have underestimated this stock's potential growth. What's also attractive about Bill.com is its strong position in payments, a business that has generated significant profits for peers likePaypal. It spends much less than many cloud stockson sales and marketing, which is also a bullish sign for future profitability as the company is able to grow rapidly without spending heavily on marketing. In the first half of the year it spent about 30% of its revenue on sales and marketing, but more went to research and development.

Bill.com won't report earnings again until May, but if tailwinds continue in cloud stocks and the company delivers another round of strong results, shares could move significantly higher.

The rest is here:
3 Stocks That Could Double by This Summer - The Motley Fool

Coronavirus

The sudden uptick in early stage investment into Chinese online education may provide temporary relief for a sector suffering from a slowdown in appetite since the summer of last year. However, investors may struggle to pick the wheat from the chaff.

February 20, 2020

The coronavirus outbreak in China has delayed the opening of the school spring term across the country. But rather than letting their Children watch TV, parents are required to supervise them while they take online classes instead.

The rebound in online education has reignited the attention from investors it seems. On February 18, Whale English Elite Education announced the completion a Rmb100 million $14 million Series B fundraising. Sino-Ocean Capital led the fundraising, while Hike Capital and Fresh Capital participated in the round. China TH Capital was the financial advisor on the deal.

This is the tenth investment in Chinese online education to complete in the...

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A trivia night being held March 6 in the lobby of the Black Knight Fieldhouse will be raising funds for scholarships to be given to Farmington High School students through the Farmington Educational Foundation.

The Farmington Educational Foundation is hosting a trivia night at 7 p.m. Friday, March 6, in the lobby of the Black Knight Fieldhouse.

Doors open at 6:20 p.m., with the trivia contest starting at 7 p.m. Teams will be made up of eight to 10 players with a fee of $10 per person. Student teams have a $5 per person fee.

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In addition to the trivia contest, the event will also feature a silent auction, games and prizes. Pizzas and popcorn will be provided. Players are welcome to bring outside snacks, but no alcohol is permitted.

To preregister a team; sponsor a round; or donate a silent auction item or door prize, contact Sally Shinn by email at sallyshinn@sbcglobal.net

All proceeds from the event will go toward scholarships for the Farmington High School Class of 2020.

The Farmington Educational Foundation is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit. Its mission is to enhance the educational opportunities for students in the Farmington R-7 School District.

We'll send breaking news and news alerts to you as as they happen!

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Education foundation to host trivia night - Daily Journal Online

Grover Beach residents will soon have to pay more for false alarms.

According to city data, the Grover Beach Police Department responds to about 300 false alarms every year, each taking about 30 minutes to investigate. Its about seven days and $30,000 spent every year responding to them and it takes resources away from real crime.

The hour spent investigating a false alarm is an hour not spent patrolling our city, said Matthew Bronson, Grover Beach City Manager.

False alarms happen when your security system accidentally goes off and police officers respond to your home or business and find no evidence that a crime occurred or was attempted.

It does not apply to smoke alarms or medical emergencies, but instead security systems like ring doorbells. Fees can also apply to robbery and panic button false alarms.

The city is looking to avoid wasting resources, so they are asking property owners to register their security systems with the city to avoid paying more in fines.

If you don't register your security system and have a false alarm, you'll have to pay:

If you register your system for $25 every year, the fine for false alarms is less expensive:

The city defines a "false alarm" as an Alarm Dispatch Request to the Police Department, which results in the responding officer finding no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense after completing a timely investigation of the Alarm Site.

The registration will allow the police department to identify who to contact when an alarm goes off so they can bring a matter to a close faster than they can now," Bronson said.

The cities of Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo also have similar ordinances in place, with San Luis Obispo seeing about a 50% decrease in false alarms.

One Grover Beach resident said she's going to pay for the permit but worried it could be expensive for others.

It's worth it. I'm on a tight income myself and I know there are people on tight incomes but it's your safety, number one," said Linda Muoz, who has an alarm system at her Grover Beach home.

According to the city, you can waive the first false alarm fee if you take an online education course. This option is only available if your alarm is permitted.

Police said if you have a false alarm, realize it and cancel it before officers arrive, then you won't be charged.

The ordinance goes into effect April 1, 2020. Click here for more information or to register your alarm system.

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Local News Grover Beach PD increases fines for false alarms to avoid wasting resources Megan Healy - KSBY San Luis Obispo News