Thursday, November 3, 2011

Heist

  • TESTED

"'As far as I can determine there is only one solution [to the CEO's demand to save more money]', the HR representative wrote to her superiors. 'That would be the death of all existing retirees.'"

It's no secret that hundreds of companies have been slashing pensions and health coverage earned by millions of retirees. Employers blame an aging workforce, stock market losses, and spiraling costs- what they call "a perfect storm" of external forces that has forced them to take drastic measures.

But this so-called retirement crisis is no accident. Ellen E. Schultz, award-winning investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal, reveals how large companies and the retirement industry-benefits consultants, insurance companies, and banks-have all played a huge and hidden role in the death spiral of American pensions and benefits.
A little over a dec! ade ago, most companies had more than enough set aside to pay the benefits earned by two generations of workers, no matter how long they lived. But by exploiting loopholes, ambiguous regulations, and new accounting rules, companies essentially turned their pension plans into piggy banks, tax shelters, and profit centers.

Drawing on original analysis of company data, government filings, internal corporate documents, and confidential memos, Schultz uncovers decades of widespread deception during which employers have exaggerated their retiree burdens while lobbying for government handouts, secretly cutting pensions, tricking employees, and misleading shareholders. She reveals how companies:

  • Siphon billions of dollars from their pension plans to finance downsizings and sell the assets in merger deals
  • Overstate the burden of rank-and-file retiree obligations to justify benefits cuts while simultaneously using the savings to ! inflate executive pay and pensions
  • Hide their gr! owing ex ecutive pension liabilities, which at some companies now exceed the liabilities for the regular pension plans
  • Purchase billions of dollars of life insurance on workers and use the policies as informal executive pension funds. When the insured workers and retirees die, the company collects tax-free death benefits
  • Preemptively sue retirees after cutting retiree health benefits and use other legal strategies to erode their legal protections.

    Though the focus is on large companies-which drive the legislative agenda-the same games are being played at smaller companies, non-profits, public pensions plans and retirement systems overseas. Nor is this a partisan issue: employees of all political persuasions and income levels-from managers to miners, pro- football players to pilots-have been slammed.

    Retirement Heist is a scathing and urgent expose of one of the most critical and least understood crises of ou! r time.

Gene Hackman plays the veteran ringleader of a gang of theives (Delroy Lindo, Ricky Jay and Rebecca Pigeon as Hackman's youngish wife) that pulls off complex heists for a despicable fence (Danny DeVito). After stiffing the gang on a jewelry robbery, DeVito forces the gang to go after a Swiss gold shipment and to use his son (Sam Rockwell) in the crime. Mistrust runs rampant as double-crosses threaten the split-second operation.

DVD Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer

David Mamet's Heist is--not unlike many of his previous films--amusing, manicured, and fraught with an awkward tension. If you've seen The Spanish Prisoner or House of Games, you're by now familiar with the plot-subverting gambit of the double-cross turned triple- and then quadruple-cross. Heist sticks to the formula. Likewise, the quips and laconic wit that adorn what can most accur! ately be called "Mametspeak" are again on display: "Cute as a ! pail ful l of kittens," for instance, and "Everybody needs money; that's why they call it money." What you haven't yet seen in a Mamet film is the magisterial charm of Gene Hackman. In the role of Joe Moore, an aging criminal out for one final score before cashing in, Hackman shows us all (Mamet included) how it's done, embodying tough-but-clever effortlessly. Delroy Lindo, as Joe's partner Bobby, picks up on Hackman's ultra-cool and gives plenty in return. While the script and the remaining cast (Danny Devito, Rebecca Pidgeon, Sam Rockwell) are serviceable, Heist is entirely Hackman's show to steal. --Fionn Meade

Edward Scissorhands Deluxe Costume Gloves

  • Makes a great combination for your costume
  • Gloves are an Officially licensed Edward Scissorhands costume accessory
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Once upon a time in a castle high on a hill lived an inventor whose greatest creation was named Edward. Although Edward had an irresistible charm, he wasn't quite perfect. The inventor's sudden death left him unfinished, with sharp shears of metal for hands. Edward lived alone in the darkness until one day a kind Avon lady took him home to live with her family. And so began Edward's fantastical adventures in a pastel paradise known as Suburbia.Edward Scissorhands achieves the nearly impossible feat of capturing the delicate flavor of a fable or fairy tale in a live-action movie. The story follows a young man named Edward (Johnny Depp), who was created by an inventor (Vincent Price, in one of his last roles) who died before he c! ould give the poor creature a pair of human hands. Edward lives alone in a ruined Gothic castle that just happens to be perched above a pastel-colored suburb inhabited by breadwinning husbands and frustrated housewives straight out of the 1950s. One day, Peg (Dianne Wiest), the local Avon lady, comes calling. Finding Edward alone, she kindly invites him to come home with her, where she hopes to help him with his pasty complexion and those nasty nicks he's given himself with his razor-sharp fingers. Soon Edward's skill with topiary sculpture and hair design make him popular in the neighborhood--but the mood turns just as swiftly against the outsider when he starts to feel his own desires, particularly for Peg's daughter Kim (Winona Ryder). Most of director Tim Burton's movies (such as Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman) are visual spectacles with elements of fantasy, but Edward Scissorhands is more tender and personal than the others. Edward's wild bl! ack hair is much like Burton's, suggesting that the character ! represen ts the director's own feelings of estrangement and co-option. Johnny Depp, making his first successful leap from TV to film, captures Edward's childlike vulnerability even while his physical posture evokes horror icons like the vampire in Nosferatu and the sleepwalker in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Classic horror films, at their heart, feel a deep sympathy for the monsters they portray; simply and affectingly, Edward Scissorhands lays that heart bare. --Bret FetzerOnce upon a time in a castle high on a hill lived an inventor whose greatest creation was named Edward. Although Edward had an irresistible charm, he wasn't quite perfect. The inventor's sudden death left him unfinished, with sharp shears of metal for hands. Edward lived alone in the darkness until one day a kind Avon lady took him home to live with her family. And so began Edward's fantastical adventures in a pastel paradise known as Suburbia.Edward Scissorhands achieves the! nearly impossible feat of capturing the delicate flavor of a fable or fairy tale in a live-action movie. The story follows a young man named Edward (Johnny Depp), who was created by an inventor (Vincent Price, in one of his last roles) who died before he could give the poor creature a pair of human hands. Edward lives alone in a ruined Gothic castle that just happens to be perched above a pastel-colored suburb inhabited by breadwinning husbands and frustrated housewives straight out of the 1950s. One day, Peg (Dianne Wiest), the local Avon lady, comes calling. Finding Edward alone, she kindly invites him to come home with her, where she hopes to help him with his pasty complexion and those nasty nicks he's given himself with his razor-sharp fingers. Soon Edward's skill with topiary sculpture and hair design make him popular in the neighborhood--but the mood turns just as swiftly against the outsider when he starts to feel his own desires, particularly for Peg's daughter Ki! m (Winona Ryder). Most of director Tim Burton's movies (such a! s Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman) are visual spectacles with elements of fantasy, but Edward Scissorhands is more tender and personal than the others. Edward's wild black hair is much like Burton's, suggesting that the character represents the director's own feelings of estrangement and co-option. Johnny Depp, making his first successful leap from TV to film, captures Edward's childlike vulnerability even while his physical posture evokes horror icons like the vampire in Nosferatu and the sleepwalker in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Classic horror films, at their heart, feel a deep sympathy for the monsters they portray; simply and affectingly, Edward Scissorhands lays that heart bare. --Bret FetzerOnce upon a time in a castle high on a hill lived an inventor whose greatest creation was named Edward. Although Edward had an irresistible charm, he wasn't quite perfect. The inventor's sudden death left him unfinished, with sharp ! shears of metal for hands. Edward lived alone in the darkness until one day a kind Avon lady took him home to live with her family. And so began Edward's fantastical adventures in a pastel paradise known as Suburbia.Edward Scissorhands achieves the nearly impossible feat of capturing the delicate flavor of a fable or fairy tale in a live-action movie. The story follows a young man named Edward (Johnny Depp), who was created by an inventor (Vincent Price, in one of his last roles) who died before he could give the poor creature a pair of human hands. Edward lives alone in a ruined Gothic castle that just happens to be perched above a pastel-colored suburb inhabited by breadwinning husbands and frustrated housewives straight out of the 1950s. One day, Peg (Dianne Wiest), the local Avon lady, comes calling. Finding Edward alone, she kindly invites him to come home with her, where she hopes to help him with his pasty complexion and those nasty nicks he's given himself ! with his razor-sharp fingers. Soon Edward's skill with topiary! sculptu re and hair design make him popular in the neighborhood--but the mood turns just as swiftly against the outsider when he starts to feel his own desires, particularly for Peg's daughter Kim (Winona Ryder). Most of director Tim Burton's movies (such as Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman) are visual spectacles with elements of fantasy, but Edward Scissorhands is more tender and personal than the others. Edward's wild black hair is much like Burton's, suggesting that the character represents the director's own feelings of estrangement and co-option. Johnny Depp, making his first successful leap from TV to film, captures Edward's childlike vulnerability even while his physical posture evokes horror icons like the vampire in Nosferatu and the sleepwalker in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Classic horror films, at their heart, feel a deep sympathy for the monsters they portray; simply and affectingly, Edward Scissorhands lays that heart bar! e. --Bret FetzerOnce upon a time in a castle high on a hill lived an inventor whose greatest creation was named Edward. Although Edward had an irresistible charm, he wasn't quite perfect. The inventor's sudden death left him unfinished, with sharp shears of metal for hands. Edward lived alone in the darkness until one day a kind Avon lady took him home to live with her family. And so began Edward's fantastical adventures in a pastel paradise known as Suburbia.Edward Scissorhands achieves the nearly impossible feat of capturing the delicate flavor of a fable or fairy tale in a live-action movie. The story follows a young man named Edward (Johnny Depp), who was created by an inventor (Vincent Price, in one of his last roles) who died before he could give the poor creature a pair of human hands. Edward lives alone in a ruined Gothic castle that just happens to be perched above a pastel-colored suburb inhabited by breadwinning husbands and frustrated housewive! s straight out of the 1950s. One day, Peg (Dianne Wiest), the ! local Av on lady, comes calling. Finding Edward alone, she kindly invites him to come home with her, where she hopes to help him with his pasty complexion and those nasty nicks he's given himself with his razor-sharp fingers. Soon Edward's skill with topiary sculpture and hair design make him popular in the neighborhood--but the mood turns just as swiftly against the outsider when he starts to feel his own desires, particularly for Peg's daughter Kim (Winona Ryder). Most of director Tim Burton's movies (such as Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman) are visual spectacles with elements of fantasy, but Edward Scissorhands is more tender and personal than the others. Edward's wild black hair is much like Burton's, suggesting that the character represents the director's own feelings of estrangement and co-option. Johnny Depp, making his first successful leap from TV to film, captures Edward's childlike vulnerability even while his physical posture evokes horror icons! like the vampire in Nosferatu and the sleepwalker in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Classic horror films, at their heart, feel a deep sympathy for the monsters they portray; simply and affectingly, Edward Scissorhands lays that heart bare. --Bret FetzerWear these Edward Scissorhands Deluxe Costume Gloves to complete the look of your Edward Scissorhands costume. These authentic-looking gloves are modeled after Edward's hands from Tim Burton's classic film.

Dorian Gray

  • DORIAN GRAY (DVD MOVIE)
Dorian Gray, a handsome young man, receives a beautiful painting of himself from his good friend Basil Hallward. In the same moment, a new acquaintance, Lord Henry, introduces Dorian to the ideals of youthfulness and hedonism, of which Gray becomes immediately obsessed. Meanwhile, the painting in Dorian's possession serves as a constant reminder of his passing beauty and youth, driving his obsession.A lush, cautionary tale of a life of vileness and deception or a loving portrait of the aesthetic impulse run rampant? Why not both? After Basil Hallward paints a beautiful, young man's portrait, his subject's frivolous wish that the picture change and he remain the same comes true. Dorian Gray's picture grows aged and corrupt while he continues to appear fresh and innocent. After he kills a young woman, "as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife," Dor! ian Gray is surprised to find no difference in his vision or surroundings. "The roses are not less lovely for all that. The birds sing just as happily in my garden."

As Hallward tries to make sense of his creation, his epigram-happy friend Lord Henry Wotton encourages Dorian in his sensual quest with any number of Wildean paradoxes, including the delightful "When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy." But despite its many languorous pleasures, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an imperfect work. Compared to the two (voyeuristic) older men, Dorian is a bore, and his search for ever new sensations far less fun than the novel's drawing-room discussions. Even more oddly, the moral message of the novel contradicts many of Wilde's supposed aims, not least "no artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style." Nonetheless, the glamour boy gets his just deserts. And ! Wilde, defending Dorian Gray, had it both ways: "All excess, ! as well as all renunciation, brings its own punishment."This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.A lush, cautionary tale of a life of vileness and deception or a loving portrait of the aesthetic impulse run rampant? Why not both? After Basil Hallward paints a beautiful, young man's portrait, his subject's frivolous wish that the picture change and he remain the same comes true. Dorian Gray's picture grows aged and corrupt while he continues to appear fresh and innocent. After he kills a young woman, "as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife," Dorian Gray is surprised to find no difference in his vision or surroundings. "The roses are not less lovely for all that. The birds sing just as happily in my garden."

As Hallward tries to make sense of his creation, his epigram-happy friend Lord Henry Wotto! n encourages Dorian in his sensual quest with any number of Wildean paradoxes, including the delightful "When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy." But despite its many languorous pleasures, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an imperfect work. Compared to the two (voyeuristic) older men, Dorian is a bore, and his search for ever new sensations far less fun than the novel's drawing-room discussions. Even more oddly, the moral message of the novel contradicts many of Wilde's supposed aims, not least "no artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style." Nonetheless, the glamour boy gets his just deserts. And Wilde, defending Dorian Gray, had it both ways: "All excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its own punishment."This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchas! e of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

The P! icture o f Dorian Gray altered the way Victorians understood the world they inhabited. It heralded the end of a repressive Victorianism, and after its publication, literature hadâ€"in the words of biographer Richard Ellmannâ€"“a different look.” Yet the Dorian Gray that Victorians never knew was even more daring than the novel the British press condemned as “vulgar,” “unclean,” “poisonous,” “discreditable,” and “a sham.” Now, more than 120 years after Wilde handed it over to his publisher, J. B. Lippincott & Company, Wilde’s uncensored typescript is published for the first time, in an annotated, extensively illustrated edition.

The novel’s first editor, J. M. Stoddart, excised materialâ€"especially homosexual contentâ€"he thought would offend his readers’ sensibilities. When Wilde enlarged the novel for the 1891 edition, he responded to his critics by further toning down its “immoral” elements. The differences between the text Wilde ! submitted to Lippincott and published versions of the novel have until now been evident to only the handful of scholars who have examined Wilde's typescript.

Wilde famously said that Dorian Gray “contains much of me”: Basil Hallward is “what I think I am,” Lord Henry “what the world thinks me,” and “Dorian what I would like to beâ€"in other ages, perhaps.” Wilde’s comment suggests a backward glance to a Greek or Dorian Age, but also a forward-looking view to a more permissive time than his own, which saw Wilde sentenced to two years’ hard labor for gross indecency. The appearance of Wilde’s uncensored text is cause for celebration.

(20110323)Oscar Wilde's classic The Picture of Dorian Gray and three additional stories"Oh! In what a wild hour of madness he had killed his friend! How ghastly the mere memory of the scene! He saw it all again. Each hideous detail came back to him with added horror. Out of the black cave of time, terrible and s! wathed in scarlet, rose the image of his sin." In their ideal! of an e xquisitely sensitive temperament that thrills to fine shadings in sensation, the principles of the aesthetic (or "decadent") movement are well suited to the tale of terror. No story exemplifies this better than Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. The sparkling wit and zest for life of Wilde's characters combine with cold-blooded acts of horror to generate a deliciously twisted sense of elegance and evil, civilization and degradation. Oscar Wilde, like Edgar Allan Poe, shows us that what we find loathsome and frightening can also be beautiful.Forever young. Forever cursed. Based on the acclaimed novel by Oscar Wilde. Upon arriving in London, the young and powerful Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes) becomes drawn into a world of debauchery and decadence by Lord Henry Wotton (Colin Firth). Desperate to preserve the beauty captured in his exquisite portrait, Dorian trades his soul for eternal youth â€" leading him down a path of wickedness and murder in order to prote! ct his horrifying secret.

Full Speed At High Level (Remastered)

  • LP 1978 - CD 2009
  • Remastered
  • 8 Musictracks
  • CD produced 2009 by FLAWED GEMS Records
  • ( GEM 1 ) re-issue
Biography on the British blues-rock band FREE

For the first time, a beautifully crafted book has painted a landscape of the tumultuous rise and fall of the premier blues-rock band Free. Written by David Clayton and Todd K. Smith, the narrative guides the reader through the foundation and early influences that inspired four young musicians to combine forces and plunge headlong into the late sixties revolving music scene.

Entitled Heavy Load, this 300-page epic catalogues the long months of a struggling band playing smoke filled pubs eventually winning an overwhelming fan adoration. It marks the heady days of having a hit single and album, which eventually lead to the inevitable first split in 1971.

The short-lived splinter bands, KKTR, Peace an! d Toby, are explored and the reasons for Frees reformation in 1972 explained. This volume runs right to the very end of their career in 1973 and into the early exploits of Bad Company, Sharks and Back Street Crawler leading inevitably to the tragic death of Paul Kossoff in 1976, the true end of Free.

Their legacy lives on through musicians as diverse as Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Black Crowes, Ocean Colour Scene, Paul Weller and Gov't Mule, all who have sighted them as a major influence. Their mentor, Alexis Korner, called them "The last major band to come out of the sixties", and famed producer, Al Kooper hails them as "The greatest band that ever lived".LP 1978 - CD 2009 / Remastered / 8 Musictracks / CD produced 2009 by FLAWED GEMS Records ( GEM 1 ) re-issue

Ballroom Dance Shoes (7 1/2, Black)

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Deeper Souls, Less Shoes: An Owner's Manual for the Soul
Overcoming the problems of the everyday soul

Written by Nadine Mercey
Compiled and edited by Bruce T. Batchelor

Imagine a top producing real estate salesperson, single mom, bad relationships with men, unhealthy, self-styled dumb blonde... who awakens to her destiny of healing bodies, minds and souls. Meet Nadine Mercey, high vibrational healer. This is her personal story. Reading it will change yours.
Her mission is raising awareness about the potential in all of us to boost our personal vibration so we can be healthy, in loving relationships, and laughing often and out loud. lol

In case you don't know the abbreviations used when sending text messages, I'd better expla! in that lol means laughing out loud, which we all really need to do as often as possible.
-- with love, Nadine

9781897435274

Copyright 2008, Nadine Mercey, www.nadinemercey.com

About the Author
Nadine Mercey is a high vibrational healer.
She grew up in Brantford, Ontario, and confesses to having never done well at formal education. "My mind just didn't work like other people's." Looking back, she recognizes signs of mild autism in her behavior.
For twenty years, Nadine worked in real estate, rising to become one of Canada's top realtors. Her success came from an uncanny ability to intuitively understand the needs and motivations of buyers and sellers. Her awakening to the extent of her intuitive capabilities came from selling a haunted house -- one that had been featured in her dreams since childhood.
Soon she was experiencing great vibrational development -- and receiving messages in her mind from voices who identif! ied themselves as angels. She is guided and protected by the G! abrielle Collective and other energies.
Nadine conducts readings, often at great distances, during which she communicates with the client's angel guide(s). These entities provide instruction about what is required to raise the person's vibration, in order to restore balance to soul, mind and body.
Generally energy flows into the person's body as Nadine visualizes areas that need help. Healing happens through creative visualization, and only when intended for the highest and best interest -- to help that person progress toward his or her predetermined life purpose.
Blessed with extraordinarily high vibration, Nadine devotes a portion of her practice to healing other intuitives and to making people aware of their own intuitive capabilities. She is a medical intuitive, who has helped doctors identify illnesses in their patients.
Nadine is a dynamic presenter at seminars, and has been the subject of a documentary film. Discussions are underway about hosting a televis! ion show. She is also developing her own line of healing products.
Nadine lives in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada with her two teenaged sons, Eric and Jaxon. She loves to dance and laugh. And she does own way too many shoes.
Deeper Souls, Less Shoes: An Owner's Manual for the Soul
Overcoming the problems of the everyday soul

Written by Nadine Mercey
Compiled and edited by Bruce T. Batchelor

Imagine a top producing real estate salesperson, single mom, bad relationships with men, unhealthy, self-styled dumb blonde... who awakens to her destiny of healing bodies, minds and souls. Meet Nadine Mercey, high vibrational healer. This is her personal story. Reading it will change yours.
Her mission is raising awareness about the potential in all of us to boost our personal vibration so we can be healthy, in loving relationships, and laughing often and out loud. lol

In case you don't know the abbreviations used when sending text messages, I'd better! explain that lol means laughing out loud, which we all really! need to do as often as possible.
-- with love, Nadine

9781897435274

Copyright 2008, Nadine Mercey, www.nadinemercey.com

About the Author
Nadine Mercey is a high vibrational healer.
She grew up in Brantford, Ontario, and confesses to having never done well at formal education. "My mind just didn't work like other people's." Looking back, she recognizes signs of mild autism in her behavior.
For twenty years, Nadine worked in real estate, rising to become one of Canada's top realtors. Her success came from an uncanny ability to intuitively understand the needs and motivations of buyers and sellers. Her awakening to the extent of her intuitive capabilities came from selling a haunted house -- one that had been featured in her dreams since childhood.
Soon she was experiencing great vibrational development -- and receiving messages in her mind from voices who identified themselves as angels. She is guided and protected by the Gabrielle Collective and o! ther energies.
Nadine conducts readings, often at great distances, during which she communicates with the client's angel guide(s). These entities provide instruction about what is required to raise the person's vibration, in order to restore balance to soul, mind and body.
Generally energy flows into the person's body as Nadine visualizes areas that need help. Healing happens through creative visualization, and only when intended for the highest and best interest -- to help that person progress toward his or her predetermined life purpose.
Blessed with extraordinarily high vibration, Nadine devotes a portion of her practice to healing other intuitives and to making people aware of their own intuitive capabilities. She is a medical intuitive, who has helped doctors identify illnesses in their patients.
Nadine is a dynamic presenter at seminars, and has been the subject of a documentary film. Discussions are underway about hosting a television show. She is also de! veloping her own line of healing products.
Nadine lives in ! Ancaster , Ontario, Canada with her two teenaged sons, Eric and Jaxon. She loves to dance and laugh. And she does own way too many shoes.
New by GoGo Dancer. ALL LEATHER Upper X-Strap styled closed toe shoe offers a 2½" contoured heel and a slip resistant suede sole for ballroom dancing. It comes with a fully cushioned liner inner sole for supreme comfort. Comes with a free carry bag. A great shoe for Latin, Swing, Salsa or any type of ballroom dancing.

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