With so much money and so many jobs at stake, lobbying by the companies and their Congressional patrons was intense.
At first, she was concerned that the patrons would require intense one-on-one attention.
The announcement of the naval exercises last week raised already heightened tensions, angering both North Korea and its patron, China, and stirring intense speculation in the South Korean news media about whether the North would respond violently.
If anything, having more guns to dole out in this manner may just increase the already intense competition between various battalions for a patron's money or supplies.
In fact, she presides over an office of intense and focused workaholics, protective of their patron and wary of outsiders, a trait that has drawn comparisons to the leadership team of George W. Bush.
Another concern is that individual sponsorship -- along with the extracurricular attentions of a wealthy, powerful patron -- could stoke the already intense competition among dancers.
At the same time, he began an intense, long-distance friendship with an older woman who became his patron.
Mr. Dillner came under intense criticism from a vocal group of Skylight performers and patrons after he eliminated five positions as part of cost-saving measures.
"It's intense," Egner said, adding that, most years, one or two patrons vomit during their visit (requiring a sanitary cleanup and adding an extra layer to the smellscape).
For $3.75 patrons can cap off their dinners with an intense chocolate mousse cake, tiramisu that's so fluffy it's almost inhaleable or a dense, heavyweight Amaretto cheesecake.
