![]() ![]() ![]() The final shoot for the team at All Saints nears, bringing to a close 12 seasons over 11 years for the Seven medical soap. In that time it has brought us many memorable actors including Georgie Parker, John Howard, Libby Tanner, Erik Thomson, Christopher Gabardi, Wil Traval, Joelene Anderson, Conrad Coleby, Chris Vance and the late Mark Priestley. Judith McGrath remains the only cast member to have worked on the show from beginning to end. ![]() ![]() Watch full episodes of All Saints and get the latest breaking news, exclusive videos and pictures, episode recaps and much more at TVGuide.com. Watch All Saints online. Stream episodes of All Saints instantly. AllSaints presents the LA Sessions: an ongoing series of exclusive performances from pioneers of the international music scene, filmed live at our Los Angeles. Watch All Saints online. Stream episodes of All Saints instantly. Despite still delivering good ratings, the show is a victim of increased production costs, and being one of four in-house dramas at Seven that seemingly had to budge. But with the end of its run, does it also signal the “death” of the long-running drama in Australian television? Notwithstanding our two surviving serials, is the one-hour prime-time drama now a casualty of shifting audience trends and network costs? Australian television, which has seen many long-running TV dramas is now left with one-hour dramas all less than 4 years old. TV Tonight turned to critics and commentators to ask whether we will ever see another drama series that reaches such double figures? Should we now re-define the term “long-running drama” in the TV history books? Richard Clune, from the Sunday Telegraph agrees that drama runs of the past are just that. He says viewers are embracing subscription TV and the net for entertainment and are becoming more ‘commitment-phobic.’ “Currently many dramas – whether they are local or imported – seem to wane after 4 or so seasons, a dramatic reduction when you look at the runs of the past – 12 seasons for All Saints, 13 for Heelers, 8 for McLeod’s. “That said you may well see dramas hitting the 6 year mark – they just need to evolve with their audience. But I imagine six years would be the highest end for a dramatic run these days.” Melinda Houston from The Sunday Age, concurs, saying, “We’re unlikely to see those long-running series again. I think a portion of the audience will always like the familiar, but its the nature of anything that we become habituated and I think its television execs as much as anything who are unwilling to tolerate steady performers or slow slides.” The Australian‘s Amanda Meade says the end of All Saints feels like the end of an era. “It’s a little sad if we do lose the long running drama because the characters become so embedded in our minds and hearts and become part of our popular culture,” she says. “The longer they’re around the more familiar they are, but we also tire of them. “Just as we need new genres and formats to excite audiences, perhaps we need new stories too, and shorter run series can offer this.” James Manning of Media Week is reticent to write off long-running dramas just yet. “I’m always reluctant to say we might have seen the end of anything because all series are different and their longevity is based on different factors you can’t measure, which is why so many things fail. Nobody knows how to produce the perfect show,” he says. The Herald Sun’s Colin Vickery says no-one should underestimate the success story that All Saints has been. “Police and medical dramas seem to have the best chance of being stayers – look at Law and Order (18 years and counting) and The Bill (25 years plus) and the just-finished ER (15 years). “Most of the successful shows have been re-tooled at some stage. Sometimes that gives a show a new lease of life and sometimes it doesn’t.” But not everyone was happy with the revamp of All Saints this year, which added a Medical Response Unit headed up by Mike Vlasek (John Waters). TV Week columnist and author of the comprehensive Super Aussie Soaps, Andrew Mercado says the All Saints revamp ‘shortsold’ its audience.
0 Comments
(2 fans) Westlife were an Irish boy band formed in 1998. They disbanded in 2012 after almost 14 years together. Originally signed by Simon Cowell and managed by Louis Walsh, the group's final line-up consisted of Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan. Brian McFadden was a member from 1998 until his departure in 2004. ![]() ![]() Nov 09, 2010 Westlife All Or Nothing Lyrics Songwriters: Hector, Wayne; Mccutcheon, Steve; I know when he's been on your mind Am That distant look is in your eyes. 'All or Nothing' (O-Town song), also covered by Westlife 'All or Nothing' (Milli Vanilli song). All or Nothing at All, a 1958 album by Billie Holiday. Lyrics to 'All Or Nothing' by Westlife. I know when he's been on your mind / That distant look is in your eyes / I thought with time you'd realize it's over. Lyrics to 'All Or Nothing' by Westlife. I know when he's been on your mind / That distant look is in your eyes / I thought with time you'd realize it's over. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Codec Pack All in 1 is a good, free Windows program, that is part of the category Video software with subcategory Codecs (more specifically Packs) and has been created by Free-codecs. It's available for users with the operating system Windows 95 and former versions, and you can download it in English. K-Lite Codec Pack, free and safe download. K-Lite Codec Pack latest version: The best all-in-one codec pack available. K-Lite Codec Pack Standard is the best all-in. Codec Pack All in 1 6.0.3.0. Filename: Codecs6030_allin1.exe. Filesize: 10050902 bytes. Click here to download this file. Contains the following codecs for playback. Windows 7 Codecs Pack, a specially created seamless codec pack for Windows 7 users. ![]() ![]() 6 Codec Pack All in 1 is a good, free Windows program, that is part of the category with subcategory Codecs (more specifically Packs) and has been created by Free-codecs. It's available for users with the operating system Windows 95 and former versions, and you can download it in English. The current version of the program is 6.0.3.0 and the latest update was on 5/3/2006. Since the program joined our selection of software and apps in 2004, it has managed to achieve 450.524 downloads, and last week it achieved 90 downloads. About the download, Codec Pack All in 1 is a program that takes up less storage than the average program in the category Video software. It's a very popular software in United States, India, and Egypt. Author's review. ![]() ![]() Title: Gives You Hell Artist: All American Rejects For any Comments and Suggestions: Text Me: 0/1 Email Me: [email protected] Friendster. Gives You Hell by The All-American Rejects song meaning, lyric interpretation, video and chart position. My OpinionA lot of people i talk to mention they totally get the song, but have no idea what the music video has to do with it. The song is about an ex girlfriend, one he had before he was famous. She probably harped on him about this whole rockstar thing is never gonna happen, you gotta grow up and be a man, i think she dumped his ass for being a slacker. Then he became famous, i think the way the video ties into it. Is that the neighbors are two different versions of himself, who he became, and who he might have became if he'd have made a different decision. ![]() ![]() The song is constantly bringing up themes of inner conflict. 'But truth be told i miss you, and truth be told i'm lyin' and this is where i take a litterary leap. I think the lines 'When you hear this song and you sing along but you never tell, you're just a fool, I am as well, hope it gives you hell' Makes you think why he drug himself into the recurring fool rhyme. You could argue that he just needed to make it rhyme. But think that at this point in the song and in the video he's admitting he doesn't really hope she's suffering, and he's just a fool as much as she is. She made a poor decision but the smart one,trying to get him to come to his senses. And he made a poor decision trying to make it rich, it just happened to work. And to throw it in her face is truely beneath him, because either life he would have chosen would have been a good one. General CommentI love it!!! I like the lines 'And truth be told, I miss you, and truth be told, I'm lyin' the most. The situation's pretty obvious. This guy's probably angry at his ex for cheating on him or something. He smiles as if he's better off without her and hopes that she feels miserable when she sees him. Her life is probably crap and the guy's thinking that she deserves it for what she did to him. But i think he still has feelings for her because why else would he care about her being miserable? Yeah, awesome song. Can't wait til 11/18. My InterpretationI think it's obviously a direct message to someone who broke his heart at a younger age, probably because she thought he (assuming the song is written from the singers point of view) wasn't going to make it anywhere in life, and left him for someone with a promising future. Now, he hardly has to do anything besides rock out every once in a while, and all in all has an easier life than the uniform, 'successful' person with that promising future. The singer wants to rub it in that he's successful, while the heartbreaker lives a mediocre life instead of what she could have had with him. I say it's a direct message because of the line, 'When you hear this song, and sing along, but never tell. Hope it gives you hell.etc.' I personally picture the 'heartbreaker' singing the song with a stressed look on her face with her peers, knowing that the song is directly about her, but everyone around her thinks its just a song, if I said that right haha. On a side note, LOVE this song. It's that song every guy wants to sing to that one &*#$% from their teen years. Catchy, and that rock out feeling to it.:D. Song MeaningMaybe I'm just an anomaly, but I got an ENTIRELY different meaning from this song than 'a girl'. In the video we see the singer playing TWO roles, the Rocker, and the Square. ![]() ![]() ![]() Royz 和稀LAST LIVE!! ONEMAN LIVE『Royz』赤坂BLITZ公演 独占生中継 Part 02. Videos 11 albums. 45 video Add to. A9 Channel Special Broadcast for 13TH ANNIVERSARY with THE MICRO HEAD 4'NS on Nico Nico Douga (23.08. Alice Nine NICO-NICO channel. Unofficial Page. Alice Nine NICO-NICO channel. Posts about Alice Nine NICO-NICO channel. There are no stories available. Hagare ochiteku koufukuna hibi Kuchi kara kobareru KOTOBA Mimi mo kuchi mo fusaidatte Tomanai zankyou on KOKORO WA HAKANAKU Sayonara wa itsu no hi mo tobira o akete matteiru Sekaichuu no kanashimi o se ou youni ame ga furu Kishimu hiza kara kizu wa taenai Sen no itami dake ga akashi Ikite kiete semegiatta Kimi no shuumatsuron KOKORO GA KARETEKU Senjou wa byoudoni juudan to shi o ataeru Kimi no te o nigitteta kankaku sae mitsukaranai n da Nani o ushinatte nani o eta no darou? Kurikaesu owari no naka Koko ni itai Tada, sore dake Tsukamou kimi no te o Sayonara wa itsu no hi mo tobira o akete matteiru Itsuwari mo kanashimi mo aoku kiete Owari to iu PE-JI ni mo owari ga kuru ne Kakitashita EPIRO-GU ni hajimari to iu na (namae) o kizamou. In these days when happiness withers and falls Words keep spilling from the mouth. I close both my ears and mouth On hearing their endless echo. The heart is flickering. ![]() ![]() Many thanks for downloading the Ubuntu Light Themes 12.10 for Windows XP! This is an update to the (who gave me permisson, thanks!) for (Quantal Quetzal). This package includes: • the new widget styles that reflect the ' ' of the Ubuntu font • bug fixes for misaligned clickable area of window buttons, progress bar, double-border of comboboxes, wrong font colors • a (bright) Radiance variant is now available in addition to Ambiance (dark hybrid) • now also toolbars are styled like on Ubuntu (however creating hybrid dark/bright themes on Windows is nearly impossible. Download black xp themes from the original skins and themes site! We have the best selection of black xp themes available for free download. Windows 10 Themes free. Shadow Black Glass Orange Theme Win10 Fall Creators. Purple Haze Windows 10 Fall Creators Visual Style 17-12-03 Windows 10 Themes. If you encounter issues with the menu color in Ambiance, try Ambiance with dark toolbars or vice versa.) Why Windows XP? Although the theme is now refined enough to be used in Windows XP, it is mainly intended to augment the experience of running Windows applications within Linux. It is especially aimed for the compatibility layer Wine (which up to now supports the XP's themeing engine), as well as VirtualBox (where XP is still the Windows runtime of choice with a memory foot print of less then 70MB). Users of Windows 7 are already well-served with theme. The themes are Creative Commons licensed and it is encouraged to reshare them. Any sort of improvements/editions are also welcome, as well as potential packaging for the Software Center or Wine. How to use: • in Wine: Open the ' Wine Configuration' dialog → Desktop Integration → Install theme. • on Windows: Copy the font files into%Windows%Fonts and the.theme file with its accompanying folder into%Windows%ResourcesThemes. • You always need to have a patched uxtheme.dll, for example with • then right-click on the Desktop → Display Properties → Appearance and select the theme and color scheme • you can get the window buttons on the left side using • optionally right click on the task bar, then 'unlock' and move it to the top How to edit: • Download the source files: • Either you use • Or you use. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Alice Greenfingers 2 Lazy Uncle Berry, the bad seed of the Greenfinger family, needs Alice's help to get things growing on his decayed farm. Grab a shovel and dig in to make Berry's farm blossom. Grow crops, raise animals, and sell your wares at the market. ![]() Use the cash and farm upgrades you earn to expand your agricultural empire. Win trophies and badges for your achievements. The full version of Alice Greenfingers 2 features: • 13 crops to grow • 7 badges and 11 trophies to win • 48 items to purchase Cultivate a bumper crop of fun when you play this super sequel today! Keep the fun growing when you play the original. Free Online Games and More Shockwave is the ultimate destination to play games. ![]() Try our free,,, and multiplayer games. Shockwave has for everyone! Shockwave has games in great categories like,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and. Shockwave adds games frequently so there are always new games available. Shockwave is the premier destination for and premium download games. Gamers looking to have some serious fun can subscribe to. As a member, you'll enjoy unlimited play on hundreds of download games, ads-free gaming, and brand new titles each week — as many as 20 new games per month! Looking for more? Shockwave has a large selection of fun online and download dress up games. Part of the Addicting Games network. Build a blooming garden! Download and play for free! • • • • • • • •. Are you up for a green-fingered challenge? Then you should play the wonderful Alice Greenfingers games! In these intriguing farm games, you step into the gardening business and build and decorate your own garden of beautiful flowers, cute animals and healthy vegetables. Follow the market trends, learn to know your customers and sell ripe crops down at the busy town market to win Awards. Farm through the challenging Alice Greenfingers games In Alice Greenfingers 2 you help bring Uncle Barry's old farm back to life. Plant and grow a wide variety of colourful crops and enrich his land with farm animals to win batches and trophies. Make sure not to forget to feed your animals and to water your crops in time! ![]() ![]() You can choose to play this exciting time management series at your own pace. So what are you still waiting for? Try the Alice Greenfingers games and let your creativity loose by designing your very own garden! Lyrics: I'm dying to catch my breath Oh why don't i ever learn I've lost all my trust though i've surely tried to Turn it around Can you still see the heart of me? All my agony fades away When you hold me in your embrace Don't tear me down For all i need Make my heart a better place Give me something I can believe Don't tear me down You've opened the door now Don't let it close I'm here on the edge again I wish I could let it go I know that I'm only one step away From turning around Can you still see the heart of me? Temptations – All I Need lyrics All I need Writers eddie holland, frank wilson, are. Dean taylor (Forgive this fool, my darling.) Oh, this heart of mine, carries a heavy load. When I think about how I've hurt you so. After you've been, been so good to me. I've been unfaithful, darling, I've caused you misery. The feeling of guilt, oh, it tortures me. And only you, my darling, oh, can set me free. And darling, all, all I need Is just to hear you say, You'll forgive me, forgive me baby. ![]() ![]() All, all I need, to have you touch my hand, Say you'll understand, baby. A moment of weakness, darling, caused me to stray. Your trust in me, dear, I threw away. When I look, look into your eyes. I can see the hurt, baby, that you feel inside. Although I hurt you baby, you never once complained. It makes me feel, sweet darling, that much more ashamed. ![]() Tears of guilt, tears of guilt running down my face. Tears that only you baby, only you can erase. And darling, all, all I need Is just to hear you say, You'll forgive me, forgive me baby. All, all I need, to have you touch my hand, Say you'll understand, ooo. [Instrumental] (Forgive this fool, my darling.) I know, I made a big mistake. When all your love, darling, yes I did forsake. It's on my mind, it's in my heart. This guilty feeling tearing me apart. With every step I make, every breath I take. I'll make it up to you, I'll make it up to you. Undo the wrong I've done, undo the wrong I've done. I've been unfaithful, I know it's true. But I'll make it up to you. Baby, all, all I need Is just to hear you say, You'll forgive me, forgive me baby. ![]() All, all I need To have you touch my hand, Say you'll understand. Baby, all, all I need Is just to hear you say, You'll forgive me, forgive me baby. Lyrics taken from http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/temptations/all_i_need.html. If this song really means something special to you, describe your feelings and thoughts. ![]() Don't hesitate to explain what songwriters and singer wanted to say. Also we collected some tips and tricks for you: • Don't write just 'I love this song.' Hidden between the lines, words and thoughts sometimes hold many different not yet explained meanings • Remember: your meaning might be valuable for someone • Don't post links to images and links to facts • Write correctly • Don't spam and write clearly off-topic meanings • Don't write abusive, vulgar, offensive, racist, threatening or harassing meanings • Do not post anything that you do not have the right to post • Please note: We moderate every meaning Follow these rules and your meaning will be published. This page is accessible to. Verified artists on the song; The song 'All I need' from Within Temptation's album 'The Heart of Everything', with lyrics ^^. All I Need Lyrics: I'm dying to catch my breath / Oh why don't I ever learn? / I've lost all my trust / Though I've surely tried to turn it around / Can you still see. Lyrics to All I Need by Within Temptation: I'm dying to catch my breath / Oh why don't I ever learn / I've lost all my trust that I'm sure. Within Temptation All I Need (WT) Lyrics. All I Need (WT) lyrics performed by Within Temptation: I’m dying to catch my breath Oh why don’t I ever learn? Sep 17, 2012 Mix - The Temptations - All I Need W/ Lyrics! YouTube; YouTube The Temptations All I Need - Duration: 3:17. MsCsykes 17,176 views. Development and release In 1994, Jean Martial Lefranc who was the CEO of Cryo Interactive charged Nicolas Choukroun, a French video game author, to build a small team in order to create an adventure game based on the Aliens comic book published by Dark Horse Comics. Mindscape was the publisher and Fox gave their authorization as long as the game would not have any characters from the movies and would have a realistic movie style. The new ideas from the Dark Horse comic inspired the team who created an adventure with a lot of innovation. In the game, the player can use synthetic Aliens in order to study the real Aliens. Also the concept of a military base, using the Aliens to build an army against the Earth was original and was opening new horizons. The main protagonist, Lt. Henricksen, is a nod to famed sci-fi actor Lance Henriksen, who played the android Bishop in Aliens and Alien³, and Charles Bishop Weyland in Alien vs. This game had some interesting and innovative concepts. At the end of the game, the 'Space Jockey', the huge dead creature found in the spaceship in the first Alien movie appeared, rendered in a 3D modeled form, and was coming to save the player in extremis. This game created the concept of a war between the two Alien races shown in the first Alien movies but was never exploited by Fox. In October 1994, the USA version was finished and Mindscape duplicated 120,000 pieces for Christmas sales. In December 1994, Fox sued Mindscape for copyright violation and gave Mindscape the right to sell the stock, but not to continue to duplicate and market the product. Talk:Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure WikiProject Video games (Rated Stub-class, Low-importance) This. This article is within the scope of WikiProject Alien. The whole staff in Mindscape US and Mindscape UK were fired and the German and French version of the game were released unfinished. Reception Upon its release, the game received mixed and mostly mediocre reviews, but also got some good scores such as an 80% in Polish magazine Secret Service. In a retrospective article, Alexa Ray Corriea and Danielle Riendeau of Polygon wrote Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure 'not only made the Aliens feel scary, but added a little more to the franchise by spinning different plot threads through the game.' According to Pete Worth of Thunderbolt, 'The game featured some high-end graphics and a certain degree of tension but the inventory-based puzzles and grid-based combat were often tedious. Still, it was interesting to see xenomorphs regain their fear-inducing deadliness after being reduced to mere cannon-fodder so often in other games.' On the other hand, Stephen Cleckner of GamesBeat opined ' Aliens: The Comic Book Adventure is a frustratingly plodding and tedious excuse of a game.' He recommended to 'sit through a Let's Play video if you need to experience this thing. For your sake, don’t actually try to play it.' ![]() In 1996, Computer Gaming World ranked it as the #24 Worst Game of All Time as 'bad art, plot and action shame the Dark Horse comic series on which it was based.' ![]() ![]() ![]() 'I agree with the reviewer from Foreward Magazine who said 'ALL OR NOTHING is funny, relentless, haunting, and highly readable.' I am half way through the first half and it is cracking me up. Some fairly dark deeds are being done, but I can't help but laugh at times. It takes nothing away from the seriousness of the subject matter, your tone, and in fact makes P and his plight more endearing to the reader. I am rooting for him, though I do not suspect it will turn out all right. I am tempted to skip to the end to find out. How does a writer write seriously but humorously at the same time?' ![]() Thanks for the question. I used to think I knew the answer to that question, but now I am not so sure that I am right. I used to think that a sense of humor was innate in some of us, a talent some of us had, and I had it, oh lucky class clown me... Now upon reflection, I suspect that the watching in my youth of self-deprecating comedians--such as Woody Allen (at one extreme) and Richard Pryor (at the other)--coupled with a freshman composition instructor who had us read Ken Macrorie's textbook TELLING WRITING, in which he emphasized the jotting down of 'fabulous realities,' might have had something to do with it. The collecting of fabulous realities was an excellent exercise for a young writer such as I. ![]() Get All or Nothing setlists - view them, share them, discuss them with other All or Nothing fans for free on setlist.fm! Download FLAC Subways, The - All Or Nothing 2008 lossless CD, MP3, M4A. The Great Greats! What a fantastic band, it's good to see somebody going something new and making it work! Clearly with these two it's all about the music, they don't. History will show the management of the 2008 St. Louis Cardinals did not make an external move to improve their club at the trade deadline. Brian Walton understands the log. I don't remember exactly how it was done, but I think we were told to go out and 'see' the truth in things and then to create a list of them, written down honestly and without adornment. When we read them to the class, there were many that got oohs and ahs and occasional titters of laughter. I began to see that truth, though it made us uncomfortable, was funny. I also learned that trying too hard to be funny, unless you were very good at it (which I was not), almost never made anyone laugh. It was an important lesson for me. Though people often laugh at the situations my characters find themselves in, I NEVER try to be funny. I just try to be honest. This is what the best comedians know: the truth of the human condition is... Great question! (I guess that means I like my answer to it.) Thanks. 'First I have a suggestion/comment about your book and then I have a question. The last time I asked you that question about the character named 'U,' you made a good point about not analyzing your own characters because it ruins it for the reader. However, this time I am going to make a suggestion. In your novel, the character 'U' is arguing that gambling is not an addiction it is more like baseball and chess like the examples he gives. I don't know if I agree with him or with P, who says that it is an addiction because there are many professionals such as 'U' who play poker as a sport and don't seem to be addicted to poker anymore than baseball players are to baseball. For them it is a profession. Do you agree with 'P' or with 'U'? Second, I have a friend/associate who has an agent that helped him to sell his book. I have a self-published book that is selling decently online and I am seeking an agent so that I can sell it to a major publiser. I have hinted to my 'friend' several times to put in a good word for me with his agent but he has never done so always making excuses about how busy she (the agent) is every time I bring it up. Is he trying to say that he thinks my book is not good enough for his agent? Thanks, a writer/reader.' Okay, let's take the easy question first. I agree with both P and U. I believe that gambling is an addiction and very, very few people who play it at that high level are free from its addictive powers, despite what they may believe about themselves as professionals. Poker, a form of gambling, is similar to baseball (or any sport) in that it is a game that must be learned, can be mastered, and it can be played at a professional levels by professionals. The difference between poker and professional baseball is that a gambler uses his own money--baseball players, and other athletes, are paid to play. If they lose a game of baseball, they still earn a paycheck... If a boxer loses a match, he is still paid... If a boxer puts up his own money, betting on himself to win, and he loses, not only does he go home with a bruised nose and ego, but with a bruised bank account. If they extend the concept of poker leagues that pay professional poker players to compete with each other for the viewing pleasure of others, then that type of poker playing will be different from gambling and similar to what we see in professional sports. If Tom Brady announces to Peyton Manning, 'I will win a Super Bowl this year.' That is a prediction. But if Tom Brady says, 'I will win a Super Bowl this year, and I will put up my salary this year against Peyton Manning's salary this year to back it up.' That is gambling. Big difference. And Tom Brady loses either way. If he does not win a Super Bowl, he has to fork over his salary to Peyton Manning. If he wins a Super Bowl and wins the bet, taking Peyton Manning's salary, then he gets hooked on that feeling and becomes a gambler. In a few years he will be broke making those kinds of bets. Your second question. Some writers, for whatever reason, tend to be jealous of their agents, and unless they really like your book and think you are talented and can trust you not to steal their agent's attention away from them, then they will give your their agent's info and put in a good word for you. A writer who does that for you is showing a great deal of confidence in you. A great deal. Thanks, Preston. 'I am enjoying the book so far. I just finished the CORINTHIANS Chapter and I had to email you to tell you how excellent that part is. As a religious man myself, I completely get it--the title of the chapter and all. I noticed that the gamblers in your book seem to represent many levels and many types of addiction; however, the gambler you named 'U' stands out from the rest as being not so depraved. What if anything does 'U' represent or symbolize? I did not miss the fact that his name is 'U'.' Thanks for sending me the email. The CORINTHIANS chapter is special for me, too. In some ways gambling becomes a gambler's religion: the devotion, the belief system, the hope, the sacrifice. But gambling offers the gambler a false covenant and transforms him in ways that are the exact opposite of that postulated by Paul about love (charity) in that famous section in the Corinthians. As concerns U... U is the successful gambling celebrity. He does everything right. He makes it seem easy, but he works hard at it. Harder than you. He too is quietly suffering from the effects of his addiction, and you choose not to notice the suffering because you want to be U. But you can never be U. You are in too deep. Wow that was deep. What did I just say? It sounded kinda good. I have no idea what I just said. I hope it makes sense to you or to any future literary scholars interested in deconstructing the novel for their students. If a student of mine had written what I just said, I would have given him a B, okay a B+. It is a good answer. But not the only answer. In truth, I am uncomfortable with literary questions like this. I'm just a writer. I just tell the story; you the reader have to decide for yourself what it all means. And when it comes down to who is right, me the writer or you the reader, well, of course the reader is always right. A writer, because of her implied, but false authority, ruins the story if she establishes set explanations for things. The story exists in your head. It is now your story. So what, it differs from mine just a little bit. I will gladly discuss the symbolism in someone else's book, but not my own. I am the writer. I don't want to ruin what it means for you. On the other hand, I am very interested in listening to others discuss the book, or sharing with me their opinions of things in the book. In fact, I am honored by it. (Joyce Carol Oates once responded in like kind to a question about her famous story 'WHERE ARE YOU GOING WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN.' If anyone can find her well articulated response to a student who was asking her to analyze her own story and to comment on his analysis of it, please email it to me so that I can link it to the blog.) Thanks, Preston. 'Preston, good job on the blog. Here's my question. Do agents charge a fee for reading? Young writer.' Thanks for the question, young writer. From my experience agents do not charge a fee. Some of the smaller houses may charge a small sum at the beginning for postage and even this is rare. Agents make their money in the commission they earn from your book (about 15%). If an agent feels that he/she can make money from your book, then they will represent you. If they feel they cannot make a sale from your book, then they will not sign you. Think about it. If an agent could make $100 for reading your book, he/she would never really need to make a sale. There are so many people out there with books... All the agent has to do is sign, say, 500 people at $100 a pop, and he/she has just earned fifty grand, and believe me with the number of unpublished writers out there it would be a piece of cake to sign 500 clients. Trying to sell their books would not seem a very profitable venture compared to that easy hundred. Thanks, Preston. 'My b/f is just like the gamblers in your novel, especially P. He has stopped gambling many times and then gone right back to it. Why do you think a gambler just can't quit when he really means it and says he is going to quit?' Thanks, I'm sorry to hear about your b/f, but you would have to ask a professional that question for the best answer. I am just a novelist and, unfortunately, a gambler myself. I do not go to the casino anymore, but I think about it every day. GA helped me to get a grip on the behavior, and so did my love for my family and the things that I would potentially destroy if I continued to go. The fact that I am a control freak probably helped too--I did not like the fact that I was being controlled by an external force. But every day that passes I see a number combination that tugs at my 'intuition,' and I get this urge to play it on the slots. One of the things I have learned through my experiences and from the gamblers I know is that gambling is fun. Gambling is a thrill. Gambling is an opportunity for good things to come. With gambling, anything is possible. Gambling is like childhood all over again. You know, like when you were a child--it seemed like anything was possible. In a casino, it seems like anything is possible. If you're lucky. I was at a casino in the middle of the night playing poker and one of the regulars asked if I could give him a lift home. He had no car and he had, as was his habit, arrived there on foot. Sure, I told him. But there was no need to do that. He hit a royal flush jackpot at our table for $25,000. They paid him off in the manner he requested: $10,000 in cash and the rest in check. He waited for the sun to come up and walked across the street to the car dealership, bought a spiffy little Toyota (in cash!), and drove himself home. Anything is possible we all said, watching. A dealer we all knew and loved started annoying us with his complaints about the way he was being treated at the casino by management: shorting him on his hours, giving others with less seniority preferential treatment, over-criticizing the few mistakes he made while dealing (he was one of the best--he rarely made mistakes dealing). Then he disappeared, and a few weeks passed before we saw him again. This time he was there as a player. I was at the table with him as he was telling everyone about what had happened: He won half a million dollars on the slots at one of the other local casinos and he quit his job the next day. Anything is possible. Stuff like that happens in casinos all the time. People hit amazing amounts of money that change their lives. They can quit their jobs, they can buy a new car, a new house. I have seen it. No problem is too big that the casino can't solve, it seems. And maybe that is the problem. See, once people like your b/f get so deep in debt from their indiscriminate gambling, the only place they can go and not feel bad about their desperate situation is, believe it or not, the casino. Because the casino, if they hit it big, represents the solution to the finanacial hole that they are buried up to their eyeballs in. As long as there is a casino, there is a hope that they can get out of their misery. And it is at times like these that they conveniently forget the impossible odds they have to overcome in order to win, and most of all they forget that it is the casino that has put them in their misery in the first place. They just keep pressing PLAY and wishing like children on a star. Anything is possible. Anything is possible. Anything is possible--except for quitting gambling, no matter how strong you think you are. Thanks, Preston. 'I just finished ALL OR NOTHING and could not wait to write a review for it on Amazon.com, which I did, and to contact you to ask a couple questions. First of all, I think it is a great book, I have never read anything like it and I do not see how you would be able to write a sequel. You covered all angles in the first book. What is your formula to make this otherwise vile character so endearing to the reader?' Thanks for the questions. Okay, the sequel deals with P's son, and while I did cover pretty much the entire spectrum of addiction in the first book, I am a writer who loves to explore character and there are layers and layers of P's son's character that merit exploring. While P was a poor bus driver born in the early sixites, this son is a young, good-looking athlete coming of age in present day... Note also that this is the age of online gambling... And P's wife now becomes the MOTHER of a gambler... And the kid is... And Question # 2. I have no formula for making P lovable, except that I withhold judgment and allow you to experience him the way the characters in the story experience him--he is truly a nice guy, that is not fake, and so you will like him as they like him. So if there is a formula to creating likable charatcers, then it is this: State the facts without bias or adornment, let the character be on the page who he is. Thanks, Preston. 'Preston, I see that you like John Cheever. I am also a fan of John Cheever! What is your favorite John Cheever story? My favorite is THE CHASTE CLARISSA.' Easy question. I admire John Cheever's body of work--my favorite story of his is THE COUNTRY HUSBAND, which resonated for me way back when. Though I was not a quietly suffering yankee suburbanite of manners, I was quietly suffering. I liked the story so much that I retyped the first five pages of it as practice--then I wrote my first Elwyn and Sister Morrisohn story using the identical sentence pattern of that story--then I wrote a poem based on it. Then, like Francis Weed in the story, I tried to sleep with the babysitter. I did not succeed. Please email me at with your gambling questions and your publishing world questions. I will use this site to post your questions and answer as many of them as I can. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see a list of Reading Group Questions for Discussion and a list of video interviews of writing heavyweights Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, J California Cooper and others. Also, feel free to purchase any of the books on this site to support the best writing talent in the country. Thanks, Preston My other blog, which has a wider range of topics, can be reached. For those of us who had him as a teacher at the University of Florida in the mid 80s--you know why he is here on my page. What a teacher. What an experience. I remember walking to his office for one of those jam sessions (I made some mistake or another in one of the essays that I had submitted to him), and I spied on his wall a poster for the Francis Ford Coppola movie the Cotton Club. I noticed for the first time that the words 'based on the James Haskins book' were embossed on the poster. I blurted out, 'Oh, Professor Haskins, you're THAT James Haskins!' He rolled his eyes at me and spit out, 'So what are you telling me, Allen? That a black man can't write a book?' I stuttered my apology as I would stutter many apologies to him that semester, and he launched into me for a half hour berating--reminding me loudly and sarcastically that in my introductory essay to his class I had indicated that my career ambition was to be a novelist. How then could it surprise me that he was THAT James Haskins? I had no answer for him, as so often happened that semester. I was quite humbled. He was a difficult man, to say the least, but over time I came to enjoy his class, though he often put me on the spot in front of the others. I was the only African American in the class besides himself. He was my CHILDREN's LIT professor, and I must say I learned a great deal from him, though not about children's lit. At some point in the middle of that semester, I began to give serious consideration to becoming a college professor when I grew up. I thank James Haskins for that. Rest in Peace. New York Times--'... A cartographer of autodegradation... Like Dostoyevsky, Allen colorfully evokes the gambling milieu — the chained (mis)fortunes of the players, their vanities and grotesqueries, their quasi-philosophical ruminations on chance. Like Burroughs, he is a dispassionate chronicler of the addict’s daily ritual, neither glorifying nor vilifying the matter at hand.' Foreword Magazine--'Not shame, not assault, not even murder is enough reason to stop. Allen’s second novel, All or Nothing, is funny, relentless, haunting, and highly readable. P’s inner dialogues illuminate the grubby tragedy of addiction, and his actions speak for the train wreck that is gambling.' Library Journal--'Told without preaching or moralizing, the facts of P's life express volumes on the destructive power of gambling. This is strongly recommended and deserves a wide audience; an excellent choice for book discussion groups.' —Lisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH LEXIS-NEXIS--'By day, P drives a school bus in Miami. But his vocation? He's a gambler who craves every opportunity to steal a few hours to play the numbers, the lottery, at the Indian casinos. Allen has a narrative voice as compelling as feeding the slots is to P.' Betsy Willeford is a Miami-based freelance book reviewer. November 4, 2007 Publisher’s Weekly--'Allen’s dark and insightful novel depicts narrator P’s sobering descent into his gambling addiction... The well-written novel takes the reader on a chaotic ride as P chases, finds and loses fast, easy money. Allen (Churchboys and Other Sinners) reveals how addiction annihilates its victims and shows that winning isn’t always so different from losing.' Kirkus Review--'We gamble to gamble. We play to play. We don't play to win.' Right there, P, desperado narrator of this crash-'n'-burn novella, sums up the madness. A black man in Miami, P has graduated from youthful nonchalance (a '79 Buick Electra 225) to married-with-a-kid pseudo-stability, driving a school bus in the shadow of the Biltmore. He lives large enough to afford two wide-screen TVs, but the wife wants more. Or so he rationalizes, as he hits the open-all-night Indian casinos, 'controlling' his jones with a daily ATM maximum of $1,000. Low enough to rob the family piggy bank for slot-machine fodder, he sinks yet further, praying that his allergic 11-year-old eat forbidden strawberries—which will send him into a coma, from which he'll emerge with the winning formula for Cash 3 (the kid's supposedly psychic when he's sick). All street smarts and inside skinny, the book gives readers a contact high that zooms to full rush when P scores $160,000 on one lucky machine ('God is the God of Ping-ping,' he exults, as the coins flood out). The loot's enough to make the small-timer turn pro, as he heads, flush, to Vegas to cash in. But in Sin City, karmic payback awaits. Swanky hookers, underworld 'professors' deeply schooled in sure-fire systems to beat the house, manic trips to the CashMyCheck store for funds to fuel the ferocious need—Allen's brilliant at conveying the hothouse atmosphere of hell-bent gaming. Fun time in the Inferno. ALL OR NOTHING Reading Group Questions for Discussion 1. Based on her upbringing, her typical reaction to P’s gambling throughout All or Nothing, and her decision to nurse him back to health after the shooting, how would you describe P’s wife Hon? Discuss the use of setting in the novel, particularly how Las Vegas gambling compares to gambling in Miami. What aspects of P’s personality and his upbringing, including his relationship with his father, might have contributed to his becoming the kind of gambler that he is? Using his wife (Hon), C.L., S’s wife, Missy and his fat girl as particular examples, discuss what role romantic love plays in P’s life. How are P’s attempts to properly parent his children undermined, or otherwise impacted, by his gambling? In what ways does E.V.’s gradual decline, which P is a witness to, affect his feelings about his own addiction? What is meant by the quote, “The only addiction stronger than gambling is charity,” and how is it supported (or contradicted) by the actions of P? The professor? P complains to C.L. About outsiders that “they don’t understand us.” What is it that outsiders do not understand about gamblers? How do outsiders view gamblers? What explains Missy’s decision to come to the aid of P’s son? To what extent are the gamblers in All or Nothing superstitious? Explain the professor’s theory of “roundness” and its connections to P’s epiphany after he shoots his son. How do the quotes and the parenthesized headers at the beginnings of some of the chapters assist in the development of the plot? How do they assist in the development of P’s character? How do gamblers feel about money? Where do they get it from? What is its purpose? At the GA meeting, P calls himself 'the sickest one here.' What is the sickest thing, in your opinion, that P does in the book? What is the sickest thing any of the gamblers do in the book? Why does C.L. Partner with someone other than P to cheat the casino? What important truth was P trying to teach our friend D about the nature of addiction after their fist fight at the GA meeting? At the funeral C.L. Tries to sum up P's life by exclaiming with tears in her eyes that P had a great life, he had fun. How does this sum up P's life? Gambling addiction? Based on what you have learned about gamblers in All or Nothing, is it likely that P’s son will eventually gamble again? |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2018
Categories |