The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 22~23

Twenty-two Theo The walls of Molly's trailer were plastered with movie posters. He stood in the middle of the living room among the scattered videotapes, magazines, and junk mail and slowly turned. It was her, Molly. She hadn't been lying all this time. Most of the posters were in foreign languages, but every one featured a younger Molly in various states of undress, holding weapons or fighting off bad guys, her hair flying in the wind, a nuked-out city or a desert littered with human skulls and burned-out cars in the background. The adolescent male part of Theo, the part that every man tries to bury but carries to his grave, reared up. She was a movie star. A hot movie star! And he knew her, had in fact put handcuffs on her. If there was only a locker room, a street corner, or a second-period study hall where he could brag about it to his friends. But he didn't really have any friends, except for Gabe maybe, and Gabe was a grown-up. The prurient moment passed and Theo felt guilty about the way he had treated Molly: patronizing her and condescending to her; the way many people treated him when he tried to be something besides a pothead and puppet. He kneeled down to a bookshelf filled with videotapes, found one labeled KENDRA: WARRIOR BABE OF THE OUT LAND (ENGLISH), and slipped it into the VCR and turned on the television. Then he turned off the lights, laid his guns on the coffee table, and lay down on Molly's couch to wait. He watched as the Crazy Lady of Pine Cove battled mutants and Sand Pirates for half an hour before he drifted off to sleep. His mind needed a deeper escape from his problems than the movie could provide. â€Å"Hi, Theo.† He came awake startled. The movie was still casting a flickering light over the room, so he couldn't have been sleeping that long. She stood in the doorway, half in shadow, looking very much like the woman on the television screen. She held an assault rifle at her side. â€Å"Molly, I've been waiting for you.† â€Å"How'd you like it?† She nodded toward the television. â€Å"Loved it. I never realized. I was just so tired†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Molly nodded. â€Å"I won't be long, I just came to get some clean clothes. You're welcome to stay here.† Theo didn't know what to do. It didn't seem like the time to grab one of the pistols off the table. He felt more embarrassed than threatened. â€Å"Thanks,† he said. â€Å"He's the last one, Theo. After him there aren't any more of his kind. His time has passed. I think that's what we have in common. You don't know what it is to be a has-been, do you?† â€Å"I think I'm what they call a never-was.† â€Å"That's easier. At least you're always looking up the ladder, not down. Coming down is scarier.† â€Å"How? Why? What is he?† â€Å"I'm not sure, a dragon maybe. Who knows?† She leaned back against the doorway and sighed. â€Å"But I can kinda tell what he's thinking. I guess it's because I'm nuts. Who would have thought that would come in handy, huh?† â€Å"Don't say that about yourself. You're saner than I am.† Molly laughed, and Theo could see her movie-star teeth shine in the light of the television. â€Å"You're a neurotic, Theo. A neurotic is someone who thinks something is wrong with him, but everyone else thinks he is normal; a psychotic thinks something's wrong with her. Take a poll of the locals, I think I'd come out in the latter category, don't you?† â€Å"Molly, this is really dangerous stuff you're messing with.† â€Å"He won't hurt me.† â€Å"It's not just that. You could go to jail just for having that machine gun, Molly. People are getting killed, aren't they?† â€Å"In a manner of speaking.† â€Å"That's what happened to Joseph Leander, and the guys working the drug lab, right? Your pal ate them?† â€Å"They were going to hurt you, and Steve was hungry. Seemed like great timing to me.† â€Å"Molly, that's murder!† â€Å"Theo! I'm nuts. What are they going to do to me?† Theo shrugged his shoulders and sat back on the couch. â€Å"I don't know what to do.† â€Å"You're not in a position to do anything right now. Get some rest.† Theo cradled his head in his hands. His cell phone, still in the pocket of his flannel shirt, began ringing. â€Å"I could sure use a hit right now.† â€Å"There's some Smurfs of Sanity in the cupboard over the sink – neuroleptics Dr. Val gave me, antipsychotics – they've done wonders for me.† â€Å"Obviously.† â€Å"Your phone is ringing.† Theo pulled out the phone, flipped it open, hit the answer button and watched as the incoming number ap peared on the display. It was Sheriff Burton's cell phone number. Theo hit disconnect. â€Å"I'm fucked,† Theo said. Molly picked up Theo's .357 Magnum from the table, held it on Theo, then picked up Joseph Leander's automatic. â€Å"I'll give these back before I go. I'm going to get some clean clothes and some girlie things out of my bedroom. You be okay here?† â€Å"Yeah, sure.† His head was still hung. He spoke into his lap. â€Å"You're bumming me out, Theo.† â€Å"Sorry.† Molly was gone from the room for only five minutes, in which time Theo tried to get a handle on what had happened. Molly returned with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She was wearing the Kendra costume, com-plete with thigh-high boots. Even in the dim light from the television, Theo could see a ragged scar over her breast. She caught him looking. â€Å"Ended my career,† she said. â€Å"I suppose now they could fix it, but it's a little late.† â€Å"I'm sorry,† Theo said. â€Å"I think you look beautiful.† She smiled and shifted both of the pistols to one hand. She'd left the assault rifle by the door and Theo hadn't even noticed. â€Å"You ever feel special, Theo?† â€Å"Special?† â€Å"Not like you're better than everyone else, just that you're different in a good way, like it makes a difference that you're on the planet? You ever feel that way?† â€Å"I don't know. No, not really.† â€Å"I had that for a while. Even though they were cheesy B movies and even though I had to do some humiliating things to get into them, I felt special, Theo. Then it went away. Well, now I feel that way again. That's why.† â€Å"Why what?† â€Å"You asked me why before. That's why I'm going back to Steve.† â€Å"Steve? You call him Steve?† â€Å"He looked like a Steve,† Molly said. â€Å"I have to go. I'll leave your guns in the bed of that red truck you stole. Don't try to follow, okay?† Theo nodded. â€Å"Molly, don't let it kill anybody else. Promise me that.† â€Å"Promise to leave us alone?† â€Å"I can't do that.† â€Å"Okay. Take care of yourself.† She grabbed the assault rifle, kicked open the door, and stepped out. Theo heard her go down the steps, pause, then come back up. She popped her head in the door. â€Å"I'm sorry you never felt special, Theo,† she said. Theo forced a smile. â€Å"Thanks, Molly.† Gabe Gabe stood in the foyer of Valerie Riordan's home, looking at his hiking boots, then the white carpet, then his boots again. Val had gone into the kitchen to get some wine. Skinner was wandering around outside. Gabe sat down on the marble floor, unlaced his boots, then slipped them off. He'd once been into a level-nine clean room at a biotech facility in San Jose, a place where the air was scrubbed and filtered down to the micron and you had to wear a plastic bunny suit with its own air umbilical to avoid contaminating the specimens. Strangely, he'd had a similar feeling to the one he was feeling now, which was: I am the harbinger of filth. Thank God Theo had made him shower and change before his date. Val came into the sunken living room carrying a tray with a bottle of wine and two glasses. She looked up at Gabe, who was standing at the edge of the stairs as if ready to wade into molten lava. â€Å"Well, come on in and have a seat,† Val said. Gabe took a tentative step. â€Å"Nice place,† he said. â€Å"Thanks, I still have a lot to do on it. I suppose I should just hire a decorator and have done with it, but I like finding pieces myself.† â€Å"Right,† Gabe said, taking another step. You could play handball in this room if you didn't mind destroying a lot of antiques. â€Å"It's a cabernet from Wild Horse Vineyard over the hill. I hope you like it.† Val poured the wine into stemmed bubble glasses. She took hers and sat down on the velvet couch, then raised her eyebrows as if to say, â€Å"Well?† Gabe joined her at the other end of the couch, then took a tentative sip of the wine. â€Å"It's nice.† â€Å"For a local cheapie,† Val said. An awkward silence passed between them. Val made a show of tasting the wine again, then said, â€Å"You don't really believe this stuff about a sea monster, do you, Gabe?† Gabe was relieved. She wanted to talk about work. He'd been afraid that she would want to talk about something else – anything else – and he didn't really know how. â€Å"Well, there are the tracks, which look very authentic, so if they are fake, whoever did them studied fossil tracks and replicated them perfectly. Then there's the timing of the rat migration, plus Theo and your patient. Estelle, was it?† Val set down her wine. â€Å"Gabe, I know you're a scientist, and a discovery like this could make you rich and famous, but I just don't believe there's a dinosaur in town.† â€Å"Rich and famous? I hadn't thought about it. I guess there would be some recognition, wouldn't there?† â€Å"Look, Gabe, you deal in hard facts, but every day I deal with the delusions and constructions of people's minds. They are just tracks on the ground, probably like that Bigfoot hoax in Washington a few years ago. Theo is a chronic drug user, and Estelle and her boyfriend Catfish are artist types. They all have overactive imaginations.† Gabe was put off by her judgment of Theo and the others. He thought for a second, then said, â€Å"As a biologist, I have a theory about imagination. I think it's pretty obvious that fear – fear of loud noises, fear of heights, the capacity to learn fear – is something that we've adapted over the years as a survival mechanism, and so is imagination. Everyone thinks that it was the big strong caveman who got the girl, and for the most part, that may have been true, but physical strength doesn't explain how our species cre-ated civilization. I think there was always some scrawny dreamer sitting at the edge of the firelight, who had the ability to imagine dangers, to look into the future in his imagination and see possibilities, and therefore sur-vived to pass his genes on to the next generation. When the big ape men ended up running off the cliff or getting killed while trying to beat a mas-todon into submission with a stick, the dreamer was standing back thinking, †˜Hey, that might work, but you need to run the mastodon off the cliff.' And, then he'd mate with the women left over after the go-getters got killed.† â€Å"So nerds rule,† Val said with a smile. â€Å"But if fear and imagination make you more highly evolved, then someone with paranoid delusions would be ruling the world.† Val was getting into the theory of it now. How strange to talk to a man who talked about ideas, not property and personal agendas. Val liked it. A lot. Gabe said, â€Å"Well, we didn't miss that by far with Hitler, did we? Evolution takes some missteps sometimes. Big teeth worked pretty well for a while, then they got too big. Mastodons' tusks got so large they would snap the animal's neck. And you've probably noticed that there are no saber-toothed cats around anymore.† â€Å"Okay, I'll buy that imagination is an evolutionary leap. But what about depression?† Talking about mental conditions, she couldn't help thinking about what she'd done to her patients. Her crimes circled in her mind, trying to get out. â€Å"Psychiatry is looking more and more at mental conditions from a physical point of view, so that fits. That's why we're treating depres-sion with drugs like Prozac. But what evolutionary purpose is there for depression?† â€Å"I've been thinking about that since you mentioned it at dinner,† Gabe said. He drained his wineglass and moved closer to her on the couch, as if by being closer, she would share in his excitement. He was in his element now. â€Å"A lot of animals besides humans get depressed. Higher mammals like dolphins and whales can die from it, but even rats seem to get the Blues. I can't figure out what purpose it serves. But in humans it might be like nearsightedness: civilization has protected a biological weakness that would have been weeded out by natural dangers or predators.† â€Å"Predators? How?† â€Å"I don't know. Depression might slow the prey down, make it react less quickly to danger. Who knows?† â€Å"So a predator might actually evolve that preyed on depressed animals?† Right and it's me, Val thought. If I haven't been preying on depressed people, what have I been doing? She suddenly felt ashamed of her home, of the pure materialism of it. Here was an incredibly bright man who was concerned with the pure pursuit of knowledge, and she had sold her integrity for some antiques and a Mercedes. Gabe poured himself another glass of wine and sat back now, thinking as he spoke. â€Å"Interesting idea. I suppose there could be some sort of chemical or behavioral stimulus that would trigger preying on the depressed. Low serotonin levels tend to raise libido, right? At least temporarily?† â€Å"Yes,† Val said. That's why the entire town has turned into horndogs, she thought. â€Å"Therefore,† Gabe continued, â€Å"you'd have more animals mating and passing on the depression gene. Nature tends to evolve mechanisms to remain in balance. A predator or a disease would naturally evolve to keep the depressed population down. Interesting, I've been feeling especially horny lately, I wonder if I'm depressed.† Gabe's eyes snapped open wide and he looked at Val with the full-blown terror of what he had just said. He gulped his wine, then said, â€Å"I'm sorry, I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Val couldn't stand it anymore. Gabe's faux pas opened the gate, and she stepped through it. â€Å"Gabe, we have to talk.† â€Å"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She grabbed his arm to stop him. â€Å"No, I have to tell you something.† Gabe braced himself for the worst. He'd fallen out of the lofty world of theory into the awkward, gritty world of first dates, and she was going to drop the â€Å"Don't get the wrong idea† bomb on him. She gripped his arm and her nails dug into his bicep hard enough to make him wince. She said, â€Å"A little over a month ago, I took almost a third of the people in Pine Cove off antidepressants.† â€Å"Huh?† That wasn't at all what he'd expected. â€Å"My God, why?† â€Å"Because of Bess Leander's suicide. Or what I thought was her suicide. I was just going through the motions in my practice. Writing prescriptions and collecting fees.† She explained about her arrangement with Winston Krauss and how the pharmacist had refused to put everyone back on the drugs. When she finished, to wait for his judgment, there were tears welling up in her eyes. He put his arms around her tentatively, hoping it was the right thing to do. â€Å"Why tell me this?† She melted against his chest. â€Å"Because I trust you and because I have to tell someone and because I need to figure out what to do. I don't want to go to jail, Gabe. Maybe all my patients didn't need to be on antidepressants, but a lot of them did.† She sobbed on his shoulder and he began to stroke her hair, then pushed up her chin and kissed her tears. â€Å"It'll be okay. It will.† She looked up into his eyes, as if looking for a hint of disdain, then not finding it, she kissed him hard and pulled him on top of her on the couch. A Higher Power And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? – Revelation 13:4 Twenty-three Steve What horrors can a dragon dream? A creature who has, in his own way, ruled the planet for millions of years, a creature for whom the mingy man mammals have built temples, a creature who has known no predator but time – what could he possibly dream that would frighten him? Call it the knowing? Under a stand of oak trees, sexually satisfied and with a bellyful of drug dealers, the dragon dreamed a vision of time past. The eternal now that he had always known suddenly had history. In the dream he saw himself as a larva, tucked into the protective pouch under his mother's tongue until it was safe to venture out under her watchful eye. He saw the hunting and the mating, the forms he had learned to mimic as his mercurial DNA evolved not through generations, but through regeneration of cells. He saw the mates he had eaten, the three young he had borne as a female, the last killed by a warmblood who sang the Blues. He remembered the chan-ging, not so long ago, from female to male, and he remembered all of it in pictures, not in mere instinctual patterns and conditioned responses. He saw these pictures in the dream, brought on by the strange mating with the warmblood, and he wondered why. For the first time in his five thousand years, he asked, Why? And the dream answered with a picture of all the oceans and swamps, the rivers and bogs and trenches and mountains beneath the sea, and they were all empty of his kind. As sure as if he were floating through the cold black at the end of the universe, where light gives up hope and time chases its tail until it dies from exhaustion, he was alone. Sex does that to some guys. Val â€Å"Oh my God, the rat brains!† Gabe shouted. It was a different response to lovemaking. Val wasn't sure that she might not be hurt, feeling vulnerable as she was, with her knees in the vicinity of her ears, a biologist on top of her, and her panty hose waving off one foot like a tattered battle flag. Gabe collapsed into her arms and she looked over his shoulder to the coffee table to check that they hadn't kicked the wineglasses off onto the carpet. â€Å"Are you okay?† she asked, a little breathless. â€Å"I'm sorry, but I just realized what's going on with this creature.† â€Å"That's what you were thinking about?† Yes, her feelings were definitely hurt. â€Å"No, not during. It came to me in a flash right after. Somehow the creature can attract mammals with lower than normal serotonin levels. And you've got, what, a third of the population running around in antidepressant withdrawal?† She was pissed now, not hurt. She dumped him off her onto the floor, stood up, pulled her skirt down, and stepped away. He scrambled into his pants and looked around for his shirt, which lay in shreds behind the couch. He had a tan that ended at the neckline and just below the shoulders; the rest of him was milk white. He looked up at her from the gap between the couch and the coffee table with a pleading in his eyes, as if he were looking up from a coffin in which he was about to be buried alive. â€Å"Sorry,† he said. He wasn't looking her in the eye, and Val suddenly realized that he was talking to her exposed breasts. She pulled her blouse closed, and a battery of insults rose in her mind, ready to be fired, but all of them were mean-spirited and would serve to do nothing but make them both feel ashamed. He was who he was, and he was honest and real, and she knew that he hadn't meant to hurt her. So she cried. Thinking, Great, crying is what got me into this in the first place. She plopped down on the couch with her face in her hands. Gabe moved to her side and put his arm around her. â€Å"I'm really sorry. I'm not very good at this sort of thing.† â€Å"You're fine. It's just too much.† â€Å"I should go.† He started to stand. She caught his arm in a death grip. â€Å"You go and I'll hunt you down and kill you like a rabid dog.† â€Å"I'll stay.† â€Å"No go,† she said. â€Å"I understand.† â€Å"Okay, I'll go.† â€Å"Don't you dare.† She threw her arms around him and kissed him hard, pulling him back down onto the couch, and within seconds they were all over each other again. That's it, she thought, no more crying. It's the crying that does it. This guy is aroused by my pain. But soon they lay in a panting sweaty pile on the floor and the idea of crying was light-years away. And this time Gabe said, â€Å"That was wonderful.† Val noticed a wineglass overturned by her head, a cabernet stain bleeding over the carpet. â€Å"Is it salt or club soda?† Gabe pulled away far enough to look into her eyes and saw that she was looking at the stained carpet. â€Å"Salt and cold water, I think. Or is that blood?† A drop of sweat dripped off his forehead onto her lips. She looked at him. â€Å"You weren't thinking about that creature that doesn't exist, were you?† â€Å"Just you.† She smiled. â€Å"Really?† â€Å"And a weed-whacker, for some reason.† â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"Uh, yes, I'm kidding. I was only thinking of you.† â€Å"So you don't think I'm a horrible person for what I've done?† â€Å"You were trying to do what you thought was right. How could that be horrible?† â€Å"I feel horrible.† â€Å"It's been a long time. I'm out of practice.† â€Å"No, not about this. About my patients. You really think something could be preying on them?† â€Å"It's just a theory. There may not even be a creature.† â€Å"But what if there is? Shouldn't we call the National Guard or something?† â€Å"I was thinking of calling Theo.† â€Å"Theo isn't even a real cop.† â€Å"He deserves to know.† They lay there in silence for a few minutes, staring at the spreading stain on the carpet, feeling the sweat run down their ribs, and listening to the beat of each other's hearts. â€Å"Gabe?† Val whispered. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Maybe we should go to couples' counseling.† â€Å"Should we get dressed first?† â€Å"You were serious about the weed-whacker, weren't you?† â€Å"I don't know where that image came from.† â€Å"There's supposed to be a good couples' guy in San Junipero, unless you'd rather go to a woman counselor.† â€Å"I thought we were going to call the National Guard.† â€Å"Only if it comes to that,† Val said. Thinking, When we tell the shrink about this, I'm leaving out the part about the wine spilling. Theo Is there anything more irritating than people who have just been laid? Especially when you have not. Not for a long time. Oh, it was obvious as soon as they came through Molly's front door, waking Theo for the second time that night: Gabe's grin looking like the oversized grill on an old Chrysler, Val Riordan wearing jeans and almost no makeup; the both of them giddy and giggling and blushing like children. Theo wanted to puke. He was happy for them, but he wanted to puke. â€Å"What?† Theo said. Gabe was obviously amped and trying not to show it. He put his hands in his pockets to keep from waving them around. â€Å"I† – he looked at Val and smiled – â€Å"we think that this creature, if it exists, may be attracted to prey with low serum serotonin levels.† Gabe bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited for his statement to sink in. Theo sat there, staring at him, with no discernible change in expres-sion from the weariness he'd worn since they came through the door. He guessed that he was supposed to say something now. â€Å"Molly was here,† Theo said. â€Å"The creature exists. It ate Mikey Plotznik, and Joseph Leander, and who knows who else? She said it's a dragon.† Gabe's grin dropped. â€Å"That's great. I mean, that's horrible, but it's great from a scientific point of view. I have another theory about this species. I think it has some specialized mechanism to affect its prey. Have you been horny lately?† â€Å"There's no need to be arrogant, Gabe. I'm glad you two had a good time, but there's no need to rub it in.† â€Å"No no, you don't get it.† Gabe went on to explain about Val Riordan's decision to take her patients off antidepressants and how the lowering of serotonin levels could lead to increased libido. â€Å"So Pine Cove has been full of horny people.† â€Å"Right,† Theo said. â€Å"And I still can't get a date.† Val Riordan laughed and Theo glared at her. Gabe said, â€Å"The rats I found alive near this trailer, where we think the creature might have been, were mating when I found them. There are some species of carnivorous plants that give off a sex pheromone that attracts their prey. In some species, the behavior of the male – a display, a dance, a scent – will stimulate the ovaries in the female of the species without any physical contact. I think that's what's happened to us.† â€Å"Our ovaries are being stimulated?† Theo rubbed sleep from his eyes. â€Å"I gotta be honest with you, Gabe. I'm not feeling it.† Val turned to Gabe. â€Å"That's not very romantic.† â€Å"It's incredibly exciting. This may be the most elegant predator that the world has ever seen.† Theo shook his head. â€Å"I have no home, no job, no car, there's probably a warrant out for my arrest, and you want me to be excited over the fact that we have a monster in town that makes you horny so he can eat you? Sorry, Gabe, I'm missing the positive side of this.† Val chimed in, â€Å"It may be the reason that you've been able to quit smoking pot so easily.† â€Å"Pardon me? Easily?† Theo wanted to jump off the couch and bitch-slap them both. â€Å"Were you ever able to go this long before?† â€Å"She could be right, Theo,† Gabe said. â€Å"If this thing affects serotonin, it could affect other neurotransmitters.† â€Å"Oh good,† Theo said. â€Å"Let's open a detox clinic. We'll feed half of the patients to the monster and the other half will recover. I can't wait.† â€Å"There's no need to be sarcastic,† Gabe said. â€Å"We're just trying to help.† â€Å"Help? Help with what? Bar fight? I can handle it. Skateboard theft? I'm on it. But my law enforcement experience hasn't prepared me for dealing with this.† â€Å"That's true, Gabe,† Val said. â€Å"Theo's little more than a rent-a-cop. Maybe we should call the sheriff or the FBI or the National Guard.† â€Å"And tell them what?† Theo asked. Rent-a-cop? I'm not even that now, he thought. â€Å"He has a point.† Gabe said. â€Å"We haven't seen anything.† â€Å"That old Blues singer has,† Val said. Theo nodded. â€Å"We need to find him. Maybe he'll†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"He's living with Estelle Boyet,† Val said. â€Å"I have her address in my office.†

A Critique of ABA Productions’ Essay

ABA Productions musical interpretation of J. M. Barrie’s well-loved children’s story rekindled in its audience the desire to soar in the air, dance with fairies and swim with mermaids. It is currently on its Asian Tour and will be shown in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Lyric Theater on June 1, 2007. The story begins when Peter Pan teaches three children (Wendy, John and Michael Darling) how to fly using their happy thoughts and fairy dust from a little pixie named Tinkerbell. Mystery and adventure unravels excitingly as they meet lost boys (and girls) who are serious about being children for the rest of their lives, Indians under the leadership of Princess Tiger Lily, mermaids who can dance gracefully, and terribly funny pirates! Captain Hook, the leader of these buccaneers is Peter Pan’s most formidable opponent and almost succeeded in eliminating all of Neverland. But of course, Peter Pan saved the day! Considering that the play’s creative core is heavy with renowned professionals from all over the world, it probably took its Executive Producer-Director, Matthew Gregory, years of happy thoughts and tons of fairy dust to make his team create such a cohesive yet vibrant production that seemed to be perfect in all aspects. Gregory wonderfully intertwined very good lighting, ingenuous stage design (which was imported from China), spectacular effects, innovative technology and impressive music (composed by famous composer, Karl Jenkins) to heighten or downplay the mood of every scene. Tracy Nunnally, the flying director, proved his prowess as the flying actors glided on and off the stage with comfort and ease that seemed to be just a natural thing to do. The make-up and costumes (especially for the mermaids who can walk with their fins) brought out the very nature of each character and drew the audience even more into the story. Praises to Elaine Wade and Carol Bloomfield for such beautiful and imaginative costumes! Thirteen year old Ryutaro Yanagita (playing Peter Pan) amazed everyone with his relentless energy and stunts on the ground and in the air. The choreography of popular Filipino choreographer, Kitty Aguila-Cortes, required a lot of running, jumping and break dancing moves but you will never hear this boy catch his breath†¦ only the audience does. One’s spirit cannot help but join him fly as he zooms beyond the stage and above the crowd. Only one character in the play seemed to lack enough humor or rapport with the audience – Nana, the nurse dog. The actor portrayed the role well but one is left thinking if there were scenes that should have focused on this character’s antics to add more spice to the fuss. Peter Pan’s message is the answer to man’s quest for eternal youth: Keep your happy thoughts alive in you heart and have faith in yourself and others. ABA Productions effectively conveyed this theme as every person in the audience felt so much happier and youthful after the play. This is one spectacular and powerful show that no child or child at heart should ever miss!

Construction; Roof and Intermediate Floors Essay

Construction; Roof and Intermediate Floors - Essay Example The roof covering may be metal sheets, wooden shingles, tiles, slates or slab itself. In this type of roof, steel bars and concrete are used to form a roof. Before construction, the thickness of slab, beam and reinforcement needs to be determined based on the span and loading conditions. This type of roof best suits the construction of the intermediate floor. The balance and strength needed for the support of an entire floor is made easy with this flat roof. Since the roof in question has a wide span it cannot be constructed with rafters alone. The roof has to be constructed with a structure comprising of frames known as trusses. The following illustration shows the general structure of such a roof. Houses of now are a lot better insulated because they have doors, windows and roofs which fit tightly and keep the temperature controllable. The air inside the house is kept warm by means of various techniques of circulating the air. A distinction is made on the type of roof based on the temperature it can keep. When the air inside the house remains warm it is known as a hot roof and vice versa. A hot roof allows for the air cavities to freeze and refreeze the snow or ice and in the process taking on the heat. The circulation of air into and out of the building must be moderated by an appropriate structural design. To assure this the construction has been fitted with â€Å"Quilt roof insulation between the† Joists. The housing structure is equipped with 75x50 wall plate with 30x2.5x600c/c girth galvanized m/s wall anchors nailed to block walls @1000 c/c (between windows) with 150 deep strip of XPM filled over plate as plaster key. Heavy horizontal beams or steel lintels are pressed 225mm deep to support the structure and roof. To accommodate for adequate insulation 75 thick c/s screed topping is placed on a 12mm polystyrene slab. (Simon Ã…  ilih, Miroslav Premrov and Stojan Kravanja, Faculty of Civil

Major contributor to operations management Research Paper

Major contributor to operations management - Research Paper Example This is a philosophy invented by Dr William Edwards Deming born in 1900and later became an American statistician, professor, author, lecturer and consultant. Deming received a BSC in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming at Laramie (1921), an M.S. from the University of Colorado (1925), and a Ph.D. from Yale University (1928). Both graduate degrees were in mathematics and physics. Deming had an internship at Bell Telephone Laboratories while studying at Yale. He later worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Census Department. While working under Gen. Douglas MacArthur as a census consultant to the Japanese government, he famously taught statistical process control methods to Japanese business leaders, returning to Japan for many years to consult and witness the economic growth he had predicted would come as a result of the application of techniques he had taught them. As an author Deming wrote Out of the Crisis (1982–1986) and The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education (1993), which includes his System of Profound Knowledge and the 14 Points for Management. In 1947, Deming was involved in early planning for the 1951 Japanese Census. The Allied powers were occupying Japan, and thus asked by the United States Department of the Army to assist with the census. While in Japan In 1960, the Prime Minister of Japan (Nobusuke Kishi), on behalf of the then Emperor Hirohito, awarded Deming Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure, Second Class recognizing his contributions to Japan’s industrial rebirth and its worldwide success. Demings expertise in quality control techniques, combined with his involvement in Japanese society, led to his receiving an invitation from the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). A number of Japanese manufacturers applied his techniques widely and experienced heretofore unheard-of levels of quality and

Mystery Piece Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mystery Piece - Essay Example The pianist is at home with both ensemble playing and solo playing. Commensurately, Elizabeth Wallfisch is also a seasoned Baroque violinist from Australia. The two musicians really represented a highly accomplished team, ideally suitable for rendering the sophisticated and complicated compositions by Beethoven. Going by the fact that the compositions showcased in this concert affiliated to chamber music, thereby they were played in a chamber. Not only were the acoustics of the selected chamber happened to be really good, but it also extended an aura of authenticity to the overall performance. It does needs to be mentioned that the music rendered by David Breitman and Elizabeth Wallfisch may sound a bit queer to a listener who is predominantly exposed to the musical performances involving totally modern instruments. The gut strings of the period violin used by Elizabeth Wallfisch had a distinctive tone of its own, thereby extending a wide range to the violinist which she astutely exploited in the fingering choices she made. The concert pitch adopted by the violinist was quiet low, a choice that allowed for an ease with intonation, while calling for a recurring retuning between movements. On the other side the fortepiano that David Breitman selected happened to be a vintage Viennese model in which the white keys happened to be black and the black keys happened to be white. Thereby the sounds made by this piano differed a lot from its modern day versions. The performance of both Elizabeth Wallfisch and David Breitman happened to be tenaciously lyrical in its melody, which not only did not fail to impress the classical virtuosos amongst the audience, but also had an impressive impact on the lay listeners. The playing of the fifth sonata on a fortepiano by David Breitman did allow for the possibility of preventing this composition from sounding way too pompous and dense as it happens

Examine why commodity prices might be expected to be volatile than the Essay

Examine why commodity prices might be expected to be volatile than the prices of manufactured goods. Explain how the expansion of bio fuels could push up the pr - Essay Example Examples are tyre, table, etc. The word volatile means flexible. In other words it means something which is subject to change. 1. Interest rate: Commodity price changes inversely with the interest rates. That is, the higher the interest rate, lower the commodity price and the lower the interest rate higher the commodity price. 2. Future Trading: The futures contract refers to an agreement between two parties for the purchase or sale of goods or bill of exchange which is being fixed at the time of agreement, but the actual delivery of goods take place at a future date. â€Å"In futures trading, there is usually a contract, which is essentially an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an underlying asset at a certain time in the future at a certain price. A futures contract usually has a standardized date and month of delivery, quantity and price.† (Futures Trading). Future contracts result in the prices of commodities becoming more flexible. In order to safeguard the interest of some parties in future trading some company may opt for increasing the prices of commodities. Future trading mostly happens in commodities. For manufactured goods, future contracts are very less. So the prices of commodities are more volatile than the prices of manufactured goods. Demand and supply of the commodities are other reasons for the price volatility of the commodities. That is, the commodity market is more price elastic. A slight change in demand or supply of the commodity may result in a very high change in the price of the commodities. But in the case of manufactured goods the price elasticity is very less. That is, change in demand or supply results in a very low change in price of the goods. So the prices of manufactured goods are less volatile. 4. Large number of producers: There will be large number of producers for the commodities. This results in frequent fluctuations in the prices of commodities. When one producer reduces or increases the price

Exam Q 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Exam Q 3 - Essay Example These methods include SWOT analysis, Porter’s five forces, and balanced scorecard. The SWOT analysis is an evaluation method that can be used by a privately owned food manufacturing company to help in the identification and prioritization of both the internal and external impacts that affect it. Strengths and weaknesses show the internal factors that may affect a business while weaknesses and threats are external factors (Sun, 2012). The company will develop strategies to make use of its strengths and opportunities, and eliminate its weaknesses and threats. The company will prepare a list of these areas that will later be evaluated to determine the top contributing factors for all of them. The SWOT will help the company to be aware of all the factors that may affect strategic planning and  making decisions. Strengths and Weaknesses refer to the resources and experience that are available to the company. The company will be in a position to identify its financial resources (income and investments), physical resources (facilities and equipment), and human resources such as software systems (Sun, 2012). SWOT analysis helps the company identify the external forces that influence it. The external forces include economic trends, demographics, political stability, and economic regulations. The Porters Five Forces will help the company to identify where it powers lies in a given situation (Grants, 2012). The company will be able to understand the strength of its current competitive position, and the strength of a position it considers moving into. The analysis argues that there are five forces that decide competitive power in a situation. The five forces are (Grants, 2012): Supplier Power: The Company will evaluate how it is easy for suppliers to set prices. The price is directed by the number of vendors of all inputs, the exceptionality of their products, and the

Role and purpose of HRM Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Role and purpose of HRM - Article Example In the rapidly commoditizing PC industry, Dell continued to be profitable with its direct selling approach while older rivals like HP struggled. Sun Microsystems, arguably one of the most innovative companies in the computer industry, found itself in deep trouble. Clearly what works and what does not in business remains as unpredictable as ever while some seemingly mundane businesses managed by 'ordinary' people rewarded share holders handsomely, many 'high-tech' businesses which showed great potential when they started off, folded up. Indeed the changing environment and the speed of changes posing greater challenges to organizations. Changes in every aspect of the organizations have increased the uncertainties. Discussion: Changes in technologies have increased access accessibility, visibility and connection. The connected world is smaller, changing rapidly and has more open information customer have become increasingly segmented and persnickety. Investors have become increasingly attended to and actively concerned not about financial results, but intangibles. Employees represent increasingly diverse demographic backgrounds including not only race and gender but personal preferences, global and cultural backgrounds and orientation to work, competitors come from both traditional large global players and increasingly smaller innovators. And all of these factors occur in the context of global business organizations where what happens in one corner of the world affects business throughout the world. Many spend enormous amounts of time specifying these trends and their implications on work organizations. Most of these trends are outside the control of anyone individual or any one organization. They occur in both predictable ways. They affect all aspects of work organizations from how to fund an organization to how to position the firm in customer minds and how to engineer and deliver products. Apart from affecting other aspects of the organization, changes affect the human resources. To be effective in this boundless world, organization members need to adapt to customers, systems and techniques different from their own. Human resources must ensure that employees with the appropriate mix of knowledge, skills and cultural adaptability are available to handle any work assignment with in the organization. HRM must also develop mechanisms that will help diversified employees work together. It is the duty of the overall HR managers to make every effort to acclimate different groups to each other, finding ways to build teams and thus reduce conflict. It is increasingly being realized now by working organizations that due to rapid changes in technologies, world moves towards bord erless economies, and as businesses become global, one of the successful business is to understand and manage its human resources strategically and competently. Today HRM has acquired and even more central role in building sustainable competitive advantage for the work organizations. As a result of these developments, HRM has become a major thrust area where, the focus is on synergizing and propelling organizations to seamlessly integrate with the macro environment changing environment and hyper competitive situation forced work organizations to adopt quickly and HR systems and roles play vital role in surviving in such situations. The traditional HRM has changes a lot due to change in macro environment of business, Many

Should and United and States and government and supply and health and Essay

Should and United and States and government and supply and health and care and all and citizens and their and families - Essay Example The health of citizens in any given country is vital to the growth and development of that country. In order to guarantee that the government does not enlarge its budget deficit by treating preventable diseases as well as maintain the productivity of its citizens, it is necessary that the United States Federal government provide health care to citizens who cannot afford their own. Lange writes that the portrayal of Obama healthcare reform as a foray into socialism is ironical at best since programs such as Medicare and Medicaid consume eight percent of the national budget, which is the same amount in socialist European countries. The only difference is that their medical programs cater for every citizen, not just the seniors. He quotes Reid who points out in his book ‘The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care’ on the need to pattern American health care reform after that employed by other developed nations. Reid states that close to 18,000 Americans die every year, since they lack access to the basic medical treatment that would otherwise save their lives, based on statistics from the Institute of Medicine. Despite some people having access to healthcare, approximately 200,000 lose their lives owing to preventable medical errors as well as preventable hospital infections. Proquest.umi.com cites the Medicaid report stating that the death of people who earn a salary of less than 10,000 dollars is three times more than that of people with an income of 30,000 dollars. Overall, lack of a proper healthcare is seventy times more dangerous to American citizens each year compared to the September 11 attacks. Reid further points out the fact that other wealthy nations around the world have been able to provide accessible health care to their citizens at a more affordable rate than the US. He explains a set of health care models that exist in these nations.

Truman Doctrines Essay Example for Free

Truman Doctrines Essay During the Cold War, most U. S. presidents came up with policies also known as â€Å"doctrines† to help remember who stood for what. In this report I will be summarizing a situation that required U. S. diplomatic efforts during President Harry Truman time; explicate the diplomatic doctrine the president followed; describing the effects of this diplomatic efforts for the U. S. and other countries; assess the advantages and disadvantages of the particular doctrine that followed. In February 1947, the British government informed the United States that it could no longer furnish the economic and military assistance it had been providing to Greece and Turkey since the end of WWII. The Truman administration believed that both nations were threatened by communism and it jumped at the chance to take a tough stand against the Soviet Union. In Greece, force has been battling the Greek royal government since the end of WWII. In Turkey, the Soviets were demanding some manner of control over the Dardanelles, territory from which Turkey was able to dominate the strategies waterways from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. On March 12, 1947 Truman appear before a group of Congress to make his case. He declared the world faced a chance in the years to come. Nations could adapt a way of life â€Å"based upon the will of the majority† and minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. † He proposed the Truman Doctrine which provided political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. It effectively reoriented U. S. foreign policy, away from its usual standpoint of withdrawal from regional conflicts not directly involving the U.  S. , to one of possible intervention in far away conflicts. He began by outlining the situation in Greece and Turkey, â€Å"Assistance is imperative if Greece is to survive as a free nation, they must have assistance if it is to become a self-sufficient and self-respecting democracy. † Greece and Turkey will fall to communism without help. Truman requested that Congress provide $400 million worth of aid to both Greece and Turkey to support the dispatch of American civilian and military personnel and equipment to the region. Congress granted it. This became known as the Military Assistance Program. It ultimately led to NATO. Many historians say the Truman Doctrine marked the American policy of â€Å"containment. † The most famous passage from Truman’s speech: â€Å"I believe that it must be the policy of the U. S. to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure. † They ideas of this speech informed the communism that they can keep what it had got but Truman would not let it grow anymore. Houghton Mifflin says â€Å"that Truman Doctrine expanded the nation’s role in checking the spread of communism. † This interpretation basically presumes that the U. S. was in the right. As a result of Truman’s presentation of the global threat of Communism led to an anti-Communist Hysteria which was to end in the â€Å"Red Scare† of the 1950s. It also convinced the Soviets in Russia that Americas was a threat to Soviets Communism, and it substantially provoked the Cold War for the 30 years.

Li Fung: An Analysis

Li Fung: An Analysis Rahul Jacob, Inside Track: Traditional Values at the Click of a Mouse, Financial Times, August 1, 2000, p. 14. Online bookseller Amazon.com transformed the book industry forcing traditional book retailers to respond. Some information in this section comes from previous Harvard Business School Case Studies: Li Fung: Beyond Filling in the Mosaic-1995-98, (HBS Publishing No. 398-092) Michael Y. Yoshino, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Anthony St. George; January 1, 1998; and Li Fung (Trading) Ltd., HBS Publishing (No. 396-075) Gary Loveman, Jamie OConnell, October 26, 1995. With a press conference the following day, William was confident of the Groups performance and lifung.coms prospects. But he knew that important issues remained unresolved: Was there any chance of channel conflict or cannibalization between the offline business and the start-up? How would the market react to the start-up once it was launched the following year? And how specifically would e-commerce ultimately transform his familys century-old company? Company Background Li Fung was founded in 1906 by Williams grandfather, Fung Pak-Liu and his partner, Li To- Ming in Guangzhou, China as an export trading company selling to overseas merchants. In the 1920s and 1930s the company diversified into warehousing and the manufacture of handicrafts. Shortly after Fung Pak-Liu passed away in 1943, his son Fung Hon-Chu assumed charge of the company. Two years later, silent partner Li To- Ming retired and sold his shares to the company. The company retained Lis surname, a homophone Im not an Internet guy, Im a business guy, quipped William Fung, managing director of Li Fung Trading Co. Clad in his chinos and black American Eagle T-shirt, Fung looked much more like a new economy entrepreneur than the selfdescribed offline, old economy relic: Im 51, Im more than a grey hair in Internet terms, Im a fossil.1 Nor did lifung.com, his elder brother Victors new online company, resemble a typical Internet start-up, particularly with a 96-year-old parent born at the end of the Qing Dynasty. In August 2000, the day before beta launch of the new business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce portal, William described the challenges facing Li Fung: About three or four years ago, Victor and I discussed the Internet and how it impacts us. Our starting point was a defensive posture: Would the Internet disintermediate us? Would we get Amazoned2 by someone who will put together all of the information about buyers and factories online? After a lot of research we realized that the Internet facilitates supply chain management and we werent going to be disintermediated. The key is to have the old economy know-how and yet be open to new economy ideas. EXHIBIT 1 Li Fung Consolidated Income Statement (December 31, 1999), in HK$* 2000 1999 1999 1998 (HK$ thousands) (HK$ thousands) (HK$ thousands) (HK$ thousands) (June 30) (December 31) (June 30) (December 31) Turnover 10,267,606 16,297,501 6,583,730 14,312,618 Cost of sales (9,262,171) (14,585,881) (5,895,432) (12,891,709) Selling expenses (191,616) (354,124) (143,136) (287,524) Administrative expenses (87,741) (867,842) (56,436) (747,725) Profits before taxation 328,943 613,861 208,936 471,098 Taxation (29,805) (36,638) (14,536) (16,425) Profit after taxation 299,338 577,223 194,400 454,673 *In August 2000, US$1 _ HK$7.78. for profit in Chinese, which, along with Fung, a homophone for abundance, had an auspicious ring when combined. Li Fung relocated permanently to Hong Kong at the end of World War II, expanding its operations to include toys, garments, plastic flowers, and electronics. In the early 1970s, both Fung brothers had just returned from the United States: William had earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and returned to the business in 1972. Victor had recently completed his PhD in economics at Harvard University and, following a two-year stint teaching at Harvard Business School, rejoined the business in 1974. Their return heralded Li Fungs transition from a family-owned business to a professionally managed firm, with a planning and budgeting system in place for the first time. William and Victor, the third generation to run the company, felt that the next logical step in growing the company was to go public. In 1973, Li Fung became the holding company for the Group and was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE). Throughout the 1980s, Li Fung expanded its regional network of offices throughout the Asia-Pacific region as more sources of supply emerged in the rapidly industrializing Asian economies. In 1988 the Group was privatized and streamlined, incorporated in Bermuda in 1991, and its trading activities were again listed on the HKSE in July 1992. With the 1995 acquisition of Inchcape Buying Services (formerly Dodwell), Li Fung expanded its customer base in Europe while simultaneously shifting its sourcing network beyond East Asia to include the Indian subcontinent, the Mediterranean, and Caribbean basins. By 2000, Li Fung was a $2 billion global export trading company with 3,600 staff worldwide, sourcing and managing the global supply chain for high-volume, time-sensitive consumer goods. (Exhibit 1 shows recent Li Fung financial data.) By 2000, 69 percent of LiFungs sales were in the United States and 27 percent in Europe. Key customers included The Limited, Gymboree, American Eagle,Warner Brothers, Abercrombie Fitch, and Bed Bath Beyond. Tesco, Avon Products, Levi-Strauss, and Reebok had become customers within the last two years; Royal Ahold, GUESS? jeans, and bebe had signed on in 2000. Li Fungs product mix included hard and soft goods. Soft goods referred to apparel, including woven and knit garments for men, women, and children. Hard goods included fashion accessories, festive or holiday products, furnishings, giftware, handicrafts, home products, fireworks, sporting goods, toys, and travel goods. Hard goods provided higher margins than soft goods because, despite a generall y lower item value per unit, they required higher value-added services for orders that were also usually much smaller than soft goods orders. Hard goods items such as watches, shoes, suitcases, kitchenware, or teddy bears required an inspector for quality control evaluation for even the smallest batch order, thereby greatly increasing what Li Fung could charge. Margins for soft goods were roughly 6 percent to 8 percent, while we get an order from a European retailer to produce 10,000 garments. We determine that, because of quotas and labor conditions, the best place to make the garments is Thailand. So we ship everything from there. And because the customer needs quick delivery, we may Product Development Raw Material Sourcing Production Planning Factory Sourcing Manufacturing Control Quality Assurance Export Documentation Shipping Consolidation Fashion Accessories Festive Products Furnishings Garments Giftware Handicrafts Home Products Sporting Goods Toys Travel Goods Li Fung Total Value-Added Package EXHIBIT 2 Li Fung Total Value- Added Services Source: Company documents. divide the order across five factories in Thailand. Effectively we are customizing the value chain to best meet the customers needs. Five weeks after we received the order, 10,000 garments arrive on the shelves in Europe, all looking like they came from one factory.5 Li Fung clients benefited in several ways: supply chain customization could shorten order fulfillment from three months to five weeks, and this faster turnaround allowed clients to reduce inventory costs. Moreover, in its role as a middleman, Li Fung reduced matching and credit risks, and also offered quality assurance to its customers. Furthermore, with a global sourcing network and economies of scale, Li Fung could offer lower cost and more flexible sourcing than its competitors. In addition, through acquisitions and global expansion, Li Fung was extending this knowledge base to sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean. Finally, Li Fung provided up-to-date fashion and market trend information to clien ts. As a result of its Camberley acquisition in 1999, it started offering clients virtual manufacturing or product design services. According to Victor, Li Fung does not own any of the boxes in the supply chain, rather we manage and orchestrate it from above. The creation of value is based on a holistic conception of the value chain. In recent years, however, Li Fung had begun to improve operations by controlling or owning strategic links in the chain. In some cases, Li Fung offered raw material sourcing. In the past when clients placed an order, Li Fung would determine the manufacturer best suited to supply the goods, and that factory would source its own raw materials. But Li Fung understood its clients needs better than its manufacturing plants did, so by offering raw materials to its suppliers, the company both ensured greater quality control and bought larger and thus more cost effective amounts of raw materials, thereby producing cost savings for each manufacturer. In such cases, Li Fung also earned revenue by charging its factories a commission on each raw material purchase they made. By mid-2000, ne arly 15 percent of Group sales involved Li Fungs raw material sourcing service. Joan Magretta, Fast, Global, and Entrepreneurial: Supply Chain Management, Hong Kong Style, An interview with Victor Fung, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1998, p. 106. Corporate Culture and Compensation From the 1992 privatization on, the division of labor between the Fung brothers was clear-cut: as Group chairman, Victor was primarily concerned with the Groups strategic issues and long-term planning; as Group managing director, William attended to everyday operations of the publicly listed trading arm, or as he joked in a recent interview, Victor is the deep thinker, and I just make the money.6 In another interview, Victor joked that William calls me the visionary, meaning that I dont really know whats going on.7 But both brothers lived in the same apartment building as their mother and sisters and conversed every day to keep abreast of developments at Li Fung. The duo created a strong synergy that was described by the CEO of the Groups e-commerce venture as A combination of both thought leadership and execution, with the unique relationship between Victor and William cementing the entire organization. They create a very particular kind of culture that blends pragmatism and, at th e same time, a recognition of and openness to innovation. According to Victor, once the business was successful, it was essential to keep an open mind and rather than resting on their laurels, that the challenge was to move past success and look forward. Furthermore, Victor held that it was imperative to cultivate a corporate culture that not only tolerated but encouraged diversity, or in his words, keep the culture so that it remains humble, agile, and responsive all the time and keep the people externally focused. Biannual retreats were held in Hong Kong, senior management meetings attended by division-level managers in order to foster communication across the Group. Li Fungs 3,600 employees were spread around the globe in offices ranging in size from 6 staff in Saipan to 1,100 in the Hong Kong head office. Five of the 48 offices were hubs-Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, and Turkey. Each 8 Joanna Slater, Corporate Culture, Far Eastern Economic Review, July 22, 1999, p. 12. (except the Hong Kong office) had 200 to 300 employees. Li Fung was entrepreneurial, allowing senior managers to run 90 small, worldwide management teams as separate and individual companies. These dedicated teams of product specialists focused on the needs of specific customers and were grouped under a Li Fung corporate umbrella that provided centralized IT, financial, and administrative support from Hong Kong. This decentralized corporate structure allowed for adaptability and rapid reaction to seasonal fashion shifts. As a meritocracy, performance-based promotion and compensation were cardinal principles. Each of Li Fungs top executives negotiated individual compensa tion packages. In contrast to companies that restricted executive bonuses to a fixed percentage of salary, Li Fung bonuses were based on profits with no ceiling. Its not every company that calls its executives little John Waynes. But for Li Fung, the image captures perfectly the drive, dedication, and independence of the companys far-flung managers. As Li Fung extended its geographic reach, it also expanded its mix of cultures. And to manage the mix it uses a simple formula: give managers the freedom to work as they see fit, so long as they get the job done.8 Tripartite Growth Strategy In 2000 Li Fung saw its future growth coming from a combination of organic growth, expansion through acquisition, and extension of its supply chain to new markets via the Internet. Organic Growth Since 1995, the Group had grown organically by receiving more orders from existing clients and by securing new mandates from strategic clients. Li Fung further extended its network and diversified its sourcing around the globe with new offices in places as diverse as Bangladesh, sub-Saharan Africa, and Manchester, England (see Exhibits 3 and 4). Louis Kraar, The New Net Tigers, Fortune Magazine, May 15, 2000, p. 310. Joanna Slater, Masters of the Trade, Far Eastern Economic Review, July 22, 2000, p. 10. The Mediterranean Cairo Denizli Florence Istanbul Izmir Oporto Tunis Turin South Africa Durban Madagascar Mauritius South Asia Bangalore Bombay Chittagong Colombo Dhaka Karachi Katmandu Madras New Delhi Sharjah North Asia Beijing Dallan Guangzhou Hong Kong Liuyang Nanjing Qingdao Southeast Asia Bangkok Ho Chi Minh City Jakarta Johor Bahru Manila Phnom Penh Saipan Singapore The Americas Guatemala Honduras Mexico City New York Vancouver Seoul Shanghai Shantou Shenzhen Taipei Zhanjiang EXHIBIT 3 Li Fungs Global Network Source: Company documents. Central America 3% Hong Kong/PRC 40% Southeast Asia 20% South Asia 8% Korea 12% Taiwan 9% Europe 6% Africa 2% EXHIBIT 4 Li Fung Sourcing Markets (Q1 and Q2, 2000) Source: Company documents. David Wilder, Internet Key to More Gains for Li Fung, South China Morning Post, September 4, 2000, Business Post, p. 1. In 1996 Li Fung adopted a three-year plan system, one which William described as having been adopted directly from the economic planning system of the Chinese Communist Party, that allows the company to look ahead, but not too far ahead. William elaborated: We thought that the Chinese had a neat system. They have five-year plans, fixed; we have three-year plans, fixed. We dont want moving goalposts, we want set goals. At the beginning of every three-year plan we sit down and look at the business from its fundamentals. We use backwards planning, we recognize where we want to be in three years time, identify the gaps between that and where we are now, and see what we have to do to get there. During its first three-year plan (FY1993-1995), entitled Filling in the Mosaic, Li Fung focused on filling in the gaps in its network of offices to cover new sourcing markets. The second three-year plan (FY1996-1998), Margin Expansion, was launched immediately after the Inchcape acquisition to in crease its profitability. A third three-year plan Doubling Profits (FY1999-2001), established the goals of doubling profits every three years and achieving $3 billion in annual sales. Investors liked the results: Li Fung outperformed the Hang Seng Index by over 75 percent in 2000. The reward was inclusion in the Morgan Stanley Country Index for Hong Kong in May 2000, subsequent inclusion in the HSI in August 2000 and on the FTSE World Index Hong Kong Section in September 2000. With a market capitalization of $6.6 billion, by mid-2000 Li Fung was the nineteenth largest Hong Kong stock trading with a company record price to earnings (P/E) ratio of nearly 60_. A local newspaper declared: It is difficult to find a bad word [about Li Fung]. It could be a poster-child for shareholder value, with a return-on-equity of 60.2 percent at the end of last year. The firm is well positioned to benefit from the opening of the mainland market and Beijings accession to the World Trade Organization, with 40 percent of sourcing on the mainland and Hong Kong.9 Acquisitions Li Fungs acquisition strategy was based on buying rival sourcing companies, thereby gaining new client accounts, integrating their operations, and eventually bringing the operating margins of these acquired units up to Li Fung levels. In 1995 Li Fung acquired Inchcape Buying Services, a 100-year-old company roughly the same size as Li Fung and its closest competitor. The Dodwell acquisition brought access to sourcing markets on the Indian subcontinent and European export markets. This acquisition took nearly three years to be fully absorbed into Li Fungs operations. Within three years, Dodwells operating margins increased from 0.8 percent to 3 percent, primarily through the provision of Li Fung value-added services to Dodwell customers. In December 1999, Li Fung acquired the export trading operations of the Swire Group, Swire Maclaine and Camberley, which were Li Fungs next two largest Hong Kong-based competitors, and in the process became the only listed supply chain management company in Hong Kong. Like Li Fung, Camberley did not own its factories. Instead, it provided virtual manufacturing in the form of in-house design, pattern and sample making, and raw material sourcing. Manufacturing was subcontracted to factories in China. Through Camberley, Li Fung gained access to the design process- another link in the value chain-as well as access to new clients such as the Asia buying offices of Laura Ashley and Ann Taylor. As it had with Inchcape, Li Fung expected to bolster its own bottom line by raising the operating margins of these two companies. With a robust cash flow and the solid financial performance of past acquisitions, Li Fung was in position to continue growing its business by further acquisitions. By August 2000, Li Fung was nearly five times the size of its two closest local competitors, William E. Connor and Associates and Colby International, which had twice postponed the IPO of its B2B portal in 2000. See Appendix A for more details on the intranet and extranet. E-Commerce A core element of Li Fungs three-year planning system included an introspective look at whether we are still relevant, including whether or not we are going to be disintermediated. Part of its response was an Internet initiative of its own. In 1995 Li Fung launched an intranet to link the Groups offices and manufacturing sites around the world, thereby expediting and simplifying internal communications. The progress of orders and shipments could be tracked in real time, and digital imagery allowed for online inspection and troubleshooting. For example, past quality problems with Bangladeshi production would require an on-site Li Fung inspector to send physical samples to Hong Kong by express mail, whereas the intranet now allowed a high-resolution digital photo to be sent via the intranet for real-time response and remedy. In 1997, Li Fung launched secure extranet sites. Each site linked the company directly to a key customer and was customized to that customers individual needs. By 2000, 10 such extranets were in place, each taking nearly 6-9 months to fully implement, from design to testing of the user interface. Through each site, Li Fung could carry out online product development as well as order tracking, obviating much of the cost and time necessary to send hard copies of documents back and forth. Furthermore, with Li Fung as the key link between manufacturers and retailers, the extranet provided a platform for the two to interface, thus streamlining communications as the order moved through the supply chain. Customers could track an order online just as it was possible to track a UPS delivery. This monitoring of production also promoted quick response manufacturing. Until the fabric was dyed, the customer could change the color; until the fabric was cut, the customer could change the styles o r sizes offered, whether a pocket or a cuff would be added, and a number of other product specifications. According to William, some customers went as far as connecting their entire ERP (enterprise resource planning) system to Li Fungs extranet system. Li Fungs IT division had 60 people, all based in Hong Kong, but software development of both the intranet in 1995 and its extranets in 1997 was outsourced.10 Successful implementation of these systems provided the initial building blocks of Li Fungs e-commerce solution and with them in place, the Fungs became further aware of the extent to which integration of Internet technology enhanced internal efficiency and improved communication between Li Fung divisions and customers and began to consider extending the organizations online presence. Competitive Threats The Fung brothers said that they decided to go online to avoid being disintermediated. But a closer examination of local B2B portals and online exchanges led Victor to conclude that the online threat to their offline business was far less than first imagined. People from the first wave were so far out and garbled in their thinking that we felt that there was no immediate threat, he noted. Therefore, we needed to think through e-commerce properly, to formulate a proper response. In Victors words, B2B exchanges were a molecule thick and a mile wide, based on many depthless relationships. Li Fung preferred narrow and deep relationships nurtured with fewer customers and including value-added services. As William professed, The same reason why we were not disintermediated by the offline guys is going to be the reason why were not going to be disintermediated by the online guys. However, William discovered on a 1999 visit to the United States that Li Fungs old economy retail customers felt seriously threatened by Internet pure plays. At first this hype did not make much sense: I asked my friend at Toys R Us, Why are you concerned about eToys? It does about $28-$30 million in sales whereas you do $11 billion, and it loses as much as its entire turnover? How can you worry about them? And the first lesson I learned was that its not their size that is the threat but the fact that investors are throwing money at them. William discovered that Internet companies could use the money that was pouring in to damage offline competitors, often by acquiring them or their key people. They can hire away all of the talent that you have. The biggest weapon is the money they have. At one point, they could have hired away my entire management. Other possible threats came from online companies acquiring an old economy trading company, or from offline companies like Japanese trading companies or local sourcing firms that could partner with a dot-com and become a competitor overnight. William hinted that the Swire Maclaine acquisition was a defensive move to preempt acquisitions by new economy companies. William gave his view of the Internet revolution: I started off saying that the Internet is just another technology that affects the way information is transferred and people communicate with each other. It has a very dramatic impact, more dramatic than the fax. But for me its yet another in a series of technological changes that affects our business that we have to be keenly aware of. It may be the most important change until now, but it is probably not the last. According to Victor, The Internet is a revolutionary technology, but new technology is nevertheless still technology. Li Fung always has been aggressive in adopting new technologies. When the telephone came along, my grandfather was shocked. When the fax came around, the technology changed our turnaround time into just days. With Internet technology, now we get answers within hours. When broadband and WAP comes online, there will be even less lag. Bubble In Once the Fungs determined that Li Fung needed an e-commerce strategy, the remaining question was how and in what shape it would emerge, how specifically e-commerce would eventually add value to Li Fung, and whether it would use the existing IT department of 60 or absorb a new team of entrepreneurs. Victor felt strongly that their e-commerce strategy should come from within the company, not outsourced as the intra- and extranets were, or as he phrased it, bubble in, not bubble out. According to Victor, only if the solution was an internal one could he be certain that the technology would pervade the entire Li Fung organization. Neither did Victor care to start a brand-new entity separate from the parent: Im not interested in starting a dot-com division, getting a high valuation with, a $13 million cash flow, and then spinning it off. I want Li Fung to be around for another 100 years, not just 5 or 15. To start a pure Internet division is as equally absurd as starting a fax division, a division that exclusively uses faxes. To better grasp the fundamentals of embarking on a new IT venture, Li Fung added two new technical directors to its board, one a technology company CEO, the other an academic. According to William: The one thing certain about our business is that it will be constantly changing, so we need to install a mechanism for monitoring external environmental changes that impact our business. We decided a long time ago that we were an information and knowledge-based services company, so anything to do with information technology is crucial to us. We keep up with whats happening with board members who can help us scan the horizon. Enter Castling In 1997, Michael Hsieh (HBS 84), president of LF International Inc., Li Fungs venture capital arm and 15-year Li Fung veteran, received a telephone call from John Suh (HBS 97), CEO of Castling Group, an Internet start-up company that, like the chess move allows you to defend your king and simultaneously position your rook for attack, used the Internet to both defend the offline, old economy companies against online companies threat to their markets while simultaneously extending their own online presence. The two met in San Francisco to discuss how a focused combination of technology and supply chain reform could transform retail. Hsieh, well aware that Li Fung was working on its own e-commerce strategy, noted: As a VC, I see numerous business plans that say that with Li Fung behind an online exchange, we create significant value and therefore offer you 5 percent if you join us. However most of the plans do not make sense. They offer very little value and the founders lack either industry or technology expertise. John had the right blend of technology and business sense, the right mix of right and left brain. Like the Fungs, Hsieh favored a bubble in approach. He compared outsourcing e-commerce implementation to a third-party consultant for a $10 million fee as putting the fox in the chicken coop. It created a risky dependency on outsiders, particularly if future design changes were required and also provided outsiders with proprietary information, strategy, and the entire business model. Finally, Hsieh remarked: As a venture capitalist, I always have to think about the strength of the management team and what could go wrong with the venture. Can they deliver? Do they know the industry? Is this a credible business proposition? What if there is a negative reaction? By late 1999, the time was right to act on their initial meeting. Hsieh commented that both the evolution of Castling from B2C to B2B and Li Fungs needs complemented each other nicely; John had a real appreciation for the supply chain and a record for building successful e-commerce models. In December 1999 Hsieh joined Castlings board and LF International invested in Castling. They subsequently co-invested in an initial round of financing for lifung.com, and Castling committed key managerial staff to lifung.com. Suh described Li Fung as the perfect strategic partner. They have an entrepreneurial philosophy rooted at the core of their system. Theyve got an aggressive and visionary leadership team at the for efront of supply chain management. And theyre ready to operate according to the rules of the new economy. In one fell swoop, San Francisco-based lifung.coms management team was immediately staffed with Castlings professionals, serving as vice president of Business Development, vice president of Operations, director of Marketing, and CTO (Chief Technology Officer). Suh stepped down as CEO of Castling, retaining the position of nonexecutive chairman, and signed on as CEO of lifung.com. Apart from Suh and CTO Derek Chen, 20 percent of lifung.coms initial staff came from Castling, amounting to an in-house e-commerce incubation team that represented a slight twist on Victors bubble in strategy. Suh and Chen, the latter formerly of Andersen Consultings Advanced Network Solutions Group, brought along their experience from Castling e-commerce strategy projects for jcrew.com, hifi.com, giftcertificate.com, and ferragamo.com. The rest of the team came from either within Li Fung (e.g., the se nior vice president of Merchandising) or from outside the Li Fung organization (e.g., the vice presidents of Sales and of Marketing). To facilitate the integration of the new online entity into the Li Fung fold, a senior manager was tasked to provide an interface between the two groups. By Q3 2000, lifung.com had 40 full-time professionals and 25 consultants, with 80 full-time staff expected by years end. For B2B ventures, moving first and fast was often a prerequisite for dominance. Scarcely a year had passed since the initial meeting with Castling and its first round of financing. According to Suh, there were three stages of launching an online venture: the business strategy, the design-build-test phase, and then actual execution. Moving quickly, Suh remarked, Requires a fundamental trust in an organization that best arises from the experience of a team that has built things together, with members who know each others strengths and weaknesses. We do a lot of team building, becau se without trust you cannot move at the speed required. There are certain elements critical to the success of a dot-com . . . openness and constant communication are essential because there are so many skills and inter-functional dependencies that must be navigated for a successful launch. At lifung.com, we have a great mix of people, individuals with 30 years of merchandising experience, a deep operations staff,

The Mystery of the Pyramids Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Paper

Why ask why the Great Pyramid was built? Because it is the most massive building on the planet, at least twice the volume and thirty times the mass of the Empire State Building. Because it is aligned to the true cardinal points of the compass even though no compass is known to have existed at its time of construction. Because its masonry which weighs up to seventy tons is joined to the fiftieth of an inch. Because its casing stones were polished to the standard of modern optical work. Why was such an enormous undertaking, combined with such incredible accuracy, deemed necessary for the construction of a mere tomb and funerary ornament to a dead king who never occupied it? It is an enormous undertaking for such a seemingly useless building - a building that is thought of by most to be a house for a dead pharaoh. But there are other reasons to question why the Great Pyramid and indeed why any of the thirty or so pyramids were built than simply because of its immense size, features, and effort that must have been involved in its construction. A large amount of theories exist that speculate about its "true" or other functions. Is the Great Pyramid an astronomical observatory, a huge public works project, the Bible written in solid stone, a prophetic work, or an energy collector? Who designed and built the Great Pyramid? God, Thoth, a past civilization, or space aliens? It is these questions that will be examined so that we can gain a better understanding of why such seemingly enormous undertakings of pyramid construction were ever carried out. Why do some believe that the Great Pyramid (or the pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu or Cheops) at Ghiza was designed with clear mathematical links between the Pyramid's dimensions and the Ea... ...ris. The Pyramids. New York : Hippocrene Books , 1988. De Jager, Cornelius. "Adventures in Science and Cyclosophy." Skeptical Inquirer Winter 1992. Hadingham, Evan. "Pyramid Schemes . " The Atlantic November 1992 . Hamblin, Dora Jane. "A Unique Approach to Unraveling the Secrets of the Great Pyramids . " Smithsonian April 1986 . Lemesurier, Peter. The Great Pyramid Decoded. Longmead: Element Books Ltd.: 1989. Mendelssohn, Kurt. The Riddle of the Pyramids. New York: Praeger Publishers: 1974. Stiebing, William H. Jr.. Ancient Astronauts, Cosmic Collisions, and other Popular Theories about Man's Past. Buffalo: Prometheus Books: 1984. Tompkins, Peter. Secrets of the Great Pyramid. New York : Harper & Row: 1971. Works Consulted Trachtenberg, Marvin. Architecture From Prehistory to Post-Modern New York: Hary N. Abrams, Inc.: 1986.

Volkswagen Must Change Strategy and Logo to Repair Its Damaged Brand E

Brands have been around for at least 5000 years and to this day our societies have evolved a great deal in regards to this aspect. The reason why brands have become of a greater importance in today’s society is because of our increased want rather than need (what we need to stay alive such as food and shelter) for a new and customised product thus â€Å"moving from an economy of mass production to an economy of mass customisation†. (Neumeier, Morgan & Edgar, 2006) Nevertheless, brands have become an important part of our lives, in many cases being a reflection of who we are or what we would like to become. In this essay, the Volkswagen brand will be analysed in terms of its success and failure, as well as any potential changes, which could act beneficial towards it. In order to do this, a brief overview of the history and current organisation to this date will be looked into, accompanied by the understandings of Volkswagen’s communication campaigns, brand (designs), positions, and strategies. Overview of the Volkswagen Organisation The historical German brand Volkswagen (VW) dates back to the year 1904 when the idea of a â€Å"People’s Car† was first mentioned. In 1925, Belà ¡ Barà ©nyi submitted a life changing design of a potential Volkswagen design, which later became known as the â€Å"Beetle†. Already having a great deal of success in the automobile industry, the first real breakthrough of this idea came in 1934, when Adolf Hitler had adopted the idea of mass production and a â€Å"People’s Car†, built for the transportation of the wider population, which then became popular amongst the German people in the Third Reich. This sparked the first so-called brand equity, which encouraged the public to believe in the concept of a car for... ...ttp://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/. [Accessed 07 January 2014]. Volkswagen Logo History @ DasTank.com. 2014. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dastank.com/Volkswagen-Logo-History.htm. [Accessed 07 January 2014]. Corporate Identity: Volkswagen. 2014. [ONLINE] Available at: http://hansstol.totaldesign.nl/en/volkswagen.html. [Accessed 07 January 2014]. Volkswagen Logo - Design and History of Volkswagen Logo. 2014. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.famouslogos.us/volkswagen-logo/. [Accessed 07 January 2014]. Interbrand - Best Global Brands 2013 . 2014. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.interbrand.com/de/best-global-brands/2013/Best-Global-Brands-2013.aspx. [Accessed 08 January 2014]. Videos: The Play Belt - The Fun Theory. - YouTube. 2014. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AbQSE4ZKvk. [Accessed 07 January 2014].

The Importance of Creative and Cultural Industries in Britain Today Ess

The Importance of Creative and Cultural Industries in Britain Today The creative and cultural industries play a huge part in the everyday life of British society. In London, there is a variety of creative industries ranging from musical theatre in the west end, to mime artists working on the streets. There is dance, plays and much more for an audience to choose. This can be considered important, as these industries bring society together, and create a means of entertainment for the people of Britain today. The Arts Council of Great Britain was founded in 1946, one of the first national organisations of its kind in the world (Hill, O’Sullivan & O’Sullivan, 1995). Its aims are to develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and practice of the arts, to increase the accessibility of the arts to the public throughout Britain, and to advise and co-operate with departments of government, local authorities and other bodies. The term ‘the arts’ includes, but is not limited to, music, dance, drama, folk art, creative writing,...

Soul Searching’s Pyschological and Moral Aspects

This analysis makes no pretences of keeping with the psychological and moral convictions that Heidegger ignored. His structural analysis is simply not complete enough to represent Dasein†s phenomenological orientation in the world without considering some aspects which are inherent to each Dasein such as a psychological history and a moral destination. Although speculation as to the reasons behind his choice to ignore such overwhelming attributes is forever possible, leaving out psychology and morality leaves Dasein with no soul. Dasein then is nothing more than a component of the world through other Dasein. One can only Be when one†s Being is disclosed by Others until the they is escaped in Death. Heidegger doesn†t enjoy the negative connotation of the word escape in the context of relationships with Others, but this seems to be more important as a question of true existence, true realization of the authentic Self. I argue that the soul, the spirit, the essence of Dasein must be explained as well as the phenomena of existence in order to clarify the question â€Å"What does it mean to be (Dasein)? † Through the soul, Dasein may bridge the gaps of loneliness that occur in the solitude of single existence amongst Others. Psychology and morality provide excellent headquarters from which to launch this campaign in search of the soul of Dasein†¦ How can one†s soul exhibit both concernful solicitude and care while experiencing existential loneliness in the face of Death? When looking at the temporality of Dasein†s existence, psychology corresponds to Heidegger†s concept of already-being as does morality to being-ahead-of-itself, in relation to the prospect of having a soul. Psychology and morality play such large roles in the creation of both the they-self and the authentic self that some definitions are in order. Psychology explains the relationships between phenomena and both voluntary and involuntary behavior patterns. Behavior is the reaction of the subconscious with the conscious before decisions are made and actions taken. The sum of the behavioral limitations of these reactions, symbolically speaking, equals the finite potential of possibilities after already-being-in-the-world. Thus behavior displays an abundant importance when considering Dasein†s interpretation of events on an authentic as well as an inauthentic level. It seems that Heidegger shies away from psychology because behavior can vary so much from one person to another and creates problems for his strictly structural analysis of being. Morality is also of great concern in a personal view of Heidegger†s Being and Time due to the touchy nature of his use of such terms as conscience and guilt to describe qualities that are present in all Dasein. Even though he attempts to use these words (guilt and conscience) without bringing extra baggage along with them, one cannot resist considering the implications that vernacular semantics suggest about the nature of Dasein. Heidegger explains: â€Å"†¦ he concept of moral guilt has been so little clarified ontologically†¦ interpretations of this phenomenon could become prevalent and have remained so† (Blackwell, p. 328). If this is the case, moral guilt should hold a place in the discussion because it is so prevalent. He also uses his own fresher definition of guilt to explain his idea that guilt is merely the lack of something that should and could be. If guilt is the main impetus for authentic Being, then wouldn†t morality be immediately involved in the discussion as a source of guilt, or as the next step above the middle management provided by conscience? For how else could one describe what should be other than in terms of a personal view of integrity towards living towards Others-otherwise stated as morality? Dasein defines what should be by looking forward to the possibility of being self-governed by an individual sense of what is correct behavior in the world into which one has been thrown. For Heidegger, the conscience alerts Dasein not only to failing to realize an authentic Being for one†s Self, but also provides a constant source of guilt that becomes manifested in anticipation towards Death. He says of Being-towards-Death: †¦ nticipation reveals to Dasein its lostness in the they-self, and brings it face to face with the possibility of being itself, primarily unsupported by concernful solicitude, but of being itself, rather, in an impassioned freedom towards death-a freedom which has been released from the Illusions of the â€Å"they†, and which is factical, certain of itself, and anxious (Blackwell, p. 311). This passage summarizes Heidegger†s position of leaving the Others behind to pursue one†s own Death in whatever manner might suit one†s individual conceptualization of the inexplicable phenomenon of Death. He calls this anticipatory resoluteness-a projection of possibilities for Dasein onto itself. His reference to concernful solicitude implies that some part of the they-self assumes responsibility for the well-being of Others with respect to their own personal care towards the world. Heidegger explains this as part of the idle talk respective to inauthenticity, but the sympathy one feels obliged to show another exceeds simple social convention and finds a home in the desire to assume some part of the loneliness shared by all Dasein. In this way, we establish the connection of authentic existence with morality. Guilt in the face of inauthentic being is a key factor in Heidegger†s connection of anticipatory resoluteness towards Death. But, each Dasein has some sort of moral disposition which is a sort of goal for how one might define one†s-Self. Since this moral consideration is present, it is inescapable when examining the way Dasein arrives at its resolute decision of which possibilities will be executed. Thus morality corresponds to Heidegger†s Being-ahead-of-itself. Not only does Dasein care about the guilt it experiences in the face of inauthentic Being, but it wishes to alleviate the same suffering in those it perceives to be troubled. Looking ahead, Dasein knows there will be sorrowful phenomena coming towards it and so feels the sting of the misfortunes of an Other as well. This sentimental sharing can be directed towards joy in that joy is a benefit to all Dasein when accepted, just as sorrow is a detriment to all Dasein when the burden is shouldered amongst their many lonely souls. Psychology and morality depend mostly upon the ontical interpretation of events involving other Dasein-the Others. In the anonymous placement of Dasein amongst Others, Dasein falls into the inauthentic mode of being described by Heidegger as the they-self. The they-self is crucial to an understanding of how Dasein can transcend the ignorant (but not necessarily diminished) existing of average everyday life to find a seemingly more perplexing state called authentic existence. Dasein†s they-self is primarily concerned with the events and requirements demanded of it through living in what is conceived as the present time with other people. This they-self is prevalent to all modes of Being which Dasein might exhibit in that one can never escape a certain degree of anonymity in one†s relations with others. The they-self revels in its proximity to the Others with which it may identify itself; however, the they-self also strives to keep a reasonable distance from the Others to avoid becoming lost as an individual entity. The phenomenon of distancing one†s they-self from Others may happen consciously or unconsciously to Dasein. In the distancing and proximalizing of Dasein to Others and the collective they, Dasein psychologically constructs a social script that reads all of the lines that are â€Å"proper. † The social script is simply a dialogue between Others and/or Dasein that corresponds to the different situations (this could also refer to the authentic Situation which Heidegger describes on pages 346-347) in which Dasein finds itself. These social scripts are provided by the relationships to Others and are derived from idle talk and personal meditation on the questions which conscience brings to Dasein†s attention. Although critical observation is not necessary for proper psychological synthesis of social scripts, the implications of devouring past events and reinterpreting them for future reference is the fulcrum of the interrelatedness of psychology, morality, and temporality as these factors can be named as the shining stars from which the soul of Dasein will descend. It is important to remember that no standard of morality may be set but rather all Dasein has an individual interpretation of it. One may follow traditional Judeo-Christian morality concerning the theological disdain held for physical pleasure and the propagation of guilt through admonitions of original sin. One may decide that the texts† readings are presented for personal interpretation. One may not have any real moral convictions whatever except for an amoral avoidance of pain and pursuit for pleasure. In short, each Dasein must synthesize its own moral, amoral, or immoral disposition through the practice of making decisions based upon an individual character code of morality which is created from observation or experience of social interaction from the beginning of life. So, how does Heidegger leave the soul out of his analysis? Where is the connection? Morality, being a facet of existence concerned with the â€Å"I live my life in this way because it is right for me† is analogous to Heidegger†s â€Å"for-the-sake-of-which† that he uses to describe the structure of the world. He says, â€Å"The â€Å"for-the-sake-of† always pertains to the being of Dasein, for which, in its being, that very being is an issue† (Blackwell, p. 116-117). Hubert Dreyfus† Being-in-the-World (commentary on Being and Time) says: Heidegger uses the term ‘for-the-sake-of-which† to call attention to the way human activity makes long-term sense, thus avoiding any intimation of a final goal. A for-the-sake-of-which, like being a father or being a professor, is not to be thought of as a goal I have in mind and can achieve. Indeed, it is not a goal at all, but rather a self-interpretation that informs and orders all my activities (Dreyfus, p. 5). Why does Dasein feel a need to order its activities? What has the influence over Dasein to create this striving towards a higher existence? Although biologically dubious and philosophically unproven, the soul is the only possible answer. The spirit which moves Dasein, the essence that drives Dasein to seek something better, something higher is an inexplicable yet necessary part of the ontological structure of Dasein. Heidegger explains this phenomenon as Being-towards-Death. Authentic Being-towards-Death signifies Dasein realizing the temporality of its existence and looking-ahead with anticipatory resoluteness. Anticipatory resoluteness is the act of projecting one†s ownmost potentiality for Being against the anxiety of nothingness which Death inspires. Explicitly, this is a realization of moving towards Death as a phenomenon central to existence itself. Authentic Dasein anticipates Death with a resoluteness derived from guilt. Anticipation correlates to authenticity in that it â€Å"brings Dasein face to face with a possibility [Being] which is constantly certain but which at any moment remains indefinite as to when that possibility will become an impossibility [Death]† (Blackwell, p. 56). Inauthentic Being-towards-Death is denoted by Dasein exhibiting its typical average everyday falleness where the they-self sees Death as an impending event that will happen â€Å"someday in the future† without allowing the knowledge of this event to affect any of the â€Å"possibilities of Being† with which Dasein might be presented. If there is an effect on the possibilities of Being in respect to Death, it is very limited and not fully comprehending of the actual nature of Death. In the inauthentic Being-Towards-Death the they-self never â€Å"dies† in the â€Å"existential† conception of Dasein because it is constantly too involved in the world around it to be concerned about its coming possibility-of-not-being-with-Others. Thus, one of the main reasons understanding Death is central to the authentic Being-one†s-Self boils down to understanding exactly how one†s-Self is related to Others. Experiencing Death from a second person point-of-view is psychologically riveting-traumatic, alienating, increasing existential awareness &c. The looking ahead of Dasein to Death produces an anxiety towards nothingness-nullity-a lack of care that is inherent in not-Being-with-Others. Heidegger says, â€Å"Care itself, in its very essence, is permeated with nullity through and through† (Blackwell, p. 331). Lacking care yields guilt in the form of not being able to grasp the meaning of not-Being-with-Others. To make up for this guilt, Dasein moralizes its existence with respect to how life should be lived versus all other possibilities of how it could be lived. Morality must then describe the relation of Being-one†s-Self through Others in relation to former psychological phenomena such as attending a funeral. Care, however, cannot be pure nullity as this undermines the entire structure of care in a nihilistic fashion. Heidegger is proposing that care is nothingness, thus eliminating its necessity and making it merely an arbitrary condition of Dasein. In contrast to this perspective, morality is not only looking ahead, but also compensation for the thrown loneliness of existence. Since no one can share in the phenomenon of Death, no one ever has a partner, friend, lover, or mate forever. This inspires a moral sympathy that caters to social utility and also individual welfare. Others† Being-towards-Death can be contemplated by Dasein but never experienced. This links all Dasein by way of providing a moralized and honest care towards each other and is explained by the inexplicable concept of a unitary Soul composed of the psychologically crafted and morally directed souls of all Dasein who are locked in their thrown loneliness. This of course raises still more questions that must be answered before Dasein is fully elucidated.