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papermoonloveslucy · 4 years

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THE PORTRAIT ARTIST

August 6, 1948

"The Portrait Artist” aka “The Portrait Painter” aka “The Portrait” is episode #3 of the radio program MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on August 6, 1948 on the CBS Radio Network.

Synopsis ~ Liz is having her portrait painted by a handsome but gruff artist. George gets jealous and fakes illness, and he is attended to by a sexy young nurse - causing the green-eyed monster to rear between both Cugats!

MAIN CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cugat) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cugat) was born as Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father's garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz, a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), was one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96.

GUEST CAST

John Hiestand (Cory Cartwright) served as the announcer for the radio show “Let George Do It” from 1946 to 1950. In 1955 he did an episode of “Our Miss Brooks” opposite Gale Gordon in which he once again had the surname Cartwright.

The role of Cory Cartwright was originated by Hal March but Hiestand very quickly replaced him. March did, however, stay with the show and appears from time time as various characters.

Jeff Chandler (Damon Welch) was known for his prematurely gray hair and striking good looks as a young man. On radio, he was on “Our Miss Brooks” as Mr. Boynton with Eve Arden. When the series moved to television in 1952, Chandler was replaced by Robert Rockwell. Chandler died at age 42 from blood poisoning after an operation.

William Johnstone (Doctor) is best known for his voice work as the title character on “The Shadow” from 1938 to 1943, replacing Lucille Ball’s friend Orson Welles. He played John Jacob Astor in the 1953 film Titanic.

Mary Shipp (Nurse Mary Ann McCarthy) was a radio and TV actress and the second wife of CBS Executive Harry Ackerman. Shipp played a recurring character on CBS’s “My Friend Irma” (1954-55) which featured Gale Gordon’s mother Gloria and Hal March, who was the first actor to play Cory Cartwright.

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series on July 23, 1948. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

This episode aired on Lucille Ball’s 37th birthday, August 6, 1948.

At this point in the series, George and Liz are still named Cugat. Their surname will be changed to Cooper in 1949 to avoid confusion with a famous Latin bandleader. No, not Desi Arnaz - Xavier Cugat! Also, the show had yet to introduce Iris and Rudolph Atterbury, the secondary characters, similar to Fred and Ethel on “I Love Lucy.” The character of Cory Cartwright, a handsome bachelor friend of the couple, will shortly be phased out. He was initially played by Hal March, but here played by John Hiestand.

Marital jealousy and painting were also the subjects of “My Favorite Husband” the CBS television show on November 29, 1955.

THE EPISODE

Announcer Bob LeMond sets up the premise of the series:

Ten years ago the town’s most eligible bachelor, George Cugat, married socially prominent Elizabeth Elliott. The lavish wedding kept the society columns all over the country in copy for weeks. The New Yorker said:

“The bride and groom were dressed with the nth degree of smartness. The best man was a polo pony.”

The Hearst Papers said:

“The bride and groom were dressed handsomely and attracted comments from guest Douglas MacArthur.”

And The Reader’s Digest said:

“The bride and groom were dressed.”

The joke lies in the brevity of the Digest’s comments. The Reader’s Digest was known for their publication of abridged novels, short stories, and articles that could be read in one sitting. Ricky was seen reading the Digest in “Lucy Writes a Novel” in 1954. That same year, a biography of Ball by Eleanor Harris was included in the Digest - condensed, naturally. Ball appeared on the covers in 1990 and 2003.

Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) was a five-star general and Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s. He played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. At the time of broadcast, he was running for President of the United States, but was defeated in the primaries by Dewey, who was narrowly defeated in the election by Harry S. Truman. In “Lucy and the Submarine” (1966) Mr. Mooney(Gale Gordon) tells Lucy he’s going on a two-week training, but warns her (in his best deep-voiced, measure tones) that “I shall return!” These were the immortal words spoken by MacArthur when he escaped the Philippines after being surrounded by the Japanese in March 1942.

It is morning at the Cugat home and while George is having breakfast, Katie the maid is trying to help Liz fit into a tight-fitting and slinky evening gown in preparation for having her portrait painted. Katie suggests wearing a different dress for the portrait, but Liz is worried that they might move to Boston one day, and she doesn’t want her portrait banned!

"Banned in Boston" was a phrase employed from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, to describe a literary work, song, motion picture, or play which had been prohibited from distribution or exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts. During this period, Boston officials had wide authority to ban works featuring "objectionable" content, and often banned works with sexual content or foul language. In 1944, just a few years before this broadcast, Boston banned the book Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor, which was referred to on “I Love Lucy” as Forever Ember.

Liz goes down to breakfast in her slinky evening gown and tells George that she is having her portrait painted by noted artist Damon Welch.

LIZ: “They say he’s very big and strong and muscular like, uh...who’s that rugged tall actor in the movies? The one with the big arms and broad shoulders?” GEORGE: “Marjorie Main.” LIZ: “No, Victor Mature.”

Marjorie Main (1890-1975) was a character actress who just a few months before this broadcast earned an Oscar nomination for The Egg and I. In 1954 she was a supporting player in Lucy and Desi’s The Long, Long Trailer (1953).

Victor Mature (1913-99) was a stage, film, and television actor who starred in several movies during the 1950s, and was known for his dark hair and smile. Mature and Lucille Ball acted together in Seven Days Leave (1942) and Easy Living (1949).

Bachelor Cory Cartwright (John Hiestand) visits the Cugats with exciting news about his date last night:

CORY: “She had a smile like Lana Turner, a voice like Dinah Shore, she kissed like Paulette Goddard.” LIZ: “Do you date her or buy tickets to her?”

Lana Turner (1921-55) achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress. In the mid-1940s, she was one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood and one of MGM) biggest stars. In 1943, she did a cameo in Lucille Ball’s Du Barry Was a Lady. Turner was mentioned in three episodes of “I Love Lucy.”

Dinah Shore (1916-94) was a singer, actress and television personality, as well as a top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She achieved even greater success on television, mainly as hostess of a series of variety and talk programs, although she guest starred on “Here’s Lucy” in 1971. Ball made numerous appearances on Shore’s talk shows as well.

Paulette Goddard (1910-90) was major star of Paramount Pictures in the 1940s. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in So Proudly We Hail! (1943). She did three films with Lucille Ball between 1933 and 1934: Roman Scandals, The Bowery, and The Kid.

George comes home from work and asks Liz about progress on the portrait. Liz was impressed by Welch’s world experience. George feels inadequate. He makes her tell him how much she loves him.

LIZ: “Hold me tighter. Make believe I’m a tube of toothpaste and pop my cap off!”

Dejected that Liz wants him to take up painting like Damon Welch, George goes to bed without his supper.

The second act begins with George deciding to stay home, pretending to be sick in order to keep an eye on Liz and Welch. Katie admits Damon for their sitting. Welch doesn’t believe George is sick.

DAMON: “You should get out-of-doors; do some exercises. Run the mile, do some chin-ups, push-ups, chop some wood, mow the lawn, pull some weights...” LIZ: “Tote that barge, lift that bale!”

Liz chimes in with lyrics from the song “Old Man River” by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern, written for the 1927 musical Show Boat. A revival of the musical ran on Broadway in 1946. There was a radio adaptation in 1944. In “Never Do Business With Friends” (1953), Lucy Ricardo analogizes her housework without an electric washing machine to that of the slaves who sing “Old Man River”:

LUCY: “Carrying this heavy basket - up and down, up and down. My muscles straining, body all aching and racked with pain. Fold those shirts, lift those sheets.�� RICKY: “Now, look, Old Man River, will you dry up?”

The doctor arrives and examines George, finding nothing whatever the matter with him. His diagnosis is extreme jealousy-itis. He summons his new nurse, Mary Ann McCarthy (Mary Shipp), whose beauty stops George in his tracks.

Downstairs, Liz is still being painted by Damon, but not nearly fast enough for her liking. She complains that he still hasn’t painted her hair! She doesn’t like seeing herself bald!

LIZ: “I look like my mother was frightened by Guy Kibbee!” MONTY: “I’ll paint in your hair when I see fit, and not a second sooner. Until that time you’ll remain an egg-head and like it!”

Guy Kibbee (1882-1956) was a stage and film actor. In the 1935 film Mary Jane's Pa, Kibbee prepares a breakfast dish which consists of a hole cut out of the center of a slice of bread, and an egg cracked into it, all of which is fried in a skillet. It became known as Guy Kibbee Eggs but is also known as eggs in a basket. Liz is no doubt comparing her bald head on the canvas with the eggs. I didn’t hurt the comparison that Kibbee was also bald! Kibbee appeared with Lucille Ball in Don’t Tell The Wife (1937) and Joy of Living (1938).

George hears Damon and Liz laughing and comes downstairs to confront them but Damon sends him back upstairs. Liz wonders if George is jealous just as George is heard laughing upstairs with Nurse McCarthy. Liz goes upstairs to confront her husband! George says he’s had a relapse!

GEORGE: “I accidentally plugged my electric heating pad into the radio and H.V. Kaltenborn got into bed with me!”

Hans von Kaltenborn (1878-1965) was a radio commentator who was heard regularly on the radio for over 30 years, beginning in 1928. He was known for his highly precise diction, his ability to ad-lib, and his knowledge of world affairs. In 1948, Kaltenborn played himself in The Babe Ruth Story which co-starred William Frawley (Fred Mertz).

George, still suspicious of Liz and Damon, goes downstairs to discover that Liz has dismissed the painter so George wouldn’t be sick and Miss McCarthy would go.

After a message from the announcer about participation in community projects (a post-war endeavor), George and Liz engage in some bedtime repartee before they kiss and say goodnight. End of episode!

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timsabatino · 5 years

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It was an honor to photograph Freedom Medal Winner Actor Jeff Pomerantz! This man is a powerful humanitarian and an actor on TV since the 50s! Need photography? Book with me now at timsabatino.com #humanitarian #actor #laphotographer #canon #sony #disney #theatre #theater #casting #audition #talent #headshots #laheadshotphotographer #hollywood #LA #losangeles #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #photography #photo #profoto #dynalite #expression #emotion #power #hand #face (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxpu971gqhY/?igshid=qwxumunjxuer

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jorgec1972 · 3 years

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artshunter202 · 3 years

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The Beauty In Breaking Michele Harper

A Memoir

The Beauty In Breaking By Michelle Harper

Dr Michele Harper Bio

The Beauty In Breaking Amazon

The Beauty In Breaking Michele Harper

A New York Times Bestseller

TIME Recommended Best New Book to Read in July 2020

Lululemon August Book Club Pick & Gold Foundation Summer Reads Book Pick

An emergency room physician explores how a life of service to others taught her how to heal herself.

The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir Michele Harper, 2020 Penguin Publishing 304 pp. ISBN-13: 380 Summary An emergency room physician explores how a life of service to others taught her how to heal herself. Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. The Beauty in Breaking is the poignant true story of Harper's journey toward self-healing. Each of the patients Harper writes about taught her something important about recuperation and recovery. How to let go of fear even when the future is murky. How to tell the truth when it's simpler to overlook it. The Beauty in Breaking is the poignant true story of Harper’s journey toward self-healing. Each of the patients Harper writes about taught her something important about recuperation and recovery. How to let go of fear even when the future is murky: How to tell the truth when it’s simpler to overlook it. Michele Harper's book is the first I've read in a very long time in a single sitting. After hearing the author interviewed last week on NPR, I ordered 'The Beauty in Breaking' with curiosity, but I've been rewarded with hope, and with comfort in CovidTIme. The author, an ER doctor of obvious skill, dedication, and passion, is, as she says 'a. The Section on Medicine and the Arts presents the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Beauty in Breaking. Michele Harper, an African American emergency physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white, describes how she uses her own sometimes painful experiences to bring insight and empathy to patients.

The Beauty In Breaking By Michelle Harper

Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. After taking her first breath in NYC, she was brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. They stayed together through medical school until two months before she was scheduled to join the staff of a hospital in central Philadelphia, when he told her he couldn’t move with her. On words hra. Her marriage at an end, Harper began her new life in a new city, in a new job, as a newly single woman.

Audition 3.0. In the ensuing years, as Harper learned to become an effective ER physician, bringing insight and empathy to every patient encounter, she came to understand that each of us is broken–physically, emotionally, psychically. How we recognize those breaks, how we try to mend them, and where we go from there are all crucial parts of the healing process.

The Beauty in Breaking is the poignant true story of Harper’s journey toward self-healing. Each of the patients Harper writes about taught her something important about recuperation and recovery. How to let go of fear even when the future is murky. How to tell the truth when it’s simpler to overlook it. How to understand that compassion isn’t the same as justice. As she shines a light on the systemic disenfranchisement of the patients she treats as they struggle to maintain their health and dignity, Harper comes to understand the importance of allowing ourselves to make peace with the past as we draw support from the present. In this hopeful, moving, and beautiful book, she passes along the precious, necessary lessons that she has learned as a daughter, a woman, and a physician.

Praise for The Beauty in Breaking

“(THE BEAUTY IN BREAKING is a) riveting, heartbreaking, sometimes difficult, always inspiring story … Just as Harper would never show up to examine a patient without her stethoscope, the reader should not open this book without a pen in hand. There are so many powerful beats you’ll want to underline.” — Elisabeth Egan, The New York Times Book Review

“A moving, beautifully written memoir.” — New York Post

“(A) wise and elegant debut memoir.” — Boston Globe

“A book for our times, Harper’s debut is a compelling memoir about her life as a Black woman emergency room doctor and how that work overlaps with the complexities of life. Harper explores hurt and healing, race and gender, justice and hope with candor and compassion.” — Ms. Magazine

“This powerful story will resonate with readers.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Tackling such painful subjects as domestic abuse, trauma, and racism with grace and wisdom, this eloquent book probes the human condition as it chronicles a woman’s ever evolving spiritual journey … A profoundly humane memoir from a thoughtful doctor.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Harper’s words inspire hope and understanding of the importance of peace and acceptance of the past. Poignant, helpful, and encouraging, Harper’s lessons from life in and outside of the emergency room ultimately teach readers how to trust the healing process.” —Library Journal

“In this illuminating memoir, an African American emergency room doctor finds that her patients’ stories lead her to make connections between her work and the larger world.” —Shelf Awareness

“The Beauty in Breaking is a compelling page-turner about how Dr. Michele Harper took a broken childhood and wove herself into a strong, honest, compassionate doctor. A must read.” —Louann Brizendine, M.D., author of The Female Brain

“The Beauty in Breaking takes us into the life in an Emergency Room — the drama, the adrenaline, the emotion — with such immediacy that I could not help but be completely enthralled by the individual stories of the patients that Michele Harper treats. But this powerful, poignant page-turner of a book also tells a much larger and universal story about how healing actually happens, not just for broken bodies but for broken hearts and souls. In sharing the stories of her patients and her own life, Harper shows us that healing begins only after we are broken open ourselves. And she shows us with hopeful, heartbreaking clarity that it comes from healing each other.” —Kerry Egan, author of On Living

Dr Michele Harper Bio

Onenote notebook missing. In stock

Free download or read online The Beauty in Breaking pdf (ePUB) book. The first edition of the novel was published in July 7th 2020, and was written by Michele Harper. The book was published in multiple languages including English, consists of 304 pages and is available in Hardcover format. The main characters of this autobiography, memoir story are , . The book has been awarded with Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Memoir & Autobiography (2020), and many others.

The Beauty In Breaking Amazon

Suggested PDF: How to Look Expensive: A Beauty Editors Secrets to Getting Gorgeous Without Breaking the Bank by Andrea Pomerantz Lustig pdf

The Beauty in Breaking PDF Details

Author: Michele HarperOriginal Title: The Beauty in BreakingBook Format: HardcoverNumber Of Pages: 304 pagesFirst Published in: July 7th 2020Latest Edition: July 7th 2020Language: EnglishAwards: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Memoir & Autobiography (2020)category: autobiography, memoir, non fiction, biography, medical, health, medicine, audiobook, biography memoir, race, biography, autobiography, healthFormats: ePUB(Android), audible mp3, audiobook and kindle.

The translated version of this book is available in Spanish, English, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, Portuguese, Indonesian / Malaysian, French, Japanese, German and many others for free download.

Please note that the tricks or techniques listed in this pdf are either fictional or claimed to work by its creator. We do not guarantee that these techniques will work for you.

Some of the techniques listed in The Beauty in Breaking may require a sound knowledge of Hypnosis, users are advised to either leave those sections or must have a basic understanding of the subject before practicing them.

DMCA and Copyright: The book is not hosted on our servers, to remove the file please contact the source url. If you see a Google Drive link instead of source url, means that the file witch you will get after approval is just a summary of original book or the file has been already removed.

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The Beauty In Breaking Michele Harper

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newstinxahoi · 4 years

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Anh chạy đua vào ngành công nghiệp không gian

Bỏ bê ngành hàng không vũ trụ nhiều năm, Anh quyết định nhảy vào ngành này vì sức ép của Brexit và cơ hội béo bở của IoT.

Cornwall, xa về phía tây nam nước Anh, được biết đến với những làng chài cổ và những bãi biển kín, có vách đá. Nhưng chẳng bao lâu nữa có thể là một nơi rất khác, với ngành công nghiệp vũ trụ nhỏ nhưng đang phát triển.

Một hoặc hai ngày trong năm, một chiếc Boeing 747 đã điều chỉnh công năng sẽ cất cánh từ đường băng tại sân bay ở đây, hướng ra Đại Tây Dương và bay lên tầng bình lưu. Ở đó, nó sẽ thả một tên lửa bên dưới cánh. Tên lửa sẽ khởi động và phóng một lượng vệ tinh nhỏ lên quỹ đạo, trong khi máy bay trở lại sân bay.

Đường băng của sân bay Cornwall ở Newquay, nơi chiếc Boieng 747 của Oirgin Orbit cất và hạ cánh để phóng vệ tinh. Ảnh: NYT

Sau 6 năm lên kế hoạch và gây quỹ, việc xây dựng một sân bay vũ trụ với kinh phí khoảng 22 triệu bảng Anh (28 triệu USD) sẽ bắt đầu vào tháng này tại sân bay Cornwall ở Newquay. Khách thuê chính của nó dự kiến là Virgin Orbit, một bộ phận thuộc công ty hàng không vũ trụ Virgin của tỷ phú Richard Branson. Điểm hấp dẫn của sân bay là việc đưa vệ tinh lên quỹ đạo bằng máy bay có thể được thực hiện nhanh hơn và với ít cơ sở hạ tầng hơn so với tên lửa mặt đất.

Sân bay đã có kế hoạch mang chiếc 747 (có tên gọi Cosmic Girl) và các thiết bị khác đang được thử nghiệm ở sa mạc Mojave tới Anh với sự trợ giúp 7,35 triệu bảng Anh từ Cơ quan Vũ trụ Anh. "Lúc đầu, mọi người cười nhạo chúng tôi", Melissa Thorpe, Người đứng đầu bộ phận phát triển của Spaceport Cornwall, cho biết, "Phải mất rất nhiều công sức để thuyết phục nhiều người".

Theo một số nhận định, hoạt động kinh doanh không gian của Anh đang giảm hai lần sau nhiều năm nước này bỏ bê. Tuy nhiên, giờ đây, cùng với Cornwall, chính phủ đang bỏ tiền cho một số địa điểm tiềm năng khác. Ở một bờ biển phía bắc xa xôi của Scotland, một bãi phóng đang được thiết kế riêng cho một loại tên lửa thân thiện với môi trường sản xuất gần đó.

Điều này là hoàn toàn mới đối với một quốc gia không có lịch sử lâu đời về tên lửa hoặc phóng vệ tinh vào không gian. Các sân bay vũ trụ ở Anh vẫn chưa được chứng minh hiệu quả. Trên thực tế, một số nhà phân tích nói rằng đã có quá nhiều cơ sở như vậy, bao gồm cả ở Mỹ.

Tên lửa mang vệ tinh đầu tiên - và cho đến nay, duy nhất - do Anh sản xuất đã được phóng từ Woomera ở Australia vào năm 1971. Chương trình đó có tên Black Arrow, đã bị loại bỏ sau 4 lần phóng vì không hiệu quả về chi phí.

"Anh sẽ cần vài năm nữa để phóng vệ tinh", Doug Millard, Người phụ trách về không gian vũ trụ tại Bảo tàng Khoa học ở London, nhận xét. Nhưng theo ông, "đó là điều mà cách đây không lâu sẽ không bao giờ được xem xét".

Một lý do lớn cho sự thay đổi là Brexit. Quyết định rút khỏi Liên minh châu Âu đã nâng cao nhận thức rằng Anh, quốc gia chủ yếu dựa vào các chương trình không gian của châu Âu và Mỹ cho các dịch vụ như định vị vệ tinh, sẽ gặp rủi ro nếu không có cơ sở hạ tầng không gian của riêng mình. Năm nay, ngân sách của cơ quan vũ trụ đã tăng 10%, lên 556 triệu bảng Anh, tất nhiên vẫn là một phần nhỏ trong số 22 tỷ USD của NASA.

Trong một cuộc phỏng vấn, Graham Turnock, Giám đốc điều hành của Cơ quan Vũ trụ Anh cho biết Brexit đã tạo "một sự kích thích thực thụ để khiến chúng ta nghĩ về những gì thực sự cần, với tư cách là một quốc gia trong không gian".

Nhưng quyết định nhìn lên bầu trời cũng đúng lúc thị trường thương mại về khai thác không gian đang phát triển trên khắp thế giới, được thúc đẩy bởi các nhà đầu tư giàu có như Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos và Branson, cũng như các doanh nghiệp ít tiếng tăm hơn khác.

Điều quan trọng là sự xuất hiện của các vệ tinh nhỏ và rẻ hơn nhiều, có kích thước bằng một chiếc hộp đựng giày với giá từ một triệu USD trở xuống. Một số được sử dụng để quan sát, chẳng hạn như đo lượng dầu được lưu trữ trong các kho, loại dữ liệu có giá trị cho các nhà đầu tư năng lượng. Những đơn vị khác thì lên kế hoạch cung cấp kết nối Internet vệ tinh cho xu hướng IoT (Vạn vật kết nối) ứng dụng trong ôtô tự lái hay nhà thông minh.

"Chúng ta đã đi đúng lúc bắt đầu cuộc hành trình này", Mark Boggett, CEO Seraphim Capital (London), đang quản lý quỹ vũ trụ trị giá 90 triệu USD, cho biết. Chính phủ của Thủ tướng Boris Johnson cũng có tính toán của riêng mình. Hồi tháng 7, họ chi 500 triệu bảng để mua lại 45% OneWeb, một nhà điều hành vệ tinh.

OneWeb đã nộp đơn xin phá sản trong năm nay, nhưng có liên quan đến lĩnh vực nóng nhất của ngành công nghiệp vệ tinh. Đó là tạo ra chùm vệ tinh phối hợp trong quỹ đạo thấp, được thiết kế cho các mục đích như mở rộng Internet đến các vùng xa xôi. OneWeb đang chế tạo vệ tinh của mình tại một nhà máy do Airbus đồng sở hữu ở Florida. Hy vọng của chính phủ Anh là OneWeb sẽ xây dựng một thế hệ vệ tinh trong tương lai ở Anh.

Nhìn chung, chính phủ đang cố gắng hỗ trợ cái được gọi là "không gian mới", một cách tiếp cận thương mại và nhanh nhẹn hơn đối với một ngành công nghiệp thường bị chi phối bởi các chương trình của chính phủ và quân đội.

Những gì Anh đang hướng đến là tập trung vào các vệ tinh nhỏ, hoạt động trong quỹ đạo thấp của Trái đất, cách mặt đất khoảng 800 dặm, so với các vệ tinh bay cách mặt đất khoảng 22.000 dặm đôi khi tốn hàng trăm triệu USD.

Các vệ tinh nhỏ cũng có tuổi thọ ngắn hơn nhiều so với các vệ tinh lớn, đồng nghĩa với việc cần nhiều vệ tinh hơn và nhiều lần phóng hơn. Virgin Orbit cho biết họ có kế hoạch tính phí 12 triệu USD để đưa một vệ tinh nặng gần 700 pound (hơn 300 kg) vào không gian.

Việc có các bãi phóng ở gần sẽ đáp ứng nhu cầu cho các công ty như In-Space Missions, một công ty dịch vụ không gian ở Hampshire. Doug Liddle, CEO, cho biết công ty đã đến New Zealand để phóng vệ tinh trong năm nay, nhưng thất bại vì một sự cố tên lửa.

Nền kinh tế vũ trụ mới cũng có giá cả phải chăng hơn đối với các quốc gia quy mô trung bình như Anh. "Phương pháp tiếp cận vệ tinh nhỏ hiện nay có nghĩa là chúng tôi sẽ không chi toàn bộ ngân sách quốc gia cho chương trình không gian của mình", Martin Sweeting, Nhà sáng lập kiêm Chủ tịch Surrey Satellite Technology, một công ty tiên phong trong lĩnh vực vệ tinh nhỏ, cho biết.

Không gian vũ trụ cũng đang dễ tiếp cận hơn đối với các công ty khởi nghiệp như Open Cosmos, công ty cung cấp dịch vụ xây dựng vệ tinh, sắp xếp việc phóng và vận hành với chi phí từ 10 triệu USD trở xuống. Công ty là một trong nhiều doanh nghiệp công nghệ tập trung tại Harwell, một cộng đồng gần Đại học Oxford.

Một vệ tinh đặt trong phòng sạch của Oxford Space Systems tại Harwell, Anh. Ảnh: NYT.

Cộng đồng này còn có Lacuna Space, công ty có kế hoạch triển khai vệ tinh cho nhiều mục đích sử dụng như theo dõi gia súc trên các trang trại rộng lớn ở Mỹ Latinh. Hay như Oxford Space Systems, chuyên xây dựng các ăng-ten gắn trên vệ. "Đó là một hệ sinh thái nhỏ. Mọi người đều biết nhau", Rafel Jordá Siquier, Nhà sáng lập 31 tuổi của Open Cosmos nói.

Nhưng không phải tất cả đều là startup. Airbus cũng là nhà sản xuất vệ tinh lớn và sử dụng 3.500 nhân viên làm việc trong bộ phận không gian vũ trụ ở Anh. Công ty từng lo lắng về tác động của Brexit, nhưng Richard Franklin, người đứng đầu bộ phận không gian tại Anh của Airbus đánh giá, khoản đầu tư vào OneWeb và sự tập trung của Anh vào không gian thực sự trấn an Airbus. "Hãy nhìn xem, Anh là một nơi thực sự tốt để đầu tư", ông nói.

Nhưng tham vọng của Anh cũng phải đối mặt với những rủi ro và ẩn số lớn. Các công nghệ họ theo đuổi chưa được chứng minh. Cuộc thử nghiệm đầu tiên của Virgin Orbit trong năm nay tại Mỹ đã thất bại khi động cơ tên lửa chính ngừng hoạt động. Và đại dịch đã gây căng thẳng tài chính lớn lên đế chế của ông Branson, bao gồm cả công ty hàng đầu, Virgin Atlantic. Để giúp tăng cường tài chính của hãng hàng không và các công ty khác, doanh nhân này đã bán khoảng 500 triệu USD cổ phiếu của Virgin Galactic, một công ty kinh doanh du lịch vũ trụ. Nhưng Will Pomerantz, Phó chủ tịch phụ trách các dự án đặc biệt của Virgin Orbit, cho biết chiếc 747 vẫn sẽ đến Cornwall "khi họ sẵn sàng và cần chúng tôi".

Thị trường vệ tinh cũng đầy cạnh tranh và hỗn loạn. Nhà sáng lập Tesla, Elon Musk đang xây dựng hệ thống vệ tinh lớn của riêng mình, tên gọi Starlink. Các công ty công nghệ khác có thể sẽ làm theo, trong khi nhiều nước hiện có thể chế tạo vệ tinh. "Một trong những điều tuyệt vời về vệ tinh nhỏ là ai cũng có thể làm được", Alexandre Najjar, Cố vấn cấp cao của Euroconsult, một công ty nghiên cứu thị trường, cho biết.

Tuy nhiên, các doanh nhân ngành không gian của Anh nói rằng việc có bãi phóng gần nhà có thể mang lại lợi thế cho họ. "Nếu chúng tôi có thể lên một chiếc xe van và chở tàu vũ trụ của mình đến Scotland hoặc Cornwall, toàn bộ quá trình sẽ trở nên đơn giản hơn nhiều", ông Liddle, người chế tạo vệ tinh cho biết.

Phiên An (theo NYT)

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milady-milord-lj · 8 years

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Community Re-Watch Season 1: Introduction to Statistics and Home Economics

Community Re-Watch: Season 1 Rahr! I thought I posted this on Friday! But I did not. Explains the lack of comments in my inbox. Here it is, better late than never, I guess. You'll notice that these commentaries are shorter. That's because the in-jokes are starting and less information is actually being relayed. So, I'm doing my best.

Introduction to Statistics Commentary by Dan Harmon, Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, and Joe Russo Joe says this was a watershed episode because it was experimental and ambitious. He says “Modern Warfare” is a direct descendant of this episode. Joel jokes that both episodes had the same director (Justin Lin). Joe mentions that he and Justin Lin were college buddies and have remained friends throughout the years. He said Justin brought a unique visual look to the series. Joel mentioned the Justin cares about every single shot. Dan adds that he hopes that Justin doesn’t get pigeonholed as an action director because he’s gifted at comedy as well. Joe says it’s because Justin is a storyteller. Joel introduces Lauren Stamile as “the beautiful and awesome Lauren Stamile.” He also confirms that in “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited” Jeff did not want to go back to being Slater’s boyfriend after she had dumped him a few episodes before. (Side note: It’s an interesting comment, because it seems that, as far as Joel was concerned, the Slater-Jeff-Britta love triangle in “Pascal’s” was only in the minds of Slater and Britta.) Joel adds that Lauren is also the only woman in the cast who is taller that 5’6”. Chevy says that the women are the best actors in the cast. Joel agrees. Then Chevy adds that the men are the clowns. Dan remarks that Chevy is saying that women aren’t funny. Chevy protests that he wasn’t saying that at all. Dan says that he’d go out on a limb and say Gillian is funny. Everyone points out Leonard in the scene where Slater shoots Jeff down and remark that they just started using him in almost every episode going forward. Dan said that Leonard’s role in the scene was to be the stand-in for a sitcom audience. Chevy remarks that he thinks Alison Brie is hugely talented, and beautiful. He adds that he thinks she could be a huge movie star. He adds that she’s a lovely girl and huge talented, before quickly adding that all three women (he initially said “both of them” so I assume he forgot to include Yvette before he corrected himself) are. But he adds that Alison has a Liz Taylor vibe. Joel adds that Alison has a very good head on her shoulders and is a very down-to-earth person. Dan adds that Alison is very good at walking the tightrope of being over-the-top while still being very grounded. Dan adds that Alison is a “comedic weapon” because she’ll do a double-take then start crying as a joke. Chevy adds that she can do that because she’s very secure in herself. He adds, “And she’s very good-looking and she knows it.” Joel adds that Gillian in the chipmunk costume is maybe the cutest thing to happen on television. Dan says the chipmunk costume was Gillian’s idea. Chevy calls Danny Pudi’s performance “brilliant.” Dan says the Internet lit up like a Christmas tree after this episode aired about the give-and-take between Troy and Abed. Dan encourages everyone to watch the outtakes to see every iteration of their initial exchange in the episode. “This is what happens when you just let Donald (Glover) go.” Joel thinks that Chevy in the Beastmaster costume was really funny. Joel then points out that Chevy’s costume has no pectoral muscles. It’s all abs all the way down. Chevy ads that it has no connection to any actual humans. Dan can’t remember who came up with the Urkel/Harry Potter jokes for Yvette’s Harry Potter get-up. Dan remarks that while filming this episode, Dino (Starburns) texted him from the set to say, “I’m doing a scene with Chevy Chase. What the hell happened to us?” Dan confirms that the pill Starburns gives Pierce is ecstasy. He wasn’t sure if NBC would let them use the name, so they don’t state it outright in the episode. Chevy adds that it really doesn’t matter, because anything like that is just poison. Although Dan likes Chevy’s ecstasy acting, he adds that the best depiction of an ecstacy trip on-screen is in season one of Spaced. Even though you don’t see the characters taking ecstasy on-screen, he said the depiction was so dead-on that you knew what was going on. Joel agrees with Dan. Everyone takes a moment to praise Justin’s blocking of the Halloween party scene in the study room as the cameras move around the study group (sans Jeff since he’s crashing the teachers’ party) and the study group moves around the room. Joe says that Donald is one of the most gifted improvisers that he’s ever seen. It’s very difficult to improvise in-story, but Donald has a writers’ brain and he can just make it work so that he can insert himself into a scene, advance the story, while still getting a joke out of it. Dan repeats that Gillian wanted the squirrel costume and came to him about it. He said that normally “you don’t listen to actors because they’re crazy people,” so when someone comes up to him and says “this is what I think my character should wear for Halloween” you’re not sure. But when he saw Gillian on the set, he was, “Oh! I get it!” He adds that he learned a lot about Britta in this episode because he let Gillian choose the costume and watching her get activated in it. They once again encourage people to watch the extras so they can see all the different lines Donald used to tell Jeff that Pierce was pretty much tripping balls at the student party. Dan says it’s fun to shoot party episodes because you can bop around in different groups. Chevy points out that when Jeff tells the study group members to get out of the cafetorium where the teachers are having their Halloween party, Joel is in a gunslinger stance like he’s about to draw his gun. Dan commenting on the Britta-Shirley scene in Slater’s office: Yvette went up to his office because the scene, as originally written, had Shirley basically taking a dump in one of Slater’s desk drawers. They ended up having a very long conversation where Yvette basically talked Dan out of that version. It got switched to her trying to use a hose to fill up Slater’s desk with water. Everyone jokes about Britta ripping the head off Slater’s trophy. Because obviously she’d have to be bionically strong to do it. Joe says that a camera was strapped strapped to Chevy’s chest during his full-on ecstasy trip to get that distorted effect. Dan says they fed Alison her lines while she stood in front of a green screen. During that session, they were doing a ton of old person jokes. Unfortunately, Chevy overheard them, came into the room, and said, “I knew the Beatles, I was at Woodstock, and you can all go fuck yourselves.” What made it really funny is that he said it while still wearing the Beastmaster costume. Chevy confesses that he doesn’t even know who Beastmaster is. Joel explains it’s a Mark Singer movie from the 1980s. Dan says that they had problems with Ken Jeong in the scene where Chang gives Jeff advice on how to get Slater. He kept doing all these hand gestures that were rude and Dan had to tell him to not do that because his role was to set up the next joke. They all comment that after the episode aired “Mexican Halloween” was trending on Google. Dan confesses that it’s something he made up. Dan says that Donald is a very funny guy and a very smart guy, but he doesn’t interject his own comedy unasked. He said that’s why Troy gets funnier and funnier as the season progresses because he was getting more and more permission from the writers to do his own thing. Joel says that Chevy was awesome in the chairfort scene. Joe says that the chairfort was built and tested on the construction stage. Dan says the chairfort rig gave him the idea to do “Modern Warfare.” As he was inspecting the rig and talking to Justin about how it would work. He said he began to wonder if they could do an action episode, rather than a comedy episode with action elements. Chevy apparently told Justin Lin on the set that he didn’t know anything about comedy. Joe says that “Introduction to Statistics” was the first time they had “stepped out of the show.” Because it was a Halloween episode, they felt they had permission to push the boundaries, like, for example, having a chairfort collapse, having Abed swoop in like a superhero to save Jeff and Pierce, and “acting like it was a normal part of the world of the show.” Dan says that the Batman voiceover at the end of the episode was entirely improvised by Danny Pudi in a recording booth. They basically used the improve uncut. It was meant to be a placeholder until they wrote something. Dan says he kept telling Danny to keep babbling about darkness and get your dichotomies all mixed up. Dan answers the Twitter question, “When did you start considering Jeff and Annie as an option?” Dan answers it was the shot at the end of the episode where Jeff silently asks Annie to dance by holding out his hand and she becomes giddy because she’s dancing with him. He says there was a nice romantic undertone to the scene. Joel says the scene with Abed/Batman on the roof of the school was shot just as day was about to break. The tag scene between Abed and Troy was all improvised by Danny and Donald. Dan says that Abed and Troy are the Cheech and Chong of the show.

Home Economics Commentary by Dan Harmon, Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, and Lauren Pomerantz (writer) Joel says that he almost chocked to death in the opening scene. Chevy would throw the paper balls into his mouth and it would get into his throat. Danny says that the opening scene where Jeff is woken up wasn’t really acting. Joel actually was tired. He adds, “Joel can also nap anywhere.” Dan starts a runner joke (that lasts throughout the whole commentary) that Yvette Nicole Brown has a drinking problem, which causes everyone to start laughing. Joel explains that Yvette is waiting outside the recording booth and can hear everything they say, but she’s powerless to do anything about it. Dan admits that Yvette is actually a teetotaler. Joel jokes that she doesn’t drink, but smokes a ton of pot. Dan adds, “No, she doesn’t smoke pot, either.” Dan says that Lauren (the writer) is no longer on the show, but he’s glad she’s back for the commentary. He adds that she’s a very quiet person who doesn’t talk a lot. Dan praises her and says that she turned out a really good draft. He adds that he likes this episode a lot. Dan adds that one of the things that a lot of male writers would shy away from is a scene like Shirley ogling Jeff while he does his homeless man cleanup. Dan mentions that she’s working for Ellen Degeneres, but that if she’s ever back on the market, some should snatch her up because she’s an excellent draft writer. Everyone starts making fun of Gillian’s costuming in the study room scene. They’re not sure if it’s “Mad Max” or “Legend of Billie Jean.” Dan remarks that Chevy and Britta a costumed in a similar manner (side note: they’re both wearing vests). Dan says this episode got shuffled around in the order. Dan says that he and Gillian talked about what happened with her character from her perspective in this episode. He said that Gillian said Britta was basically still policing Jeff at this point. Dan says that they really don’t need a single policeman for Jeff. Jeff himself is a fairly self-destructive character, so everyone in the study group winds up policing him at some point. Because of that, it opened things up to allow them to dump on Britta. But at this point in the series they’re still using her as the voice of practicality and reason, and she’s pompus. Joel says when he jumped over the bushes to stop Jeff’s car from being towed he almost broke his ankle. There was apparently a deep hole on the other side that he landed in. During the scene where Abed is eating cereal and Jeff is losing his mind, Joel and Danny apparently ate “thousands” of bowls. Joel says it was like that SNL commercial about Colon Blow. Danny says that the state of Joel’s clothes and hair is the result of the amount of cereal they ate that day. Lauren wrote the lyrics for Vaughn’s song about Britta. Joel says that “she’s a GDB” became something the cast latched onto and they kept saying it to each other all season. Joel says at one point they switched he and Danny to an organic version of Lucky Charms. Danny comments that it was a horrible. Joel says that Lucky Charms is wonderful to eat, but after a box-and-a-half you begin to feel terrible. They both began to feel hot and flushed. “It’s like you’ve eaten an entire cake.” Danny points out Pavel. He says that actor really is Polish. Danny says that he really likes what the art department did with Abed’s room and the movie posters. Everyone then switches to talking about the posters in the rehearsal space for Vaughn’s band. Dan says he makes fun of Chevy a lot, but he really brings it to all of his scenes. Dan claims someone called him at home (“you know who you are”) and said that the Troy-Annie storyline in the episode should be pulled. He says that they should know they were wrong. Joel points out that Patton Oswald makes his first appearance on the show. Joel remarks that Patton’s bones must be hollow, because “they are filled with funny.” Dan says that Patton’s “I’m the Hawkeye around here” was improvised by him on the set. Danny says watching Joel make his sundae was hilarious. Joel says spaying the whipped cream into his mouth was a joy. Dan says the conversation between Britta and Abed is the reveal that Abed has “his eye on the ball.” There were several holes in the boxer shorts Joel was wearing, including one at his butt. Danny says he laughed out loud when he saw Joel sprawled on the couch during the Jeff-Britta scene. He points out that Joel doesn’t really change position though most of the scene until Britta tosses the sack on him. Dan said it took a three-hour brainstorming session to come up with Jeff marking his expensive Italian faucets for the optimal temperature for his skin. They were trying to come up with a way for Jeff to figure out that it was his faucet. Another one they considered was a dent from the belt buckle of the mayor’s daughter. Danny says that Abed’s dorm room is three times the size of his actual college dorm room. Dan is apparently stuck on the fact that Britta is wearing heels. “What would be the worst that would happen if Britta didn’t wear stilts?” Joel’s answer is, “You wouldn’t be able to frame the shots.” Dan says that the camera catches a little bit of “Annie butt” in the scene where she takes back her courting quilt. “We walk a very, very dangerous tightrope with that character.” Danny says that the final scene between Shirley and Annie is very sweet. Joel says that they rehearsed a brief Polish conversation for the closing scene between Jeff, Abed, and Britta. He adds that he really enjoyed it. Dan says that he gets emotional over Abed calling Jeff “a huge nerd.” Dan says that Pierce enjoying the attention of Vaughn’s diss song is great. That a lack of redemption and an unwillingness to change can be kind of heroic in the face of bad luck or even justice.

#jeff x annie

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denver-carrington · 1 year

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Joan and Jeff Pomerantz in a scene from episode 5x6, “The Verdict”.

#Dynasty #Joan Collins #Jeff Pomerantz

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marymosley · 4 years

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Pierce Bainbridge and Littler Mendelson: Two Law Firms in the Same Deceitful Pod?

Christopher N. LaVigne (Pierce Bainbridge), S. Jeanine Conley (Littler Mendelson) and Denver G. Edwards (Pierce Bainbridge) have been accused of dishonesty and deceit in the lawsuits filed by Don Lewis, an ex-partner at Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP. Littler served as outside counsel for the firm, until compelled to withdraw when Conley and the firm became defendants themselves. Lewis claims he blew the whistle on illicit financial activity, and, in response, Pierce Bainbridge, a slew of its partners, along with the firm of Putney Twombly Hall & Hirson LLP (Michael D. Yim) weaponized the #MeToo movement to demonize and discredit him. According to Lewis, Conley and Littler were hired by Pierce Bainbridge to finish the job against him, and in doing so employed deceitful litigation tactics more typical of their client.

The impact of the lawsuits, and related revelations of a bevy of ugly realities about firm founder John Mark Pierce, certain of his partners, as well as firm operations, has turned the Pierce Bainbridge carousel into a “not-so-merry” ride; thirty-five attorneys have quit in the last several months. Be that as it may, the firm apparently continues to represent a high-profile clientele: Rudy Giuliani, Michael Avenatti, Lenny Dykstra (two of them convicted felons; the third with potential criminal headaches of his own), Tulsi Gabbard, as well as one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world Kraken, Inc. d/b/a Payward.

The conduct of Conley is particularly odd, however. Through events at the Federal Bar Association, the NYC Society For Human Resource Management, and the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, Conley has advocated for the “elimination of bias,” “lawful investigations in the Wake of #MeToo,” and “interrupting racism and inequality within the profession.” Lewis says: “S. Jeanine Conley has supported the deeply depraved and misogynistic John Pierce, race-based discrimination led by Pierce and a sham #MeToo investigation conducted by Michael D. Yim of Putney Twombly who flatly stated I was not entitled to ‘due process.’ Conley’s conduct, particularly given who she publicly holds herself out to be, was shocking to me.”

It appears, that Conley “bet on the wrong horse.”

Deceitful Litigation: “The Norm, not the Exception at Pierce Bainbridge”

Boasting About Violating the Ethical Rules

Lewis provided the quote above, but there seems to be a good deal of history lending support. It apparently starts right at the top. As a glaring example, the recently departed long-time Managing Partner of the Pierce Bainbridge New York Office, David L. Hecht, foolishly boasted publicly about violating the ethical Rules of Professional Conduct. It was not just a garden variety violation; Hecht was found to have violated Rule 8.4, which the federal court noted: “prohibits conduct involving dishonesty and misrepresentation;” the opinion invoked the words “trickery” and “deceit.” Hecht apparently took pride in the decision, because the court stopped short of disqualifying the firm. Indicative of the Pierce Bainbridge culture, other so-called leaders “liked” the post: Firm Managing Partner John Mark Pierce and Los Angeles Managing Partner Amman Khan.

$27,500,000 Malpractice Claim and Accusation of Intentionally “Bungling” a Client’s Case

Khan’s reaction to Hecht’s post is arguably unsurprising; he is no stranger to controversy concerning his litigation practice. A Law360 report indicates that while a partner at Glaser Weil, Khan was a defendant in a $27.5 million malpractice suit. Khan was accused of “intentionally bungling a legal action,” “breaching his fiduciary duties to his client,” and forming a “plan, scheme and conspiracy,” to foul up the litigation. The case dragged on for almost three years, before an apparent resolution was reached.

New Managing Partner Tom Warren: Sanctions and Violation of Ethical Rules

Thomas David Warren was chosen to succeed John Mark Pierce as Pierce Bainbridge Managing Partner, and it appears the firm intends to not skip a beat on its unethical litigation conduct. Warren, who has had his own recent ethical issues with courts, is named as a defendant in a proposed amended defamation complaint Lewis filed in October 2019.

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Additional new current and former partner defendants in Lewis’s proposed complaint are Brian Slater (formerly of Kramer Levin), ex-partner Conor McDonough (formerly of Paul Weiss) Christopher N. LaVigne (formerly of Success Academy Charter Schools), ex-partner David L. Hecht (Hecht Partners), Gregory Sephton (formerly of Kramer Levin), Jeff Alexander (Wachtell Missry), Jonathan Kortmansky (BraughnHagey & Borden), Michael Pomerantz (formerly of Grais & Ellsworth), Susan Winkler (Winkler Law LLC) and Ted Folkman (Folkman LLC). The nature of the claim is a conspiracy to defame.

Lewis say four new defendants: “conspired with Pierce in one of the most heinous defamatory lies one could make about a person; it is disgusting; Kortmansky, Warren, Pomerantz and Hecht all endorsed and promoted the most depraved of Pierce’s misconduct, as well as his outright public lies about the firm’s relationship with litigation funder Pravati and litigation funders generally, as well as Pierce’s baseless public attack on Bloomberg Big Business Law reporter Meghan Tribe.” Warren and Hecht are pictured above. Pomerantz (left) and Kortmansky (right) are pictured below)

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In September 2018, while Warren was a partner at BakerHostetler, his client was hit with a motion for sanctions by Dostart Hannink & Coveney LLP. The sanctions request accused Warren and his client of “scurrilous accusations,” engaging in “totally improper” conduct, and deploying a “motion-by-ambush tactic.” The court granted monetary sanctions against Warren’s client for over $20,000.

Warren joined Pierce Bainbridge three months later, and it did not take him long to get back to unethical work. Just months after Hecht’s fiasco, Warren – while representing convicted felon Lenny Dykstra – was found by Los Angeles State court judge to have violated the ethical Rules of Professional Conduct, with the judge noting that such issues are “simply the purview of the State Bar . . .”

Yet Another Sanctions Motion

Incredibly, shortly after Warren took the Iron Throne for House Bainbridge in late February; the ethical problems for the firm seamlessly continued. On March 5, 2020, in a case where Pierce, Jim Bainbridge, ex-counsel Matt Rand (formerly of McKool Smith) and Michael Eggenberger appear on the signature block, Pierce Bainbridge was on the receiving end of sanctions motion to “avoid further fraud upon the court.”

Fraud on the Court and Destruction of Evidence

The “fraud on the court” motion dovetails well with recent events in the Lewis lawsuits. As Legal Desire previously reported, Marc Mukasey, of Mukasey, Frenchman & Sklaroff LLP recently filed to withdraw as counsel for Pierce Bainbridge citing ethical concerns with continued representation. In response, Lewis’ counsel filed an affidavit which states: “we have strong reason to believe — based on information provided to us by former and current employees and partners of PB — that PB . . . has corrupted these proceedings”; and continues: “we have been led to believe . . .that the PB Defendants have destroyed pertinent and material evidence; have manufactured false ‘evidence’. . . and mislead the Court as to when they were aware of the arbitration provisions that were part of the recent motions before the Court.”

The pairing of Littler and Pierce Bainbridge was perhaps a match of kindred litigation spirits; Littler has a history of sanctions of its own. Indeed, it is exceedingly rare that a reputable law firm receives monetary sanctions for “frivolous” court filings and “violations of rules”. Lewis says: “a quick review reveals that Littler has been a culprit at least four times, and at least twice the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals supported such sanctions.”

John’s Pierce’s Three Musketeers of Dishonesty, Deception and Deceit

The apparently troubling issues surrounding Lewis’s ousting from the firm, with Michael D. Yim of Putney Twombly riding shotgun with Pierce Bainbridge, have been well documented. Conley appears to have been brought in to help finish what Yim failed to accomplish, silencing Lewis or destroying his credibility through lies. Conley, along with Pierce, Edwards and LaVigne are alleged to have hatched a conspiracy to defame Lewis on a nationwide scale to mute his soon to be filed complaint.

Lewis had provided Pierce Bainbridge a deadline to agree to private mediation. It appears that in order to buy more time, Conley claimed she misread a one-page letter with the deadline. Lewis gave her the benefit of the doubt and extended the deadline, but when two days later Pierce Bainbridge still did not agree to the conditions to mediation, Lewis moved forward with the filing of his complaint.

Conley, however, deceived Lewis’s New York counsel by continuing a charade of settlement negotiations in bad faith. Conley – by e-mail – asked Lewis to withdraw his complaint in New York so that the parties could continue negotiations, thanked him – by e-mail – for doing so, yet four hours after it was withdrawn, Pierce Bainbridge filed a complaint in California against Lewis and, most incredibly, alleged that Lewis filed and withdrew his action in New York as “part of a scheme to extort.”

Even worse, three months later, Lewis learned that Pierce Bainbridge and Conley were not only being deceitful to beat Lewis to the court with a sham complaint in California, but on that same day, Pierce Bainbridge was also filing a lawsuit in New York under seal; a filing in which firm partners Denver G. Edwards and Christopher N. LaVigne, according to Lewis, both demonstrably lied in supporting affidavits.

Lewis said: “The deceit, dishonesty and outright lies over a three-day period – by Christopher N. LaVigne, John M. Pierce, S. Jeanine Conley and Denver Edwards are actually incredible. Like I said in my complaint, stuff like this does not happen over the course of most lawyers’ careers.”

The White-Collar Partner Exodus

As for the financial misconduct that Pierce Bainbridge sought to cover-up, interestingly, the firm itself has conceded that the financial misconduct alleged by Lewis (which has been validated by recent events): “if true….would amount to criminal activity.” LaVigne, according to Lewis, made a very telling statement months after Lewis was no longer with the firm:

“John hired a bunch of white-collar lawyers; he thinks they’ll help when the Feds come knocking; they will be the first one’s out the door.” ~ Christopher N. LaVigne

Since LaVigne’s purported statement, at least eleven white-collar partners have hit the Pierce Bainbridge escape hatch:

Caroline Polisi (Armstrong Teasedale, formerly of Creizman LLC)

Deborah Renner (Renner Law, formerly of BakerHostetler)

Eric Creizman (Armstrong Teasedale, formerly of Creizman LLC)

Franklin Velie (formerly of Sullivan & Worcester)

Jeffrey Alexander (Wachtell Missry, formerly Kasowitz Benson)

Jonathan Kortmansky (BraunHagey & Borden LLP, formerly of Sullivan & Worcester)

Joan Meyer (Thompson Hine, formerly of Baker McKenzie)

Melissa Madrigal (Armstrong Teasedale, formerly of Creizman LLC)

Michael Winograd (Brown Rudnick, formerly of Ropes & Gray)

Susan Winkler (Winkler Law, United States Attorney’s Office, Winkler Law)

Thomas Frongillo (formerly Fish and Richardson)

We are reminded of an attorney who warned Pierce in Fall 2018: “Trying to do what you are doing – build a major NYC firm overnight is hugely risky. . . The last person who tried it in NY was Mark Dreier. He ended up in jail.”

Brazen Lies and Brazen Deceit

Christopher N. LaVigne

Notwithstanding LaVigne’s blistering written criticism of firm founder John Mark Pierce as a “lunatic,” “bully,” and “snake,” who “loses track of his lies,” “talks out of every side of his mouth,” and is “probably deep into the sauce [alcohol] and coke [cocaine],” LaVigne, according to Lewis, “lied under oath” to protect Pierce.

In court filings, Pierce Bainbridge claimed Lewis – who has played ice hockey socially with LaVigne for over ten years – never played with LaVigne from November (when he was ousted) until April (when LaVigne claims Lewis extorted him during a conversation after a game). The clear objective was to create a (false) narrative of Lewis going out of his way in order to allegedly “extort,” LaVigne. Hard evidence supports that Pierce Bainbridge and LaVigne were untruthful in court filings.

Below are photos from a February 13, 2019 championship game at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink Arena; LaVigne and Lewis are identified in the first, in the second they are side-by-side in the middle. In addition, a screenshot from a March 6, 2019 exchange between the two about another game is below. “OMW” means “on my way.”

Both February 13, 2019 and March 6, 2019, fall between November 2018 and April 2019.

Denver G. Edwards

Denver G. Edwards is on the Board of Trustees at Middlebury College. He has previously worked as a partner at Bryant Rabbino LLP and Bressler, Amery & Ross LLP. Edwards claimed in court filings and a sworn affidavit that Lewis blew confidentiality by publicly naming the firm’s litigation funder Pravati Capital LLC. To the contrary, the relationship was already the subject of media coverage, a press release from Pravati (the firm’s original name was Pierce Sergenian) and, even worse, publicly filed UCC lending documents in Denver Edwards’s own name, disclosed the relationship. (Below is an image from a March 8, 2019 UCC filing.)

The Conley “Withdrawal Stunt”

The third musketeer, Conley, is, according to Lewis: “as deceitful as the others.” The “Withdrawal Stunt” covered earlier, is detailed below.

Lewis Withdraws the Complaint at Conley’s Request, She Thanks Him

May 15, 11:40 a.m. – Lewis filed his complaint in New York.

May 15, 12:12 p.m. – Conley e-mailed Lewis’s counsel to request that he withdraw the complaint stating: “[PB] could get to Lewis’ number if you provide more time.”

May 15, 2:12 p.m. – Lewis’s counsel withdrew the complaint, Conley wrote to thank him and ask for a copy of the withdrawn complaint with the filing-stamp affixed.

May 15, 6:12 p.m. – Pierce Bainbridge filed a complaint in Los Angeles against Lewis which was never mentioned during the Conley-led negotiations. The complaint included the filed-stamped copy of the withdrawn complaint Conley requested.

Pierce Bainbridge Says Lewis Withdrew as “Scheme to Extort”

Incredibly, Pierce Bainbridge then alleged in LA: “[Lewis] deleted the filing as a tactic, furthering his scheme to extort [PB].” Seeing what had happened, Lewis’s counsel immediately took Conley to task:

Conley avoided these pointed questions, Pierce Bainbridge then labeled Lewis an “extortionist” and “terrorist,” S. Jeanine Conley failed and, eleven months later, continues to fail to come forward with the truth.

Know When to Hold ‘Em, Know When to Fold ‘Em

For months, Pierce Bainbridge has been on a downward spiral towards full implosion. Thirty-five lawyers have jumped the sinking ship. Pierce was finally stripped of his Managing Partner title after his alleged Ponzi-Like financial foul play, which Lewis reported to the partnership well over a year ago. Now Pierce Bainbridge’s own attorney, Marc Mukasey, citing ethical concerns, has asked to withdraw as outside counsel. Attorneys who were or are with Pierce Bainbridge have apparently broken the wall of silence, as Lewis recently reported to the court, and reportedly have divulged information concerning Pierce Bainbridge manufacturing and destroying material evidence, and engaging in fraud on the court.

With respect to his former partners, who largely only started leaving when the firm was already in meltdown mode, Lewis says, “they are like rats fleeing a sinking ship; each of them turned a blind eye to issues I pointed out in written communications over a year ago; they did not care; their greed outweighed their integrity.” Lewis continued: “It is crystal clear to any reasonable person what has happened here, yet none of my former partners has ever reached out to apologize or attempt to make this right; they remained concerned with themselves only, fueled by selfishness and greed.”

The reports of substance abuse, the lies, the illicit financial dealings, the misogyny, Mukasey filing to withdraw, thirty-five lawyers quitting Team Pierce: none of this, however, has deterred Conley, LaVigne and Edwards. They remain committed to John Pierce and the firm, like the musicians on the Titanic. Beloved country western singer Kenny Rogers recently passed, but his lyrics in “The Gambler” are timeless words of wisdom; perhaps it’s time for the “Three Pierce Musketeers” to pay them heed.

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