Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Meanwhile, back at the hotel room, Raziel has given up his hopes to be a professional wrestler and has resumed his ambition to be Spider-Man. He made the decision after I pointed out that in Genesis, Jacob wrestles an angel and wins. In short, a human defeated an angel. Raziel kept insisting that he didn't remember that happening and I was tempted to bring the Gideon Bible in out of the bathroom and show him the reference, but I've just started reading the Gospel of Mark and I'd lose the book if the angel found out about it. I thought Matthew was bad, skipping right from Joshua's birth to his baptism, but Mark doesn't even bother with the birth. It's as if Joshua springs forth full grown from the head of Zeus. (Okay, bad metaphor, but you know what I mean.) Mark begins with the baptism, at thirty! Where did these guys get these stories? â€Å"I once met a guy in a bar who knew a guy who's sister's best friend was at the baptism of Joshua bar Joseph of Nazareth, and here's the story as best as he could remember it.† Well, at least Mark mentions me, once. And then it's totally out of context, as if I was just sitting around doing nothing and Joshua happened by and asked me to tag along. And Mark tells of the demon named Legion. Yeah, I remember Legion. Compared to what Balthasar called up, Legion was a wuss. I asked Balthasar if he was smitten with me,† Joshua said over supper. â€Å"Oh no,† said Joy. We were eating in the girls' quarters. It smelled really good and the girls would rub our shoulders while we ate. Just what we needed after a tough day of studying. â€Å"You weren't supposed to let him know we were on to him. What did he say?† â€Å"He said that he'd just come off of a hard breakup and he wasn't ready for a relationship because he just needed to spend a little time getting to know himself, but that he'd love it if we could just be friends.† â€Å"He lies,† said Joy. â€Å"He hasn't had a breakup in a hundred years.† I said, â€Å"Josh, you are so gullible. Guys always lie about stuff like that. That's the problem with your not being allowed to know women, it means you don't understand the most fundamental nature of men.† â€Å"Which is?† â€Å"We're lying pigs. We'll say anything to get what we want.† â€Å"That's true,† said Joy. The other girls nodded in agreement. â€Å"But,† said Josh, â€Å"the superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue, according to Confucius.† â€Å"Of course,† said I, â€Å"but the superior man can get laid without lying. I'm talking about the rest of us.† â€Å"So should I be worried about this trip he wants me to take with him?† Joy nodded gravely and the other girls nodded with her. â€Å"I don't see why,† I said. â€Å"What trip?† â€Å"He says we'll only be gone a couple of weeks. He wants to go to a temple at a city in the mountains. He believes that the temple was built by Solomon, it's called the Temple of the Seal.† â€Å"And why do you have to go along?† â€Å"He wants to show me something.† â€Å"Uh-oh,† I said. â€Å"Uh-oh,† echoed the girls, not unlike a Greek chorus, except of course they were speaking Chinese. In the week leading up to Joshua and Balthasar's departure, I managed to talk Pea Pods into taking on a huge risk during her shift in Balthasar's bed. I picked Pea Pods not because she was the most athletic and nimble of the girls, which she was; nor because she was the lightest of foot and most stealthy, which she was also; but because she was the one who had taught me to make bronze castings of the Chinese characters that were the mark of my name (my chop), and she could be trusted to get the most accurate impression of the key that Balthasar wore on the chain around his neck. (Oh yes, there was a key to the ironclad door. Joy had let it slip where Balthasar kept it, but I was sure that she was too loyal to him to steal it. Pea Pods, on the other hand, was more fickle in her loyalties, and lately I had been spending a lot of time with her on and off.) â€Å"By the time you return, I'll know what's going on here,† I whispered to Joshua as he climbed onto his camel. â€Å"Find out what you can from Balthasar.† â€Å"I will. But be careful. Don't do anything while I'm gone. I think this trip, whatever it is that we are going to see, has something to do with the house of doom.† â€Å"I'm just going to look around. You be careful.† The girls and I stood at the top of the plateau and waved until Joshua and the magus, leading the extra camel loaded with supplies, rode out of sight, then, one by one, we made our way down the rope ladder to the passageway in the cliff's face. The entrance to the passageway, and the tunnel for perhaps thirty cubits, were just wide enough for one man to pass through if he stooped, and I always managed to bruise an elbow or a shoulder along the way, which allowed me to show off my ability to curse in four languages. By the time I got to the chamber of the elements, where we practiced the art of the Nine Elixirs, Pea Pods had the small furnace stoked to a red heat and was adding ingots of brass to a small stone crucible. From the wax impression we had made a wax duplicate of the key, from that we'd made a plaster mold, which we'd fired to melt out the wax. Now we'd have one chance to cast the key, because once the metal cooled in the plaster mold, the only way to release it was to break off the plaster. When we broke off the mold Pea Pods held the end of what looked like a brass dragon on a stick. â€Å"That's some key,† I said. The only locks I'd ever seen were big bulky iron boys, nothing elegant enough for a key like this. â€Å"When are you going to use it?† asked Pea Pods. Her eyes went wide like those of an excited child. Times like that I almost fell in love with her, but fortunately I was always distracted by Joy's sophistication, Pillow's maternal fussing, Number Six's dexterity, or any one of the other charms that were heaped upon me daily. I understood completely Balthasar's strategy to keep from falling in love with any one of them. Joshua's situation, on the other hand, was harder to figure, because he enjoyed spending time with the girls, trading stories from the Torah for legends of the storm dragons and the monkey king. He said that there was an innate kindness born in women that he'd never seen in a man, and he liked being around them. His strength in resisting their physical charms astounded me perhaps even more than the other miraculous things I'd seen him do over the years. I couldn't relate to the act of raising someone from the dead, but turning down a beautiful woman, that to ok courage beyond my understanding. â€Å"I'll take it from here,† I said to Pea Pods. I didn't want her to be involved any further in case things didn't turn out well. â€Å"When?† asked Pea Pods, meaning when would I attempt to open the door. â€Å"Tonight, when you have all gone to live in the world of pleasant dreams.† I tweaked her nose affectionately and she giggled. It was the last time I ever saw her in one piece. At night the halls of the fortress were lit by the ambient light from the moon and the stars that filtered in from the windows. Everywhere we went we carried a clay oil lamp which made the serpentine curves of the passageways seem even more like the inside of a huge creature as they swallowed up the dim orange light. After several years with Balthasar, I could find my way through the main living quarters of the fortress without any light at all, so I carried an unlit lamp with me until I had passed the girls' quarters, stopping at the beaded doorway to listen for their gentle snores. Once I was well away from the girls' door, I lit my lamp using one of the fire sticks that I'd invented using some of the same chemicals we used to make the explosive black powder. The fire stick made a soft pop as I struck it on the stone wall and I could swear I heard it echo from the hall up ahead. As I made my way to the ironclad door I could smell burning brimstone and I thought it strange that the smell of the fire stick had stayed with me. Then I saw Joy standing by the door holding an oil lamp and the charred remains of the fire stick she'd used to light it. â€Å"Let me see the key,† she said. â€Å"What key?† â€Å"Don't be foolish. I saw what was left of the mold in the room of the elements.† I took the key from where I'd tucked it in my belt and handed it to Joy. She examined it by lamplight, turning it this way and that. â€Å"Pea Pods cast this,† she said matter-of-factly. â€Å"Did she take the impression as well?† I nodded. Joy didn't seem angry, and Pea Pods was the only one of the girls skilled enough in metallurgy to have done the casting, so why deny it? â€Å"Getting the impression must have been the hard part,† Joy said. â€Å"Balthasar is fierce about guarding this key. I'll have to ask her what she did to distract him. Could be a good thing to know, huh? For both of us.† She smiled seductively, then turned toward the door and pushed aside the brass plate that covered the keyhole. In that second I felt as if a frozen dagger had been dragged over my spine. â€Å"No!† I grabbed her hand. â€Å"Don't.† I was overcome with a feeling of revulsion that wrenched my insides. â€Å"We can't.† Joy smiled again and pushed my hand away. â€Å"I have seen many wondrous things since I came here, but there has never been anything that was harmful. You planned this, you must want to know what is in here as much as I do.† I wanted to stop her, I even tried to take the key away from her, but she grabbed my arm and pushed into a pressure point that made my whole left side go numb. She raised an eyebrow as if to ask, â€Å"Do you really want to try that, knowing what I can do to you?† And I stepped back. She put the dragon key into the lock and turned it three times. There was a clicking of machinery finer than anything I had ever heard, then she withdrew the key and shot the three heavy iron bolts. As she pulled the door open there was a rush of air, as if something had moved by us very quickly, and my lamp went out. Joshua told me what had happened later and I put the timing together myself. As Joy and I were opening the room they called the house of doom, Joshua and Balthasar were camped in the arid mountains of what is now Afghanistan. The night was crisp and the stars shone with a cold blue light like loneliness or infinity. They had eaten some bread and cheese, then settled in close to the fire to share the last of a flask of fortified wine, Balthasar's second that evening. â€Å"Have I told you of the prophecy that sent me in search of you when you were born, Joshua?† â€Å"You spoke of the star. My mother told me of the star.† â€Å"Yes, the three of us followed that star, and by chance we met up in the mountains east of Kabul and finished the journey together, but the star wasn't the reason we went, it was only our means of navigation. We made the journey because each of us was looking for something at the end.† â€Å"Me?† Joshua said. â€Å"Yes, but not just you, but what it is said was brought with you. In the temple where we travel now, there lies a set of clay tablets – very old – the priests say that they date back to the time of Solomon, and they foretell the coming of a child who will have power over evil and victory over death. They say he will carry the key to immortality.† â€Å"Me? Immortality? Nope.† â€Å"I think you do, you just don't know it yet.† â€Å"Nope, I'm sure,† said Joshua. â€Å"It's true that I have brought people back from the dead, but never for very long. I've gotten better at healing over the years, but my back-from-the-dead stuff still needs work. I need to learn more.† â€Å"Which is why I have taught you, and why I am taking you to the temple now, so you may read the tablets yourself, but you must have the power of immortality within you.† â€Å"No, really, I haven't a clue.† â€Å"I am two hundred and sixty years old, Joshua.† â€Å"I've heard that, but I still can't help you. You look good though, I mean for two hundred and sixty.† At this point Balthasar started to sound desperate. â€Å"Joshua, I know that you have power over evil. Biff has told me of you banishing demons in Antioch.† â€Å"Little ones,† Joshua said modestly. â€Å"You must have power over death as well or it does me no good.† â€Å"What I am able to do comes through my father, I didn't bargain for it.† â€Å"Joshua, I am preserved by a pact with a demon. If you do not have the powers foretold in the prophecy I will never be free, I will never have peace, I will never have love. Every minute of my life I must have my will focused on controlling the demon. Should my will fail, the destruction would be unlike anything the world has ever seen.† â€Å"I know how it is. I'm not allowed to know a woman,† Joshua said. â€Å"Although it was an angel that told me, not a demon. But still, you know, it's hard sometimes. I really like your concubines. The other night Pillows was giving me a back rub after a long day of studying, and I started getting this massive – â€Å" â€Å"By the Golden Tenderloin of the Calf!† Balthasar exclaimed, leaping to his feet, his eyes wide with terror. The old man began loading his camel, thrashing around in the darkness like a madman. Joshua was following him, trying to calm him down, fearing he might have a fit any second. â€Å"What? What?† â€Å"It is out!† the magus said. â€Å"Help me pack up. We must go back. The demon is out.† I stood cringing in the dark, waiting for disaster to fall, for mayhem to reign, for pain and pestilence and no good to manifest, then Joy struck a fire stick and lit our lamps. We were alone. The iron door hung open into a very small room, it too lined with iron. The entire room was just big enough to contain a small bed and a chair. Every span of the black iron walls was inlaid with golden symbols: pentagrams and hex symbols and a dozen others I had never seen before. Joy held her lamp close to the wall. â€Å"These are symbols of containment,† Joy said. â€Å"I used to hear voices coming from in here.† â€Å"There was nothing in here when I opened the door. I could see in the second before the lamp blew out.† â€Å"Then what blew it out?† â€Å"The wind?† â€Å"I don't think so. I felt something brush me as it passed.† Just then someone in the girls' quarters screamed, then a chorus of screams joined in, primal screams of absolute terror and pain. Instantly Joy's eyes filled with tears. â€Å"What have I done?† I took her sleeve and dragged her down the passage toward the girls' quarters, snatching up two heavy lances that were supporting a tapestry as we passed and handing one to her. As we rounded the curves I could see an orange light ahead and soon I could see that it was fire blazing on the stone walls from broken oil lamps. The screaming was reaching a higher pitch, but every few seconds a voice was removed from the chorus, until there was only one. As we approached the beaded doorway into the concubines' chamber the screaming stopped and a severed human head rolled in front of us. The creature stepped through the curtain, oblivious to the flames that licked the walls around it, its massive body filling the passageway, the reptilian skin on its shoulders and its tall pointed ears grating against the walls and ceiling. In its talonlike hand it held the bloody torso of one of the girls. â€Å"Hey, kid,† it said, its voice like a sword point dragged across stone, a yellow light coming from behind its dinner-plate-sized cat's eyes, â€Å"it took you long enough.† As they rode back to the fortress, Balthasar explained to Joshua about the demon: â€Å"His name is Catch, and he is a demon of the twenty-seventh order, a destroyer angel before the fall. As far as I could tell, he was first called up to assist Solomon in building the great temple, but something got out of hand and with the help of a djinn, Solomon was able to send the demon back to hell. I found the seal of Solomon and the incantation for raising the demon almost two hundred years ago in the Temple of the Seal.† â€Å"Oh,† Joshua said, â€Å"so that's why they call it that. I thought it had something to do with one of the barky sea animals.† â€Å"I had to become an acolyte and study with the priests there for years before I was allowed access to the seal, but what is a few years against immortality. I was given immortality, but only so long as the demon walks the earth. And as long as he is on earth he must be fed, Joshua. That's the curse that goes with being this destroyer's master. He must be fed.† â€Å"I don't understand, he feeds on your will?† â€Å"No, he feeds on human beings. It is only my will that keeps him in check, or it was until I was able to build the iron room and put golden symbols on the wall that would hold the demon. I've been able to keep him in the fortress I made him build for twenty years now, and it has been some respite. Until then he was with me every minute, everywhere I went.† â€Å"Didn't that attract enemies to you?† â€Å"No. Unless he is in his eating form, I am the only one who can see Catch. In his noneating form he's small, the size of a child, and he can do little harm (except for being incredibly irritating). When he feeds, however, he's fully ten cubits tall, and he can tear a man in half with the swipe of his claw. No, enemies are not a problem, Joshua. Why do you think there are no guards at the fortress? In those years before the girls came to live there, some bandits attacked. What happened to them is legend now in Kabul, and no one has tried since. The problem is that if my will were to fail, he would be set loose again on the world as he was in the time of Solomon. I don't know what could stop him.† â€Å"And you can't send him back to hell?† Joshua asked. â€Å"I can with the seal and the right incantation, which is why I was going to the Temple of the Seal. Which is why you are here. If you are the Messiah predicted in Isaiah, and on the clay tablets in the temple, then you are the direct descendant of David, and therefore Solomon. I believe that you can send the demon back and keep me from suffering the fate of his return.† â€Å"Why, what happens to you if he is sent back to hell?† â€Å"I will assume the aspect of my true age. Which I would guess, by this time, would be dust. But you have the gift of immortality. You can stop that from happening.† â€Å"So this demon from hell is loose, and we are returning to the fortress without the Seal of Solomon or this incantation to do exactly what?† â€Å"I hope to bring him back under control of my will. The room has always held him before. I didn't know, I truly didn't know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Know what?† â€Å"That my will had been broken by my feelings for you.† â€Å"You love me?† â€Å"How was I to know?† The magus sighed. And Joshua laughed here, despite the dire circumstances. â€Å"Of course you do, but it is not me, it's what I represent. I am not sure yet what I am to do, but I know that I am here in the name of my father. You love life so much that you would brave hell to hold on to it, it's only natural that you would love the one who gave you that life.† â€Å"Then you can banish the demon and preserve my life?† â€Å"Of course not, I'm just saying that I understand how you feel.† I don't know where she found the strength, but the diminutive Joy came from behind me and hurled the heavy lance with as much power as any soldier. (I felt my own knees starting to buckle in the face of the demon.) The bronze tip of the lance seemed to find its way between two of the monster's armored chest scales and drove itself a span deep under the weight of the heavy shaft. The demon gasped, and roared, opening his massive maw to show rows of saw-edged teeth. He grabbed the shaft of the lance and attempted to pull it out, his huge biceps quivering with the strain. He looked sadly down at the spear, then at Joy, and said, â€Å"Oh, foul woe upon you, you have kilt me most dead,† then he fell back and the floor shook with the impact of his huge body. â€Å"What'd he say, what'd he say?† Joy asked, digging her nails into my shoulder. The demon had spoken in Hebrew. â€Å"He said that you killed him.† â€Å"Well, duh,† said the concubine. (Strangely enough, â€Å"duh† sounds exactly the same in all languages.) I had started to inch forward to see if anyone was still alive in the girls' quarters when the demon sat up. â€Å"Just kidding,† he said. â€Å"I'm not kilt.† And he plucked the spear from his chest with less effort than it might take to brush away a fly. I threw my own lance, but didn't wait to see where it hit. I grabbed Joy and ran. â€Å"Where?† she said. â€Å"Far,† I said. â€Å"No,† she said, grabbing my tunic and jerking me around a corner, causing me to nearly coldcock myself on the wall. â€Å"To the cliff passage.† We were in total darkness now, neither one of us having thought to grab a lamp, and I was trusting my life to Joy's memory of these stone halls. As we ran we could hear the demon's scales scraping the walls and the occasional curse in Hebrew as he found a low ceiling. Perhaps he could see in the dark somewhat, but not a lot better than we could. â€Å"Duck,† Joy said, pushing my head down as we entered the narrow passage that led to the cliff above. I crouched in this passage the way the monster had to crouch to move in the normal-sized halls and I suddenly realized the brilliance of Joy's choice in taking this route. We were just seeing the moonlight breaking in through the opening in the cliff's face when I heard the monster hit the bottleneck of the passage. â€Å"Fuck! Ouch! You weasels! I'm going to crunch your little heads between my teeth like candied dates.† â€Å"What'd he say?† asked Joy. â€Å"He says that you are a sweet of uncommon delicacy.† â€Å"He did not say that.† â€Å"Believe me, my translation is as close as you want to the truth.† I heard a horrible scraping noise from inside the passage as we climbed out on the ledge and up the rope ladder to the top of the plateau. Joy helped me up, then pulled the ladder up behind us. We ran to the stable where the camel saddles and other supplies were normally kept. There were only the three camels that Joshua and Balthasar had taken, and no horses, so I couldn't figure out why we were taking the time to stop until I saw Joy filling two water skins at the cistern behind the stable. â€Å"We'll never make it to Kabul without water,† Joy said. â€Å"And what happens when we make it to Kabul? Can anyone there help? What in the hell is that thing?† â€Å"If I knew, would I have opened that door?† She was remarkably calm for someone who had just lost her friends to a hideous beast. â€Å"I guess not. But I didn't see it come out of there. I felt something, but nothing that size.† â€Å"Act, Biff, don't think. Act.† She handed me a water skin and I held it in the cistern, trying to listen for the sound of the monster over the bubbles as it filled. All I could hear was the occasional bleating of the goats and the sound of my own pulse in my ears. Joy corked her water skin, then went about opening the pig and goat pens, shooing the animals out onto the plateau. â€Å"Let's go!† she shouted to me. She took off down the path toward the hidden road. I pulled the water skin from the cistern and followed as quickly as I could. There was enough moonlight to make traveling fairly easy, but since I hadn't even seen the road in daylight, I didn't want to try to negotiate its deadly cutbacks at night without a guide. We had almost made the first leg of the road when we heard a hideous wailing and something heavy landed in the dust in front of us. When I could get my breath again I stepped up to find the bloodied carcass of a goat. â€Å"There,† Joy said, pointing down the mountainside to something moving among the rocks. Then it looked up at us and there was no mistaking the glowing yellow eyes. â€Å"Back,† Joy said, pulling me back from the road. â€Å"Is that the only way down?† â€Å"That or diving off the edge. It's a fortress, remember – it's not supposed to be easy to get in and out of.† We made our way back to the rope ladder, tossed it over the side, and started down. As Joy made it to the ledge and ducked into the cave something heavy hit me on the right shoulder. My arm went numb with the impact and I let go of the ladder. Mercifully, my feet had tangled in the rungs as I fell, and I found myself hanging upside down looking into the cave entrance where Joy stood. I could hear the terrified goat that had hit me screaming as it fell into the abyss, then there was a distant thump and the screaming stopped. â€Å"Hey, kid, you're a Jew, aren't you?† said the monster from above. â€Å"None of your business,† I said. Joy grabbed the ladder and pulled me inside the cave, ladder and all, just as another goat came screaming past. I fell on my face in the dust and sputtered, trying to breathe and spit at the same time. â€Å"It's been a long time since I've eaten a Jew. A good Jew sticks to your ribs. That's the problem with Chinese, you eat six or seven of them and in a half hour you're hungry again. No offense, miss.† â€Å"What'd he say?† Joy asked. â€Å"He says he likes kosher food. Will that ladder hold him?† â€Å"I made it myself.† â€Å"Swell,† I said. We heard the ropes creak with the strain as the monster climbed onto the ladder.

Official Document

Corporate clients across The Greater Toronto area are about to earn how to truly, â€Å"Impress with Empress. † The Empress Of Canada is a chartered vessel located in the Toronto Warburton, ideally suited to host up to 489 guests. The boat caters to its clients in hosting a variety of cruises that include: lunch/ dinner cruises, booze cruises, corporate gatherings, weddings, or special event cruises.However, The Empress of Canada has particularly run into difficulties at attracting the corporate clients into their business. Therefore, the current predicament is that The Empress of Canada is inefficiently able to target new and existing corporate clients into their business. Reaching and educating the corporate client on why they should choose The Empress of Canada over its competitors is essential to increasing the overall demand for their lunch/ dinner corporate cruises. Our solution is simple and effective.We will focus on Empress of Canada's bra ending position, in that it offers corporate clients a premium, formal luxury through a superior customer service experience, which serves as a key differentiator from the competing boats in the marketplace. We will then use this positioning to provide Empress with better communication strategies that will focus on boisterousness's selling n The Greater Toronto Area, and ultimately gain the attention Of corporate clients that Empress Was previously unable to capture.The main goal for our campaign is to raise awareness among the target market of the possible uses of The Empress of Canada services, and will be done through three mediums that include: print advertisements in the February and March 2015 issues of The Toronto Life magazine, direct emailing to existing customers using personalized messages to express gratitude and offer them alternative suggestions to meet their business entertaining needs, and lastly, social media improvement, particularly through Faceable, which will reinforce the large number of options corporate clients have when choosing The Empress of Canada.We anticipate that this campaign will yield a considerable expected increase in revenue, seeing upwards of a million dollars in revenue, when executed over a tenement period, given our campaign strategy. The short and longer benefits that The Empress of Canada will ex prince are substantial and will ultimately propel the business into attaining a more desirable corporate client database with significantly increased revenues. PART 1: Situational Analysis PEST Politically The Empress operates on the Toronto harbor therefore they must follow the rules and regulations of the Toronto port authority.Other outside factors that affect The Empress would be fuel costs as this is the result of political actions. These fuel costs affect the price o f operating the Empress and in other provinces the price of fuel has resulted in the hiking of fares to cover fuels costs. (BC Ferries hiking fares, 2014) Environmental Weather affect s the empress because they have seasons where they operate and ones where they have maintenance. The season for which they operate is from April to October, peak times being June to August.They still operate during September but many people don't realize this and miss out on one of the most beautiful times to be on the lake. Coloratura Social factors greatly impact Empress, as it's essentially a banquet hall and seen as a destination for social events, it has to Stay relevant for event seekers and planners. Corporate culture is becoming more important, and employee morale is becoming a significant focus to many industries. Companies are now recognizing â€Å"Departing from the customary routine of meetings and cubicle life can go a long way toward building morale. (ERP, 2014) Companies see value in investing in a company party as it is a chance for them to socialize with their peers and re cognizance personal and company wide achievements. Corporate Cruises provide a clientele with a larger budget, potential repeat customers and possibly a professional referral. They have to communicate that Empress is the destination for corporate events because Of the care and effort they put into their work, and the professional manner in which they will be ha ended. Technological The expanding digital landscape is changing how companies approach their business.More companies are looking to social media and the internet for ways to market their business. â€Å"Whether it is creating a winning online experience or enabling mobile commerce, digital marketing is a hot topic, with most companies either revamping or implementing new strategies. † (Osaka, 2014) Many consumer look to the internet to find out about companies and compare and contrast them, and this technical change should be prioritize in most business today. Competition Direct Competitor 1: Marinara Cruises Marinara has numerous fleets for different occasions and times of year.They run through the winter, m aking it possible to host holiday parties on the boat with heating. Marinara also has different menus for different times of day and events, and is also flexible for food accommodation needs. In addition, Marinara offers demodulating packages and team building picnics excursion outlines with an itinerary; the willingness, customer friendly brochure is available in PDF online. Furthermore, the company is the largest hospitality cruise operation in Canada, and also has received numerous awards and has professional associations (Torn to. Mom, 2014). These factors make Marinara a strong leader of the cruise operation sector in Toronto. However, Marinara's soft spot is its ling point Of catering to various audiences. This could work against attracting corporate customers. In particular, offering children friendly option s such as children's menu and optional goodies, as well as student discounts, may push away some clients who are looking for formal luxury and wish to avoid any risks of being associated with a younger, less mature and sophisticated company.Direct Competitor 2: Yankee Lady Yankee Lady's largest thriving point is being a warm, familiarized local company. Their two yachts are designed and constructed in Toronto by the owners, and the larger one has capacity of 300 people; it s smaller than Marinara or Empress, but large enough for corporate social events. Yankee Lady's website has a very customariness, informative â€Å"Team Building' page, which discusses values about social aspects of workplace and corporate culture. However, there are strong signs that Yankee Lady has branding issues and a lack of effective communication skills.For example, on the official website, Yankee Lady cites positive feedback from past corporate clients: BMW, Mini, Nikkei and Dolce & Cabana. This suggests Yankee dad is seeking to associate itself with premium and luxury brands, as sees website, which stresses luxuriousness of the brand as well. However, this positioning is inconsistent with some aspects of the brand. The name â€Å"Yankee Lady† itself is very casual and fails to make consumers associate the brand with weighed, premium values.Moreover, the first section shown under the â€Å"menu† tab on the website is â€Å"on a budget†, and one of the dishes is named â€Å"cheap and cheerful†; corporate would not want their employees and clients to see that and perceive the company as being cheap for choosing Yankee Lady. Unprofessional is also seen in word choices on their Faceable postings. Secondary & Indirect Competitors The secondary competition consists of other cruises operating businesses in Torso's waterfront.Any competitor in this category either: has distinct branding from Empress of Canada, Yankee Lady and Marinara, operates in a smaller scale than the three companies, or both. In addition, we have identified indirect competitors of the Empress of Canada; this category includes a variety of businesses in Toron to that offer/can be used for corporate social events (please refer to exhibit? ). With increased awareness for the importance and benefits of social aspects at workplace, many local businesses remote the use of their venues for corporate social events.The top three results of Google's search performance with the key. ;odor â€Å"corporate social events in Toronto† are of articles making â€Å"top 10† and â€Å"top 6† recommendations for organizations offering team building activities: 1) 1 0 great ideas for corporate events & afterward socials in Toronto (Ratchets d, 2014) 2) 1 0 Toronto Team Building Activities for corporate Groups (warrior, 201 1) 3) 6 Local & Affordable Team Building Activities in Toronto (Etcetera, 201 3) Recommendations vary in the level of physical activity, luxuriousness and affordability.Empress is not mentioned in either one of the three, while on the other hand, Spin, a pooping social club located in downtown Toronto, is named in each of them. The indirect competition of Empress is as significant as the secondary competition, if not more. This is because corporations' root purpose of holding such events lies within motivating/showing appreciation to their employees or clients; their choice of venue or activity is a medium that helps them achieve it most effectively, and it does not have to be a cruise boat.Comparing Key Findings on Competitors to Empress of Canada In inclusion, no competitor truly offers the bundle of luxury, the edge of the city getaway and the location convenience, tailored specifically to Corporate Canada. Empress of Canada has the strongest brand consistency, representing luxury, class and style, and its premium values are supported by the red carpet service and superior customer service experience they provide. However, Empress of Canada also has significant soft spots in terms of its online presence, which may result in losing customers to competitors.First, it is not featured on the Warbu rton official website, whereas boats of Yankee Lady and Marinara, amongst secondary competitors, are listed with pictures and website links. The Harbor-front project is funded by the municipal government, thus it is a credible information source that consumers can use for research. Secondly, Empress does not show up on the first page, when Google search is performed with the keyword â€Å"Toronto cruises†; the search results are occupied by Marinara and secondary competitors. Last and most importantly, social media activities and customer engagement is inadequate, especially compared to Marinara.Empress needs to seek or more effective communication strategies, in order to defend itself from the competition (please refer to exhibit? ). PART 2: Marketing plan Target Market The Empress of Canada will use a small segment strategy that focuses on boisterousness's selling. The target market will be businesses with over 100 employees located within the Greater Toronto Area. These co mpanies may be looking to run staff parties or staff appreciation events, or use the boat as an opportunity to meet with their clients.The focus will be on older and more refined companies which are looking for quality experiences and are more likely to act as return linens, while likely providing referrals to other organizational departments an d companies. Branding At the core of the Empress of Canada is a focus on quality of service. Both owners play a prominent role on the cruise and make it a priority to always offer superior customer service; from the booking to the boarding the experience at Empress of Canada is always top notch. This quality of experience will be the focus of the companies branding.The customer experience serves to differentiate the Empress of Canada from other competing boat cruises, especially in regards to their positioning towards corporate clients. Businesses shouldn't have to worry about their companies experience when booking with Empress of Canada, t hey need to know that they are in good hands, and that they will get the best possible experience. Our Marketing efforts will aim to position Empress of Canada as a premium, formal luxury through a superior customer service experience.All media and advertising should be focused on this new branding strategy including this new identity in any outgoing promotions. The current tagging of, â€Å"Long Live the Fun† (found via Twitter cover photo) is not reflective of this business and our desired positioning of being â€Å"the loyalty' of the harbor cruises. In order to better meet the brands positioning, while keeping the quality top of mind for prospective and current customers, the tagging that should be implemented is, â€Å"Impress with E empress†.This helps to show what the Empress does for the customer, as corporate clients will want to show off their status and make sure their own clients remain with them, they will want to impress them, standing out from their own competition. Communication Strategy The main goal for this campaign is to raise awareness among the target market about the variety cruise options available when using the Empress Canada services, which will encourage both new clients to take their first cruise as well to retain current clients.The target market for this particular campaign is corporations within the Greater Toronto Area, who will be reached through a variety of communication channels and mediums. This strategy will be supported by the use of print advertisements, direct emails, and a variety of Faceable posts print The first tactic that will be utilized in this campaign is print advertising. The goal of these print advertisements is to gain new customers that ay not have heard of Empress before or have not yet considered it for a corporate gathering.Toronto Life Magazine was chosen as the publication in which to run the advertisements, as it reaches an audience of 795,000 people within the GTAG, with an average ci rculation of 90,563 per issue. Its primary readership average age is between 2554, with an average household income Of over $100,000 (Toronto Life, 2013). The magazine is released monthly, so it has a longer shelf life than weekly magazines or dally newspapers. This is a strong benefit for Empress, as the life of the ad will remain for the duration of at least a month. Toronto Life's purpose as stated on their website is as follows: † Toronto Life and tortellini. Mom are the print and online destinations for people who want to get the most out of Toronto. Our goal is to add to their knowledge of the city, helping them enjoy its pleasures and cope with its complexity. † (Toronto Life, n. D. ). The readers of this magazine look to it as a so urge to find ideas and suggestions for quality dining, entertainment, and events, which are all well in line with the services that Empress can offer. Empress will place its ad in the â€Å"features† section with premium ligamen t in order to better reach corporate groups and to associate with other businesslike offerings.If not directly reaching corporations, the rationale behind this placement is to reach a young professional demographic that may see the ad and then suggest Empress to their manager or boss for a corporate gathering. The cost of running a 1/3 page square print advertisement in Toronto Life magazine is $6,885, with an extra cost of $690 for premium placement (please refer to exhibit 3) (Toronto Life, 2013 The intent with this campaign is to run the advertisement twice: once in February 2015 and once in March 2015.The reasoning behind this timing is because corporations usually have their budgeting for the year finalized in February, so they are then able to start allocating their resources to specific costs, events, etc. February to May is usually the time in which most boat cruises are booked for the summer months, so it is important that Empress can advertise within this time frame to enc ourage more corporations to fill the available cruise time slots. An average advertisement consultation cost is $4000 for the creation of the ad.Included in Appendix is a mockup of a potential advertising concept (Exhibit 4). This mockup was created with the branding and positioning of the campaign in mind; it emits the idea of an upscale, luxurious boat cruise that would appeal to larger corporate audiences interested in a classy and elegant experience. The ad itself includes a description of possible ways in which corporations can use the services that Empress has to offer, including themed events, staff meetings, staff parties, retirement parties, and customer appreciation parties.As stated previously, the main goal of this campaign is to create awareness and inform our target market of differentiate in which report clients can use Empress, which is what this ad is achieving. There are minor potential risks involved with this aspect of the campaign. The first is that the reach of the magazine is far broader than Empress's target market, which means that cost s would be less directly targeted towards actual potential clients. With print advertising, it is also difficult to measure actual return on investment.It is important that the ad catches the eye of the reader and does not get lost in the clutter. Lastly, with a breakable response rate of just 13 bookings, there is a very limited risk of a negative return on marketing investment. Email The second part of our communication strategy is to focus on retaining past clients and encouraging repeat purchases (please refer to exhibit 5). This will be executed through the use of an email platform, with a similar design aesthetic to the print ad campaign. The general purpose is to use a personalized message to ensure all past clients feel valued and appreciated.The email will initially act as a follow to the client's past purchase, thanking them for their business and asking to hear feedback on their experience wi th Empress. The second part of the email will stimulate future sales by suggesting new ways to SE Empress for their business entertainment needs. For example, an email to a client that once used the cruise for a company holiday party may include suggestions to host client parties on board as well. A final element oft he emails will include a link to a brief survey asking the client to provide feedback on their experience with Empress.These survey responses will create an internal data source from which Empress can draw information to better their services in the future. This tactic will use the customer's familiarity and positive association with the brand to grow sales. Rather than blindly emailing thousands of encounters off of an email list, it will prove much more efficient and profitable to focus efforts on happy past consumers. The openhanded rate will be much higher for those familiar with Empress, compared to a unconsumed who would very likely delete an email from an unfamil iar company without reading it.Targeting the email strategy to encounters and resulting in a high malediction rate could tarnish the Empress brand, as the emails could be seen as spam by potential clients. A m ajar advantage to an emailing strategy is that statistics regarding the penetrate of these emails is fully available to Empress. Conveniently displayed will be figures describing exactly how many customer s opened the email, how many deleted it without opening, and how many replied or clicked through to the company website via the email.Furthermore, targeting past clients means that the contact information to send the emails is already available. Empress will not have to purchase a costly database from a third party source. Overall, this strategy is extremely inexpensive as the majority of spending will be going toward designing the email. Furthermore, it is nearly less costly to focus on retaining past customers rather than gain new ones. This tactic is efficient, costiveness , and will have a high return rate. There are minor risks to this strategy.The first is that there is still a possibility of the emails being ignored and deleted, especially if the mail unintentionally ends up in a client's spam inbox. The possibility of this is extremely low as it is expected that all past clients would have Empress in their email address book. If this does happen, it will also be easy to track through the email metrics regarding deletion rate. Secondly, it may be seen as risk to invest in a marketing tactic that is not actually expanding the client base.This is easily justified as targeting past, satisfied clients will likely generate more future sales with lower costs than targeting n ewe customers. Social Media Our final communication strategy focuses on improving The Empress of Canada's social media presence. In this we will be specifically focusing on a Faceable platform, as this is the largest and most important social media platform and will have the largest impact. Growing a large following on such a medium can allow Empress of Canada to circulate managing and promotional material in the longhorn, at virtually no cost.

The Development and Achievements of the Virtualized Servers Research Paper

The Development and Achievements of the Virtualized Servers - Research Paper Example This paper examines the development of the virtualized technology and its benefits to the organizations. The establishment of the Virtualization Technology Virtualization was initially established in the early 1960s to partition huge mainframe into small manageable virtue machines. With such partitions, the mainframe was capable of multitasking. The first developmental phase emphasized data center management and green objectives. This mainly targeted reducing data center space and minimizing the energy consumed by the system. Additionally, manufactures accessed strategies that would promote operation efficiencies by curtailing the proliferation of servers and reducing the total IT operation cost (Buytaert, Rogier & Juan 51). The 2nd phase considered promoting management and consistency of desktop applications. Developments in this stage targeted establishing thin client model, a common management, provision layer and a steadfast application server based on a managed data center. Virt ualization technology was shunned in the period of 1980s to 1990s due to the effect of the client-server applications, the x86-servers and desktops which promoted distribution of computation. Importantly, the outspread utilization of the Windows and development of Linux OS in the 1990s built x86 servers as the standard products in the industry (Buytaert, Rogier & Juan 39). Future establishment of the x86-server and utilization of desktops new IT infrastructure and functional challenges. These challenges have countered development of the virtualization technology and minimized it adoption. Challenges that have checked establishment of the virtualization technology An apparent challenge that has undermined development and adoption of the technology is the deployment of low infrastructure. Most organizations use one application per server to reduce the vulnerability of their system to attacks arriving from other applications. Additionally, the technology faces a challenge of high physi cal infrastructure costs. Infrastructure maintenance cost remains high since computing systems must remain operational throughout and this leads to power consumption, and increased cooling costs (Buytaert, Rogier & Juan 23). Importantly, there is a challenge of increased IT maintenance, which emanates from the advancement of the computing environment. Management of advanced virtualization technology demands specialized and experienced personnel. This escalates the system management cost since acquiring and maintaining such a group is costly. Furthermore, managing enterprise desktops is challenging since the system requires numerous patches and frequent upgrades (Buytaert, Rogier & Juan 185). Lastly, the technology faces serious challenges of security and scalability. There are insufficient disaster protection systems hence firms are vulnerable to systems breakdown and server applications inaccessibility. Additionally, the risk of security attacks, health pandemics, natural disasters and terrorism continues to counteract the growth of the technology. Importantly, flexibilities in the industry have introduced the problem of scalability. The IT industry is highly flexible hence demands a flexible technology. Developing and restructuring the Virtual infrastructures to accommodate novel developments is

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in the Prince William Sound Essay

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in the Prince William Sound - Essay Example These investigations proved beyond doubt that the damages caused by this mishap have been more than what one would anticipate and therefore huge remedial measures are necessary to regain the damaged eco system back to its normal state. Even though some relief works were carried out at the site for few months and some compensation were dispersed by Exxon; these measures were not sufficient enough to bring back the affected region to its normal state. Exxon slowly started to withdraw its relief operations in this area even though they accepted the responsibility of this mishap. This paper discusses the things happened after this mishap to the key players, the appropriateness of their actions and the recommendations for avoiding such mishaps in future. â€Å"Exxon Mobil has paid about $900 million under the 1991 settlement† (Yardley, 2011) to rebuild the environment back to its normal state. â€Å"Exxon says it doesnt have any obligation to pay more. But the settlement also had a "reopener" clause allowing the state and federal governments to later claim up to $100 million more from Exxon if there were unforeseen damages† (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Exxon Mobil Scores Key Victory In Alaska Case, 2011). But Exxon is note ready to obey the "reopener" clause of $100 million more aid to the affected people. Oil that penetrates deeply into beaches can remain relatively fresh for years and can later come back to the surface and affect nearby animals. In addition, oil degrades at varying rates depending on environment, with subsurface sediments physically protected from disturbance, oxygenation, and photolysis retaining contamination by only partially weathered oil for years. Long-term exposure of fish embryos to weathered oil at parts per billion (ppb) concentrations has population consequences through indirect effects on growth,

Empirical research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Empirical research - Essay Example The researcher should test these predictions using appropriate experiments. The results of these experiments will determine whether the conclusions of the empirical research are logically supported or not, depending on whether the theory that informed the hypothesis and predictions is supported by the results or not. In an empirical research, the conclusions are logical if the evidences that support them are logical and there are proper inferences and hypothesis (Goodwin, 2005). Conclusions that are not logically supported do not invalidate the entire study. It is imperative that a conclusion should be arrived at in a logical way, having followed a systematic approach to conduct research, for a study to be fully valid. However, this does not mean that an entire study will be invalid if the conclusions are not logically supported. There will be some confusion because the conclusions are not logically supported, but the study will still be valid to some extent because the research was based on observations and experiences. If these observations and experiences are not logically supported by the theory that informed the research, it does not mean that the entire research is invalid (Becker & Lazaric,

Obstructive Uropathy and Myocardial Infarction Essay

Obstructive Uropathy and Myocardial Infarction - Essay Example Obstruction to urine flow can result from intrinsic or extrinsic mechanical blockade as well as from functional defects not associated with fixed occlusion of the urinary drainage system. Mechanical obstruction can occur at any level of the urinary tract, from the renal calyces to the external urethral meatus. Normal points of narrowing, such as the ureteropelvic and ureterovesical junctions, bladder neck, and urethral meatus, are common sites of obstruction. When blockage is above the level of the urinary bladder, unilateral dilatation of the ureter or hydroureter and renal pyelocalyceal system or hydronephrosis, occur; whereas, lesions at or below the level of the bladder cause bilateral involvement. While obstructive uropathy can occur in all age groups, in relation to the following case study that is about a 77-year-old patient, not all the causes are relevant. Bladder dysfunction may be secondary to bladder neck obstruction. In adults, urinary tract obstruction is due mainly to acquired defects; pelvic tumors, calculi, and urethral stricture predominate. Schistosoma haematobium and genitourinary tuberculosis are infectious causes of ureteral obstruction. Obstructive uropathy may also result from extrinsic neoplastic or inflmmatory disorder (Goldfarb, S., 2008). Pathophysiology: Myocardial infarction generally occurs when coronary blood flow decreases abruptly after a thrombotic occlusion of a coronary artery previously affected by atherosclerosis. Slowly developing, high-grade coronary artery stenoses do not usually precipitate myocardial infarction (MI) because of the development of a rich collateral network over time. Instead, MI occurs when a coronary artery thrombus develops rapidly at a site of vascular injury. This injury is produced or facilitated by factors such as cigarette smoking, hypertension, and lipid accumulation. In most cases, infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque fissures, ruptures, or ulcerates and when conditions favor thrombogenesis, so that a mural thrombus forms at the site of rupture and leads to coronary artery occlusion. Histologic studies indicate that the coronary plaques prone to rupture are those with a rich lipid core and a thin fibrous cap. Myocardial infarction is defined as the death of heart mu scle resulting from severe, prolonged ischemia. It usually involves the left ventricle. Most MIs are confined to the distribution of a single coronary artery and are designated as anterior, anteroseptal, lateral, and posteroinferior. Multiregional infarcts also occur. Myocardial infarctions are designated as subendocardial or non-Q-wave when the necrosis is limited to the inner half of the ventricular wall or transmural or Q-wave when the necrosis involves not only the inner half but significant amounts of the outer half of the ventricular wall. The electrocardiographic (ECG) correlates are the ST segment elevation with Q-wave pattern for transmural infarcts and the ST segment depression without Q-wave pattern for subendocardial infarcts. If it is a thrombus, the thrombus typically involves the major coronary artery in the distribution of the infarcted myocardium (K/DOQI, 2004). Subendocardial MI without occlusive thrombosis is related to the influence of other factors,

Leadin organizational design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadin organizational design - Essay Example There is no single right approach. From the experience we got from the exercise, it is clear that solid arranging practice is basic to change administration victory. There are numerous change situations that call for some diverse reactions. Maybe expanding rivalry requests another concentrate on holding existing clients? Then again perhaps extraordinary business victory is bringing about developing aches? It is safe to say that you are ceaselessly filtering the natures turf (markets and rivalry)? Be vigilant in administering attention to the outer environment so the need for change could be promptly recognized. Additionally, it is important to note that a participative arranging procedure is basic to change administration victory. Despite the fact that change may be started by a singular, key stakeholders should additionally thoroughly consider and comprehend need for change. Furthermore, stakeholders must experience the improvement of vision and method. A thorough and normally prolonged methodology of data imparting and dialog is important to make arrangement of the center gathering. Time and vitality went through in intense gatherings with the right individuals will transform stronger systems and solid authority all around the association. On the off chance that these tests are succeed, the change activity will profit from a solid vision and system upheld by a solid, profoundly adj usted center change management as it is the case with Global Tech. William Bridges work is concentrated on the mental process that people experience when adjusting to change. Associations that utilize the Transitions model highlight the exact individual and in some cases excruciating excursion that happens when we relinquish the past and end up in the unbiased zone, on our route to a fresh start. Once more, EC tests pioneers to think about scaling the singular brain science