Southeast Asia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Southeast Asia - Research Paper Example According to Antonio Pigafetta, the opening of the sea route to South East Asia across to the pacific had a great impact in allowing the Spanish to rule over the South East Asians. According to this author religion played a major role in to create the close relationship between the Spanish and the Spaniards. This is because as the Spaniards traveled over to South East Asia their main objective was to convert people to Christianity besides trading. For this reason, most of the Chinese failed to convert because of their strong religious background based in Islam. However, their belief and trust in God created a close relationship between these two parties. This also ensured that the Chinese had no close relationship with their rulers especially the British and the Dutch. It is believed that the cruel nature of the Dutch and the British created a poor relationship between them and the Chinese. In addition to this, the Dutch and British were more civilized something that also created a b ig disparity amongst them and their slaves. According to Antonio who was an Italian Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Magellan instructed all Christians to engage in public conversions (Gullick 18). These conversions laid a basic foundation that was followed by a lot of Roman Catholics from Philippines spreading the gospel. It is believed that this association is what led to a close relationship between the Dutch and the Spaniards. On the other hand the Chinese were so involved in their traditions.

The relationship between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry Essay Example for Free

The relationship between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry Essay There are many issues involved with the relationship between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry. According to David Goldbloom, he proposed that gifts that the pharmaceutical industry wanted to give physicians should not be gifts, but instead should be materials that are sold to the physician at cost. This not only would avoid the appearance of impropriety, but would lower the overall cost of the drug to consumers. This position was picked up by the American Medical Students Association, who stated that there should be a complete ban on industry involvement in education. 2) Ethical and policy issues in research involving human participants. When a pharmaceutical company decides that they are going to conduct a human clinical trial, there are issues of the morality and ethics of conducting clinical trials. One of the first things is that the research subject must have full informed consent about the topic and the implications of the research that they are going to be involved in. Second, the government has in place in protecting the clinical research subject to assure that they are treated in an ethical way and are not subject to abuse or maltreatment in the clinical research process. In these regulations, the physical and emotional effects on the subject are minimized, additionally, the psychological and physical effects are reasonable, given the medical subject matter involved. Finally, all research involving human subjects must be analyzed and approved by the FDA in order to assure that the FDA’s guidelines are being met and that the research is indeed safe for human subjects. 3) Research involving persons with mental disorders that may affect decision-making capacity. Many of the same ethical considerations that involve research on human participants also apply to research trials on participants with mental disorders that may affect their decision making capacity. The only additional consideration is that there is an advocate for the person that should be in a position to assure that the medical and mental issues of the participant is indeed taken care of. Pharmaceutical companies should assure that all ethical guidelines and laws are followed to assure that those individuals with mental disorders are not taken advantage of in the clinical research process. 4) Bias in pharmaceutical sponsored (funded) clinical trials. There is a natural bias inherent in a pharmaceutical company conducting the clinical research on a drug. First, the pharmaceutical company has invested years and millions of dollars in developing and refining a drug. If that drug is not approved, they are out all that time and money. The individuals that work for the company and that are conducting the testing may feel pressured to manipulate the results to come out a certain way to assure that the company does not lose the money and time they have invested in the drug development process. 5) Relationship between clinical investigators and the pharmaceutical industry. When clinical investigators are investigating the efficacy of a drug, they should avoid the appearance of impropriety by working to maintain their independence. The investigator should not have any relationship with the industry in which they work. This helps them to maintain their independence and they are better able to accomplish their job in an efficient and professional manner. Investigators should also avoid paid consultancies as they give the appearance of a conflict of interest. Investigators are there to investigate the efficacy of the drug in question, and they should be left to do their job without being pressured to achieve a certain result for the pharmaceutical company. 6) Corporate hand in clinical trials and their contracts with academia. The corporate hand in academia should be one that is very light. There should be a full disclosure of all fiduciary obligations that academia has with the corporate world, and it should be up to an independent panel to determine if that financial relationship is affecting the academic independence of the researcher. Contracts with academia should be ones that do not have any implicit or explicit strings attached, and should not be contingent on a certain performance level. Works Cited (1999, March 11). Research Involving Individuals with Questionable Capacity to Consent: . Retrieved June 20, 2009, from U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Web site: http://grants. nih. gov/grants/policy/questionablecapacity. htm Bero, L. (2003, June 11). Corporate and Economic Pressures on Academic Freedom. Retrieved June 20, 2009, from University of California Web site: http://www. universityofcalifornia. edu/senate/committees/ucaf/afforum/bero. pdf Chopra, S. (2003, July 2). Industry Funding of Clinical Trials: Benefit or Bias?. Retrieved June 20, 2009, from www. jama. ama-assn. org Web site: http://jama. ama-assn. org/cgi/reprint/290/1/113. pdf Goldbloom, D. S. Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry . Retrieved June 20, 2009, from Canadian Psychiatric Association Web site: http://ww1. cpa- apc. org:8080/publications/archives/bulletin/2003/october/editorialEn. asp Kapp, M. B. (2006). Ethical and legal issues in research involving human subjects: do you want a piece of me?. Retrieved June 20, 2009, from Journal of Clinical Pathology Web site: http://jcp. bmjjournals. com/cgi/content/full/59/4/335 Panacek, E Guidelines for Clinical Investigator Involvement in Industry-sponsored Clinical Trials. Retrieved June 20, 2009, from www. saem. org Web site: http://www. saem. org/download/edward. pdf

Report For The Child Protection Case Conference Social Work Essay

Report For The Child Protection Case Conference Social Work Essay This report is prepared for the use of a Child Protection Case Conference for the five members of the Jones family. The Jones family consists of Mark (25) And Sue (21) and their three children John (6), Emma (4) and David who is just 3 weeks old. The conference is being held to consider the extent to which the needs of John, Emma and David are being met, as also the risks to which they are exposed. With the Child Protection Conference being a meeting between the parents of children and the people from different agencies who know the family, this report aims to provide a brief detail of the family scenario and a reflective commentary on the family circumstances, suitably supported by the theoretical and practical knowledge of the author on the risks faced by the children and the framework chosen for such risk assessment. This introductory section is followed by a brief overview of the case, a reflective commentary and finally a summative section. 2. Brief Case Details The appendix to this report provides details about the family scenario and can be accessed by users of this report. To state very briefly, the Jones family has three children. John, the eldest child suffers from speech delays and is exhibiting behavioural difficulties at home and school. He demands individual attention and has tendencies for uncontrollable anger and physical violence with children as well as grownups. He has also exhibited delinquent behaviour and has been reported for shock lifting. Emma, the second child is good natured, loves going to school, has been assessed to be developmentally advanced and loves her father. David, the newly born is a premature child and is not in the best of health. It is difficult to feed him and he cries often. Mark Jones the father has a history of youth offence, criminal behaviour and domestic abuse. He has grown up in poor social and economic circumstances and is now working as a driver of heavy vehicles, a job that often keeps him away from home. Sue the mother, had her first child when she was 15 and suffered from post natal depression. Not in the best of health and having suffered from domestic abuse, she finds it difficult to take care of her three children. Whilst she comes from an affluent background, she has little contact with her parents, who disapprove of Mark. 3. Reflective Commentary Caring and protecting children is now at the very core of the social work system of the UK (Cleaver, 2004, p 14). Whilst the importance of protecting, nurturing and nourishing children and the need to provide them with appropriate environments for achievement of physical, emotional and mental development has always been felt to be important by policy makers in the UK, a number of episodes that have taken place over the years show that children continue to be exposed to various dangerous and need suitable protection. The deaths of Victoria Climbie and Aliyah Ismail in 2000 and 1998 (BBC News, 2005, p 1) created enormous media uproar and public outrage and led to numerous legal and policy measures that aimed to protect and safeguard children (Norton, 1999, p 1). The recent deaths of Baby Peter and Khyra Ishaq, who died in terrible circumstances, the first on account of violence at the home (Duncan, et al, 2008, p 1) and the second from starvation, revealed that children continue to be in danger and in need of protection and safety, both in and out of their households (Carter, 2010, p 1). Appendix 2 provides horrifying details on a number of children who experienced violence that resulted in serious injury and even death. I have, in these circumstances tried to synthesise the various legal and policy measures that are available in the UK for protection and safety of children as well as assessment of the risks to which they are exposed, for the consideration of the Child Protection Conference on the needs of the children of the Jones Family. The legislative framework for child protection in England and Wales is provided by the Children Act 1989, further amended by the Children Act 2004 (NSPCC, 2010b, p 4). The act defines harm as ill treatment or impairment of physical or mental health or physical, emotional, social, intellectual or behavioural development. The act also enshrines important principles. The paramountcy principle implies that the childs welfare should be paramount for decisions on his or her upbringing. The wishes and feelings of children should also be ascertained before the passing of any order (NSPCC, 2010b, p 4). All efforts should be made for preservation of the home and family links of children. The law also underlines the importance of parental responsibility in the bringing up of children (NSPCC, 2010b, p 4). A number of other acts like the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 and the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 also lay down the law on protection of children in different circumstances (NSPCC, 2010b, p 4). Apart from extensive legislation for safeguarding and protecting children, the government has introduced a series of policy measures after the death of Victoria Climbie and the publication of the Laming Report in 2003 (Department of Health, 2003, p 7). The Every Child Matters Programme details governmental policy for ensuring the safety, nourishment, growth and development of all children in the country (Department for Educationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2005, p 4). The guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children: a Guide to Inter-Agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children defines child abuse and neglect and provides guidance on the action that agencies should take to protect children. The Framework for the Assessment of Children in need and their Families provides guidance to professionals to identify children in need and ascertain the best possible ways of helping such children and their families (NSPCC, 2010a, p 3). The children in the Jones family are being currently challenged by difficult circumstances. Mark, the father has a job that keeps him away from home for long periods and he is thus not really able to help in household work or bringing up the children, except by financial support. He has a history of criminality and domestic violence. Even though it should be considered that he is undergoing an anger management programme in order to overcome his emotional instability. Sue, the mother is just 21 and has already had three children. She also has a history of post natal depression, which could possibly surface again after the birth of David, the youngest child who is not even a month old. Coming from an affluent family, with whom she is estranged for some years, she is obviously unused to the very difficult family circumstances in which she is placed and the responsibilities of a mother of three children. The chances of all three children being neglected is very high in these circumstance s, where the father is not at home most of the time and is trying to overcome his emotional instability and aggressive behaviour and the mother is prone to depression, physically tired and worn out and has been burdened with the responsibilities of caring for and bringing up three young children. The three children in the family face the real danger of physical and emotional neglect. Such neglect could specifically harm their physical, emotional and cognitive wellbeing and development, affect their performance at school, expose them to dangers of under nourishment and illness and severely affect their life chances (Howe, 2005, p 31). Neglected children are also more prone to truant behaviour and substance abuse. John the eldest child already suffers from speech problems, attachment disorders, attention seeking behavioural problems, uncontrolled anger and tendencies for violence. Such a situation could have arisen because of attention deficits in his early childhood years and greater attention being given to his younger sister by his father. John now poses a serious physical threat to his two younger siblings because of his rage and violent disposition. Emma and David are open to the risks of neglect, as well as physical harm. Whilst Emma is the favourite of the family and sha res very good relationships with her parents and may not therefore be exposed to neglect, the condition of the youngest child David is precarious. A premature child who is given to suffering from colic, David needs extra care, support and sustenance, which may clearly be beyond the ability and capacity of Sue, in her frame physical condition and her history of post natal depression. Apart from neglect, which could harm her physical and emotional development at a crucial period in her life, he also faces the threat of physical violence from John, who can well hurt him badly in a fit of rage, if his demands for attention are not met. I feel it to be very obvious that the three children in the Jones family are at considerable risk, all three from neglect and the younger two also from violence. The GIRFEC (getting it right for every child) model provides a new approach for identification and meeting of needs of children. The model places the wellbeing of children and provides a common framework for assessment, planning and intervention across all agencies (Lamey Rattray, 2009, p 2). Whilst the GIRFEC is a comprehensive model, it is specifically focused on taking the whole child approach, placing the child at the centre and keeping children emotionally and physically safe. Its ambit is thus broader than mere child protection (Lamey Rattray, 2009, p 2). It adopts a holistic view and an evidence based approach, wherein the participation and opinions of the child and parents are important for good outcomes. The model has three important components, namely the Wellbeing Indicators, My Word Triangle and the Resilience Matrix, which can be used both separately and together for finding the best solution for children in need (Lamey Rattray, 2009, p 2). The My Word Triangle in particular provides guidance to social workers on what children need from people who look after them. These include (a) everyday care and help, (b) keeping the child safe and (c) being there for the child. These three issues are specifically important for considering the circumstances of the three children of the Jones family (Lamey Rattray, 2009, p 2). 4. Summary and Conclusion This report has been prepared for the Child Protection Case Conference to consider the needs of the children of the Jones family, the extent to which they are being met and what more needs to be done to ensure the safety, development and growth of these children. Assessment of risk and ensuring safety of children is a vital element of current social work theory and practice in the UK. Extant legislation and programmes call upon social workers and other concerned agencies like the education and health services to work in close cooperation and collaboration with each other to ensure the safety and protection of children in need and at risk with the help of specific assessment frameworks, tools and processes. An application of the GIRFEC model reveals that the children of the Jones family could face difficulties on account of their parents not being able to provide adequate everyday care and help, keeping them safe and being there to ensure their physical and emotional care. These circu mstances become more ominous in light of the mothers frail health and past history of post natal depression, the frequent absence of the father from home on account of his work and the violent tendencies and behavioural problems of the eldest child. The conference must consider all these circumstances in order to appropriately assess the needs of the children and the extent to which they are being met and thereafter to plan for appropriate interventionist action. Bibliography BBC News, 2005, Climbie report urges childcare reform, Available at: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in/uk//victoria_climbie/default.stm (accessed February 28, 2011). Birchall Hallett, C., 1995, Working together in Child Protection, London: HMSO. Bodley, A., Risk Assessment and Child Protection, Creative Minds, Available at: www.mylearning.org/learning/science/Child%20Protection.pdf (accessed February 28, 2011). Brandon, M., Howe, H., Dagley, V., Salter, C., Warren, C., 2006, What appears to be helping or hindering Practitioners in Implementing the common assessment Framework and lead, Professional working Child abuse Review, 15: 395-413. Carter, H., 2010, The tragedy of Khyra Ishaqs death, Available at: www.guardian.co.uk//khyra-ishaq-starving-death-background (accessed February 28, 2011). Cleaver, H., Walker, S., 2004, Assessing childrens needs and Circumstances, London: Jessica Kingsley. Department of Health, 2000, Assessing children in need and their families: practice guidelines, London: the Stationery office. Department of Health, 2003, The Victoria Climbie Inquiry report of an inquiry by Lord Laming, Available at: www.dh.gov.uk à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃ‚  Home  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃ‚  Publications (accessed February 28, 2011). Department for Education and skills, 2005, Every Child Matters, Green paper London: HMSO Duncan, C., Jones, S., Brindle, D., 2008, 50 injuries, 60 visits failures that led to the death of Baby P, The Guardian, Available at: www.guardian.co.uk//baby-p-child-protection-haringey (accessed February 28, 2011). Ferguson, H., 2004, Protecting children in Time: child abuse, Child Protection and Consequences of Modernity, London: Palgrave McMillan. Howe, D., 2005, Child Abuse and Neglect: Attachment, Development and Intervention, London: Palgrave Macmillan. Lamey, R., Rattray, M., 2009, The Shetland Guide to GIRFEC, GIRFEC Project Team, Available at: www.shetland.gov.uk/socialwork-health//1GuidetoGIRFEC.pdf (accessed February 28, 2011). Norton, C., 1999, The sad life, grim death and terrible betrayal of Aliyah, 13, independent.co.uk, Available at: www.independent.co.uk à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃ‚  News  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃ‚  UK  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃ‚  Home News (accessed February 28, 2011). NSPCC, 2010a, The child protection system in the UK, National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children, Available at: www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform//child_protection_system_wdf76008.pdf (accessed February 28, 2011). NSPCC, 2010b, An introduction to child protection legislation in the UK, National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children, Available at: www.nspcc.org.uk//child_protection_legislation_in_the_uk_pdf_wdf48953.pdf (accessed February 28, 2011). Unity Injustice, 2005, A Child Protection System so secret it Kills, Available at: www.unity-injustice.co.uk/child_victims.htm (accessed February 28, 2011). Wilson, K., James, A., 2007, The child Protection Handbook, London: Bailliere Tindall Ward, H., 1998, Using a Child development Model to assess the outcomes of Social Work Interventions with Families, Children and Society, 12 (3): 202-211. Appendices Appendix 1 Child Protection Case Conference Based on the Jones Scenario. (To consider to what extent the needs of John, Emma and David are being met). The Jones Family: background January 2010 The Jones family recently moved out of a council flat in city to small town rural area. They are struggling to pay the mortgage on their two bedrooms flat. There is no outside play area, and the flat is accessed via outside stairs. Mark Dad- 25 years old. Mark has a criminal record as a youth offender. He has a history of domestic abuse and is undertaking an anger management program. He is employed as an HGV driver. He has a large extended family. Marks background is working class with poor socio-economic circumstances. Sue Mum 21years old. At age 15 Sue had postnatal depression which was not recognized. She has a poor relationship with her own parents. They are very affluent; Sues mother continually expressed her disappointment in Sue when she was growing up and does not approve of her relationship with Mark. Sue has never worked she is pregnant with her third child. John Son (of Mark and Sue) 6 years old John has severe attachment issues. He is exhibiting behavioural difficulties and has a significant speech delay. He has been identified as requiring Additional Support for Learning. Emma Daughter (of Mark and Sue) 4 years old Emma is the favoured child. She is an easy child to care for and loves going to the nursery where it has been noted that she is developmentally advanced. She has a very good relationship with her dad. The Scenario: sequence of events Scenario January 2010 John starts at the local primary having transferred from a large school in the city. He is in a composite class of 5 and 6 year olds and he is one of the oldest. John has a significant speech delay. March 2010 Records for John have been requested from his previous school but have still to arrive. Meanwhile, his teacher, Mrs Smith is having difficulty managing Johns behaviour. He is very demanding of individual attention and if this is not forthcoming he becomes very angry. He throws things around the classroom and over the past two weeks has hit three younger children. He has also kicked his teacher. He has been reported for shoplifting and has been grounded by his parents for bad behaviour. His anger is exacerbated because he has difficulty in communicating. Additional information April 2010 David was born prematurely last month, and was small for gestational age. He is difficult to feed and is very colicky. He cries a lot and is now 3 weeks old. Following the birth of David, Mary the health visitor has visited the family home to offer support and advice to Sue. Sue present as tired, flat and listless. The house is disorganised. Sue tells Mary that David is a really difficult baby to feed and that he cries constantly. Mark cannot help as his job takes him away from the family home for extended periods of time. On the rare occasions he is at home, he is tired, irritable and sleeps a lot. The situation in the home is not helped by the constant demands of John. However Emma is co-operative happy and helps her mother around the home and with the baby.

My Life :: Essays Papers

My Life Some people may be writing this essay not so much about themselves, but about the things that they do or the activities they enjoy. Ex. I listen to this band The Obnoxious Yellers, they are so great they yell and scream and its great music, I went to their concert the other day too it was so fun we got cotton candy and crown surfed and everything. This is not an essay about the writer, it is about someone else, and somewhere else. I intend on informing whoever is going to read this piece of who I am, why I am, what I am, and what I intend to become. I was born in Brooklyn, NY. I lived there for 2 years before moving to Greenwich, CT. Until now I never really thought much of the town, for I never really had a glimpse of any other aspect of living. Then through my adolescence, which technically I am still in, I traveled, for vacation and just for plain curiosity. I took the train to Philadelphia when I was 13 just to see what it was like, and returned later that day with a more enlightened state of mind. I have done the same for many towns through the years, and come to appreciate the surrounding that I live in now. It came to me when reading TIME magazine, I came upon an article that in on sentence compared one of the poorest living areas in the U.S., to one of the wealthiest ones. Compton Vs. Greenwich. After just seeing those two words together like that meant something, the writer was viewing Greenwich as top living conditions, and I’m here. Weird. I like to go out at night, I like to go to parties, I like to have parties, I do not like a night without a party. This summer I worked on the weekends at 6:30 in the morning which meant that the normal person would have to wake up pretty darn early, not me I would just find the party that was going to go on the longest and stay there all night until work. Typical amount of sleep from Friday to Sunday was 4 hours. That’s what I like to do, well at least after I figured out the meaning of life and decided not to hold anything back. Life was meant to be lived, we were not put here to work, or do anything for that matter.

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 14~15

Fourteen Molly Pine Cove was a decorative town – built for show – only one degree more functional than a Disneyland attraction and decidedly lacking in businesses and services that catered to residents rather than tourists. The business district included ten art galleries, five wine-tasting rooms, twenty restaur-ants, eleven gift and card shops, and one hardware store. The position of hardware clerk in Pine Cove was highly coveted by the town's retired male population, for nowhere else could a man posture well past his prime, pontificate, and generally indulge in the arrogant self-important chest-pounding of an alpha male without having a woman intercede to remind him that he was patently full of shit. Crossing the threshold of Pine Cove Hardware and breaking the beam that rang the bell was tantamount to setting off a testosterone alarm, and if they'd had their way, the clerks would have constructed a device to at-omize the corners with urine every time the bell tolled. Or at least that's the way it seemed to Molly when she entered that Saturday morning. The clerks, three men, broke from their heated argument on the finer points of installing a wax toilet seal ring to stare, snicker, and make snide comments under their breath about the woman who had entered their domain. Molly breezed past the counter, focusing on an aisle display of gopher poison to avoid eye contact. Raucous laughter erupted from the clerks when she turned down the aisle for roofing supplies. The clerks, Frank, Bert, and Les – all semiretired, balding, paunchy, and generally interchangeable, except that Frank wore a belt to hold up his double knits, while the other two sported suspenders fashioned to look like yellow measuring tape – planned to make Molly beg. Oh, they'd let her wander around for a while, let her try to comprehend the arcane func-tion of the gizmos, geegaws, and widgets binned and bubble-wrapped around the store. Then she would have to come back to the counter and submit. It was Frank's turn to do the condescending, and he would do his best to drop-kick her ego before finally leading the little lady to the appro-priate product, where he would continue to question her into full humili-ation. â€Å"Well, is it a sheet metal screw or a wood screw? Three-eighths or seven-sixteenths? Do you have a hex head screwdriver? Well, then, you'll need one, won't you? Are you sure you wouldn't rather just call someone to do this for you?† Tears and/ or sniffles from the customer would signal victory and confirm superior status for the male race. Frank, Bert, and Les watched Molly on the security monitor, exchanged some comments about her breasts, laughed nervously after five minutes passed without her surrender, and tried to look busy when she emerged from the aisle carrying a five-gallon can of roof-patching tar, a roll of fiberglass fabric, and a long-handled squeegee. Molly stood at the counter, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Bert and Les squinted into a catalog set on a rotating stand while concentrating on sucking in their guts. Frank manned the register and pretended he was doing something complex on the keyboard, when, in fact, he was just making it beep. Molly cleared her throat. Frank looked up as if he'd just noticed she was there. â€Å"Find everything you need?† â€Å"I think so,† Molly said, taking both hands to lift the heavy can of tar onto the counter. â€Å"You need some resin for that fiberglass fabric?† Les said. â€Å"And some hardener?† Bert said. Frank snickered. â€Å"Some what?† Molly said. â€Å"You can't patch a trailer roof with that stuff, miss. You live down at the Fly Rod, don't you?† They all knew who she was and where she lived. She was often the subject of hardware store gossip and speculation, even though she'd never set foot in there before today. â€Å"I'm not going to patch a roof.† â€Å"Well, you can't use that on a driveway. You need asphalt sealer, and it should be applied with a brush, not a squeegee.† â€Å"How much do I owe you?† Molly said. â€Å"You should wear a respirator when you work with fiberglass. You have one at home, right?† Bert asked. â€Å"Yeah, right next to the elves and the gnomes,† Les said. Molly didn't flinch. â€Å"He's right,† Frank said. â€Å"Those fibers get down in your lungs and they could do you a world of harm, especially with those lungs.† The clerks all laughed at the joke. â€Å"I've got a respirator out in the truck,† Les said. â€Å"I could come by after work and give you a hand with your little project.† â€Å"That would be great,† Molly said. â€Å"What time?† Les balked. â€Å"Well, I, um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'll pick up some beer.† Molly smiled. â€Å"You guys should come along too. I could really use the help.† â€Å"Oh, I think Les can handle it, can't you, Les?† Frank said as he hit the total key. â€Å"That comes to thirty-seven sixty-five with tax.† Molly counted her money out on the counter. â€Å"So I'll see you tonight?† Les swallowed hard and forced a smile. â€Å"You bet,† he said. â€Å"Thanks then,† Molly said brightly. Then she picked up her supplies and headed for the door. As she broke the doorbell beam, Frank whispered â€Å"Crazy slut† under his breath. Molly stopped, turned slowly, and winked. Once she was outside, the clerks made miserable old white guy attempts at trading high-fives while patting Les on the back. It was a hardware store fantasy fulfilled – much better than just humiliating a woman, Les would get to humiliate her and get her naked as well. For some reason they'd all been feeling a little randy lately, thinking about sex almost as often as power tools. â€Å"My wife is going to kill me,† Les said. â€Å"What she don't know won't hurt her,† the other two said in unison. Theo Theo actually felt his stomach lurch when he went into his victory garden and clipped a handful of sticky buds from his pot plants. They weren't for himself this time, but the reminder of how much this little patch of plants ruled his life made him ill. And how was it that he hadn't felt the need to fire up his Sneaky Pete for three days? A twenty-year drug habit suddenly ends? No withdrawal, no side effects, no cravings? The freedom was almost nauseating. It was as if the Weirdness Fairy had landed in his life with a thump, popped him on the head with a rubber chicken, bit him on the shin, then went off to inflict herself on the rest of Pine Cove. He stuffed the marijuana into a plastic bag, tucked it into his jacket pocket, and climbed into the Volvo for the forty-mile drive to San Junipero. He was going to have to enter the bowels of the county justice building and face the Spider to find out what he wanted to know. The pot was grease for the Spider. He would stop by a convenience store on the way down and pick up a bag full of snacks to augment the bribe. The Spider was difficult, arrogant, and downright creepy, but he was a cheap date. Through the safety-glass window, Theo could see the Spider sitting in the middle of his web: five computer screens with data scrolling across them illuminated the Spider with an ominous blue glow. The only other light in the room came from tiny red and green power indicator lights that shone through the darkness like crippled stars. Without looking away from his screens, the Spider buzzed Theo in. â€Å"Crowe,† the Spider said, not looking up. â€Å"Lieutenant,† Theo said. â€Å"Call me Nailgun,† the Spider said. His name was Irving Nailsworth and his official position in the San Juni-pero Sheriff's Department was chief technical officer. He was five-foot-five inches tall, weighed three hundred and thirty pounds, and had taken to wearing a black beret when he perched in his web. Early on, Nailsworth had seen that nerds would rule the world, and he had staked out his own little information fiefdom in the basement of the county jail. Nothing happened without the Spider knowing about it. He monitored and con-trolled all the information that moved about the county, and before anyone recognized what sort of power that afforded, he had made himself indis-pensable to the system. He had never arrested a suspect, touched a firearm, or set foot in a patrol car, yet he was the third-highest-ranking officer on the force. Besides a taste for raw data, the Spider had weaknesses for junk food, Internet porn, and high-quality marijuana. The latter was Theo's key to the Spider's lair. He put the plastic Baggie on the keyboard in front of Nails-worth. Still without looking at Theo, the Spider opened the bag and sniffed, pinched a bud between his fingers, then folded the bag up and stuffed it into his shirt pocket. â€Å"Nice,† he said. â€Å"What do you need?† He peeled the marshmallow cap off a Hostess Sno Ball, shoved it into his mouth, then threw the cake into a wastebasket at his feet. Theo set the bag of snacks down next to the wastebasket. â€Å"I need the autopsy report on Bess Leander.† The Nailgun nodded, no easy task for a man with no discernible neck. â€Å"And?† Theo wasn't sure what questions to ask. Nailsworth seldom volunteered information, you had to ask the right question. It was like talking to a rotund Sphinx. â€Å"I was wondering if you could come up with something that might help me find Mikey Plotznik.† Theo knew he didn't have to explain. The Spider would know all about the missing kid. The Spider reached into the bag at his feet and pulled out a Twinkie. â€Å"Let me pull up the autopsy.† His fat fingers flew over the keyboard. â€Å"You need a printout?† â€Å"That would be nice.† â€Å"It doesn't show you as the investigating officer.† â€Å"That's why I came to you. The M.E.'s office wouldn't let me see the report.† â€Å"Says here cause of death was cardiac arrest due to asphyxiation. Suicide.† â€Å"Yes, she hung herself.† â€Å"I don't think so.† â€Å"I saw the body.† â€Å"I know. Hanging in the dining room.† â€Å"So what do you mean, you don't think so? â€Å"The ligature marks on her neck were postmortem, according to this. Neck wasn't broken, so she didn't drop suddenly.† Theo squinted at the screen, trying to make sense of the data. â€Å"There were heel marks on the wall. She had to have hung herself. She was depressed, taking Zoloft for it.† â€Å"Not according to the toxicology.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"They ran the toxicology for antidepressants because you put it on the report, but there was nothing.† â€Å"It says suicide right there.† â€Å"Yes, it does, but the date doesn't corroborate the timing. Looks like she had a heart attack. Then she hung herself afterward.† â€Å"So she was murdered?† â€Å"You wanted to see the report. It says cardiac arrest. But ultimately, cardiac arrest is what kills everyone. Catch a bullet in the head, get hit by a car, eat some poison. The heart tends to stop.† â€Å"Eat some poison?† â€Å"Just an example, Crowe. It's not my field. If I were you, I'd check and see if she had a history of heart problems.† â€Å"You said it wasn't your field.† â€Å"It's not.† The Spider hit a key and a laser printer whirred in the darkness somewhere. â€Å"I don't have much on the kid. I could give you the subscription list for his paper route.† Theo realized that he had gotten all he was going to get on Bess Leander. â€Å"I have that. How about giving me any known baby-rapers in the area?† â€Å"That's easy.† The Spider's fingers danced over the keyboard. â€Å"You think the kid was snatched?† â€Å"I don't know shit,† Theo said. The Spider said, â€Å"No known pedophiles in Pine Cove. You want the whole county?† â€Å"Why not?† The laser printer whirred and the Spider pointed through the dark at the noise. â€Å"Everything you want is back there. That's all I can do for you.† â€Å"Thanks, Nailgun, I appreciate it.† Theo felt a chronic case of the creeps going up his spine. He took a step into the dark and found the papers sitting in the tray of the laser printer. Then he stepped to the door. â€Å"You wanna buzz me out?† The Spider swiveled in his chair and looked at Theo for the first time. Theo could see his piggy eyes shining out of deep craters. â€Å"You still live in that cabin by the Beer Bar Ranch?† â€Å"Yep,† Theo said. â€Å"Eight years now.† â€Å"Never been on the ranch, though, have you?† â€Å"No.† Theo cringed. Could the Spider know about Sheriff Burton's hold over him? â€Å"Good,† the Spider said. â€Å"Stay out of there. And Theo?† â€Å"Yeah?† â€Å"Sheriff Burton has been checking with me on everything that comes out of Pine Cove. After the Leander death and the truck blowing up, he got very jumpy. If you decide to pursue the Leander thing, stay low-key.† Theo was amazed. The Spider had actually volunteered information. â€Å"Why?† was all he could say. â€Å"I like the herb you bring me.† The Spider patted his shirt pocket. Theo smiled. â€Å"You won't tell Burton you gave me the autopsy report?† â€Å"Why would I?† said the Spider. â€Å"Take care,† Theo said. The Spider turned back to his screens and buzzed the door. Molly Molly wasn't so sure that life as Pine Cove's Crazy Lady wasn't harder than being a Warrior Babe of the Outland. Things were pretty clear for a Warrior Babe: you ran around half-naked looking for food and fuel and occasionally kicked the snot out of some mutants. There was no subterfuge or rumor. You didn't have to guess whether or not the Sand Pirates ap-proved of your behavior. If they approved, they staked you out and tortured you. If they didn't they called you a bitch, then they staked you out and tortured you. They might release starving radioactive cockroaches on you or burn you with hot pokers, they might even gang-rape you (in foreign-release directors'cuts only), but you always knew where you stood with Sand Pirates. And they never tittered. Molly had had all the tittering she could handle for the day. At the pharmacy, they had tittered. Four elderly women worked the counter at Pine Cove Drug and Gift, while above them, behind his glass window, Winston Krauss, the dolphin-molesting pharmacist, lorded over them like a rooster over a barnyard full of hens. It didn't seem to matter to Winston that his four hens couldn't make change or answer the simplest question, nor that they would retreat to the back room when anyone younger than thirty entered the pharmacy, lest they have to sell something embarrassing like condoms. What mattered to Winston was that his hens worked for minimum wage and treated him like a god. He was behind glass; tittering didn't bother him. The hens started tittering when Molly hit the door and broke titter only when she came to the counter with an entire case of economy-sized Neosporin ointment. â€Å"Are you sure, dear?† they kept asking, refusing to take Molly's money. â€Å"Perhaps we should ask Winston. This seems like an awful lot.† Winston had disappeared among the shelves of faux-antidepressants when Molly entered the store. He wondered if he should have ordered some faux-antipsychotics as well. Val Riordan hadn't said. â€Å"Look,† Molly finally said, â€Å"I'm nuts. You know it, I know it, Winston knows it. But in America it is your right to be nuts. I get a check from the state every month because I'm nuts. The state gives me money so I can buy whatever I need to continue being nuts, and right now I need this case of ointment. So ring it up so I can go be nuts somewhere else. Okay?† The hens huddled and tittered. â€Å"Or do I need to buy a case of those huge fluorescent orange prelubricated condoms with the deely-bobbers on the tip and blow them up in your card section.† You never have to get this tough with Sand Pirates, Molly thought. The hens broke their huddle and looked up in terror. â€Å"I hear they're like thousands of tiny fingers, urging you to let go,† Molly added. Between the four of them it only took ten minutes more to ring up Molly's order and figure her change within the nearest dollar. As Molly was leaving, she turned and said, â€Å"In the Outland, you would have all been made into jerky a long time ago.† Fifteen Steve Getting blown up had put the Sea Beast in a deep blue funk. Sometimes when he felt this way, he would swim to the edge of a coral reef and lie there in the sand while neon cleaner fish nipped at the parasites and algae on his scales. His flanks flashed a truce of color to let the little fish know that they were safe as they darted in and out of his mouth, grabbing bits of food and grunge like tiny dental hygienists. In turn, they emanated an electromagnetic message that translated roughly to: â€Å"I won't be a minute, sorry to bother you, please don't eat me.† He was getting a similar message from the warmblood that was ministering to his burns, and he flashed the truce of color along his sides to confirm that he understood. He couldn't pick up the intentions of all warmbloods, but this one was wired differently. He could sense that she meant him no harm and was even going to bring him food. He understood that when she made the â€Å"Steve† sound, she was talking to him. â€Å"Steve,† Molly said, â€Å"stop making those colors. Do you want the neighbors to see? It's broad daylight.† She was on a stepladder with a paintbrush. To the casual observer, she was painting her neighbor's trailer. In fact, she was applying great gobs of Neosporin oint ment to the Sea Beast's back. â€Å"You'll heal faster with this stuff on you, and it doesn't sting.† After she had covered the charred parts of the trailer with ointment, she draped fiberglass fabric on as bandages and began ladling roof-patching tar over the fabric. Several of her neighbors looked out their windows, dismissed her actions as more eccentricities of a crazy woman, then went back to their afternoon game shows. Molly was spreading the roofing tar over the fiberglass bandages with a squeegee when she heard a vehicle pull up in front of her trailer. Les, the hardware guy, got out of the truck, adjusted his suspenders, and headed toward her, looking a little nervous, but resolved. A light dew of sweat shone on his bald head, despite the autumn chill in the air. â€Å"Little lady, what are you doing? I thought you were going to wait for me to help you.† Molly came down from her ladder and stood with the squeegee at port arms while it dripped black goo. â€Å"I wanted to get going on this before dark. Thanks for coming.† She smiled sweetly – a leftover movie star smile. Les escaped the smile to hardware land. â€Å"I can't even tell what you're trying to do here, but whatever it is, it looks like you mucked it up pretty bad already.† â€Å"No, come here and look at this.† Les moved cautiously to Molly's side and looked up at the trailer. â€Å"What the hell is this thing made of anyway? Up close it looks like plastic or something.† â€Å"Maybe you should look at it from the inside,† Molly said. â€Å"The damage is more obvious in there.† The hardware clerk leered. Molly felt him trying to stare through her sweatshirt. â€Å"Well, if that's what you think. Let's go inside and have a look.† He started toward the door of the trailer. Molly grabbed his shoulder. â€Å"Wait a second. Where are the keys to your truck?† â€Å"I leave 'em in it. Why? This town is safe.† â€Å"No reason, just wondering.† Molly dazzled him with another smile. â€Å"Why don't you go on in? I'll be in as soon as I get some of this tar off of my hands.† â€Å"Sure thing, missy,† Les said. He toddled toward the front door like a man badly in need of a rest room. Molly backed away toward Les's truck. When the hardware clerk laid a hand on the door handle, Molly called, â€Å"Steve! Lunch!† â€Å"My name isn't Steve,† Les said. â€Å"No,† Molly said, â€Å"you're the other one.† â€Å"Les, you mean?† â€Å"No, lunch.† Molly gave him one last smile. Steve recognized the sound of his name and felt the thought around the word â€Å"lunch† Les felt something wet wrap around his legs and opened his mouth to scream just as the tip of the serpent's tongue wrapped his face, cutting off his air. The last thing he saw was the bare breasts of the fallen scream queen, Molly Michon, as she lifted her sweatshirt to give him a farewell flash before he was slurped into the waiting maw of the Sea Beast. Molly heard the bones crunch and cringed. Boy, sometimes it just pays to be a nutcase, she thought. That sort of thing might bother a sane person. One of the windows in the front of the dragon trailer closed slowly and opened, a function of the Sea Beast pushing his meal down his throat, but Molly took it for a wink. Estelle Dr. Val's office had always represented a little island of sanity to Estelle, a sophisticated status quo, always clean, calm, orderly, and well appointed. Like many artists, Estelle lived in an atmosphere of chaotic funk, taken by observers to be artistic charm, but in fact no more than a civilized way of dealing with the relative poverty and uncertainly of cannibalizing one's imagination for money. If you had to spill your guts to someone, it was nice to do it in a place that wasn't spattered with paint and covered with canvases that beckoned to be finished. Dr. Val's office was an escape, a pause, a comfort. But not today. After being sent in to the inner office, before she even sat down in one of the leather guest chairs, Estelle said, â€Å"Your assistant is wearing oven mitts, did you know that?† Valerie Riordan, for once with a few hairs out of place, rubbed her temples, looked at her desk blotter, and said, â€Å"I know. She has a skin condition.† â€Å"But they're taped on with duct tape.† â€Å"It's a very bad skin condition. How are you today?† Estelle looked back toward the door. â€Å"Poor thing. She seemed out of breath when I came in. Has she seen a doctor?† â€Å"Chloe will be fine, Estelle. Her typing skills may even improve.† Estelle sensed that Dr. Val was not having a good day and decided to let the assistant in oven mitts pass. â€Å"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice. I know it's been a while since we've had a session, but I really felt I need to talk to someone. My life has gotten a little weird lately.† â€Å"There's a lot of that going around,† Dr. Val said, doodling on a legal pad as she spoke. â€Å"What's up?† â€Å"I've met a man.† Dr. Val looked up for the first time. â€Å"You have?† â€Å"He's a musician. A Bluesman. He's been playing at the Slug. I met him there. We've been, well, he's been staying at my place for the last couple of days.† â€Å"And how do you feel about that?† â€Å"I like it. I like him. I haven't been with a man since my husband died. I thought I would feel like, well, like I was betraying him. But I don't. I feel great. He's funny, and he has this sense of, I don't know, wisdom. Like he's seen it all, but he hasn't become cynical. He seems sort of bemused by the hardships in life. Not at all like most people.† â€Å"But what about you?† â€Å"I think I love him.† â€Å"Does he love you?† â€Å"I think so. But he says he's going to leave. That's what's bothering me. I finally got used to being alone, and now that I found someone, he's going to leave me because he's afraid of a sea monster.† Valerie Riordan dropped her pen and slumped in her chair – a very unprofessional move, Estelle thought. â€Å"Excuse me?† Val said. â€Å"A sea monster. We were at the beach the other night, and something came up out of the water. Something big. We ran for the car, and later Catfish told me that he was once chased by a sea monster down in the Delta and that it had come back to get him. He says he doesn't want other people to get hurt, but I think he's just afraid. He thinks the monster will come back as long as he's on the coast. He's trying to get a gig in Iowa, as far from the coast as he can get. Do you think he's just afraid to commit? I read a lot about that in the women's magazines.† â€Å"A sea monster? Is that a metaphor for something? Some Blues term that I'm not getting?† â€Å"No, I think it's a reptile, at least the way he describes it. I didn't get a good look at it. It ate his best friend when he was a young man. I think he's running away from the guilt. What do you think?† â€Å"Estelle, there's no such thing as sea monsters.† â€Å"Catfish said that no one would believe me.† â€Å"Catfish?† â€Å"That's his name. My Bluesman. He's very sweet. He has a sense of gallantry that you don't see much anymore. I don't think it's an act. He's too old for that. I didn't think I would ever feel this way again. These are girl feelings, not woman feelings. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I want to have his grandchildren.† â€Å"Grandchildren?† â€Å"Sure, he's had his days with the booze and the hos, but I think he's ready to settle down.† â€Å"The booze and the hos?† Dr. Val seemed to have gone into some sort of fugue state, working on a stunned psychiatrist autopilot where all she could do was parrot what Estelle said back in the form of a question. Estelle needed more input than this. â€Å"Do you think I should tell the authorities?† â€Å"About the booze and the hos?† â€Å"The sea monster. That Plotznik boy is missing, you know?† Dr. Val made a show of straightening her blouse and assuming a controlled, staid, professional posture. â€Å"Estelle, I think we may need to adjust your medication.† â€Å"I haven't been taking it. But I feel fine. Catfish says that if Prozac had been invented a hundred years ago there wouldn't have been any Blues at all. Just a lot of happy people with no soul. I tend to agree with him. The antidepressants served their purpose for me after Joe died, but I'm not sure I need them now. I even feel like I could get some painting done – if I can find some time away from sex.† Dr. Val winced. â€Å"I was thinking of something besides antidepressants, Estelle. You obviously are dealing with some serious changes right now. I'm not sure how to proceed. Do you think that Mr., uh, Catfish would mind coming to a session with you?† â€Å"That might be tough. He doesn't like your mojo.† â€Å"My mojo?† â€Å"Not your mojo in particular. Just psychiatrist's mojo in general. He spent a little time in a mental hospital in Mississippi after the monster ate his friend. He didn't care for the staff's mojo.† Estelle realized that her vocabulary, even her way of thinking, had changed over the last few days, the result of immersion in Catfish's Blues world. The doctor was rubbing her temples again. â€Å"Estelle, let's make another appointment for tomorrow or the next day. Tell Chloe to add it on at the end of the day if I'm booked up. And try to bring your gentleman along with you. In the meantime, assure him that my practice is mojo-free, would you?† Estelle stood. â€Å"Can that little girl write with those oven mitts on?† â€Å"She'll manage.† â€Å"So what should I do? I don't want him to go. But I feel like I've lost a part of myself by falling in love. I'm happy, but I don't know who I am anymore. I'm worried.† Estelle realized that she was starting to whine and looked at her shoes, ashamed. â€Å"That's our time, Estelle. Let's save this for our next appointment.† â€Å"Right. Should I tell the constable about the sea monster?† â€Å"Let's hold off on that for now. These things have a way of taking care of themselves.† â€Å"Thanks, Dr. Val. I'll see you tomorrow.† â€Å"Good-bye, Estelle.† Estelle left the office and stopped at Chloe's desk outside. The girl was gone, but there were animal noises coming from the bathroom just down the hall. Perhaps she had caught one of the oven mitts on her nose ring. Poor thing. Estelle went to the bathroom door and knocked lightly. â€Å"Are you okay in there, dear? Do you need some help?† The answer came back in high moan. â€Å"I'm fine. Really fine. Thanks. Oh my God!† â€Å"You're sure?† â€Å"No, that's all right!† â€Å"I'm supposed to make an appointment for tomorrow or the next day. The doctor said to pencil it in late if you have to.† Estelle could hear thumping noises coming from the bathroom, and it sounded as if the medicine cabinet had dumped. â€Å"Oh wow! Wow! Oh wow!† The scheduling must really have been tight. â€Å"I'm sorry. I won't bother you anymore. Call me to confirm, would you, dear?† Estelle left Valerie Riordan's house even more unsettled than she had come in, thinking that it had been quite some time, half a day anyway, since she had had her skinny Bluesman between the sheets. Dr. Val Val had a break between appointments, time in which to reflect on her suspicion that by taking everyone in Pine Cove off antidepressants, she had turned the town into a squirrel's nest. Estelle Boyet had always been a tad eccentric, it was part of her artist persona, but Val had never seen this as unhealthy. On the contrary, the self-image of an eccentric artist seemed to help Estelle get over losing her husband. But now the woman was raving about sea monsters, and worse, she was getting involved in a relationship with a man that could only be construed as self-destructive. Could people – rational adult people – still fall in love like that? Could they still feel like that? Val wanted to feel like that. For the first time since her divorce, it occurred to her that she actually wanted to be involved again with a man. No, not just involved, in love. She pulled her Rolodex from the desk drawer and thumbed through it until she found the number of her psychiatrist in San Junipero. She had been in analysis all through med school and residency, it was an integral part of the training of any psychiatrist, but she hadn't seen her therapist in over five years. Maybe it was time. What sort of cynicism had come over her, that she was interpreting the desire to fall in love as a condition requiring treatment? Maybe her cynicism was the problem. Of course she couldn't tell him about what she had done to her patients, but perhaps†¦ A red light blinked on the tiny LED panel on her phone and the incoming call, screened by Chloe, who had obviously taken a short break from her self-abuse, scrolled across the screen. Constable Crowe, line one. Speaking of squirrels. She picked up the phone. â€Å"Dr. Riordan.† â€Å"Hi, Dr. Riordan, this is Theo Crowe. I just called to tell you that you were right.† â€Å"Thank you for calling, Constable. Have a nice day.† â€Å"You were right about Bess Leander not taking the antidepressants. I just got a look at the toxicology report. There was no Zoloft in her system.† Val stopped breathing. â€Å"Doctor, are you there?† All her worries about the drugs, this whole perverse plan, all the extra sessions, the long hours, the guilt, the friggin' guilt, and Bess Leander hadn't been taking her medication at all. Val felt sick to her stomach. â€Å"Doctor?† Theo said. Val forced herself to take a deep breath. â€Å"Why? I mean, when? It's been over a month. When did you find this out?† â€Å"Just today. I wasn't given access to the autopsy report. No one was. I'm sorry it took so long.† â€Å"Well, thank you for letting me know, Constable. I appreciate it.† She prepared to ring off. â€Å"Dr. Riordan, don't you have to get a medical history on your patients before you prescribe anything?† â€Å"Yes. Why?† â€Å"Do you know if Bess Leander had any heart problems?† â€Å"No, physically she was a very healthy woman, as far as I know. Why?† â€Å"No reason,† Theo said. â€Å"Oh yeah, I never got your thoughts on the information I shared at breakfast. About Joseph Leander. I was still wondering if you had any thoughts?† The whole world had flip-flopped. Val had stone-walled up to now on Bess Leander because she had assumed that her own negligence had had something to do with Bess's death. What now, though? Really, she didn't know much about Bess at all. She said, â€Å"What exactly do you want from me, Constable?† â€Å"I just need to know, did she suspect her husband of having an affair? Or give you any indication that she might be afraid of him?† â€Å"Are you saying what I think you are saying? You don't think Bess Leander committed suicide?† â€Å"I'm not saying that. I'm just asking.† Val searched her memory. What had Bess Leander said about her hus-band? â€Å"I remember her saying that she felt he was uninvolved in their family life and that she had laid down the law to him.† â€Å"Laid down the law? In what way?† â€Å"She told him that because he refused to put the toilet seat down, he was going to have to sit down to pee from now on.† â€Å"That's it?† â€Å"That's all I can remember. Joseph Leander is a salesman. He was gone a lot. I think Bess felt that he was somewhat of an intrusion on her and the girls' lives. It wasn't a healthy relationship.† As if there is such a thing, Val thought. â€Å"Are you investigating Joseph Leander?† â€Å"I'd rather not say,† Theo said. â€Å"Do you think I should be?† â€Å"You're the policeman, Mr. Crowe.† â€Å"I am? Oh, right, I am. Anyway, thanks, Doctor. By the way, my friend Gabe thought you were, uh, interesting, I mean, charming. I mean, he enjoyed talking with you.† â€Å"He did?† â€Å"Don't tell him I said so.† â€Å"Of course. Good-bye, Constable.† Val hung up and sat back in her chair. She had unnecessarily put an entire town in emotional chaos, committed a basketful of federal crimes as well as breaking nearly every ethical standard in her field, and one of her patients had possibly been murdered, but she felt, well, sort of excited. Charming, she thought. He found me charming. I wonder if he really said â€Å"charming† or if Theo was just making that up – the pothead. Charming. She smiled and buzzed Chloe to send in her next appointment.

Analysis Of A Cosmetics Advertisement

Analysis Of A Cosmetics Advertisement Free Online Research Papers Question: Select a full page advertisement from either a newspaper of a magazine and do a semiotic analysis of how the representation ‘works’. To whom is the advertisement addressing, and the whom is the message directed? Advertisements are a rich source for semiotic analysis. The term semiotics derives from the Greek word semeion meaning sign. The birth of the science of semiotics can be attributed mainly to the work of two men, the American philosopher Charles Peirce, and the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. The meaning of a sign is not contained within itself, or as Daniel Chandler says, the message is not the meaning but arises in its interpretation and context (Chandler, 1998: WWW). Semiotics therefore refers to a kind of social interaction between the individual as a meaning maker and the sign offering different interpretations. The semiotic analysis of advertising believes that meanings of adverts are to move out from the page, to lend significance to our experience of reality. We are encouraged to experience the advertised, in terms of the mythic meanings on which adverts draw (Bignell, 1997: 33). Successful advertisements commonly combine textual and visual images to produce a maximum effect of persuasion on the directed audience. However, these effects will predominantly materialize with individuals who identify with and share the same cultural knowledge. Nonetheless, cultural knowledge is more than simply comprehending what the codes signify; it is developing and maintaining an awareness of the things that might be suggested by the code through systems of difference, denotations and connotations (O’Shaughnessy Stadler, 1998: 82). What follows is a semiological analysis of a Clarins advertisement for a fragrance in women’s magazine, Harper’s Bazzaar, Australia. This Clarins advertisement reveals values and standards, as well as ideological attitudes present amongst women in contemporary Australia. Language is linear; we select from groups of similar terms (paradigms) and chain the selection together in an ordered sequence (syntagm). In the Clarins ad, the paradigm for the word ‘tranquillity’ may include; silence, unconsciousness, coolness, composure or even the after effects of drugs. However, the connotations of ‘tranquillity’ are associated with peacefulness, freshness, serenity, contentment, harmony, soothing; words which create and establish pleasant feelings. Saussure suggests that each instant of communication (parole) is drawn from a total system (langue) which must exist for possible performance. Hence, in order to communicate, we must be competent in the general language system to associate signs to meanings. Furthermore, colour signs contribute to effective communication. The Clarins ad is composed largely of light blue, selected from a paradigm of colours. Like all signs, these colour signs work at two different levels: denotations and con notations. The ad denotes a rounded bottle sitting on a water surface, whilst the light blue affect emphasizes the theme of ‘tranquillity’. Research reveals that colours have subconscious psychological significance, accordingly â€Å"Dark Blue represents ‘Depth of Feeling’ and it has emotional correspondence with tranquillity, calmness, recharging, contentment, tenderness, unification, sensitivity, love and affection† (Chandler, 1998: WWW). Consequently, the Clarins advertisement is a form of propaganda designed to appeal to the audience by means of establishing a sense of pleasure. The colour red is used effectively to pursue its purpose. Blood red is associated with vibrancy, rage, passion, stimulation, excitement, desire and liveliness. The contrast of the red against the light blue disrupts viewers from the position and ambience created by the blue. The red connotes the trendiness of the fragrance, as well as promoting the make Clarins. Viewers ’ acknowledge that although the fragrance is ‘cool’, the product is ‘hot and in’. Furthermore, the demeanour of the fragrance can be semiotically analysed. The bottle appears to be floating on blue surface, connoting water. It is lying back in a relaxed motion. This suggests the ease and freedom of the fragrance. Signs communicate through a system of difference, for example, if the bottle of perfume was presented lying flat down onto a brown surface, the entire meaning would change. Instead of tranquillity and cleanliness, the perfume would look dirty and unattractive. Hence, text, colour and demeanour are all carefully selected and combined. These paradigmatic and syntagmatic dimensions of language are crucial operations of communication, in that they structure its possibilities. Subsequently, the signifier and the signified are culturally shared and arbitrary; they depend on cultural knowledge. Further research shows that this knowledge is influenced by all sorts of social forces such as traditions, fads, politics, cultural norms and so forth. As aforementioned, the colour blue in the Clarins advertisement connotes water. However, the audience are not told that the blue surface is water. An interpretation of it as water is dependant on the context. The audience are not consciously aware of this ‘natural’ association. Roland Barthes refers to this naturalised cultural knowledge as a myth (Barthes, 1977: 32). According to Barthes, myths are powerful messages circulating in society. They appear to be natural, inevitable and normal when they are particular beliefs that circulate as a type of social maintenance. Myths work with pre-existing denotative language, distorting and stressing certain language and beliefs (Barthes, 1977: 32). In exemplificat ion of this, in the Clarins ad, the perfume denotes a certain fragrance in a rounded blue bottle, while its connotations are of beauty, remembrance, freshness, pleasant aroma, identity and stylishness. Hence, the sign ‘perfume’ is also part of an older set of myths which might include class, status, courtships, gender relationships, identity and remembrance. â€Å"The basic denoted meaning is greatly embellished and interrelated with other social value systemsA mythic method is superimposed on the ordinary meaning† (Chandler, 1998: WWW). Each image contains an implied view of society, of the world and our roles in it. These images reveal sets of values, beliefs and feelings that together offer an ideological view of the world (O’Shaughnessy Stadler, p.96). Ads often present ‘ideal’ situations to create pleasure. The Clarins ad offers us an image of a stylish yet relaxed fragrance. These feel-good feelings present the ideology of happiness and contentment. This image is conveyed through the signs and signifiers whose connotations are discussed earlier. Each instance (parole) of communication shows us parts of the implied whole. This is described as metonymy in semiology (O’Sullivan, 1994). â€Å"Metonyms are signs in which one part or element stands for something larger†. For example, the physical bottle of perfume in the Clarins ad can be interpreted as metonym for a woman. The implied narrative is: any woman using the perfume will feel a sense of contentment, balance, tranquillity and in essence, beauty. The bottle is lying back connoting any freedom and relaxation. The shade of the lid is cream, which may connote the woman’s facial skin colour. Hence, women viewers will spontaneously identify and empathize with the fragrant bottle. Due to the reason that the advertisement is located in the social context is of a leading woman’s magazine, relaxation and personal pampering proves to be a winner. Also, Clarins is a French brand and the French are world leaders in fashion. The ad connects to ideologies of happiness and ideologies of being a successful and modern (‘new’) woman. The ad connects to contemporary values through its use of signs and how their paradigmatic meanings are multiplied up syntagmatically through the selection and combination of those signs and codes. Finally, the Clarins ad proves to be successful because the signifier is effectively signified. The context of a women’s magazine is suitable in organizing what the ad ‘implies’ to its most predominantly female audience. Viewers spontaneously decode the ad because the signs used are culturally recognized which incorporate social influences such as tradition, fashion, economics and what the advertisement perceives and strives to persuade us as the audience to perceive as cultural norms. REFERENCES Bignell, Jonathan (1997): Media Semiotics: An Introduction. Manchester: Manchester University Press Barthes, Roland (1977): â€Å"The Rhetoric of the Image.† Image, Music, Text. Ed. and trans. Stephen Heath. New York: Hill and Wang Chandler, Daniel (1998): Semiotics for Beginners URL aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem07/ (Accessed 3rd September, 2004) O’Shaughnessy, Michael (1999): â€Å"Semiology†, â€Å"Reading Images.† Media and Society: and Introduction 2nd Edition. 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