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The Day of the Jackal contains a superb scene that looks like a choice candidate to fulfill the requirements of someone looking for great stand alone scenes – I refer to when the Jackal buys a huge melon at the market, takes it into the woods, paints a smiley face on it, hangs it from a tree, and uses it for deGaulle’s head in target practice. I’m going to leave it alone and refrain from comment. Sometimes in appreciation the old adage that less is more certainly applies. So what I’m going to do here is approach this film in a roundabout, bizarre fashion. Please permit me this indulgence. I’d like to make a weird analogy between an observation a famous film critic once made about movies in general and a somewhat similar state of affairs created by the Jackal in the eponymously titled film.

To this day many consider James Agee to be the gold standard for popular film criticism in America, and I think a good part of the reason why is his empathic identification with the audiences that were reading his columns as he wrote them. In his inaugural column for The Nation on December 26, 1942 he wrote:

“I suspect that I am, far more than not, in your own situation: deeply interested in moving pictures, considerably experienced from childhood on in watching them and thinking and talking about them, and totally, or almost totally, without experience or even much second hand knowledge about how they are made.”

Wow. Of course, he was right. I’d like to put an unusual spin on this observation of Agee’s.

One wonders what Agee would have made of a film like The Day of the Jackal that requires at least some willingness on the part of the filmgoer to acknowledge a parallel between the kind of ignorance of moviemaking Agee references and the sorts of deceptions and illusions the Jackal (played by Edward Fox) creates and weaves throughout the film. Four of the people the Jackal crosses paths with in the course of his plot to kill deGaulle- the forger, the woman he meets in the hotel, Colette, the man who picks him up in the Turkish bath, and the landlady of the building from which he plans to shoot – he kills- the forger because of his attempt to blackmail the Jackal, Colette because the police are questioning her, the gay lover because the man has seen the Jackal, in disguise, identified on television, and the landlady because he cannot have anyone witnessing him inside the building. In other words, all four know too much. In one way or another the Jackal’s concealment of reality has been penetrated.. The fifth such person, the gun maker, is left alone without explanation. Maybe the Jackal trusts him, or perhaps intends to deal with him after he kills deGaulle. In any case, concealment of reality is the operating theme in the plot of the film as much as it is in James Agee’s remark, albeit within very different circumstances. The mysteries of filmmaking exist in order to entertain; the Jackal’s, in order to deceive.

A workmanlike film such as this could probably only have been made by a studio veteran of Hollywood mainstreamers, which is exactly what Fred Zinneman was. (Look, I’m just a casual watcher of movies with a humble, modest collection and by complete chance it contains four or five Zinneman pictures – simply by virtue of the fact that I try to represent various genres of Hollywood films well.) (We can safely disregard Andrew Sarris’ nonsensical observations on Zinneman in – bloviation such as “At its best, his direction is inoffensive; at its worst, it is downright dull.”)

The gun maker – “Gozzi” – is completely and totally aware that the Jackal is an assassin, ordering a gun to kill somebody with. The forger is not – he only remarks that the Jackal must “have a big job” in the works. Too, the Jackal emphasizes – in very threatening, forceful tones, that, once the work is done, he wants the forger to forget everything. Yet he does none of this with the gun maker, indicating that he must have quite a bit more faith in him than he does in the forger. Still, the forger does not take the Jackal seriously and attempts to sell him back documents he had originally agreed to give back for free.

Notice – when the forger attempts to blackmail the Jackal, the Jackal kills him. When the gun maker reveals he had to make the gun out of a totally different material than the Jackal had requested, barely a word is mentioned about it. The Jackal’s response is “Where can I practice?” When the Jackal learns that Colette has been talking to the authorities he kills her immediately, with no hesitation (as he did the forger). Ditto the gay man – the decision to kill him is arrived at with no hesitation whatsoever. Only the landlady’s killing seems to have been planned in advance. But whatever the situation, the concealment of reality is paramount.

“What’s all this got to do with James Agee?” I can hear you screaming. Only this – what would it be like to watch a film in which you got yourself totally emotionally involved – laughing, crying, scared to death – and then could suddenly see the director, the cameraman, the sound recordists, the lighting director, and the rest of the crew, as well as the actors, as the movie was actually being filmed. How would you feel? Would you view the film differently? Of course you would. The necessary concealment of reality that’s required for things to proceed properly would have been removed. It’s something to contemplate, isn’t it?

Most people don’t pay much attention to their credit score, which is easy to do when you’ve always been able to pay your bills on time and haven’t acquired much debt. But even the most responsible consumers can be hit with unforeseen circumstances such as a job loss or medical bills. Credit cards may be able to float the expenses for a while, but eventually the debt can mount up to a point where payments are no longer manageable. Missed or late payments can lower your credit score, but you may avoid bankruptcy, hoping to stop any further damage. However, sometimes bankruptcy is the correct choice, and there are things you can do to rebuild your credit score after filing.

Your Credit Report

If you have a pattern of late payments, filing bankruptcy can discharge many of your unsecured debts and put an end to those late payments. A bankruptcy will lower your credit score, but after you file, you’ll be given a “Discharge of Debtor” document that shows your debt has been forgiven. At this point, negative credit events stop, and you can begin establishing a positive credit history. First, you’ll need to request credit reports from the three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. Review all of the information listed on your report to ensure accuracy, particularly that any debts included in your bankruptcy show a zero balance. You can correct any errors by contacting the credit agency.

Rebuilding

After ensuring you have a clean credit report, you can begin the work of adding positive elements. You will most likely receive credit card offers as soon as your case is resolved, but be sure you review the terms carefully before accepting. You may need to start with a secured credit card with high interest rates and steep fees. While this is not ideal, it’s a place to start, and you can avoid paying any interest by making only small purchases and paying them off completely, on time each month. You might even want to use the credit card for a small monthly bill and set up an automatic payment, essentially ignoring the fact that you have access to credit to avoid the temptation to overspend. As time goes by, you’ll receive better offers for new credit cards or may be able to renegotiate the terms of your current card. Soon, your credit score will improve and you’ll qualify for better and better options.

Moving Forward

Just like most negative events in life, ignoring your credit will not result in improved circumstances. It’s best to be fully informed about your financial situation and take direct action to make changes. If you’re in debt that you feel you’ll never be able to pay off, the first step is to determine if you can revise your budget to get back on track. If this isn’t possible, let me help you explore your bankruptcy options. After making this bold move, the opportunities to rebuild your credit will present themselves, and you’ll get back on your feet.

Lagos is a beautiful city of Nigeria. The city has tradition of short heighted buildings and there is a lot of cars moving on the less wide roads of the city which sometimes cause serious traffic jam. Lagos is one of the most popular place of the Africa people from all over the world come to Lagos to visit that and to see that. People of the Lagos looks like hard and their complexion is dark too. Basically Lagos is a island present in Nigeria but the local government has contract the road so it looks like a city rather than the typical island.

There are many beautiful shopping areas in the city like the Citeco tower. It is a beautiful place to visit in the most popular city of the West Africa. The tower outer look is so much like a luxurious home so one can feel that he or she is going to visit a home. The inner side of the tower is also depict the tradition of the place a lot of fake trees and many other things which show that the tower is build on the island are placed in the inner side of the Citeco.

There is a specific road in Lagos which has sky scrapper on the side, those buildings are build purposefully so that people can go over there and do shopping and feel better. People in Lagos are Muslims as Nigeria is the Muslim country. People of Nigeria like mutton and beef in food, so that it is seen in Lagos that the people sell these kinds of thing open on the roads which sometimes pinch those who are passing from that place. There is no specific place for the market so these kinds of thing cant limitize to one place.

Alaba market is one of the famous market for the scarp in the city. People use this to dump there all types of scarp including electronic scarp. As Nigeria is poor country so that people over there have less chance to educate themselves even the facilities of the education like schools, colleges and universities are also less in number over there. Just because of this people living in African countries start work in very small age. One of the most practical example of this can be seen in the Alaba market of scarp in Lagos. Boys who are less than 18 years in age even less than 16 years are working in the market and they are use to transport scarp from one place to other. Child labor is prohibited in all over the world but no force can omit this from African. It is seems that sometime child labor is promoted due to lack of education and sometime because of financial crises.

Lagos has many beautiful mosques in which the Muslims can prey. Those mosques are also a part of the country tradition so that mosques are decorated in a beautiful way.

It is needless to say that Seattle is a tourist destination. This is not a secret anymore. In fact, this is the fundamental reason why many pleasure travelers head to this bustling metropolis in this part of Washington. However, many business travelers also head to this nice city because of the presence of big named establishment that holds headquarters and factories in the East side of the United States. But besides traveling for either business or pleasure, deciding to relocate in Seattle and find an apartment suitable for you and your needs can also be one of the biggest decisions that you have to contemplate on and prepare with all sincerity.

Spending a vacation in Seattle is fun, but overlooking the preparations that you have to work on could mean real harm to your budget. This is particularly true if you intend to spend your vacation longer. For this case, it is highly suggested that you think of the possibility of renting an apartment in Seattle. While it is a common practice to stay in a hotel when you are on vacation, there are nice ideas that you can benefit from if you decide to search for an apartment.

You see, if you are considering to spend your holiday for several months, think about the buckets of dollars that you would need in order to pay the hotel bills. No matter how rich you might be, you would still feel the pain in the pocket that this expense would bring about. Unlike when you are renting an apartment, which you have to pay depending on the contract or agreement that you have agreed upon with the owner of the place. There are many furnished Seattle apartments and so having no appliances to carry on some of your needs would never be a problem for you during the entirety of your vacation.

It is true that the real estate market in Seattle is really on the go and currently in its most active phase. This means that you would always find a place for you to settle in during your vacation. The city of Seattle is a place where many destinations are available in the same way that there are plenty of activities that you can work on to make your vacation more worth remembering.

Another reason why it is worthy to spend your vacation in an apartment is for you to be able to experience the feeling of being comfortably home. Though the space may not be that big enough, still you are on to enjoy your own kitchen,bathroom, living room and of course your very cozy bedroom. This is where you would always retire after a very busy day of hiking or strolling around the many interesting place in this city such as the Space Needle in the Seattle Center, Eliot Bay, Cascade Range and a whole lot more.

In the playground near where I grew up was a construction we called “stepping stones”. It consisted of a series of progressively taller, cylindrical columns which served as steps leading to an ‘island’ with a tree growing at its apex. When I was growing up those stones seemed huge and I recall struggling to reach the top steps. However, when I visited the playground years later as a teenager, the same stepping stones appeared small and almost trivial. The stones hadn’t changed size; I had. The stepping stones are for me a great metaphor for dealing with life’s problems – grow bigger than them.

People often shun problems in their quest for an ‘easy’ life. Unfortunately, this approach generally backfires because the nature of life is that is that we will experience problems or challenges as I like to call them. The solution therefore is to devise a strategy for dealing with problems as they arise rather than trying to avoid them.

“The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.”

Thomas Edison

It’s like working through a puzzle book. You start off with the easy puzzles which you whiz through, building your confidence and developing your skills before moving onto the more complex puzzles. While these take longer to complete, the level of satisfaction you feel tends to reflect the level of complexity of the puzzle – the tougher the puzzle; the greater your satisfaction.

When striving towards a particular goal learn to anticipate the various challenges that might arise. Dan Kennedy’s strategy is to prepare negative but think positive. In other words, create your own simulator from which you can view your problem from every angle. Regard your problem dispassionately and objectively and ask the questions that will lead you to possible solutions. Then work through those possible solutions to determine the best solution for your particular situation.

To achieve great success you must be prepared to deal with big problems. The person who gets ahead in life, who achieves phenomenal success is the person who has identified a problem, its solution and knows how to market that solution to those who want it.

Problems = Opportunities = Wealth

Know that life will not present you with a problem that you are not equipped to handle. True you may have to stretch yourself a little but that’s all part of the game. Problems help you to grow and to deal with them we have been blessed with a super computer more powerful than any other computer on this planet – our mind. Okay, so our creator had a sense of humour and didn’t give us a manual, despite this our comprehension of how our mind works is continually increasing. It is estimated that we are only tapping into a small fraction of our mind’s potential and yet look at what we can achieve.

No problem can withstand the onslaught of persistent thought. Take the iconic 7 star Burj Al Arab in Dubai described as a place where “imagination meets reality”. This impressive structure, 321 metres tall, is the tallest hotel in the world. The design was inspired by the billowing sail of a dhow and so the architect, Tom Wills-Wright, wanted the hotel to appear as though it was rising out of the sea. This would require an island to be constructed for the hotel and, at the time of its construction, this presented numerous challenges to the engineers.

In fact, they strongly resisted the idea of building a private island for the hotel. However, Wills-Wright was adamant that, to create the desired effect and fulfil the brief given to them by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum that this was the only solution. The Sheikh, a man who lets nothing stand in the way of his vision agreed.

The engineers overcame the challenges that this presented but there were numerous others throughout the construction including the challenge of building, transporting and erecting those sweeping arches that give the Burj Al Arab its unique shape. Many of the lessons learnt on this project fed into even even more ingenious and innovative construction projects in Dubai such as The Palm Island trilogy and The World.

What goal are you shying away from because it seems too enormous, too complex or too challenging. As Robert Allen says “no thought resides in your head rent-free” so instead of thinking of reasons why something cannot be achieved ask yourself:

“How can I achieve my goal?”

And keep on asking until you find the answer.