'Brave,' 'Hunger Games' And The History Of Lady Archers

As Princess Merida joins the big-screen leagues of Katniss Everdeen, we look at the sport's storied past, in Hobnobbing.
By Amy Wilkinson

Jennifer Lawrence in "The Hunger Games"
Photo:

A fiery bow-and-arrow-wielding heroine not named Katniss Everdeen? Color us intrigued!

This weekend, Pixar will take aim at the box-office bull's-eye with its first foray into the fairy-tale princess pic. "Brave" follows a young Scottish royal named Merida, who bucks her parents' wishes, insisting on paving her own path — with bow firmly in hand.

Of course, the animated flick is only the latest this year to feature an adept bow-woman (or bowman). There was Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) in "The Avengers," William (Sam Claflin) in "Snow White and the Huntsman" and, our obvious favorite, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) in "The Hunger Games." Unsurprisingly, this slew of big-screen portrayals has helped revive interest in the ancient sport, with more and more amateur archers sizing up their targets.

But let's be clear about one thing: Bow-besotted babes are nothing new. Lady archers have been around practically since the dawn of time. Follow me down their storied path:

Like most grand ideas, the concept of a woman and her bow has roots in Greek mythology. "Amazon" may be a compliment for a leggy lady nowadays, but maybe it shouldn't be, considering the ancient archers were often depicted with their left breast cut off to make wielding their weaponry simpler. The Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis, was also frequently pictured holding a bow and arrow (sans missing mammary glands).

Throughout the Middle Ages, archery served dual purposes: fending off enemies and hunting prey for sustenance. But by the Elizabethan era, it had become a posh pastime, with proper ladies learning the sport — along with dancing and riding — as part of their studies. (P.E. was soooo much cooler back then.) In fact, Queen Elizabeth I herself (daughter of Henry VIII) is said to have been a skilled archer.

A few hundred years later, the sport made its Olympics debut in 1900, with women taking up arms at the 1904 games. The event took a hiatus from the Games between 1920 and 1972, reappearing at the Munich Olympics. And while plenty of Hollywood heavyweights have learned the skill for a movie, one took it upon herself to learn for the sport of it. Actress Geena Davis made it all the way to the semifinal rounds of the Olympic trials in 1999, hoping to compete in the 2000 games in Sydney. The games and a gold medal were not in Davis' future, but she already has one gilded goody (namely, an Oscar) to console herself.

And speaking of actresses and archery, the last few decades have offered up a bumper crop of bow roles, from Gwyneth Paltrow in "Emma" to Saoirse Ronan in "Hannah." And, of course, Lawrence in "The Hunger Games."

All we have so say is, may the odds be ever in your favor, lady archers!

Is Katniss your favorite fictional archer? Do you plan to see "Brave" this weekend? Sound off in the comments below and tweet me @amymwilk with your thoughts and suggestions for future columns!

Earlier "Hunger Games" columns:
» "Catching Fire" In IMAX: Time To Embrace The Big, Big Screen?
» "Hunger Games": Five Things We Learned At Movie Awards
» How "Catching Fire" Could Set Taylor Kitsch's Career Ablaze
» "Hunger Games" At The Movie Awards: Dos And Don'ts
» "Catching Fire" Countdown: What to Watch While You Wait

Check out everything we've got on "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

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The Anti-Union Roberts Court

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Source: topics.nytimes.com --- Saturday, June 23, 2012
In a labor Union case, the conservative justices broke court rules to insert themselves into a political issue. ...

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Japan protest over nuclear restart

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Roccat Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard

The Roccat Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard ($89.99 list) hits the right notes on the necessities with its swappable profiles and 25 programmable macro keys, and offers additional useful features like Roccat Talk, an app that lets the keyboard work in tandem with other compatible devices (such as a mouse). Unfortunately, the Isku slips on the more intangible elements that make a good gaming keyboard, with plasticky construction, too-slick keys, and a backlight that actually reduced key visibility in some circumstances.

Design
The Isku is big and wide?1.5 by 20 by 10 inches (HWD)?and is very quiet, thanks to its use of silicone dome switches, which rely on a rubbery membrane for the key's action. They're less durable than the mechanical switches used on other keyboards, like the Editors' Choice Corsair Vengeance K90 ($129.99 direct, 4.5 stars), but mechanical switches also make more noise while you're typing.

Keys on the Isku are smooth, almost slick to the touch, and capture a strong glare from overhead lights. Visibility is excellent in low-light situations, thanks to an adjustable blue backlight, but the combination of blue glowing letters and the keys' semi-glossy finish makes them hard to read in regular lighting conditions (such as under a desk lamp). Unlike with the Razer Anansi ($99.99 direct, 4 stars), you can't change the color of the backlight, only the brightness. There's also a monstrously large wrist rest built into this giant slab of a keyboard. Roccat says it "acts like a sofa for your hands," and although it does provide a comfortable typing experience, we preferred the removable wrist rest on the Corsair Vengeance K90.

Features
There's a lot going on with the Isku besides the keyboard proper. A row of keys up top provides a number of media playback controls, and five macro keys are located on the keyboard's left side. That might seem like a far cry from the 18 macro keys on the Corsair, but Roccat also gives you the ability to assign additional macro functions to each of the five leftmost keys in the four main typing rows as well. Setting macro functions is easy, thanks to a Record button located just above the F3 key. Below the spacebar are three "Thumbster" buttons that let you cycle between saved profiles and call up the Roccat's customization software.

You'll need that software, too: It's the only way to take advantage of the multiple profiles and macro sets the Isku supports. There are rosters of preprogrammed macros available for several popular titles like Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2, or World of Warcraft, plus a few sets for non-gaming applications like Microsoft Office and Skype.

As an added bonus, Roccat Talk lets you use the Isku in conjunction with another compatible device, such as the Roccat Kone[+] gaming mouse. Press the EasyShift[+] button on either device (it defaults to Caps Lock on the Isku, but you can reassign this) to activate the secondary functions on both; for example, you can change the mouse's resolution right from the keyboard. Right now, only the Isku and Kone[+] can use Roccat Talk, but Roccat is planning to release other devices that support it in the future.

In gaming tests, the Isku performed admirably, serving me well whether I was exploring space in Star Trek Online or fragging enemies in Team Fortress 2. I was fine as long as I was typing by feel, but if I had to glance at the keyboard to find a key, I had to really stop and hunt; visibility in normal light is very poor. With the lights lowered the problem was solved, but it would be nice to be able to change up the blue glow to something else.

In the final analysis, the Roccat Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard doesn't quite measure up to the standard set by the Editors' Choice Corsair Vengeance K90. I had a few gripes about the slick, shiny keys and any-color-as-long-as-it's-blue backlight; and because of its lightweight plastic construction, the Isku felt more like a toy than a serious device?even when gaming, I want my equipment to be as serious as I am. These issues of personal preferences aside, however, the Roccat Isku Illuminated Keyboard is a solid choice for gamers.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Roccat Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard with several other keyboards side by side.

More keyboard reviews:
??? Roccat Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
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Fish Hotel lets your pets enjoy an apartment like home

June 21st, 2012 | | Posted in Design

Do you think our little swimming friends would like to have their abode designed just like ours? A look at the?Fish Hotel?and you would understand what we mean.

The fish bowl resembling an apartment with windows comprises of a glass case with an ABS plastic exterior. Its smooth shape allows it to fit any corner comfortably while its stackable nature makes it easier to expand in height whenever required. The glass case is removable for cleaning purposes. It measures 8?x8?x8? and has been designed by?Teddy Luong. Price is $35.00.

Inhabitat

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Targeting Androgens In Prostate Cancer - Kiefit.com

Prostate cancer cells require androgens including testosterone to grow. A recent review in the British Journal of Urology International describes new classes of drugs that target androgens in novel ways, providing alternatives to the traditional methods that frequently carry high side effects. "In many ways, therapies for prostate cancer have led the way in the fight against the disease," says E. David Crawford, MD, investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and review co-author. "The first effective oral therapy for any cancer was estrogen which was described in 1941...

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Wis. company that sold to Va. Tech gunman closes

FILE - This April 19, 2007 file photo shows Eric Thompson, a Wisconsin online weapons dealer who sold guns or accessories to the killers in the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University mass shootings as well as a man who opened fire at a Pennsylvania health club. Police say Thompson, shown in Green Bay, Wis., quietly shut down the business in May, 2012, amid scores of complaints from customers in nearly every state accusing the company of billing without delivering their orders. (AP Photo/John Touscany, File)

FILE - This April 19, 2007 file photo shows Eric Thompson, a Wisconsin online weapons dealer who sold guns or accessories to the killers in the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University mass shootings as well as a man who opened fire at a Pennsylvania health club. Police say Thompson, shown in Green Bay, Wis., quietly shut down the business in May, 2012, amid scores of complaints from customers in nearly every state accusing the company of billing without delivering their orders. (AP Photo/John Touscany, File)

FILE - This April 19, 2012, file photo shows Eric Thompson?s Green Bay, Wis., based company, TGSCOM Inc., which sold guns or accessories to the killers in the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University mass shootings as well as a man who opened fire at a Pennsylvania health club. Police say the Wisconsin online weapons dealer quietly shut down the business in May, 2012, amid scores of complaints from customers in nearly every state accusing the company of billing without delivering their orders. (AP Photo/John Touscany, File)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) ? An online weapons dealer who sold the handgun used in the Virginia Tech massacre and provided equipment in two other mass shootings has quietly closed up shop amid a flurry of complaints from customers who allege he failed to deliver orders after billing them.

Police say Eric Thompson last month abruptly closed his Green Bay, Wis.-based business, TGSCOM Inc., as they probed scores of complaints from customers in nearly every state.

TGSCOM's connections to three mass shootings have drawn national attention in recent years. Seung-Hui Cho used a .22-caliber handgun purchased through TGSCOM when he killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in April 2007. Stephen Kazmierck, who killed five people in a Northern Illinois University classroom in 2008, bought two empty magazines and a holster through a company site. George Sodini, who killed three women when he opened fire at a Pittsburgh-area health club in 2009, bought an empty magazine and a magazine loading apparatus from the company.

Thompson, who has claimed his company generates millions of dollars, has maintained he's not responsible for how people use guns, but he still has had run-ins with federal regulators and now he has dozens of people across the country angry with him.

"It gives everybody who does business online a bad name," said Dennis Johnson, a 60-year-old Web designer in Omaha, Ark. He filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau this month and has started disparaging TGSCOM on his blog after the company billed him almost $70 for two empty magazine cartridges that never arrived.

"(His site) looked reputable," Johnson said. "The guy talked about integrity and all this crap ... pretty rude of him. And meanwhile, where is all the money going? Is he spending it?"

Thompson told the Green Bay Press-Gazette newspaper that he was doing his best to solve his problems and locate investors who could help him reopen. He said he doubted he would face criminal charges.

He didn't respond to repeated calls by The Associated Press to his cellphone and at a residential listing in Suamico, a village of about 11,000 people just north of Green Bay. His attorney also didn't return voicemail and email messages.

The business controlled a number of websites with names like topglock.com and The Gun Source that offered firearms and accessories. It was a gun lover's haven. Its still-functioning Facebook page includes multiple photographs of guns as well as shots of a cumulus cloud shaped like a handgun and a woman in a barely-there bikini top clutching two semi-automatic pistols.

Thompson defended the sales to the three mass shooters, saying any of them could have just as easily bought their gear at a Walmart. He told the AP in 2009 his company is on the forefront of the industry and generated millions of dollars in sales that year, but he wasn't "some backwoods guy just looking to make a buck off of tragedy."

Still, he visited Virginia Tech a year after the shootings there and pressed the school to allow students to carry concealed weapons. He drew support from students but the wrath of university officials and parents, who called the visit offensive and chastised him for selling products designed to kill people.

The business has been beset with problems over the last five years.

The Press-Gazette reported in 2011 that U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives records indicated an inspector found a number of violations at TGSCOM in 2009, including selling a gun without the required waiting period; selling a gun to someone who didn't answer all the required background questions; and failing to maintain proper records. The violations came on the heels of other problems the ATF detected at the company in 2007, including selling ammunition to an underage customer, the newspaper reported.

Bob Schmidt, a spokesman for the ATF's St. Paul, Minn., field office, which regulates Wisconsin firearms dealers, declined to comment, saying he is prohibited from speaking about specific dealerships.

The Wisconsin Better Business Bureau has catalogued nearly 200 complaints from consumers in 44 states between January and this week accusing the business of charging them but failing to deliver on their orders. The bureau issued an alert about the company on June 1, urging TGSCOM customers to contact their credit card companies and dispute payments to the business.

The Green Bay Police Department began investigating the business in May . At the end of the month, Lt. Kevin Warych said, Thompson closed the business. Over the last few weeks detectives have identified as many as 40 victims and have been talking with prosecutors about potential charges, Warych said. The FBI is reviewing the complaints as well, said Leonard Peace, a spokesman for the agency's Milwaukee office.

In the meantime, Thompson is going through a bitter divorce. His wife filed documents in early June in the case calling the business the largest asset in the proceeding. She questioned Thompson's "motivation and intent" in operating the business and accused him of failing to explain why he closed it.

She said in the filings she has hired an expert to assess the company's value and asked a judge to place the company under control of a third party that would analyze the situation. In a voicemail she left for the AP she said she hasn't been involved in the company for years and letting her husband run it was a "bad choice." She didn't immediately return a follow-up call.

DeAnn Perzel, the 40-year-old Chamber of Commerce president-elect in Sparta, Wis., ordered $250 worth of what she called "girly" equipment ? pink laser sights, pink gun cases and pink camouflage ? from TGSCOM in early January for a women's hunting raffle at the end of February. The merchandise didn't arrive in time for the raffle, she said.

Some of the products finally arrived, triggering a back-and-forth with the company to return them and get a refund that lasted for weeks, she said.

"They should be out of business," Perzel said. "They're terrible."

Associated Press

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