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Home » Blog » In Search of Verona, Zeffirelli’s Star-Crossed Lovers Take a Tour of Italy
In Search of Verona, Zeffirelli’s Star-Crossed Lovers Take a Tour of Italy
The approach of St. Valentine’s day only reminds us that as much as love can light up your life, it can also be a real downer. One day you’re meeting a nice young girl at a party and the next thing you’re committing suicide next to each other in the family crypt. It’s a familiar story, but no director has been able to wring as much beauty from the old tale of “Romeo and Juliet” as director Franco Zeffirelli did in his English-acted, Italian-based 1968 version of the film. Stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting — the Kristen Stewart and R Pats of their day — are no doubt the best-looking couple to play the star-crossed lovers on screen—but Zeffirelli also had the benefit of a handful of magical, romantic locations across Italy to make his “tale of woe” one of the most rapturous Shakespeare adaptations on the big screen.
Naturally, downtown Verona doesn’t quite look like it did in the 16th Century, so Zeffirelli hopped all over Italy to get the exact looks and shots he wanted. The balcony scene is, of course, the centerpiece of any “Romeo and Juliet” production, and Zeffirelli’s is no exception—shot in the back garden of the Palazzo Borghese 20 miles south of Rome in Artena (tourism info), the vine-encrusted, overripe setting became a symbol of passion when held against the stony, sun-bleached exteriors that mark the rest of the film.
For the fight scenes, Zeffirelli headed north to Gubbio in Umbria, where a mix of 16th-century buildings and an Ancient Roman city plan created the right obstacle course of ruined buildings and paving stones for the aerobic swordplay. The grittiness and dryness of the scenes also underline the… lack of fertility in playing war games with the boys.
While the town of Pienza, in Siena stood in for Verona in general, the memorable marriage and crypt scenes took place in and around the Church of St. Pietro in Tuscania. Sure, Romeo and Juliet got a bum deal. But at least they got a lovely little tour of central and northern Italy along with all that kissing and dying.
For more tours through the world of film that don’t involve poison or seppuku, pick up a copy of “Film + Travel” today.
Images courtesy of Paramount.
artena franco zeffirelli gubbio Italy leonard whiting olivia hussey palazzo borghese pienza Rome romeo Romeo & Juliet shakespeare tuscania umbria 2010-02-08
Tagged with: artena franco zeffirelli gubbio Italy leonard whiting olivia hussey palazzo borghese pienza Rome romeo Romeo & Juliet shakespeare tuscania umbria
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Next: “City of Life and Death” Pulled From Film Forum, Sigur Rós Singer’s Vid, Star Wars Tourism, and Cycling Across India
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PD Kaleb died on duty on Sunday morning (Source: Queensland Police)
Tragedy as police dog dies chasing break and enter suspect
May 26, 2019 12:47 pm in Queensland by Jaydan Duck
QUEENSLAND Police are mourning the loss of one of their own following the death of a police dog in Toowoomba.
PD Kaleb and his handler, Sergeant Constable Trevor O’Neill, were responding to a break and enter on Anzac Avenue at Harristown shortly before 1.30am on Sunday when tragedy struck.
In a statement, Queensland Police said PD Kaleb collapsed after tracking a suspect for more than an hour.
“It is with extremely heavy hearts that the Queensland Police Service can confirm the death of a serving police dog in Harristown earlier this morning,” the statement said.
“PD Kaleb was conducting a track through residential streets and a school when they located a man believed to be involved in the break in.
“As PD Kaleb ended the track around 2.45am he stumbled and lay down while returning to the Dog Squad vehicle.
“His handler immediately rendered first aid, however PD Kaleb collapsed into unconsciousness.”
The seven-year-old service dog was rushed to the closest vet but sadly could not be saved.
PD Kaleb and his handler, Sergeant Constable Trevor O’Neill (Source: Queensland Police)
His handler, Sergeant Constable O’Neill, has been left “absolutely devastated” by the loss of his dog, partner and mate, police said.
PD Kaleb has spent the last five years with the Queensland Police Service conducting countless successful tracks and apprehensions.
“All QPS dogs live at home with their handlers and are part of their family and the bond between handlers and their dogs makes them inseparable,” police said.
“The QPS takes the safety and wellbeing of all police dogs very seriously and treats them as valued members of the police family.
“When a police dog passes away as a result of an incident on duty or in training, the State Capability Coordinator (Dog Squad) conducts a review into the circumstances of the incident.
“Vale RD Kaleb, with honour you served, and it was our honour to serve with you.”
It is with extremely heavy hearts that the Queensland Police Service can confirm the death of a serving police dog in Harristown earlier this morning. Vale PD Kaleb 💙 https://t.co/iGmRAgDRhI pic.twitter.com/BphnBmZ2xa
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) May 26, 2019
http://www.mygc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PD-KALEB.jpg 321 845 Jaydan Duck http://www.mygc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/mygc-logo.png Jaydan Duck2019-05-26 12:47:172019-05-26 12:55:08Tragedy as police dog dies chasing break and enter suspect
Jaydan Duck
Jaydan is a Digital News Producer at myGC.com.au. He was appointed Managing Editor of the Junee Southern Cross newspaper at the age of 17 and has since held positions in a number of newsrooms in New South Wales and Queensland. Jaydan joined the Hot Tomato Broadcasting Company in 2013 and has been keeping the Gold Coast up to date with the latest local, national and international news online at myGC.com.au ever since. With almost ten years’ experience in both print and digital media Jaydan is committed to providing the best coverage during major news and weather events.
'Human' skeletal remains found in Qld river
Qld govt savaged for offshore deal on milk
"We can't afford it": Pauline Hanson's push to stop Qld Olympics bid
Family of Young LNP Club drag queen protester express their grief
The UK has just introduced a law ensuring that anyone abusing or attacking a law enforcement animal – dog or police horse – will be prosecuted to the same extent of the law as they would be for harming a human police officer. We need to do the same here if we haven’t already
done so.
Police officers ambushed, strangled in savage mob-style attack Albo, Marles set to be ALP leadership team
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Google this Site
The No Mining Fiction
By Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO
Recently the Chief Judge of the NSW Land and Environment, Brian Preston, dismissed an appeal to allow the Rocky Hill coal mine in the Hunter Valley. Among other things, the judge said that the mine should be rejected because the coal it produces will increase greenhouse gas emissions.
The Environmental Defenders Office NSW (EDO) argued in the appeal that the mine’s impact on climate change were reasons to reject the mine. The EDO has said it will continue to mount legal challenges to “phase out most coal globally by 2030”. Preston used to be the EDO’s principal solicitor, and while it’s not suggested he was biased, it was an extraordinary decision.
But what most struck me about the ruling is that 95 per cent of coal produced at the Rocky Hill mine would have been used to produce steel. The Green dream of 100 per cent renewable energy can’t happen without steel.
And there’s no steel without coal.
Where do Green activists think the steel for wind turbines is going to come from if coal is phased out globally by 2030?
This is an example of the fiction of the Green agenda.
The Green position on mining generally is another example. Greens hate mining. I once challenged the Greens to name one place in Australia they’d support a new mine. I’m still waiting for a response.
Greens consistently oppose mines. Yet the Green dream will require an increase in mining to a level perhaps not seen before.
Non-hydro renewables currently generate a minuscule amount of global energy (no more than 1-2 per cent). Green activists want this to increase to 100 per cent which would require a huge amount of mining of iron ore and coal (for steel), petroleum (for plastics), aluminium, cobalt, lithium, graphite, copper, gypsum, zinc, rare earth elements and many other minerals.
Mining will also be required to replace all transport with new electric vehicles.
The “Green New Deal” manifesto released by the socialist-Left wing of the US Democratic Party also calls for the upgrading or replacement of every building in the US. That would require untold amounts of steel as well as glass (sand mining) and concrete which requires limestone, sand, aluminium, iron ore and a host of other materials.
Opposing mining is like opposing modern life. Humans depend on mining for every single aspect of life. Look around you and everything you can see and touch depends on mining.
For a start, everything containing metal or glass comes from mining. Also plastics and synthetics which are derived from petroleum.
Mining is also required to utilise organic materials grown above the ground. Growing, harvesting, transport, production and storage of food, timber and organic materials like cotton, leather and wool requires tools, machines and packaging, all of which are made of mined materials. Without mining we couldn’t produce or transport food in mass quantities or package and store it for long periods without contamination.
Put simply, it wouldn’t be possible to feed, house and clothe over 7.5 billion humans without mining.
Mining is also essential for modern medicine. Minerals used in medicines include silver, zinc, calcium, sulphur and many others. Medical equipment uses metals, plastics, glass and graphite. And without mining, the mass production, distribution and safe storage of pharmaceuticals and other medical products would be impossible.
Mined materials are also required to generate all electricity (including renewables).
If people really wanted to live in a world without mining they’d take off all their clothes and go live in the bush and use sticks and stones collected from the ground as their only tools.
Australia’s economy is under threat from the “no mining” agenda. Projects are being delayed and made uneconomical through relentless lawfare and through bullying suppliers and lenders against doing business with mining companies. Even if the Greens succeed in shutting down Australia’s mining industry, this won’t stop mining.
The world’s need for mined products will continue to rise and non-Western countries that don’t let Green-activists dictate and bully will continue to extract and supply them.
But not all countries have clean and responsible mining. Anyone who cares about the environment should want to see more mining in places like Australia where mining is highly regulated with strict environmental controls.
A lot of people don’t understand how much mining companies do to protect and even improve the land and environment. New mines have rehabilitation plans that set out how the land will be used post-mining.
Regeneration is mandatory and the process begins before the mine is built, including removal and stockpiling of topsoil so it can be put back, growing seedlings for restoration of bushland and buffer or offset sites to protect biodiversity. Restoration and land management happens during mine operation.
Pushing Australia’s mining offshore will not only send Australia broke, it will also cause more environmental damage.
When humans learned to extract minerals and produce metals it transformed the entire world. Mining led to the industrial and technology revolutions. It has given us longer and healthier lives and led to standards of living once unimaginable.
Anyone who opposes mining may as well support humanity going back to the Stone Age.
This article was first published in the Daily Telegraph on 21 February 2019.
Nyungga Black Group Pty Limited
admin@nyunggablack.com
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Odbor šefova vodećih međunarodnih organizacija
16.09.2007 Hr Speech
Remarks by the High Representative and EU Special Representative, Miroslav Lajčák, at the Ceremony Marking the Tenth Anniversary of the Helicopter Crash
Members of the families, Vice-President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ten years have gone by since the men and women we have gathered to honour were killed in this place.
Their families are with us here today, and on behalf of the friends and colleagues of the deceased – who will not forget them – let me express my sincerest condolences.
Those who set out to do good can pay a heavy price; our twelve friends and colleagues paid the ultimate price.
Their courage lies in the fact that they knew that their work here entailed risk, but still they came – because they wanted to help this country.
They believed that what they were doing was worth the effort and the pain.
They came from other countries to be of service to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is for exactly those reasons that we honour them and we will always honour them.
A decade on from the fatal crash that took place here, Bosnia and Herzegovina is changed.
It is not yet a country where living conditions are good, but it is on the way to becoming the sort of country that these men and women wanted to build, and for which they gave their lives for.
We, all of us, have a clear and single objective – it is to help the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina build a safe and prosperous and democratic society.
That is an honourable objective.
Continuing to work to make that objective a reality is the best way to pay tribute to and honour the sacrifice made by Peter Backes, Livio Beccaccio, Andrzej Buler, David Kriskovich, Leah Melnick, Charles Morpeth, William Nesbitt, Marvin Padgett, Thomas Reinhardt, Jurgen Schauf, Georg Stiebler and Gerd Wagner each day.
Izvještaji visokog predstavnika
Deklaracije i komunikei PIC-a
Informacije za javnost
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Information on the University
Evaluation Results of Achievements for the 1st Medium-term Goal Period (2004-2009)
The National University Corporation Evaluation Committee evaluated the achievements of Osaka University for the first four years (2004 -2009) of the six-year Mid-Term Goals Period. The committee also evaluated the reports that had been evaluated by the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation.
As the evaluation of achievements for Mid-Term Goals Period is reflected in the calculation of subsidies for management of the next Mid-Term Goals Period, the evaluation was conducted in 2008 before the Mid-Term Period ended at the end of the 2008-2009 academic year.
Evaluation on the achievements for Mid-Term Goals Period (2004-2009)
Analysis of education at each of the undergraduate and graduate schools
Analysis of research at each of the undergraduate and graduate schools
Analyses of the individual situations of graduate and undergraduate schools as well as institutes of Osaka University can be viewed below:
School of Letters School of Letters & Graduate School of Letters
Graduate School of Letters School of Human Sciences & Graduate School of Human Sciences
School of Human Sciences School of Law & Graduate School of Law and Politics
Graduate School of Human Sciences School of Economics & Graduate School of Economics
School of Law School of Science & Graduate School of Science
Graduate School of Law and Politics Faculty of Medicine & Graduate School of Medicine
School of Economics School of Dentistry & Graduate School of Dentistry
Graduate School of Economics School of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
School of Science School of Engineering & Graduate School of Engineering
Graduate School of Science School of Engineering Science & Graduate School of Engineering Science
Faculty of Medicine School of Foreign Studies
Graduate School of Language and Culture
Graduate School of Medicine Osaka School of International Public Policy
School of Dentistry Graduate School of Information Science and Technology
Graduate School of Dentistry Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Osaka University Law School
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Institute for Microbial Diseases
School of Engineering Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research
Graduate School of Engineering Institute for Protein Research
School of Engineering Science Institute of Social and Economic Research
Graduate School of Engineering Science Joining and Welding Research Institute
School of Foreign Studies Research Center for Nuclear Physics
Graduate School of Language and Culture Cybermedia Center
Osaka School of International Public Policy Institute of Laser Engineering
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University and Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences
Osaka University Law School
United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University and Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
Purpose, Outline of Duties, and the Relationship with National Policies
Information about retired public officers assuming positions as Independent Administrative Officers
Leaflet about Medium-term Goals, Medium-term Plans, and Annual Plans
Synopsis of the Administration
Regulations on Officers
Reports on Results for the 2007-08 year and the Mid-Term Goals Period (2004-2007)
Evaluation of Achievements for Mid-Term Goals Period (2004-2007)
Financial Information of the former Osaka University of Foreign Studies
Information about Standards for Officers' Remuneration and Staff Salary (2007)
Evaluation Results of Achievements of National Corporation Osaka University
Self Inspection, Certified Evaluation and Accreditation
Evaluation of School Achievements
Information about officer and staff pay standards
Evaluation Results of Faculty Achievements
Evaluation Results of Achievements for the 2nd Medium-term Goal Period (2010-2015)
Private Finance Initiatives
Donations from Local Public Organizations
Disclosure of Osaka University Documents
Protection of Personal Information
Requesting unidentifiable personal information
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info@patwell.us(610) 380-7101
Patwell Pharmaceutical Solutions, LLC
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"Patients do better with additional specific directions, " says William Shrank, M. Deb., an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School who studies the effectiveness of patient drug labels. Vocabulary like, "1 tablet in the morning and you tablet at night, doze hours apart" helps patients understand when they should take their medicine , alternatively than the vague "twice per day, " which basically associated with any time frame. That could cause some people, for example, to consider the drug at say, 9 a. m. and then again at 3 p. meters., then wait another 18 hours until they take another dose.
pharmaceutical packaging Coatesville PA
Medication reconciliation is the process of comparing a person's medication orders to all of the medications that the patient has been taking. This reconciliation is done to avoid medication errors such as omissions, duplications, dosing errors, or drug interactions. It should be done at every transition of care in which new medications are ordered or existing purchases are rewritten. Transitions in care include changes in setting, service, practitioner, or level of care. This process comprises five steps: (1) develop a set of current medications; (2) develop a set of medications to be prescribed; (3) compare the medications on the two lists; (4) make clinical decisions based on the comparison; and (5) communicate the new list to appropriate caregivers and the sufferer.
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How can there vary or missing warning labels? Drugstores use information from various software vendors, and the software sets the risk amount of a medication based on scientific studies, says Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, which works with each state's regulatory board.
pharmaceutical packaging Philadelphia PA
Researchers in New Jersey measured medication storage temperatures on rescue ambulances during 12 weeks of summer and four several weeks of winter. 8 The on-ambulance temperatures were noted inside the drug container, and the ambulances were parked in either a climate-controlled garage, in a garage with fans only, under a carport or in a parking lot. During summer, all of the ambulance drug boxes experienced mean kinetic temperatures above the handled room temperature threshold of 25? C (77? F), which range from twenty-five. 6? -28. 9? C (78. 1? -84? F). All of the medication boxes also recorded maximum temperatures above 30? C (86? F), and three of the drug boxes reached temperatures greater than 40? C (104? F). The highest recorded temp was 58. 3? C (136. 9? F). During the winter months, all of the monitors recorded temperatures well below 12-15? C (59? F), with minimum temperatures ranging from -14. 0? -8. 9? C (6. 8? -48? F).
pharmaceutical packaging West Chester PA
Medicine reconciliation is the process of comparing a person's medication orders to all of the medications that the patient has recently been taking. This reconciliation is done to avoid medication errors such as omissions, duplications, dosing errors, or drug interactions. It should be done at every transition of care in which new medications are ordered or existing purchases are rewritten. Transitions in care include changes in setting, service, practitioner, or level of care. This technique comprises five steps: (1) develop a set of current medications; (2) develop a set of medications to be prescribed; (3) compare the medications on the two lists; (4) make clinical decisions based on the comparison; and (5) communicate the new list to appropriate caregivers also to the individual.
refrigerated storage Parkesburg PA
"Patients do better with additional specific directions, " says William Shrank, M. M., an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School who studies the effectiveness of patient drug labels. Language like, "1 tablet in the morning and you tablet at night, 12 hours apart" helps patients understand when they should take their medicine , somewhat than the vague "twice a day, " which isn't very associated with any time frame. That can cause some people, for example, to take the drug at say, 9 a. m. however at 3 p. m., then wait another 18 hours until they take another dose.
refrigerated storage Coatesville PA
How can there be different or lacking warning labels? Drugstores use information from various software vendors, and the software sets the risk amount of a medication based on research, says Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Planks of Pharmacy, which works with each state's regulatory board.
refrigerated storage Lancaster PA
Researchers in New Jersey measured medication storage temperatures on ambulances during 12 weeks of summer and four several weeks of winter. 8 The on-ambulance temperatures were noted inside the drug container, and the ambulances were parked in either a climate-controlled garage, in a garage with fans only, under a carport or in a parking lot. During summer, all of the ambulance drug boxes experienced mean kinetic temperatures above the handled room temp threshold of 25? C (77? F), starting from twenty-five. 6? -28. 9? C (78. 1? -84? F). All of the drug boxes also recorded maximum temperatures above 30? C (86? F), and three of the drug bins reached temperatures greater than 40? C (104? F). The highest recorded heat was 58. 3? C (136. 9? F). During the winter months, all of the monitors noted temperatures well below 12-15? C (59? F), with minimum temperatures starting from -14. 0? -8. 9? C (6. 8? -48? F).
refrigerated storage Philadelphia PA
"Patients do better with additional specific directions, " says William Shrank, M. Deb., an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School who studies the effectiveness of patient drug labels. Vocabulary like, "1 tablet in the morning and 1 tablet at night, 12 hours apart" helps patients understand when they should take their medication , somewhat than the vague "twice a day, " which basically associated with any time frame. That may cause some people, for example, to consider the drug at say, 9 a. m. and then again at 3 p. m., then wait another 18 hours until they take another dose.
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Penn State Agricultural Law Blog
A research and education program of the Center for Agricultural and Shale Law (CASL)
Agricultural Law Blog
Shale Law Blog
Idaho “Ag-Gag” Law Ruled Unconstitutional
On August 3, 2015, U.S District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill for the U.S. District Court of Idaho ruled Idaho’s “ag-gag” law unconstitutional.
The Idaho legislature passed the “ag-gag” bill back in 2014 as a response to a Los Angeles animal rights group that released a video exposing animal abuse on a dairy farm in Iowa. The bill made it a misdemeanor for an individual to “interfere with agricultural production.” Interference included various acts such as obtaining employment at an agricultural facility only to cause economic injury, intentionally damaging crops or machinery, and entering an agricultural operation that is closed to the public to make video recordings of the conditions on the premises. The bill was signed on February 14, 2014 by Idaho Governor C.L. Otter, which then became Idaho Code § 18-7042.
According to the written opinion, the lawsuit was brought by the Animal Defense Fund, with other organizations, that argued the law was unconstitutional because “§ 18-7042 has both the purpose and effect of stifling public debate about modern agriculture ‘by (1) criminalizing all employment based undercover investigations; and (2) criminalizing investigative journalism, whistle blowing by employees…” The constitutional arguments brought against § 18-7042 were “violation of the Free Speech Clause of First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment…”
In the written opinion, Winmill found § 18-7042 both violated Freedom of Speech under the First Amendment and could not stand under the Equal Protection Clause.
Seven other states have passed similar “ag-gag” laws. The Animal Legal Defense Fund has also brought a challenge to Utah’s “ag-gag” laws in federal court.
Written by Katharine Richter - Research Assistant
Posted by Center for Agricultural and Shale Law at 11:08 AM
Labels: Ag Gag, Animal Cruelty, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Welfare, freedom of speech, Idaho, Litigation, Unconstitutional
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Explore Blagdon
Evolution of Everything
Collective intelligence on the edge
Published on: Sunday, 16 January, 2011
Clever people don't like to think that individual cleverness is not what counts
The Edge's Annual Question is a great compilation of brief effusions from science groupies like me. This year the question was
What scientific concept would improve everybody's cognitive toolkit?
My answer was this:
Brilliant people, be they anthropologists, psychologists or economists, assume that brilliance is the key to human achievement. They vote for the cleverest people to run governments, they ask the cleverest experts to devise plans for the economy, they credit the cleverest scientists with discoveries, and they speculate on how human intelligence evolved in the first place.
They are all barking up the wrong tree. The key to human achievement is not individual intelligence at all. The reason human beings dominate the planet is not because they have big brains: Neanderthals had big brains but were just another kind of predatory ape. Evolving a 1200-cc brain and a lot of fancy software like language was necessary but not sufficient for civilization. The reason some economies work better than others is certainly not because they have cleverer people in charge, and the reason some places make great discoveries is not because they have smarter people.
Human achievement is entirely a networking phenomenon. It is by putting brains together through the division of labor - through trade and specialisation - that human society stumbled upon a way to raise the living standards, carrying capacity, technological virtuosity and knowledge base of the species. We can see this in all sorts of phenomena: the correlation between technology and connected population size in Pacific islands; the collapse of technology in people who became isolated, like native Tasmanians; the success of trading city states in Greece, Italy, Holland and south-east Asia; the creative consequences of trade.
Human achievement is based on collective intelligence - the nodes in the human neural network are people themselves. By each doing one thing and getting good at it, then sharing and combining the results through exchange, people become capable of doing things they do not even understand. As the economist Leonard Read observed in his essay "I, Pencil' (which I'd like everybody to read), no single person knows how to make even a pencil - the knowledge is distributed in society among many thousands of graphite miners, lumberjacks, designers and factory workers.
That's why, as Friedrich Hayek observed, central planning never worked: the cleverest person is no match for the collective brain at working out how to distribute consumer goods. The idea of bottom-up collective intelligence, which Adam Smith understood and Charles Darwin echoed, and which Hayek expounded in his remarkable essay "The use of knowledge in society", is one idea I wish everybody had in their cognitive toolkit.
Some of the other answers were great, including this from Sue Blackmore, of which this is an extract (and which should be compulsory reading for climate scientists):
The phrase "correlation is not a cause" (CINAC) may be familiar to every scientist but has not found its way into everyday language, even though critical thinking and scientific understanding would improve if more people had this simple reminder in their mental toolkit.
One reason for this lack is that CINAC can be surprisingly difficult to grasp. I learned just how difficult when teaching experimental design to nurses, physiotherapists and other assorted groups. They usually understood my favourite example: imagine you are watching at a railway station. More and more people arrive until the platform is crowded, and then - hey presto - along comes a train. Did the people cause the train to arrive (A causes B)? Did the train cause the people to arrive (B causes A)? No, they both depended on a railway timetable (C caused both A and B).
I soon discovered that this understanding tended to slip away again and again, until I began a new regime, and started every lecture with an invented example to get them thinking.
"Right", I might say "Suppose it's been discovered (I don't mean it's true) that children who eat more tomato ketchup do worse in their exams. Why could this be?" They would argue that it wasn't true (I'd explain the point of thought experiments again). "But there'd be health warnings on ketchup if it's poisonous" (Just pretend it's true for now please) and then they'd start using their imaginations.
"There's something in the ketchup that slows down nerves", "Eating ketchup makes you watch more telly instead of doing your homework", "Eating more ketchup means eating more chips and that makes you fat and lazy". Yes, yes, probably wrong but great examples of A causes B - go on. And so to "Stupid people have different taste buds and don't like ketchup", "Maybe if you don't pass your exams your Mum gives you ketchup". And finally " "Poorer people eat more junk food and do less well at school".
By: Matt Ridley | Tagged:
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Porcelain Tile Flooring Guys
Porcelain Tile Flooring in Riverbank, CA
Why porcelain flooring
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Porcelain is a mixture of sand and mineral salts carried out by Porcelain Tile Flooring Guys to come up with the synthetic product that porcelain is. Different buildings in Riverbank, CA have exploited the different products that porcelain flooring has to offer. These products mainly include porcelain tiles for flooring that come in varied patterns, colours, sizes and shapes and are flexible for use in various rooms of various buildings. The other major porcelain products are the porcelain floor carpets that work in a similar manner just as the porcelain floor tiles but are movable in that they are not fastened to the floor like the tiles. For any of the porcelain flooring products place an order today by dialling 888-476-0001 and you can enjoy the services of superior products from Porcelain Tile Flooring Guys
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Zip codes near Riverbank, CA
95390, 95367, 95640, 95304, 95319, 95360, 95250, L4H 2Y9, 95330, 95350, 95372, 95231, 95222, 95601, 95320, 95248, 94511, 95365, 95680, 93635, 95322, 95324, M8Z 0B5, 94550, N4Z 4M9, 95234, 95310, 95321, 95685, 95226, 95236, 95301, 95329, 95323, 95240, L6P 2S8, 94561, 95228, 95383, 95247, 95317, 95340, 95641, 95632, 95386, 95254, 95367, 95315, N1G 5J9, 95346, 95253, 95638, 95313, 95326, 95690, L9T 0G5, 95233, L5S 0A2, 95316, 94505, 95305, 94548
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Press Center Daily News 2013 16 student honored with Academy Awards
16 student honored with Academy Awards
BEVERLY HILLS — Sixteen students from colleges and universities around the world were honored on June 8 as winners at the 40th Student Academy Awards. The event was held at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The medal placements were announced at a ceremony hosted by writer-director and 1978 Student Academy Award winner Bob Saget. Writer-director Kimberly Peirce and actors Clark Gregg, Jason Schwartzman and Quvenzhané Wallis also presented the awards.
Gold Medal: “Bottled Up,” Rafael Cortina, Occidental College
Silver Medal: “Zug,” Perry Janes, University of Michigan
Bronze Medal: “The Compositor,” John Mattiuzzi, School of Visual Arts
Gold Medal: “Dia de los Muertos,” Lindsey St. Pierre and Ashley Graham, Ringling College of Art and Design
Silver Medal: “Will,” Eusong Lee, California Institute of the Arts
Bronze Medal: “Peck Pocketed,” Kevin Herron, Ringling College of Art and Design
Gold Medal: “A Second Chance,” David Aristizabal, University of Southern California
Silver Medal: “Every Tuesday: A Portrait of The New Yorker Cartoonists,” Rachel Loube, School of Visual Arts
Bronze Medal: “Win or Lose,” Daniel Koehler, Elon University
Gold Medal: “Ol’ Daddy,” Brian Schwarz, University of Texas at Austin
Silver Medal: “Josephine and the Roach,” Jonathan Langager, University of Southern California
Bronze Medal: “Un Mundo para Raúl (A World for Raúl),” Mauro Mueller, Columbia University
Foreign Film
Gold Medal: “Miss Todd,” Kristina Yee, National Film and Television School, United Kingdom
Silver Medal: “Parvaneh,” Talkhon Hamzavi, Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland
Bronze Medal: “Tweesprong (Crossroads),” Wouter Bouvijn, RITS School of Arts, Erasmus University College Brussels, Belgium
This year saw first-time honors go to Elon University, Occidental College and the University of Michigan in the US competition, as well as to Zurich University of the Arts and RITS School of Arts, Erasmus University College Brussels, in the foreign competition.
The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level.
Colorist Yulia Bulashenko joins Nice Shoes' Toronto team
TORONTO — New York City-based creative studio Nice Shoes (www.niceshoes.com) has grown its Toronto team with the recent addition of colorist Yulia Bulashenko. She brings over seven years of experience ...
Chicago's Periscope Post & Audio opens Hollywood studio
HOLLYWOOD — Chicago-based Periscope Post & Audio (periscopepa.com) has expanded to the West Coast, opening a new 22,000-square-foot sound and picture finishing facility in Hollywood. Located at 68 ...
VES announces board of directors' officers
LOS ANGELES — The Visual Effects Society (www.visualeffectssociety.com) has announced its 2020 board of directors' officers. The officers, who comprise the VES board executive committee, were elected ...
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State Laws Governing LAFCO
Role of the Commission
Agenda and Notices
Proposals Available
Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities
Community Services Districts
Fire Protection Districts
County Service Areas
Fiscal Indicators
LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION COMMISSION
FOR SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
NORTON REGIONAL EVENT CENTER
1601 EAST THIRD STREET #1000, SAN BERNARDINO
Click Here for Direction
REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 23, 2017
1:00 P.M. – CALL TO ORDER – FLAG SALUTE
ANNOUNCEMENT: Anyone present at the hearing who is involved with any of the changes of organization to be considered and who has made a contribution of more than $250 in the past twelve (12) months to any member of the Commission will be asked to state for the record the Commission member to whom the contribution has been made and the matter of consideration with which they are involved.
1(a). Selection of Acting Chair of the Commission
1(b). Interview and Selection of Alternate Public Member
Consent Items:
The following consent items are expected to be routine and non-controversial and will be acted upon by the Commission at one time without discussion, unless a request has been received prior to the hearing to discuss the matter.
2. Approval of Minutes for Regular Meeting of January 18, 2017
3. Approval of Executive Officer's Expense Report
4. Ratify Payments as Reconciled for Month of January and February 2017 and Note Cash Receipts
Public Hearing Items:
5. Consent Items Deferred for Discussion
6. Consideration of: (1) CEQA Statutory Exemption for LAFCO 3215 and (2) LAFCO 3215 – Sphere of influence Amendment for San Bernardino County Fire Protection District (City of Upland area)
7. Consideration of: (1) CEQA Statutory Exemption for LAFCO 3216 and (2) LAFCO 3216 – Reorganization to include Annexations to the San Bernardino Fire Protection District, its Valley Service Zone and Service Zone FP-5 and Formation of Service Zone FP-5 West Valley (City of Upland)
Amended Draft Resolution No.3242
Additional Correspondence/Comments Presented to the Commission on March 23rd
Memo with Public Comments Received on or before March 20th
Discussion Items:
8. Mid-Year Budget Review for Fiscal Year 2016-17:
Financial Report for Period July 1 through December 31, 2016
Authorization of Fund Transfer to Address Increased Revenues and Expenditures due to Increased Proposal Activity and Other Factors
9. Status Report on LAFCO 3189 -- Special Study for Morongo Valley Community Services District
Information Items:
10. Legislative Update Oral Report
11. Executive Officer's Oral Report
Update on Relocation/Renovation Progress at Santa Fe Depot
Continuing Education Opportunities – LAFCO 101 and Partnering on Public Engagement
New Proposals Received
12. Commissioner Comments
(This is an opportunity for Commissioners to comment on issues not listed on the agenda, provided that the subject matter is within the jurisdiction of the Commission and that no action may be taken on off-agenda items unless authorized by law.)
13. Comments from the Public
(By Commission policy, the public comment period is limited to five minutes per person for comments related to items under the jurisdiction of LAFCO.)
The Commission may adjourn for lunch from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. The Commission may take action on any item listed in this Agenda whether or not it is listed For Action. In its deliberations, the Commission may make appropriate changes incidental to the above-listed proposals.
Materials related to an item on this Agenda submitted to the Commission or prepared after distribution of the agenda packet will be available for public inspection in the LAFCO office at 215 N. D St., Suite 204, San Bernardino, during normal business hours, on the LAFCO website at www.sbclafco.org, and at the hearing.
Current law and Commission policy require the publishing of staff reports prior to the public hearing. These reports contain technical findings, comments, and recommendations of staff. The staff recommendation may be accepted or rejected by the Commission after its own analysis and consideration of public testimony.
IF YOU CHALLENGE ANY DECISION REGARDING ANY OF THE ABOVE PROPOSALS IN COURT, YOU MAY BE LIMITED TO RAISING ONLY THOSE ISSUES YOU OR SOMEONE ELSE RAISED DURING THE PUBLIC TESTIMONY PERIOD REGARDING THAT PROPOSAL OR IN WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE DELIVERED TO THE LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION COMMISSION AT, OR PRIOR TO, THE PUBLIC HEARING.
The Political Reform Act requires the disclosure of expenditures for political purposes related to a change of organization or reorganization proposal which has been submitted to the Commission, and contributions in support of or in opposition to such measures, shall be disclosed and reported to the same extent and subject to the same requirements as provided for local initiative measures presented to the electorate (Government Code Section 56700.1). Questions regarding this should be directed to the Fair Political Practices Commission at www.fppc.ca.gov or at 1-866-ASK-FPPC (1-866-275-3772).
A person with a disability may contact the LAFCO office at (909) 388-0480 at least 72-hours before the scheduled meeting to request receipt of an agenda in an alternative format or to request disability-related accommodations, including auxiliary aids or services, in order to participate in the public meeting. Later requests will be accommodated to the extent feasible.
1170 W. Third Street, Unit 150
San Bernardino, CA 92415-0490
lafco@lafco.sbcounty.gov
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Home Movies Blu-ray Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season Two Blu-ray Details
Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season Two Blu-ray Details
Posted By: Robert Trateon: Jun 18, 2016 In: Blu-ray, TVNo Comments
The Sci-Fi Movie Page is more than a fan of Lucasfilm and Disney XD’s Star Wars Rebels. It is an incredible collection of stories that not only bridges the gaps between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, but allows us to know what happened to our favorite characters after The Clone Wars. Check out our complete Star Wars Rebels coverage HERE on the Sci-Fi Movie Page.
Below, you will find the complete press release for the season 2 blu-rays arriving on August 30, 2016!
Press Release: Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season Two delivers all 22 action-packed episodes of the hit CG animated series’ second season, plus exclusive, never-before-seen bonus material on DVD and even more exclusive footage on Blu-ray! Available August 30, this thrilling continuation of the Star Wars Rebels saga depicts the continued efforts of the crew of the starship Ghost to defeat the evil Empire.
Amid growing Imperial oppression on Lothal, the rebels are forced to seek out new allies throughout the galaxy and additional resources to sustain their fight against the Empire. With the help of Ahsoka Tano, the crew of the Ghost bands together with a secret rebel cell and ex-soldiers from the Clone Wars to join a fledgling alliance determined to restore peace and freedom to the galaxy.
As Ezra continues his journey to become a Jedi under Kanan’s guidance, the threat of the dark side looms large over the fate of the growing rebellion. Darth Vader himself will dispatch new Inquisitors to snuff any spark of resistance, setting the stage for a climactic showdown in which past lives will be revealed, terrible truths will be discovered, and the lives of our heroes will be changed forever.
Star Wars Rebels was created by Dave Filoni (“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”), Simon Kinberg (“X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Sherlock Holmes”), and Carrie Beck. The Lucasfilm Animation production is also executive-produced by Filoni and Kinberg.
Featuring the voices of Freddie Prinze Jr. (“I Know What You Did Last Summer”) as Kanan, Vanessa Marshall (TV’s “Young Justice”) as Hera, Steve Blum (“The Boxtrolls”) as Zeb, Tiya Sircar (“The Internship”) as Sabine, Taylor Gray (TV’s “Bucket and Skinner’s Epic Adventures”) as Ezra, Ashley Eckstein (Her Universe apparel) as Ahsoka Tano, Dee Bradley Baker (“American Dad,” “Phineas and Ferb”) as Captain Rex and all the clones, David Oyelowo (“Selma” and “The Butler”) as Agent Kallus and Sarah Michelle Gellar (“The Crazy Ones,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”) as the Seventh Sister Inquisitor.
Bonus Features:
From Apprentice to Adversary: Vader vs. Ahsoka (Exclusive to Blu-ray) – Executive Producer Dave Filoni reflects on the climactic ending of the season, when Ahsoka Tano finally confronts Darth Vader in a long-awaited, fierce and epic lightsaber battle.
All DVD Bonus (see below)
Connecting the Galaxy: Rebels Season Two – Uncover hidden references, easter eggs and connections to the Star Wars universe found throughout the season.
Rebel Recons – Blast off with 20 fun, fast-paced episode recons, featuring behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with cast and crew, and more!
Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season Two arrives August 30, 2016!
Tags: Ahsoka TanoBlu-rayCaptain RexDarth VaderDisney XDEzra BridgerKanan JarrusLucasfilmStar WarsStar Wars Rebels: Complete Season TwoThe Ghost
Robert Trate
In my career as a writer, I have made Doctor Who giggle, asked Ahsoka Tano what underwear she was wearing, and spoke with a Raptor from Jurassic Park.
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DO YOU NEED HELP from PROSECUTION or THREAT?
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Network Empowerment Project
The Network Empowerment Project was created by the Sero Project to facilitate the creation and strengthening of networks of people living with HIV (PLHIV) networks, whether the networks are focused on advocacy, education, recreation, provision of services or for mutual social support.
Networks of PLHIV are how we can:
– Determine our own agenda;
– Define our own priorities;
– Select leadership of our own choosing;
– Hold said leadership accountable;
– Speak with a collective voice.
PLHIV working together, with other PLHIV, contributes significantly to improved health outcomes and stigma reduction.
Many networks are focused on a specific state or region; several are national or global. Networks focused on specific key populations, such as young and gay bisexual men, black gay men, transgender women, incarcerated men and women, injection drug users, immigrants, sex workers and others are especially important as they enable voices to be heard that are often ignored.
The goal of the Network Empowerment Project is to support all such networks and make sure that those living with HIV who are newly-diagnosed are provided the opportunity to connect with the network(s) that can be most helpful to them in navigating the stigma, isolation, fear, loneliness, complicated treatment decision making and healthcare access issues and more.
Through the Network Empowerment Project we provide guidance on forming and sustaining networks, how to work collectively, fundraise, agree on a mission and more.
No one knows more about living with HIV than those of us who are doing precisely that. We want to use our collective experience, personal empathy and access to expertise to help every person living with HIV.
TOOLS FOR BUILDING A NETWORK
ISSUES & COMMUNITIES
FIND A PLHIV NETWORK
All rights reserved © The SERO Project.
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Blog Tour & #Giveaway: Break Me Like A Promise by Tiffany Schmidt..
Review by Becca...
Break Me Like a Promise
Once Upon a Crime Family #2
By Tiffany Schmidt
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
All Magnolia Vickers ever wanted was to follow in her father's path and head up the Family business. And, once upon a time, she and Carter Landlow were going to do it together. But new legislation is about to destroy the Family's operations in the black-market organ trade, and Carter, her love, is dead.
Then Maggie runs into Alex, who needs something her family is uniquely able to deliver, and he's willing to manipulate her to get it. Maggie hates being blackmailed into fulfilling his bargain, but the longer it takes to help him--and as Alex's health declines--Maggie is surprised to find herself falling for him. Like it or not, if she wants to save Alex's life and carve out a place in the new legalized organ business, she's going to have to fight for both.
With swoon-worthy romance and thrilling tension perfect for fans of Holly Black and Kimberly Derting, this second book in the Once Upon a Crime Family series will hold readers spellbound.
Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Kobo | IndieBound
Break Me Like A Promise was a book I was interested in, because it continues the fascinating story of a mob family who specializes in the black market of organ trading, which hello! That is so cool and unique! I liked the previous book in the series, Hold Me Like A Breath, but I absolutely ADORED Break Me Like A Promise. Both are fairy tale retellings, which makes me love them both even more, especially since they are retellings of fairy tales that I can't say I've ever seen before.
Break Me Like A Promise doesn't follow Penny Landlow, like Hold Me Like a Breath does, so it's more of a companion novel, but to be up to speed on the events in BMLaP, you should definitely read book 1 or a lot of it probably won't make much sense to you. Break Me Like a Promise follows Maggie Vickers, who is suffering through her grief and emotional upheaval after the horrendous and brutal death of her secret love, Carter Landlow. Of course since their love was kept on the down low until after his death, not much of her family is there to help her work through her grief. It broke my heart each and every time she broke down. I've lost a lot of close friends in my life, so I understand exactly where each of her feelings were coming from. It's a darkness that's extremely hard to pull yourself out from, especially if you don't have the right support system to help you work through it. I couldn't imagine what that must have been like for Maggie. As her daddy's right hand woman and next in line to take over the family business, Maggie has to figure out a way to pull herself out of this slump and get back to work, but with the Organ Act and her dad's sudden approval of it on the horizon, Maggie isn't quite sure what she believes herself.
Enter Alex, a guy she meets at a computer repair shop who ultimately black mails her into getting him a new kidney once he finds out who she is. Of course, Maggie isn't too thrilled and agrees to it just to get her system fixed, but she never expected that Alex isn't the type of person to just sit back, relax, and forget about the promises Maggie made to him, because this promise is more than just a promise...it's life and death for Alex. Like it or not, Maggie now has to find a way to save herself, her family's future, and now Alex's very life, and along the way, finds herself falling for more than she bargained for.
I loved watching Alex and Maggie's relationship bloom. It was a slow-burn type of romance, but one that worked perfectly within the overall story at hand. There's swoons, friendship, betrayal, surprises, suspense, old friends, mystery, tears, and even more. Like I said, Hold Me Like a Breath didn't work well for me, but I think that's because I didn't emotionally connect to Penny like I did with Maggie right off the bat. I truly think this is a series worth checking out simply so you can read Break Me Like a Promise. It's worth it....so, so, SO worth it. 4 pieces to Break Me Like a Promise! Fantastic job, Tiffany! LOVED it!
Praise for Break Me Like a Promise:
Romantic Times (Top Pick): “Start this series immediately"
VOYA: "diverse and resilient female characters who engage the reader’s interest.”
BCCM: “Deeply Emotional. Works well for readers who like their sweet romance mixed with spicy suspense and a twist of The Godfather.”
Booklist: "The outstanding second romantic suspense novel in the Once upon a Crime Family series...Schmidt brings Maggie’s pain to life, and readers will rejoice when this prickly, pushy heroine starts to heal."
About Book 1, Hold Me Like a Breath:
In Penelope Landlow's world, almost anything can be bought or sold. She's the daughter of one of the three crime families controlling the black market for organ transplants. Because of an autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise easily, Penny is considered too "delicate" to handle the family business, or even to step foot outside their estate.
All Penelope has ever wanted is independence-until she's suddenly thrust into the dangerous world all alone, forced to stay one step ahead of her family's enemies. As she struggles to survive the power plays of rival crime families, she learns dreams come with casualties, betrayal hurts worse than bruises, and there's nothing she won't risk for the people she loves.
Perfect for fans of Holly Black and Kimberly Derting, this first book in the stunning new Once Upon a Crime Family series from acclaimed author Tiffany Schmidt will leave readers breathless.
Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Book Depository | IndieBound
Praise for Tiffany Schmidt’s Hold Me Like a Breath:
"Ambitious and original, Hold Me Like a Breath captured my attention before I even turned the first page. It's a thriller in every sense of the word." ―Michelle Hodkin, New York Times bestselling author of the Mara Dyer trilogy on HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH
"The tightly coiled suspense and superb romance had me holding my breath!" ―Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of DON'T LOOK BACK on HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH
"A gripping modern thriller for readers who still love fairy tales and people who think they've outgrown them. This is an offer you can't refuse!" ―E. C. Myers, author of THE SILENCE OF SIX and FAIR COIN on HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH
"Hold Me Like a Breath is heartfelt and haunting. Penny is a heroine to root for, a princess who creates her own ever-after." ―Jessica Spotswood, author of the Cahill Witch Chronicles on HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH
"The romance at the heart of the book is a sweet one . . . A decent girl-power twist on an old fairy tale for thriller lovers." ―Kirkus Reviews on HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH
TIFFANY SCHMIDT is the author of Hold Me Like a Breath, Send Me a Sign, and Bright Before Sunrise. She's found her happily ever after in Pennsylvania with her saintly husband, impish sons, and a pair of mischievous puggles. Find her online at www.TiffanySchmidt.com or on Twitter @TiffanySchmidt.
Giveaway 1: ORDER THE BOOK... AND WIN!
Order Break Me Like a Promise or Hold Me Like a Breath (book 1), forward your receipt to breakmegiveaway@gmail.com, and you’ll win something at the conclusion of the giveaway, July 7th, one month after Break Me Like a Promise’s launch.
What will you win? It’s a surprise! There will be signed books, ebooks, swag, and more. It’ll be completely random as to who wins what (via random.org). This one, unfortunately, is open to US only due to shipping costs.
A sampling of available prizes:
Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt tote bag
Once Upon a Crime Family bookplates signed by Tiffany
Gummy organs (hello, Once Upon a Crime Family swag)
An anatomical heart necklace
Kindle copy of Defy by Sara B Larson
SIGNED copy of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Kindle copy of The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
SIGNED copy of The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
Envelope of YA swag
SIGNED copy of Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally
Kindle copy of Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross
Book tote with swag inside
Kindle copy of Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins
SIGNED copy of Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke
And much much more!
Giveaway 2: SPREAD THE WORD... AND WIN!
You can win a copy of Break Me Like a Promise, or if you’re new to the series, Hold Me Like a Breath for spreading the word. Enter via the Rafflecopter. Open to wherever The Book Depository ships.
at 6:00:00 AM Author Becca F (ReadingTeen)
Labels: 4 Pieces, Blog tour, Contemporary YA, Fairytale Retellings, Giveaways, Mystery, Reviews: Becca, Romance
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Home › News › Ann Williams Appointed Chair of Energy & Environment Committee
Posted by: Carter Harms
CHICAGO, IL – State Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, has been appointed chair of the House Energy and Environment Committee for the upcoming General Assembly. Williams has spent much of her legislative career advancing policies aimed at protecting the environment, preserving our natural resources, and keeping our air, water and land clean.
“The new Energy & Environment Committee presents an important opportunity for environmental advocates and energy producers to work together to create policy that will protect our environment while growing our economy,” Williams said. “I look forward to bringing my prior experience as the chair of the Illinois Legislative Green Caucus and the Renewable Energy & Sustainability Committee to this position in an effort to maximize its impact.”
A member of Governor JB Pritzker’s “Powering Illinois’ Future” transition committee, Williams has worked closely with environmental advocates to advance Illinois’ renewable energy portfolio and pass responsible environmental policies across the board. She was a co-sponsor of the groundbreaking Future Energy Jobs Act, which created tens of thousands of new jobs while increasing the use of renewable energy statewide. She also spearheaded efforts to expand the use of electric cars in Illinois.
“Governor Pritzker has made it clear that his administration will make a significant investment in our state’s infrastructure and that the development and utilization of clean energy sources will be a priority.” Williams said. “As the chair of the Energy & Environment Committee, I plan to work closely with the Governor and across the aisle to advance these goals.”
“We must do what we can on the state level to address climate change and fight back against the Trump administration’s dangerous environmental policies. We can create jobs, increase energy efficiency and implement cost-saving sustainability practices – ensuring our communities remain vibrant well into the future.”
Williams represents the 11th District, which includes all or part of several Chicago neighborhoods, including North Center, Lakeview, Roscoe Village, Ravenswood, Ravenswood Manor, Lincoln Park and Lincoln Square.
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Springfield, IL – Today was Clean Energy Lobby day in Springfield. Hundreds of environmental advocates...
Today, Representative Williams sat down with political reporter Ben Joravsky to discuss the Clean Energy...
Springfield, IL – Today, HB 2134 Sponsored by Rep. Ann Williams passed the House. This...
On February 28th Rep. Williams joined the IL CleanJobs Coalition, Senate sponsor Senator Cristina Castro...
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Throughout the month of November, Rep. Williams co-hosted a successful Toiletry Drive with Senate President...
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This month, State Representative Ann Williams will be partnering with State Senator John Cullerton and...
This July, Rep. Williams and her District office organized a food drive benefiting Common Pantry...
On Tuesday, July 17th Rep. Williams and her district office staff joined Moms Demand Action-...
On Tuesday, July 3rd Rep. Williams’s interns Emily and Grayson spent the night volunteering at...
Over the past several months, following the daily news has been overwhelming and disheartening for...
On Friday, June 22nd, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in Carpenter...
Dear Governor Rauner: In recent days the nation has been gripped by the stories of...
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Mind Control Double Feature #39: Your New Insect Overlords
April 18, 2013 · by Supreme Being · in Mind Control Double Features. ·
Back when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, my great-grandpappy sat me on his lap and said, “Boy, there’s a time gone come in life, when you just plain ain’t got the sense to know what the heck picture show you oughtta be puttin’ on. An’ when it up an’ happens to you, an’ by gum it will—git that dadgummed finger out yer nose, boy! Listen up!—when yer a needin’ an’ a hurtin’ an’ a yearnin’ fer them lights to dim but ya ain’t got one dang notion what to put on, why you just go on an’ watch yerselfs a couple of big damn bug movies, ya hear me? Bugs! Big ones! Now go on, git!”
Why hello there. Mind if I eat your head?
I now pass the same advice on to you, dear readers, because there comes a time for all of us when that trippy independent mindfuck, that old black and white masterpiece, that trashy Nic Cage flick, that latest bullshit Oscar winner, and that animated freakshow requiring more weed than any mere human could smoke without serious long-term repercussions to fully comprehend, just isn’t going to cut if for our evening’s entertainment. We’ve seen it all before. We know how it ends. We want something different. Something old. Something weird. Something—dare I say it?—bad. Really, really bad. It is then, by which I mean now, that grandpappy’s advice must be heeded.
It’s time for some big bugs. We’ve gone partway down this road before, with the best known of all giant bug movies, Them!, in which big goddamn ants run rampant. But like any such work of genius, Them! inspired imitators—or, shall we say, shameless rip-offs—to follow in its footsteps, six feet at a time. For this week’s Mind Control Double Feature, we present two of those lesser known lights. Rest assured, once seen, neither is easily forgotten.
The Deadly Mantis (’57)
Not worried about the ice caps melting yet? You will be after watching The Deadly Mantis, in which a volcano erupting somewhere in the South Seas causes the icebergs at the North Pole to melt (don’t ask). Bad enough that soon we won’t have ice for our drinks, now we’ve got an ancient, defrosted, 200 foot long praying mantis come to life, killing Eskimos and headed south. You want to know what it looks like in flight? Enjoy:
fly, bug, fly!
Army guys are sent to investigate. I seem to recall one of them getting scooped up and, presumably, eaten. In its wake the mantis leaves big mantis footprints and a four-foot-long-chunk of leg, or some such insectiod something or other. Whatever it is, it looks aburd, and that’s the important part here. Total absurdity.
the bug’s toenail
The army colonel guy gets a paleontologist guy to check out the bug chunk, who is himself checked out by a hot babe of a reporter, creating the classic giant-insect-movie troika of army/scientist/reporter, required not only for big bug movies but for all sci-fi of the era. Will a romance sprout between the scientist and the reporter? Let us hope.
Anyway—mantis on the loose! Only right, they don’t know that yet, not until it attacks, and the reporter, Marge, screams. Because without a woman screaming in terror, it’s not horror and/or science fiction, people (check out the trailer for the new Star Trek if you don’t believe me). And then off it goes, headed south to wreak destruction and drive bug repellent prices through the roof.
take it easy, now, it only wants a friend
The most visually memorable part of the movie is when the praying mantis makes it to Washington D.C. and clings to the Washington monument. It’s like the insect King Kong. After that it heads to New York and winds up in a tunnel, where it makes its last stand by telling hilarious jokes and trying to get a spot on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar.
Sure, I might have made that last part up. But you’ll never know until you watch The Deadly Mantis yourself.
YAAARRGHHHH!
Of historical note, it was directed by Nathan Juran, who got his start as the art director on John Ford’s Oscar winning How Green Was My Valley. He later went on to direct such classics as 20 Million Miles to Earth, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Attack of The 50 Foot Woman, and First Men In The Moon. And yet we film nerds spend all our time yammering about Kubrick. It’s an unfair world, folks.
Beginning of The End (’57)
That’s right, ’57 was a good year for giant insects. Beginning of The End was also directed by a huge name in awful, one of the best ever, Bert I. Gordon, maker of such classics as The Amazing Colossal Man, Earth Vs. The Spider, Village of The Giants, The Food of The Gods, and the other best giant ant movie of all time, 1977’s Empire of The Ants, starring Joan Collins, which is responsible for you now welcoming your new insect overlords.
So you know you’re in good hands with Beginning of The End, which, speaking of being knee-high to a grasshopper, is about a swarm of giant locust, i.e. grasshoppers, to which we’re all knee-high. And how, you might ask, did such beasts come to be? It’s the same old story. A scientist, played by everyone’s favorite airline pilot and gladiator movie afficianado, Peter Graves, has been experimenting with radiation in his efforts to grow giant fruit and vegetables—you know, to end world hunger—and it seems something aside form the world’s starving millions took a bite.
gosh, honey, that’s an awful big bug
A feisty female reporter meets Graves when she comes to town to investigate reports of an entire town vanishing, all its inhabitants dead, all its crops gone. What could have wreaked such deadly havoc, she asks, checking out Graves’s giant fruit. Ahem. Well it couldn’t have anything to do with all of the giant, radioactive kumquats some bugs ate last week…could it? It’s not long before they put the pieces together. It’s locust! Big as busses! Hungry for human flesh! And they’re on their way to Chicago!
run! it’s a…a…well, okay. it’s only a grasshopper.
Enter the army guys, to complete the troika. They try machine guns and artillery, but it’s no use against so many big-ass bugs. The marauders make it to Chicago, crawl all over buildings and start gobbling people up. The army’s solution? Nuke ‘em. Hey, it worked with those pesky ants in Them!, why not grasshoppers? Sure, they’d be taking out the entire city of Chicago, but what other choice is there? Peter Graves? Any ideas?
they’re kind of adorable, really
Of course he has an idea! In ‘50s science fiction, scientists are both the cause and solution to all of life’s problems. Sure, their godless experimenting might result in mutant bugs or giant humans or Godzilla or what have you, but it’s their quick-thinking genius that saves us, too. After all, these movies might be dumber than a bag of hammers, but they embody the hopes and fears of their era.
What’s Peter Graves’s big plan to spare Chicago from an untimely nuking? I’m not going to tell you, except to say that it involves use of the locust mating call. In other words, keep your pet grasshoppers away from the TV when watching, folks, unless you’re in the mood for some kind of insane insect orgy on your coffee table.
surprise! can i have a cookie?
These movies may not be, shall we say, sublime cinematic masterpieces, but they will amuse you, if not stun you into a gaping stupor of total submission. Yes, MST3K did their jokey number on both of these, but skip that. Watch these bugs as god above intended: in the terrible silence of your own awe. Also, I recommend whiskey.
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2 responses on “Mind Control Double Feature #39: Your New Insect Overlords”
Evil Genius April 18, 2013 at 4:38 pm · · Reply →
For some reason I had it in my head that Burt I. Gordon was a pseudonym directors used when they didn’t want their names on a picture (like Alan Smithee). I am disappointed to learn this is not the case.
unholy Trinity March 21, 2014 at 7:57 am · · Reply →
oh yessss, giant grasshoppers, mantis and roaches are about the second best thing in “retro Scifi”, right after giant pulsing vegetables (Quatermass, Triffids, bodysnatchers, giant killer tomatoes …)
Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man. Cancel reply
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苏州美甲学校
苏州美甲哪里比较好价格合适
North Korea warns Australia against ‘suicidal’ military drills with United States
North Korea has warned Australia it is “suicidal” to conduct military drills with the United States after a handful of Australian troops began an annual war game with the US and South Korea on Monday.
Tens of thousands of military personnel are involved in the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills, a 10-day exercise in South Korea that simulates war on the Korean Peninsula.
About 25 Australian troops join 17,500 from the US and 50,000 from South Korea, as well as a small number from Canada, Colombia, Denmark, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
On Saturday, a spokesman for North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told state news agency KCNA that Australia’s participation is aggravating the situation in the region.
The North Korean spokesman referred to the ANZUS military treaty between Australia, the United States and New Zealand, saying if Australia follows the US into war it will feel the “counter-measures of justice”.
“Not long after the Australian Prime Minister had stated that they would join in the aggressive moves of the US, even referring to ANZUS which exists in name only, the Australian military announced that they would dispatch their troops to the aggressive nuclear exercises of the US,” the spokesman said.
“This is a suicidal act of inviting disaster, as it is an illustration of political immaturity unaware of the seriousness of the current situation.
“Australia followed the US to the Korean War, the Vietnamese War and the ‘war on terrorism’, but heavy loss of lives and assets were all that it got in return.
“The Australian government had better devote time and energy to maintaining peace of its own country, instead of forgetting the lessons learned in the past and joining the US in the moves for nuclear war.
“Countries like Australia that join the military adventure against the DPRK [Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea], blindly following the US, will never avoid the counter-measures of justice by the DPRK.”
On Monday evening, Malcolm Turnbull said North Korea needed to be brought to its senses.
“North Korea has shown it has no regard for the welfare of its own population, no regard for the security and good relations with its neighbours and no regard for international law,” Mr Turnbull told the ABC.
“We call on all countries to redouble their efforts, including through implementation of agreed UN Security Council resolutions, to bring North Korea to its senses and end its reckless and dangerous threats to the peace of our region and the world.”
The comments come at a time of tension between the US and North Korea, after US President Donald Trump promised to answer North Korean aggression with “fire and fury”.
Last month, North Korea launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and threatened to launch a third toward the American territory of Guam.
Despite this, the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills are proceeding as planned.
The exercises are the world’s largest computerised war-simulated drills. They involve no field training like live-fire exercises or tank manoeuvring but instead feature alliance officers sitting at computers to practise how they engage in battles and hone their decision-making capabilities.
The allies have said the drills are defensive in nature.
South Korea’s President, Moon Jae-in, said on Monday that North Korea must not use the drills as a pretext to launch fresh provocation, saying the training is held regularly because of repeated provocations by Pyongyang.
North Korea typically responds to South Korea-US military exercises with weapons tests and a string of belligerent rhetoric.
During last year’s Ulchi drills, North Korea test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile that flew about 500 kilometres in the longest flight by that type of weapon. Days after the drills, the North carried out its fifth and biggest nuclear test to date.
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Spoiler Alert: Information in this extended character profile gives away key plot points in the series and reveals things about the characters that would normally be presented to the viewer gradually through character development. Read at your own risk.
[Ray Santiago]
Xenolinguist/Crypologist
Nicolas Batista
Male, Late-20’s
Terran (Brazilian)
Role: Nic is a brilliant linguist and a cryptology savant. He finds any problem or puzzle irresistible and can decode most ciphers after just a cursory glance. He has been working as a low-level analyst for Starfleet Intelligence for several years and was recruited to join the crew of the Enterprise as its Communications Officer.
History: Nic has never left the solar system in his life and space travel terrifies him. He has no interest in seeing the Galaxy and loved his old position, got comfortable in it. But he was essentially drafted into serving on the Enterprise and so came along begrudgingly.
Nic assumes that most of his duties will be on the ship, answering hails (jokes about being a glorified messaging bot) and decoding new alien languages. Unfortunately for him, first contact often meets beaming down to planets or alien vessels to converse directly with new, bizarre and unpredictable alien species.
Personality: He is much more comfortable in at a desk than in space, which he finds entirely too unpredictable and full of unnecessary risks. He often will hesitate to put himself in danger, but will do so reluctantly if it means aiding his fellow crewmembers. Some (such as Qora) would consider him a coward, but he simply believes that unnecessary risk is foolish. He tends to stand out from much of the rest of the crew in that he makes no attempt to appear to be a “brave explorer” and will openly flinch from danger and avoid confrontation.
Nic has a sarcastic, self-deprecating sense of humor and will use it to defuse a conflict.
However, Nic is a compassionate, generous person and will often do things for altruistic reasons just because “it’s the right thing to do”. He tends to be an optimist, despite his constant worrying about the dangers of space, and believes people are inherently good, if given a chance.
Nic doesn’t often offer his opinion on command decisions, but when he does, it’s usually with a bit of sarcastic humor and favoring a common-sense, risk-averse solution. Sometimes his solutions are genius insights that appear, to the rest of the crew, to come out of nowhere. Other times his solutions are so complex and creative that the rest of the crew consider them too “out there” or infeasible. His complex, fast-paced thinking sometimes leads him down the road to conspiracy theories, seeing patterns that aren’t really there.
Relationships: Nic has never had much need for a social life, having found most of his satisfaction in holofantasies. He isn’t lonely, he just prefers dealing with relationships he can control and predict. However, he finds that holodeck time is rationed on a starship and this makes him a bit grumpy. It also makes him have to relate to real people more and take chances on real relationships (which annoys him, considering it “too much work”). Nic's tastes in escapism tend towards epic adventure fantasy, though he has no taste for such excitement in real life. His "holosex" addiction has led him to have somewhat "unusual" tastes that make it difficult for him to connect with real women.
On the bridge, he mans the comm station and becomes friends with Viin. The two have a friendly rapport and become fairly inseparable. But they are more like best buddies or siblings than romantically interested in each other.
But Nic has a thing for strong women and finds Qora irresistibly hot. Qora is annoyed by this, but secretly a bit flattered. Nic knows nothing about her secret and Qora feels he would be sorely disillusioned if he ever found out (which actually tempts her to tell him someday).
Any trademarked names and marks are nominatively used non-commercially under the "trademark fair use" doctrine. All copyrighted names or content are used non-commercially under the "copyright fair use" doctrine.
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Man found dead in Hwy. 169 median many hours after crash is ID'd
'They manhandled us.' Gophers can't rebound in road loss to Rutgers
Anderson, on hearing protection: Learn from me, it's a skill you'll need afield
September 19, 2019 — 1:55pm
@stribdennis
On May 13 I woke up with an unusual sensation in my right ear, which felt as if it were filled with water, as sometimes occurs while swimming.
This was the Monday after this year’s fishing opener, and as I pounded the palm of my right hand against the side of my head, trying to free up whatever was blocking my ear, I recalled that the day earlier, while waiting to load my boat from Upper Red Lake, a truck had backfired near me, producing a sound similar to that of a gunshot.
Other than being startled, I didn’t think much of it. Now I wondered whether that was the reason my right ear felt stuffed and, worse, was producing no sounds I could decipher — none.
Like a lot of hunters and shooters, particularly those who grew up when hearing protection wasn’t emphasized to the degree it is now, I was aware even before this malfunction that my hearing wasn’t great.
Rifle hunting for deer since I was 12 was one reason. Being able to hear while sitting in a deer stand is critical to success, and relatively few hunters — including me, for most of my life — want to cover their ears to protect against the sound of gunfire if it reduces their chances of hearing an approaching whitetail.
That said, most deer hunters kill animals with a single shot. So whatever damage a rifle might do to one’s hearing, at least it occurs only once, or at most a handful of times a year.
The type of hunting that really threatens a shooter’s hearing is instead the type that begins one-half hour before sunrise Saturday, when ducks and geese become legal fare in Minnesota.
It’s then that some hunters will shoot a box of 25 shells or more — bang, bang, bang — perhaps because teal, wood ducks, mallards or ringnecks are plentiful where they’re hunting. Or perhaps because they are not very good wingshooters.
Either way, the repetitive blasting, over a lifetime, can take a toll on hearing.
Unfortunately for me, the right ear that had gone suddenly deaf in May had been my better ear. I knew that because the hearing capability imbalance had been obvious to me for years, and because an audiometry exam some years ago confirmed it.
Which made sense because I’m righthanded and because, ironically, hearing loss due to rifle or shotgun shooting typically accrues most not to the ear nearest the gun, but the one opposite from it. Consequently, my left ear, which on that fateful morning in May was yielding the only sounds I could hear, had already been significantly compromised.
Still, no matter my shooting history, losing hearing in one ear overnight was troubling. I called my doctor for an appointment and after a brief phone consultation was scheduled immediately for an audiometry exam with an audiologist and a follow-up appointment with an ear, nose and throat doctor, aka an otolaryngologist.
Haste was needed, I would learn, because the tiny hair cells that are present in each ear are critical to hearing, and once they are damaged they can’t be repaired or replaced, meaning hearing loss like I was experiencing — called sudden sensorineural (“inner ear”) hearing loss — could be permanent.
As I expected I would, I did crummy on the hearing test. My right ear was a virtual no-show, and my left ear, while better, was far from good. I would learn from the ear, nose and throat physician that in some cases of sudden unilateral hearing loss (which is rare and strikes only about 4,000 people a year) inflammation is the cause, and in those instances, a two-week course of steroids can help restore some or most hearing.
Other explanations for the loss include a virus, an infection or the presence of a tumor. In many cases, however, as in mine, the cause is unknown and the hearing loss proves permanent.
Two weeks passed, with no help from the steroids. Subsequently, I ended up at Mayo Clinic, where a steady-handed ear, nose and throat doctor, tossing the equivalent of an otolaryngologist’s Hail Mary pass, stuck a long needle into my right eardrum twice over the course of a couple weeks, filling it directly with steroids.
That didn’t work either, and while I retain some hearing in my right ear, perhaps marginally regained by the treatments, it remains severely compromised.
The sudden sensorineural hearing loss I experienced in May probably would have occurred irrespective of my hunting history or the explosive crack of the backfiring truck I heard May 12. But the loss’s overall effect on my hearing would have been mitigated if the hearing in my left ear was better.
Do yourself, and your ears, a favor: While hunting or shooting, especially while banging away multiple times at ducks and geese, wear hearing protection. But understand that some muffs and other, similar hearing-protection gear you see in sporting goods stores won’t by themselves give you the protection you need.
Muffs, for example, should in most cases also be worn with high-quality ear plugs.
Better yet, get some custom-molded hearing protectors that fit inside your ears, preferably those that shut down loud sounds like gunfire. They might run you $600-$800 — but hearing aids like I will probably need can cost 10 times that amount.
Finally, make sure your kids and other young people in your charge practice ear safety, not just while hunting, but while operating lawn mowers, chain saws, leaf blowers, or while attending concerts.
The alternative — continually saying, “I’m sorry, what did you say?’’ — is a drag.
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Workplace Wellbeing – free, specialist support group for people managing their mental health at work.
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Crisis support – for people over 18, who are in severe mental distress or crisis. Open 365 days a year from 10am – 6pm.
Telehealth – for guided self-help telephone appointments, you can register online at www.bmywellbeingcollege.nhs.uk or give the enrolment team a call on 0300 555 5551.
We also offer bespoke training for employers such as Stress Busters.
Our Vocational Recovery service provides person-centred support, helping individuals to move on to education, volunteering or employment.
Our Steps into Employment service provides expert support for people suffering from mental or physical health issues who are looking for paid employment.
Workplace Wellbeing is a free, specialist support group helping people to manage their mental health in work.
Our Work Retention service gives people the support they need to retain their employment after a period of ill health, or if they are struggling at work.
We run a range of mental health services for people with different needs. Find out more about how to access support or make a referral.
Our crisis support service, Haven, provides a calm, safe space to receive 1-1 and group support, every day of the year, for people in emotional distress or crisis. This service is open to everyone.
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The Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
On Saturday 19 May, the UK in South Africa, through its High Commission in Pretoria and Consulate General in Cape Town, joined in the celebrations of the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
At the Pretoria event, held at the High Commissioner’s residence, guests were treated to a spectacular garden party complete with picket fences, rose flower arrangements and a display of Bentley’s dressed as wedding cars. Guests ranged from members of the diplomatic corps, SA government, including Minister of Small Business Development Lindiwe Zulu, to business and NGO organisations who work with the High Commission. Guests were treated to drinks by Simonsig, Ernie Els Wines and Diageo, and canapés, while watching the ceremony on a big screen in the beautiful garden.
High Commissioner Nigel Casey said, “It’s a marriage that’s been made in the southern African skies. Harry once brought Meghan to Botswana where they fell in love and so it is symbolic that we are gathering like this today with the American embassy right next door to us. It’s a transatlantic love affair”.
He went on to elaborate about the work that Prince Harry has done in southern Africa, especially Lesotho through his Sentebale charity and his love of the region.
Meanwhile, at a simultaneous event in Cape Town, Consul General Ed Roman, hosted an exclusive viewing party for 100 guests at the High Commissioner’s Residence in Bishopscourt. The event was a chance for the British to show off their ties with South Africa’s best and brightest, while reminding everyone of the Royal Family’s ties to South Africa. Prince Harry has visited South Africa in the past – in fact, he had stayed in the very residence where the party was held.
Among the luminaries in attendance were Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille, House Chairperson Cedric Frolick, socialite Carol Bouwer, DA MP Phumzile van Damme and the IFP’s Mkhuleko Hlengwa. A dozen naval officers from the HMS Protector, a British science vessel currently docked in Cape Town, added a dash of naval class to the event in their immaculate uniforms.
The best of British brands were also on display. Pernod Ricard plied the guests with 21 year Royal Salute whiskey and Beefeater G&Ts, while Bentley ferried guests up the long drive in their latest luxury vehicles and the wedding cake was provided by the US Consulate General.
British High Commission Pretoria
It is a war about what? 13 January 2020 Our globe really appears to be in a state of geostrategic instability that seems to endanger peace to a degree not seen for many years. This is... <|> <|> <|> <|> <|> <|> Korea - The Land of the Morning Calm The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Pretoria is hosting the 1st photographic exhibition of photographer, Mr LEE Jung Jae from 7-12 November 2016.... <|> Indonesian Tourism responds to Millennials and wins Award 8 October 2019 "The challenge to the tourism world is not getting easier. It is not only the global economic slowdown, but also a change in... <|> <|> A MEMORIAL, CORONATION, ENGAGEMENT AND A WEDDING: A ROYAL AFFAIR by Stella Sigcau 15 October 2019 September and October months were very busy in the royal calendars throughout South Africa... <|>
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The (slightly early) Best Albums of 2019
Dec 10, 2019 | Holiday 2019 |
BY: Chris Haise
It might be slightly early, but we have enough incredible content this year to give you our look at this years best albums.
An always subjective task, this writer looked at melody and composition, lyrics, critical acclaim, popular success, and one indefinable quality that might be boiled down to “does it slap?”
If anything, we hope you find something new to enjoy.
Lizzo – “Cuz I Love You”
Lizzo was impossible to escape this year – and for good reason. Her album was full of instant classics, soul filled ballads, and tracks that require you to sing a long without shame.
Her Summerfest show was one of the best of the year, and surely will be talked about for years to come. Whether it be the absolutely packed crowd, the barrage of hits, or the flute solo, no one will forget the powerful display the Minnesota singer put on.
The album has the same tour-de-force feel as a Lizzo live show. Infectious tracks like “Juice” next to turn-up-the-volume bangers like “Truth Hurts” make this one of the most entertaining albums in years.
2) Brittany Howard – “Jaime”
The Alabama Shakes front woman is stepping out with her debut solo work. Her vocal prowess has been clear since she stepped onto the scene, and “Jaime” continues to showcase her as a generational talent.
There are some intriguing and sometimes experimental passages, like the aggressive “13th Century Metal”. But you can always lean on the deliciously warm and vintage “Stay High”.
Whatever side of Brittany Howard you enjoy, “Jaime” has a bit of everything that makes her one of the best voices in music today.
3) Big Thief — “Two Hands”
When I started compiling and writing this list, I had the Big Thief release from earlier this year, “UFOF”, in the list at number five. Then the Brooklyn band released “Two Hands”, yet another gem in their growing catalog.
Equal parts intimate and dreamy, the raw directness of singer and poet Adrianne Lenker’s floating voice provides an album that is approachable in its imperfections.
The powerful “Forgotten Eyes” is surely one you’ll keep listening to, but “Two Hands” as a whole is a great record cover to cover.
4) Michael Kiwanuka – “Kiwanuka”
The latest addition to the list. I’m still wrapping my head around this masterpiece. For an artist who has always been a throw back, Kiwanuka delivers an absolute message for the times.
Classic production with modern influences back Kiwanuka’s signature, unmistakeable voice. His genre-blending style and premier songwriting is evident everywhere on this 50 minute record that plays longer than it is.
From the swirling “I’ve Been Dazed” to the brooding anthem of “Solid Ground”, this record stays true to Kiwanuka’s challenge; “Rolling with the times / Don’t be late.”
5) Vampire Weekend — “Father of the Bride”
Vampire Weekend continue to explore the seemingly endless boundaries of what they can accomplish as a band. From “Contra” to “Modern Vampires of the City”, the band has shown a staggering array of influences and directions.
This 18 track record is bursting with variety. Songs like “This Life” and “Big Blue” recall the early Vampire Weekend bright and catchy catalog. “My Mistake”, a minimal, almost haunting ballad, and singer/songwriter piano based “Jerusalem, New York, Berlin” provide a striking artistic contrast.
Without picking one of their traditional lanes, Vampire Weekend made one of the best albums of the year, and for me, their best album to date.
Weyes Blood – “Titanic Rising”
Kanye West – “Jesus is King”
Solange – “When I Get Home”
Tyler the Creator – “Igor”
Billie Eilish – “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”
L’Resorts – “L’Resorts”
Tight harmonies and perfect arrangements makes for surf-pop gold.
Cullah – “Spectacullah”
The prolific artist continues to find new and exciting sounds for his powerful voice on his 13th(!) annual album.
Klassik – “QUIET”
Always experimenting, always engaging, the neo-soul songsmith never fails to impress.
PreviousA Message from the Mayor
Dedicated to Compassion
Wauwatosa Grows Greener with Composting Pilot Project
Santa Intensive
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Loved It: Return of the Assassin by Donya Lynne
Series: All The King's Men 5
Malek and Gina are two vampires with big problems and pasts they can't let go of. Malek has never dealt with and accepted the death of his first mate, Carmen, and Gina has never been able to let go of the pain she suffered at the hands of her first mate, an abusive half-Dacian named Arman. But now that Malek and Gina have met, they had better start getting over their pasts, and fast, because Gina is Malek's new mate, and she's on the run from a pair of Dacian hunter-assassins out for blood vengeance.
Neither Gina nor Malek are eager to see her fill the role of mate, but biology and Mother Nature don't want to hear their excuses. The longer Malek and Gina fight the bond between them, the more they will suffer. Will they be able to get over their painful pasts and accept the healing they can give to each other before it's too late, or will they wait too long and lose each other forever?
All The King's Men by Donya Lynne is a series that I'm (hangs head in shame) reading backwards. So let this first paragraph be a disclaimer of sorts. I read each of the blurbs for the entire series and as each book features a different couple, I foolishly thought I could get away with jumping to AKM 5, RETURN OF THE ASSASSIN. Like the saying goes, to assume is to make an ass of you and me. In this case it's just me. Boom!
I'll admit, I didn't quite get acclimated to the side stories because they were introduced in the previous novels and are still an ongoing story in RETURN OF THE ASSASSIN but those things didn't deter me from reading and finishing this. In fact the rich and colorful subplots whetted my appetite for more because the series has that "brotherhood" flavor that I've developed a taste for. The close kinship between Malek and his crew is quite obvious and the world they move in seem small and mighty interesting. Not just that but the issues these sub plots are taking on are pretty intense. I'll let DLynne explain it in detail in our little chat below in case you're curious.
As for Malek and Gina. Well this series is an erotic paranormal romance and it didn't disappoint. I do love where these two are coming from. These two individuals has some heavy baggage that they're toting around like those poor souls in the 4th Circle of Hell. And hell is exactly what these two went through before they merged together. What got me hooked were the emotional and mental conflict that these two viciously untangled, the feeling of disloyalty, clinging to the past because it's known and comfortable and finally taking that leap and heeding to the call of the heart. I'm not being melodramatic, in fact I've romanticized it because Malek and Gina's story is heavier and their respective backstories from what was mentioned are pretty deep and devastating.
So despite my incomplete knowledge about the secondary characters and their individual story lines, I still enjoyed RETURN OF THE ASSASSIN. In fact I grabbed the first book which is currently FREE and decided to take this journey properly. The world building and the para-super quality aren't the main attraction rather it's the characters that will draw you in. They're vulnerable and DLynee sure knows how to write a "tortured" hero. So if you're into the kind of paranormal romance where the men are wounded while valiantly trying to keep their game face on, this is the perfect series for you.
Purchase Return of the Assassin
All Romance eBooks | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
Before I begin, I'd like to thank Talk Supe for inviting me to their blog today to give you all a quick rundown of my award-winning series, All the King's Men (AKM).
If you haven't discovered my AKM Series, yet, this is the perfect opportunity for you to check it out. Book one, Rise of the Fallen, is currently FREE, and the fifth book in the series, Return of the Assassin, released a week ago.
Books in the series, in order of publication, are:
Rise of the Fallen - USA Today Recommended Read and 2012 eLit Awards gold medalist for best erotic fiction
Heart of the Warrior - 2012 eLit Awards silver medalist for best erotic fiction
Micah's Calling - 2013 IPPY silver medalist for best romance/erotica e-book
Rebel Obsession - Made Indie Author News's Top 50 Indie books for September, 2013
Return of the Assassin - 3rd place winner in the 2013RWA Heart of the West contest.
Hopefully next May, after the next award season, I'll be able to add more accolades to Rebel Obsession and Return of the Assassin, but I'm extremely proud of the recognition this series has received so far.
I think what draws readers into these stories is that they're rich in emotion and conflict. I admit I'm a conflict junkie and love to see my characters work through intense emotional depths on a cataclysmic personal journey that culminates in them finding "new life." For example, in Rise of the Fallen, vampire enforcer, Micah, suffered the loss of his second mate, which opened the wounds from losing his first mate, as well. He fell into a suicidal abyss of agony and wanted to die until the most unlikely human, who was running from her own problems, saved him. But being saved didn't come easy, and a lot of twists and turns nearly saw Micah lose everything.
These books also address controversial and difficult subjects head-on. I'm not scared of diving into such themes as abuse, homosexuality, bisexuality, stalking, drug addiction, rape, BDSM, bullying, teen pregnancy, etc. Such topics have the power to create juicier conflict and emotionally engage readers at a deeper level. Heart of the Warrior and Rebel Obsession are perfect examples.
In Heart of the Warrior, my first m/m book in the series, Severin and Arion have to overcome peer pressure, prejudice, and a range of incredible odds to be together. Arion has lived in denial of his homosexuality all his life, and Severin has major baggage as a half-blood who's half-vampire, half-dreck. Having enemy blood in him could make him an outcast from both races if anyone finds out. What these two endure to be together brought many of my readers to tears, and I received tons of feedback that Heart was the first m/m book many had ever read, and they loved it. Still others identified with the characters and were touched on a personal level by Sev and Ari's story.
Rebel Obsession deals with drug addiction. The hero is a former cobalt addict, and the heroine is actively using—and overdosing. But that's just the beginning of their problems. The heroine, Miriam, is the king's daughter, and the last person her father wants to see her with is the notorious playboy, Io. What Miriam and Io have to go through to be together is almost Romeo and Juliet-esque, and many of my readers said it was the best story in the series until Return of the Assassin was released. Now they say the new book is the best, but still, Rebel Obsession struck a chord with readers.
Micah's Calling was a novella follow-up to Rise of the Fallen and highlighted Micah's progress back into his playroom as a Dom. He used to be a much-sought-after Master, but grew disillusioned with the leather lifestyle after four decades in the scene. Now, with his new mate, Samantha, and his best friend, a half-blood named Trace who yearns to be Micah's submissive,Micah's interest in becoming a Dom kindles back to life. He also discovers he enjoys exhibitionism. Naughty Micah. LOL.
In the newest book, Return of the Assassin, the heroine, an assassin named Gina, has an abusive past that left her barren. Between the traumatic memories of her abuse and the low self-worth at the thought she can't bear children, she has no interest in being mated again, but when she meets Malek, a flutter of desire sparks to life in her soul that she can't ignore. But Malek is also dealing with an agonizing past. Like Micah, Malek was once mated, but she died. Now he's formed a new mating link to Gina that he doesn't want to acknowledge, because he never truly accepted the death of his first mate. Divided between two desires—1) to keep his first mate's memory intact, and 2) the need to mate Gina—Malek's mind fractures and he falls into the phenomenon known as suffering. If Malek and Gina can't move past their fears, they'll lose each other forever. Return of the Assassin is a heart-wrenching story of learning to let go of the past to embrace the present and live for the future, and, as I previously mentioned, my readers say this is the best book yet in the series. Furthermore, I have yet to talk to one person who has read Return of the Assassin and didn't cry. That's such a compliment.
Complex storylines that are told from multiple points of view also seem to be a favorite among my readers. I enjoy crafting intricate stories that start out showing lines of separate action and how those separate story lines wind closer together as the story progresses to come to a head in the climax. I think Return of the Assassin is a perfect example of this. There is a lot happening in Return, but about two-thirds in, the reader gets blown away as everything comes together. For me, Return of the Assassin has been my favorite story to write. It was like a puzzle that I had to carefully piece together to pace the reader through the action.
So that's the skinny on AKM. At least so far. With many more books to come in the series, along with a sister series and a spin-off, who knows where the series will lead. What I do know is that there will be conflict and adversity.
Before I go, I'm including a special segment in several stops of my tour that I'm calling, Get to Know All the King's Men, where I ask one of my characters a question. Today, I'm interviewing Malek.
Donya: "Malek, do you read? If so, which genre do you prefer?"
Malek shakes his head and smiles. "I'm not a big reader, but when I do read, I like the classics or science fiction." He grins fondly at Gina, who's sitting beside him. "But I do like watching Gina read." He squeezes her hand. "She's a voracious reader, just like my first mate was." The love in his gaze is almost palpable as he dips his forehead against Gina's temple, and then he sits back up and looks at me again. "Gina does this thing while she's reading that's so cute. She…" He chuckles as Gina nudges him and blushes. "What? It's cute. Anyway, she bites and nibbles her bottom lip when she's reading sex scenes. And her eyes get wider. Needless to say, when I see her nibbling her lip like that, I know I'm going to go to bed happy." He winks at Gina as she sighs and bows her head with embarrassment.
So, there you have it. AKM Series 101 and a little something to get to know Malek and Gina better.
I hope you enjoyed reading about All the King's Men.
Donya Lynne is the author of the award winning All the King's Men Series. Making her home in a wooded suburb north of Indianapolis with her husband, Donya has lived in Indiana most of her life and knew at a young age that she was destined to be a writer. She started writing poetry in grade school and won her first short story contest in fourth grade. In junior high, she began writing romantic stories for her friends, and by her sophomore year, they had dubbed her Most Likely to Become a Romance Novelist. In 2012, she made that dream come true by publishing her first two novels and two novellas. She has several more stories planned for the AKM Series, as well as two sister series that are in development.
Follow Donya
Donya Lynne Fan Page | AKM Reader Group | Donya Lynne Profile
Donya Lynne's Blog | Donya Lynne's Website
Posted by Unknown Labels: All The King's Men, Book Review, Donya Lynne, Erotica, PNR, Return of the Assassin, Writer Wrangler
Donya Lynne November 4, 2013 at 9:44 AM
What a lovely review. Thank you. And I'm looking forward to meeting your readers. I'll be stopping in throughout the day if anyone has questions.
Stormy Vixen November 4, 2013 at 1:11 PM
Thanks for sharing your review and the giveaways. I loved Malek's answer to Donna's question and I can't wait to read Return of the Assassin. evamillien at gmail dot com
Donya Lynne November 4, 2013 at 9:34 PM
Malek turned into quite the romantic in the series, after starting out kind of "bland" in the early books. But he was bland for a reason, as readers found out in this book. :)
Laura November 4, 2013 at 1:37 PM
Return of the Assassin was one of my favorite reads of 2013! I love the AKM series.
brandileigh2003 November 4, 2013 at 2:34 PM
This sounds great, I need to look into more
miki November 4, 2013 at 3:59 PM
sound really an emotional story my heart is tightening just by reading this post
thank you also for the international giveaway!
isabelle(dot)frisch(at)gmail(dot)com
It was emotional for a lot of my readers. Many needed a box of Kleenex. :) And it was emotional to write, too. I know when I cry while I'm writing it, readers will cry while they're reading it.
VampedChik November 4, 2013 at 4:07 PM
Great review! Definitely have to add it to my list! Thanks so much!
-Amber
goodblinknpark(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer November 4, 2013 at 5:14 PM
LOL, some books really work as standalone and others well ..the side stories and overall arc make you feel a little lost. I am glad you enjoyed the couple and I must admit you have me very curious about them and this world.
This was book five in the series, and my editor and I talked quite a bit about how I simply couldn't continue going back to summarize previous story lines, as much as I wanted to to help new readers along. But doing so detracted too much from the current story. :) So, yep, I'm at that point where readers won't get as much out of later stories if they don't read the earlier ones.
Novels On The Run November 4, 2013 at 5:59 PM
I got the giggles when you hang your head in shame for reading backwards. LOL! Now that is a first, I have not tried that. OO I checked I got # 1 other day. You make me want to rad this series based on reading it backwards and still giving a great rating.
MATEY!!!
Hahaha! The joy of reading and blogging. I think you'll like this, the stories and characters are something I know you'll appreciate.
LilyElement November 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Great review hun! We've all read at least one book series backwards lol! At least you could get through it though!
Haha, well it has happened to me more than once so :S
Melliane November 5, 2013 at 7:20 AM
oh it's usually ok to skip some books in a series like that, I'm sorry you were a little lost about some points. I confess when I read PNR, it's rare when it's book1. But I'm glad you still liked it. I'm not really into erotica, have only read one but well I should try more to see what I think about them.
My book is actually erotic romance, not erotica. People often use the terms interchangeably, though. But there is a romance at the heart of the story, and the sex isn't the main dish, so to speak. It's just the icing. :) The journey the main characters take independently and with each other is the primary story.
Stormy Vixen November 5, 2013 at 11:35 AM
I can't wait to read this one. Thanks for sharing it and the giveaway. evamillien at gmail dot com
Sophia Rose November 5, 2013 at 2:21 PM
I got the free one, thank you! I look forward to trying this series after enjoying the run down on the books. The new release looks particularly good. Thanks for sharing the character interview and giveaway too.
Donya - thanks for helping me moderate, god knows I need the help.
Supies - thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comments, if you entered the giveaways, I hope you guys win an ebook or one of Donya's big prizes!
Anna (herding cats-burning soup) November 6, 2013 at 10:56 AM
Ooo on my way to get book one! Says a lot for the writing that even at book 5 with ongoing secondary storylines you weren't familiar with that you still loved it.
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Jamatkahn Bagamoya-Art Centre for Tanzanian Fine Art - Tanzanian Fine Art
Tanzanian Fine Art > Uncategorized > Jamatkahn Bagamoya-Art Centre for Tanzanian Fine Art
Our Tanzania NGO
Jamatkahn Bagamoya-Art Centre for Tanzanian Fine Art
We spent six months in Tanzania talking with Government, all the art organisations and artists themselves. We had the right message at the right time and the Government has given full support. For the first time it wants something to be done to suppo rt artists and carvers.
The Hon Nape Nnauye the Minister of Culture, Information and Sport has offered us three to five hundred acres of land in the Lindi Region, the home of Mekondi carving. Lindi is a development area, relying on agriculture but soon its economy will change dramatically with the exploitation of the gas fields. The land we have been offered has an Indian ocean beach frontage and lagoon, close to Lindi Bay, and visited by whales and porpoises. It is two hours drive from Selous Game Reserve, (the size of Switzerland) the larges and least visited game reserve in Africa which sees the mass animal migrations.
In the short term we have been offered the Jamatkhan in Bagamoyo, an hour and a half from Dar es Salem and also on the Indian ocean. The building is a mosque built by Arabs for the Ismaili community in 1860 and has fallen into in to disuse, but structurally is sound and we would restore it as a historic building The Aga Khan Foundation liking our proposal for an arts centre and are in discussion about us taking over the building. Our colleagues in Tanzania believe it would be an excellent first step to shop window our approach
The President of the Artis ts Federation, representing all the visual arts, the Director of the National Arts Council and the Director of the National Museum are all giving the project their backing as they believe that it could answer a major need in the country and region. The centre willd provide proper working conditions for artists and carvers, where they can develop relationships with the international market including interior designers, as has happened in
Cheng Mai in Thailand on which the model is based. In addition it will ensure that carvers have proper tools, and not handmade tools, and respond to their requests for English and IT support. Most importantly it will promote awareness internationally of the richness of East African art through programs for international arts students who can work with African artists while scuba diving in the India Ocean, and cultural tourism. Those who want to see not only the beauty of Africa and its wildlife, but to understand firsthand the art and the cultural thinking that lies behind it.
Currently we are in London meeting with those who might have an interest in investing in this the cultural tourism side of the venture.
If you would be part of our project either as a volunteer or investor please telephone Riki on +44 7812691071. or Alan +44 7967337404.
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Sam Carter Vocals | Dan Searle Drums | Ali Edwin Dean Bass | Adam Christianson Guitars | Josh Middleton Guitars
Architects, the Brighton-based outfit Kerrang recently awards the title of “Best British Live Band” and The Guardian said feature “gloriously crafted anthems of defiance,” return with their eighth album, Holy Hell, on Nov. 9 via UNFD.
Holy Hell marks the band’s first release since the untimely passing of Tom Searle, Architect’s founding guitarist, principal songwriter and twin brother to drummer Dan. “In those first months after Tom’s death, I didn’t deal with it at all and I felt so unhappy and anxious,” Dan explains. “I’d ignored it and just tried to cope. But I knew that at some point, I had to learn from it.”
“It’s at times like that you ask yourself, ‘What is left?’” adds vocalist Sam Carter. “As a group of friends, we had to find something.”
“Ultimately, there were two choices,” Dan says. “Feel sorry for yourself, and believe the world to be a horrible place and let it defeat you. Or let it inspire us to live the life that Tom would have wanted us to live. I was very worried about people taking away a despondent message from the album. I felt a level of responsibility to provide a light at the end of the tunnel for people who are going through terrible experiences.”
Finding a way forward, the band spent six months from the Fall of 2017 through the Spring of this year recording what would become the 11-song album, with Dan and guitar player Josh Middleton handling production. “For me, broadly speaking Holy Hell is about pain: the way we process it, cope with it, and live with it,” Dan offers. “There is value in pain. It’s where we learn, it’s where we grow.”
Holy Hell
Doomsday (Piano Reprise)
All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us
Lost Forever // Lost Together (Deluxe Edition)
Lost Forever // Lost Together
Vist the UK Merch store directly here
Vist the US Merch store directly here
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Say no to war, to every act of war
We are going through times of great anxiety and concern because of the winds of war blowing from the Middle East, with new tensions between the US and Iran. Brotherhood between people and among peoples seems to be far away....
Germany: Blog from the 10th Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace
Last August, in Germany (Lindau), there was the10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace. Ana Clara Giovani, a Brazilian “Gen”, a young woman from the Focolare Movement, and a journalist, told us about it with her video blog. To...
The 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace
By Roberto Catalano. Lindau welcomes 900 religious leaders The island of Lindau recently hosted the 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace. The title of the event was symptomatic: “Caring for our Common Future: Advancing Shared Well-Being”. Caring for the...
Italy: Focolare young people welcome a Buddhist delegation from the Rissho Kosei-kai
By Paola Pepe. The most recent event for dialogue between the youth of Buddhist movement Rissho Kosei-kai and young people from the Focolare deepened their awareness, friendship and common commitment for world peace. “All these years, wherever we’ve met, immediately...
Europe: time to dialogue
by Sara Fornaro. In view of the forthcoming European elections, a public debate has started on Facebook, promoted by the Focolare Movement and addressing those who wish to compare their ideas without manipulation. An interview with Alberto Lo Presti, one...
Jerusalem: the “International Centre for Unity and Peace”
Peace can be built in many ways, talking together while sitting at a table, by opening our homes… But sometimes you also need places where people can meet and be able to dialogue. Places of spirituality, study, dialogue and formation....
The Holy Land: stories of dialogue
Anna Maria, Jessica and Talat: testimony to friendship among people from the three monotheistic religions. When the walls of distrust and prejudice fall down, you experience that it’s possible to look to the future with courage and hope....
Jerusalem: The city of all
From the voices of the inhabitants of Jerusalem a point of view that sees seeds of hope in the most disputed city in the world beyond what the chronicle gives us daily. About the Collegamento CH....
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Peter Griffiths
Place: Port Admiral Hotel, Lancaster Road, Preston
Source: www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
Peter Griffiths was killed after a soldier accosted him in the yard of the Port Admiral Hotel.
The soldier first asked for a match and then a penny and when he said he didn't have one the soldier grabbed him by the throat and dragged him down the road.
He took a cab home and later died of peritonitis. The coroner reported manslaughter by persons unknown.
Peter Griffiths was a Knocker Up and lived at 15 Aughton Square. In the afternoon he had gone to the Port Admiral Hotel in Lancaster Road and some time after went into the yard of the inn where the soldier asked him for a match and then a penny.
When he didnt comply the soldier threw him down and knelt upon him while at the same time holding him by the throat. Someone shouted 'You Coward' and the soldier got up and walked away.
Peter Griffiths was assisted home, evidently in great pain but the next day on the Sunday he was taken to the infirmary where he died at 12.40am on the Monday morning.
*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.
see Edinburgh Evening News - Wednesday 15 August 1900
see Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Tuesday 14 August 1900
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“I am highly encourage anyone that is on the fence about using a personal trainer to read my review”
"I am a non stop business woman and step-mom. I don’t have time in my daily routine to fit in going to the gym -quite frankly because my daily routine is never the same. Marc keeps … More
I feel better and my work days are less exhausting
"I am 44. Hunched over from heavy lifting in front of me all day long. I told Marc I wanted to work on straightening myself up, my core. I really can’t say how he’s making it … More
How I lost 4 dress sizes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJkeroA56Ac
My grandkids can’t keep up with me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osyUuhnm2A4
My increased stamina improved my business
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_34vntdUa0
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University of Wyoming Geological Museum Home
WyoFossil Augmented Reality
Wyoming in the Latest Cretaceous
Diatryma gigantea
geology_geophysics_link
Department of Geology and Geophysics
1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3006
Email: geolmus@uwyo.edu
Wyoming's State Dinosaur
Geological Age: Late Cretaceous, 65 to 70 million years ago
Geographic Range: Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alberta, Saskatchewan
Adult weight: 5 to 6 tons
Length: About 30 ft.
Habitat: Lowland floodplains
Diet: plants
Triceratops was one of the most common dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Its most prominent features are on its head: two long brow horns, a nasal horn, and a bony frill. Its frill had no holes, but it did have a row of conical bones around the edge. Fossil evidence supports the idea that this head armor was used in display and ritualized combat within its on species. It may have also served to deter predators.
Triceratops had powerful jaws and teeth that were elongated blades, suitable for shearing tough vegetation.
Triceratops is the official state dinosaur of Wyoming. Wyoming is the only state that has both a state dinosaur and a state fossil (Knightia, a fish).
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“Silver Shackles”— Tour Stop & Author Interview with Fiona Skye
When you steal from faerie queens, the consequences are painful and sometimes deadly.
Were-jaguar and TV personality, Riley O’Rourke, has been looking over her shoulder ever since she stole from the Dark Queen of the Unseelie faeries. When Riley is contacted by an informant with knowledge that can blow the lid off the story of the year, she can’t pass up the opportunity to investigate. What she finds instead is something that puts her at the mercy of the Dark Queen, who is not known for her compassion.
When Riley’s boyfriend, David, realizes she’s missing, he’ll do whatever it takes to get her back, including starting a war with the Unseelie. The balance of power among the Fae courts is shifting, and if David makes one wrong move, Riley could end up crushed in the struggle. But after being the subject of the Queens’s legendary cruelty, will there even be anything left of Riley to save?
The second book in the Revelations Trilogy continues the story of Riley O'Rourke, David Lo, and Neve MacAlpin. Buy it here.
Taming Shadows is the first book in the Revelations Trilogy and introduces us to Riley, David, and Neve. Buy it here.
Welcome Author Fiona Skye...
What inspired you to write the Revelations Trilogy?
It was a combination of things, really. I have wanted to be an author since I was probably five or six years old, but my career went sort of in the opposite direction. I worked as a journalist for years—both as a staff writer and in the editorial department—for two different newspapers and a magazine. Then I discovered National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and only wrote fiction during the month of November. I never went back to those books despite crossing the 50,000-word finish line with all but one. But in November of 2012, I decided that it was time to make my childhood dream true and picked a character who had been living inside my head for more than ten years. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Tell us a little bit about your character, Riley O’Rourke?
Riley has lived inside my brain since 2001, when my husband introduced me to Laurell Hamilton's Anita Blake series. I was very intrigued by the lycanthropes and wondered what sort of were-animal would do best in Southern Arizona. Then I discovered that there were wild jaguars living here and decided, yeah, that could work.
Riley has gone through a few permutations since she was first born. She was a lawyer when I first met her, then a ballet dancer, and finally a journalist. Most of the rest of her—her heritage, her involvement with the Fae and David, where she lives and where she's from—has stayed the same, though.
What would be her theme song? Who would you cast for her in a TV/movie?
She's had a few theme songs throughout the years, but I think the one that most fits her is “Scars”, by Rush. And she's Maggie Q in my mind.
What’s your writing process like? (Any routines: time of day, snacks, music) Plotter or pantster?
When life and the day job (which would be an epic name for a band, by the way) allows, I like to write as soon as I get up until around lunch time. I always try to get at least 1,000 words a day if I can. My choice in music usually depends upon what sort of scene I'm writing that day—I have Spotify playlists for everything from love scenes to fight scenes. As far as snacks go, I've been trying to go for healthy stuff, so on the snack shelf of my desk, I have everything pretzel thins and trail mix from Trader Joe's. Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't have some gummis as well.
I am definitely a pantster, much to my detriment, I think. I know how stories start and end, but it's the middle stuff that bogs me down. Lately I've been trying different outlining techniques to see which is the best fit for me. We'll see when I get finished with my experiment stories.
Favorite character to write/least favorite character to write and why?
My favorite character is Riley. She's so much like me, really...well, except for her Jaguar side and her shoe budget. But her snarky attitude and her outlook on life are very similar to mine.
My least favorite character to write is...well, no one. I really do love all my characters.
Any suggestions for the author embarking on series writing?
Make sure you know where you're going and approximately how many books it will take to get there. Pepper your books with things that will be explained in the next installment to keep your readers interested and wanting more. And please, for the love of all that you hold holy, answer ALL the questions in the final book in the series!
Biggest mistakes fantasy authors make (in your opinion)?
Adhering to cliches. Yes, elves and dwarfs and orcs are established winners, but maybe you could write about something different? Dryads, golems, and goblins maybe?
You’re also an editor—what are the most common errors you find writers make?
Not taking advantage of an editor's services. I've run across so many indie and self-published authors who think that hiring a professional editor is a waste of their money. They can do everything else themselves. And then then get a ton of one-star reviews saying they needed to run the manuscript past an editor. Don't be that guy! If you can't afford a professional, turn your manuscript over to someone you trust—a friend who is a fellow author is the perfect choice.
What books have influenced your life the most?
The Hobbit, Peter Pan, and the Chronicles of Narnia. If not for them, I'm pretty sure I'd be writing either high-falutin' literary fiction or trashy romance novels.
Is there anything particular you want readers to take away from your books?
I just hope they enjoy them. I honestly did not write these to be something with a message or a moral. These are not high-falutin' literary fiction novels that can change your life. They're fun, escapist literature, and I hope that people read them with that in mind.
Ups/downs of Indie publishing?
People still not considering me a “real” author or my books “real” books. I've put just as much—if not more—effort into getting these books into the hands of my readers than have traditionally published authors, and frankly, I'm a little sick of being told I'm not a real author.
Tell us about your upcoming adventures—more fantasy? Have you written/plan to write in other genres?
I've written a pirate-themed historical romance that will be coming out under a pen name in the fall, and I have a YA dystopian sci-fi thing that will be coming out next year. I'm still looking for something so epic that it will require multiple books to tell, because I like writing series and I think a lot of readers prefer series to stand alones.
Any predictions for the publishing world in the next decade?
I think with the overwhelming amount of self-published authors and independent presses, the Big Five publishers are going to have to change their game even more. I also hope that there will eventually be some sort of standards for self-published authors, so that our reputations will stop being harmed by people who churn out sub-par garbage.
Red's Randomness
Are you a homebody or adventurer?
I am an adventurer living on a homebody's budget.
What kind of paranormal/preternatural creature would you choose to be?
Maybe a magic-user of some sort, like Orla Brown in my own books.
You’re stranded on a deserted island. Which author would you choose as company and why?
I actually have a list! Here they are, in order from top to bottom:
1. Diana Gabaldon
2. Neil Peart
3. Kevin Hearne
4. Jim Butcher
5. Brandon Sanderson
In 2050, _______ will rule the world.
The cynical idealist part of me says greed, because I don't see that changing any time soon. Then the optimist pipes up and says compassion, because if we don't change the way most of us are living, we won't be around in 2050. Wow, that's kinda heavy. Um... Dog lovers will rule the world in 2050. Because dogs >> everything else.
Favorite guilty pleasure?
Chick flicks. My favorites are PS I Love You, Say Anything, Love Actually, and anything with Doris Day and Rock Hudson.
Fiona Skye is a fantasy author, currently living in the deserts of Southern Arizona. She shares a home with her husband, two kids, three cats, two rats, a betta fish, and a Border Collie.
Fiona’s passion for story telling began early in life. She loved playing make-believe and inventing elaborate fantasy worlds for her friends and her to play in. At age twelve, she wrote her first short story, which was based on a song by a 1980s hair band. After giving it to her English teacher for editing and rewrites, she learned to love the entire writing process, and has dedicated her life since then to writing, only to be occasionally distracted by her insatiable love of yarn and crochet, and the dogged pursuit of the perfect plate of cheese enchiladas.
She counts Diana Gabaldon and Jim Butcher as her favorite authors and biggest influences. Joining these two on the list of people she would wait in queue for a week to have a coffee with are Neil Peart, Kevin Hearne, and Brandon Sanderson.
CONNECT WITH FIONA HERE:
Website & Blog: http://fiona-skye.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fionaskyewriter
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/fionaskyewriter
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/FionaSkyeWriter/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/fiona_skye
The Darkling Chronicles, Shadows 1 Blog Tour
I’m so excited this week. It’s here: the paperback collection of the first three novellas in The Darkling Chronicles.
Join me on the tour June 1 – June 5. There are so many amazing blogs and an awesome giveaway!
Many thanks to everyone who has made this journey possible. I have incredible beta readers (alpha readers) who I couldn’t live without! And then there are these professionals who keep me on course:
Editing: Nancy S. Thompson
Cover Design: Robin Harper, Wicked by Design
Formatting: Angela McLaurin, Fictional Formats
Blog Tour: Heather Davenport, Book Plug Promotions
Shadow Blues
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1E3Kole
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1GrXkkv
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1EDYOrh
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1J31lyk
Apple: http://apple.co/1dyNIdq
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1FPpZQH
Shadow Fire
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Nc54cd
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1xi86Yt
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1dujh7I
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1HMMKa6
Apple: http://apple.co/1SD6BM6
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1dyOirs
Shadow Thief
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1M3I3v0
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1CdaizD
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1GxdUvy
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1KpZVuZ
Apple: http://apple.co/1AuXSG4
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1FEbGgk
Cover: Robin Harper, Wicked by Design
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1CrDXGL
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1CrDXX9
The Darkling Chronicles #1
(Novella)
At the age of four, Patrick Benjamin Solomon becomes Anka Rehmling’s human charge. By eight, he can SEE her. At thirteen, he breaks her heart, and by eighteen, she finds herself fighting for his life.
As a darkling shadowcaster, Anka casts shadows in the human world, harnessing some of the earth’s UV light to bring back to Montenai—a world full of darklings, nymphs, satyrs, phantoms, and dragon lords. Her job is crucial to preserving the vitality and balance in her town of Shadowland. However, Anka has trouble following the strict rules set by the Shadowland Council, a ruling body comprised of three dragon lords.
The lords’ decree states all shadowcasters will abide by the rules or face the penalty of harsh punishment, banishment, or death. Torn between her world and Ben's, Anka must choose to defy the Council or turn her back on love.
As a darkling shadowcaster, Bianca Rehmling works under the three dragon lords of the Shadowland Council, casting shadows for her human charge on the earth’s plane and harnessing energy to bring back for the balance and wellbeing of her kind. She’s always been a law-abiding darkling, as opposed to her younger sister, Anka. When Anka broke shadowcasting rules over the summer, she suffered the wrath of the council, something Bianca never wants to witness again.
To protect her sister, Bianca harbors some dark secrets, ones that could cause the decline of Shadowland. When a deadly illness called Shadow Fever strikes the village, Bianca fears her own rule-breaking has caused a fatal imbalance in the world of Montenai. She hasn’t been doing her job, her duty, and the dragon lords suspect.
Family or duty? With loved ones suffering, and the dragon lords breathing down her neck, Bianca keeps her nymph friends close and her enemies…closer. When an unlikely ally offers to help, Bianca must decide whether to trust him or brave the heat alone.
Natcha is a creature of fire, drawing in shadow to cloak herself from the dangers of the world. She has never known what she is or where she came from, but she knows her wings and claws make her different. The sea cliffs of Montenai are her home, the Aglatian Sea her playground, and the phantoms her family.
All her life, she has hidden in the Faunlier Mountains with her sister Nalene. Only the oath she swore as a child to a darkling father to watch over his son draws her toward the turmoil in Shadowland.
When unrest among the darklings, satyrs, nymphs, and dragon lords begins to bleed into her own life, Natcha wagers the welfare of one against the welfare of many. To protect all she holds dear, she must incur the wrath of Shadowland’s leaders and become… the Thief.
THE DARKLING CHRONICLES, SHADOWS 2
The last two Novellas in the series:
Shadow Ice
So much pain to bear for something new to come.
Despite a rocky start in life, Nalene has survived twenty years in the sea cliffs of the Aglatian Sea. She struggles daily to master her water energy rather than succumb to it. An icy constitution has forced her to rely on her sister for care, protection, and guidance.
But the tides are turning and powers shifting in Montenai. Once a sickly creature with no purpose, Nalene emerges a strong, willful guardian. This reclusive orphan has everyone’s attention, including a new seer who predicts “only one can survive” the battle to come.
Challenged by dragon lords, championed by outcasts, Nalene meets strife at every turn. As a crisis of faith wages within her, she forges ahead because she won’t give up on hope. What is she willing to sacrifice to fulfill her destiny?
A family tragedy at the age of twelve thrusts Serena into the world of shadowcasting. She relishes the dragon lords’ protection and training but loves her new job and human charge even more.
Because of her great-great-grandfather’s alliance with a vicious nymph queen, Serena finds other Montenaians refuse to trust or accept her. It doesn’t help that she has the same birthmark and orange spark in her eyes as the relative who brought shame to the Brisson name.
Stepping through the portal to Paris allows Serena to escape her family’s reputation as well as her mother’s harsh traditions. Every day Serena pushes to be “worthy of the dragon,” regardless of her brother warning her the path leads to horrible loss.
For years, the lore of dragon and astrei has molded the practices and beliefs of Montenaians. No one has felt this more than the phantom, Serena. This Drifter’s history is the key to Shadowland’s fate. Can she protect them from a dangerous future and still find her way home?
MONDAY, JUNE 1:
Moonless Bites http://www.moonlessbites.com/
Review & Excerpts
Tiger Hebert’s Blog: http://www.tigerhebert.com/#!blog/c1ecg
Article on Worldbuilding
Literary Mania Reviews: http://literarymaniareviews.blogspot.com/
Review & Author Interview
TUESDAY, JUNE 2:
SA Gibson https://gibsonauthor.wordpress.com/
Mythical Books http://www.mythicalbooks.blogspot.ro/
Skye Writing http://fiona-skye.com/blog/
Feature Post & Author Interview
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3:
Undercover Book Reviews
http://undercoverbookreviews.blogspot.com/
Maria’s Book Blog
http://www.marialovesbooks.com/
Naughty and Nice Book Blog
http://www.naughtyandnicebookblog.com/
Life & Times of a Would Be Somebody
http://wouldbesomebody.blogspot.com/
Feature Post & Character Interview
THURSDAY, JUNE 4:
Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock
https://pratr.wordpress.com/
Deausha & Kitty’s YA Book Blog
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Deausha-Kittys-YA-Book-Blog/709258539116151
Writers of Bad Ass Ladies and Big Ass Dragons
https://lornageorge.wordpress.com/
FRIDAY, JUNE 5
Monlatable Book Reviews
http://www.monlatablereviews.com/
Archaeolibrarian—I Dig Good Books!
http://archaeolibrarianologist.blogspot.de/
Deal Sharing Aunt
http://www.dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com/
Twin Opinions
http://www.twinopinionsreview.blogspot.com/
Review & Excerpt
Storysculpting
http://storysculpting.blogspot.com/
Jen Ponce Writer of Kick Ass Women and Oogy Monsters
http://jenniferponce.com/
Jo Michael’s Blog
http://jomichaels.blogspot.com/
TO FOLLOW SUBSCRIBE BELOW:
Author: Tricia Zoeller
Photo by Kim Manska
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Tu-kay & Ryan's EP 'Pages' released
Submitted by Ash Tu-kay on Thu, 14/11/2019 - 20:36
After many months of refinement the eagerly anticipated second EP 'Pages' has now released in physical format. Get in contact to secure your copy! Will make a great stocking filler!
Read more about Tu-kay & Ryan's EP 'Pages' released
Education Section Integrated
Submitted by Ash Tu-kay on Fri, 30/08/2019 - 15:48
Our education section of the website has now been integrated into the website. This can be accessed from the menu or by clicking here.
This aspect of the site has been compiled to provide useful information for aspiring songwriters and producers to gain the knowledge and understanding needed to write songs and produce music.
Read more about Education Section Integrated
Tu-kay & Ryan - Pages
Nigel Lewis - A Head Full Of Ghosts & Memories
Please show your support for Tu-kay Records by liking our pages, subscribing and sharing our content.
Follow us on social media to keep up to date with Tu-kay Records' latest projects & tracks.
Contact us by email, fill in the contact form via this website or submit a booking form to get started with your recording project.
Alternatively, get in contact through social media.
www.audiovendor.com
www.tukayandryan.co.uk
www.freebooters.uk
www.averseprospect.uk
Situated in the historically rich village of Stoke Bruerne, near Northampton, Northamptonshire. Tu-kay Records is an independent project studio created by producer, songwriter and musician 'Ash Tu-kay'.
Whether you're a singer/songwriter, musician or a band; Tu-kay Records can help. We Specialise in developing and assisting artists & bands to fully realise their music in the form of fully produced works, contributing as much or as little as necessary.
Tu-kay Records Ltd. Company Number: 12153731. Place of Registration: England & Wales.
Registered Office Address: Tu-kay Records Ltd, The Boat Inn, Bridge Road, Stoke Bruerne, Nr Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 7SB.
Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Contact
© Copyright 2020 Tu-kay Records Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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Chinese Investments in Israeli Mobile, Media, Cyber and Medical Startups
By Yoav Sadan December 20, 2016
In our first article in these series about Chinese investments in Israeli tech, we gave some basic tips for all you Israeli tech entrepreneurs aiming at China. After that we took a deeper look at how investments and acquisitions can vary, and guide you through the market. If you haven’t read them, feel free to check them out. Now we’re going to dive deeper and examine major investment verticals from 2010- 2016 and several key VC’s. The whole purpose is to give you better tools to understand how the Chinese investment in Israel looks right now.
Let’s start with medical. Clearly the largest invested and acquired area of them all.
Investments in that time reached $150M, and $750M in acquisitions. As with our last article, it’s important to understand the difference between acquisitions and investments in medical. Though acquisitions are three times bigger, they spread across just two companies. The thing to look for is diversification. Alma Lasers was bought in 2013 by Fosun Farma , two years later Lumines was bought by the XIO group, both laser device companies. we see even more similarities when we look at invested Israeli companies. Out of 10 companies, a great majority are bio-medical devices, and 3 were cardiac solutions. More than that, we see Ping-An Ventures that has invested in a heart monitoring bracelet, and other medical devices. By the way things are looking now, The Chinese investment world is looking in Israel for patentable medical devices.
Let’s move over to big-data. With $82M in shared investments, Baidu and Alibaba are the key players. Although the Alibaba group recently started partnering with Israeli Incubators, they’ve still invested $50M in Quixey-, an app search engine . Baidu’s $30M investment was followed a few months later in Taboola – a content recommendation company. Though both Israeli companies aren’t fully overlapping, we’re starting to see a trend by the two Chinese giants to compete in the big data arena.
Now let’s take a look at the dominant Chinese VC’s and their actions. If you only look at the numbers, the XIO Group and Fosun Pharma are the largest players around, due to their huge acquisitions in medical. But when it comes to number of companies invested, Pingan and Horizons venture invested in the widest variety of companies and fields. Between 2010 and 2015, Horizons invested $240M in 18 different companies, ranging from ocean monitoring, finance and cyber security. Pingan Ventures invested in only 4 companies, but pulled in $85M in Ironsource. The thing to notice here is the difference in investments strategies at the time being.
From where we understand from the numbers, “Horizons” are spreading their funds through a much wider variety, but with significantly less funds per each vertical and company, while Pingan are much more specific to the web arena, with a much larger investment in average.
The thing to stress the most is that the actions of invested companies are correlated and overlapping. This gives you a much better understanding on how things are looking from “both point of views”.
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WHS Varsity Boys Hockey
2008-2009 Boys
2008-2009 Girls
Max Preps
1998-1999 Record: 10-12 Overall
Charlie Blanchard – Coach, Ed Stevenson – Asst. Coach
Team: Chris Connoley, Brian Connoley, J.J. Dempsey, Joe Freimuth, Mike Giannone, Matt Higgins, Robbie Hutchinson, Eric Johnson, Ben Lenevhurtz, O'Brian McMahon, John Morrel, Joe Musso, Pete Polliti, Greig Rance, Matt Repicky, Todd Smith, Blake Testa, Jay Testa, Dave Williams, Chris Woods – Captain.
Although plagued by injury throughout the season, the Warrior Hockey Team was able to make both the county and state tournaments. Although they lost in the first round of both, the level of achievement was great enough to spread pride through the school. No one could forget the dramatic conclusion to this year’s Ridgefield game in which the Warriors were able to come back in the third period and triumph 5 to 3. This was truly a memorable season.
AWARDS: Marce Lavin Founder’s Award: Chris Woods
© 2020 SportsEngine, Inc. The Home of Youth Sports and Wilton High School Hockey Club (6685). All rights reserved. Visitor # 430,553
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Home Entertainment Cosby accuser raises reasonable double on stand, stating a friend gave her...
Cosby accuser raises reasonable double on stand, stating a friend gave her quaaludes
Janice Baker-Kinney leaves the courtroom after testifying against actor and comedian Bill Cosby during the third day of the retrial of his sexual assault case at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania on April 11, 2018. POOL PHOTO - Dominick Reuter/AFP
“Who gave you the Quaaludes?” Comedian Bill Cosby’s defense attorney Tom Mesereau asked Janice Baker-Kinney. “Bill Cosby,” she replied quickly. Mesereau asked again rapidly, “No, who gave you the Quaaludes? You said you took a Quaalude before the party,” taking a short but noticeable pause before asking again: “Who gave you the Quaaludes?”
Baker-Kinney, slowly putting her head down quietly answered, “a friend.”
Mesereau cross-examined Janice Baker-Kinney, who alleges Cosby assaulted her in 1986 while working as a bartender at Harrah’s casino in Reno when she said a co-worker invited her to a pizza party at his home.
Mesereau’s 2015 CNN Interview Ties Closely to His Defense
Mesereau, while participating in an interview on CNN with attorney Gloria Allred prior to being retained to represent Bill Cosby stated:
“First of all, many celebrities are victims of false accusations and they’ll pay money to end the ordeal and spare their family having to go through all this. Michael Jackson freely admitted that he paid almost $20 million. He went to trial and was exonerated of every allegation. Ten felonies and four misdemeanors.”
CNN asked Mesereau if he were representing Bill Cosby, what would he argue?
“There has to be a thorough investigation into these women. Everything about their background has to be checked. Who were they 40 years ago? What were their morals? What was their behavior like? Did they go to parties where drugs were being handed out? Did they bring drugs to those parties? Why did they approach Mr. Cosby? What did they want to get out of him? I’d like to know who they really were. They have to be aggressively questioned to find out exactly what happened and what didn’t happen. This is forty years later and they’re suddenly coming out making these accusations? Something seems wrong to me.”
3 Years Later: Mesereau Delivers Cross Examination to Cosby Accuser
“You kept a souvenir of the man you say assaulted you in your collection of souvenirs?” Mesereau curiously asked Kinney-Baker. Her response? “Yes.”
“You went to several parties, correct?” Mesereau asked. “Yes, a few,” Kinney-Baker replied.
Allred, sitting in the courtroom behind the prosecution likely had an idea where this was going, given her debate with Mesereau a few years back.
“There were drugs at these parties correct?” Mesereau said. “I don’t know,” Kinney-Baker slowly stated. “I didn’t take drugs when I went to parties with Wayne Newton.”
“You told police you had experimenting with drugs your whole life?” Mesereau asked. “In high school after I smoked a little pot I probably tried something called, I guess, uppers, a couple of times.” Kinney-Baker replied. “I wasn’t an everyday drug addict, just on the weekends.”
Mesereau: “Did you use cocaine?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “I did but not then. I used cocaine later on in life.”
Mesereau: Did you tell police that you had experimented with drugs around this period?
Janice Kinney-Baker: I told police that I experimented with drugs. I was not using cocaine at that party of before that party. It wasn’t like I was a major drug addict. It was recreational use. I’ll tell you what I did have a problem with, and that was alcohol, and I haven’t had a drink or a drug in over 20 years.
Mesereau: But Mrs. baker-Kinney, you told police in one of your interviews you had experimented with drugs in your younger years, correct?
Janice Kinney-Baker: I did! I smoked pot in high school. That was my younger days.
Mesereau: You told them [the police] you took LSD in 1974.
Janice Kinney-Baker: I did! That was my younger days. There was not much else to do there except go to work and hang out with all the other single people, so, I did drugs, in my younger days. I tried pot in high school. I tried LSD in high school. I had a roommate who sold cocaine when I lived n Reno, who I moved out from because of that reason. I did not do cocaine while I was living in Reno.
“I really got fucked up and slept with Bill Cosby.” Mesereau stated, asking Baker-Kinney if she remembers making that statement to her roommate.
“Yep, I told my sister that as well.” Janice Kinney-Baker told Mesereau.
Mesereau: “When did you decide it was Bill Cosby’s fault?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “Not for many years, because I blamed myself.”
Mesereau: “When did you decide that instead of it being your fault for taking drugs and having sex with Mr. Cosby? When did you decide that was your decision?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “When I told my husband years ago, he said that was rape. I think the seed was planted years ago. I haven’t uttered those words except in the past few years.”
Mesereau: “A couple years ago you firmly decided it was Bill Cosby’s fault and not yours?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “Yes. I don’t like the word fault really, like I said, I still carry some fault.”
Tom Mesereau, lawyer for actor and comedian Bill Cosby, leaves the courtroom on lunch recess during the third day of the retrial of Cosby’s sexual assault case at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania on April 11, 2018.
POOL PHOTO – Dominick Reuter/AFP
“So for 30 years you hadn’t suspected that someone had sexually assaulted you?” Mesereau asked. “Correct,” Kinney-Baker replied. “Now, in one of your interviews about this case you said words to the effect that ‘for 30 years I didn’t know I had been raped and when I heard what other people were saying I realized I had been raped, or words to that effect?” Mesereau asked, following up to his previous question.
“I have to think about how to answer that. For 30 years I didn’t really think about it. I didn’t want to think about it. I will tell you that women starting coming forward,” Kinney-Baker paused, then stating, “I don’t know if I’m allowed to say what I’m about to say.”
Judge Steven T. O’Neill instructed her to complete her sentence.
“I don’t know how to answer that question right now. Even if I knew I was raped 30 years ago, back then there was no acquaintance rape or date rape.”
Mesereau, stating that Kinney-Baker didn’t realize she was sexually assaulted until seeing other women claim Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted them, brought up the #MeToo movement. “Did anyone suggest you use one word opposed to another word? Did Allred decide what words you were going to use?” Mesereau asked.
“Things that are happening today that are in the news, things I’m sure many of us heard about. People feeling empowered enough to come forward about things that happened to them, feeling their strength,” Kinney-Baker continued. “I too was in the same position. I too did not live for many years. I too didn’t consider it sexual assault or rape because, women tend to blame themselves when things like this happen.”
“What you did then was you went to attorney Gloria Allred?” Mesereau asked, dropping the name of famed women’s rights attorney.
“No,” Kinney-Baker quickly replied. “I did not, in the way you’re insinuating.”
Mesereau: “Does she not represent you currently?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “She represents me, not legally, but for media.”
Mesereau, baffled by her response, replied “Oh. Tell us about that. She represents you for the media appearances?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “Yes.”
Mesereau: “And you pay her?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “No.”
Mesereau: “Does the media pay her?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “No. Not that I know of.”
Mesereau: “When did you hire Gloria Allred?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “I didn’t hire her.”
Mesereau: “When did Gloria Allred hire you?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “She did not hire me.”
Mesereau: “When did someone hire somebody so you could end up with a relationship with Gloria Allred?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “There’s no hiring.”
Mesereau: “You’re issuing releases in the name of Gloria Allred, correct?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “No. It’s in my name but she’s my contact attorney.”
Mesereau: “When did she become your contact attorney?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “A couple years ago.”
Mesereau: “Around the same time you decided Mr. Cosby was responsible not you? correct?
Janice Kinney-Baker: “Correct.”
Mesereau: “Are you familiar with a $100 million program Gloria Allred is trying to put in effect?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “I am not.”
Mesereau: “Have you ever heard of it?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “I don’t know what it’s about, no.”
Mesereau: “Are you familiar about it?”
Mesereau: “Did she ever talk to you about it?”
Mesereau: “Did you ever talk to her about it?”
Mesereau: “Has she ever talked about representing you in any litigation against Bill Cosby?”
Mesereau: “Your lawyer, Mr. Allred, has been in the press saying ‘why don’t we just forget about the statute of limitations, lets have a big arbitration and lets put millions of dollars on the table so everybody gets paid, correct?”
Janice Kinney-Baker: “Oh, that, I did hear about that.”
Baker-Kinney
Bill Cosby Trial
Cosby on Trial
Cosby Trial
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October 2015 Breaks More Heat Records and Corroborates Accelerated Warming
It just keeps getting hotter, almost every month this year has been the warmest in recorded history and October is no exception. Within this trend is an even more alarming concern. The steady increase in recorded departures from the norm.suggests that the warming may be accelerating.
October 2015 was by far the warmest October on record. This is confirmed by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), NOAA and NASA. Until last month we had never recorded a monthly average temperature increase that was more than 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above average.
October was 1.04 degrees Celsius above average for the month. NOAA said that October had the largest monthly global temperature anomaly in 1,630 months of record-keeping. The previous record monthly temperature anomaly was set in September of this year.
To add to the monthly data, NASA says that the period between January and October ranks as the warmest such period in its 136 years of record-keeping. This makes it almost certain that 2015 will be even warmer than 2014, currently the warmest year on record. NOAA, NASA and the UK Met Office, all predict that for the first time in recorded history, 2015 will post an average temperature that is more than one degree above the norm.
We know that the earth is warming and we see that this warming is accelerating. As we head into COP21 we are already halfway to the 2 degrees Celsius upper threshold limit. Even if countries meet their emissions reduction pledges (INDC) we will still surpass the 2 degree threshold.
Record Breaking Heat Suggests Accelerated Warming
Growing Levels of GHGs are Warming the Planet and Contributing to Disasters
September Heat Records Offer More Evidence for Accelerated Warming
2015 - The Hottest Summer in the Hottest Year on Record
Global Temperature Data Underscores the Urgency of Climate Action
El Niño and Global Warming are Locked in a Feedback Loop
Hottest June Foreshadows the Hottest Year on Record
Extreme Heat in the Western World Marks the Start of Summer 2015
At Least 30 Years of Above Average Temperatures
Heat Records Tell the Story of Climate Change
India's Heat Wave Offers a Glimpse into the Future
2014 is the Hottest Year in Recorded History
How Much Heat is Required to Spur Global Action?
In the US 2012 is The Hottest Most Extreme Year in Recorded History
Globally 2012 is One of the Hottest Years on Record
Labels: changing climate, climate change, drier, drought, Global Warming, heat, heating, hot, hotter, temperature, warm, warming
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The Home Story
Innovate Housing
Doug Duncan
Following rise in rates, refinance activity slows, at least for now
February 15, 2017 | By Susanna Kim
The refinance share of mortgage activity is at its lowest level in almost two years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly data released on Jan. 27. But the cash-out refinance market, which may be less sensitive to rising interest rates, may keep refinance activity alive this year.
“We have reason to believe refis are not going to fall off the face of the earth,” says Hamilton Fout, Fannie Mae’s director of economics, even with rising interest rates.
Refinance activity was 49.4 percent of total mortgage applications for the week ending Jan. 20, according to MBA, down from 50.0 percent the previous week. The percentage that week was the lowest since July 2015. MBA’s survey for this data covers more than 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.
Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group is forecasting that mortgage rates will rise gradually in 2017. They expect them to reach a fourth-quarter average of 4.3 percent.
“Interest rates have ticked up, but right now, we’re more in a wait-and-see mode,” Fout says, “until we see we’re out of this long-run cycle of declining rates.”
Equity in the Equation
Mortgage rates surged for eight straight weeks after the November elections. But their average level in 2016 was the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking them in 1972, the ESR Group points out in its economic summary for January.
One of the factors that could boost interest rates is rising inflation, Fout says. According to ESR, the Federal Reserve will exercise caution, given “substantial” policy uncertainty in the U.S. Still, ESR anticipates two rate hikes this year. And the Fed could speed up rate hikes if they see enactment of fiscal stimulus.
Does this mean that refinance activity will completely disappear? Not necessarily when you consider the cash-out refinance market. While homeowners have little incentive to refinance into a higher rate, those who choose cash-out refinancing have another motivation: tapping equity.
“These homeowners may want to finance a child’s education or a home improvement, so they’re going to be less rate-sensitive,” Fout says. “Definitely, rates matter, but in terms of cash-out refinancing, home price growth matters too. People are trying to extract some equity.”
Slow Growth Ahead
Ellie Mae reported a drop in monthly refinance activity for December. It attributed the decline to rising rates. The 30-year note rate that month was 4.05 percent, up from 3.81 in November. Back in November, a low 30-year note rate “bolstered”the refinance market, according to Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae. Homebuyers were trying to complete refinancing as rates began to rise, he explained.
“We believe that the strong refi market caused the increase in time to close in November. That’s a data point we’ll watch as the purchase market picks up in early 2017,” Corr said in December. (Ellie Mae’s data is a sampling of 75 percent of all applications in its mortgage management software services.)
Similarly, Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan says, “We expect housing to remain resilient and continue its recovery in 2017, with affordability standing out as the industry’s greatest obstacle, particularly for first-time homeowners.”
Overall, mortgage applications decreased 3.2 percent for the week ending Jan. 27 compared to the prior week, according to MBA.
While refinance activity may tick down due to higher interest rates, lenders may see higher closing rates, according to Ellie Mae. In December, closing rates for all loans increased to 73.2 percent, according to Ellie Mae. That was their highest rate for all of 2016.
“As rates began to increase, we saw purchases tick back up in December, signaling the start of a trend we expect to continue into 2017,” Corr says. “We also saw closing rates rise to the highest percentage in 2016 as homebuyers locked in rates and lenders closed loans before the conclusion of the year.”
Estimates, forecasts, and other views expressed in this article should not be construed as indicating Fannie Mae’s expected results, are based on a number of assumptions, and may change without notice. How this information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors. Neither Fannie Mae nor its Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group guarantees that the information in this article is accurate, current, or suitable for any particular purpose. Changes in the assumptions or underlying information could produce materially different results. The ESR Group’s views expressed in this article speak only as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae or its management.
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Type: Posts; User: aalalawi2
Post by: aalalawi2
BBH WATER PARK
It is the first water park in Muscat and occupies a great location in Al Bustan in front of the sea. It is an integrated city with an area of 50 thousand square meters. The park offers its guests relaxation and outdoor swimming. It has many advantages to serve tourists in Muscat
https://timesofoman.com/article/1840879/Oman/Government/First-of-its-kind-waterpark-to-open-in-Oman-next-year
Construction Phase has started on Hay Al Sharq,
Theme Parks budget around usd 260,078,023
History-Themed Entertainment Park
Source: http://dealmiddleeastshow.com/news_14.php
Updates on Hay Al Sharq.
http://asaas.om/en/projects/the-national-leisure-tourism-destination/theme-park/
http://asaas.om/en/projects/the-national-leisure-tourism-destination/water-park/
Al Araimi Walk
Al Araimi Walk — Oman’s largest shopping mall with an investment of RO 112 million ready by 2020.
The new project with an area of 240,000 square meters will have four-star hotel, an indoor water park, a large ski circuit, cinema, virtual reality games and a kilometer-long walkway.
http://www.omanobserver.om/ro-112-million-shopping-mall-to-come-up-in-oman/
http://alaraimiwalk.com/
Originally Posted by aalalawi2
http://timesofoman.com/article/128101/Oman/Omanisation/new-theme-park-in-oman-closer-to-reality
Hayy Al Sharq name might change
update according to Developer
New theme park in Oman closer to reality
Muscat: Structural work has begun on the Hayy Al Sharq theme park in Barka, the project's developer Muscat National Development and Investment Company (ASAAS) recently announced on twitter.
Land is being cleared for the construction of Hay Al Sharq in Oman.
New Oman water park has something for everyone
alalah’s first water park has something for everyone in Oman, whether they are tourists, residents or locals from the Dhofar region.
Hawana aqua park is to be inaugurated by the H.E. Mohammed Al Balushi, the Governor of Dhofar and the Minister of State for Oman on Wednesday evening, in the presence of leading and high-ranking officials from the country’s key private and public sectors.
http://timesofoman.com/article/125788/Oman/Tourism/New-Oman-water-park-has-something-for-everyone
Sanad Capital’s current focus is the development of a major integrated tourism project at 2652 Steve Irwin Way, Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
ACTVENTURE is a $AUD450m integrated lifestyle, tourist and active theme park development and the only major integrated tourism resort on the iconic Sunshine Coast, Queensland Australia.
ACTVENTURE will be the only destination in the world that will combine a major waterpark, hotel and conference facilities, retail, world class surf wave pool, action sports and other modern leisure activities. Stage 1 of the project which combines the waterpark, ACTVENTURE tower, and the Cove retail has an estimated construction cost of $AUD150m and is forecasted to attract up to 1 million visitors annually.
http://sanadcapital.com.au/projects/
Hawana Salalah Aqua Park updated photos
Hawana Aqua Park Construction photos
Hawana Aqua park
Oman's biggest water park to open by year-end
http://timesofoman.com/article/120079/Oman/Tourism/Water-park-to-open-by-year-end-in-Oman
Hayy Al Sharq
Master Plan design 100% Complete
land clearing for construction 95% complete
water Park and theme park design 15% complete
New water park and resort hotel planned for Lusail island
A new luxury resort with a water park and four-star hotel will be built on an island off the coast of Lusail, Katara Hospitality announced this week
https://dohanews.co/new-water-park-and-resort-hotel-planned-for-lusail-island/
New beach resort and water park to sit at heart of Dubai's new islands
https://www.thenational.ae/uae/new-beach-resort-and-water-park-to-sit-at-heart-of-dubai-s-new-islands-1.663394
The Hawana Aqua Park is expected to open in late 2017. Spread across 35,000 sqm, it will offer world-class aqua-tainment, including a wave pool, children’s pools and a variety of different rides. Sensitively designed environments will include day-use cabanas, playgrounds, big tube-rides for 3-4 people per ride and a food court adding to the family fun.
http://www.hawanasalalah.com/life-in-hawana-salalah/hawana-aqua-park/
http://timesofoman.com/article/117395/Oman/Looking-to-buy-a-home-in-Oman-as-an-expat
CONSTRUCTION OF THE LARGEST WATER PARK IN CEE HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED
In Mszczonow near Warsaw the construction of the First stage of Park of Poland which will be named Suntago Water World, the largest water park in CEE, has already started. Inside the complex investor plans to build 30 various water slides, of total length 3.2 km, wave pool, pools, over 10 saunas, a thermal health bath, mineral pools and a spa complex. The opening of the EUR 150 million investment is scheduled within 2 years. The Project will create over 600 new jobs.
Suntago Water World will appeal to people of all ages and to clients looking for different facilities. Suntago Water World will consist of 3 different thematic zones:
Saunaria – over 10 themed saunas are planned along with private massage rooms, tanning facilities and mineral health pools.
Relax – guests will have the opportunity to relax in the surrounding of 700 real palm trees and swim in over 1000 sqm of indoor and outdoor pools adjacent to a 20 000 sqm outdoor garden opened on sunny days
Jamango Water Jungle – over 3.2 km long water slides, including the longest indoor one (320 m) in Europe, will be built. Apart from that, children, adults and parents will be able to enjoy and compete on 30 various water slides, wave pool, lazy and crazy rivers. For parents with children the park planned a water playground for kids.
An agreement has been signed by the Ministry of Tourism in Oman and the Palm Beach Company for the Al Nakheel ITC (Integrated Tourism Complex) development in Barka.
The OMR256 million-development will include three hotels, hotel apartments, 1,436 residential units, a shopping mall, a traditional souk, an international school, restaurants, an aqua water park, and other entertainment and service facilities.
http://omanbulletin.com/story-z9819909
Ras Al Hadd Development Project
This eco-themed development delivers a number of unique tourist attractions within the master plan, including a wildlife preservation and observation park, a marine life park, and of course, the heritage village which will celebrate the rich history of Omani culture surrounding Ras Al-Hadd
Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran) and graduates of the Public Private Partnership Taskforce’s National CEO Programme have collaborated to develop Oman’s first waterpark -Part of Mina Al Sultan Qaboos waterfront project.
http://omran.om/news/item/130-omran-and-the-national-ceo-programme-collaborate-to-development-nations-first-world-class-waterpark
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/CONS_316841.html
Marina Duqm, a subsidiary of Golden Group of Companies, has signed agreements to invest around RO 283 million in a waterfront development involving hotels, residential complex, mall, water park and entertainment centre. Renaissance Services has also leased a 10,000 sq metre plot for the development of a leisure facility that includes restaurants and swimming pool.
https://omaninfo.om/english/module.php?module=topics-showtopic&CatID=35&ID=4786
The ambitious Barka theme park to be developed by the Muscat National Development and Investment Company (Asaas) has been officially named, ‘Hayy Al Sharq (Sharq district).’
Water Park :
The water park is planned to be a world-class hybrid of both indoor and outdoor facility, with attractions ranging from family-friendly waterslides to extreme water rides.
The park will be designed in such a way that it provides segregated facilities for both men and women. This includes separate indoor and outdoor rides, beaches, and changing rooms.
Theme Park & Wildlife Attraction
The theme park is envisioned to be family-oriented and integrated with a wildlife attraction that accommodates various animal species and provides visitors with a memorable zoo experience. This concept of integration between a theme park and zoo is similar in nature to such destinations as Busch Gardens Tampa in Florida, USA.The integrated theme park & wildlife attraction will be the anchor component of the destination, as it is considered a must-have in every country that seeks to enrich its tourism products.
http://timesofoman.com/article/105389/Oman/Tourism/Oman-tourism:-Barka-theme-park-to-be-called-Hayy-Al-Sharq
Update on Salalah water park
Thread: Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi
Testing for rides at Warner Bros Abu Dhabi theme park almost complete
Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi is on schedule to open next year, with testing for all 29 rides almost complete.
Miral, the Abu Dhabi Government-backed company bringing the indoor theme park to the capital, said delivery and installation of rides had started.
"Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi marks an important step in the development of Yas Island as a complete leisure and entertainment destination, and we can’t wait to share it with the world," said Mohammed Al Zaabi, chief executive of Miral. "We’re very delighted to see the park coming together and on track for the 2018 launch.
Source: http://www.thenational.ae/uae/testing-for-rides-at-warner-bros-abu-dhabi-theme-park-almost-complete
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BEAUREGARD, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on the impact of a tornado in Alabama and Georgia (all times local):
President Donald Trump has declared that a major disaster exists in Alabama and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in Lee County, where a tornado swept through and killed at least 23 people.
In a news release Tuesday, the Trump Administration said assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the disaster.
Damage assessments are continuing and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after those surveys are completed.
Residents and business owners who sustained losses can begin applying for help by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362).
The National Weather Service has confirmed at least 20 tornadoes struck across the Southeast during a deadly weekend outbreak.
Reports from the agency's survey teams say storm systems crossing the region Sunday spun off tornadoes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
The most powerful twister was an EF4 tornado packing 170 mph (275 kph) winds that's been blamed for at least 23 deaths in Lee County, Alabama. The weather service says that tornado crossed into western Georgia and traveled about 70 miles (112 kilometers) total.
The number of confirmed tornadoes could increase. Survey teams are still assessing storm damage in some areas.
An expert says the deadly tornado that struck Beauregard, Alabama, apparently rumbled about 70 miles (110 kilometers) across two states, ending in neighboring Georgia. That would make it among the longest-lived tornado to touch down in Alabama.
That distance approaches the 81-mile (130-kilometer) track of a twister that killed more than 60 people and demolished much of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in a "super outbreak" of several long-lasting tornadoes across the South on April 27, 2011.
Chris Darden, a meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service in Birmingham, said Tuesday that the tornado that struck Beauregard last weekend continued into Georgia. His colleagues were surveying damage from Sunday's tornado, adding the final track would likely be around 70 miles (110 kilometers).
President Donald Trump says he'll visit Alabama on Friday to see the area devastated by a tornado that killed 23 people.
Trump says "it's been a tragic situation but a lot of good work is being done."
The president says he's been in regular touch with the governors of Alabama and Georgia.
The tornado that hit Sunday was the nation's deadliest in nearly six years.
Forecasters say it appears the deadly tornado that struck Beauregard, Alabama, rumbled about 70 miles (113 kilometers) across two states.
That would make it among the longest-lived tornadoes to touch down in Alabama.
Its distance approaches the 81-mile (130 kilometer) track of a twister that killed more than 60 people and demolished much of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in a "super outbreak" of several long-lasting tornadoes across the South on April 27, 2011.
Chris Darden, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service in Birmingham, said Tuesday that the tornado that struck Beauregard continued into Georgia, where his colleagues were surveying damage in that state and that the final track would likely be around 70 miles (113 kilometers).
Death and loss have left grievous marks on the neighborhood surrounding what remains of a Beauregard, Alabama, woman's mobile home after Sunday's deadly tornado.
Cindy Sanford said one of her neighbors was found dead on the main highway that runs through the community, and the 6-year-old grandson of her work supervisor was killed across a hill a few hundred yards away. And she said another neighbor is among the missing.
As Sanford picked through remains of her home, she said, "I pray to God that they find her." Sanford's home tumbled in the wind and is now scattered across neighbors' land.
Sanford said she left home with her 14-year-old grandson about five minutes before the storm struck after getting a feeling that it was unsafe to remain.
The storm killed at least 23 people in southeastern Alabama.
Authorities say most of the 90 people injured in the tornado that tore through Beauregard, Alabama, have been released from a hospital.
A spokeswoman for the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital told The Associated Press on Tuesday that seven patients remain hospitalized there.
About 60 people injured by the tornado were taken to East Alabama Medical Center in nearby Opelika, Alabama. That hospital has said in a statement that only four of them remained hospitalized as of Monday.
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said that some patients were sent to hospitals elsewhere, including Columbus, Georgia, but details on those patients were not immediately known Tuesday.
The sound of chain saws and heavy equipment is in the air in Beauregard, Alabama, which got the worst of the tornadoes sweeping across the Southeast this weekend.
Church chaplain Ike Mathews is checking on emergency workers and members of his congregation as he walks a road lined with broken trees and pieces of homes. Mathews says the people who have found the bodies of some of the 23 victims are hurting, and the whole community is torn up.
He says many who living in the area are senior citizens who retired from textile mills or an factory nearby, and were hoping to leave their homes to their grandchildren. Now those properties are destroyed.
An Alabama coroner says all 23 people found dead after a tornado have been identified and their bodies have been released to funeral homes. He said their ages range from 6 to 93, and that one family alone lost seven people.
Lee County Coroner Bill Harris says other coroners and funeral homes from around the state are pitching in to help prepare the victims for funerals.
Sheriff Jay Jones says "a lot of heavy equipment is coming in to pick up big portions of debris" in specific pockets of Beauregard where the search for more victims is now focused.
He says those areas are narrowed down from a broad spectrum to certain areas where there may be people or animals, and that they hope to transition from search-and-rescue to recovery later Tuesday. He said the number of missing people has narrowed from dozens to just "seven or eight."
Government teams surveying storm damage across the Southeast have confirmed that at least 18 tornadoes struck in a deadly weekend outbreak.
The National Weather Service says storm systems crossing the region Sunday spun off tornadoes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina alone.
The most powerful twister was an EF4 tornado packing 170 mph (274 kph) winds that's been blamed for at least 23 deaths in Lee County, Alabama. The weather service says that tornado crossed into western Georgia and inflicted more damage.
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones says the search for tornado victims is still active, with the crews now looking at a smaller area and specific piles of wreckage.
The sheriff said Tuesday that the list of unaccounted people is down to seven or eight.
He says law enforcement teams are working the area by foot with the help of cadaver-sniffing dogs and also searching by air. In one hard-hit area, a small excavator turned over pieces of splintered homes and trees, which firefighters then searched for signs of potential victims.
Jones says authorities are contacting family and friends of the missing to confirm their status, since some of those unaccounted-for may have checked in but not with authorities.
Forecasters say 90 people were injured in the tornado that also killed at least 23 people in the small community of Beauregard, Alabama.
The number of injured comes in a Tuesday report from the National Weather Service, forecasters say the tornado's damage path was nine-tenths of a mile (1.4 kilometers) wide and kept gaining intensity before slamming into Beauregard, Alabama.
Survey crews from the weather service documented how the deadly twister shredded manufactured homes, emptying their contents into the woods.
Forecasters said in the report that the tornado was strong enough to bend the frame of a car around what remained of a large tree. Based on the damage, they've determined that it was EF-4 tornado with 170 mph (274 kph) winds.
Residents of a small Alabama community hit by a powerful tornado are mourning the deaths of 23 people as they pick through shattered homes for salvageable belongings and crews search for more victims.
Carol Dean found her wedding dress Monday among the wreckage of her mobile home in Beauregard. But the storm took her husband. She said: "My life is gone."
Dean said her spouse, 53-year-old David Wayne Dean, was killed Sunday when the twister struck their home while she was at work. She said he had been texting a friend to beware of the approaching storm.
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones says crews with dogs and drones have combed over the hardest-hit areas, but there's more searching to be done.
The item that moved at 1:05 p.m. has been corrected to show the grandson's age is 14, not 5.
Associated Categories: Associated Press (AP), AP Business, AP Online - Georgia News, AP Business - Personal Finance
U.S. health officials have approved a medication related to the mind-altering drug ketamine as a new option for patients with severe depression
UN says Burundi forces closure of its rights office after 23 years in troubled nation
CEO says Southwest is losing millions weekly in labor fight
Atlanta officer charged in wreck that led driver to lose arm
An Atlanta police officer has been indicted on charges including reckless driving in a wreck that caused another driver to lose an arm
8:57AM ( 1 month ago )
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Greek bond sale marks milestone in nation's recovery
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China sets robust growth target to shore up cooling economy
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US mortgage rates mostly held steady this week
3 reasons to choose a college based on price
The Latest: Cohen says he hasn't gone through Trump's taxes
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I-feel-like-i'm-fixin'-to-die Country Joe & The Fish
VMD 79266
This second album from Country Joe & The Fish followed hot on the heels of their debut 1967 release, but it represented a major step forward with both material and the overall sound achieved by Vanguard Records' key producer Sam Charters. It quickly became one of the corner stones of the new 'psychedelic rock' of that wonderful period of musical expansion. Its key was that it was accessible in a number of ways and very much in tune with the alternative culture of those mid-sixties years, starting with the anti-Vietnam rant of the title track. Based in Country Joe's earlier folk rock/jug band days, the song had first seen light of day on their first privately produced and now very collectable EP that had only limited release in California. It was their second EP that garnered much bigger and wider sales and got them the attention of Vanguard, with whom they quickly forged ahead with their career. Yet this album hardly qualified as what is now referred to as psychedelic, as it features a number of blues songs and quieter reflective works that would now be more likely called come-down songs.
Having opened the album with overtly political crowd-pleasing satire, they immediately turned to the gently wistful ‘Who Am I’ that was destined to become a Vanguard single. It certainly did not take them into any commercial mainstream as it stalled in Billboard's Bubbling Under chart at #114 in early 1968, but this coincided with the time when album sales and exposure were becoming so much more important so it hardly mattered. The group was never going to be a threat to the Monkees, Turtles or even The Strawberry Alarm Clock, all of who were hitmakers of the time, nor would they have wanted to be. More fitting to them was a six-minute track like ‘Thought Dream’ which integrates the 'Bomb Song', very much another song of the times, with a slow and delicate song that features some lovely gossamer guitar work from lead guitarist Barry Melton. Simiar integration happens with ‘Thursday’, which opens with a jugband styled paean to LSD referd to as the 'Acid Commercial', and then drifts into a dreamy instrumental section. The group was certainly prepared to play with listeners pre-conceptions, as this track in its turn changes into ‘Eastern Jam’ that has parts of its melody reminiscent of Paul Butterfield's ‘East-West’. With other songs like ‘Janis’ (guess who that was about), ‘Pat's Song’, ‘Magoo’ and ‘Colors For Susan’, the group was able to stretch out with a really interesting and radical musical palette that was astute enough to invite its audience to share its delights rather than batter them into submission. They were musically intelligent, and they expected their audience to be so too. The fabulous album, complete with its (probably rarely played) fold-out stoner Fish Game, has quite rightly remained one of the key works of that wonderful period of growth, and still sounds as fresh as it did back in 1967.
01 Preview The Fish Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag
02 Preview Who Am I
03 Preview Pat's Song
04 Preview Rock Coast Blues
05 Preview Magoo
06 Preview Janis
07 Preview Thought Dream
08 Preview Thursday
09 Preview Eastern Jam
10 Preview Colors For Susan
Electric Music For The Mind And Body
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die
C J Fish
ZOMBIES R&B
7" £9.86
Call Of The Wild (MP3)
Dean Carter
Psychotic Revelation: The Ultimate Count Five
Count Five
Boy, What'll You Do Then / Chaos (MP3)
At The Castle / & Co
The Fabulous Wailers
Big Beat US style T Shirt
Various Artists (Merch)
Uptight Tonight: The Ultimate 60s Garage Collection
Various Artists (Themes)
Smash It Up/Burglar (MP3)
Early Records LP T Shirt
Smart Bird / If You Want Me, You Can Find Me
Lawson & 4 More
The Fugs First Album
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A homeless man with reputation for drug use is admitted to medical center with burns and scars on their upper body.
Wilson on Cuddy’s part internal’s life:
Meanwhile, House presents to your group to a female called Dominika played by Karolina Wydra, whom appears to be their fiance. Due to the fact patient gets far worse, the united group must find their history to be able to realize their situation. Having said that, Cuddy reveals her shame to Wilson about separating with home.
Recap Edit
Two guys are establishing a model rocket. Unfortuitously, after it gets airborne and releases its chute, it bursts into flames and falls to the forests. It down, they find it has started a fire near what appears to be a sleeping homeless man when they chase. The fire reaches him in which he yells in pain as their supply catches on fire. The guys extinguish the flames on their supply as soon as they ask if he’s ok, he responds that the burnt flesh smells like liquorice before he collapses.
House’s group is waiting around for him to reach. He finally will come in for a Segway with an extremely appealing young girl in tow. Martha M. Masters informs him in regards to the client, that is problems that are having smells. Home understands that this symptom can point out amount of conditions and agrees to make the instance. He orders an environmental scan, prednisone as well as a smell test. He additionally tells Masters that Ferris Bueller is a composed name, together with group is astounded Masters didn’t realize that. He presents the girl he’s marrying her on Friday with him as Dominka and tells them.
The in-patient is enjoying their dinner and wondering if he has got to go out of. He claims he’s had the problem with smells for two months. Foreman asks him exactly just just what their title is basically because they should have a look at their medical background. They won’t be told by him their title and says he’s always been healthy. Foreman asks him about scars and burn markings on their upper body and straight back, and the in-patient informs them they had been inflicted by his dad. He claims he had been never ever hospitalized because their daddy never left any markings which could be covered up n’t. Whenever Masters shows some shame, the individual informs her he’s on it, but he does not like speaking about their past.
Home is cruising round the halls on their Segway whenever Cuddy informs him he can’t put it to use when you look at the medical center. She is given by him a marriage invite and tells her that New Jersey’s handicap accommodation guidelines let the use of Segways in buildings. Nevertheless, Cuddy is means ahead of him – the legislation just enables motorized wheelchairs and scooters. Home complains that their leg hurts and Cuddy claims she does not care. Whenever House functions in a lot of discomfort when he attempts to dismount the product, Cuddy offers in and says she’s going to make an exclusion, but which he should check always first before doing something similar to that once more.
Wilson will come in to “congratulate” home and to meet up with Dominika. Wilson believes home is wanting to screw with Cuddy. Home denies it since it’s this kind of ploy that is obvious. Home also reminds Wilson that he’s been hitched 3 x. He finally tells Wilson that Dominka requires a card that is green he requires a live in maid, personal associate, cook, specialist and whore. He has got a written report showing he can save your self $33,000 per year. They finalized latin brides at https://bridesfinder.net/latin-brides/ a pre-nuptial contract to that particular impact.
The individual has received now appears rather boyish. He is given by them a smell ensure that you he can’t get some of them appropriate. Taub and Chase are straight straight back through the park and possess discovered medications. The client insists they have been nutritional vitamins. They’ve additionally discovered their name, Danny Jennings, because all of the written publications they discovered have his title inside them. The in-patient would go to keep, but begins whining of belly discomfort and Foreman sees anal bleeding from the tract that is digestive.
Dominika is offering House and Foreman foot massages. Masters reports from the total link between the “drugs” – these people were simply Vitamin A and Vitamin B-12. Home nevertheless believes the in-patient is a heroin individual, however the tox screen had been clean. Nonetheless, home had their locks tested, which revealed traces associated with the medication. Snorting heroin would give an explanation for odor issues, although not the bleeding. Chase states the bleeding may be explained because of the nutrients – an overdose. Home agrees they suspect are easy and safe to treat that it’s unlikely that a patient would have two problems, but given the patient’s homelessness, multiple problems are likely and the conditions. He orders treatment plan for the supplement overdose. Masters things because a blockage that is intestinal additionally explain the bleeding and might be deadly. Home agrees to allow her do scans.
Home involves Cuddy’s workplace on their Segway to incorporate Dominika to their medical health insurance. Nonetheless, Cuddy declines it’s fraudulent because she thinks. Home calls in Dominika, whom provides Cuddy a present of meals. Cuddy reminds home when they don’t get hitched and Dominika makes use of the insurance coverage, home will totally lose protection along with their provider. He acknowledges that and Cuddy finally signs.
Masters confronts the in-patient about their heroin use, but he claims he’s been clean for 3 months, from the time he had been clinically dead from an overdose. He informs them he nevertheless would like to be a health care provider – he previously a scholarship to a pre-med system out of senior school. Masters calls Chase over – there have been thirteen public in his colon that don’t seem to be either tumors or parasites. Home takes some Vicodin so when Masters asks him to prevent carrying it out in the front of her, he declines. Home believes it might be described as a fungus and requests anti-fungals and a colonoscopy.
Taub and Foreman perform some colonoscopy if they will go to House’s wedding while they discuss. Nonetheless, they do discover the naggin issue – the public that caused the bleeding had been bone tissue. Nevertheless, the in-patient has a reason – a cook at a restaurant provides him consuming challenges to observe how far he can get in exchange for a genuine dinner. If they simply tell him exactly how dangerous which was, he begins whining that their eyesight makes it appear to be he’s in the bottom of a well.
Home and Dominika fly handheld remote control helicopters across the lobby while their group informs him the outward symptoms. He shoots Taub having a missile when he makes a stupid recommendation. Chase believes it may be a tumor pressing on the nerves and House agrees to an MRI. He and Dominica then buzz a few donors. Cuddy describes it away by saying it had been children.
The client complains being into the MRI feels as though as he was locked in a cabinet as a young child. Taub think he’s rendering it up and that their scars could be from fighting. The vomits that are patient within the device.
The scan does show spots that are dark the parietal cortex, nevertheless they aren’t tumors. Home and Dominika play dining table tennis throughout the scan dining dining table with Foreman and Chase. Home believes it is an indication of schizophrenia causing delusions, but Masters asks what exactly are they planning to do once they address it.
Wilson is available in and informs home which he needs to learn how to handle Cuddy given that their relationship is finished. Home states him and is letting him get away with everything that it’s no problem and Cuddy probably feels guilty about dumping. Wilson informs home he is a complete great deal of things, yet not a sadist, and he’s beating up someone who can’t react.
Taub would go to produce point with Masters. He sets a hockey stick shaped pencil in their lab coating and wagers Masters $50 that the in-patient will state hockey is their favorite sport. Rather, the in-patient states he hates hockey. The patient complains of severe arm pain, like it‘s burning as Masters explains how to get follow up care for schizophrenia. They’re going to get rid of the bandages from their burned right supply, but he claims it is his left arm that hurts.
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Indie Obscura
Indie Spotlight Q&A: Hypersect
We interview Ryan Juckett of Hypersect to learn more about his upcoming game, Inversus.
Nicole Castillo
For this week's Indie Spotlight, Indie Obscura's Justin Burnham sat down with Ryan Juckett of Hypersect to discuss the addicting multiplayer title, INVERSUS. Hypersect is a one-man studio, and the product of developer Ryan Juckett. The studio's upcoming indie strategy game, INVERSUS, officially releases this month. If you are curious to learn more about the studio, and the development process behind the game, read on!
How did Hypersect come to be?
"Hypersect came to be as a necessary step towards getting INVERSUS out into the world. For a long time, INVERSUS was just a little toy project that I’d play with friends now and again. In spring 2015, I showed the game (which didn’t even have a proper name yet) at a small local game convention and people loved it. It even made it onto Ars Technica! That was when I decided I should figure out the whole business thing and turn my little pet project into a real boy."
Where did the idea of INVERSUS come from?
"INVERSUS started out as a potential concept for a local game jam in 2013. The jam was focused around 1v1 competitive games. I ended up not actually pursuing the concept for the jam, but it kept kicking around in my head and I prototyped it later that year."
Can you tell us more about INVERSUS?
"INVERSUS explores the concept of fighting with negative-space. You move on a board of black and white tiles – sort of like a chess board – except on this board one player moves on white and one player moves on black. If you try to move onto the opposite color, you just slam into a wall. My walls are your paths and your walls are my paths. The action kicks in when you start shooting. Bullets smash through the tiles and open paths for you while blocking off your opponent. The goal is to shoot each other in this ever-shifting play space."
What are some of the highlighted features of INVERSUS?
"I’ve described how the game works in its simplest 1v1 case, but it also runs in 2v2 and has a separate single-player or two-player co-op arcade mode that plays like a strategic Geometry Wars. This can all be played on the couch or over the internet."
In what ways is INVERSUS different from other titles within the genre?
"There isn’t really anything else doing negative-space combat. It challenges you to think in a manner you haven’t done before. As a result, you have this truly novel fast-paced yet strategy heavy experience."
When do you hope to release INVERSUS and on what platforms?
"INVERSUS is releasing on August 16th for PlayStation 4 and Windows on Steam."
What's next for Hypersect?
"Once INVERSUS is out, I look forward to engaging with the community and prioritizing the next steps for supporting the game."
What's your "Desert Island" game?
"Spelunky."
For more interesting developer interviews here at Indie Obscura, be sure to check out our previous Indie Obscura spotlight where we interview Kent Hudson of Orthonogal Games. At E3 2016, we had the opportunity to talk to a lot of developers about their upcoming projects including Evodant Interactive about their Toska Engine and its application in Gyre: Maelstrom. We also had the pleasure of spending quite a bit of time with the guys over at Gambitious, and interviewed Gambitious founders Mike Wilson and Harry Miller about their philosophy!
Nicole is a fan of gaming, music, and movies. Feel free to reach her at nicole.castillo@allgamers.com for questions, concerns, or just good music and movie recommendations!
Indie game developers
Developer Interview
Indie Spotlight
Hypersect
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Edwin Lander BRAY
Place of birth Heathcote, Bendigo, Victoria
School State School No 300, Heathcote, Victoria
Occupation Carpenter
Address Bendigo Road, Heathcote, Victoria
Next of kin Father, Mr. R. Bray, Bendigo Road, Heathcote, Victoria
Previous military service Citizen Forces (3 years, still serving)
Enlistment date 3 January 1916
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll 18 January 1916
Place of enlistment Bendigo, Victoria
Fate Killed in Action 4 July 1918
Age at death 23.9
Age at death from cemetery records 23
Place of burial Franvillers Communal Cemetery Extension (Plot I, Row G, Grave No. 16), France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
Australian War Memorial 163
Miscellaneous information from
cemetery records Parents: Richard and Sarah Ann BRAY, Bendigo Road, Heathcote, Victoria
War service: Egypt, Western Front
Embarked Melbourne, 1 April 1916; disembarked Suez, 12 May 1916.
Transferred to 59th Bn, 24 May 1916; marched out of 2nd Training Bn, 24 May 1916, and marched into 15th Training Bn the same day.
Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 21 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 30 June 1916.
Taken on strength of 57th Bn, in the field, 21 July 1916, and reverts to the rank of Private the same day.
Wounded in action, 24 November 1916; admitted to No 36 Casualty Clearing Station, 25 November 1916 (gunshot wound, forehead); transferred to No 14 Ambulance Train, 26 November 1916; to No 1 Australian General Hospital, Rouen, 27 November 1916; to England, 30 November 1916; to American Women's War Hospital, Devonport, 1 December 1916; to No 3 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, 22 January 1917; discharged to No 2 Command Depot, Weymouth, 29 January 1917.
Transferred to 63rd Draft Bn, 19 September 1917.
Proceeded overseas to France, 14 October 1917; marched into 5th Australian Divisional Base Depot, Le Havre, 15 October 1917.
Proceeded to unit, 15 October 1917; taken on strength of 57th Bn, 28 October 1917.
Promoted Corporal, 21 May 1918.
Killed in action, 4 July 1918.
Buried by Reverend Rogers, Franvillers, 6 July 1918.
Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Sources NAA: B2455, BRAY Edwin Lander
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Start Guide
Structure Map
Policy Template
360 for Federations / Clusters of schools
Quick Start Guide: How to use 360 degree safe
The 360 degree safe tool allows you to rate your school against a number of different online safety criteria. It is structured in elements, strands and aspects. These levels can be accessed by clicking on the title or the bar and ‘drilling-down’ to aspect level where a rating can be given from 5 to 1, whereby 1 represents the highest level of achievement.
The Elements provide the highest level in the structure, defining the four main categories in which the review is carried out. Each Element provides the starting point for the review.
To carry out the review of each of the Strands in the Element click on the blue Element title or on the bar that indicates your current rating.
Each Element is divided into a number of sub categories or Strands. There are 11 Strands in total. In each of the Strands the review is carried out within a range of Aspects.
The average level for a Strand is determined by the ratings given to each Aspect in the Strand. Click on the blue Strand title or on the bar to rate an Aspect.
The tabs at the top of the page allow you to select the Aspect that you wish to review. Within each Aspect you will find five level statements.
To rate that Aspect click on the button to the left of the level which is most appropriate to your establishment. The benchmark level for the Online Safety Mark is indicated alongside the relevant level statement.
Co-financed by the European Union UK Safer Internet Centre Online Safety with Plymouth University SWGfL - Education that Clicks
© 2009-2020 South West Grid for Learning Trust Ltd.
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Home » Fébus operational in Pau
Fébus operational in Pau
December 17th - 2020
After its unveiling in September in Pau, and the inauguration of the hydrogen station, today Fébus makes its inaugural trip and launches its operational commissioning.
In the Béarn region, Fébus is the first project using fuel cells and electrolysis to achieve carbon-free transport.
For the Launch IDELIS (the local public transport system operator) organises an "Open House": the 6 Fébus will be open for all users. Two "Discovery Days" are also offered to the public on 21 and 22 December.
Fébus is a new so calles 'tram-bus' based on the “Exqui.City”, specially created for Pau by Van Hool.
Its unique and innovative features have enabled it to win the highest distinction, the "Grand Award Bus", rewarding technological and aesthetic innovation, as well as the Ecology label, at the 25th edition of the BUSWORLD in Brussels, which is the largest and oldest bus exhibition in the world.
Pau will operate 8 Fébus, all co-financed by the FCHJU, 3 in the framework of the 3Emotion project, 5 in the framework of the Jive project.
Fébus hydrogen will be produced locally, in a production and distribution station.
Download here the press release about the inaugural trip and operational commissioning.
Download here more info on the Fébus.
President Macron discovers Pau's ground-breaking hydrogen bus Fébus
High.VloCity Final Conference, 27 th of november, Groningen
Van Hool's fuel cell tram-bus (for Pau) awarded bus of the year at Busworld!
The hydrogen refuelling station of the city of Pau has been inaugurated (19 September 2019)!
Last generation fuel cell bus
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Buses are zero-emission, have equal passenger loads and action ranges, have long driving range, are flexible in their route and use filling stations. That makes them comparable to conventional buses in their use. Moreover, they offer equal comfort to the passengers: equal space, wide doors, panoramic side windows, electric heating and air conditioning). Additionally they are silent and have a smooth ride.
FOR MORE INFO on FUEL CELL BUSES visit the website WWW.FUELCELLBUSES.EU
A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that generates electricity from hydrogen. This electricity is the main source for the electric motors of the Fuel Cell bus.
Hydrogen gas is very light and very volatile. It’s colourless, odourless, tasteless and non-toxic. It can be generated out of a wide range of resources. It can be generated out of a wide range of resources. When produced with renewable energy sources like wind or solar energy, its application is emission-free from well to wheel.
Copyright © 2020, 3Emotion.
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edition:Hardcover
"You frighten me," the Gypsy said. "Never have I seen my crystal ball so filled with darkness."
She cupped her hands around the thing, as if to shield my eyes from the horrors that were swimming in its murky depths. As her fingers gripped the glass, I thought I could feel ice water trickling down inside my gullet.
At the edge of the table, a thin candle flickered, its sickly light glancing off the dangling brass hoops of the Gypsy's earrings, then flying off to die somewhere in the darkened corners of the tent.
Black hair, black eyes, black dress, red-painted cheeks, red mouth, and a voice that could only have come from smoking half a million cigarettes.
As if to confirm my suspicions, the old woman was suddenly gripped by a fit of violent coughing that rattled her crooked frame and left her gasping horribly for air. It sounded as though a large bird had somehow become entangled in her lungs and was flapping to escape.
"Are you all right?" I asked. "I'll go for help."
I thought I had seen Dr. Darby in the churchyard not ten minutes earlier, pausing to have a word or two at each stall of the church fête. But before I could make a move, the Gypsy's dusky hand had covered mine on the black velvet of the tabletop.
"No," she said. "No . . . don't do that. It happens all the time."
And she began to cough again.
I waited it out patiently, almost afraid to move.
"How old are you?" she said at last. "Ten? Twelve?"
"Eleven," I said, and she nodded her head wearily as though she'd known it all along.
"I see--a mountain," she went on, almost strangling on the words, "and the face--of the woman you will become."
In spite of the stifling heat of the darkened tent, my blood ran cold. She was seeing Harriet, of course!
Harriet was my mother, who had died in a climbing accident when I was a baby.
The Gypsy turned my hand over and dug her thumb painfully into the very center of my palm. My fingers spread--and then curled in upon themselves like the toes of a chicken's severed foot.
She took up my left hand. "This is the hand you were born with," she said, barely glancing at the palm, then letting it fall and picking up the other. ". . . and this is the hand you've grown."
She stared at it distastefully as the candle flickered. "This broken star on your Mount of Luna shows a brilliant mind turned in upon itself--a mind that wanders the roads of darkness."
This was not what I wanted to hear.
"Tell me about the woman you saw on the mountain," I said. "The one I shall become."
She coughed again, clutching her colored shawl tightly about her shoulders, as though wrapping herself against some ancient and invisible winter wind.
"Cross my palm with silver," she demanded, sticking out a grubby hand.
"But I gave you a shilling," I said. "That's what it says on the board outside."
"Messages from the Third Circle cost extra," she wheezed. "They drain the batteries of my soul."
I almost laughed out loud. Who did this old hag think she was? But still, she seemed to have spotted Harriet beyond the veil, and I couldn't let skepticism spoil even half a chance of having a few words with my dead mother.
I dug for my last shilling, and as I pressed the coin into her hand, the Gypsy's dark eyes, suddenly as bright as a jackdaw's, met mine.
"She is trying to come home," she said. "This . . . woman . . . is trying to come home from the cold. She wants you to help her."
I leapt to my feet, bashing the bottom of the table with my bare knees. It teetered, then toppled to one side as the candle slid off and fell among a tangle of dusty black hangings.
At first there was a little wisp of black smoke as the flame turned blue, then red, then quickly orange. I looked on in horror as it spread along the drapery.
In less time than it takes to tell, the entire tent was in flames.
I wish I'd had the presence of mind to throw a wet cloth over the Gypsy's eyes and lead her to safety, but instead I bolted--straight through the circle of fire that was the entranceway--and I didn't stop until I reached the coconut pitch, where I stood panting behind a canvas drape, trying to catch my breath.
Someone had brought a wind-up gramophone to the churchyard, from which the voice of Danny Kaye was issuing, made nauseously tinny by the throat of the machine's painted horn:
"Oh I've got a lov-ely bunch of coconuts.
There they are a-standin' in a row . . ."
I looked back at the Gypsy's tent just in time to see Mr. Haskins, St. Tancred's sexton, and another man whom I didn't recognize heave a tub of water, apples and all, onto the flames.
Half the villagers of Bishop's Lacey, or so it seemed, stood gaping at the rising column of black smoke, hands over mouths or fingertips to cheeks, and not a single one of them knowing what to do.
Dr. Darby was already leading the Gypsy slowly away towards the St. John's Ambulance tent, her ancient frame wracked with coughing. How small she seemed in the sunlight, I thought, and how pale.
"Oh, there you are, you odious little prawn. We've been looking for you everywhere."
It was Ophelia, the older of my two sisters. Feely was seventeen, and ranked herself right up there with the Blessed Virgin Mary, although the chief difference between them, I'm willing to bet, is that the BVM doesn't spend twenty-three hours a day peering at herself in a looking glass while picking away at her face with a pair of tweezers.
With Feely, it was always best to employ the rapid retort: "How dare you call me a prawn, you stupid sausage? Father's told you more than once it's disrespectful."
Feely made a snatch at my ear, but I sidestepped her easily. By sheer necessity, the lightning dodge had become one of my specialties.
"Where's Daffy?" I asked, hoping to divert her venomous attention.
Daffy was my other sister, two years older than me, and at thirteen already an accomplished co-torturer.
"Drooling over the books. Where else?" She pointed with her chin to a horseshoe of trestle tables on the churchyard grass, upon which the St. Tancred's Altar Guild and the Women's Institute had joined forces to set up a jumble sale of secondhand books and assorted household rubbish.
Feely had seemed not to notice the smoking remnants of the Gypsy's tent. As always, she had left her spectacles at home out of vanity, but her inattentiveness might simply have been lack of interest. For all practical purposes, Feely's enthusiasms stopped where her skin ended.
"Look at these," she said, holding a set of black earrings up to her ears. She couldn't resist showing off. "French jet. They came from Lady Trotter's estate. Glenda says they were quite fortunate to get a tanner for them."
"Glenda's right," I said. "French jet is nothing but glass."
It was true: I had recently melted down a ghastly Victorian brooch in my chemical laboratory, and found it to be completely silicaceous. It was unlikely that Feely would ever miss the thing.
"English jet is so much more interesting," I said. "It's formed from the fossilized remains of monkey-puzzle trees, you see, and--"
But Feely was already walking away, lured by the sight of Ned Cropper, the ginger-haired potboy at the Thirteen Drakes who, with a certain muscular grace, was energetically tossing wooden batons at the Aunt Sally. His third stick broke the wooden figure's clay pipe clean in two, and Feely pulled up at his side just in time to be handed the teddy bear prize by the madly blushing Ned.
"Anything worth saving from the bonfire?" I asked Daffy, who had her nose firmly stuck in what, judging by its spotty oxidized pages, might have been a first edition of Pride and Prejudice.
It seemed unlikely, though. Whole libraries had been turned in for salvage during the war, and nowadays there wasn't much left for the jumble sales. Whatever books remained unsold at the end of the summer season would, on Guy Fawkes Night, be carted from the basement of the parish hall, heaped up on the village green, and put to the torch.
I tipped my head sideways and took a quick squint at the stack of books Daffy had already set aside: On Sledge and Horseback to Outcast Siberian Lepers, Pliny's Natural History, The Martyrdom of Man, and the first two volumes of the Memoirs of Jacques Casanova--the most awful piffle. Except perhaps for Pliny, who had written some ripping stuff about poisons.
I walked slowly along the table, running a finger across the books, all of them arranged with their spines upwards: Ethel M. Dell, E. M. Delafield, Warwick Deeping . . .
I had noticed on another occasion that most of the great poisoners in history had names beginning with the letter C, and now here were all of these authors beginning with a D. Was I on to something? Some secret of the universe?
I squeezed my eyes shut and concentrated: Dickens . . . Doyle . . . Dumas . . . Dostoyevsky--I had seen all of them, at one time or another, clutched in Daffy's hands.
Daffy herself was planning to become a novelist when she was older. With a name like Daphne de Luce, she couldn't fail if she tried!
"Daff!" I said. "You'll never guess--"
"Quiet!" she snapped. "I've told you not to speak to me when I'm reading."
My sister could be a most unpleasant porpoise when she felt like it.
It had not always been this way. When I was younger, for instance, and Father had recruited Daffy to hear my bedtime prayers, she had taught me to recite them in Pig Latin, and we had rolled among the down-filled pillows, laughing until we nearly split.
"Od-gay ess-blay Ather-fay, Eely-fay, and Issis-may Ullet-may. And Ogger-day, oo-tay!"
But over the years, something had changed between my sisters and me.
A little hurt, I reached for a volume that lay on top of the others: A Looking Glasse, for London and Englande. It was a book, I thought, that would appeal to Feely, since she was mad about mirrors. Perhaps I would purchase it myself, and store it away against the unlikely day when I might feel like giving her a gift, or a peace offering. Stranger things had happened.
Riffling through its pages, I saw at once that it was not a novel, but a play--full of characters' names and what each of them said. Someone named Adam was talking to a clown:
". . . a cup of ale without a wench, why, alas, 'tis like an egg without salt or a red herring without mustard."
What a perfect motto for a certain someone, I thought, glancing across to where Ned was now grazing away at my sister's neck as she pretended not to notice. On more than one occasion I'd seen Ned sitting at his chores in the courtyard of the Thirteen Drakes with a tankard of ale--and sometimes Mary Stoker, the landlord's daughter--at his elbow. I realized with an unexpected shock that without either ale or a female within easy reach, Ned was somehow incomplete. Why hadn't I noticed that before? Perhaps, like Dr. Watson on the wireless in A Scandal in Bohemia, there are times that I see, but do not observe. This was something I needed to think about.
"Your handiwork, I suppose?" Daffy said suddenly, putting down a book and picking up another. She gestured towards the small knot of villagers who stood gawking at the smoking ruins of the Gypsy's tent. "It has Flavia de Luce written all over it."
"Sucks to you," I said. "I was going to help carry your stupid books home, but now you can jolly well lug them yourself."
"Oh, do stop it!" she said, clutching at my sleeve. "Please desist. My heartstrings are playing Mozart's Requiem, and a fugitive tear is making its way to my right eye, even as we speak."
I wandered away with a careless whistle. I'd deal with her insolence later.
"Ow! Leave off, Brookie! You're 'urtin' me."
The whining voice was coming from somewhere behind the shove ha'penny booth and, when I recognized it as belonging to Colin Prout, I stopped to listen.
By flattening myself against the stone wall of the church and keeping well back behind the canvas that draped the raffle booth, I could eavesdrop in safety. Even better, I was pleased to find that I had an unexpectedly clear view of Colin through the gaps in the booth's raw lumber.
He was dancing at the end of Brookie Harewood's arm like a great spectacled fish, his thick eyeglasses knocked askew, his dirty blond hair a hayrick, his large, damp mouth hanging open, gasping for air.
"Leave off. I didn't do nothin'."
With his other hand, Brookie took hold of the seat of Colin's baggy trousers and swiveled him round to face the smoking remains of the Gypsy's tent.
"Who did that, then, eh?" he demanded, shaking the boy to accentuate his words. "Where there's smoke, there's fire. Where there's fire, there's matches. And where there's matches, there's Colin Prout."
" 'Ere," Colin said, trying to ram a hand into his pocket. "Count 'em! You just count 'em, Brookie. Same number as I had yesterday. Three. I ain't used a one."
As Brookie released his grip, Colin fell to the ground, rolled over on his elbows, dug into his trouser pocket, and produced a box of wooden matches, which he waved at his tormentor.
Brookie raised his head and sniffed the air, as if for guidance. His greasy cap and India rubber boots, his long moleskin coat and, in spite of the hot summer weather, a woolen scarf that clung like a scarlet serpent to his bulldog neck made him look like a rat catcher out of Dickens.
Before I could even wonder what to do, Colin had scrambled to his feet, and the two of them had ambled away across the churchyard, Colin dusting himself off and shrugging elaborately, as though he didn't care.
I suppose I should have stepped out from behind the booth, admitted I was responsible for the fire, and demanded that Brookie release the boy. If he refused, I could easily have run for the vicar, or called for any one of the other able-bodied men who were within earshot. But I didn't. And the simple reason, I realized with a little chill, was this: I was afraid of Brookie Harewood.
edition:Paperback
also available: Hardcover
tagged : amateur sleuth, historical, crime
As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
tagged : historical, thrillers
Tendrils of raw fog floated up from the ice like agonized spirits departing their bodies. The cold air was a hazy, writhing mist.
Up and down the long gallery I flew, the silver blades of my skates making the sad scraping sound of a butcher’s knife being sharpened energetically on stone. Beneath the icy surface, the intricately patterned parquet of the hardwood floor was still clearly visible— even though its colors were somewhat dulled by diffraction.
Overhead, the twelve dozen candles I had pinched from the butler’s pantry and stuffed into the ancient chandeliers flickered madly in the wind of my swift passage. Round and round the room I went— round and round and up and down. I drew in great lungfuls of the biting air, blowing it out again in little silver trumpets of condensation.
When at last I came skidding to a stop, chips of ice flew up in a breaking wave of tiny colored diamonds. It had been easy enough to flood the portrait gallery: An India- rubber garden hose snaked in through an open window from the terrace and left running all night had done the trick— that, and the bitter cold which, for the past fortnight, had held the countryside in its freezing grip.
Since nobody ever came to the unheated east wing of Buckshaw anyway, no one would notice my improvised skating rink— not, at least, until springtime, when it melted. No one, perhaps, but my oil- painted ancestors, row upon row of them, who were at this moment glaring sourly down at me from their heavy frames in icy disapproval of what I had done.
I blew them a loud, echoing raspberry tart and pushed off again into the chill mist, now doubled over at the waist like a speed skater, my right arm digging at the air, my pigtails flying, my left hand tucked behind my back as casually as if I were out for a Sunday stroll in the country. How lovely it would be, I thought, if some fashionable photographer such as Cecil Beaton should happen by with his camera to immortalize the moment.
“Carry on just as you were, dear girl,” he would say.
“Pretend I’m not here.” And I would fly again like the wind round the vastness of the ancient paneled portrait gallery, my passage frozen now and again by the pop of a discreet flashbulb.
Then, in a week or two, there I would be, in the pages of Country Life or The Illustrated London News, caught in mid- stride— frozen forever in a determined and forwardlooking slouch.
“Dazzling . . . delightful . . . de Luce,” the caption would read. “Eleven- year- old skater is poetry in motion.”
“Good lord!” Father would exclaim. “It’s Flavia!
“Ophelia! Daphne!” he would call, flapping the page in the air like a paper flag, then glancing at it again, just to be sure. “Come quickly. It’s Flavia— your sister.”
At the thought of my sisters I let out a groan. Until then I hadn’t much been bothered by the cold, but now it gripped me with the sudden force of an Atlantic gale: the bitter, biting, paralyzing cold of a winter convoy— the cold of the grave.
I shivered from shoulders to toes and opened my eyes. The hands of my brass alarm clock stood at a quarter past six.
Swinging my legs out of bed, I fished for my slippers with my toes, then, bundling myself in my bedding— sheets, quilt, and all— heaved out of bed and, hunched over like a corpulent cockroach, waddled towards the windows. It was still dark outside, of course. At this time of year the sun wouldn’t be up for another two hours.
The bedrooms at Buckshaw were as vast as parade squares— cold, drafty spaces with distant walls and shadowy perimeters, and of them all, mine, in the far south corner of the east wing, was the most distant and the most desolate. Because of a long and rancorous dispute between two of my ancestors, Antony and William de Luce, about the sportsmanship of certain military tactics during the Crimean War, they had divided Buckshaw into two camps by means of a black line painted across the middle of the foyer: a line which each of them had forbidden the other to cross. And so, for various reasons— some quite boring, others downright bizarre— at the time when other parts of the house were being renovated during the reign of King George V, the east wing had been left largely unheated and wholly abandoned.
The superb chemical laboratory built by his father for my great- uncle Tarquin, or “Tar,” de Luce had stood forgotten and neglected until I had discovered its treasures and made it my own. With the help of Uncle Tar’s meticulously detailed notebooks and a savage passion for chemistry that must have been born in my blood, I had managed to become quite good at rearranging what I liked to think of as the building blocks of the universe.
“Quite good?” a part of me is saying. “Merely ‘quite good’? Come off it, Flavia, old chum! You’re a bloody marvel, and you know it!”
Most chemists, whether they admit it or not, have a favorite corner of their craft in which they are forever tinkering, and mine is poisons.
While I could still become quite excited by recalling how I had dyed my sister Feely’s knickers a distinctive Malay yellow by boiling them in a solution of lead acetate, followed by a jolly good stewing in a solution of potassium chromate, what really made my heart leap up with joy was my ability to produce a makeshift but handy poison by scraping the vivid green verdigris from the copper fl oat- ball of one of Buckshaw’s Victorian toilet tanks. I bowed to myself in the looking glass, laughing aloud at the sight of the fat white slug-in-a-quilt that bowed back at me.
I leapt into my cold clothing, shrugging on at the last minute, on top of everything else, a baggy gray cardigan I had nicked from the bottom drawer of Father’s dresser. This lumpy monstrosity— swarming with khaki and maroon diamonds, like an overbaked rattlesnake— had been knitted for him the previous Christmas by his sister, Aunt Felicity.
“Most thoughtful of you, Lissy,” Father had said, deftly dodging any outright praise of the ghastly garment itself. When I noticed in August that he still hadn’t worn the thing, I considered it fair game and it had, since the onset of cold weather, become my favorite.
The sweater didn’t fit me, of course. Even with the sleeves rolled up I looked like a baggy monkey picking bananas. But to my way of thinking, at least in winter, woolly warmth trumps freezing fashion any day of the week. I have always made it a point never to ask for clothing for Christmas. Since it’s a dead cert that you’ll get it anyway, why waste a wish?
Last year I had asked Father Christmas for some badly needed bits of laboratory glassware— had even gone to the trouble of preparing an itemized list of fl asks, beakers, and graduated test tubes, which I tucked carefully under my pillow and, by the Lord Harry! he had brought them! Feely and Daffy didn’t believe in Father Christmas, which, I suppose, is precisely the reason he always brought them such dud gifts: scented soap, generally, and dressing gowns and slipper sets that looked and felt as if they had been cut from Turkey carpet.
Father Christmas, they had told me, again and again, was for children.
“He’s no more than a cruel hoax perpetrated by parents who wish to shower gifts upon their icky offspring without having to actually touch them,” Daffy had insisted last year. “He’s a myth. Take my word for it. I am, after all, older than you, and I know about these things.”
Did I believe her? I wasn’t sure. When I was able to get away on my own and think about it without tears springing to my eyes, I had applied my rather considerable deductive skills to the problem, and come to the conclusion that my sisters were lying. Someone, after all, had brought the glassware, hadn’t they?
There were only five possible human candidates. My father, Colonel Haviland de Luce, was penniless, and was therefore out of the question, as was my mother, Harriet, who had died in a mountaineering accident when I was no more than a baby.
Dogger, who was Father’s general roustabout and jack- of- all- trades, simply hadn’t the resources of mind, body, or finances to lug round lavish gifts secretly by night in a drafty and decaying country house. Dogger had been a prisoner of war in the Far East, where he had suffered so awfully that his brain had remained connected to those horrors by an invisible elastic cord— a cord that was sometimes still given a jerk by cruel Fate, usually at the most inopportune moments.
“ ’E ’ad to eat rats!” Mrs. Mullet had told me, wide- eyed in the kitchen. “Rats, fancy! They ’ad to fry ’em!” With everyone in the household disqualified for one reason or another as the Bringer of Gifts, that left only Father Christmas.
He would be coming again in less than a week and, in order to settle the question for once and for all, I had long ago laid plans to trap him.
Scientifically.
Birdlime, as any practical chemist will tell you, can be easily manufactured by boiling the middle bark of holly for eight or nine hours, burying it under a stone for a fortnight, and then, when it is disinterred, washing and pulverizing it in running river water and leaving it to ferment. The stuff had been used for centuries by bird- sellers, who had smeared it on branches to trap the songbirds they sold in the city streets.
The great Sir Francis Galton had described a method of manufacturing the stuff in his book The Art of Travel; or, Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries, a signed copy of which I had found among a heavily underlined set of his works in Uncle Tar’s library. I had followed Sir Francis’s instructions to the letter, lugging home in midsummer armloads of holly from the great oaks that grew in Gibbet Wood, and boiling the broken branches over a laboratory Bunsen burner in a stew pot borrowed— without her knowledge— from Mrs. Mullet. During the final stages, I had added a few chemical twists of my own to make the pulverized resin a hundred times more sticky than the original recipe. Now, after six months of preparation, my concoction was powerful enough to stop a Gabon gorilla in its tracks, and Father Christmas— if he existed— wouldn’t stand a chance. Unless the jolly old gentleman just happened to be traveling with a handy bottle of sulfuric ether, (C2H5)2O, to dissolve the birdlime, he was going to stay stuck to our chimney pot forever— or until I decided to set him free.
It was a brilliant plan. I wondered why no one had thought of it before.
Peering out through the curtains, I saw that it had snowed in the night. Driven by the north wind, white flakes were still swirling madly in the light of the downstairs kitchen window.
Who could be up at such an hour? It was too early for Mrs. Mullet to have walked from Bishop’s Lacey. And then I remembered!
Today was the day the intruders were arriving from London. How could I ever have forgotten such a thing? It had been more than a month ago— on November 11, in fact, that gray and subdued autumn day upon which everyone in Bishop’s Lacey had mourned in silence all those whom they had lost in the wars— that Father had summoned us to the drawing room to break the grim news.
“I’m afraid I have to tell you that the inevitable has happened,” he said at last, turning away from the window, out of which he had been staring morosely for a quarter of an hour.
“I needn’t remind you of our precarious financial prospects . . .”
He said this forgetting the fact that he reminded us daily— sometimes twice in an hour— of our dwindling reserves. Buckshaw had belonged to Harriet, and when she had died without leaving a will (Who, after all, could even imagine that someone so brimming over with life could meet her end on a mountain in far- off Tibet?) the troubles had begun. For ten years now, Father had been going through the courtly steps of the “Dance of Death,” as he called it, with the gray men from His Majesty’s Board of Inland Revenue.
Yet in spite of the mounting pile of bills on the foyer table, and in spite of the increasing telephonic demands from coarse- voiced callers from London, Father had somehow managed to muddle through.
Once, because of his phobia about “the instrument,” as he called the telephone, I had answered one of these brash calls myself, bringing it to rather an amusing end by pretending to speak no English.
When the telephone had jangled again a minute later, I picked up the receiver at once, then jiggled my finger rapidly up and down on the cradle.
“Hello?” I had shouted. “Hello? Hello? I’m sorry— Can’t hear you. Frightful connection. Call back some other day.” On the third ring, I had taken the receiver off the hook and spat into the mouthpiece, which began at once to give off an alarming crackling noise.
“Fire,” I had said in a dazed and vaguely monotonous voice. “The house is in flames . . . the walls and the floor. I’m afraid I must ring off now. I’m sorry, but the firemen are hacking at the window.”
The bill collector had not called back.
“My meetings with the Estate Duties Office,” Father was saying, “have come to nothing. It is all up with us now.”
“But Aunt Felicity!” Daffy protested. “Surely Aunt Felicity—”
“Your aunt Felicity has neither the means nor the inclination to alleviate the situation. I’m afraid she’s—”
“Coming down for Christmas,” Daffy interrupted. “You could ask her while she’s here!”
“No,” Father said sadly, shaking his head. “All means have failed. The dance is over. I have been forced at last to give up Buckshaw—”
I let out a gasp.
Feely leaned forward, her brow furrowed. She was chewing at one of her fingernails: unheard of in someone as vain as she.
Daffy looked on through half- shut eyes, inscrutable as ever.
“—to a film studio,” Father went on. “They will arrive in the week before Christmas, and will remain in full possession until their work is complete.”
“But what about us?” Daffy asked. “What’s to become of us?”
“We shall be allowed to remain on the premises,” Father replied, “provided we keep to our quarters and don’t interfere in any way with the company’s work at hand. I’m sorry, but those were the best terms I could manage. In return, we shall receive, in the end, sufficient remuneration to keep our noses above water— at least until next Lady Day.”
tagged : thrillers, historical
A Flavia de Luce Novel
The Buckshaw Chronicles, Volume 1
tagged : women sleuths, action & adventure
A Flavia de Luce Mystery
The Golden Tresses of the Dead
· O N E ·
I’d like to remark at the outset that I’m a girl with better than an average brain. Just as some people are given the gift of a singular and often quite remarkable talent—such as Violet Cornish’s uncanny ability to break wind to the tune of “Joy to the World”—I myself, in much the same way, have been blessed with the power of logical thinking. As Violet could easily confirm, it’s something you’re born with, and then improve by much practice.
The many occasions upon which I had been consulted by the constabulary had sharpened my already considerable detection skills to the point where I had little choice but to turn professional. And so I had set up with Dogger, my late father’s valet, gardener, and all-round sounding board, a small agency to which we gave the name—to signal respectability—Arthur W. Dogger & Associates.
Little did we know that our very first case would be so close to home.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me begin at the beginning.
My sister Ophelia’s wedding was spoiled only slightly by someone calling out coarsely, as the bride floated in modest beauty up the aisle of the ancient church, “Hubba hubba, ding-ding, twenty years in Sing Sing!” The culprit was Carl Pendracka, one of Feely’s former suitors. It was his Cincinnati accent that gave him away.
We all of us pretended we hadn’t heard, except my odious, moon-faced cousin, Undine, who let out one of her long, wet, horrible, slobbering snickers, such as might have been made by a herd of cannibal cows.
More troubling, though, was when, just a few moments later—at the precise moment the vicar addressed the congregation: “If any man can show any just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace”—one of the carved and painted angels, from its place high among the roof beams, cried out suddenly, in the zany voice of a certain cinema cartoon character, “I do! I do! Call the police!”
It was Undine, of course, who, bored by lack of attention, decided to practice her ventriloquism—which she had been studying for some time from a sixpenny book.
Aside from that—except for the human remains—it was a beautiful occasion.
Preparations had begun far in advance. First there had been the cake.
“The weddin’ cake must be laid down ’least six months before the nup-chools,” Mrs. Mullet had said, waving a batter-coated wooden spoon at me in the kitchen. “Else the marriage’ll be poisoned.”
The mention of poison captured my undivided attention.
“What kind of poison?” I asked.
“The worst kind. The poison of leavin’ things to be done on the spurt of the moment. Just look at that Lucy Havers, as was, and then talk to me about darin’ the devil. Left it till the day before ’er weddin’ to ’ave ’er cake baked at that Bunne Shoppe in ’Inley, if you can credit it, an’ look what happened to ’er!”
I raised my eyebrows in a “What happened to her?” signal.
“ ’Er ’usband—one o’ them Simmonses, ’e was—run off with a tart from the Bunne Shoppe the day after they got ’ome from their ’oneymoon in ’Astings.”
“If it were me, I’d have run off with an apple pie,” I said, pretending I didn’t understand her meaning, a tactic I am increasingly forced to employ in order to protect my alleged innocence.
Mrs. Mullet smiled at my modesty. “Like I said, a weddin’ fruitcake must be laid down six months ahead o’ time and left to sleep in the larder till required,” she said, returning to her theme. Mrs. Mullet could be uncommonly informative when allowed to lecture uninterrupted, and I pulled up a chair to listen.
“Like layin’ the keel of a battleship,” she went on. “You mustn’t leave it till the enemy’s in sight.”
“Who’s the enemy?” I asked. “The groom?”
Mrs. Mullet laid a forefinger alongside her nose in the ancient sign of secrecy. “That’s for every woman to find out for ’erself,” she said, tapping the finger and causing her nose to give off an alarming hollow knocking sound. She lowered her voice. “And till she does, she needs all the spells she can get to keep away the Old Ones.”
The Old Ones? This was becoming truly interesting. First poisons, and now malevolent supernatural spirits. And it wasn’t yet ten o’clock in the morning!
Mrs. Mullet was now scraping the batter out of the bowl and into a large cake pan.
“Here, let me help you,” I said, reaching for the oven door.
“Not yet,” Mrs. Mullet said, surprisingly short-tempered. “First things first. Grab an ’andful o’ them sticks and toss ’em on top of the fire.
“In the basket there,” she added, pointing with the spoon, as if I hadn’t seen them.
A wicker basket beside the cooker was half filled with a tangle of twigs and branches. “Run a bit of water in the sink,” she said. “We wants ’em good an’ damp.”
I did as I was told.
“To make steam?” I asked, wondering how the steam was going to find its way from the firebox to the oven chamber.
“Somethin’ like that,” Mrs. Mullet said, as I opened the firebox and threw the wet wood on top of the fire. “An’ somethin’ else besides.”
Again, the finger beside the nose.
“Protection,” I guessed. “Against the enemy?”
“That’s right, dear,” Mrs. Mullet said. “ ’Azel and ’awthorn. I gathered ’em with my own ’ands in Gibbet Wood. Now, one more thing an’ we’re ready to pop in the cake.”
She pulled a sprig of needled leaves from the pocket of her apron. “Rosemary!” I exclaimed. I recognized it from the kitchen garden.
“That’s right, dear,” Mrs. Mullet said again, as the warm spicy odor of the herb filled the kitchen. “To remind Miss Ophelia of ’er ’ome, and all them as ’ave ever loved ’er. Rosemary in the oven for the cake and rosemary in ’er bouquet. It also ’elps keep off the ’obgoblins.”
“I thought rosemary was for funerals,” I said.
I remembered that because Daffy was always quoting Shakespeare.
“An’ so it is, dear. Funerals and weddin’s both. That’s why it’s such an ’andy ’erb to ’ave round the ’ouse. Which is why we grows it in the kitchen garden. If we wants it for weddin’s we soaks it in scented water and braids it into the bride’s veil and bouquet. For funerals, we wets it with rainwater an’ tosses it into the open grave on top of the coffin.
“We also tucks a bit of it into the shroud,” she added. “If we ’ave one, of course, which most of us doesn’t nowadays, what with it bein’ charged as an extra expense by the undertakers.”
“And the hazel sticks?” I asked.
“Guarantees descendants,” she said, her face suddenly serious.
Poor Feely, I thought. Alone upstairs at this very moment, innocently picking her pimples in a sterling silver hand mirror without the faintest idea that the cook was in the kitchen, already fiddling with her future. It almost made me feel sorry for my sister.
“Now don’t ask me no more pesky questions,” Mrs. Mullet said. “I’ve got four more layers to bake an’ dinner to get started for you lot.”
“What about the hawthorn?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer. It is believed by some—but not by me—that the haws, or berries, and the flowers of the hawthorn preserve in their smell the stench of the Great Plague of London, whereas I, with my scientific mind, know perfectly well that both haws and flowers of the tree contain a substantial quantity of trimethylamine, which is the chemical compound responsible for the smell of putrefaction.
“Never you mind,” Mrs. Mullet said. “Ask me no questions and I shall tell you no lies.”
It was her standard response to any question whose expected answer had to do with the birds and the bees.
“Thanks, Mrs. M,” I said cheerfully. “It’s just as I suspected.”
And I skipped out of the kitchen before she could fling a piece of pastry at me.
Anyway, as I was saying, the wedding was . . . well . . . interesting.
Although it was autumn, St. Tancred’s was decked with exotic flowers: early narcissi, show pinks, and snapdragons, all flown in for the occasion from the Isles of Scilly by Feely’s godfather, Bunny Spirling, a dear old friend of our late father. Feely had asked Bunny to give her away.
“If only it were for keeps,” I had remarked when she told me the news.
“Silence, you suppurating cyst!” Feely had shot back. “What makes you think it won’t be? You may never ever see me again.”
“Oh, you’ll be back,” I told her. “There are two things in life that can be counted upon to return: a married sister and the smell of drains. Quite frankly, I’d prefer the drains.”
I shot Dieter a sidelong wink to let him know I bore him no hard feelings. You can’t punish a basically decent chap simply for marrying the resident witch.
But to get back to the wedding . . .
There had been a last-minute panic when it was discovered, ten minutes before the scheduled time, that Dieter’s best man had still not arrived.
“He’ll turn up,” Dieter said. “Reggie is an honorable man.”
“Like Brutus?” Daffy had blurted. Daffy sometimes has the habit of putting her mouth in gear before engaging her brain.
Reggie Mould was the British pilot who had shot Dieter down and was, therefore, the cause of Dieter’s remaining in England after the war. They had since become fast friends and shared, like all pilots, that mystic brotherhood of the air.
Dieter took Daffy and me aside. “You mustn’t be surprised when you meet Reggie. He’s a member of the Guinea Pig Club.”
We both of us looked at Dieter blankly.
“After he bagged me, Reggie himself went down into the Channel in flames. He was very badly burned. He spent ages in Queen Victoria Hospital. You have probably read about it.”
We shook our heads.
“Dr. McIndoe worked miracles with skin grafts. . . .”
A shadow crossed his face.
“But still . . .” he added, trailing off into some silent memory of his own.
“Don’t stare,” I said, grasping his meaning immediately.
Dieter’s face lit up in a glorious grin. “Exactly,” he said. “Look. Here he comes now.”
An ancient green MG with a blatting exhaust was looming at the lych-gate, and a young man extracted himself gingerly from the low-slung cockpit.
He came slowly toward us through the churchyard.
“Tallyho!” he shouted as soon as he spotted Dieter.
“Horrido!” Dieter replied.
Saint Horridus, I recalled Dieter telling me, was the patron saint of hunters and fighter pilots.
The two men hugged and slapped each other on the back—carefully, I noticed, in Dieter’s case.
“I thought I’d put paid to you the first time I had you in my sights.” Reggie laughed. “Now I’m back to jolly well finish off the job properly.”
Dieter laughed graciously, as he had learned to do since meeting my sister. “I’d like to introduce to you my sisters-in-law,” he said.
I was grateful that he hadn’t said “future.”
Even though I had been forewarned, as Reggie turned, the air went out of me.
His face was a ghastly blank: a grotesque mask of dry and fragile sheeting, as if someone had coated his skin with papier-mâché and painted it white and then red. His mouth was a round black hole.
Only the eyes were alive, sparkling mischievous fire at me from their raggedly deep dark sockets.
“Charmed,” Reggie croaked. His voice was that of a man who had breathed flames. “You’re the Shakespeare authority,” he said, offering Daffy a handshake.
“Well, not actually,” she began as Reggie turned to me.
“And you’re the poisonous one, Flavia. We must have a chat before I leave.”
Then, assuming a hissing, bloodcurdling, snakelike voice, he added: “I have dark designs on several of my lesser enemies.”
He needed to say no more. He had won my heart.
“Wizard!” I said, with a grin like the blazing sun, and trotting out the only bit of RAF slang I could remember at the moment.
Dieter then introduced Reggie to Aunt Felicity, who, offering him a cigarette, launched into a questionable RAF joke, which rather shocked me, but which I realized was meant to set Reggie instantly at ease, and to make the two of them forever comrades-in-arms.
Dieter’s parents had flown over from Germany to attend the wedding. Although his father was a publisher and his mother an archaeologist, they stood off to one side at the church door, not forgotten, but too exotic, perhaps, to be casually chatted up by the villagers of Bishop’s Lacey.
I wandered over for a few words, having learned earlier that both spoke excellent English. Complimenting their son’s fine singing voice seemed an appropriate and welcoming way to open the conversation.
“Dieter must have learned to sing at twenty thousand feet,” I said.
They looked at me blankly.
“From the angels,” I explained, and they both laughed heartily.
“We thought we had lost him to England,” Dieter’s mother confessed, “but it is comforting to know that someone has already found him.”
I wasn’t quite sure that I understood completely, but we all three of us beamed at one another like fellow magistrates.
“Your English weather is quite like our own in autumn,” Dieter’s father observed, gesturing to the beautiful day around him.
“Yes,” I said, not having enough international experience to form an opinion. “Have you been here before?”
“Oh yes,” Dieter’s father replied. “My wife and I both read Greats up at Oxford.”
Which shut my mouth.
Dieter, meanwhile, off among the tombstones, was engrossed in animated conversation with Reggie Mould, their hands tracing out zooming, swooping angles in the air.
“We’d better go inside,” I said. “Feely will be thinking we’ve abandoned her.”
And so it all began.
A church is a wonderful place for a wedding, surrounded as it is by the legions of the dead, whose listening bones bear silent witness to every promise made—and broken—at the altar.
Dead now, every last one of them, including the man who invented the rule about not putting your elbows on the dinner table. Most of these had taken their vows at this very altar, and each in his turn reduced by life and time at first to juice . . . and then to dust.
As Daffy once pointed out to me, the Latin word carnarium can mean both “cemetery” and “larder,” which shows that the Romans knew what they were talking about. The function of a churchyard—and the church itself, to some extent—is to digest the dead: There’s no point in pretending otherwise.
After Undine’s shocking outburst of ventriloquism, the ceremony itself went relatively well. Feely, although it pains me to say so, was radiant in the wedding dress that had belonged to our mother, Harriet. Radiant or not, it gave me the shivers.
When all of the proper words had been spoken, rings and vows exchanged, and the register duly signed, the vicar, Denwyn Richardson, held up a hand signaling us to remain in our seats.
“Before walking down the aisle and departing upon their newly married life, Mr. and Mrs. Schrantz,” he said, “have prepared a personal thanks—a little gift—to each and every one of you, who have come from near and far to share their happy day.”
It took a moment for me to realize that “Mr. and Mrs. Schrantz” meant Dieter and Feely, who were already moving toward the grand piano which had been carted from Buckshaw to the church in the early hours of the morning.
Feely, flushing furiously in her billowing white wedding dress and veil, fiddled annoyingly, as she usually does, with the height of the piano stool, twisting it this way and that in a series of ever-diminishing adjustments until it met the stringent requirements of her fastidious backside. Then she sat down and lifted the lid.
There was a long, expectant silence and then, at last, her hands fell upon the keys and she began to play.
A series of descending chords, following one upon another, joined in a melody of childlike simplicity.
Dieter stood stiffly at the foot of the piano which, to my way of thinking, looked in the shafts of light from the stained-glass windows uncommonly like a polished black coffin. He shoved a hand in the front of his morning coat, and began to sing—in German:
“Fremd bin ich eingezogen . . .”
It was “Gute Nacht,” from the song cycle Winterreise. I recognized the song at once as one of Franz Schubert’s lieder, those songs of love and longing so popular in the last century, yet still so beloved by The Third Programme, on the BBC wireless Home Service.
“I came among you as a stranger,” the song began, and went on to tell the sad tale of a lovestruck young man, standing in the snowy darkness at his lover’s gate. He dares not disturb her dreams, but instead, writes on her gate the words “Good night,” so that when she awakes, she will know he was thinking of her.
Even though Daffy had explained the whole thing to me in great detail, I didn’t then—and still don’t—understand how it is that love feeds so voraciously on sadness.
Come to think of it, Dieter had come among us as a stranger—a prisoner of war, in fact—but had long since been welcomed with open arms. He was now as much a part of Bishop’s Lacey as the tower of St. Tancred’s. Had he chosen to sing this particular song at his wedding as a way of expressing the fate he had so narrowly escaped?
The sound of Dieter’s voice made my hair stand on end. His rich baritone filled the church with a warmth that made you turn and smile at your closest fellow man: in my case, Cynthia Richardson, the vicar’s wife, who wiped away wet tears from each eye. Cynthia, too, and her husband, in the tragic loss of their first and only child, had known grief of that same intensity of which Dieter was singing.
I caught Cynthia’s eye and gave her a wink. She returned a sad, wry, silly smile.
Schubert’s melody line was rising like a staircase to heaven. In spite of its melancholy words, the music was that of hope, ever and ever higher, ever and ever more haunting.
It was, I realized with a gasp, the story of my life to date, and I was suddenly finding it difficult to breathe.
Great music has much the same effect upon humans as cyanide, I managed to think: It paralyzes the respiratory system.
Get a grip on yourself, Flavia, I thought.
I had heard stories of people flying to pieces at weddings but had never imagined it could happen to me.
Was it the sudden realization that after today Feely would be gone forever from Buckshaw? It seemed unthinkable.
The two of us had waged war upon each other since the day she had first overturned my pram. What would I do without her?
I twisted round in the pew and glanced back at Dogger, who had chosen to sit with Mrs. Mullet and her husband, Alf (he in a new suit with a chest full of medals), at the back of the church.
We had tried to insist upon them sitting with the family—which consisted today of just Daffy, myself, and, unfortunately, Undine.
But Dogger had demurred.
“I shouldn’t feel comfortable, Miss Flavia,” he said. When he saw my disappointment, he had added, “One must be free to be oneself at weddings, despite the fal-lal and flapdoodle.”
I knew that he was right.
All too soon Dieter’s song came to its inevitable end. It was greeted with an explosion of applause from nearly everybody, an ear-splitting two-fingered whistle from Carl Pendracka, and an inexplicable wail—that of a wolf howling at the moon—from Undine.
I was about to pinch her when she bared her sharp little fangs at me in a werewolf grin, and I let my hand fall to my side.
“Gute nacht,” she whispered in a rasping, guttural voice that could be heard as far away as the font.
Someone giggled, but it wasn’t me.
Feely closed the piano lid, screwed down the seat of the stool, strode back to the top of the aisle, and reassumed the role of a blushing bride.
Transformations, I thought, are everywhere. We are all of us in the process of becoming someone—or something—else. If only we knew it, there are probably people all around us who are in the process of becoming dead.
Later, I wished I hadn’t thought that.
Well, almost.
After Feely finished fussing with her dress almost as much as if it were a piano stool, she was ready to begin her walk down the aisle.
As Maximilian Brock, drafted in for the occasion, unleashed the full power of the organ upon us—something from Wagner, I think—Feely seized Dieter’s arm and began her stroll to the door, taking her own good time about it. I could see that she was having her day and was going to make the most of it.
Feely had first asked Daffy and me to be her bridesmaids, but we had both declined: Daffy because she believed bridesmaids at a wedding to be superstitious hokum (“Originally meant to scare away spooks,” she insisted) and I because I wasn’t going to climb into ballet tights just to pander to a sister’s whim.
“What a relief!” Feely had told us. “I didn’t want either of you anyway. I asked only out of courtesy. Actually, I’ve promised Sheila and Flossie Foster since we were toddlers, and I couldn’t possibly back out now—not that I’d want to, anyway.”
And that was that. I have to admit that the Foster sisters lent glamour to the occasion. Having put away their chewing gum and tennis rackets for a few hours, they were radiant in autumn-colored faille frocks with Elizabethan collars, sweetheart necklines, and full skirts.
And I might as well mention that, in order not to be outdone, they both also wore tiaras, with Juliet caps embroidered with pearls and silver beads.
Not that I care a rat’s rompers what they draped themselves with, but I’m always trying to sharpen my already formidable powers of observation.
I, having fallen in behind, was able to follow the procession closely down the aisle to the porch, where the Misses Puddock, Lavinia and Aurelia, perched on matching shooting sticks, had already staked out their vantage point.
Cameras large and small flashed and clicked as the happy couple paused in the porch and smiled out upon the assembled villagers, some of whom, although not present in the church for the ceremony, had gathered in the churchyard to cheer and tug their forelocks in respect, and as a way of getting an hour or so off work with hopes of a free drink or two.
When the wedding was being planned, the Misses Puddock had tried to horn in, as they always did, by offering to perform one of their dreary musical offerings free of charge.
“Oh no,” Feely had told them. “You must be at the door to catch my bouquet.”
Now, with a modest, maidenly backhand, Feely tossed her bouquet into the air. For a girl who could bowl a cricket ball with the best of them when she felt like it, it seemed a frail and puny effort.
Although Miss Lavinia and Miss Aurelia were both in their seventies, and well past the age when most females traipse to the altar, hope still burned eternal, apparently, in their respective withered breasts. These two ancient sisters shot off their respective shooting sticks like ancient skyrockets, and fell upon the flowers as hounds upon the fox, clawing and hissing at each other as if it were a catfight rather than a celebration of Holy Matrimony. Blows and several shocking words were exchanged. It was not a pleasant spectacle.
The real horror, however, was not to come until the reception.
The Grave's a Fine and Private Place
tagged : cozy, historical, amateur sleuth
•One•
I am on my deathbed.
Although I have done everything in my power to survive, it has not been enough. A human being can only bear so much.
I turn my face to the wall in bitter remembrance.
Father had died suddenly at Christmas, leaving a colossal vacuum which we quickly realized would never—could never—be filled. In some strange way, he had been the secret glue which held us all together, and with his passing my sisters and I, never friends at the best of times, had now—and quite inexplicably—become the most deadly of mortal enemies. Each of us, wanting desperately to be in charge—to gain some control over her shattered life—found herself at odds with the others at every turn. Words and crockery were thrown with equal carelessness. It didn’t seem to matter much who was hit.
With our family on the verge of breaking up, Aunt Felicity had come down from London to sort us out.
Or so she claimed.
In case we had forgotten it, we were quickly reminded of the fact that our dear auntie was—as the Book of Common Prayer so charitably puts it—a woman who followed the devices and desires of her own heart.
In short, she was at best a stubborn old woman and at worst a bully and a tyrant.
Buckshaw was to be sold at once, Aunt Felicity insisted, even though in law it was mine to do with as I pleased. Feely was to be married off to her fiancé, Dieter Schrantz, with all haste—or at least as quickly as possible—as soon as a respectable period of mourning had been observed.
Daffy would be sent up to Oxford to read English.
“Who knows but that, given time, you might even become a gifted teacher,” Aunt Felicity had said, upon which Daffy had thrown her teacup and saucer into the fireplace and stormed out of the room.
Tantrums were useless, Aunt Felicity had told us icily. Tantrums solve no problems, but only create new ones.
As for me, I was to be taken up to London, along with my cousin Undine, to live with Aunt Felicity until she could decide what to do with us. In my case, I knew that meant sending me somewhere to continue those studies which had been interrupted when I was chucked out of Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy, in Canada.
But what of Dogger and Mrs. Mullet? What would become of them?
“They shall be paid off and each given a small pension in proportion to their years of service,” Aunt Felicity had decreed. “And I’m sure they will both be very grateful.”
Dogger fobbed off with a pension? It was unthinkable. Dogger had given us almost his entire life: first to my father, then to my mother, and later to my sisters and myself.
I pictured him sitting on a quaint wooden bench by a river somewhere, dressed in a rough-spun pensioner’s jacket, forced to beg bread from the passing tourists, who took occasional snapshots of him to send home to their cretinous relatives.
Dogger deserved better than that.
And Mrs. Mullet?
Left to cook for total strangers, she would languish and die, and we would be responsible.
Our lives were looking exceedingly grim.
Then, at the beginning of February, to make matters worse, King George had died: King George VI, that lovely man who once sat and chatted so happily with me in our drawing room as if I were his own daughter; and with his passing, the entire nation—indeed all of the Commonwealth countries, perhaps even the whole world—joined in the shock and sadness of our own recent bereavement.
And what of me? What of Flavia de Luce?
I would perish, I decided.
Rather than submit to a lifetime locked in some dismal pigeon-infested London square with an aunt who valued the Union Jack more than her own blood, I would simply do away with myself.
And as an authority on poisons, I knew precisely how to accomplish it.
No cyanide for me, thank you!
I knew the symptoms all too well: the vertigo, the dizziness, the burning in the throat and stomach and, as the vagus nerve becomes paralyzed, the difficulty in breathing, the cold sweat, the feeble pulse, the muscular paralysis, the crushing heaviness of the heart, the slobbering .?.?.
I think it was the slobbering, more than anything, that put me off the cyanide. What self-respecting young woman would want to be found dead in her bedroom drowned in her own drool?
There were easier ways of joining the Heavenly Choir.
And so, here I am on my deathbed, all warm and cozy, my half-closed eyes moving slowly for the last time across that ghastly red-clotted mustard-yellow wallpaper.
I shall simply fall asleep and they will never find so much as a trace of what it was that did me in. How clever of me to have hit upon it!
They’ll be sorry, I thought. They’ll all be sorry.
But no! I mustn’t let it end like that. Mustn’t let it end with such a commonplace expression. That was the kind of platitude milkmaids died with—or match girls.
The death of Flavia de Luce demanded something greater: some great and noble words to hold in my mind as I stepped across the threshold of the universe.
But what were they to be?
Religion had been done to death.
Perhaps I could conjure up some great insight into the peculiar electron bonding of diborane (B2H6), for instance, or the as yet unsolved atomic valences of Zeise’s salt.
Yes, that was it!
Paradise would welcome me. “Well done, de Luce,” the vast crystal angels would say, flickering with frozen fire as I set foot upon their doorstep.
I hugged myself, cuddling in my own warmth.
How comfortable death was when properly done.
“Miss Flavia,” Dogger said, breaking in upon my pleasant thoughts. He had stopped rowing the skiff for a few moments and was pointing.
I snapped out of my reverie in a split second. If it had been anyone but Dogger, I’d have taken my sweet time about it.
“That’s Volesthorpe over there,” he said, pointing. “St. Mildred’s is just to the left of the tallest elm.”
He knew I wouldn’t want to miss it: St.-Mildred’s-in-the-Marsh, where Canon Whitbread, the notorious “Poisoning Parson,” had just two years ago dispatched several of his female parishioners by lacing their Communion wine with cyanide.
It had been done for love, of course. Poison and Passion, I have discovered, are as closely connected as Laurel and Hardy.
“Looks a harmless enough place,” I said. “Like something from the pages of Picturesque England.”
“Yes,” Dogger said. “Such places often do. Horrific crimes can sometimes bleed a location of all feeling.”
He fell into silence as he gazed across the water and I knew he was thinking of the Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in which he and Father had been so badly abused.
As I have said, Father’s death, six months ago, was the reason we were now adrift on the river: my sisters, Ophelia and Daphne, and, of course, me, Flavia.
Undine, as originally planned, had already gone up to London with Aunt Felicity.
In the bow, her face damp with mosquito repellent, Feely lay languishing on a couple of striped pillows, staring down at her own reflection in the still water just ahead of our punt. She had not spoken since we set out this morning. The fingers of her right hand hammered out a tune on the gunwales—one of Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words: I recognized it by the rhythm—but her face was a perfect blank.
On the raised wicker seat, Daffy sat hunched over a book—Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy—oblivious to the glorious English landscape sliding slowly by on either side.
Father’s sudden and unexpected death had knocked our family into a kind of coma, brought on, I believe, by the fact that we de Luces are constitutionally incapable of expressing our grief.
Only Dogger had broken down, howling like a dog in the night, then silent and impassive in the long and tortured days that followed.
It was pitiful.
The funeral had been a shambles. Denwyn Richardson, the vicar and one of Father’s oldest and dearest friends, had been seized at the outset by uncontrollable sobbing, unable to continue, and the service had to be halted until a stopgap clergyman could be found. In the end, poor old Canon Walpole was located in the next village, dragged from his sickbed, and rushed to St. Tancred’s, where he finished what his colleague had begun, barking from a rattling chest cold at the graveside like a hundred hounds.
It was a nightmare.
Bent on taking charge, Aunt Felicity had (as I have said) swooped down from London, the death of her only—and younger—brother having driven her into a frenzy, during which she treated us all like particularly dim-witted galley slaves, slinging orders about like a grill cook:
“Straighten those magazines, Flavia. Put them in alphabetical and then in chronological order, right side up, in the cupboard. This is a drawing room, not a jackdaw’s nest. Ophelia, fetch a mop and pull down those spider’s webs. The place is like a tomb.”
tagged : cozy, amateur sleuth, historical
It was as black in the closet as old blood. They had shoved me in and locked the door. I breathed heavily through my nose, fighting desperately to remain calm. I tried counting to ten on every intake of breath, and to eight as I released each one slowly into the darkness. Luckily for me, they had pulled the gag so tightly into my open mouth that my nostrils were left unobstructed, and I was able to draw in one slow lungful after another of the stale, musty air.
I tried hooking my fingernails under the silk scarf that bound my hands behind me but, since I always bit them to the quick, there was nothing to catch. Jolly good luck then that I’d remembered to put my fingertips together, using them as ten firm little bases to press my palms apart as they had pulled the knots tight.
Now I rotated my wrists, squeezing them together until I felt a bit of slack, using my thumbs to work the silk down until the knots were between my palms — then between my fingers. If they had been bright enough to think of tying my thumbs together, I should never have escaped. What utter morons they were.
With my hands free at last, I made short work of the gag.
Now for the door. But first, to be sure they were not lying in wait for me, I squatted and peered out through the keyhole at the attic. Thank heavens they had taken the key away with them. There was no one in sight: save for its perpetual tangle of shadows, junk and sad bric-a-brac, the long attic was empty. The coast was clear.
Reaching above my head at the back of the closet, I unscrewed one of the wire coat-hooks from its mounting board. By sticking its curved wing into the keyhole and levering the other end, I was able to form an L-shaped hook, which I poked into the depths of the ancient lock. A bit of judicious fishing and fiddling yielded a gratifying click. It was almost too easy. The door swung open and I was free.
I skipped down the broad stone staircase into the hall, pausing at the door of the dining room just long enough to toss my pigtails back over my shoulders and into their regulation position.
Father still insisted on dinner being served as the clock struck the hour and eaten at the massive oak refectory table, just as it had been when mother was alive.
‘Ophelia and Daphne not down yet, Flavia?’ he asked peevishly, looking up from the latest issue of The British Philatelist, which lay open beside his meat and potatoes.
‘I haven’t seen them in ages,’ I said.
It was true. I hadn’t seen them — not since they had gagged and blindfolded me, then lugged me hogtied up the attic stairs and locked me in the closet.
Father glared at me over his spectacles for the statutory four seconds before he went back to mumbling over his sticky treasures.
I shot him a broad smile: a smile wide enough to present him with a good view of the wire braces that caged my teeth. Although they gave me the look of a dirigible with the skin off, Father always liked being reminded that he was getting his money’s worth. But this time he was too preoccupied to notice.
I hoisted the lid off the Spode vegetable dish and, from the depths of its hand-painted butterflies and raspberries, spooned out a generous helping of peas. Using my knife as a ruler and my fork as a prod, I marshalled the peas so that they formed meticulous rows and columns across my plate: rank upon rank of little green spheres, spaced with a precision that would have delighted the heart of the most exacting Swiss watchmaker. Then, beginning at the bottom left, I speared the first pea with my fork and ate it.
It was all Ophelia’s fault. She was, after all, seventeen, and therefore expected to possess at least a modicum of the maturity she should come into as an adult. That she should gang up with Daphne, who was thirteen, simply wasn’t fair. Their combined ages totalled thirty years. Thirty years! — against my eleven. It was not only unsporting, it was downright rotten. And it simply screamed out for revenge.
Next morning I was busy among the flasks and flagons of my chemical laboratory on the top floor of the east wing when Ophelia barged in without so much as a la-di-dah.
‘Where’s my pearl necklace?’
I shrugged. ‘I’m not the keeper of your trinkets.’
‘I know you took it. The Mint Imperials that were in my lingerie drawer are gone too, and I’ve observed that missing mints in this household seem always to wind up in the same grubby little mouth.’
I adjusted the flame on a spirit lamp that was heating a beaker of red liquid. ‘If you’re insinuating that my personal hygiene is not up to the same high standard as yours you can go suck my galoshes.’
‘Flavia!’
‘Well, you can. I’m sick and tired of being blamed for everything, Feely.’
But my righteous indignation was cut short as Ophelia peered short-sightedly into the ruby flask, which was just coming to the boil.
‘What’s that sticky mass in the bottom?’ Her long, manicured fingernail tapped at the glass.
‘It’s an experiment. Careful, Feely, it’s acid!’
Ophelia’s face went white. ‘Those are my pearls! They belonged to Mummy!’
Ophelia was the only one of Harriet’s daughters who referred to her as ‘Mummy’; the only one of us old enough to have any real memories of the flesh-and-blood woman who had carried us in her body, a fact that Ophelia never tired of reminding us. Harriet had been killed in a mountaineering accident when I was just a year old, and she was not often spoken of at Buckshaw.
Was I jealous of Ophelia’s memories? Did I resent them? I don’t believe I did; it ran far deeper than that. In rather an odd way, I despised Ophelia’s memories of our mother.
I looked up slowly from my work so that the round lenses of my spectacles would flash blank white semaphores of light at her. I knew that whenever I did this, Ophelia had the horrid impression that she was in the presence of some mad black-and-white German scientist in a film at the Gaumont.
‘Beast!’
‘Hag!’ I retorted. But not until Ophelia had spun round on her heel — quite neatly, I thought — and stormed out the door.
Retribution was not long in coming, but then with Ophelia, it never was. Ophelia was not, as I was, a long-range planner who believed in letting the soup of revenge simmer to perfection.
tagged : amateur sleuth, cozy, historical
I was lying dead in the churchyard. an hour had crept by since the mourners had said their last sad farewells.
At twelve o'clock, just at the time we should otherwise have been sitting down to lunch, there had been the departure from Buckshaw: my polished rosewood coffin brought out of the drawing room, carried slowly down the broad stone steps to the driveway, and slid with heartbreaking ease into the open door of the waiting hearse, crushing beneath it a little bouquet of wild flowers that had been laid tenderly inside by one of the grieving villagers.
Then there had been the long drive down the avenue of chestnuts to the Mulford Gates, whose rampant griffins looked away as we passed, though whether in sadness or in apathy I would never know.
Dogger, Father's devoted jack-of-all-trades, had paced in measured step alongside the slow hearse, his head bowed, his hand resting lightly on its roof, as if to shield my remains from something that only he could see. At the gates, one of the undertaker's mutes had finally coaxed him, by using hand signals, into a hired motor car.
And so they had brought me to the village of Bishop's Lacey, passing sombrely through the same green lanes and dusty hedgerows I had bicycled every day when I was alive.
At the heaped-up churchyard of St Tancred's, they had taken me gently from the hearse and borne me at a snail's pace up the path beneath the limes. Here, they had put me down for a moment in the new-mown grass.
Then had come the service at the gaping grave, and there had been a note of genuine grief in the voice of the vicar, as he pronounced the traditional words.
It was the first time I'd heard the Order for the Burial of the Dead from this vantage point. We had attended last year, with Father, the funeral of old Mr Dean, the village greengrocer. His grave, in fact, was just a few yards from where I was presently lying. It had already caved in, leaving not much more than a rectangular depression in the grass which was, more often than not, filled with stagnant rainwater.
My oldest sister, Ophelia, said it collapsed because Mr Dean had been resurrected, and was no longer bodily present, while Daphne, my other sister, said it was because he had plummeted through into an older grave whose occupant had disintegrated.
I thought of the soup of bones below: the soup of which I was about to become just another ingredient.
Flavia Sabina de Luce, 1939-1950, they would cause to be carved on my gravestone, a modest and tasteful grey marble thing with no room for false sentiments.
Pity. If I'd lived long enough, I'd have left written instructions calling for a touch of Wordsworth:
And very few to love.
And if they'd baulked at that, I'd have left this as my second choice:
Truest hearts by deeds unkind
To despair are most inclined.
Only Feely, who had played and sung them at the piano, would recognise the lines from Thomas Campion's Third Book of Airs, and she would be too consumed by guilty grief to tell anyone.
My thoughts were interrupted by the vicar's voice.
"…earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body…"
And suddenly they had gone, leaving me there alone - alone to listen for the worms.
This was it: the end of the road for poor Flavia.
By now the family would already be back at Buckshaw, gathered round the long refectory table: Father seated in his usual stony silence, Daffy and Feely hugging one another with slack, tear-stained faces as Mrs Mullet, our cook, brought in a platter of baked meats.
I remembered something that Daffy had once told me when she was devouring The Odyssey: that baked meats, in ancient Greece, were traditional funeral fare, and I had replied that in view of Mrs Mullet's cooking, not much had changed in two and a half thousand years.
But now that I was dead, I thought, perhaps I ought to practise being somewhat more charitable.
Dogger, of course, would be inconsolable. Dear Dogger: butler-cum-chauffeur-cum-valet-cum-gardener-cum-estate-manager: a poor shell-shocked soul whose capabilities ebbed and flowed like the Severn tides; Dogger, who had recently saved my life and forgotten it by the next morning. I should miss him terribly.
And I should miss my chemistry laboratory. I thought of all the golden hours I'd spent there in that abandoned wing of Buckshaw, blissfully alone among the flasks, the retorts and the cheerily bubbling tubes and beakers. And to think that I'd never see them again. It was almost too much to bear.
I listened to the rising wind as it whispered overhead in the branches of the yew trees. It was already growing cool here in the shadows of St Tancred's tower, and it would soon be dark.
Poor Flavia! Poor stone-cold-dead Flavia.
By now, Daffy and Feely would be wishing that they hadn't been so downright rotten to their little sister during her brief eleven years on this earth.
At the thought, a tear started down my cheek.
Would Harriet be waiting to welcome me to Heaven?
Harriet was my mother, who had died in a mountaineering accident a year after I was born. Would she recognise me after ten years? Would she still be dressed in the mountain-climbing suit she was wearing when she met her end, or would she have swapped it by now for a white robe?
Well, whatever she was wearing, I knew it would be stylish.
There was a sudden clatter of wings: a noise that echoed loudly from the stone wall of the church, amplified to an alarming volume by a half-acre of stained glass and the leaning gravestones that hemmed me in. I froze.
Could it be an angel - or more likely, an archangel - coming down to return Flavia's precious soul to Paradise? If I opened my eyes the merest slit, I could see through my eyelashes, but only dimly.
No such luck: it was one of the tattered jackdaws that were always hanging round St Tancred's. These vagabonds had been nesting in the tower since its thirteenth-century stonemasons had packed up their tools and departed.
Now the idiotic bird had landed clumsily on top of a marble finger that pointed to Heaven, and was regarding me coolly, its head cocked to one side, with its bright, ridiculous boot-button eyes.
Jackdaws never learn. No matter how many times I played this trick, they always, sooner or later, came flapping down from the tower to investigate. To the primeval mind of a jackdaw, any body horizontal in a churchyard could have only one meaning: food.
As I had done a dozen times before, I leapt to my feet and flung the stone that was concealed in my curled fingers. I missed—but then I nearly always did.
With an "awk" of contempt, the thing sprang into the air and flapped off behind the church, towards the river.
Now that I was on my feet, I realised I was hungry. Of course I was! I hadn't eaten since breakfast. For a moment I wondered vaguely if I might find a few leftover jam tarts or a bit of cake in the kitchen of the parish hall. The St Tancred's Ladies' Auxiliary had gathered the night before, and there was always the chance.
As I waded through the knee-high grass, I heard a peculiar snuffling sound, and for a moment I thought the saucy jackdaw had come back to have the last word.
I stopped and listened.
And then it came again.
I find it sometimes a curse and sometimes a blessing that I have inherited Harriet's acute sense of hearing, since I am able, as I am fond of telling Feely, to hear things that would make your hair stand on end. One of the sounds to which I am particularly attuned is the sound of someone crying.
It was coming from the north-west corner of the churchyard - from somewhere near the wooden shed in which the sexton kept his grave-digging tools. As I crept slowly forward on tiptoe, the sound grew louder: someone was having a good old-fashioned cry, of the knock-'em-down-drag-'em-out variety.
It is a simple fact of nature that while most men can walk right past a weeping woman as if their eyes are blinkered and their ears stopped up with sand, no female can ever hear the sound of another in distress without rushing instantly to her aid.
I peeped round a black marble column, and there she was, stretched out full length, face down on the slab of a limestone tomb, her red hair flowing out across the weathered inscription like rivulets of blood. Except for the cigarette wedged stylishly erect between her fingers, she might have been a painting by one of the Pre-Raphaelites, such as Burne-Jones. I almost hated to intrude.
"Hullo," I said. "Are you all right?"
It is another simple fact of nature that one always begins such conversations with an utterly stupid remark. I was sorry the instant I'd uttered it.
"Oh! Of course I'm all right," she cried, leaping to her feet and wiping her eyes. "What do you mean by creeping up on me like that? Who are you, anyway?"
With a toss of her head she flung back her hair and stuck out her chin. She had the high cheekbones and the dramatically triangular face of a silent cinema star, and I could see by the way she bared her teeth that she was terrified.
"Flavia," I said. "My name is Flavia de Luce. I live near here - at Buckshaw."
I jerked my thumb in the general direction.
She was still staring at me like a woman in the grip of a nightmare.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to startle you."
She pulled herself up to her full height - which couldn't have been much more than five feet and an inch or two - and took a step towards me, like a hot-tempered version of the Botticelli Venus that I'd once seen on a Huntley and Palmer's biscuit tin.
I stood my ground, staring at her dress. It was a creamy cotton print with a gathered bodice and a flaring skirt, covered all over with a myriad of tiny flowers, red, yellow, blue, and a bright orange the colour of poppies, and, I couldn't help noticing, a hem that was stained with half-dried mud.
"What's the matter?" she asked, taking an affected drag at her angled cigarette. "Never seen anyone famous before?"
Famous? I hadn't the faintest idea who she was. I had half a mind to tell her that I had indeed seen someone famous, and that it was Winston Churchill. Father had pointed him out to me from a London taxicab. Churchill had been standing in front of the Savoy with his thumbs hooked in his waistcoat pockets, talking to a man in a yellow mackintosh.
"Good old Winnie," Father had breathed, as if to himself.
"Oh, what's the use?" the woman said. "Bloody place… bloody people… bloody motor cars!" And she began to cry again.
"Is there something I can do to help?" I asked.
"Oh, go away and leave me alone," she sobbed.
Very well, then, I thought. Actually, I thought more than that, but since I'm trying to be a better person…
I stood there for a moment, leaning forward a bit to see if her fallen tears were reacting with the porous surface of the tombstone. Tears, I knew, were composed largely of water, sodium chloride, manganese, and potassium, while limestone was made up chiefly of calcite, which was soluble in sodium chloride - but only at high temperatures. So unless the temperature of St Tancred's churchyard went up suddenly by several hundred degrees, it seemed unlikely that anything chemically interesting was going to be happening here.
I turned and walked away.
"Flavia…"
I looked back. She was reaching out a hand to me.
"I'm sorry," she said. "It's just that it's been an awfully bloody day all round."
I stopped - then paced slowly, warily back as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Rupert was in a foul mood to begin with - even before we left Stoatmoor this morning. We'd had rather a row, I'm afraid, and then the whole business with the van - it was simply the last straw. He's gone off to find someone to fix it, and I'm… well, here I am."
"I like your red hair," I said. She touched it instantly and smiled, as I somehow knew she would.
"Carrot-top, they used to call me when I was your age. Carrot-top! Fancy!"
"Carrot tops are green," I said. "Who's Rupert?"
"Who's Rupert?" she asked. "You're having me on!"
She pointed a finger and I turned to look: parked in the lane at the corner of the churchyard was a dilapidated van - an Austin Eight. On its side panel, in showy gold circus letters, still legible through a heavy coating of mud and dust, were the words "PORSON'S PUPPETS."
"Rupert Porson," she said. "Everyone knows Rupert Porson. Rupert Porson, as in Snoddy the Squirrel - The Magic Kingdom. Haven't you seen him on the television?"
Snoddy the Squirrel? The Magic Kingdom?
"We don't have the television at Buckshaw," I said. "Father says it's a filthy invention."
"Father is an uncommonly wise man," she said. "Father is undoubtedly -"
She was interrupted by the metallic rattle of a loose chain-guard as the vicar came wobbling round the corner of the church. He dismounted and leaned his battered Raleigh up against a handy headstone. As he walked towards us, I reflected that Canon Denwyn Richardson was not anyone's image of a typical village vicar. He was large and bluff and hearty, and if he'd had tattoos, he might have been mistaken for the captain of one of those rusty tramp steamers that drags itself wearily from one sundrenched port to another in whatever God-awful outposts are still left of the British Empire.
His black clerical outfit was smudged and streaked with chalky dust, as if he'd come a cropper on his bicycle.
"Blast!" he said when he spotted me. "I've lost my trouser clip and torn my cuff to ribbons," and then, dusting himself off as he walked towards us, he added, "Cynthia's going to have me on the carpet."
The woman's eyes widened and she shot me a quick glance.
"She's recently begun scratching my initials on my belongings with a needle," he added, "but that hasn't kept me from losing things. Last week the hectograph sheets for the parish bulletin, the week before a brass doorknob from the vestry. Maddening, really.
"Hello, Flavia," he added. "Always nice to see you at church."
"This is our vicar, Canon Richardson," I told the redheaded woman. "Perhaps he can help."
"Denwyn," the vicar said, holding out a hand to the stranger. "We don't stand much on ceremony since the war."
The woman stuck out two or three fingers and touched his palm, but said nothing. As she extended her hand, the short sleeve of her dress slid up, and I had a quick glimpse of the ugly green and purple bruise on her upper arm. She covered it hastily with her left hand as she tugged the cotton fabric down to hide it.
"And how may I be of service?" the vicar asked, gesturing towards the van. "It is not often that we, in our bucolic little backwater, are called upon to minister to such august theatre folk."
She smiled gamely. "Our van's broken down - or as good as. Something to do with the carburettor. If it had been anything electrical, I'm sure Rupert could have mended it in a flash, but I'm afraid the fuel system is beyond him."
"Dear, dear!" the vicar said. "I'm sure Bert Archer, at the garage, can put it right for you. I'll ring him up, if you like."
"Oh, no," the woman said quickly - perhaps too quickly, ";we wouldn't want you to go to any trouble. Rupert's gone down the high street. He's probably already found someone."
"If he had, he'd be back by now," the vicar said. "Let me ring Bert. He often slips home for a nap in the afternoon. He's not as young as he was, you know - nor are any of us, if it comes to that. Still, it is a favourite maxim of mine that when dealing with motor mechanics - even tame ones - it never does one any harm to have the blessing of the Church."
"Oh, no. It's too much trouble. I'm sure we'll be just fine."
"Nonsense," the vicar said, already moving off among the forest of gravestones and making at full speed for the rectory. "No trouble at all. I'll be back in a jiffy."
"Vicar!" the woman called. "Please…"
He stopped in mid-stride and came reluctantly back towards us.
"It's just that… you see, we…"
"Aha! A question of money, then," the vicar said.
She nodded sadly, her head down, her red hair cascading over her face.
"I'm sure something can be arranged," the vicar said. "Ah! Here's your husband now."
A little man with an oversized head and a lopsided gait was stumping towards us across the churchyard, his right leg swinging out at each step in a wide, awkward semicircle. As he approached, I saw that his calf was caged in a heavy iron brace.
He must have been in his forties, but it was difficult to tell.
In spite of his diminutive size, his barrel chest and powerful upper arms seemed ready to burst out of the seersucker suit that confined them. By contrast, his right leg was pitiful: by the way in which his trousers clung, and flapped uselessly around what lay beneath, I could see that it was little more than a matchstick. With his huge head, he looked to me like nothing so much as a giant octopus, stalking on uneven tentacles through the churchyard.
He lurched to a halt and deferentially lifted a flat peaked motoring cap, revealing an unruly mop of pale blond hair that matched precisely his little Vandyke goatee.
"Rupert Porson, I presume?" the vicar said, giving the newcomer a jolly, hale-fellow-well-met handshake. "I'm Denwyn Richardson - and this is my young friend, Flavia de Luce."
Porson nodded at me and shot an almost invisibly quick, dark glance at the woman before turning on the full beam of a searchlight smile.
"Spot of engine trouble, I understand," the vicar went on. "Quite maddening. Still, if it has brought the creator of The Magic Kingdom and Snoddy the Squirrel into our midst - well, it just proves the old adage, doesn't it?"
He didn't say which old adage he was referring to, nor did anyone care enough to ask.
"I was about to remark to your good wife," the vicar said, "that St Tancred's would be honoured indeed if you might see your way clear to presenting a little entertainment in the parish hall whilst your van is being repaired? I realise, of course, how much in demand you must be, but I should be negligent if I didn't at least make the attempt on behalf of the children - and yes, the grown-ups, too! - of Bishop's Lacey. It is good, now and then, to allow children to launch an attack upon their money-boxes in a worthy cultural cause, don't you agree?"
"Well, Vicar," Porson said, in a honeyed voice - too big, too resonant, too mellifluous, I thought, for such a tiny man - "we do have rather a tight timetable. Our tour has been gruelling, you see, and London calls…"
"I understand," said the vicar.
"But," Porson added, lifting a dramatic forefinger, "nothing would delight us more than being allowed to sing for our supper, as it were. Isn't that so, Nialla? It shall be quite like the old days."
The woman nodded, but said nothing. She was staring off at the hills beyond.
"Well, then," the vicar said, rubbing his hands together vigorously, as if he were making fire, "it's all arranged. Come along and I'll show you the hall. It's rather tatty, but it does boast a stage, and the acoustics are said to be quite remarkable."
With that, the two men disappeared round the back of the church.
For a moment there seemed nothing to say. And then the woman spoke:
"You wouldn't happen to have a cigarette, would you? I'm dying for a smoke."
I gave my head a rather idiotic shake.
"Hmmm," she said. "You look like the kind of kid who might have."
For the first time in my life, I was speechless.
"I don't smoke," I managed.
"And why is that?" she asked. "Too young or too wise?"
"I was thinking of taking it up next week," I said lamely. "I just hadn't actually got round to it yet."
She threw her head back and laughed toothily, like a film star.
"I like you, Flavia de Luce," she said. "But I have the advantage, don't I? You've told me your name, but I haven't told you mine."
"It's Nialla," I said. "Mr Porson called you Nialla."
She stuck out her hand, her face grave.
"That's right," she said, "he did. But you can call me Mother Goose."
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Before Watchmen: some final thoughts
Posted: June 30, 2013 | Author: Martin de la Iglesia | Filed under: review | Tags: Amanda Conner, Before Watchmen, Brian Azzarello, comics, Darwyn Cooke, DC, Jae Lee, Lee Bermejo, Len Wein, Minutemen, Ozymandias, prequels, Rorschach, Silk Spectre, superheroes, US, Watchmen | 1 Comment
Before Watchmen roundup, part 4
The Comedian through the ages: in Before Watchmen: Minutemen, Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre, and Before Watchmen: Ozymandias
For the time being, Before Watchmen is over. The collected editions will be published soon, and we’ll have to wait and see if they turn out to be bestsellers. So far, it’s safe to say that the sales performance of the Before Watchmen comic books didn’t meet expectations, and the critical reception wasn’t enthusiastic either. On the other hand, I doubt that DC’s decision to pursue this project against the will of Watchmen creator Alan Moore will do them much harm in the long run. But will the Before Watchmen comics themselves be remembered? Here’s why I think they – or at least the four series I’ve read – should (or shouldn’t).
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias by Len Wein and Jae Lee: No one really needed to read this story, which blends re-told scenes we’ve already read in Watchmen (e.g. the Crimebusters meeting) with scenes that Moore left untold – most likely because they simply weren’t that relevant (e.g. the Kennedy assassination). Probably most people were reading it only because of Jae Lee’s art anyway, which once more turned out to be stunning indeed. This is a relatively rare example of a superhero comic not story-driven or character-driven, but art-driven. Presumably, Wein’s and Lee’s strategy was to create something visually different from the original Watchmen comic, because they knew they couldn’t match it. While Ozymandias isn’t necessarily the best Before Watchmen comic, it’s maybe the most interesting one regarding the relationship between prequel and original.
Final Verdict: ● ● ○ ○ ○
Before Watchmen: Minutemen by Darwyn Cooke: Now that was one plot twist that I hadn’t seen coming. The ending ties the story into a coherent package, making Minutemen a more self-contained comic than Ozymandias. The ways in which it relates to Watchmen are nevertheless intricate, too. More importantly, though, this is very much a Darwyn Cooke comic, particularly visually, and I can imagine it will be remembered as a logical continuation of his previous “retro” works, e.g. The New Frontier.
Final Verdict: ● ● ● ○ ○
Before Watchmen: Rorschach by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo: The second half of this four-part series confirmed my suspicion that this was going to be a rather unexceptional story. Maybe Azzarello wanted to indicate that the death of the waitress made Rorschach even less sociable, turning him into the character we know from the original series. And yes, the villain wearing Rorschach’s mask is a powerful scene. But apart from that, this comic is only recommended for people who want to exhaustively survey the Azzarello/Bermejo cosmos (or the whole Before Watchmen “event”, for that matter).
Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre by Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner: I’ve already reviewed the complete series, and I still think it’s a solid comic, as long as you don’t compare it to Watchmen. If Amanda Conner’s comic output continues on such a high level of quality, Silk Spectre might go down in comics history as the series that put her name on the map for many readers.
There are three Before Watchmen series I haven’t read in their entirety (plus the shorter Curse of the Crimson Corsair, Moloch and Dollar Bill):
The final issue of Before Watchmen: Comedian has been reviewed by Jesse Shedeen at IGN and Matthew Peterson at Major Spoilers.
For Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan, see this favourable review of #4 by Poet Mase at IGN.
If you’re interested in Before Watchmen: Nite Owl, I recommend the review of the final issue by Greg McElhatton at CBR.
Before Watchmen roundup, part 2: Minutemen and Rorschach
Posted: October 30, 2012 | Author: Martin de la Iglesia | Filed under: review | Tags: Alan Moore, Barbara Ciardo, Before Watchmen, Brian Azzarello, comics, Darwyn Cooke, DC, Golden Age of Comic Books, Lee Bermejo, LGBT, Minutemen, Ozymandias, Phil Noto, remakes, Rorschach, sequels, superheroes, US, Watchmen | 2 Comments
Last month I looked at Before Watchmen: Ozymandias, the storytelling of which I found disappointing. This month I’m going to look at two Before Watchmen titles which refer to the original Watchmen series in somewhat different ways.
Review of Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1-3 (of 6)
Authors: Darwyn Cooke (writer/artist), Phil Noto (colourist)
Pages: 26 (#1) / 22 (#2-3) (+2 pages of backup story)
Website: http://www.dccomics.com/comics/before-watchmen-minutemen-2012
The fourth issue is already available (see e.g. this review at Major Spoilers), but as always I have to wait for the next mail order shipment to get it, so this review covers only the first three issues.
I imagine writing Minutemen must have been both easier and harder than the other Before Watchmen books: easier because not as much is said about them in Watchmen, which gives the writer more freedom, and harder for the same reason, because all the bits of information on the Minutemen scattered throughout the original comic need to be put together and integrated into a coherent story.
The framing narrative is Hollis Mason writing his book “Under the Hood” shortly after his retirement as the first Nite Owl in 1962, reflecting on his Minutemen days, and re-telling their story once again. This time, his story goes into more detail than what we have read in the “Under the hood” excerpts in Watchmen, and his words (caption text) are accompanied by pictures. As a result, we’re getting a much more fleshed out account of the formation of the Minutemen.
However, it’s more complicated than that. While Mason’s words refer to the pictures they’re placed in, it becomes clear that the art doesn’t merely illustrate the captions. We’re seeing things (and reading things in word balloons) that Mason cannot have seen (and heard), because e.g. in the episode on Hooded Justice in issue #1, he was standing in front of a building, but we get to see what happens inside it.
In issue #2, this narrative mode stops after the first ten pages, and from then on the text is only in straight dialogue (apart from a quoted poem interwoven with the main narrative). Mason’s 1962 voice returns in issue #3 for three pages, and then it’s word balloon text again, this time with the ironic addition of inserted panels from a fictitious 1940s “Minutemen #1” comic book. This more straightforward storytelling approach lends itself better to the episodes Darwyn Cooke tells: the ones that are not covered in Watchmen, e.g. the first Minutemen mission, or the expulsion of the Comedian after he had raped Silk Spectre. Other episodes contain scenes that explicitly show the homosexuality of Captain Metropolis, Hooded Justice and the Silhouette. Although Alan Moore/Hollis Mason strongly suggests this in Watchmen, showing it unambiguously takes away some of the mystery surrounding the Minutemen, so I’m not happy with Cooke’s choice to do so.
In general, though, I’m more comfortable with the storytelling approach in Minutemen than the one in Ozymandias. Add Cooke’s impressive reduced layouts and drawing style, and you end up with a solid comic book.
By the way, did anyone recognise what is depicted on the first panel of the second page in issue #1? All I can see is a manhole cover and rain, but what are the yellow and brown areas, and where exactly is that place supposed to be?
Review of Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1-2 (of 4)
Authors: Brian Azzarello (writer), Lee Bermejo (artist), Barbara Ciardo (colourist)
Pages: 24 (#1), 22 (#2) (+2 pages of backup story)
Website: http://www.dccomics.com/comics/before-watchmen-rorschach-2012
The outline of Rorschach is quite different: instead of fleshing out Rorschach’s origin story (which he himself tells in Watchmen), we’re following him on what could be an average day in his life as a masked vigilante, as he is going after a drug dealer ring. The story is set in 1977, 13 years after Walter Kovacs first donned the mask of Rorschach and 8 years before the beginning of Watchmen. Is this version of Rorschach any different from the one we’re familiar with from the original series? Maybe. I found both his caption text monologue (his journal) and his speech bubbles too verbose, his way with the Gunga Diner waitress too friendly. Either Brian Azzarello is going to put Rorschach through a change that will make him more like he is in 1985, or his Rorschach is just slightly different from Alan Moore’s.
Despite this possible inaccuracy in the writing and the so far unassuming nature of the story, this series is still a good read, mainly due to Lee Bermejo’s striking, timely (i.e. for the 21st century) artwork, and the brilliance that Barbara Ciardo’s colouring adds to it.
Posted: September 3, 2012 | Author: Martin de la Iglesia | Filed under: review | Tags: Alan Moore, Before Watchmen, comics, DC, horror, Jae Lee, June Chung, Len Wein, LGBT, Ozymandias, pirates, remakes, sequels, superheroes, US, Watchmen | 5 Comments
I confess: I have read and purchased copies of several Before Watchmen issues, and plan to continue to do so. For some people, this is an immoral act, equivalent to slapping Alan Moore in the face. Other people say Moore made a mistake when he signed his contract with DC, and now he has to pay for it. In any case, I was curious to see how the Before Watchmen books would handle the unavoidable intertextual challenges that come with such a task.
In preparation, I re-read Watchmen, to be better able to get all the references in Before Watchmen. Maybe that was a mistake, because it raised my expectations towards Before Watchmen even more. Consequently, I decided to read all seven #1 issues and then select which series I’m going to follow.
The books that I dropped after the first issue were Nite Owl, Comedian, and Dr. Manhattan. With Nite Owl and Dr. Manhattan, I found the stories were too close to the original series and didn’t add much to it, whereas the storytelling in Comedian was too slow-paced to convince me that the plot was going anywhere soon. That leaves me with Minutemen, Silk Spectre, Ozymandias, and Rorschach. Ozymandias is the only book so far of which I have read two issues, which I consider the minimum for a meaningful review. (Minutemen #2 came out earlier, but due to a mail order fail I didn’t get it yet.)
Review of Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #1-2
Authors: Len Wein (writer), Jae Lee (artist), June Chung (colourist)
Pages: 23 (+2 pages of backup story)
Website: http://www.dccomics.com/comics/before-watchmen-ozymandias-2012
The framing narrative here is that Adrian Veidt tells his life story on October 11, 1985. I instantly recognized some of Veidt’s words as Moore’s, and thought that Len Wein just wanted to flesh out Veidt’s autobiography as told in Watchmen chapter XI (“Look On My Works, Ye Mighty…”). However, reading both sequences side by side reveals vast differences: in Watchmen, Veidt’s monologue takes place much later than October 11. The wording is different – sometimes considerably, sometimes only slightly, e.g.: “Strangely, before subduing Phoenicia, he had struck north toward Gordium” (Wein) vs. “Strangely, before subduing Phoenicia, he struck north towards Gordium” (Moore). And there are inexplicable visual differences too: in Watchmen, the gravestone of Veidt’s parents is rectangular with a rounded top, whereas in Before Watchmen he is standing at two gravestones in the shape of celtic crosses. So unless Veidt is randomly dropping roses at strangers’ graves, Jae Lee or Len Wein altered the appearance of the grave, presumably to make it look cooler.
The completely new things that Wein adds to Veidt’s origin story aren’t convincing either. As Jennifer Cheng already said in her review of Ozymandias #1 at CBR, it is hard to believe that the reason why Veidt would become the masked vigilante Ozymandias is to avenge his lover Miranda. Furthermore, given the importance attributed to this relationship, what are the readers supposed to make of Veidt’s homosexuality that is clearly hinted at some pages earlier?
Then again, the selling point of the book isn’t its plot, or its unlikeable protagonist. It’s Jae Lee’s spectacular art, as several other reviewers have pointed out. The success of Lee’s contrast-heavy style depends on good colourists, and luckily, June Chung is more than up to this job. Thus, Before Watchmen: Ozymandias is a series that makes me want to read more by Jae Lee and less by Len Wein.
Rating: ● ● ○ ○ ○
As for “The Curse of the Crimson Corsair”, the backup story by Len Wein and John Higgins: while “Tales of the Black Freighter” was smartly interwoven with the main story in Watchmen, an independent pirate/horror story spread across all Before Watchmen series doesn’t make sense to me. I wouldn’t mind reading a well-written and well-drawn standalone comic book in this genre, though (and the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean films shows that this genre has market potential).
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Tag Archive: California
Schwarzenegger to pen memoirs
Arnold Schwarzenegger is symbols a memoir regarding his rise to fame in addition to unlikely changeover on or after Austrian-born champion bodybuilder near Hollywood action star to California director, his publisher said resting on Thursday.Schwarzenegger, 64, who inside May announced his severance from wife Maria Shriver following admitting to fathering a child out of matrimony, is “chronicling his personification of the American Dream” during his second life story, publisher Simon & Schuster whispered. The memoir, aristocratic Total Recall: My implausibly True Life Story, was acquired by Simon & Schuster later than Schwarzenegger began functioning on the paperback last year. It will be released during October, 2012.Named subsequent to his 1990 film Total Recall close to the pinnacle of his movie occupation, the book will come back to Schwarzenegger’s heredity where he ongoing lifting weights as a young person in a small Austrian village earlier than winning Mr. Universe titles in addition to moving on the road to the combined States at the age of 21.
Schwarzenegger will talk about his time spent within Venice Beach, California teaching in Gold’s gym along with winning the Mr. Olympia heading seven times sooner than overcoming a broad accent to found himself as a star in films approximating 1982’s Conan the Barbarian. The book will account his transition on or after movie tough gentleman, the Terminator, to an entrepreneur in the midst of businesses such as Planet Hollywood on the way to politics where as California administrator he was affectionately dubbed the Governator in addition to attempted to defender environmental policies. other than four months subsequent to he left office, Schwarzenegger said within May that he was uncertain discussions designed for a new Terminator movie with all supplementary Hollywood projects inside order to focus on not public matters subsequent to admitting he fathered a underground child 13 years ago in the midst of his family’s housekeeper. He was afterward ridiculed in the media, a quantity of outlets called him the Sperminator, along with Shriver, a constituent of the Kennedy dynasty, filed used for a divorce into July to end their 25-year matrimony, citing opposed differences.
The duo has four children together, as well as teenage son Christopher who suffered a somber surfing calamity later into July. Schwarzenegger has since considered to shoot achievement roles into movies Last Stand in addition to The Expendables 2.A presenter for Simon & Schuster would not comment resting on whether the book would talk about his separation and sex scandal. The book will be published within the United States, Australia, Canada, India, in addition to the United Kingdom. German human rights have been sold toward Hoffmann und Campe with Dutch rights on the way to AW Bruna.”Nobody has a life narrative even close near his. To go on or after poor immigrant just before world class athlete en route for the biggest movie star during the world to manager of California is an incredible expedition,” Jonathan Karp, publisher of Simon & Schuster, said into a announcement. Schwarzenegger’s foremost book, The Education of a Bodybuilder, has by no means been out of publish since its release during 1977, Simon & Schuster whispered.
Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, Maria Shriver, Olympia, Simon, Simon & Schuster, Total Recall, United States
Dead Birds with West Nile Found Near Hollywood
Filed under: hollywood — Leave a comment
Two additional dead birds were establish containing the West Nile Virus within Studio City last week, bringing the sum to four.And, intended for the primary time this year, a departed bird with the potentially poisonous virus was within North Hollywood within the 91606 ZIP code.
“These tests show a long-lasting need to be vigilant within trying to prevent places meant for mosquitoes to class,” said Crystal Brown, public in order officer of the Greater Los Angeles County Vector be in charge of District.Into this case, it is imperative to never touch a lifeless bird that may be set up in the neighborhood in addition to certainly educate children of the dangers of poignant any dead nature they may discover.Inside the history week, 23 additional dead birds were establish by way of the West Nile Virus, and nine were originate in the San Fernando Valley area, counting communities such because Encino, Chatsworth, Northridge in addition to Van Nuys.
Of the parasite samples testing positive designed for the virus, virtually one-fourth of them, 18 of the 42, were originate into the San Fernando Valley, particularly into Encino in addition to Chatsworth.There were no additional incidents of the disease originate in Valley Village.chocolate said so as to residents should seek out several standing water, especially within pools and fountains, to could provide breeding foundation for mosquitos which transmit the bug to humans. The Vector Control District can help eradicate reproduction in ponds and pools by way of fish that eat the bugs.Brown explained so as to most of the mosquito species originate in Southern California that extend West Nile virus are nearly everyone active between dusk in addition to dawn, and so outdoor actions should be avoided during so as to time whenever probable.
Vector officials advise wearing long covering shirts and pants aat night in addition to using insect revolting containing EPA-registered vigorous ingredients such as DEET, Picaridin or lemon eucalyptus grease.Please refer near the chart below meant for a breakdown of the 23 WNV constructive deceased birds acknowledged this past week.
Tags: California, Dead Birds with West Nile Found Near, Dead Birds with West Nile Found Near Hollywood, DEET, Health, Icaridin, Los Angeles County California, Mosquito, San Fernando Valley, West Nile Virus
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Vole O'Speed
Mostly about cycling in the
"Biking Borough"of Brent
and elsewhere in London,
but also touching on
environment, politics,
philosophy, science,
society, music and art
Sticking-plaster solutions for the recession
George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (that's the archaic name we use for our finance minister in the UK, I have to explain for my overseas readers) has announced that he will be using £40 billion of public money to underwrite bank loans to small businesses, as there is perceived to be a problem with these businesses not being able to obtain credit from the banks, and this is said to be hindering the "recovery".
What this amounts to is the government taking over part of the banks' job for them, using the its ability to borrow money at low interest rates to subsidise the loans to businesses. It would mean firms being able to borrow at 4% rather than 5%. Across the political spectrum this is generally regarded as being a good thing.
But it seems to me strange that a Conservative chancellor is effectively nationalising banking in this way. Is this not big-statism, and an interference in the normal commercial working of the banking system, things to which you would expect right-wing politicians naturally to be opposed? What are the implications of this?
The government is able to borrow money at low rates of interest because it is perceived by lenders to be at very low risk of defaulting. Businesses are charged a higher rate by the same lenders because they pose a higher risk. If there is a problem with firms being able to obtain credit, this must be because the banks do not feel certain enough that they will be able to make a profit on the lending without charging a high rate. The credit problem is not a problem with banks being nasty or selfish, it is indicative of underlying contraction or stagnation in the economy: a recession without "recovery".
By nationalising part of the risk of lending to businesses at low rates, the government must reduce its own creditworthiness, creating a risk that it will be charged marginally higher rates in the longer term, as the risks of businesses defaulting on their loans are transferred through government accounts. To an extent, therefore, in an indirect way, this government is advocating a similar approach to that which it is so ready to criticise in the heavily-indebted European countries like Greece and Italy, where interest rates charged to government have spiralled because of uncertainly about repayment in the long term. Where there is uncertainty about economic expansion in the near future, there is no free, easy way out of a credit crunch. The government juggling bits of the lending system between public and private sectors is a sticking-plaster solution which cannot change anything fundamentally because the recession is really out there, for reasons other than what banks do.
Somehow politicians and the media have managed to convince the public that the recession is a product of the problems of the banking sector, rather than the problems in banking being just a symptom of a real fundamental economic problem. The recession was all caused by unwise mortgage lending in the USA, according to many. More recently, the stress has been on the idea that it is all the fault of those running the Euro.
I have always believed that there is an underlying recession which exists because of the reasons that recessions and depressions always occur: commodity shortages and environmental issues, which are opposite sides of the same coin. Problems in banks and national banks are just a delayed manifestation (delayed by borrowing on the future) of the costs coming through due to the effects of global warming, other environmental problems associated with energy-intensive development, and demand for essential commodities outstripping supply with world population growth and the rapid expansion of the emerging economies.
The answers to the crisis are not fiddling with banking and taxation or even radically cutting public expenditure, which will just have to be increased again in the future to sort out the problems created by the current round of cuts. The answers lie in sustainable development, particularly reducing reliance on fossil fuels, better, more efficient planning of society (not a laissez-faire "business always knows best" approach), reviving manufacturing industry, engineering and science, the activities which genuinely create wealth, as opposed to speculation, which does not, making people skilled and productive in areas that genuinely benefit society, making society fairer, more democratic, equal and hence better-satisfied, and above all, controlling global warming and developing a climatically stable and fair development path for the whole planet.
Not easy. The hardest thing will be to convince people that they have to get used to the fact that growth, as defined in the past, will have to stop. There may never be a "recovery". That does not mean that peoples' lives will get worse however. They will have to change. The big challenge for politicians is explaining the difference.
Posted by David Arditti at 16:05 2 comments: Links to this post
Labels: banking, environment, global warming, Politics, society
The tragedies at Bow
The vigil in the centre of Bow roundabout
There are spaces in our cities that don't exist. These are the places that planners never expected, nor wanted, anybody to go, nor provided any facilities for them to be reached. They have no function except to give shape to the road junctions that flow around them. They are the bleak, dirty, litter-strewn concrete island pavements that the major road planning of the late twentieth century made so familiar to us: the centres of roundabouts, the places under flyovers. But one of these non-existent places took on a remarkable life on Friday evening. In the centre of Bow roundabout, in east London, people gathered to remember the two cyclists killed trying to negotiate that junction, on Boris Johnson's tragically mis-conceived Cycle Superhighway 2. Those people each personally had to take calculated risks even to reach that gathering point. There are no pedestrian crossings; the only way to the centre is to wait for the lights to go red and dash across at the white line, one stage at a time, from one bleak island non-place to the next. To cross when the lights are red, but when you have not seen them just go red, would be very foolish, for they can change again in an instant, and the traffic would be on top of you.
The message of the vigil
The dead cyclists were Brian Dorling, hit by a left-turning lorry while cycling east on 24 October 2011, and Svitlana Tereschenko, hit by a left-turning lorry while cycling west on 11 November 2011. The vigil was organised by the Tower Hamlets and Newham borough groups of London Cycling Campaign. Candles were lit and David Tuckwell, a local cyclist, led a minute's silence. Then the son of Brian Dorling spoke, then his widow, then the sister (I think) of Svitlana, then a local politician – I could not make out who that was, as it was hard to hear proceedings through the throng of 200 people who had turned up. A "Ghost Bike" was set up at the NW corner of the roundabout, where Brian had been killed, while a small shrine to Svitlana was seen at the SE corner, where she died. Press, TV reporters and prominent politicians attended: Brian Paddick, Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor (who has also been supportive of the cyclists' protests at Blackfriars), and local MP Rushanara Ali. There were many children there, including (I gather) a boy who had actually witnessed Svitlana's death. Poor boy.
Ghost bike for Brian Dorling
Shrine to Lana Tereschenko
Another member of LCC said to me how sad it was to meet at such an occasion. But I said that I could see a good side to this. For of the 33,000 road deaths in the UK over the last 10 years, few can have attracted such attention, caused such outrage, and led to so much political pressure for change as these two. These two deaths were so similar in their circumstances, came so close together, and so soon after the opening of Cycle Superhighway 2, whose opening had been proceeded by such unambiguous warnings from campaigners about the danger of what had been provided there, so clearly against Transport for London's own consultants' recommendations, the deaths being so clearly due to the defects in the design of the Superhighway that anybody who studied it could see, so clearly due to negligent design, that public outrage was inevitable, as was more publicity than has probably ever before followed a cycle fatality on London's roads. The high-profile nature of Boris Johnson's Cycle Superhighways scheme, his personal association with cycling and with this scheme, and the nature of this specific route, being the recommended route for Londoners to use to cycle to the Olympic Park, ensured this. So now there is real pressure for change, both here and on the other Cycle Superhighways, and on London's dangerous junctions more generally. It is sad this was achieved through this succession of events, but it is the good side of this double tragedy.
The "cycle facilities" that killed Brian Dorling
Daytime view to show clearly the defective design (picture courtesy LCC)
The design disaster of the Cycle Superhighway on this roundabout is clearly seen in these pictures. Large lorries and other vehicles are able, and encouraged by the design, to make a high-speed, low angle left-turn across the blue cycle lane. The potential for tragedy was always here, before the lane was painted, because of the inappropriately wide geometry of the turn and the excess lane widths. A cyclist pursuing a prudent course through this roundabout, in its pre-superhighway state, would not have been on that strip on the left, but in a more central position in the left-hand lane, to be clearer of the possibility of the left-hook and more in the line of sight of drivers.
Both the blue strip and the segregated section of lane on the outer edge of the roundabout that have been provided for cyclists have clearly made a dangerous junction far worse for them. The segregated strip is the biggest error. For to aim for its narrow entrance, a cyclist is going have to take the worst possible course, the one that makes it most likely for them to be overtaken on the outside and then mown down by the inattentive driver of a left-turning lorry. The narrowness of the entrance of the segregated section and the precision of the move required to get into it will inevitably slow the cyclist, making it more likely that they will be unwittingly overtaken and ploughed into by a driver having limited visibility from his cab.
This is a totally disastrous mis-application of segregated cycle engineering to a junction – one where the basic problems of the junction have not been fixed, and the best, but still highly unsatisfactory, course for a cyclist remains a high-visibility, fast, vehicular cycling approach, yet they are forced or encouraged to modify that approach to fit in with a facility that does not protect, thus creating a hugely amplified risk. Nobody who understood cycling could have designed this.
Transport for London's consultants on the CS2 project were Jacobs Consultancy. They told TfL that signalised crossings for cyclists were needed and that off-carriageway cycle lanes should be provided around the roundabout, to "encourage less confident cyclists to use the route". Though the wording about "less-confident cyclists" is peculiar – cyclists have the right to protection whatever their level of confidence, and Brian Dorling, for one, was certainly an experienced and confident cyclist – this was correct advice, with which LCC agreed. We know why TfL did not build the crossings. This was made very clear by the answer Boris Johnson gave to London Assembly Member John Biggs in May:
TfL have been unable so far to find an immediate solution for providing controlled crossings at Bow Roundabout that doesn't push the junction over capacity and introduce significant delays to traffic.
"Traffic", here, as usual when "cycling champion" Johnson uses the word, means, of course, motor vehicles. "Significant delays" to pedestrians and cyclists don't matter in the Johnson–TfL world – significant delays such as being dead for the rest of eternity.
This blog is not afraid to pull its punches, and I think we should stop diplomatically hiding the personal decisions of Boris Johnson behind the acronym "TfL". The way TfL is set up, legally, makes the Mayor effectively its dictator. Johnson personally decided on the trade-off between delays to motor traffic and risk to cyclists at this junction, and at others like it all over London. He could have instructed TfL officials to adopt a different policy, but he did not. People have talked about "corporate manslaughter", but I am not sure there is anything particularly corporate here. If there can be said to be manslaughter connected with recent cyclist deaths at at London junctions, there is only one individual behind it. We know where the buck stops.
More broadly, one should consider that if an attempt is being made to set up a safe cycling network in a city, it would make sense to take expert advice from those who have proven experience of delivering this elsewhere in the world. There is no proven experience of creating safe and effective cycle networks in the UK, thus expertise should have been drawn from abroad, ideally from the Netherlands, and officials should have been given the freedom politically to act on the that expertise. I have been saying for the last 20 years that London should get transport engineers for the Netherlands to redesign its roads, but this never happens.
In every industry in the private sector these is a flow of expertise from one country to another; those who are the real experts in every field move internationally to raise standards everywhere. Whether you talk about manufacturing, engineering, banking, media, arts or sports, we do not live in a nationally-compartmentalised world. In every one of these fields the real experts operate internationally, and are called upon to go wherever they can best help and most increase productivity, quality and profits.
But UK road engineering is different. It seems to exist in a bubble of its own that admits little influence or interference from people trained in places that do the same better. There are two aspects here: street engineering involves interrelated technical and political issues. The correct policies need to come from political leadership, but there needs also to be the technical expertise available to best realise the political ambitions when they are clearly crystallised.
We might forget all about cyclists for a moment, and think about how to design major junctions safely for motorists. We have not a clue about this in the UK either. Standing in the centre of the Bow roundabout, it was easy to observe the designed-in chaos of the motor vehicle interactions at this intersection, with, despite the signal control, near-collisions being a constant feature, with honking of horns and sudden braking all the time showing clearly the problems created by the wrong geometry of the entrances and exits, the multiple lanes and excess lane widths. These are not problems of user behaviour. To think in this way, as Johnson seems to, is to not have progressed to a sensible, realistic understanding of the interaction of human beings with the technology of transport infrastructure. These are problems of design.
The Bow intersection is a bad example, but not untypical of major UK intersections. There are many others similar in London. There are many junctions in London that frighten not just cyclists, but motorists, and are hated by many of them. I guess Bow would be one. Another that I know, because motorists in my area have mentioned to me how much they dislike it, is Northwick Park roundabout in Harrow: another chaotic, open geometry, multi-lane gyratory. This is terrifying to cycle on, and I do not do so, except to make a left-turn, and I advise cyclists to avoid it.
Northwick Park roundabout, Harrow and Brent
Another appalling junction that I do cycle through regularly, because, as at Bow, there is no other option for crossing a major linear barrier (the River Lea in the Bow case), is Staples Corner West. This provides the only practical way to cross the North Circular Road on the east side of Brent and the west side of Barnet. Staples Corner West is very similar to Bow Interchange. In both cases the east-west and north-south routes have both been taken across on uninterrupted separate motorway-style infrastructure. In the case of Staples Corner there are two levels of flyovers, for the A5 and the North Circular Road, over a roundabout. At Bow, the A11 is taken over the roundabout and the A12 is taken under. In both cases, slip roads connect these roads to interchange at a signalised multi-lane roundabout. In both cases, cyclists following the commuting desire-lines in and out of central London are faced with a choice of whether to take the flyover, avoiding the roundabout, but risking the low-angle, high-speed interactions with motor vehicles on the slip roads, or to go round the roundabout, risking the chaos there.
Staples Corner roundabout is not quite so bad as Bow as the spaces are not so wide, but it is sufficiently bad to greatly increase my tendency to take the tube into central London rather than to cycle down the A5. There was proposed to be a Cycle Superhighway here as well, CS 11, but TfL thought better of the idea, or Barnet, which part-controls the A5 here, did not want it, so CS11 has been redirected to the A41 (where it will still not penetrate into the anti-cycling Borough of Barnet).
Staples Corner West roundabout in Brent and Barnet
The sources of danger at all these intersections for drivers, pedestrains and cyclists are the multi-lane gyratory arrangements which encourage switching of lanes, the excess lane widths and broad turning geometries which encourage too much speed, the lack of convenient pedestrian crossings at surface level (Staples Corner has a network of little-used elevated walkways, while Northwick Park has a pedestrian tunnel), and the obvious lack of safe cycle facilities.
I am sorry to have to keep repeating myself, but the fact is that the Dutch know how to do roundabouts. They have unrivalled expertise in making roundabouts safer for all road users (including motor vehicle occupants), and it is very hard to undersand why in the UK we continue to pig-headedly avoid importing their expertise. The Dutch design roundabouts according to the principles of sustainable safety, meaning that they make it hard for road users to make dangerous errors. From the Dutch SWOV (Institute for Road Safety Research):
Homogenous use of the infrastructure is one of the Sustainable Safety requirements. On urban main road intersections, where all traffic types meet, this homogeneity requirement translates into reduction of the number of potential conflicts and lower driving speeds. [Dutch] Roundabouts meet this requirement because of their features.
By "homogeneous use" they mean all road users using the infrastructure in the same correct, predictable manner, because it was designed to make them do that. This is the reverse of the junction chaos that UK designs typically create.
Dutch turbo roundabout, from SWOV publication
Here is a Dutch "turbo" roundabout for motor vehicles only. A separate cycle path can be seen to the top right of the picture. The roundabout is designed to satisfy the need for high capacity simultaneously with creating sustainable safety. Vehicles bound for particular destinations, having particular origins, follow fixed, predictable courses through the roundabout. There are two lanes, but no switching and no conflicts. There is only one way to go, chosen by the driver before he reaches the roundabout. This is the simplest possible turbo roundabout, but many more Dutch roundabout designs, of increasing complexity, and including cycle facilities, can be found in this paper.
On relatively low-traffic Dutch roundabouts, cycle lanes may be located on the carriageway round the periphery of the roundabout, provided that the geometry is such that vehicles entering and leaving the roundabout cross the cycle lane almost at right-angles. Here is such a roundabout that I photographed in Groningen:
Unsegregated cycle lane on Groningen roundabout
However this is not the safest nor most modern design, and the Dutch generally provide entirely separate cycle paths around their roundabouts now. This would be the case always when there is a high vehicle flow. The cycle paths cross the motor vehicle entrances and exits almost at right-angles. There are several possibilities for priority. In rural areas the Dutch usually have the give-way markings on the cycle track, but in urban areas, often the motor vehicles have to give way.
One-way unsignalised cycle track round roundabout near Groningen: cyclists give way
Cycle priority on cycle path round Dutch roundabout
These solutions will not be satisfactory where motor vehicle flows are very high, and here signalised crossings for the cycle paths are required, so the crossing of the path with each arm of the roundabout is turned into a separate signalised junction. These signals can either be automatic, phased with other signals, or they can be push-button, or, most satisfactory for cyclists, they can be controlled by a magnetic loop detector embedded in the path which detects the presence of a bike and gives the cyclist a green as he or she approaches the crossing.
Two-way signalised cycle path round roundabout in Utrecht
This technology is so well-established and developed in the Netherlands it is not necessary for us to dangerously experiment with cyclists on busy roundabouts in the UK. The solutions are known. David Hembrow has provided a post which shows and explains every single roundabout in Assen (there are 19 of them), showing the wide variety of designs, and the fact that they all have separate cycle paths incorporated into their design.
Though I am no traffic engineer, or indeed graphic designer, I have made the crude attempt below to show how the part of the Bow roundabout on which Brian Dorling died could be modified to make it safe for eastbound cyclists, using Dutch-style engineering. This is of course not intended to be a definitive solution, but merely demonstrative of a possibility.
My suggested design for Bow
All TfL's blue markings need to be imagined as removed. An off-road cycle track is needed to cross the entrances and exits from the A12, some way back from the point at which vehicles make their turn. The kerblines need to be altered so that the turns off the roundabout are tightened, and vehicles cross the cycle track slowly and perpendicularly. Because of the very high volume, signals are essential for the track and slip road intersections. These would allow pedestrians to cross as well. Each crossing of the track by a slip road needs to become a small signalised junction. The lights could be phased to allow cyclists fast passage across both the exit and entry slip road, stopping only once, if at all. This solution is the sort of thing that can easily be produced within existing space constraints once throughput of motor vehicles ceases to be the over-riding criterion. Motor occupants benefit too from a safer, calmer, more predictable junction.
Fixing the Bow roundabout would not fix Cycle Superhighway 2, which I cycled on my way back from the vigil on Friday. The rest of it is a travesty of safe cycle infrastructure as well. The blue lane, marked intermittently in the inner half of the bus lane, does nothing to remove conflicts between cyclists and buses and conflicts at other junctions. This lane has no legal force, not being a mandatory cycle lane (not bounded by a white line), and it gives cyclists no protection in law, nor in practice. The A11 is a horrible road with a peculiarly aggressive "Gotham City" feel to it as you cycle towards the huge, overbearing towers of mammon of the City of London, looming up ahead. The implementation of this Superhighway, of all of them, was uniquely disappointing, as the space for creating proper, segregated cycle tracks on both sides of this road was so clearly present, even without alteration of the current vehicle lanes. The road is enormously wide, with much unused pavement space.
Bow Road, the A11, photo by Oxyman, taken before the implementation of the Superhighway. Plenty of space here for a wide segregated cycle track.
Basically, the Superhighway here, as with all of them, was done quickly, on the cheap, and with no coherent thinking on what it was actually supposed to do, save for waymarking a route which was obvious anyway: it is, after all, just the main road, the one that anybody cycling from the City to Stratford has to follow.
As I pointed out in my last post, it was clear at least as far back as August 2009 that the Cycle Superhighways were going to be like this. That was when TfL told LCC that:
Cycle Superhighways does not have the time or the budget to... seek major changes to traffic operations (e.g. via side road orders or controversial Traffic Regulation Orders).
Traffic Regulation Orders are the legal mechanism used in England and Wales for all significant alterations to highways, such as altering lanes, changing parking arrangements, or altering junctions. In ruling out seeking these, the Superhighways team was making clear that nothing would actually change on these roads. At that time I advocated that LCC should condemn the Superhighways programme and call for it to be stopped. Now, at its AGM last Wednesday, LCC has finally done that. In an Emergency Motion, overwhelmingly passed, the meeting resolved to:
1. Call upon TfL to immediately redesign the Bow roundabout junction, providing continuous, safe East-West cycle crossings and safe approaches and exits.
2. Call upon TfL to halt work on the remaining Superhighway routes until issues of road space reallocation and junction danger are addressed and resolved.
3. Call upon the Mayor to intervene and give TfL the mandate and political direction to provide clear space for safe cycling on London's main roads.
4. As part of out "Go Dutch" campaign, seek a commitment from the mayoral candidates that the Cycle Superhighways will be completed (including resolving barriers on existing routes) to the highest international best practice standards, in accordance with LCC's "Go Dutch – Key Principles" document.
TfL's response so far to the furore over the Bow deaths has been to announce the following:
Work is beginning on how London gears up to move to the next level of cycling infrastructure and continuing to improve safety for cyclists.
This includes a commitment from TfL to review all major schemes planned on TfL roads as well as to review all the junctions on the existing cycle superhighways.
That work will include an assessment of Bow Roundabout, which TfL have been asked to report back to the mayor on as a matter of urgency.
This could be interpreted as progress, but it could be intepreted as fobbing-off. We have had reviews and studies of cycling in London until our eyes fall out. What we need is not more reviews by TfL, but a change in policy by Boris Johnson, away from putting motor vehicle throughput above safety for all road-users. If these reviews are a face-saving way of him making this change, that is good. But I worry that what will come out of this will be some nonsense such as merely moving the blue lane at Bow roundabout from the outside to the middle of the carriageway. "The next level of cycling infrastructure" sounds fascinating. Is this the level where cyclists only get their limbs crushed under lorries, as opposed to their heads? For I believe that is what actually happened to both the victims of Bow.
I, for one, would like to see Boris Johnson apologise personally to the relatives of Brian Dorling and Svitlana Tereschenko, and personally promise to them to start to mend London's deadly junctions, in Brian and Lana's memory. I end with a video I made of the one minute's silence on Friday.
Labels: Barnet, Boris Johnson, Bow, Brent, Brian Paddick, Cycle Superhighways, Harrow, junctions, LCC, Newham, roundabouts, Tower Hamlets
Cycle danger in London and the predictable, grim farce of the Superhighways
While I was finding "Causes for optimism in November", others were not being so cheerful about the state of cycling in London. The Tour du Danger protest ride against the policies of Transport for London, particularly its refusal to redesign dangerous junctions to make them safe for cycling, which was organised by ibikelondon and Cyclists in the City, attracted a large crowd. They were spurred on by, firstly, the second cyclist death in three weeks on Cycle Superhighway 2 at the Bow Roundabout, and, secondly, by Boris Johnson's outrageous comments in response to questions in the London Assembly about cyclist safety, perhaps the worst of which was:
One of the first cycle superhighways takes you round the back of Elephant & Castle – that cunning little cut-through that I sometimes use.
Though I have to tell you ...sometimes I just go round Elephant & Castle because it's fine. If you keep your wits about you, Elephant & Castle is perfectly negotiable.
This, about the statistically most dangerous junction in London, that has seen 89 cyclists casualties in the last two years. That statistic alone tells you, even if you have never visited the place, that Elephant and Castle is not "fine", and it is not "perfectly negotiable", irrespective of where your "wits" are. It is unacceptably dangerous for cyclists, just as are literally hundreds of other junctions and sections of road across London. Though TfL keep creatively finding ways to combine statistics to suggest that cycling in London is getting safer, as in this attempt:
It is encouraging that the proportion of cycling collisions on TfL roads that result in fatal or serious injuries has declined since 2008, indicating that the severity of collisions is falling,
in fact the casualty rate per mile cycled in London is getting worse, according to Department for Transport figures:
A claim that cycle casualties per journey are declining, that TfL makes in this document, is statistically dubious, for the reasons explained in this valuable blogpost. In any case this is an irrelevant statistic, as it is the casualty rate per distance travelled that is the real measure of risk. This last-mentioned reference does demonstrate that we actually haven't got much of a clue as to what the cycling rate in London really is, so it is very hard to tell how risky it is, and how the risk is changing. As with everything in cycling, the Dutch do this better. The Dutch have a saying, measuring is knowing. The Dutch know what their cycling rate is, because their cycling is largely on cycle paths, and they have automatic counters on the cycle paths that look like this, that tell them how many cyclists use the routes:
Cycle traffic counter in Groningen
Because, in the UK, we don't actually know what the split of cycling is between major roads, minor roads, pavements and paths, and in most of those places, we don't count cyclists, we haven't really got a clue about how much cycling there is, and how dangerous it is. What we can say is that people increasingly feel that cycling in London is too dangerous. That is what the cyclists on the Tour du Danger were there to highlight, and to highlight, specifically, Transport for London and Boris Johnson's failure to redesign the streets and junctions they control with cyclist (and pedestrian) safety in mind. And they succeeded in highlighting it. The mainstream media is noticing this issue as never before. And, as I write, TfL have been forced to respond on Bow:
Transport for London (TfL) director Ben Plowden promised to look "very closely" at the cycling superhighway which ran through the Bow Roundabout.
He also said cyclists would be advised to avoid the route, which runs to the Olympic Park, during next year's Games.
Where else cyclists will be advised to go, to get to the Games, is not clear to me. Also, the question is, what is there to look at "very closely", that was not looked at last year when the design of the Superhighway was decided upon against all advice from cycle campaigners? Nothing has changed. TfL took a deliberate decision then to risk the lives of cyclists rather than produce a proper design for cycling. The two cyclists who have died there paid the price of that decision. Looking at this one roundabout "very closely" will not fix it, nor any of the others of hundreds of dangerous junctions and roads in London, without a fundamental change of approach from TfL.
For TfL's approach to cycling reflects the views of Boris Johnson closely. Where he says "it is just fine, so long as you keep your wits about you", and, again, "sometimes I don't think that physical streetworks are the answer", he is, as a cyclist himself, only expressing a type of view that has always had some currency amongst British cyclists: the view that the issues are personal and a matter of character and determination, not public, structural and political. This view is exemplified by the slogan, as formulated by David Hembrow, "I cycle, so you could cycle too". It demonstrates a profound lack of insight into how human beings operate, a profound failure of empathy – a quality you would have thought a successful politician would need. As Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones put it:
The Mayor is an experienced cyclist who wants roads that are safe for him to cycle around. In contrast, I am an experienced cyclist who wants roads that are safe for a twelve year old to cycle on. That is the gulf between us.
But I thought Charlie Holland on the Kennington People on Bikes blog put it best:
As an experienced motorist, cyclist, cycling instructor and trainer of cycling instructors I'd like to say that the Elephant & Castle and the majority of the Cycling Superhighways are bloody awful for cycling - which is why you hardly see any secondary school children, especially girls, cycling there.
Most of the motorists I know dislike many of TfL's roads and junctions, and they've undergone loads of training and a test! So what are the odds of your average soft, squidgy person who can't drive merrily pootling around these roads on bikes? Bugger all...
In the Netherlands they work really hard to make the route for cyclists friendly, obvious, direct and safe, subjectively and statistically, because they want their children to cycle and they recognise their vulnerability.
Here Boris just tells the boys and girls to grow some cojones and jump in front of the HGVs.
What a pillock.
Charlie later changed the last word to "buffoon", but I prefer his original.
So the Cycle Superhighways project always reflected Boris's view that what was really needed to get people cycling was publicity, encouragement and razzmatazz, not safe, clear cycling space on the roads. It was thus always going to be an entirely predictable, grim farce. Many are now saying that the scheme needs rethinking or abandoning, but to me (and I am not pleased to have been proven right by events), the failure was apparent from the early planning stages of the Superhighways. In August 2009, I urged London Cycling Campaign, under its then Chief Executive, Koy Thomson, unsuccessfully at that stage, to withdraw co-operation from, and support for, the whole Superhighways project. When Brent Cyclists was asked to help with the planning of Superhighway 11, proposed to run along the A5, I wrote, on 6 August 2009, the following to Thomson:
My option is that we should not take part. I am certainly not inclined to take part after having put a lot of effort into LCN+5 (more or less the same thing as Highway 11) which achieved absolutely nothing.
I think the whole LCC policy on the Highways (or are they Superhighways, TfL can't seem to make up its mind) is now wrong. We should rethink. I think we should not be co-operating with this project as the information with we have been supplied, particularly the presentation from last week's meeting at LCC, indicates that both the funding and the conception behind these routes is so calamitously inadequate to the task that they will be a total waste of time and money, and, worse, will attract inexperienced cyclists onto main road routes that have not been made any safer than they are now, with junctions that are still highly dangerous and unsuitable for all but the most skilled with-traffic cyclists.
The email below [not quoted here] from Koy, Rik [Andrew] and Tom [Bogdanowicz] says:
"The TfL presentation makes clear that the infrastructure element will be accompanied by soft measures such as cycle training, parking and promotion of cycling."
In fact, the presentation makes clear there will be no infrastructure element. Even the few slightly promising-sounding elements in the earlier (May) TfL presentation, particularly closing-off side roads along the routes, and "reorganising" parking and loading, seem to have been ruled out in last week's presentation, on Slide 9, "Constraints" where it says "Cycle Superhighways does not have the time or the budget to... seek major changes to traffic operations (e.g. via side road orders or controversial Traffic Regulation Orders". If B[oris] J[ohnson] did not realise that prioritising cycling would be controversial, why did he start on this in the first place?
The next paragraph on that slide is key for Route 11: the statement "The Boroughs are King". LB Barnet continues to be totally opposed to putting a route on the A5. It stopped LCN+5 and it will stop this. There is absolutely no point in us putting any more work into it before we get a definitive statement of a change of policy from Barnet. All the issues for the section from Kilburn High Road northwards have been covered fully in the LCN+5 CRISP report anyway.
In short, though I can see the argument that LCC needs to make the Highways as good as possible within the constraints, after last week's presentation, I think the balance of advantages to LCC (and London cyclists) has now shifted to one where we would gain more from publicly opposing the Highways scheme, and making a big media thing of doing so, rather than from being associated with the total failure and embarrassment that they will surely be.
Am I alone in LCC in thinking this?
This is a complete and unabridged quote from the email that I wrote in August 2009. I found the policy of conciliation and cooperation with TfL on the manifest impending disaster of the Superhighways, favoured by Koy Thomson, "for fear of losing all influence" to be very unfortunate. Since then, and with a new chief executive, LCC has changed its tone on the Superhighways a great deal, and I support their current position.
I was perfectly right then in pointing to the fundamental problem that anti-cycling boroughs like Barnet were able to veto the Superhighways. That is what happened to CS 2 when it reached the borough of Newham. The anti-cycling Mayor of Newham, Robin Wales, caused CS 2 to stop dead at the Bow roundabout, with no further facilities. The Superhighway may not have been any better implemented on that roundabout had Wales allowed it to continue into Newham, for, as Assembly Member John Biggs was told, it was TfL, not Newham, that was so obsessed with not reducing the traffic capacity of the Bow roundabout as to not be prepared to put in any signals for pedestrians or cyclists. Cycle Superhighway 11 has not yet been "built" (i.e. painted), but it is now planned, like CS 2, to just end, bang on the border of the Bikeless Borough of Barnet, at another nasty junction (the junction of the A41 Hendon Way and Finchley Road), where cyclists will, again, just be "dumped".
Contrary to their protestations, TfL's officials seem to learn no lessons in stumbling from the failed implementation of one Superhighway to the next. Here is Leon Daniels, TfL's Managing Director of Surface Transport, answering a question from Assembly Member Joann McCartney last month (p33 of the minutes of the GLA Transport Committee):
Joanne McCartney (AM): This Committee looked at cycle superhighways and we came up with a list of recommendations which included having a minimum standard on all of the superhighways, for example a minimum two metre wide blue strip, about improving consultation prior to a superhighway going in and about revisiting the pilots to make any improvements that were necessary. I am just wondering how you got on with some of those recommendations?
Leon Daniels (Managing Director of Surface Transport, TfL): Again, loads of lessons to learn from the initial cycle superhighway not just in respect of the superhighway schemes themselves but also the way in which the construction is done and the disruption to general traffic and so on. In just about every case we are looking to - this is a big compromise because, at the end of the day, the carriageway space is fixed and therefore we are trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot.
I agree entirely with you about minimum widths and so on. Just in some places, on the ground, practically, we are faced with what we have to do. In many cases - and Members will know some of these - there is a requirement for a certain footway width, the frontages need some space, there are requirements for loading and unloading, we need to keep ordinary traffic moving as well and, therefore, in many cases, we are shoehorning this into a narrow space. I agree entirely with you that a minimum width for cyclists is desirable but, again in many cases, we are stuck with what we can do practically and cost effectively.
So there you have it. It's a case of "trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot". It's a case of a minimum width being desirable, but "we are stuck with what we can do practically". What Daniels is clearly saying here is that, though this is supposed to be a scheme for cycling, cyclists are, in reality, still at the bottom of the pile on these roads. Footway requirements can't be altered, loading requirements can't be altered, and capacity for "ordinary traffic" can't be reduced (he might as well have said "proper traffic", that would probably have better reflected the way he was thinking), so the thing that has to "give" is space for cycling. Cycling needs no space, right, because cycles are so narrow? After starting by saying "Loads of lessons to learn", Daniels makes it crystal clear he is learning nothing at all. He is sticking to the same old "big compromise" line (i.e. compromise into meaninglessness) that has caused all London cycle infrastructure schemes over the last 20 years to fail, from the London Cycle Network, to LCN+, to the present.
I don't think Daniels, or Johnson, have the slightest idea what proper cycling infrastructure looks like, what it actually does, or how it can be implemented. I don't know if they have seen what they have in Holland, Denmark and Germany. Maybe they have, but just concluded, in classic British fashion, "This is not why they cycle here, they cycle here because it is flat". Presumably they have never seen the cycling infrastructure in Switzerland, Austria and Italy. Certainly Boris seems to make a big thing out of hills. When the ex-coordinator of Harrow Cyclists, Colin Waters, tacked Boris at a public meeting in March 2010 in Harrow School, on the question of why the Superhighways were no good, Boris totally avoided the question, turning it to humour, loudly asking Colin, to the audience, "Goodness me, did you cycle here? Up this fearsome hill? Congratulate that man, give him a round of applause!"
Boris's vision of a "cycle-ised city" (a phrase he copied from LCC) seems to be of a city pretty much as it is now, with perhaps a few more cyclists fitted in, in the gaps between the cars, just to take up space more efficiently, and take a few more people off the tubes. It's not a vision of the radically reconfigured, re-prioritised, safe, people-friendly environment developed by the Dutch and Danes. For some reason, he thinks that's no good, or not possible here. The fact that, in his vision, some cyclists fitted into those little gaps are inevitably going to get squashed by the motor vehicles doesn't seem to occur to him, or if it does, he thinks he can't do anything about it. He thinks that "physical streetworks are not the answer". He won't admit the bleeding obvious, that it is the physical state of his streets now that is the problem.
I don't really see him and his cohorts moving on from that position. We need change at the top.
Labels: Barnet, Boris Johnson, Cycle Superhighways, Cycling policy, infrastructure, Jenny Jones, LCC, Leon Daniels, Newham, Robin Wales, The Netherlands
Causes for optimism in November
Grey November is here in London, and a very grey, damp one we have been having so far. But every season has its place, and there is nothing wrong with the grey dampness of the London November, in its place. It provides a contrast to golden October, a pause before the hardness of winter sets in, with the (sometimes forced) jollity of the Festive Season, and, with nothing much growing or needing harvesting any more, and no sky to see, a time for reflection, with few distractions from the natural world. As Thomas Hood wrote in 1844:
No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon -
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds!
November!
And so I cycled off yesterday, armed against the darkness and damp of November with a new Schmidt dynohub, which perhaps I will review sometime (brief review: it is a superb gadget), to plan Brent Cyclists' Infrastructure Safari. This ride will take place this Saturday, 12 November. I am sorry that it coincides with another high-profile ride in central London, Mark and Danny's Tour of TfL's 10 most dangerous junctions for cyclists, but my ride was scheduled first. Its idea is somewhat the reverse of Mark and Danny's ride. We will not be deliberately going to dangerous places. The idea of this ride is a constructive one, to look at as many implemented examples of cycle infrastructure in inner London as possible on a short ride, to critique them and assess how they are working, note how they could be improved, and also note locations with no infrastructure, which patently need it.
What I am going to say next is purely based on subjective opinion arising out of my exploratory ride yesterday, interspersed with the odd fact, but I think it is worth saying, bearing in mind the highly negative (but I believe realistic) articles I have written recently about the state of cycling in outer London. It should be borne in mind that when I lived in the Borough of Camden, up until eight years ago, I cycled in inner London every day. Since moving to the outer suburbs, I have been cycling less to the centre. So I am perhaps more likely to notice the gradual changes there, on the occasions when I do cycle down, than those who now cycle there every day.
The disclaimer is that because I was exploring cycle infrastructure, I was likely to be going to places where more cyclists are; even poor cycle infrastructure has some positive effect on cycling numbers, in my experience. Also I was cycling around at peak time on a weekday.
What I have to say is that I got the feeling that cycling in inner London, particularly in Camden, Islington, Southwark and the City, has taken off in a new way, that I had not seen before, and is now probably on an irreversible upward trend. Last week, at an event I attended in Parliament, on behalf of the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, the Cycle Rail Awards Ceremony (never mind what that is, it's not important), the well-known transport commentator Christian Wolmar stated that "cycling in parts of London has now almost reached Dutch levels". This is an exaggeration. The highest-cycling borough, Hackney, had, in 2009, a mode share of 6% officially recorded, and though it might have gone up since, it is unlikely to be comparable with the mode share of cycling in Dutch city centres, which I guess would be typically above 50%, since they have whole cities, including suburbs, with a mode share of 30–50%.
Nevertheless I felt, riding yesterday, that a qualitative as well as a quantitative change has occurred in cycling in central London. It felt very different to how it felt only a couple of years ago. It is also starting to look different. Yes, it is still dominated by young to middle-aged men wearing high-viz and helmets and riding fast bikes fast, but not so much as before. There seems now to be a high proportion of women in the mix, mostly young women. There seem to be more continental-style bikes on the road – practical, town bikes with hub gears, mudguards and chainguards, integral lighting, luggage-carrying features, and an upright riding position. I even saw a lady on a sit-up-and-beg bike with handlebars decorated with flowers, as you see all the time in the Netherlands. The sedateness of the Boris Bikes seemed to have made its impact on the cycling atmosphere as well.
Starting my journey from north Brent, I saw there is still no cycling at all to speak of north of the North Circular Road. But after going through the horrible Neasden pedestrian/cycle underpass, getting into south Brent, on the quieter backstreet routes and in the parks, I was seeing women on bikes, and even families of children on bikes. And from Camden Town onwards there seemed to be a flood of people on bikes. When I cycled around Camden a decade and more ago (when I was involved in planning the Camden segregated cycle tracks with Camden Cycling Campaign), when I stopped at junctions, I would need to be wary of the cars around me, wondering what the drivers were likely to do, but I would not have checked for the presence of cyclists behind me, because there would never have been any (as in outer London today). But yesterday there seemed to be cyclists behind me all the time, if they were not in front or to the sides.
The cycle facilities in inner London still do not make up anything resembling a coherent network, on the Dutch or Danish or German pattern, but some of the gaps that used to annoy me intensely have now been closed up. In Camden, Islington and the City, at least, there now seems to be the beginnings of a functioning network. There has been an improvement in cycle permeability, and also a fall in motor traffic. This last is not an opinion, but a fact, confirmed by a useful analysis by Jim Gleeson.
The segregated cycle facilities in Camden are now getting absolutely packed, confirming both the popularity of this style of engineering with a broad range of cyclists (though still not adopted widely by other boroughs, or by Transport for London on its Cycle Superhighways), and the fact that these highly-engineered routes are now being fed better by better bike permeability elsewhere. This is what we always intended, in Camden Cycling Campaign, in our campaigning for them in the late 1990s. We never imagined many London roads would have segregated cycleways on them – just a few, to create a few high-profile, highly-attractive routes, in the Dutch style, fed by lower-profile permeability and cycle priority measures on other routes.
The signs are that this has worked, and I felt for the first time, on this journey, that the undoing of this work has now become unimaginable. Though, as I have reported before, there have been threats to the Camden segregated cycle tracks, I can't see them being taken away now: they are too popular. Unless, that is, cyclists were to be given the whole road, as they have been in Goldsmith's Row, Hackney, where a segregated cycle track was removed. But I can't see this happening in the Camden cases – there is too much commercial activity needing servicing by motor vehicles on these streets, so the segregated tracks remain the best solution.
The tracks still stop dead at the Westminster border, though the routes notionally continue. There has been no change in the anti-cycling attitude of Westminster Council (though they are, for reasons of their own budget, now starting to reduce free parking, which should benefit cycling). But the City Corporation has had something of a turn-around in attitudes, and the effects of this are noticeable.
There remains much to do in the City. The very useful Queen Street and King Street corridor north of Southwark Bridge, extending Cycle Superhighway 7, that I noted in my article on the bridge, has become such a high cycle-traffic route it needs to be converted to a proper bicycle road, Copenhagen style, with priority at the junctions, and none of the silly button-pressing and confusion with pedestrian facilities that currently occurs at the Cheapside junction. The Gresham Street to Moorgate route via Coleman Street is also so popular it needs regularising, with a properly signlised crossing of London Wall, for bikes only.
Back in Camden, I saw, and perhaps this is the first time this has ever occurred in British history, proper measures to divert and keep protected a cycle route when the usual route is closed by building work. This is a diversion on the Royal College Street two-way cycle track:
Diversion currently operational on the Royal College Street cycle track, Camden (picture courtesy Jean Dollimore).
I noted the problem with these works back in June, and I know that Jean Dollimore, co-ordinator of Camden Cycling Campaign (whom I happened to meet yesterday on the track: two-way cycle tracks are particularly sociable places) has been working hard to try to resolve it since then. My earlier photo showed the famous UK-standard "Cyclist Dismount" signs on the track. Now the solution implemented by Camden officers looks so good it is almost as if they have been reading A view from the cycle path.
Just to cast our minds back, before 1998 this road was a three-lane one-way race track for cars, with cyclists directed to a wiggly and inconvenient back street route. Just like Matthew Wright now thinks is the best, indeed the only practical, solution for London cycling. Since then one lane for cars has been removed, and the remaining two lanes have been narrowed and calmed, to make way for the cycle track and segregating strip. Now, one of the remaining lanes has been taken away from cars to keep cyclists safe for the expected 6–12 months duration of the building work. Note the child cycling in the picture. Segregated cycle tracks on main roads are particularly crucial to getting children cycling. Keeping them safe and the priorities unchanged when works are carried out is particularly critical, as the Dutch know. It seems that one London council is now aware of this as well.
Unfortunately I can't lavish too much praise on Camden council, as two other important cycle routes in the borough, that I used yesterday, are also blocked by street works, and without satisfactory mitigating measures for cyclists. One is in Tavistock Place between Marchmont Street and Judd Street. Jean informs me this blockage, for cable-laying, should only last a few days. At least the closure of the track here is clearly signed in advance. The other is Malet Street, in the centre of the University of London, where major street rebuilding work, taking a long time, should have had temporary cycle facilities incorporated, on this very high-cycling street. The result of the lack of them is cyclists annoying pedestrians on the pavement.
Cycle facilities in Islington looked relatively neglected, with a failure to sign routes consistently. In the City and Islington, cyclists were not directed around temporary blockages to their routes.
Going back out to Brent, I found that there is still a lot of work needing doing on permeability there, in the southern parts of the borough that I don't often cycle in. Brent did attempt at one time to create an off-road cycle path linking Canterbury Road, near Queens Park Station, to Kilburn High Road, but the details of the execution are poor, without even dropped kerbs in the right places. For this route to be useful, something needs to be done about the dangerous gyratory system around Queens Park Station. There needs to be a bypass to get cyclists from Albert Road to Salusbury Road without getting involved in the one-way system. Then very simple bike permeability measures, like cut-throughs at the road closures of Chevening Road/Winchester Avenue and Christchurch Avenue, where they meet Brondesbury Park, and Lechmere Road at Willesden High Road, have not been thought of.
Basically, the pattern is that conditions for cycling deteriorate as you go out from the centre of London, with fewer and worse cycle facilities, and the number of cyclists falls off correspondingly. The divide between the two cities, inner and outer London, the first of which has clearly had at least a bit of a "cycling revolution", and the other, which certainly has not, is becoming more and more striking.
I don't believe in the thesis of "safety in numbers". Cycling safety comes from good infrastructure design, and that then gets the numbers up – the safety does not come from the high numbers themselves. This is demonstrated by the increasing casualty rate amongst London cyclists, both absolutely and relatively, despite their rising numbers. This is a great cause for concern, and can fairly be blamed on Transport for London's lack of concern for the safety of cyclists, and their prioritisation of motor vehicle flow, as most casualties are occurring on the major junctions managed by TfL, not the boroughs. The boroughs are increasingly concerned about this, and are speaking out publicly about it. Anger, particularly at recent deaths at London's major junctions, widely commented to be unsafe for cycling, is behind the ride around the 10 most dangerous junctions.
It may be that a tipping-point has been reached in central London, where the number of cyclists has now become so great that they can exert themselves, through protests, conventional lobbying of politicians, and through the London Cycling Campaign, as a serious political force for gaining real change on the still, for the most part, far too hostile roads. If so, this would generate even more cycling, and a virtuous circle of rising cycling and improving conditions would be established, the reverse of the cycle of decline that I described operating in outer London. Not wanting to be complacent, it now looks to me, for the first time, on the basis of yesterday's ride, on a cold, damp November evening, as if that point could have been passed, and that inner London could be leading a revival of cycling in the UK, ahead of such traditional English cycling towns as Cambridge, Oxford and York, and despite many of the policies of London's mayor.
If you are interested in the Infrastructure Safari, join Brent Cyclists at 11:45 on Saturday at Gladstone Park Railway Bridge (the foot of Parkside, NW2). A meeting point closer to the centre could be arranged if anyone not from Brent wishes to join us.
Labels: Brent, Camden, City of London, cycling, Islington, Westminster
What people are saying about the M5 crash
Helen, a.k.a. Mrs Vole, who spends more time on the internet than most, with a focus on transport (some people do have strange girlfriends), comments on how the crash is discussed in rather contrasting terms, comparing news websites and cycling forums. On the news, the focus is on the fireworks display, the smoke, fog, poor visibility, rain and wet road. On the cycling newsgroups, they talk about speed and tailgating. In those discussions there is understanding of the concept of "contributory factors", whereas the general news channels look for the "cause" of the crash.
I sometimes think that perhaps all the most intelligent motorists are cyclists – at least part-time cyclists.
Hopefully there will be one last casualty of the M5 crash: the government's idea of increasing the speed limit on motorways to 80 mph (129 km/h).
More on this in a good article from Peter Willby in the Guardian: "Ministers are nudging drivers in the wrong direction".
Posted by David Arditti at 13:57 No comments: Links to this post
Some more thoughts on Dutch cycling
It is over a month since I returned from the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain study tour in the company of David Hembrow. I have referred to this tour quite a lot here already, but there are some major points that I took from it that I have not covered, and, in the light of a suddenly increased interest in the UK as to what "Going Dutch" could and should mean, I think it is a good idea to go into these.
The tour was very enjoyable as well as enlightening, and I hugely recommend anyone who has the slightest concern with developing cycling in any country other than the Netherlands to follow in our footsteps, and get over to Assen to do it. The Embassy hopes to put together another group to go next September, so start thinking about it. Or, if you want to go at any other time, David Hembrow will try to oblige.
For those "real cyclists" amongst you, don't imagine that "study tour" like this is all cerebral and nerdy. Well, it was a bit cerebral and nerdy, with plenty of photographing of bollards and videoing of traffic light sequences, but it was also physically enjoyable. Cycling 70 km in a day on a solid three-speed sit-up and beg Dutch bike with all the accessories was something the like of which I had done for a long time, and it was fantastic. Perhaps the highlight for me was the dynamo-illuminated night ride on cycle paths back from Groningen to Assen on the last day, which some of our party foolishly absented themselves from, by wimping out and taking the train! Taking the train with a bike in the Netherlands is extremely easy, and so always a temptation. I can't blame them.
How did the trip affect my views on providing for cycling? Well, the trip did not change my views in any major way, but it cemented and developed them. I had already understood the elements of Dutch cycle policy and infrastructure provision from reading A view from the cycle path, other websites, and talking and corresponding with others who had spent time cycling there. But there really is no substitute for experiencing it yourself. The cycling environment is so utterly different from what we have in the UK that we really cannot imagine it from this side of the North Sea. It is hard to adequately describe. It has to be felt, seen, and experienced. The scale, quality, ambition and complex diversity of the system developed to allow average people to cycle safely, comfortably and conveniently to anywhere they need to go in the whole country is beyond what I would have guessed, and beyond what any of us expected.
There were some situations where I thought I knew what the Dutch solution was, but what I found was that there was far more diversity in the solutions as used in different places than I expected. There are many possible ways in which cycle space can be arranged in towns and countryside, and I found that there are often several Dutch solutions to the same question. The Dutch have experimented constantly with cycle provision. So you don't find consistency, but do do find a large range of possible solutions to problems. Whatever the traffic or infrastructure problem is, that is hindering cycling, there is a Dutch solution, and, usually, a choice of solutions.
One point about which my opinions needed revising were give-ways, and the significance of them. Having gone around for a long time telling people in the UK that Dutch cycle tracks have priority over roads that they cross, if the junctions are not signalised, I found that often this is not the case. There are quite a lot of give-ways on Dutch cycle tracks and paths. Not in the way we have in the UK, where you get shared-pavement cycle routes with stupid give-ways at driveways and minor side turnings – Dutch cycle tracks always have priority over minor roads. But the Dutch paths, particularly when not adjacent to roads (i.e. when tending towards the suburban or rural cycle path model rather than the urban cycle track model) do often give way when crossing major roads, as minor roads would do, and they sometimes give way to the arms of roundabouts when encircling them. However, I discovered that in practice this is not a problem, for in an environment where motor traffic is so much lower on major roads than it is in the UK, you are not delayed much by these give-ways. They are not frequent. In addition, many drivers give way when not legally required, and a linked factor is junction and roundabout design, which tends to give motorists tighter corners than in the UK, which slows them just before many of these give-ways on cycle paths are encountered. Where cycle paths encounter very major roads with a lot of traffic on them, there are signals, or the path blithely continues on its way through a tunnel or over a bridge. Problem solved.
Before I went, perhaps I expected the achievement of the good cycling conditions in the Netherlands to be more about priorities and the law and codes of behaviour and enforcement, about what various road-users can and can't do, than it turned out to be. (Matthew Wright, writing on the Guardian's cycle blog, articulated this mistaken view recently.) But it turns out it's far more about the design of the roads, tracks and paths than about making road users behave correctly. There is actually a fair amount of chaos in how various road users behave, as there is anywhere, but the Dutch principle of "sustainable safety" has led them to design out the most dangerous conflicts. They have simply designed the environment so that it is hard for road-users to make mistakes, and the mistakes they can make are likely to be less dangerous ones.
There is a noticeable difference in approach compared to Germany, where I have also studied high-cycling towns. There, there is more freedom allowed by design, but more restraint expected though law-abiding behaviour. The German system of allowing cyclists on a cycle track to pass though a junction on a green light that is simultaneous with the green for cars on the adjacent carriageway gives cyclists on the track a high degree of priority, but their safety depends on drivers obeying the rule that they must not turn across the cyclists' path. The Dutch, on the other hand, not trusting drivers to behave in this way, completely separate the green phases for cars and bikes. However their traffic-light phasing still minimises delays to cyclists.
The Germans sometimes implement high-quality cycle tracks as well, but their junction principles are different. Münster, Germany.
I tended, before I went, to buy the line that is often believed in the UK that because only 10% of the roads in the Netherlands have segregated cycling on them, there is still a lot of interaction between cyclists with motor vehicles on all the other roads, but that this is safer because of good behaviour from the motorists in an environment where "everybody cycles". In fact that 10% statistic is highly misleading. Its implication is, in UK cyclists' minds, that 90% of the time you are sharing space with motor vehicles. But this is not so for several reasons.
Firstly, the roads where you do have segregation are the long ones, the important ones, and the ones on which you spend most time cycling. They are the critical "backbone" routes. Secondly, at least in the towns we visited, you spend a lot of your time cycling on totally separate cycle paths that are unrelated to the road network. Thirdly, you encounter few motor vehicles on the unsegregated roads. So, with this combination of factors, you find that the separation of cyclists from motorists in the Netherlands is astonishingly complete. Cyclists rarely have to "negotiate" with motorists in the UK vehicular cycling sense. We did find places where they did, have to, kind of, particularly in the busier Groningen, as opposed to smaller, quieter Assen, but these places were exceptional. So, with this degree of separation, it is not necessarily for motorists to be remarkably well-behaved towards cyclists for cycling to feel very safe.
One should bear in mind that a large part of the unsegregated 90% of roads are the narrow residential streets and cul-de-sacs that are irrelevant to transport (except for the few minutes you spend riding on them to leave or return to your home or other destination on them). One should not confuse traffic-calmed or traffic-restricted areas in the residential "Home Zone" or Dutch Woonerf sense with the cycle routes used for transport. They are separate, as they must be. The last thing you want in a Home Zone, where children should be paying in the street, is commuting cyclists rushing through it. This is a frequently-misunderstood point in the UK.
With the fact that the separation between cyclists and motor vehicles is almost complete in the Netherlands, it follows that the common (not universal) 30 km/h, or 18 mph speed limit, though it certainly makes towns and cities more pleasant for pedestrians and cyclists, is not so critical a factor in the safe cycling environment as is believed in the UK, where extending 20 mph is the main plank of campaigning for many organisations. Hence Roger Geffen, of the CTC, quite thoroughly misses the whole point of the Dutch model where he writes:
Even in the most cycle-friendly countries such as the Netherlands, most urban streets simply have a 30kmh limit, perhaps with some nicely-designed traffic calming, and no cycle-specific provision whatsoever.
And Matthew Wright is also far off the mark to say:
In reducing the Dutch approach to being mainly about paths, LCC is misrepresenting it. Their campaigns for a 20mph speed limit (widespread in the Netherlands), and the crucial issue of strict liability would make a more sensible centrepiece for Go Dutch.
It is very difficult to give an accurate and complete picture of what the Dutch cycling environment is like to those cyclists in the UK who have not experienced it. So again, I do encourage them earnestly to come and see for themselves. The trouble is that the context, the background of what we are working with, is so different. When you have spent 40 years implementing Dutch policies, which have led to so many more bike journeys and so many less car, bus, train and taxis journeys, everything in the landscape is transformed, and nothing seems directly comparable with what you see in the UK.
When we sent back pictures of what it was like cycling on a main road linking Assen with an adjacent village, a correspondent in England, well-known cycle campaigner, kept arguing that we were not showing something that had relevance. "That's not a distributor road" he said. "Go somewhere busier and take a photo". He thought we had found some traffic-free country lane leading nowhere to show him and hold up a false comparison with main roads linking towns and villages in the UK. But it was a true comparison. Analogous roads in the Netherlands and the UK, having exactly the same function, and linking settlements of comparable populations, look totally different. That 40 years of prioritising the bike has changed everything, and those who have spent their whole lives campaigning for change in the UK, with only very limited success, just cannot, without seeing it, imagine the Dutch environment, and understand how it has been achieved.
Is this a distributor road or not? Gasterenseweg, Loon, Assen
Likewise, many campaigners who cycle on busy roads in London and other UK cities just cannot imagine how their roads could be transformed if Dutch policies were to be implemented. They see problems everywhere: lack of space, competing demands from parking, buses, taxis, deliveries, pedestrians. "What can you possibly do here?" they often ask, in a despairing tone". But there is a huge range of Dutch solutions, as I have said, and implementing them widely through a city changes the whole background context, and makes things possible in "difficult" places that could not have been imagined before. Suddenly you don't need to find all that space for parking and for buses and other motor vehicles, and you can start improving the "difficult" streets. But you can't change everything at once, and it is important to realise how the Dutch got to where they are now. They started by doing the easy things, and that is what we will have to do in the UK. They then kept working on it and improving things, little by little. As David Hembrow always says, you just have to start, and then keep working on it, like the Dutch did. But you do have to start.
Before I went I had already formed the impression that 90% of what British cyclists say about cycling in the Netherlands is wrong, but I was not certain which 90% was wrong and which 10% was right. Now I know. Indeed, most of what is believed about cycling in the Netherlands, and how the cycle culture there has been achieved, on this side of the North Sea, is dead wrong. Here are some wrong ideas that I have encountered, and the answers to them:
1. The Dutch have encouraged the bike by making it very difficult to drive and park
Not so. You can get everywhere by car in the Netherlands, with fair convenience. The Dutch have fast roads, motor access to everywhere that might be needed, and plenty of inexpensive or free parking where it is needed. The Dutch seem to have fewer traffic jams than we have. An argument can be made that driving, using and owning a car in the Netherlands is actually easier than in the UK.
2. The Dutch have encouraged the bike by good planning, putting everything within easy cycling distance
True only to a limited extent. What is "easy cycling distance?". Everybody's mileage varies. But if you make cycling really pleasant and relaxing, people, even the unfit, may be willing to cycle surprisingly long distances. There are dense developments in the Netherlands, and there is urban sprawl. There is good planning and less ideal planning, such as you find anywhere in the UK. There is no strong relationship between cycle uptake in the Netherlands and planning characteristics of the towns, cities and suburbs. There is high cycling in some very low-density regions, and less cycling in some higher density regions that might be thought to be more amenable to bike use. The strong relationship is between cycle facility provision and cycling levels. In other words, a city or region with a high standard of infrastructure, but more need to travel, can have more cycling than a city or region with less good infrastructure, but smaller typical distances to travel. It's more related to subjective safety than distances.
3. The Dutch have ensured that motorists behave well through "strict liability" and other laws
As in the UK, you sometimes encounter motorists behaving stupidly and selfishly. There were occasions in our travels where we encountered motorists driving at us, and we might comment on those occasions, "He didn't seem to be particularly worried about his strict liability, did he?" Dutch motorists are not all brilliantly behaved towards cyclists. The real and subjective safety of cycling in the Netherlands comes from good design, and from the general separation from motor traffic, not through having made motorists saints. Therefore the stress that is being placed on campaigning for Strict Liability now by some UK cycle organisations and commentators is a mistake. Strict Liability might be a good thing to have in the longer term, but it should not be a priority (and it is very far from general political acceptability in the UK anyway). The efforts would be far better spent on campaigning for good infrastructure, which is far closer to political achievability in the UK. The effectiveness of the infrastructure should not be seen as depending on any changes to the law.
A further "it depends on the law" argument is around priorities at junctions. Roger Geffen of CTC again, in the article mentioned earlier:
Another important pre-requisite for segregation to work is legal priority for cyclists at junctions, given that this is where around 70% of cyclists' injuries occur. In countries like Denmark and the Netherlands, if you're on a cycle track and travelling straight ahead at a junction, the law says you have clear priority over drivers turning across your path, even when the driver has a green traffic light.
Apart from conflating different countries which do things differently (I have mentioned differences between the Netherlands and Germany), this is simply wrong in the Dutch context, which I believe provides the best model that we should follow. Most modern Dutch junctions use the simultaneous green for cyclists system, where all motor traffic is held at red twice in the full cycle, while all cycle movements are allowed, the cyclists turning in different directions negotiating with one another (this takes practice, which, of course Dutch cyclists get plenty of). So there is no potential conflict with motor vehicles, and no role for the law in defining priority. Again, the viability of translating infrastructure to the UK should not be seen as needing changes to our laws. Waiting for these will probably delay us for ever. The favourable position enjoyed by cyclists in Dutch law followed the establishment of the infrastructure-based mass cycling culture, came as a political consequence of it. That was the way round it happened.
4. Dutch cycling culture is just about slow utility cycling
When you have created such good conditions for cycling as the Dutch have, and cycling becomes normal transport from kindergarten to dotage, non-utility cycling also mushrooms and blossoms in every conceivable direction. Far from there being a lack of "enthusiast" or "sports" cycling in the Netherlands, the country is full of racing cyclists, time-trialists, Audaxers, long and short distance touring cyclists, leisure and enthusiast cyclists of every description, even, would you believe it, mountain bikers (there are specially constructed rough and muddy mountain biking courses, to make up for the lack of true mountains, or even hills). Every town of consequence has a racing bike track (far from the case in the UK), and you see all these breeds of leisure and sports cyclist far more frequently than you do in the UK. While the vast mass of cyclists is not really that interested in their bikes, as they are not enthusiasts, merely people using a machine, that they have limited understanding of, as a tool for transportation, this mass is in addition to the enthusiast cadre, which is itself much larger than in less favourable cycling countries.
Assen's cycle racing track
And another thing, another huge misunderstanding: cycling in the Netherlands is fast. As fast as you want it to be. Cycling through Dutch towns on cycle infrastructure is much faster than cycling through British towns on roads, because of the junction priorities, the planning that has reduced the frequency of junctions (in old urban areas achieved through closing many of them), the "clear space for cycling", the lack of obstructions and hazards to watch out for all the time, the separation from traffic, and the quality of the surfaces. A critical point, never commented on in the UK: unless you separate cyclists totally from heavy motor vehicles, you can never have decent smooth surfaces for cycling on, because the heavy vehicles will always mess the surfaces up faster than it is economic to repair them. Segregated cycle tracks and paths can have perfect surfaces: they are indeed the only economical way perfect surfaces can be achieved. And that means speed, as well as safety. In the countryside, unrestricted by frequent junctions, the cycle paths allow cycling at any speed you want. Joe, in our party did indeed attempt to attain 40km/h on the cycle path, on the flat (well, everywhere is flat), but narrowly failed, saying it was because the rest of us were in the way.
Perfect surfaces are standard on Dutch cycle paths, making for no speed limit other than that imposed by your legs
So if you want to, you can cycle very fast in the Netherlands. But of course most people don't wish to. The fact that you don't need to cycle fast or assertively to be safe, or to make the mode work for you, to benefit your life, is key to the universality of Dutch cycling – the fact that you cycle at the speed you want, that there is no pressure. It's the reason so many Dutch people go on cycling into their seventies, eighties and nineties. Despite the health benefits of cycling, we all have to die some where, some time, and many Dutch people literally drop dead on a bike – one reason to be very cautious about the meaning of cycling fatality figures compared between the Netherlands and other countries. People commonly die on bikes, or after falling off them, with no involvement of other traffic. An old person suffering a low-speed fall from a bike is much more likely to die as a consequence than is a young person. But this kind of cycling fatality, though sad, is an indication of success of Dutch cycling policy, not failure.
No pressure: cycle gracefully through middle and old age in the Netherlands (and I'm not referring to Sally)
I am glad that I now understand far better how the Dutch achieved the highest cycling rate and the safest cycling in the world. I hope these posts help in the understanding of this in the UK other countries. For understanding is the start of change, and though change takes time, and can be difficult, if it proceeds through accurate understanding, it is easer. Let's get to work.
Posted by David Arditti at 01:53 12 comments: Links to this post
Labels: Assen, Cycle sport, Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, Cycling policy, infrastructure, The Netherlands
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Lorries and cyclists, then and now
How we don't seem to be able to make any progress on how lorries can co-exist with cyclists
Rejoice, Cyclists of London
How UK cycling strategies of the past have failed because of misunderstandings on safety and cycling demographics
A little bit of Amsterdam in London
Cycling provision in London on the Dutch model that works
How it does cycle campaigning no good to downplay the danger issue
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Further discussion of the subject of cycling propaganda and how danger relates to the cycling demographic
Impossible journey in the Bikeless Borough of Barnet
How a combination of a cycle-hostile council and misguided campaigning have resulted in one of the worst environments for cycling in London
Byng Place and the influence of the anti-infrastructural "Shared Space" movement
On the flaws in the idea that good conditions for pedestrians and cyclists are magically created by removing kerbs
Picking cherries and other low-hanging fruit
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British cycling advocacy needs to move beyond the misleading "safety in numbers" concept to "safety through infrastructure"
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Quality cycling-related blogs
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NRL Contenders Or Pretenders in 2009?
CONTENDERS OR PRETENDERS?
So here we are, halfway through the 2009 NRL Regular Season and we've all seen enough football to begin the annual sorting of contenders from pretenders for the premiership. Fourteen Premiership Rounds are in the books and each side has now played at least half their schedule, resulting in a premiership table that looks like this with both byes included. Table Updated: 16/6/2009 2:36pm PRETENDERS & POSSIBLES & CONTENDERS LISTED BELOW. What we have is a difference of 14 points between first and last with the Top 8 cut-off current standing at 18 points. But the ladder only tells us who can or cannot make the Finals. What it doesn't always divulge is which teams can actually contend for the premiership. So here is the lowdown on which teams can and which teams can't win the premiership in 2009. PRETENDERS - absolutely no hope of winning the title in 2009. WARRIORS - My pre-season pick for the title (remember that was when everyone was healthy and we only had last year's form to reflect on as well as how influential new players and coaching staff would be - you can't predict for injuries) are running 11th but haven't looked like a team that can win the comp since way back in Round 2 when they beat the Sea Eagles to start the year 2-0. Losing Brent Tate and taking too long to realise that Joel Moon isn't a strong playmaker in the number six put this team into a downward spiral that has seen them lose 7 of their last 10 games. Ivan Cleary has put Lance Hohaia in at pivot finally but a serious crack at the title bolted when Tate got hurt. To be fair to the Warriors they could find themselves in the 'middle/possibles' category by the end of the season but I still don't believe that they have a hope in 2009. Premiership Odds: $18.00 TIGERS - The biggest disappointment with writing these guys off, is that a team with Robbie Farah, Benji Marshall and Englishman Gareth Ellis won't be playing September football. Yes they could turn it all around and go on a 4 or 5 match winning streak to sneak into playoff contention but a title challenge is beyond this group that still features too many below average footballers in the 17 each week. Tim Sheens can't work miracles every year and until the club spends big on another forward and outside back they will remain on the outside looking in for a Grand Final birth. Premiership Odds: $67.00 RABBITOHS - The signing of Michael Crocker certainly added some quality to their backrow but this team doesn't have the class to compete in the Finals - if they make it that is. Craig Wing at lock works and John Sutton is starting to add some touches of quality to his ball playing game but the game plan in attack is unimaginative and defensively they've been found out too many times to suggest they have anything in reserve to mount a challenge later in the year. Premiership Odds: 67.00 RAIDERS - Went away from their 2008 game plan of ball movement after just one half of football in Round 1 (where they looked a million bucks in the opening half versus the Tigers only to shut up shop in the second and get beaten) and despite some suggestions in recent weeks that David Furner has gone back to that style - it has only been in the first half yet again before Furner's edict of playing big up the middle takes over and the attacking fluency disappears as they search for the miracle play on the last tackle. The premiership dream is over in Canberra after flirting with greatness at the back end of 2008 - and with a mediocre competition this was an opportunity the Raiders will regret for years. Premiership Odds: $67.00 PANTHERS - At their best they will only beat teams who don't play expansive football to expose Penrith's fragility on the edges in defence. If a team tries to play the Panthers up the middle they will invite Penrith into a game they want to play, but if sides hold Penrith's go-forward and target their edge defence - Penrith are very beatable. A side that has the likes of Petero Civonicea, Michael Jennings, Trent Waterhouse and Luke Lewis could contend if they didn't have a supporting cast that included Brad Tighe, Maurice Blair, Jarrod Sammut, Frank Pritchard (yes he's chronically over-rated), Frank Puletua, Nathan Smith and Matt Bell in their regular 17 man squad. In other words the top end quality is there but the supporting cast is very average - you can't win with that combination. Premiership Odds: $21.00 SHARKS - Based on their 2008 placing you have to scratch your head as to why it took until Round 14 to notch up their 4th win of the season. But their finish to 2008 was a choke in the Preliminary Final and probably showed a truer indication of their inability to put teams away when they had a glut of possession and field position. They are a team that defensively should turn up each week but don't have the strike-power out wide to worry good teams. There is some hope with the likes of Nathan Stapleton and Blake Ferguson getting a run lately but when their go to play in attack is a Corey Hughes inside ball to Paul Gallen (something the Raiders fell for yesterday) - Trent Barrett can't be that confident his outside men can do the job. And neither are we. Premiership Odds: $101.00 EELS - The good news is they've signed some new blood for 2009, the bad news is they aren't arriving until next year. The 2009 Eels are a work in progress and although the loss to injury of Feleti Mateo has been devastating in Daniel Anderson's rebuilding process - at least it opened the door to give Daniel Mortimer a taste of First Grade. But let's be honest - a title in 2009 is way beyond teams with more firepower than the Eels this year but who knows about 2010 - the Dogs recruited well this year and became contenders so don't be discouraged Eels fans by looking towards next season. Premiership Odds: $81.00 ROOSTERS - A team that relied on points from kicks in 2008 has found life is extraordinarily tough when that avenue to points fails you. The Roosters are a struggling football team in every sense of the word this year and the only hope on the horizon is that there are only twelve rounds left until the playing roster and coaching staff can start playing golf to help forget about 2009. The only key player on the roster not to regress from their 2008 performances is Nate Myles - although you could argue Braith Anasta is trying harder than ever - he's still not playing well enough to win games of football for his team. The upcoming off-season can make or break the next five years at Bondi. Premiership Odds: $501.00 POSSIBLES - it will take an unbelievable run in September to win in 2009. KNIGHTS - There is no doubt the Knights can play some entertaining and more importantly - effective football under Brian Smith but there are two things that will stop them making a serious dent in the Finals. The biggest drawback is despite a first half of 2009 that has them sporting 8 wins from 14 games - the likes of Kurt Gidley, Jarrod Mullen and Isaac De Gois (their 3 most influential players) can't play any better than they have so far and the Knights still don't have a premiership feel about them. The supporting cast is more than solid (even without Ben Cross and Adam MacDougall who are injured) but the second aspect that raises concern over the Knights ability to contend is Brian Smith's insistence to tinker with the starting line up to 'expose' his fringe first graders to starting football. This idea has some merit certainly but something noticeable from Smith's tenure at the Eels where this practice was an almost weekly occurrence is that the Eels couldn't put it altogether on the day they had to win. Resting key players is one thing but taking them out of their comfort zone in a game plan and messing with their roles to accommodate inferior players hasn't resulted in Smith getting the best from his key men on what turns out to be his sides last game of the year. Just an observation but it is just one of many key factors weighing against the Knights in 2009. Premiership Odds: $15.00 TITANS - This is the year they qualify for the Finals for only the second time (Doesn't matter what you believe Gold Coast CEO Michael Searle - the Titans are the continuation of the Giants/Seagulls/Chargers and their 1997 qualification and their wooden spoons count) and the first time since they re-entered the comp in 2007. They currently sit in second place on the amended table and barring another late season collapse like in 07 and 08 - they'll be playing in September. But for how long remains to be seen, they have a few top shelf stars in Scott Prince, Luke Bailey, Anthony Laffranchi and Preston Campbell and the supporting cast is offering more than they have in three seasons but the Titans just don't have a premiership smell about them. They lack attacking potency in the centres unless Mat Rogers is moved wider and their attacking game plan overuses second rowers Laffranchi and Mark Minichiello to the point where their effectiveness wanes as the season goes on. No premiership assault this year despite their ladder position. Premiership Odds: $11.00 COWBOYS - Sunday's loss to the Dragons has my opinion of Johnathan Thurston and the Cowboys unchanged. Thurston is a great front-runner - and thus so are the Cowboys - but if they sport a team a significant lead, then Thurston/Nth Qld simply aren't good enough to beat the team that gets that lead. I rate Thurston very highly but his abilities are made for a front-running team and despite a couple of Dally Ms, Test and Origin jerseys and two extended playoff runs with the Cowboys (yes he won a premiership with the Dogs in 2004 but that wasn't as a starter) - I'm still to put him in the elite category of a Langer, Daley, Stuart, Fittler, Lockyer or Johns - all players who could win games from anywhere. We won't see the best of Matt Bowen again til next year coming off his knee surgery and despite the forward pack regaining an edge it lost in 2008 - the Cowboys will need a sensational month before the Finals to gain momentum and then have a better side fall over in September for them to seriously have a chance at the premiership. Premiership Odds: $11.00 CONTENDERS - In a mediocre NRL these sides have the quality to take advantage and one side will win the 2009 Premiership. SEA EAGLES - The defending premiers have struggled mightily without their best player Brett Stewart this season but in the last month their second best player Matt Orford has stepped up his game and led Manly to wins in four of their last five games and he has 10 Try Assists in that period. His influence on the game had to lift if Manly was going to start making a serious comeback into playoff calculations and Manly now only sit two points out of the Top 8 with all byes factored in. The promotion of Shane Rodney to the run on team has added some mobility that the team lost when Steven Menzies left and the play of Matt Ballin – which goes largely un-noticed – has risen to a new level in the past month. But as always with Manly they need Brett Stewart back by August the Sea Eagles to truly be a contender in 2009. Premiership Odds: $8.00 BRONCOS - Losing Justin Hodges for an extended period exposes a real weakness in the Broncos backline. Their feared right hand side becomes average with Israel Folau heavily marked at centre and the averageness of their left combination – Steven Michaels and Antonio Winterstein is truly exposed. But with Brisbane the question marks their forward pack had surrounding them entering the season appear to be unanswered halfway through 2009. Sam Thaiday has run out of gas after a sensational start to the season and apart from Nick Kenny and Corey Parker – the rest of the pack is finding life tough. Ben Te’o is being exposed badly as Darren Lockyer’s ‘minder’ without Hodges also lining up and the likes of Lagi Setu, Josh McGuire, Ashton Sims and of late – ‘bad boy’ Joel Clinton are having little impact in the middle of the field. Then there is the turnstile defence of Lockyer and the realisation that Peter Wallace actually isn’t very good. But in this competition mediocrity reigns and the Broncos have time on their side to get it altogether by August/September and the quality in Lockyer, Hodges, Folau and Karmichael Hunt to well and truly contend. Premiership Odds: $8.00 DRAGONS - Those fans who believed Wayne Bennett was a product of great players can’t be happy. It appears that you have no idea about football. That being said the Dragons rise to such a consistent level is still quite a shock given how much quality left the roster over the past few seasons. Bennett has instilled self belief into his players and given Jamie Soward the kind of free reign you wish other coaches would give their most gifted playmakers. The strangest thing about Soward is even with a free reign to run he’s never been and never will be a great ball player but his role is to kick long, link his outside men and know when to run. None of this structured game plan of repetition that kills all natural footballing instincts in the freakishly talented, just a directive from Bennett to Soward that he is to play smart football and seize the opportunity to try something when it arises. The maturation of Michael Weyman should also be heavily attributed to Bennett’s commitment to bettering the person as much (if not more than) as the player – as the kid we saw struggle with injuries and a role in Canberra is now the undisputed leader of the Dragons pack. The backline is gelling nicely as the season goes on but the key to this is edict from Bennett that they get ball. It’s not rocket science but the Dragons philosophy to improve by doing under Bennett has them well and truly in contention in 2009. Premiership Odds: $5.50 BULLDOGS - The rise and rise of the Bulldogs has continued throughout 2009 as a new coach, new players and a new attitude has the Canterbury club smelling a Minor Premiership just a season removed from the Wooden Spoon. As previously stated in this feature – the NRL competition is mediocre compared to even six years ago – but full credit must go to the Bulldogs who have rebuilt their team in key positions and have tasted defeat just 3 times in their first 12 matches. The Brett Kimmorley-Michael Ennis combination is moving the team around the park beautifully and the addition of some strike power out wide has made the Bulldogs a genuine premiership threat. There are concerns about the depth and quality the Bulldogs have on their bench but their starting backline and forward pack are producing the goods as they build towards a title charge later this year. Premiership Odds: $6.50 STORM - Adding Brett Finch made so much sense when hit the market and the Storm are still a premiership threat because of it. He’s freed up Cooper Cronk to return to his running/scheming best and given Ryan Hoffman a new lease on life after a poor start in 2009. Greg Inglis in the centres was desperately needed and if Cameron Smith hits a purple patch coming out of the State of Origin series then no team can run with the Storm offensively. But Melbourne’s deficiencies in attack to start the year aren’t the only concern. The edge defence that was the cornerstone of the Storm’s three consecutive Grand Final appearances has to be rebuilt and is still a work in progress. Positive signs up front is the emergence of Aiden Tolman and the return to form of Jeff Lima and Adam Blair after slow starts. Melbourne should be favourites for the title but their current combinations remain a work in progress. The good news for the Storm is if the combinations work they’ll win the comp. Premiership Odds: $6.00
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Election in Kogi | Senate Approves N10 billion three days to Voting
Three days to the governorship election in Kogi State, the Senate has approved promissory notes and bond issuance of N10.069 billion to the state as refund for projects executed on behalf of the federal government.
The approval on Wednesday was criticized by opposition lawmakers who asked that the approval be delayed till after the election.
They were, however, outvoted by majority senators.
Kogi, like the Senate and the federal government, is controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The approval was a sequel to the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts which considered the promissory note programme and a bond issuance to settle inherited local debts and contractual ibligations on the refund to state governments for projects executed on behalf of the federal government.
A promissory note is a debt instrument which one party promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other, either at a fixed or determinable future time, under specific terms.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on October 15 asked the Senate to approve the issuance of N10.069 billion promissory note to Kogi State government for projects done on behalf of the Federal Government.
He had said the 8th National Assembly passed the resolutions approving the issuance of promissory notes to 24 out of 25 state governments, leaving Kogi State.
The chairman of the committee Clifford Ordia, presented the report, asking the Senate to approve the amount requested having met with the permanent secretaries of the ministries of Finance and Works and Housing.
He said the committee also met with representatives from ministries of finance and works and Housing in Kogi State to consider the report.
Mr Ordia said the Kogi State Government conducted projects on seven federal roads and has paid all the contractors – hence the recommendation that the amount be approved.
“Based on our findings, some of the highways were in the state of disrepair before the intervention was carried out. The state government has paid all the contractors that constructed the road.
“Our humble recommendation, is that the Senate do approve the refund of N10 billion for projects executed on behalf of the federal government,” he said.
Prior to the approval, the Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, kicked against the recommendation to approve the refund.
He noted that the timing for the approval is wrong as the state is expected to hold its governorship election on Saturday.
He asked that the approval of the money be delayed by one week.
“What I don’t want is the misuse of these funds because it is for the people of the Kogi State. This is not the right time, this is the time where the exigencies of the moment may be used.
“There is no harm in approving this money. Let the approval be delayed by just a week,” he said.
But the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan said the Senate’s approval of the refund is only coinciding with election.
“Kogi State applied applied for this in the last Senate, all the other states were paid. Kogi was not approved at that time, we as a Senate has seen as a necessity and it is a coincidence,” he said.
Despite disagreement from some lawmakers in the chamber, Mr Lawan put the question to vote. The amount was eventually approved after a voice vote.
The approval by the Senate means the state can now access the funds amidst fears it could boost incumbent governor Yahaya Bello’s war chest for the Saturday election. The governor had in the past, however, pledged to ensure judicious use of the refund.
The Kogi State governorship election holds on Saturday. The election is expected to be a close contest between the governing APC and the main opposition PDP.
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amyhenrybooks
The Human Condition (BLOG)
Be Kinder Than is Necessary
Posted on December 1, 2018 November 28, 2018 by alhenry
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” (Winston Churchill)
I was driving along in August—98˚ in the shade, rush-hour traffic inching forward, some Cars tune on the local oldies station—when I noticed a bumper sticker on the Honda to my left: Be kinder than is necessary. Something lifted in my heart. A breeze penetrated the mug. At the next opportunity, I pulled over to the side of the road and jotted down those words on the back of a grocery receipt. Be kinder than is necessary.
To say we live in divisive times is like saying arsenic will kill you. Duh. And there are real issues we must confront attached to these divisions—racism, immigration, misogyny, healthcare, the environment, democracy itself—but that’s in the aggregate. On a molecular level, each of us deals with the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker—our neighbors and fellow community members. Not cardboard demographic representations. Not a frenzied TheRUMP rally mob screaming “Lock her up!” Or a deluge of polls dividing us 60/40, 40/60, 50/50. But real people with real faces. If we want to build a better world, this is an excellent place to start.
Wax and Wane
Homo sapiens are a quirky little species. We are both caring and cantankerous. Principled and sheeplike. Social and self-absorbed. Among our many tendencies is the kindness we demonstrate in moments of major crisis—natural disasters, wars:
Texas Military Department
Houston resident Jack Schuhmacher rescued numerous people trapped by the rising floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey, ferrying them to safety in his 17-foot fishing boat.
Hermine “Miep” Gies, her husband, and three other Dutch citizens risked their lives for more than two years to hide Anne Frank’s family and four other Jews from the Nazis. It was Miep who grabbed Anne’s diary in the mayhem of the arrests, keeping it safe until Anne’s father returned from Auschwitz in 1945.
International Auschwitz Komitee
Sadly, the sense that we’re all in this together tends to go dormant once a crisis wanes. People return to insular mode, making a living and looking after their own turf. Petty concerns predominate and rancorous rivalries erupt. Twitter wars ensue. But the reality remains: We ARE all in this together every day. If anything ultimately dooms us, it will be our failure to recognize the truth of this.
Beyond Necessity
Be kinder than is necessary. But, what is “necessary kindness”?Is it merely good manners—holding the door for someone carrying a child or packages, thanking someone who does the same for us? Is it mouthing the expected platitudes in certain situations? I was so sorry to hear that your father died/ I hope you’ll find another job soon/Wishing you a speedy recovery. Perhaps the word necessary here serves as a synonym for the minimum response required to not be thought rude or heartless. We are busy, busy people after all, and it’s just not possible to extend ourselves to all the need out there.
Until it’s us. Our sorrow. Our disaster. Our need.
Fortunately, being kinder than is necessary rarely involves the sort of mortal risk Miep took in hiding the Frank family. Sometimes it’s just—literally—going that extra mile.
In my student days, while doing a semester at the University of London, several of us decided to go to Paris for a long weekend via the Hovercraft from Ramsgate to Calais. Taking the train to Ramsgate was easy, but we had no idea where the docks were once we debarked. This was in the days before satnav, before the Internet and Mapquest. You got around mainly by asking the locals “Which way?”
The woman we asked for directions in Ramsgate could have reeled off a list of street names and left/right turns, as most people do. But she didn’t. Instead, she offered to walk us to the ferry landing, despite the fact that she was on her way home after a day of work, despite the fact that the docks were in the opposite direction of where she was heading. “It’s only a mile or so,” she said cheerfully, and off we went. I have never forgotten her.
A Simple Gesture Can Mean A Lot
Sometimes that extra shot of kindness is as simple as picking up your phone.
When I got into my VW Bug in the summer of 1983 and moved to Boston, I had just written my first novel. I had an IBM Selectric III, but nothing in the way of connections to editors or publishers. About a month after my arrival, I went for a haircut. During the usual salon banter, the hairdresser, Donna, asked what I did for a living. I explained I was the editor of a business publication for retailers, but what I really loved was writing fiction. Then I told her about my novel.
Now, she could have said that’s nice or I wish you luck or how exciting. But instead she said, “My cousin is an editor at Addison-Wesley. They don’t publish fiction but she might know someone working at another house. I’ll give her a call if you like.” I liked and she made the call right then. Her cousin invited me to have lunch with her in Reading (then-headquarters of A-W), at the end of which she called her old college friend, an assistant editor at Random House. My manuscript went out in the mail the next day. I received a lovely, enthusiastic note about the book from this woman. And though a senior editor later decided not to go with the manuscript, I was really grateful to my hairdresser, her cousin, and the RH assistant editor. It was my first experience wading into the often muddy waters of publishing, and their kind support kept me going.
A double-shot of kindness is walking the walk. Demonstrating our compassion by offering material assistance, or bending the rules when people need help.
After a health emergency put the kibosh on a trip to London and Sicily—just days before we were scheduled to leave—I was faced with cancelling a slew of theatre tickets or losing a lot of $$$. Our Air B&B reservations and flights were refunded because we had trip insurance for those, but theatre tix always come with the disclaimer that all sales are final, no refunds. I wrote the various box offices anyway, briefly explaining our situation and asking if anything could be done. All but one of the twelve theatres refunded our money, and many wrote words of sympathy, expressing hope that Ed would be better soon. I was deeply moved by their kind notes and willingness to respond in a human way to a human situation.
Paying It Forward: The Ripple Effect
And sometimes kindness with a capital K simply comes down to paying it forward.
Jerry took his first trip to America when he was just 23. Sent by his London employer to represent their firm at a meeting in New York City, he was cabbing to what he desperately hoped was the correct address. Upon sharing his anxiety with the cabbie, he was stunned to hear the man say, “Don’t worry. I’ll wait out front for you while you check it out. No charge.”
Jerry couldn’t believe it. After everything he’d heard about the stereotypical New Yorker—self-absorbed, indifferent—he was blown away by this man’s kindness. “I promised myself right then that I would always seek ways to do something nice for Americans visiting the UK.”
He told me this story as I was dining out with two friends in a cozy restaurant off London’s Baker Street. Jerry was a regular—knew the owner, the kitchen staff, loved to mix American-style cocktails for the diners. Overhearing us chatting, he came to our table to ask what part of the States we were from, a conversation that lasted well into the evening. And then he offered to take us to Pinewood Studios and show us around. He worked for Lloyd’s of London in their film insurance wing, and was scheduled for a meeting at Pinewood in the morning.
We were excited—Pinewood Studios is a legend in British filmmaking. Fiddler on the Roof. The Man Who Would Be King. All of the Bond films. Jerry picked us up from our dorm in Regents Park the next morning and drove us to the studio where we enjoyed a tour of all the major sets and lunch with Pinewood’s director. I have kept this photo of Jerry for decades, a memento of one man’s generous spirit.
Show a Little Faith
When I finally managed to make it through the drive-time traffic last August, I googled Be kinder than is necessary. The full quote, variously attributed, is Be kinder than is necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
One of the bummer side-effects of our deeply-divided society is the suspicion and uncertainty it breeds among everyone. Rather than nodding and smiling at people we pass, we are now sizing them up at twenty paces—seeking clues from their clothing, hair, make of car, accent, job, vocabulary—and making snap assessments. Friend or foe? The anger out there becomes anger everywhere.
Is this making us happier? Is this solving our deepest, most pressing problems?
Categorizing comes easily to our species, but people as individuals are a lot more complicated than that. Yes, we have a swamp of BIG pressing issues and we need to fight for a more humane, just, sustainable world, but if we can’t show a little faith in each other, can’t open our hearts and stand by one another, what hope do we have?
Be kinder than is necessary. We must make that extra effort. Take that extra step. Open our generous hearts. Because we ARE all in this together. Every day.
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It’s ‘the hottest year on record’, as long as you don’t take its temperature December 18, 2010
Tags: Christopher Booker, climate change, giss, global warming, james hansen, nasa
It’s ‘the hottest year on record’, as long as you don’t take its temperature
By Christopher Booker
The Telegraph, 18 December 2010
Much of the data cited to support warmist claims is pure conjecture, says Christopher Booker
We have lately heard much of the claim that 2010 will turn out to have been “the hottest year on record”. No one has done more to promote this belief than Dr James Hansen, head of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), responsible for one of the four main official global temperature records.
As reported by the US blogs Real Science and Watts Up With That, in a post headed “GISS temperatures out of line with the rest of the world”, the GISS record has in recent months been diverging wildly from the others. While three have shown global temperatures dropping sharply, by as much as 0.3C, the GISS figures (based, despite the link to Nasa, on surface temperatures) have shot up by 0.2C.
In a second post (“Hansen’s ‘Hottest Year Ever’ is primarily based on fabricated data”), Real Science demonstrates that the parts of the world which GISS shows to be heating up the most are so short of weather stations that only 25 per cent of the figures are based on actual temperature readings. The rest are simply conjectured by GISS. This is not the first time Dr Hansen’s temperature record has come under expert fire. Three years ago, GISS was forced to revise many of its figures when it was shown that wholesale “adjustments” had been made, revising older temperatures downwards and post-2000 figures upwards.
Beware global warming propaganda of the future: Fast forward to the year 2028 December 17, 2008
Tags: al gore, BoM, cartoon, climate change, Dr Stephen Schneider, funny, giss, Global Cooling, global warming, james hansen, jokes, nasa, uk met office
Beware global warming propaganda of the future: Fast forward to the year 2028
By the blogowner, honestclimate, December 17, 2008
GISS, NOAA, GHCN and the odd Russian temperature anomaly – “It’s all pipes!” November 16, 2008
Posted by honestclimate in Global Cooling.
Tags: climate change, giss, Global Cooling, global warming, james hansen, nasa, Temperature
GISS, NOAA, GHCN and the odd Russian temperature anomaly – “It’s all pipes!”
From Watts Up With That?, Nove,ber 16, 2008
As most readers know by now, the problematic GISTEMP global temperature anomaly plot for October is heavily weighted by temperatures from weather stations in Russia.
GISTEMP 11-12-08 – Click for larger image
Like in the USA, weather stations tend to be distributed according to population density, with the more populated western portion of Russia having more weather stations than the less populated eastern areas such as Siberia. To illustrate this, here is a plot of Russian Weather Station locations from the University of Melbourne:
Click picture for larger image, source image is here
Interestingly, the greatest magnitude of the GISTEMP anomaly plot for October is in these mostly unpopulated areas where the weather station density is the lowest. While I was pondering this curiosity, one of the WUWT readers, Corky Boyd, did a little research and passed this along in email:
…Posters at Watts Up have commented on the ongoing consistently high anomalous temperatures from Russia. I have noticed this too. In light of the erroneously posted data for October, I took a look at the monthly NCDC climate reports back to January 2007. By my eyeball estimate the results from Russia are almost all on the high side. . Some I classified as very highs are massively high. Of the 21 months reported, only 2 appeared to be below average.
Category 2007 2008 (9 months)
Very high 6 4
High 3 1
Average 2 3
Low 0 1
Very Low 1 0
Is there a way to validate or invalidate GISS data by comparing it to RISS? Does it strike you as odd that the verifiably erroneous data has shown up in the same area that was suspect in the first place? Could there be a pattern?
Corky also sent along a series of images depicting global near surface and ocean temperature anomalies from NOAA. Here is the most recent one from September 2008:
Read the rest of the article, click below link
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/11/15/giss-noaa-ghcn-and-the-odd-russian-temperature-anomaly-its-all-pipes
Questions on the evolution of the GISS temperature product November 15, 2008
Tags: climate change, giss, Global Cooling, global warming, nasa, Temperature
Questions on the evolution of the GISS temperature product
From Watts Up With That, November 14, 2008
Blink comparator of GISS USA temperature anomaly – h/t to Zapruder
The last time I checked, the earth does not retroactively change it’s near surface temperature.
True, all data sets go through some corrections, such as the recent change RSS made to improve the quality of the satellite record which consists of a number of satellite spliced together. However, in the case of the near surface temperature record, we have many long period stations than span the majority of the time period shown above, and they have already been adjusted for TOBS, SHAP, FILNET etc by NOAA prior to being distributed for use by organizations like GISS. These adjustments add mostly a positive bias.
In the recent data replication fiasco, GISS blames NOAA for providing flawed data rather than their failure to catch the repeated data from September to October. In that case they are correct that the issue arose with NOAA, but in business when you are the supplier of a product, most savvy businessmen take a “the buck stops here” approach when it comes to correcting a product flaw, rather than blaming the supplier. GISS provides a product for public consumption worldwide, so it seems to me that they should pony up to taking responsibility for errors that appear in their own product.
In the case above, what could be the explanation for the product changing?
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/11/14/the-evolution-of-the-giss-temperature-product
Did Napoleon Use Hansen’s Temperature Data? November 13, 2008
Posted by honestclimate in Global Cooling, Temperature.
Tags: Add new tag, climate change, giss, Global Cooling, global warming, james hansen, nasa, Temperature
Did Napoleon Use Hansen’s Temperature Data?
From ClimateAudit
by Steve McIntyre on November 10th, 2008
It’s colder in Russia in October than in September, as Napoleon found out to his cost in 1812.
Sitting in the ashes of a ruined city without having received the Russian capitulation, and facing a Russian maneuver forcing him out of Moscow, Napoleon started his long retreat by the middle of October.
Flash forward almost 200 years later. NASA has just reported record warmth in October throughout Russia, with many sites experiencing similar temperatures in October as in September – perhaps the sort of situation that Napoleon had hoped for (not similar as anomalies, but similar in actual temperatures in deg C.)
Actually, many stations didn’t just experience similar absolute monthly temperatures. Many stations had exactly the same monthly temperatures in October as in September. Here are the last three years for the Russian station, Olenek, showing NASA GISS monthly temperatures (in deg C) bolding Sept and Oct 2008. October 2007 had an average temperature of -9 deg C, as compared to 3.1 deg C in Sept 2007. October 2008 had the identical temperature as September 2008.
YEAR JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
2006 -34.0 -29.9 -23.5 -18.1 1.6 10.6 16.9 11.5 4.4 -14.6 -27.7 -29.1
2007 -27.9 -41.5 -21.6 -4.0 0.1 12.4 13.5 11.3 3.1 -9.0 -24.8 999.9
2008 -30.0 -29.4 -19.6 -13.4 1.3 12.0 13.1 12.1 3.1 3.1 999.9 999.9
This exact match of October 2008 to September 2008 was repeated at many other Russian stations. A CA reader notified me of this phenomenon earlier today and I’ve confirmed for myself that the information is accurate. Based on what he described as a “Cursory” look, he sent me the following list currently “updated” stations that exactly replicate the Sept data: Almaty, Omsk, Salehard, Semipalatinsk, Turuhansk, Tobol’sk, Verhojansk, Viljujsk, Vilnius, Vologda. I can add Hatanga, Suntora, GMO ImEKF. Not all stations were affected – Dzerszan, Ostrov Kotal, Jakutsk, Cokurdah appear to have correct results.
Let’s consider the opposite situation. Suppose that March temperatures had been inadvertently carried forward into April, yielding a massive cold anomaly in Russia. One feels that Hansen would have been all over the opposite error like a dog on a bone – he would have been his own bulldog.
In any event, we here at Climate Audit are always eager to assist NASA. On earlier occasions, we helped identify the lost city of Wellington, New Zealand, where NASA has been unable to locate climate records for nearly 30 years.
Today, we are able to provide NASA with up-to-date weather reports confirming that October in Russia is colder than September. Verhojansk temperatures are conveniently online here and temperatures are currently a nippy -18 deg C.
You’re welcome, Jim.
http://www.climateaudit.org/?p=4318
Deja Vu All Over Again: Blogger Again Finds Error in NASA Climate Data November 13, 2008
Tags: climate change, giss, Global Cooling, global warming, james hansen, nassa, Temperature
Deja Vu All Over Again: Blogger Again Finds Error in NASA Climate Data
From ICECAP, November 12, 2008
By Michael Asher, Daily Tech
GISS’s October Data. The large reddish-brown area in Russia is actually September readings. Amateur team finds NASA error similar to one they discovered a year ago.NASA’S Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) is one of the world’s primary sources for climate data. GISS issues regular updates on world temperatures based on their analysis of temperature readings from thousands of monitoring stations over the globe. GISS� most recent data release originally reported last October as being extraordinarily warm– a full 0.78C above normal. This would have made it the warmest October on record; a huge increase over the previous month’s data.
Those results set off alarm bells with Steve McIntyre and his gang of Baker Street irregulars at Climateaudit.org. They noted that NASA’s data didn’t agree at all with the satellite temperature record, which showed October to be very mild, continuing the same trend of slight cooling that has persisted since 1998. So they dug a little deeper. McKintyre, the same man who found errors last year in GISS’s US temperature record, quickly noted that most of the temperature increase was coming from Russia. A chart of world temperatures showed that in October, most of Russia, the largest nation on Earth, was not only registering hot, but literally off the scale.
Yet anecdotal reports were suggesting that October was actually slightly colder than normal. Could there be another error in GISS’s data? An alert reader on McKintyre’s blog revealed that there was a very large problem. Looking at the actual readings from individual stations in Russia showed a curious anomaly. The locations had all been assigned the exact temperatures from a month earlier– the much warmer month of September. Russia cools very rapidly in the fall months, so recycling the data from the earlier month had led to a massive temperature increase. A few locations in Ireland were also found to be using September data. Steve McKintyre informed GISS of the error by email.
According to McKintyre, there was no response, but within “about an hour”, GISS pulled down the erroneous data, citing a “mishap” and pointing the finger of blame upstream to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA). NOAA’s Deputy Director of Communications, Scott Smullens, tells DailyTech that NOAA is responsible only for temperature readings in the US, not those in other nations.The error not only affected October data, but due to the complex algorithm GISS uses to convert actual temperature readings into their output results, altered the previously published values for several other months as well. The values for August 2008, for instance, changed by 0.11C and the global anomaly as far back as 2005 increased by a hundredth of a degree.
GISS is run by Dr. James Hansen, a strident global warming advocate who has accused oil companies of “crimes against humanity”. Hansen recently made headlines when he travelled to London to testify on behalf of a group of environmentalists who had damaged a coal plant in protest against global warming. Hansen also serves as science advisor to Al Gore. Dr. Hansen could not be reached for comment.
See Michaels blog here.
Record hot October in James Hansen’s oven November 11, 2008
Tags: climate change, fraud, giss, global warming, james hansen, nasa, Temperature
Record hot October in James Hansen’s oven
honestclimate
By the blogowner, honestclimate, November 11, 2008
Yes ladies and gentlemen, just when you think it can’t get any worse, James Hansen’s GISS reports October 2008 as the hottest October month on record. That’s right, record cold and snow around the globe has caused a record hot October month according to GISS.
Now apparently GISS was using some September temperatures in the October data and they were happy to release the data to the public. Now come on, you don’t need a degree in climatology to know it can’t possibly be the hottest October recorded if there’s been record cold around the globe!
But then again what do you expect from GISS data when they claimed 2007 was the hottest on record. And what do you expect when the head of GISS, James Hansen willingly flies around the world to defend vandalism of coal power plants!
I do expect NASA to downplay the whole issue. I suspect that they will say something along the lines of, it was just a minor oversight but the trend is still up and therefore the GISS data isn’t broken, just like the hockey stick isn’t broken…
Why are these “oversights” always in their favour?
Read more on the fraudulent GISS data on the websites below:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/11/10/giss-releases-october-2008-data
http://australianclimatemadness.blogspot.com/2008/11/last-word-on-giss.html
http://www.climate-skeptic.com/2008/11/this-is-getting-absurd.html
Temperature data released for September 2008 October 8, 2008
Tags: giss, global temperatures, Temperature, uah
Temperature data released for September 2008
By the blogowner, honestclimate, October 8, 2008
The following 3 temperature anomalies have been released for September month end, still waiting for HadCrut3 data.
All 3 show mostly an uptick in the September data.
Click below links for the raw data:
NASA GISS monthly temperature anomalies
UAH lower troposphere monthly temperature anomalies
Remote Systems Sensing Data monthly temperature anomalies
Update 9 Oct 2008
See below related websites for graphs with the September data
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/10/08/giss-releases-september-2008-data
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/10/08/uah-global-temperature-anomaly-jumps-in-august
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Animalfeasance
Tag Archives: individual
The Naming of Cats – Cecil the Lion
Cecil (lying down) and Jericho, two named lions in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. Photo: Brent Stapelkamp
My Facebook just pretty much exploded with photographs of Cecil, the GPS-collared male lion who was baited out of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe this month, shot, skinned, and beheaded so that a dentist from Minnesota could have something pretty on his wall.
Okay, it was terrible, it was stupid, let’s all fantasize about hideous fates befalling the hunter and the horrible guides who helped him do it. Now, look past that for just a moment. Approximately 655 lion trophies, perhaps more — each one shot, skinned, and beheaded — are exported from Africa every year. The same tragedy which befell Cecil happens, on average, nearly twice a day. Why does only Cecil’s death deserve global attention?
I’m not ripping on anyone supporting justice for Cecil; it’s an honest question, and I feel that answering it could bring us closer to finding out what it is that makes people commit offenses like this one. Cecil appears to “matter more” than the other lion likely killed elsewhere for the same reason the same day, or the fourteen other lions killed that week, because he has a name. A beautiful adult male trackable via his collar and identifiable by a distinctive, dark mane, he was photographed often and was familiar with, and to, visitors. No doubt nameless when young, over time, with familiarity, he became Real, like the Velveteen Rabbit. The mechanism by which this happens — by which humans bond with an animal sufficiently to imbue it with a perceived personality*, most visibly manifested in a name — is the same mechanism which creates vegetarians, pet owners and animal shelter workers. I believe that failure of this mechanism is where we get people like the trophy-hunting dentist, who said:
“I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and [was] part of a study until the end of the hunt.”
This lion, killed previously by the same man, does not have a name. Did you hear about this lion’s death on the news? Source: NY Daily News
He was perfectly happy to “[pursue] an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally” until he found out the lion had a name. Likewise, most of us were much less interested in him and his hobby until we found out the lion had a name. Compare the reaction of people to the 19-year-old who posted photos of herself with unnamed trophy animals (including a lion) in 2014 to the backlash coming at Cecil’s killer today. The 19-year-old blipped across my screen. The dentist has held top billing for several days.
Serial killers do not relate to their victims as other people; they must “depersonalize” them before committing atrocities upon them. Scientists do not name their laboratory animals. (Part of why Jane Goodall’s research was considered so groundbreaking is that she did name the chimps, which was considered scandalously unprofessional at the time.) Likewise, while dairy cows (who can live with their humans for years) sometimes have names; beef cattle (eaten after 18 months) generally do not. Factory farmed animals do not have names. (These animals all get identification numbers, which is a practice we’ve seen elsewhere as well, and for remarkably similar reasons.) And hunters rarely name their targets (with some notable exceptions, such as “Old Three Toes“).
Looking at it the other way, when did you last see a pet owner whose dogs were named 1, 2, and 3? Animal shelters name their animals, even if the animals also receive ID numbers. Show and race horses are named. Zoo animals (at least the “charismatic megafauna“) are named. Animals on television are named. And individual wild animals which are somehow distinctive, like Cecil, can become named. This makes them Real.
We do not hold the same love for “tigers” that we do for Tigger; we do not hold the same love for “wolves” that we do for the Sawtooth Pack; we do not hold the same love for “lions” that we do for Cecil. German Shepherds and collies were generic until we met Rin Tin Tin and Lassie.
From Names and Personal Identity, by H. Edward Deluzain:
“[The] bestowal of name and identity is a kind of symbolic contract between the society and the individual. …by giving a name the society confirms the individual’s existence and acknowledges its responsibilities toward that person.”
There is something about becoming Real, being given a name, which changes the animal’s perceived nature, often causing humans to treat it as a member of our extended family, rather than as a fashion statement, furniture, or food. I am hesitant to call the process making the animal a person, but that is a very close description. I am very interested in this mechanism, because it lies at the heart of what keeps us from becoming like that Minnesota dentist.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,
A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
— T.S. Eliot
*Please note that all animals have a personality, whether humans can perceive it or not.
Posted in news, the Machine
Tagged 2015, Africa, Cecil, dentist, hunting, Hwange National Park, identification, identity, individual, killed, lion, Minnesota, naming, the machine, The Naming of Cats, trophy, why is Cecil special, Zimbabwe
mal-fea-sance [mal-fee-zuhns]
–noun Law.
The performance by a public official of an act that is legally unjustified, harmful, or contrary to law; wrongdoing (used especially of an act in violation of a public trust).
I have more than twenty years' experience working with animals, and have always thought them worthy of consideration and respect. Imagine, then, my surprise when introduced to the field of animal research. From there I investigated meat production and other large-scale animal production processes. It's a scary world out there.
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Video of “Free Range”@Hens animalfeasance.com/2016/02/14/vid… 3 years ago
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The Naming of Cats – Cecil the Lion animalfeasance.com/2015/07/29/the… http://t.co/US0S0rj68F 4 years ago
“Microfluidic” Chip Mimics Human Organs So Animals Won’t Have To animalfeasance.com/2015/06/25/mic… http://t.co/teqIISn0tp 4 years ago
Cute Videos Dangerous Without Context animalfeasance.com/2015/06/14/cut… http://t.co/liKzTbffit 4 years ago
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Feeding & Respiration of a Starfish
By Maureen Malone
The colorful, five-armed creature called a starfish is not a fish at all, but a member of the Echinodermata family along with sea cucumbers and sea urchins. These sea animals are commonly found in tidal habitats, although some species also live in deeper ocean. Starfish have a unique form of digestion in the animal kingdom and a water-vascular system that allows the animal to breathe.
Starfish are carnivores. They eat animals such as barnacles, sea anemones, gastropods, sea urchins, sea snails and shellfish. Crabs, dead fish and even other starfish supplement the starfish's diet. Starfish grasp prey using the suction cups at the end of the tube feet on the underside of their arms and use the suction to pull apart the shell to get to the meat inside.
The starfish does not consume prey. Rather, it brings the prey to the mouth located near the center of its body. The starfish then pushes its cardiac stomach out of its mouth into the food. Digestive enzymes are released, liquifying the food so the starfish can sip the liquid into its stomach. Once the prey is ingested, the starfish retracts its stomach back into its body.
Once the prey is sipped in through the cardiac stomach, it passes into the pyloric stomach. From there, the nutrients travel down the pyloric ducts to the pyloric ceca at the end of each arm where nutrients are absorbed and stored. Waste travels from the pyloric stomach through a short intestine and is excreted through the anus located at the top of the starfish.
Respiration or gas exchange occurs in two locations on a starfish. The first location is through the thin skin on the ends of the tube feet. Gas exchange also occurs in the dermal gills or papulae. These gills are lined with cilia that move to produce a current. The current brings fresh water so the starfish can absorb oxygen and freshens the surrounding water where the starfish may have just excreted carbon dioxide.
University of Rhode Island, Environmental Data Center: Sea Star (Asterias forbesii)
Alaska Department of Fish and Game: Starfish
Maureen Malone started writing in 2008. She writes articles for business promotion and informational articles on various websites. Malone has a Bachelor of Science in technical management with an emphasis in biology from DeVry University.
What Are the Functions of a Rumen?
The Characteristics of a Sandworm
How to Clean Starfish
Does a Starfish Feel?
What Is the Function of the Tube Foot on a Starfish?
What Are the Starfish's Adaptations to Stay Alive?
Are Starfish Carnivores?
Can a Starfish Swim?
How Do Starfish Mate?
Names of the 4 Parts of a Cow's Stomach
What Are the Functions of the Hairs on a Shrimp's Legs?
Why Are Clams Referred to As Filter Feeders?
What Kinds of Animals Eat Sea Anemones?
Common Starfish Predators
Anatomy of a Pacific Razor Clam
What Is the Acid in an Ant Bite?
What Unique Trait Does a Starfish Have?
Sea Anemones Vs. Sea Urchins
How to Make a Self-Priming Siphon With a PVC Pipe
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AC Gallery: Jaws
November 28, 2016 David E. Williams
Director Steven Spielberg, operator Michael Chapman and cinematographer Bill Butler, ASC — braving the waves during the lengthy production of Jaws (1975).
AC's cover story on Jaws appeared in March of 1975. Click on this image to purchase a complete digital reprint of this rare issue.
With the new Great White shark terror tale The Shallows recently in theaters, we were inspired to dig into the American Cinematographer archives for this collection of images from the suspense classic Jaws (1975), featuring cinematographer Bill Butler, ASC; director Steven Spielberg, operator (and future ASC great) Michael Chapman and, of course, Bruce, the frequently malfunctioning robot shark.
"Having no control over New England weather was a problem," Butler told AC while discussing the location filming in Martha's Vineyard. "But by careful choice of angle, I think we can make everything match. A big part of what I do don't have anything to do with shooting at all. It has to do with handling people. Knowing what gaffer or what grip is right to handle a certain problem."
Discussing scenes shot aboard our shark-hunting heroes' boat, the Orca, Spielberg noted that Jaws was probably "the most expensive hand-held movie ever made." Because of the movement of the boat caused by the waves, Butler and Chapman found that they could get a steadier shot by hand-holding the Panaflex camera for many situations.
In open water filming the climactic scenes of Jaws aboard the Orca, which were filmed almost entirely handheld.
Asked about operating the Panaflex — which was still relatively new at the time, having been introduced in 1972 — Chapman said, "At first I was worried about the viewing system. The eyepiece is up against the camera and it took me a while to get used to that. As a hand-held camera, it's pretty heavy — 34 pounds — but it's balanced very well. We really wouldn't have been able to do this picture without the Panaflex. It's not as big as the PSR [Panavision Silent Reflex; a modified Mitchell, introduced in 1967] and we had to do sound shots where we couldn't bring the PSR, jumping from boat to boat eight or nine times a day."
The following is a selection of images from AC's archive.
Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw in a classic publicity image.
Cinematographer Bill Butler, ASC.
The frequently malfunctioning Bruce the shark.
Spielberg checks the frame while shooting at surface level.
You can purchase a complete digital reprint of AC's March 1975 issue right here.
Tagged: Steven Spielberg, Michael Chapman, Jaws, Bill Butler
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Mother [20]
Posted byKay October 7, 2018 November 29, 2018 Posted inUncategorized
At the Northern Fort 20 [ Snow Spirit ]
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As they walked through the forest at the base of the mountain, the storm grew stronger and stronger the closer they got towards the location of the altar. The wind also brought with it a white-out, leaving them only able to see a few feet ahead. If not for sticking close while on horseback, they would have lost sight of each other. The Knights could only hear the frenzied screams of the wind and their bodies growing cold due to the sheer amount of snow that plastered their coats. Even with them covered head to toe in fur, they could feel the piercing cold.
Their only blessing was that this forest had trees that grew densely together, weathering the full brunt of the storm’s fury. However, it was a double-sided sword. The trees were packed with snow, here and there branches would snap; the snow that was held up on it would come crashing down with such force, it could only be compared to dropping a large chunk of iron down. This had more than enough force to take one of the knights’ lives. This meant they had to proceed with even more caution, taxing their strained senses even more.
Grayle wondered how much farther until they reached the altar. He had visited it many times when he patrolled, but the white-out warped his sense of distance. The thought to “turn back” while the horses still had the strength to do so started to nag at his mind. He felt it was dangerous to keep proceeding at this pace. He felt that the scenery was different than he remembered, but with such limited visibility, it was hard to confirm or deny. It was almost certain that they may have taken the wrong way…
Gayle, who was at the front of the back, looked back and could see Knix just behind him while also barely making out the Chief who was behind Knix. He was about to try and speak with the Chief, but almost in an instant, the storm died down unnaturally. Almost all the knights were thrown off balance, as the wind that pushed against them disappeared; Causing them to almost fall off their horses.
“What happened?!”
“Why did the wind stop?”
“Keep your guards up!”
“We’re already here!”
Calm before the storm. This was the ominous thought that popped into Gayle’s head as the wind died down with a few of the knights shouting in surprise, but Knix’s comment brought his attention ahead of them. Before them, the forest opened up into a clearing with a lone altar sitting alone in the middle. Knix and I dismounted our horses before slowly approaching the altar step by step.
The altar of the Snow Spirit, with just three large pillars, as white as the snow. Ever since the first time he had came to this place, it had been like this. Each pillar reached into the sky with such grandeur, even the snow couldn’t cover them.
“Was the snowstorm really caused by the spirit…?”
Cromwell murmured as he too disembarked his horse. With the storm stopping the moment they reached the altar grounds, it was almost certain that it was the spirit’s power. It was an ominous feeling that welcomed them, their surroundings deathly quiet and the tension gripped all their heart.
“Knix! Come back, don’t go forward by yourself!
Knix, whose curiosity got the better of him, he tried to go towards the altar on his own, was called back by Gayle. He was cautious of the altar, his nervousness was heard as he gulped. Only other sound that could be the soft fall of snowflakes as they touched the ground.
” Will the spirit… Really appear?”
With the question being asked, Gayle was a little skeptical, never once had he met the Snow Spirit but among the villagers, there are only a few who have seen the spirit.
It’s said that the spirit of these mountains had protected this area from people who wished to do harm. Never has there been a conflict here even though it’s right on the border between two nations. There was no way one could send an army through this terrain and even if they tried, the storms would batter them. It would just waste all their energy and resources trying to protect itself from the elements, not leaving room to wage a war.
“Have you ever seen the snow spirit…?”
Cromwell asked Gayle as he gazed at the altar.
Gayle only shook his head towards his question.
“There’s a rumor that the snow spirit of this mountain cares a lot about this country and all though it’s frustrating to do, she would on occasions, give help to the royal family. I myself haven’t seen her in person, but people say that she’s an outrageous beauty, but this is when I was visiting the prince.
Gayle, this time, nodded with a thoughtful expression, thinking upon Cromwell’s words.
“Eh? Chief, You haven’t seen the Snow spirit who is suppose to be that beautiful?
Before Cromwell could answer Knix, who interrupted him, the snow started to stir. As if it was inhaling from the forest, then exhaling towards the altar where the snow on the ground began to rise like a vortex towards the sky and then… the snow fell towards the ground lifelessly and in the center where the vortex had once been, stood a beautiful woman.
Knix and the other knights let out awes of amazement, but Gayle only looked on at the beautiful. He seemed to take the sight of her in. The woman wore clothes that weren’t normally worn in this country and most definitely different from that of nobles.
Pure white with a slightly glossy shine to them with the bust area open, but covering modestly her large chest area with a belt just underneath to keep it together. These clothes she wore made her seem almost godly, however, Grayle was focused on the fur lining around her neck. It was like Mil, pure, fluffy and white. Moving his gaze a little higher, he saw a very feminine face that was small, but not unnatural looking in proportion with her body. Her demeanor was like she was something sculpted out of ice by the finest artisans.
Cromwell had seen the beautiful women in town, although they were annoying to him, he couldn’t help compare them to this woman that appeared out of the snow. This kind of beauty was in a different league. Comparing the girls in town to her seem almost an insult to her beauty, as if there needed a comparison. Their faces would ways be a little red at the nose when you passed them or when they saw someone they liked, their faces would turn a little red, but her…
Her face was white as the skin, but not sickly looking, almost too perfect. It didn’t even look like an ounce of red blood flowed under her skin. Her hair was a glossy whitish-silver color. with each strand of her hair simmered beautifully when it caught the light. Her eyes were a light blue, almost as if they were chiseled from the purest ice.
But that face was stained with rage, but even then, they couldn’t look away. Her beauty was a deadly weapon. She was obviously not human with the way she appeared, but that only meant one thing…
she was the Snow Spirit; Snowlea [*1]
Although Grayle was stunned for a moment, he noticed he forgot to breathe, but looking back, even the others did too from the sudden appearance of such a beautiful woman.
“Hey, breathe guys…”
Though, even with this heads up, everyone still was as unmoving as stone as if their souls were being sucked out.
“Look at her fur collar, do not look at her face!”
With his command, their gazes with much willpower slowly moved towards her neckline and suddenly they all took deep breaths, relief washing over all of them. Grayle looked at the fur neckline, keeping his thoughts on Mil and how she was waiting for them at the fort, trying to calm his heart.
“Are you… Snowlea, the snow spirt?”
Cromwell who was the calmest of all the nights asked her, tension could be heard in his voice.
“… My daughter…”
Snowlea muttered those words, but it was as clear as the sun on a clear day to them, It overpowered everything around them, trembling in their eardrums. Then suddenly, her hands reached out towards Chief Cromwell and before anyone could react, her hands gripped his throat. Her face twisted into an angry snarl.
“My child! What did you do to Milfria!? Where did you take my beloved child!?”
Her eyes wide with trembling rage, but Cromwell was mesmerized by her moving lips, with each move, her sharp fangs could be seen sometimes. The moment her frenzied screams came out, the pressure around all of them began to weigh down on them, making it hard for the knights to breathe, even one tried to step back but fell over. The horses even were startled, trying to flee. Grayle came out of shock and tried piecing together what Snowlea said to try and figure out what was happening. From what little was said, it seemed to him that she was searching for her missing child, He never knew she had one and apparently, neither did Cromwell
“Why did you people come here!? Did you son of a bitches take my Milfria!? What is your purpose!?”
A raged failed wail came from Snowlea who just moments ago, was like a goddess, was now similar to a beast. her teeth bared in a twisted snarl, just waiting to tear out Cromwell’s throat. Out of instinct, Gayle immediately put his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist but didn’t draw it.
“Please wait, give us a chance to explain ourselves Ms. Snow Spirit! We have only come up the mountain to ask that you stop the blizzard! We are the knights from the fort below tasked with watching over this region! We did not take your child, in fact, we never even knew you had a child!”
“… The Knight’s from the fort…?”
It seemed the words Grayle threw said go through to her as her face seemed to slowly untwist as she calmed herself down, she looked over all the Knights present before decided to believe in Grayle’s statement, releasing Cromwell from her grasp
“It’s obvious you wouldn’t know that a spirit had a child since we fear that if people knew, they would try and take out children. If one were to raise a spirit, they would have access to such mighty powers..”
Snowlea began to talk to herself, but the more she spoke, the more her face began to twist in anger again. If a child of the snow spirit was really taken, this is a disaster in the making! What purpose would someone have in kidnapping her child? The only thoughts he could come up with is to overthrow the royal family or destroy this country. It was also possible that it was for a different reason. Regardless of why, what was important at the moment was that it happened, leaving them having to notify the kingdom immediately, but before anything was done, Grayle calmed his mind before anything. He thought some more and he needed to ask a question that came up.
“But during the storm, it’s been difficult for anyone to reach anywhere, not to mention going up the mountain. I know this may anger you, but… Is it possible your child wandered off from your home?”
Snowlea glared at Grayle after he asked her that question, it was full of anger. He didn’t want to enrage her, but as a rule, he had to ask. It was a possibility that’s why, because people wouldn’t be able to climb the mountain this winter, and even if they tried, they wouldn’t be sane people or alive. Snowlea’s eyes narrowed as she looked at him, but she understood the underlying tones
“Indeed, with the human’s fragile bodies, it would be difficult to climb to the summit where I live, but it isn’t impossible. Over the past several hundred years, there have been many people who climbed my mountain with the vile intent to try and conquer me. Many lost their lives, while others gave up halfway. Those who thought they could endear till the end, I took their lives.”
Snowlea’s words break the tension, but it only made their blood colder than it already was. Although she spoke of people who tried to reach her home with evil intentions, she still spoke of taking lives as if she was talking about the weather. It was a reminder to them that even though she was the most generous and passionate of them, she was still fundamentally different from humans. They all have killed others at one point or another in this line of work, regret was not a feeling they would have, but she was completely indifferent to taking a life.
“So then… It wouldn’t be possible still for a human to steal your child…”
Snowlea had a desperate expression while she chewed anxiously on her lip. It looked like she was almost about to cry…
“O my beloved child is just a baby! How can she go down the mountain with such small lovely paws! Milfria is a cowardly child, I don’t believe she’ll leave the safety of our home on her own! She must be trembling with fear somewhere unknown to her, o my poor child!”
Tears began to flow down both her cheeks, each tear held such beauty that they would not lose to any gem. It was a sorrow of a mother that lost their child and Grayle wanted to desperately help her.
“We will help you look for your child, whatever it takes! So please, stop the snow storm… In this weather, we won’t be able to see little alone search.”
The snow calmed down, for a moment they were even able to see out in the distance, but just as quickly it died down, it rose back up with even more ferocity. Grayle looked at Snowlea with a confused looked.
“I… Can’t… I can’t control my powers right now. When I think of someone possibly having kidnapped my child… My anger will not dissipate, I never intended to harm the villagers below..”
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind erupted around the altar as if responding to Snowlea anger. All of the Knights took a step back while covering their eyes. Grayle sensed that the crisis at hand was going to become much worst. How long would it take to find her child? What did her child even look like? Was the snow storm ever going to stop if they didn’t find the Spirit’s child? In the worst case… What if her child was dead? In that case, would the storm continue forever?
With all these questions running back to back in his head, it was a headache that she couldn’t at the least, calm the storm. They also had to send a messenger to the Capital to inform them of the crisis at hand and request the Kingdom’s army come to help them in searching for her child. On the other hand, they would have to request the aid of the other spirits to help restrain this snow spirit as humans stood no chance against her. Grayle wasn’t familiar with spirits, but he did know that the Fire Spirit resided to the south and was on relatively friendly terms with humans. Maybe he could assist with melting the snow? Grayle hoped that Cromwell would also have some plans going on in his head to help ease the situation, but his expression as just as dire as his.
“Chief, what do you want to do? It doesn’t look like the storm can be stopped anymore, it’s too dangerous to stay here as it is now.”
Knix shouted from behind them impatiently, but it didn’t help the situation at all by telling them something that they were already aware of. Snowlea was crying out her child’s name hysterically while crying, her hands covering her face. Grayle decided that it’d probably be best that they search while making their way back to the fort, but before that, he stepped towards Snowlea. The closer he got, the stronger the wind got. Even someone as heavy as Grayle could be blown away if he got too close.
“Grayle!”
Cromwell cried out trying to stop him, but his feet kept moving desperately until he was in front of Snowlea before trying to soothe her back to sanity.
“Listen to me Snowlea! Tell me what your child looks like, we can’t find someone who we don’t know what they look like! Are they a boy or a girl? Do they have the same hair as you? What clothes were they wearing, are they still a nursing child?”
Gayle words didn’t continue because Snowlea who was crying had suddenly become silent. Snowlea, who had been crying slowly looked up at Grayle, her eyes glancing from between her fingers. Her eyes had a deathly frost in them making Grayle’s heart stop for a moment from freight.
Her cold white hands stretched out and her thin fingers touched Grayle’s cheek, a sense of slowly being frozen down to the core overcame him. It had only been for a moment, but the part where her finger had touch had been deprived of heat already. Grayle’s mind had warning bells going off, but his body wouldn’t move from its spot.
“Why do you smell like my beloved child..?”
The beautiful snow spirit rose up, her murmuring voice slipped from a face that looked blankly at him before her eyes narrowed with rage and turned into a snarl, her fangs bared openly at him with intense rage.
“What have you done to my child?!”
With all the willpower in him, Grayle reached for his sword and tried to pull it out, his mind screaming to him that if he did not fight back, he would die today. Most humans would not be able to do anything in the face of an angered spirit, but wait for their pending death. Grayle was different though, with all his might, he put his strength into the sword…
“Milfria…?”
All that rage and all that killing intent disappeared as if it was just a lone gust of wind, Snowlea’s eyes were focused on something by Grayle’s feet, only that name escaped her lips.
Previous [C-19] | Table of Content |Next
MTLN A s h e s: I’m sorry folks, MTL just doesn’t come out right so I had to wing a lot of it[ Aka I tinkered with the actions] so there’s going to be a big difference from a translation compared to my interpretations of said machine translations
1. Snowlea With the assistance of a fellow Translator, he picked out the name
FPS 21 Released…
[22] FPS
30 thoughts on “Mother [20]”
Yuneday says:
I’ve been waiting for this ever since the first chapter!
Thank you for reading !
Cédric Gache says:
Lovely chapter 😉
Steel says:
Angela Alabastro says:
Thanks for the chapter! Can’t wait for the next one 🙂
Me neither
Watcher says:
Sigh……. i hate that i knew that that would be exactly where this chapter would end. Thanks for the translation!
Its cooking
It smell delicious i cant wait for more mofumofu chapter
Thank 4 the chapter
Little mofumofu to the rescue of the big man~ 8D
Snow ball apear!
ricecal says:
Thank you for the update. Can’t wait for more 🙂
BlueStoneRose says:
william sevilla says:
More please. And thanks for the chapter! Can’t wait for new chapter!
Solène Lemaire says:
AAAAAAH YES THANKS YOU SO MUUUUUCH ❤
Pingback: Northern Fort 19 – Snow Storm – Burning Feathers
gippett0 says:
Oh man the reunion is here! Thank you for the chapter and all the hard work.
Pingback: [21] Farewell – Burning Feathers
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Genetic influences on core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and work stress: A behavioral genetics mediated model
Timothy A. Judge, Remus Ilies, Zhen Zhang
WPC: Management and Entreprenuership
In this study we investigated the mediated influence of core self-evaluations (CSE) on employee health problems via job satisfaction and work stress, and the degree to which genetic factors explain these mediated relationships. Based on data obtained from a sample of 594 Swedish twins (114 monozygotic twin pairs and 183 dizygotic twin pairs), conventional path analysis results supported the mediated effects of CSE on employee health via job satisfaction and work stress, after controlling for conscientiousness and extraversion. Behavioral genetic analyses showed significant heritability of all four variables. Moreover, we found that the mediated relationships via job satisfaction and work stress are explained by genetic factors, such that the genetic source of job satisfaction and work stress mediates the genetic influence of CSE on health problems. These results highlight the role played by genetic factors in better understanding the relationships between CSE, work attitudes, and health outcomes.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.08.005
Behavioral Genetics
Diagnostic Self Evaluation
Attitude to Health
Dizygotic Twins
Monozygotic Twins
Core self-evaluations
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
Judge, T. A., Ilies, R., & Zhang, Z. (2012). Genetic influences on core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and work stress: A behavioral genetics mediated model. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 117(1), 208-220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.08.005
Genetic influences on core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and work stress : A behavioral genetics mediated model. / Judge, Timothy A.; Ilies, Remus; Zhang, Zhen.
In: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 117, No. 1, 01.2012, p. 208-220.
Judge, TA, Ilies, R & Zhang, Z 2012, 'Genetic influences on core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and work stress: A behavioral genetics mediated model', Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 117, no. 1, pp. 208-220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.08.005
Judge TA, Ilies R, Zhang Z. Genetic influences on core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and work stress: A behavioral genetics mediated model. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 2012 Jan;117(1):208-220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.08.005
Judge, Timothy A. ; Ilies, Remus ; Zhang, Zhen. / Genetic influences on core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and work stress : A behavioral genetics mediated model. In: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 2012 ; Vol. 117, No. 1. pp. 208-220.
@article{371b9028eb1842c695dd35e6823f96d8,
title = "Genetic influences on core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and work stress: A behavioral genetics mediated model",
abstract = "In this study we investigated the mediated influence of core self-evaluations (CSE) on employee health problems via job satisfaction and work stress, and the degree to which genetic factors explain these mediated relationships. Based on data obtained from a sample of 594 Swedish twins (114 monozygotic twin pairs and 183 dizygotic twin pairs), conventional path analysis results supported the mediated effects of CSE on employee health via job satisfaction and work stress, after controlling for conscientiousness and extraversion. Behavioral genetic analyses showed significant heritability of all four variables. Moreover, we found that the mediated relationships via job satisfaction and work stress are explained by genetic factors, such that the genetic source of job satisfaction and work stress mediates the genetic influence of CSE on health problems. These results highlight the role played by genetic factors in better understanding the relationships between CSE, work attitudes, and health outcomes.",
keywords = "Behavioral genetics, Core self-evaluations, Health, Job satisfaction, Personality, Work stress",
author = "Judge, {Timothy A.} and Remus Ilies and Zhen Zhang",
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N2 - In this study we investigated the mediated influence of core self-evaluations (CSE) on employee health problems via job satisfaction and work stress, and the degree to which genetic factors explain these mediated relationships. Based on data obtained from a sample of 594 Swedish twins (114 monozygotic twin pairs and 183 dizygotic twin pairs), conventional path analysis results supported the mediated effects of CSE on employee health via job satisfaction and work stress, after controlling for conscientiousness and extraversion. Behavioral genetic analyses showed significant heritability of all four variables. Moreover, we found that the mediated relationships via job satisfaction and work stress are explained by genetic factors, such that the genetic source of job satisfaction and work stress mediates the genetic influence of CSE on health problems. These results highlight the role played by genetic factors in better understanding the relationships between CSE, work attitudes, and health outcomes.
AB - In this study we investigated the mediated influence of core self-evaluations (CSE) on employee health problems via job satisfaction and work stress, and the degree to which genetic factors explain these mediated relationships. Based on data obtained from a sample of 594 Swedish twins (114 monozygotic twin pairs and 183 dizygotic twin pairs), conventional path analysis results supported the mediated effects of CSE on employee health via job satisfaction and work stress, after controlling for conscientiousness and extraversion. Behavioral genetic analyses showed significant heritability of all four variables. Moreover, we found that the mediated relationships via job satisfaction and work stress are explained by genetic factors, such that the genetic source of job satisfaction and work stress mediates the genetic influence of CSE on health problems. These results highlight the role played by genetic factors in better understanding the relationships between CSE, work attitudes, and health outcomes.
KW - Behavioral genetics
KW - Core self-evaluations
KW - Health
KW - Job satisfaction
KW - Personality
KW - Work stress
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10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.08.005
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Ansel Halliburton
Lawyer/hacker/writer
FEMA for Lawyers?
I’ve been kicking an idea around for about a week, and it’s time to write it down and get more input.
The sprint before the marathon
Since the Muslim Ban Executive Order on January 27, lawyers all over the country have mobilized in large numbers to help immigrants and their families at airports. They’ve filed numerous cases seeking to free detainees, some of which will certainly find their way into law school textbooks. These lawyers, and the hundreds of volunteers who spontaneously came forward to support them, mobilized very quickly in response to an action that came unannounced. It’s been quite the sprint.
But you can’t sprint for four years.
Although we may not be able to predict exactly what’s coming next, we can be reasonably sure this isn’t the last mobilization we’ll see in the coming months and years. Indeed, we may already be seeing the beginning of next wave, with reports of significant ICE raids in Southern California. These may or may not be the first breakers in a wave of promised mass deportations.
ICE is calling it routine, but new arrests in L.A. this week are sparking fears among immigrants https://t.co/cPW1QvWXh1
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) February 10, 2017
Either way, now that we’re through the first sprint, we need to start planning for the marathon ahead.
But first, some observations from the past two weeks.
What we saw, what we learned
Responding organizations — which range from large national groups like the ACLU down to small local community legal aid organizations — came together immediately, and have been working closely ever since. When I’ve asked how this happened and worked out, the answers have largely been that they already knew each other and had relationships in place. Eventually, things got more integrated. In California, for example, OneJustice took the lead in coordinating efforts at SFO and LAX.
Still, there was a lot of duplicated effort. Since so many people wanted to help (a good thing!), everyone put together their own lists of resources. Some groups consolidated their information and resources; others decentralized more. Good Samaritans came together to connect needs and resources, like the people behind the @HelpTheLawyers Twitter account. New organizations like Lawyers for Good Government had their first major mobilizations.
Collaboration worked out reasonably well this time, but I worry it may not in the next crisis, especially if the reponsing organizations aren’t already acquainted.
The tools airport lawyers have been using are extremely diverse. They include Google Docs and Groups, Facebook, Signal, Twitter, Slack, forms, websites, email (of course!), couriers wading through crowds of protesters (I did this), and who-knows-what-else. Some tools were implemented with more forethought than others, and, understandably, security often took a back seat to expediency. Again, there was a lot of duplication.
After talking with staff at a few of the legal aid organizations that have been responding to the Muslim Ban Executive Order, and asking them what the technology community can do to help, one common thread has been help with security. While I’ve done some recent writing at Lawyerist on this subject, these organizations need more than articles and FAQs. They need someone who can sit down with them in their office, follow them to the airports and to their other clients, and develop a deep understanding of their work — and then help make choices about what tools and processes to use to stay safe and secure.
In thinking about how to improve things over the medium and long term, I zoomed out and thought more generally about crisis response, and thought about FEMA. While it certainly has problems, FEMA serves a useful function. It’s a source of emergency response best practices, training, equipment, and organizational capacity. It has playbooks for all kinds of scenarios.
To get through the next four years, maybe we need FEMA for lawyers: an organization to help our many great legal aid organization with logistical, security,technology, and other support.
Here’s what I see this organization doing:
Accumulate what’s been learned over the last two weeks, and try to assimilate the knowledge that’s currently locked up in people’s heads across the diverse spectrum of legal aid organizations. Boil all that down to some simple do/don’t lists and best practices for legal emergency response.
Do scenario planning. Build playbooks for how to respond to different contingencies. Be prepared before it happens.
Build relationships. Many legal aid organizations already have great relationships with adjacent activist groups, local governments, and others — but more can be done.
Develop and help implement security best practices to keep legal aid workers safe and their information secure. (One simple example: bulk order and distribute U2F keys to every legal aid organization staff member.)
If technology can solve legal aid needs, get it to organizations and help them implement it. If it doesn’t exist yet, build it.
What do you think? Pipe up in the comments!
Author: Ansel Halliburton
Ansel Halliburton is a lawyer specializing in entrepreneurship and intellectual property litigation. View all posts by Ansel Halliburton
Author Ansel HalliburtonPosted on February 10, 2017 February 12, 2017
One thought on “FEMA for Lawyers?”
BosLawyer (@BOSattyHelp) says:
I’ve been trying to figure out how to help with an effort to do this – assemble knowledge and have it accessible for attorneys for the next crisis! Do you have individuals who are interested in forming such an organization (or a less formal way – maybe just a website and social media presence)? I would be happy to be involved.
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History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network
All America Cables
by Bill Glover
In 1867 James A. Scrymser's International Ocean Telegraph Company laid the first line from Florida to Cuba, 235 miles. In 1878 Scrymser incorporated the Mexican Cable Company, and the following year the Central and South American Cable Company, the predecessors of All America Cables, Inc. The names were changed shortly afterwards to the Mexican Telegraph Company and the Central and South American Telegraph Company, and the cable routes were expanded over the years to link the US to all of South America.
All America Cables was formed in February 1920 when it took over the assets of the Central and South American Telegraph Company. New cables were laid in 1920, starting with one across the River Plate between Atalaya, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay. Two further cables were laid over the same route later in the year. These were manufactured by Telcon and laid from the locally-chartered vessel Caceres by the crew of CS Colonia. Colonia then laid a cable from Atalya to Rio de Janeiro, 1270 nm and Montevideo to Santos, Brazil 1068 nm.
Also in 1920, Siemens Bros, using CS Faraday (1), laid cables from Colon to Cartagena, Colombia; Santa Elena, Ecuador to Chorillos, Peru, and Cuba to Puerto Rico.
In 1921 a one-reel short film on the operations of the company, titled “Linking the Three Americas,” was made for All America Cables by Frederic M. Dowd Productions. No copies of this film are presently known to exist, and all that remains is the review below from Educational Film Magazine, December 1921.
Also in 1921, Telcon, using CS Stephan, connected Havana to Miami, and in 1924/25 Colonia laid a triplicate New York- Fisherman's Point (Cuba)-Colon cable.
Original System Map
1928 System Map
In 1926 All America purchased the US-Haiti Telegraph Company from La Compagnie des Câbles Télégraphiques. New cables were laid: Willemstad - La Guayra, Willemstad - Aruba, Aruba - Maracaibo and Maracaibo - Barranquilla. Telcon manufactured the cables and used CS Dominia to lay them.
1930s “Via All America” blotter with the company’s American Indian Signal Fires motif and system route map.
Thanks to site visitor Angela Walters
for providing the scan.
In February 1927 All America Cables was acquired by the International Telephone and Telegraph Company (I.T. & T., later ITT). In 1938 the division name was changed to All America Cables and Radio, and together with the Commercial Cable Company and Mackay Radio & Telegraph, All America was now part of the American Cable and Radio Corporation, of which ITT was the major shareholder.
1937 All America Cables Cover
CABLESHIP
See the separate page on CS All America
All America Cables Christmas Cablegram
The Fiftieth Anniversary Medallion
From the First Signal Fires
to All America Cables
Commemorating Fifty Years
of Service to the Americas
1878 May 28 1928
50th anniversary medallion, designed by Julio Kilenyi and produced by Whitehead and Hoag. 212 grams, 83mm diameter.
On Tuesday, May 8 [1928], President Merrill called to his office all members of the New York staff and presented each individual with a medallion, commemorating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the founding of All America Cables, Inc. He shook hands with each person and thanked every man and woman for the faithful service he or she had performed for All America Cables. Medallions for the employees outside of New York are being sent to the various stations and should be in the hands of all within another month.
The medallion is a singularly beautiful thing and everybody was impressed by its attractiveness. The design was executed by Mr. Julio Kilenyi, an artist and sculptor of international fame. Mr. Kilenyi first studied at the Royal Fine Arts School in Budapest and continued his studies in Germany and in France.
After considerable work in Europe, he went to South America and spent several years in Buenos Aires where he established an enviable reputation as a portrait sculptor. He came to the United States about ten years ago.
In medallic art some of his most celebrated examples have been the portraits of Woodrow Wilson, General Pershing, Thomas A. Edison, Elbert H. Gary, Mark Twain, Charles W. Elliott, and Lord Northcliffe. He designed the President Coolidge Inauguration Medal also. In addition to these he has made medallic portraits of many other dignitaries of the Church and of many who are celebrated in the Commercial world.
Among the models which Mr. Kilenyi has executed and from which medals have been struck are those for the Official Lindbergh medal, the Byrd North Pole medal, the Curtis N-C 4 Atlantic Flight medal, the Battle of Bunker Hill medallion, the Battle of Lexington medallion, the Plymouth Tercentenary medal, and the Republic of Peru Centenary medal.
[Source: All America Review, June 1928]
Thanks to site visitor Maurício Ganzo Pereira of Brazil for providing this image of an All America Cables cigarette lighter.
Linking the Three Americas [a short film released in 1921]
An interesting feature of the lecture given by Dr. A.N. Goldsmith of the College of the City of New York before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers on November 17 [1921]was the first showing of a new one-reel informational motion picture, Linking the Three Americas, made for All America Cables Inc., by Frederic M. Dowd Productions.
The picture covers the entire story of the operations and service of the All America over its 25,000 miles of submarine lines between the United States and the countries of Central and South America and the West Indies.
The familiar red, white and blue insignia of “All America Cables” reproduced in colors leads up to a contrast between the old Indian signal fires and the modern system of cable transmission. The scope of the All America system is developed through an animated map showing the extent of the lines and the points at which the landings are made. This is followed by scenes of cable laying, both deep sea and inshore, including a technical animated visualization of the construction of deep sea and inshore cable.
Then the proper way of preparing a cable code message is shown by contrasting pictures, preceding a complete demonstration, by picture and animation, of the modern automatic method of cable transmission. The sending operator places the message in the rack over his typewriter-like machine and strikes the corresponding letters on the key-board. Each letter struck produces a series of perforations in the narrow paper strip passing through the head of his machine. This strip immediately enters the transmitting machine where the perforations are transformed into electric impulses that are placed on the cable and the message is on its way. As a precaution against errors in transmission the strip then runs through a “baby” recording machine enabling the sending operator to at once see the message as it will reach destination and detect any mistake, though mistakes are rare.
Another animated map shows the message actually traveling from New York to Rio de Janeiro, impressing the observer with the speed attainable by the cable method of international communication, bringing points at five and six thousand miles distance within thirty or forty minutes of New York. The value of this dispatch in commercial and diplomatic transactions is incalculable.
At destination electric impulses pass from the cable into the recorder and register on another narrow paper strip a wavy ink line, the so-called “cable language,” that the receiving operator translates into the original code words.
Throughout the transmission demonstration close-up photographs disclose the technical operation of the automatic instruments, making cable-sending perfectly clear to the student or layman. The detection of breaks in the line and the method of repairing or splicing broken cable is covered at length in animation and diagrams.
The picture closes with a score of scenes in the large cities of South America served by this American-owned and American-directed company.
The educational value of Linking the Three Americas is evident and the picture seems eminently suitable for class and school use as well as for exhibition before trade and export associations, manufacturers, and other business bodies for which purpose it was primarily intended.
Distributed by the All America Cables, Inc., 89 Broad St., New York City.
[Source: Educational Film Magazine, December 1921]
For personal stories of life at All America Cables, see
Captain Frederick Hack and CS All America and
George S. Watson's Remembrances of a Cable Operator
Other material on the company may be found
by searching the site for “All America” below
Copyright © 2011 FTL Design
Last revised: 5 December, 2018
Return to Atlantic Cable main page
Search all pages on the Atlantic Cable site:
Research Material Needed
The Atlantic Cable website is non-commercial, and its mission is to make available on line as much information as possible.
You can help - if you have cable material, old or new, please contact me. Cable samples, instruments, documents, brochures, souvenir books, photographs, family stories, all are valuable to researchers and historians.
If you have any cable-related items that you could photograph, copy, scan, loan, or sell, please email me: billb@ftldesign.com
—Bill Burns, publisher and webmaster: Atlantic-Cable.com
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The Watchers on the Wall
Episode #
Episode chronology
"The Mountain and the Viper" "The Children"
List of Game of Thrones episodes
"The Watchers on the Wall" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of HBO's fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 39th overall. The episode was written by David Bennioff and D.B. Weiss and directed by Neil Marshall. It aired on June 8th, 2014.
2.1 Writing
2.2 Regular cast members
2.3 Guest cast
Jon Snow and the Night's Watch face a big challenge.
"The Watchers on the Wall" was written by David Bennioff and D.B. Weiss, based on the original series by George R. R. Martin.
The episode is adapted from the following chapters from the A Song of Ice and Fire series: Jon VII, Jon VIII and Jon X from A Storm of Swords.
Regular cast members
Kit Harington as Jon Snow
Hannah Murray as Gilly
John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
Rose Leslie as Ygritte
Kristofer Hivju as Tormund
Five out of twenty-six members for the fourth season appeared in this episode. Alfie Allen (Reek), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark), Conleth Hill (Varys), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Sibel Kekilli (Shae), Rory McCann as (Sandor Clegane), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), and Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) are not credited and do not appear in this episode.
Peter Vaughan as Maester Aemon
Owen Teale as Ser Alliser Thorne
Dominic Carter as Lord Janos Slynt
Mark Stanley as Grenn
Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett
Yuri Kolokolnikov as Styr
Josef Altin as Pypar
Brenock O'Connor as Olly
Joseph Gate as a Thenn warg
Ian Whyte as Dongo the Giant
Neil Fingleton as Mag Mar Tun Doh Weg
HBO's Game of Thrones
"Winter Is Coming"
"The Kingsroad"
"Lord Snow"
"Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things"
"The Wolf and the Lion"
"A Golden Crown"
"You Win or You Die"
"The Pointy End"
"Baelor"
"Fire and Blood"
"The North Remembers"
"The Night Lands"
"What Is Dead May Never Die"
"Garden of Bones"
"The Ghost of Harrenhal"
"The Old Gods and the New"
"A Man Without Honor"
"The Prince of Winterfell"
"Blackwater"
"Valar Morghulis"
"Valar Dohaeris"
"Dark Wings, Dark Words"
"Walk of Punishment"
"And Now His Watch Is Ended"
"Kissed by Fire"
"The Climb"
"The Bear and the Maiden Fair"
"Second Sons"
"The Rains of Castamere"
"Mhysa"
"Two Swords"
"The Lion and the Rose"
"Breaker of Chains"
"Oathkeeper"
"First of His Name"
"The Laws of Gods and Men"
"Mockingbird"
"The Mountain and the Viper"
"The Watchers on the Wall "
"The Wars to Come"
"The House of Black and White"
"High Sparrow"
"Sons of the Harpy"
"Kill the Boy"
"Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken"
"The Gift"
"Hardhome"
"The Dance of Dragons"
"Mother's Mercy"
"The Red Woman"
"Oathbreaker"
"Book of the Stranger"
"The Door"
"Blood of My Blood"
"The Broken Man"
"No One"
"Battle of the Bastards"
"The Winds of Winter"
"Dragonstone"
"Stormborn"
"The Queen's Justice"
"The Spoils of War"
"Eastwatch"
"Beyond the Wall"
"The Dragon and the Wolf"
"Winterfell"
"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"
"The Long Night"
"The Last of the Starks"
"The Bells"
"The Iron Throne"
Differences between books and TV series
List of actors
The Maester's Path game
Retrieved from "https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?title=The_Watchers_on_the_Wall&oldid=239539"
Game of Thrones (TV series)
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BPI MIDEM 2016 Offerings
BACKSTAGE PRODUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL RETURNS TO MIDEM WITH A FULL SLATE OF OFFERINGS
Canada’s Backstage Productions International is at MIDEM with a host of programs including a new pilot for a Documentary Series entitled “Being A Musician in Today’s World”. The first in a planned series, the Documentary Feature is hosted by Music Historian and Broadcaster Holger Petersen, the host of CBC’s “Saturday Night Blues”. Holger in his affable style guides the audience through the bands journey as they share some of their trade secrets when it comes to song writing, song selection and the pitfalls of staging not only an international tour and surviving in a business that is somewhat saturated with talent… that tends to blur the lines between the serious and novel, overlooking the minstrels of our time. The documentary was Produced & Directed by Steve Thomson who among his other credits also produced and directed the award winning documentary “Let It Rock at The Crossroads of Rock’N’Roll” and the companion Concert Special “Let It Rock” which boasts performance by some of the rock world’s most legendary artists including Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, The Band, Jeff Healey, Ronnie Hawkins and an all-star band.
In addition to the company’s array of music productions the Backstage Catalogue’s pre HD productions have been up converted delivering a full HD broadcast signal. This is particularly noteworthy with Graham Kerr’s Gathering Place a/k/a the former Galloping Gourmet. Now available in HD as well as Standard Definition, the 130 episode Gathering Place series, has been retooled for web broadcast offering a full array of features including downloadable recipes with a shopping list and optional “couponing” perfect for building broadcast loyalty and sponsor recognition to a public that are not only more health conscious than ever but also looking for value – a definite win-win for everyone. Recent stats suggest that the fastest growing internet audience is the baby boomer plus audience: http://mashable.com/2011/04/06/baby-boomers-digital-media/ and what are they looking for… Some of the top interests for the Baby Boomer Crowd are Travel, Health, Recipes and Nostalgia – The Gathering Place boasts all of that! The stats speak for themselves … three of the top 10 activities performed by seniors on the internet are Personal Health Care (7), Planning Leisure Travel Trips (8) and Searching Recipes/Meal Planning suggestions (9) – all 3 topics can be found in one place – Graham Kerr’s Gathering Place. Talk about a renaissance…
Lastly, Backstage Productions is currently looking for co-production opportunities for what could be the company’s most ambitious doc undertaking to date Mr. Broadway, A documentary about showbiz icon, Bob Merrill, and his journey to Broadway success composing “People”, “Funny Girl”, “Don’t Rain on My Parade”, “Mambo Italiano” and hundreds of other hit songs while not knowing how to read or write music. A life filled with laughter and good times ending in tragedy.
Steve Thomson can be contacted at steve@backstageproductions.com during MIDEM at Paris (33) (0)6 20 06 79 47 or Toronto (01) (416) 291-4913.
Happy Birthday to The Hawk!
A Trilogy Christmas
Don Sawchuk Western Tour
Congratulations to our esteemed Associate Kevin Thomson!
Don Sawchuk Friday Concerts
Happy New Year 2019 | vallerie.ca on TRILOGY RECORDS INTERNATIONAL 1Q19 RELEASES
Happy New Year 2019 | Backstage Productions on Scott Stephenson
Happy New Year 2019 | Backstage Productions on Vallerie Family Christmas Photo 2018
backstage_admin on Vallerie Attends Canadian Songwriter Hall of Fame Awards
Don Sawchuk
K-Bust
Luciano Lombardi
Scott Stephenson
The Story of Lydia
Vallerie
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Tag: liberia
Baltimore Street Artist Brightens Walls in Liberia
Photo by M. Holden Warren, via NPR
The Nathaniel Varney Massaquoi Elementary and Junior High School in Liberia has been closed since last August, when the country was crippled by the rapid spread of Ebola. Last week, the school reopened–and students were welcomed back by a brightly-colored mural that might look familiar to some Baltimore residents.
Masks For Good Helps Liberian Children Talk About Ebola
photo courtesy Masks For Good
Masks may hide an actor’s face, but Tara Cariaso believes they can draw out true emotions.
“People put on a mask, and they’re so much freer than when they’re not with a mask,” she says. “There’s this level of abandon they can achieve when they have a mask on versus when it’s just your persona and your face — and you’re expected to be you.”
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Posts tagged ‘Matthew 2:16’
Matthew 21:15-17 – those yelling Hosanna to the Son of David!
“15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant, 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ’OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABES THOU HAST PREPARED PRAISE FOR THYSELF’?” 17 And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there.” (Mt 21:15-17 NAS)
Earlier when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem people had welcomed Jesus as the “son of David” and praised him as a king entering the city on a donkey. No word of Jesus were then written down by the gospel writers. But when Jesus had thrown-out the moneymakers from the temple, he acknowledged the children’s praise and said to the leaders of the temple that it was out of the mouth of babes and sucklings that some ordained strength because of their enemies, so that those enemies and the avengers could be stilled.
“From the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast established strength, Because of Thine adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.” (Ps 8:2 NAS)
The religious leaders should have known the Psalm with those words.
These spiritual leaders were apparently a deputation from the Sanhedrin, the High Council. They were very indignant at what had happened here. First the presence of the lame and the blind in the Temple was not permitted and secondly Jesus healing them there in the House of God seemed not appropriate. As appears from the crying out and the Greek word used (pais = lad, youth), the singing of ‘Hosanna’ was not unknown to the children. The words used in the Greek manuscript are masculine, meaning boys or lads as in Matthew 2:16, and not the general term children as in Matthew 11:16. It would naturally be boys rather than girls, for comparatively few even of grown women went to the temple amid the crowds. Those youngsters were taught the Hosanna song as early as possible during the Feast of Tabernacles, to wave their palm branches whenever they heard the word ‘hosanna’. (SB, I, 853). They repeated the jubilant call the people had used on the previous day (v. 9).
Those kids and the disciples readily understood it to mean the Messiah; now observing the authority with which he cleansed the temple and healed the blind and the lame, they recalled that cry and were loudly repeating it, even in the temple.
The older people who had said the same on the Mount of Olives and in the streets of the city might have shrunk from making the bold proclamation in this most public place and in the very face of their religious rulers. Children are in such a case more ardent and more fearless.
They leaders of the temple were sore displeased, or, moved with indignation, (same word as in Mt 20:24). They ought to have been led to earnest inquiry whether he who thus asserted authority and wrought miracles and allowed himself to be hailed as the Son of David was indeed the Messiah. They were very well aware of the ancient scrolls telling about a messenger who would come and who would prepare the way before Jehovah of hosts. That sent one from God being like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap, a purifier of silver, who would purify the sons of Levi, and the one refining them as gold and silver.
“1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts. 2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 “And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness. 4 “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD, as in the days of old and as in former years.” (Mal 3:1-4 NAS)
They could see that Jesus had made a purification of the temple, though they did not want to know that Jesus would be a sent one from God, a prophet, and were indignant at the apparent claim. He was altogether different from their notion of the Messiah. The man of flesh and blood they saw was a worker son who came from an obscure village in distant Galilee (John 7:41 f., 52), who had not asked the recognition of the Sanhedrin, but seemed to be relying on mere popular recognition, and for them that crowd or mob knew nothing of the Torah (or Scriptures) {John 7:49 }.
Most people, even the disciples of Jesus at that time, expected the Messiah to be a revolutionist and civil ruler, taking care that the People of Israel would not be any more under Roman rules. Therefore the claim Jesus to be the Messiah and its popular support might was considered a dangerous thing. It would provoke the Romans to crush out the “nation,” and deprive these Jewish officials of their “place,” as some of them had intimated not long before. {John 11:47 f. } It was for that reason also that Jesus no longer had moved about publicly among the people of Judea, because he was aware of the counsel to put him to death. He had withdrawn to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples, but now he knew that the time had come and that he was to go for the Passover to Jerusalem.
It disturbed the leaders that Jesus did not do anything to “stop a thing so improper as to call him Son of David”. So during the triumphal procession, {Luke 19:39 } “some of the Pharisees from the multitude” openly called on him to rebuke his disciples for language implying that he was the Messiah, but he refused. (Comp. our previous writing on Matthew 21:9)
It is idle for critics to suppose this a mere inaccurate report of that former case, for the place is different, the persons making the outcry are here children, and the Saviour’s reply is also entirely different, and adapted to the testimony of children. The Scribes complaining may have been different, or may have included some ‘of the same persons, now still further outraged by the renewed hosannas.
The one who spoke about the Son of man being “Lord or Master of the sabbath“, now did not mind being called “son of David”. He had made hammock in the temple and previously also had said that they could see something greater than the temple being there. {Matthew 12:6-8}
For “out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast established strength.’ the Septuagint has ‘thou hast prepared praise’; in several other passages (Toy) it has rendered the word for ‘strength’ by ‘praise.’ Matthew follows the Septuagint, as he so often does where it expresses the Heb. sufficiently for his purpose. (Comp. on #Mt 3:3 12:14) The Greek word means ‘prepared’ or ‘completely prepared,’ and so may be rendered ‘perfected.’
Suckling was sometimes continued among the Jews till the child was three years’ old (#/APC 2Macc 7:27), and such a custom is still reported by some travellers in the East. What the Psalmist declared true of sucking babes was also and still more true of these boys crying hosanna. Toy says that the meaning in which the words are here used is
“substantially the same as that of the Psalmist — God had shown these children a truth that the learned men did not see, and had thereby made them instruments of praise and strength.”
We should remember that it is God Who calls people and Who gives insight of His Works.
Jesus his wise answer, while not provoking, yet failed to restrain, the purpose excited by the triumphal entry and his cleansing the temple, viz., to destroy him if possible; the popular recognition and enthusiasm made them fear him all the more, for they accounted him a dangerous rival to their own position as religious instructors and rulers. {Mr 11:18 Lu 19:47 f }
The youngsters used a word of joyful acclamation in Hebrew, (ωσαννα; Heb. נא הושׁע, “Save, we pray;” σωσον δη, as Theophylact correctly interprets it), signifying “save now” also used as “welcome”. The Psalm from which it was taken, the 118th, was one with which they were familiar from being accustomed to recite the 25th and 26th verses at the Feast of Tabernacles. On that occasion the Great Hallelu, consisting of (Ps 118 Ps 119), was chanted by one of the priests, and at certain intervals the multitudes joined in the responses, waving their branches of willow and palm, and shouting as they waved them, Hallelujah, or Hosanna, or “O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.” {Ps 118:25 } This was done at the recitation of the first and last verses of; {Ps 118 } but according to the school of Hillel, at the words “Save now, we beseech thee” (vera. 25). The school of Shammai, on the contrary, say it was at the words “Send now prosperity” of the same verse.
Rabboni Gamaliel and R. Joshua were observed by R. Akkub to wave their branches only at the words
“Save now, we beseech thee” (Mishna, Succi, iii. 9).
On each of the seven days during which the feast lasted the people thronged in the court of the Temple, and went in procession about the altar, setting their boughs bending towards it; the trumpets sounding as they shouted Hosanna. But on the seventh day they marched seven times round the altar, shouting meanwhile the great Hosanna to the sound of the trumpets of the Levites (Lightfoot, Temple Service, xvi. 2).
The very children who could wave the palm branches were expected to take part in the solemnity Mishna, Succi, iii. 15; {#Mt 21:15 } From the custom of waving the boughs of myrtle and willow during the service the name Hosanna was ultimately transferred to the boughs themselves, so that according to Elias Levita (Tishbe, s. v.),
“the bundlers of the willows of the brook which they carry at the Feast of Tabernacles are called Hosannas.”
The term is frequently applied by Jewish writers to denote the Feast of Tabernacles, the seventh day of the feast being distinguished as the great Hosanna (Buxtorf, Lex. Talmai. s. v. ישׂע). It was not uncommon for the Jews in later times to employ the observances of this feast, which was preeminently a feast of gladness, to express their feelings on other occasions of rejoicing, {#/RAPC 1Ma 13:51 2Ma 10:6,7 } and it is not, therefore, matter of surprise that they should have done so under the circumstances recorded in the Gospels.
In the N.T. the sense Hosanna appears to be ‘bestow blessing.’
“Bestow blessing on the Son of David: bestow blessing [O thou who art] in the highest.” (Mt 21:9 Mr 11:9,10 Joh 12:13)
Concerning Jesus to be called the “son of David” we can find this in
Mt 1:1 {1 } The book of the {2 } generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. {1) Or The genealogy of Jesus Christ 2) Or birth; as in verse 18 }
Mt 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Can this be the son of David?
Mt 15:22 And behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon.
Mt 21:9 And the multitudes that went before him, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Mr 10:48 And many rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried out the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
Mr 12:35 And Jesus answered and said, as he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that the Christ is the son of David?
Joh 7:42 {1 } Hath not the scripture said that the Christ cometh of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was? {1) 2 Sa 7:12 ff; Mic 5:2 }
Also the scholar Saul (apostle Paul) in later years reminds the members of the group The Way
“concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,” (Ro 1:3 NAS)
“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel,” (2Ti 2:8 NAS)
Also the youngest disciple recognised his master teacher as the Kristos or Christ and as the son of David.
“and one of the elders *said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”” (Re 5:5 NAS)
The people cried Hosanna as Jesus entered in triumph into Jerusalem and now again in the temple; that is, they thus invoked once more the blessings of heaven on him as the Messiah, (This was also a customary acclamation at the joyful feast of tabernacles, in which the Jews repeated # Ps 118:25,26.)
Having brought praise to God and having Jesus being honoured as the son of David, confirming him to be that promised Messiah, Jesus went back to Bethany (Matthew 21:17), a village about 2 miles (3.2 km) from Jerusalem on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. Perhaps Jesus lodged at the home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, with whom he had close association (Luke 10:38–42; John 11:1–44; 12:1–3).
Matthew 9:27-31 – What others are saying about the blind men recognising the son of David
Matthew 9:32-34 – How others look at the blind, speechless and demoniac being healed
Matthew 12:22-30 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: the Charge of Demonism
Matthew 20:29-34 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Two Blind Men Pitied and Healed
Matthew 12:1-8 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Something Greater than the Temple
Matthew 21:1-3 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Sent Ahead for a Donkey
Matthew 21:4-5 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Your King Is Coming upon a Donkey
Matthew 21:6-9 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Blessed the One Coming in God’s Name!
Matthew 21:10-11 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Who Is This?
Matthew 21:12-14 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Temple Cleansed
Matthew 21:12-14 – From a den of thieves to a house of prayer
Matthew 21:15-17 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Out of the Mouth of Babes
Multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David
Matthew 21:10-11 Who Is This? – a Question still posed today #1
Entrance of a king to question our position #1 Coming in the Name of the Lord
Marriage of Jesus 2 Standard writings about Jesus
Days of Nisan, Pesach, Pasach, Pascha and Easter
Sukkoth, Gog, Magog, Armageddon, a covenant and Jerusalem
Patriarch Abraham, Muslims, Christians and the son of God
Concerning Christ #1 A god or the God, a son of man and son of God
Memorizing wonderfully 31 Son of David and God’s Kingdom
Today’s thought “… with all your heart” (May 09)
June 5, 2018 -Jesus, the Sabbath Breaker? John 5:1-18Lord of the Sabbath
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1 – 14; Mark 2:23 – 3:6; Luke 6:1 – 11)
In Jesus’ Words: Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-3:6)
Lord of the Sabbath, a prayer of confession based on Mark 2
A telling of Matthew 21
Jesus’ Triumphant Entry – Palm Sunday Exegetical Study Part 1
Hashtag #PalmSunday #StunnedSilence
Palm Sunday as it really happened (not as it’s talked about in church)
Palm Sunday – Hosanna!
Hosanna to Hallelujah
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in God’s name! Yes! The King of Israel!” ~The Jerusalem crowds
Music: Hosanna by Apostle Peter
Hosanna Lyrics by Amanda Malela
Hosanna! Save Us!
Hosanna… Save us, we prayHosanna shouting, “B lessed (celebrated, praised) is the K ing who comes in the name of the Lord ! Peace in heaven and glory (majesty, splendor) in the highest [heaven]!”Hosanna I’ve always wondered why Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey instead of a horse when He entered Jerusalem as a King.
Oil and Palm Branches
Hosanna – Palm Sunday Devotional
Palm Sunday: Sanctification and Protection
If The Jesus Fits
Living Christ, Our Victory
Hey Jesus!
3. Titles of Jesus: The Son of David and the Messiah
Luke 20:41-44. Son of David
Semana 2019
From Cheers to Jeers
Cheering to Jeering to Cheering Psalm 118
A Promised Son
Jesus: Son of David, or Son of God?
Considering the Names of Jesus: Son of David
Son of David 1
Son of David. 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ?
How Is the Messiah David’s Son?
Sons of David
Son of David, Heal Me
Who is Christ?
Who is Jesus to you?
Bible Quotes, Bible study, Jesus Christ, Jeshua Messiah
Cleansing of the temple
Great Hallelu
Halleluia = Halleluyah = Hallelujah
Hosanna (Welcome - God bless - God save)
Hosanna = boughs of myrtle and willow bound together
Hosanna to the Son of David
Master of the Sabbath
Pais = lad - youth
School of Hillel
School of Shammai
Sukkot festival or Feast of Tabernacles
Temple Cleansed
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Cardiovascular & Hematological Agents in Medicinal Chemistry
Formerly: Current Medicinal Chemistry - Cardiovascular & Hematological Agents
Evaluation of manuscripts is carried out by the journal’s Editors and the invited external peer reviewers according to the following procedures.
The editorial process and peer-review workflow for each journal are taken care of by a team of Senior Editors, Editorial Board Members (EABMs) who have expertise in their specific fields and the publication managers. Bentham follows a single blind peer review process. The services of Senior Editors and Editorial Board Members are sought through invitations to organize and conduct the peer-review of a submitted manuscript, keeping in view the scope of the manuscript and the expertise of Editors. Manuscripts are forwarded for evaluation to Editors initially and then subsequently to independent external reviewers to check if the research work presented in the manuscript:
falls within the scope of the journal and
meets the editorial criteria of Bentham Science Publishers in terms of originality and quality.
Editors may recommend the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript by conducting the peer review themselves, based on their own knowledge and experience, or they may take assistance and advice from other experts in the field.
After review of the manuscript by at least two independent experts, in addition to the views of the Editors, the decision is relayed to the authors, which may be categorized as:
Accept without changes
Revisions Required
Selection of Reviewers
The Editor-in-Chief (EiC) and Senior Editors of a journal together with the publication manager have the right to select reviewers for a particular manuscript considering the knowledge and experience of the reviewers.
Before sending the manuscripts to a reviewer, Bentham Science seeks consent from potential reviewers about their availability and willingness to carry out a review. The correspondence between the editorial office of the journal and reviewers is kept strictly confidential. The author does not know who has conducted the review on his or her manuscript.
Purpose of A Review
A review report provides the Editor-in-Chief/Senior Editor with an expert opinion on the quality of the manuscript under consideration. It also supplies authors with explicit feedback on how to improve their papers to make them acceptable for publication in the journal. Although confidential comments to the editors are not relayed to authors, any remarks that may help improve the quality of the manuscript are forwarded to the authors for their consideration. A good review report answers the following important areas:
Is the work novel and of high standards?
What are the main findings of the paper? Is relevant work of other authors in the field appropriately acknowledged and references given to the previous literature?
Do the experimental data support the declarations? If not, what other evidence may prove fruitful?
What kind of readers would benefit from the manuscript and why?
In what further directions would it be feasible to take the current research?
Important Points to Consider
Reviewers are expected to provide advice on the following points in their review reports:
Is the manuscript written comprehensively enough to be understandable? If not, how could it be improved?
Have adequate proofs been provided for the declarations?
Have the authors addressed the previous findings fairly?
Does the paper offer enough details of its methodology to reproduce the experiments?
Bentham Science encourages authors to publish detailed protocols as supporting information online. Do any particular methods used in the manuscript warrant such a protocol?
The peer-review of a manuscript is a confidential process. Reviewers should keep the whole process completely confidential. They should consult the EiC/Senior Editor and obtain permission before consulting another colleague for help in the peer-review of the submitted manuscript.
Reviewers should not disclose any information whatsoever to anyone before publication of the manuscript.
The reviewers are expected to provide their reports in a timely fashion since a prompt review leads to the timely publication of a manuscript which is beneficial not only for the authors but for the scientific community as well.
Changes in Review Reports
The Editorial staff relays the comments of the reviewers on behalf of the Editor-in-Chief/Handling Editor. The review reports are edited by Editor-in-Chief/Handling Editor if the comments contain confidential information or these are written in a language not suitable for scholarly communication. Reviewers should include such comments in the confidential section of the review form, which is intended to be read by the editors only.
Bentham Science respects requests not to have the manuscripts peer-reviewed by those experts who may have a competing interest with the author(s) of a submitted manuscript. It is not possible for Editors to be aware of all competing interests; we therefore expect that reviewers would inform the Editor-in-Chief/Handling Editor/ Publication Manager if they notice any potential competing interest during the course of review of a manuscript. Moreover, the reviewers are expected to inform the Editors or editorial office of the journal if they have a conflict of interest in carrying out a review of a manuscript submitted by any author/contributor of the manuscript.
Debabrata Mukherjee
Department of Internal Medicine Texas Tech University
Biography of Debabrata Mukherjee
Debabrata Mukherjee, M.D is the Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine and the Program Director for the Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship program at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso. Dr Mukherjee has been an invited lecturer at several major national and international meetings, has authored over 450 publications, edited eighteen textbooks on cardiovascular diseases and written more than 100 textbook chapters. He presently serves on several journal editorial boards, is the Editor-in-Chief of the Cardiovascular and Hematological Agents in Medicinal Chemistry, and the Cardiology Reviews and is an Associate Editor for the journal Cardiovascular & Hematological Disorders-Drug Targets.
⇨ Journal Home⇨ Editorial Policies⇨ Editorial Board⇨ Reviewer Board⇨ Board Recruitment Workflow⇨ Join Editorial Board⇨ Indexing Information⇨ Announcements⇨ Endorsements⇨ Authors' Comments⇨ Special Offers
Current Medicinal Chemistry - Cardiovascular & Hematological Agents was launched in 2003 and later renamed in 2006 as Cardiovascular & Hematological Agents in Medicinal Chemistry.
Frontiers in Clinical Drug Research-Hematology
You can view the contents of this eBook [here] or purchase it [here].
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BASHMOTION
creative and concepts
team coordination and recruitment
full organisation of a filming process
backstage photography
Mute/Unmute
Vol+
Vol-
we?
We are a team of friends sharing mutual interests in motion pictures and TV production. Every one of us has a long-term experience in their own field of expertise, has found their strong points and gives their best to turn even the boldest ideas into reality.
The collaboration with BASHMOTION guarantees individuality, devotion and care throughout the whole process - from the first sketches of an idea to its introduction to clients and the wide audience.
Pavlin "Bash"
The emblematic Director of the music stage, Pavlin Ivanov - BASHMOTION is the kind of person who works with his heart and daringly implements creativity in his ideas...
Miglena
Nachkova – Megy
Megy is line producer and production coordinator. She is the person, who will be with you from the moment of building up an individual product concept till the video is wrapped up and ready for streaming...
Bohos
Topakbashian
Bohos studied “Film and TV Editing” at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA). Currently, he is completing his Master studies in “Screen Arts Management” at the same academy...
Kirkov
colors & animations
Nikolay graduates from NATFA with major “Film and TV Editing”. He continues his studies at the AnimSchool academy under the guidance of animation experts from Disney, DreamWorks, Blue Sky etc...
Mariyan
Tashev
Mariyan has taken part in many productions: music videos, commercials, documentaries and corporate videos. Recapturing the Bulgarian beauty is his passion, as he shows that beauty from high above...
Petkova
Iva has vast experience in motion pictures, TV series, commercials and music videos. Her individual approach towards every production, the wide range of database...
Grigor "Gem"
Manolov
Sound & Music Composer
Dimitar
Vladev
Grip & Lighting
The emblematic Director of the music stage, Pavlin Ivanov - BASHMOTION is the kind of person who works with his heart and daringly implements creativity in his ideas.
Four times winner of the "Director of the year" award, Bashmotion has directed over 300 music videos, commercials and corporate videos for both Bulgarian and foreign clients.
Megy is line producer and production coordinator. She is the person, who will be with you from the moment of building up an individual product concept till the video is wrapped up and ready for streaming. Coordinating the team with care and attention, Megy is the client’s connection with all production levels.
Her collective experience in various position gives her the right qualities to manage tasks calmly and responsibly.
Megy has worked as a producer for Publicis, Saatchi&Saatchi, Wasabi. She was also the casting director for the TV-series “Familia” and “Revolution Z”, а radio and TV host and а reporter for lifestyle magazines.
Bohos studied “Film and TV Editing” at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA). Currently, he is completing his Master studies in “Screen Arts Management” at the same academy.
His mastery of montage is built on a solid basis with over 140 music videos and TV ads behind his back and the debut feature films in his career, “Bubblegum” (Bulgaria) and “НЕХ” (England), screened in 2017.
At the moment Bohos is working on his third feature film - “Fall and Salvation”.
He has worked on the TV series: “Stolichani v poveche”, “Revolution Z”, “Familia”, “Sex lies and TV", “Dear Heirs”.
Nikolay graduates from NATFA with major “Film and TV Editing”. He continues his studies at the AnimSchool academy under the guidance of animation experts from Disney, DreamWorks, Blue Sky etc.
In his bio, he has worked on over 60 TV commercials and music videos. He was an Animation software tutor, colorist for BNT’s show “The Manuscript”, 3D animator at MP - Studio and post-production supervisor at Bubu Studio. Nikolay is a colorist for the TV series “Dear Heirs”.
Mariyan discovers the filming adrenaline "from a bird’s-eye view" in 2013 and in that moment realises that this is more than just a passion to him. He and Pavlin collaborate with ease and start experimenting and risking in search of breathtaking stills.
Trust and the way his work influences people stimulates Mariyan to upgrade his skills and inventory, which soon leads to his first place award at the DroneUp International Film Festival.
He has taken part in many productions: music videos, commercials, documentaries and corporate videos. Recapturing the Bulgarian beauty is his passion, as he shows that beauty from high above, just the way he loves watching it.
Iva has vast experience in motion pictures, TV series, ads and music videos. Her individual approach towards every production, the wide range of database as well as her adventurous spirit in search of unknown locations, is what makes working with her more than easy.
She used to be location manager at Nu Boyana Film Studios, for the TV Series “Glass home”, “Undercover”, “Stolichani v poveche” and “Familia”.
Iva has worked for leading Advertising agencies on dozens of international productions.
TV & Web commercials
2018 music video Reel
Зора - "Бъдещето, което създаваме днес"
Wow Tea (web ad / long)
25 години ЗОРА
COLDFIRE Brand
SVETNYME selfie ring
2018 looks like that
25 години търговска верига ЗОРА
Immerse into the world of COLDFIRE!
COLDFIRE is a synonym for dedication, experience, passion and attention to the finest detail. Exquisitely crafted with a unique blend of ultimate-grade materials, our products are designed to withstand and match the extreme lifestyle inspired by your untamed rebel spirit, while protecting your electronic data in a way that lets you unleash it to the fullest.
Those,
who trust us.
Pavlin "Bash" Ivanov: +359 889 100 477 Megy Nachkova: +359 876 516 946
©2020 Bashmotion All rights Reserved
Made with ❤ by marka collective & aginev
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Tag Archives: Ontario’s Independent Electric System Operator
The Coalition BDS Québec has announced that Hydro-Québec has declined to renew an agreement with its Israeli counterpart, Israel Electric.
“This victory is important for us in Quebec,” John Philpot, an international lawyer and a member of the Coalition BDS Québec, told The Electronic Intifada. Check out full article in Electronic Intifada.
The Coalition BDS Québec reports that “During the summer of 2019, in response to a request for a meeting with Hydro-Québec’s new Board Chair, Ms. Côté, when we were warned of an upcoming hearing at the Commission d’accès à la information, the Executive Vice-President – Corporate and Legal Affairs and Head of Corporate Governance wrote to us , “without commenting in any way on the point of view expressed in [our] correspondence,” that the HQ-IEC agreement , due May 22, 2019, has not been renewed !” In addition, the entire content of the agreement is finally communicated to the Coaliton, and the hearing at the CAI is therefore canceled.
On August 27, the Coalition BDS Québec published a press release. Hydro Quebec immediately sent a letter , signed by its chief – Public Affairs and Media, stating that the decision not to renew the HQ-IEC agreement had no political impact, which we doubt strongly.
The Rest of the Country
The Canadian BDS Coalition has been in touch with the approximately 40 electric companies across Canada, and has heard from some they do NOT have any working agreements with Israel Electric, but are waiting to hear from others. Follow up with take places with those who have not confirmed that they are not in relationship with Israel Electric.
Photo: Israeli warplanes make a ceremonial flyby of the Israel Electric Corporation’s Orot Rabin coal-fired generating station, to mark what Israel calls its Independence Day, May 2017. The power company is deeply complicit in Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights. (via Facebook) Electronic Intifada
The Campaign (Archives)
to say NO to Hyrdo-Québec
It has been a year since the partnership between Hydro-Québec and Israel Electric was revealed by BDS-Québec. See post from May 2017
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/HQ_IEC_partnership_agreement_en/
Sign the petition to demand that Hydro-Québec terminate its agreement to cooperate on cyber security with Israel Electric Corporation signed May 22, 2017.
This memorandum of understanding is acontract between two states: Quebec and Israel.
The cooperation agreement was signed as part of the May 2017 economic mission to Israel and Palestine by Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, in his presence. Hydro-Québec refuses to disclose the content of its partnership agreement with IEC in contravention of the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information to which it is subject.
IEC is working closely with the National Cyber Security Authority on military cyber defenses (IDF), intelligence services (Mossad) and the Water Authority. IEC’s security IS Mossad.
A “partnership” in cyber security with Israel means “a pact with the Mossad and a pact with Israel’s apartheid regime”.
Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) – a state-owned corporation – shares responsibility for the State of Israel’s abuses towards the Palestinian population:
IEC regularly cuts electricity in Gaza.
IEC frequently cuts electricity in the West Bank.
IEC electrifies the separation wall between Israel and Palestine.
IEC has supplied electricity to illegal settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
IEC supplies the Israeli army with electricity.
Since 1948, Israel has repeatedly violated with impunity resolutions adopted by the United Nations and the United Nations Security Council and continues to ignore the International Court of Justice’s condemnation of its policies.
Gaza has been under an illegal blockade for 10 years. In recent weeks Israel has adopted the official policy of ‘shoot-to-kill’ in Gaza, targeting and shooting Palestinian demonstrators seeking to improve their living conditions and to end the blockade:
Bullets and targeting were aimed to kill and maim as hollow bullets exploded on penetrating bodies: 112 killed, 13, 500 wounded (1029 women), 7,618 by gunshots, with 32 amputations and more coming.
Israeli snipers have targeted and killed journalists wearing identifiable press jackets
Israeli snipers have targeted and killed medical personnel, both doctors and paramedics
No Israeli was killed
In signing its memorandum of understanding with Israel Electric Corporation, Hydro-Quebec – and the Quebec state – makes themselves complicit in these crimes. Please sign the petition demanding that Hydro-Quebec cancel its partnership with Israel Electric Corporation!
Sign:
To learn more about the cooperation of Canada’s energy industry read this IT World Canadaarticle that provides details about Toronto Hydro, IESO (Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator), and the Canadian Electric Association, as well as Canadian energy sector.
Israel in Toronto
Israel enjoys a close relationship with Canada’s electricity sector. Last year, a delegation of Canadian electricity companies, government officials, and regulators visited Israel.
Yesterday, Israel in Canada‘s Ambassador Rafael Barak, Nissan Amdur (Israel’s Economic Attache to Canada), and Yosi Shneck (Senior Vice President and CIO of the חברת החשמל לישראל Israel Electric Corporation), participated in IESO – The Electricity Outlet‘s Executive Briefing on Cybersecurity in Toronto.
This entry was posted in BDS Coalition Actions, Campaigns, Take Action and tagged BDS Quebec, Canadian Electric Association, Canadian energy sector, Hydro-Quebec, IEC, IESO, Israel Electric, Israel Electric Compnay, IT World, Ontario Energy Board, Ontario's Independent Electric System Operator, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, Toronto Hydro on April 28, 2019 by cbcjpi.
Let’s cut the current between
Hydro-Québec and Israel Electric
Sign petition at:
The partnership between Hydro-Québec and Israel Electric is revealed by BDS-Québec
Sign the petition to demand that Hydro-Québec terminate its agreement to cooperate on cyber security with Israel Electric Corporation concluded on May 22, 2017.
This memorandum of understanding is in fact a contract between two states: Quebec and Israel.
The cooperation agreement was signed as part of the May 2017 economic mission to Israel and the West Bank by Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, in his presence. Hydro-Québec refuses to disclose the content of its partnership agreement with IEC in contravention of the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information to which it is subject.
To learn more about the cooperation of Canada’s energy industry read this IT World Canada article that provides details about Toronto Hydro, IESO (Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator), and the Canadian Electric Association, as well as Canadian energy sector.
from Israel in Toronto Facebook page
This entry was posted in BDS Coalition Actions, Campaigns, News, Take Action, Uncategorized and tagged BDS Quebec, Canadian Electric Association, Canadian energy sector, Hydro-Quebec, IEC, IESO, Israel Electric, Israel Electric Compnay, IT World, Ontario Energy Board, Ontario's Independent Electric System Operator, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, Toronto Hydro on July 15, 2018 by cbcjpi.
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#Alteredbrew
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Inside ‘The Workshop’ – Plymouth’s new journalism hub for students
September 26 2019|
Category : Sales & Finance
Inside ‘The Workshop’ – Plymouth’s new journalism hub for students. Supply and installed by Altered Images
As reported by Plymouth Herald
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/inside-the-workshop-plymouths-new-3355395
A state-of-the-art broadcasting facility, housed inside the famous BBC Villa in Seymour Road, has been officially opened by David Fursdon, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Devon.
The studios, which have been the home of the BBC in the city for over 60 years, will be brought to life by journalism students from Plymouth Marjon University.
The Workshop, as it will now be known, houses top-of-the-range technology and broadcast capabilities, which will allow students to broadcast live radio, TV and on online output, as well as providing them with a world-class base to practise their media production skills.
The Workshop is now home to state-of-the-art equipment which meets, and exceeds the standards of the media industry that the students will be hoping to break into when they graduate.
Budding journalists from Marjon will get hands-on experience working with the latest TV and radio studio equipment, and will be working alongside experienced journalists from BBC Broadcasting House next door as they do it.
Mark Grinnell, the editor of BBC Spotlight said: “It’s fantastic that the next generation of journalists will have this amazing resource in the city, so close to where news broadcasting in the South West first began.”
Mike Baker, programme lead for Journalism at Marjon said: “This is such a fantastic opportunity for our students, now and in the future, to really help bridge that gap between dreaming of a career in journalism in all its forms, and actually having one.
“We at Marjon have a long history of enabling students to reach their potential, regardless of their background, and a facility such as this, in Devon, will go a long way to helping them overcome the obstacles which can make the media industry seem like a distant dream.
“Our Journalism programmes have long been producing accomplished, confident journalists – the unique opportunities on offer at The Workshop will give those lucky enough to come here from now on even more of an advantage for when they graduate.”
Professor Rob Warner, Vice-Chancellor of Plymouth Marjon University, spoke about how The Workshop will benefit Marjon students, and what the facility will bring to the city.
“Our new studios and training opportunities within the BBC campus are an outstanding example of working in partnership to create international-quality learning and professional opportunities for students from all backgrounds. The BBC could not have been more helpful in developing these magnificent facilities which are sure to excite students from across our city, the South West and beyond.”
The Lord Lieutenant of Devon and Marjon vice-chancellor, professor Robert Warner. (Image: Penny Cross / Plymouth Live)
The official opening of The Workshop with Plymouth Marjon University (Image: Penny Cross / Plymouth Live)
Marjon students Jack Horswell and David Bray at the facility (Image: Penny Cross / Plymouth Live)
About Altered Images
Altered Images is a leading expert in workflow system design and a major technology reseller for the broadcast, television production, education and corporate communications industry. Its highly-skilled team understands visual communication technology, offering everything from a single product to a complete turnkey solution. From consultancy and system design, through to sales, installation and support, Altered Images offers a fully-specified service for production and broadcast professionals.
For further information, please visit https://alteredimagesltd.com/ or contact Liz Cox, Brill Media,
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America's Finest Ambassador Chapter 23 – I Hate Molesters
Contrary to my immediate inhibition regarding the removal of my shoes, Home Sweet Home hostel turned out to be a lot nicer than the place we’d stayed at in Phnom Penh. Not a speck of dirt had turned up on my socks and, in our room, there’d been actual beds as opposed to futon mattresses laid out on a sticky tile floor that’d been covered in ants.
Just because the place had been physically clean and free of infestation didn’t mean that it wasn’t subject to visits from another sort of vermin. Posted in the halls and on the walls of every room had been some rather disturbing signs urging guests to report any suspicious activity involving foreign grown-ups having sex with local children. Needless to say, these notifications provoked rather chilling thoughts. I mean, honestly, who does that?
“So Bob,” asked Bob’s co-worker while standing by the water cooler, “how was your vacation to Cambodia?”
“Oh,” Bob let out a pleasurable sigh. “It was amazing. Soooooo relaxing.”
“Cool. What’d ya do there?”
“I spent a few days exploring the ruins of Angkor.”
“Yeah, how were they?”
“Nice. That’s great man. How was the nightlife? You get out at all?”
“You know, I actually did get out a few times.”
“Well,” Bob’s buddy wanted more of the vicarious thrill, “how was it?”
“It was awesome.”
“Yeah, yeah. Well, tell me a little bit more about it. What’d ya do?”
“I, uh, fuckin’ went out ‘n’ paid some shady dude I met in an alley to take home one of the caged children he kept in the back of his car and then spent all night poundin’ that ten-year-old’s ass from behind up in my hotel room.”
“Jesus Bob. Get some fuckin’ help, you sick bastard.”
I’d seen a Dateline special a while back where Chris Hansen packed up his Predator game and took it to Cambodia where he helped bust a bunch of Brian Peppers wannabes that’d actually taken field trips halfway around the world to fuck kids. It was a great episode. All those molesters who’d traveled thousands of miles to shag toddlers had thought they were gonna get some action with no chance of getting caught and then “WHAM!” outta nowhere pops in the show’s host. “Hi, I’m Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC,” he begins, “and we’re doing a story on twisted fucks like you who try to have sex with children.” Upon finding out they’re going to jail and will be exposed to their families and friends back home as the monsters they really are, the men break down and repent. But it’s too late for them. Their worlds are shattered and the looks on their faces are priceless.
I grew up across the alley from a convicted child molester. He looked like a bug-eyed, hunchback lab assistant from one of the early Frankenstein movies and lurched around the neighborhood like the walking dead. He had a distinct fashion sense. He’d always be wearing a short-sleeved, plaid collared shirt – any color – on top of short shorts with high socks. He’d never wear pants, even in the winter. It was always the baggy shorts that rode a good eight inches above his knees and the high white socks below. When we were kids, we were fuckin’ terrified of this guy.
Igor, we’ll call him, had lived in a beat-up, spooky-ass, hundred-year-old mansion that looked like the type of place someone’s estranged great uncle would make them spend a night in before getting all the money he’d bequeathed in the will. Around the neighborhood, whispers of the goings-on at Igor’s haunted house abounded. It was believed that the basement of the place had been some sort of torture chamber where the walls had been lined with shelves housing jars of severed penises. None of us would dare go near the place which is probably why he’d so often been out on the prowl.
Igor’d had a knack for walking his dog every day right around the time school would let out because, hey, what attracts kiddies more than a cute puppy wearing a homemade sweater? When he wasn’t able to work that angle because school had been out for the summer, Big I would cruise around the neighborhood with the top down in his LeBaron convertible blasting the very same soundtrack the Good Humor man would from his ice cream truck. It was the perfect way to lure some eye-candy out the safety of their homes and into his line of vision.
After having spent nine months in prison for doing whatever it was he did to a young boy he’d sponsored in the Bigger Brother program, Igor began writing a newsletter to fill everybody in on what he’d been up to. He’d hand deliver these updates to all the houses on our block. When my brother and I had been playing in the living room and we’d see this guy coming up the front stairs, we’d run and hide under the table or behind the couch because we’d thought that he was coming to get us. Of course, in reality, he’d just been dropping off the latest edition of the Igor Chronicles. Among other sick things he’d discussed in these issues that my mom would try to hide from us had been a bit about how “they” jammed a cotton swab in his penis-hole while in prison. Years later, once I was too old to be fancied by Igor, he’d released a series of short stories which he’d also hand delivered. The only one I can remember had been about a half-man, half-television that became sexually aroused when people would adjust the volume or change the channel using the knobs that doubled as his nipples.
Believe it or not, Igor has a wife who’s stuck with him through it all. She’s about the same age as him and looks like Elton John. They still live together in the spooky old mansion to this day. Back when I was a kid, Elton had been a member of the choir at the local Catholic parish. She’d sing there every Sunday. Igor would tag along and sit his creepy ass in the front row every time. From sixth through eighth grade, I served as an altar boy at this church. Although that in itself sounds like an invitation to be molested, it wasn’t. Neither I nor anyone I served Mass with over the years had ever been touched by this dude, but each and every one of us (males) had been eye-fucked by him from head to toe.
As if going to church and being an altar server didn’t suck enough on its own, Igor’s presence had made the whole experience ten times more grueling. I remember one time holding a candle at the side of the podium at which the priest had been standing while reading a passage from the Bible. No more than twenty feet in front of me had been Igor, sitting with his knees pulled up to his chin and his arms wrapped around his folded legs. Basically, he’d looked the way someone would while doing a cannonball into a swimming pool. Aside from him, I’ve never seen anyone above the age of four sit like that in a public place, ever. And being up at the front of the church like that, there was nothing my parents could do to keep me from being exposed to Igor’s violating gaze. The rabid way in which he’d looked at me had been frightening. It was like the devil’d had a front row seat at the House of God.
The house I grew up in has a swimming pool in the backyard. Igor never came onto our property – at least, to our knowledge he never had – but sometimes when we’d be in the pool and he’d be walking his puppy in the alley, we’d catch him peering through the cracks of our wood-plank fence. One late summer afternoon when he didn’t think we were home, Igor entered our neighbor’s yard and walked right up to the chain link fence that divides the two properties. There he’d stood for several minutes just staring into our pool where our toys had remained from our early afternoon frolic. But it turns out we actually were home at the time. My brother and I had been watching his every move out the back window. Even though we’d been behind a locked door, we were scared shitless. We ended up getting our mom from upstairs who’d gone running out into the yard, shooing Igor away while imparting a few choice words.
Igor knew that nobody on the block liked him and that we all just wished he’d go the fuck away. He was particularly hated in my household because my brother and I were at an age that’d been just his type. Since he’d been well aware of our disposition, when someone had keyed his car – not us – he was quick to point a finger in our direction. He ended up printing signs and writing messages in sidewalk chalk near our garage. This went on for months and each note had relayed the same message. “Beware of the car key idiot. May kangaroo poo find its way into your nose.”
The guy was off his rocker. He was a scary dude. I would have nightmares about him. These dreams were never about me being molested or him coming after me or anything like that, but they were all disturbing nonetheless. The one that stands out most vividly in my mind had been one involving the swimming pool.
It had been late May or early June. The weather was starting to get hot and we decided it was time to take the winter cover off the pool. So, as a team, my family and I unhooked all the clips around the edges and began to peel the thing away. Underneath it had been the two feet of water that we’d left in there when we’d closed it up at the end of the summer previous which appeared clear and algae-free. Everything had looked normal except for the bloated body that’d been floating face down until a wave caused it to turn over. My stomach sank when I saw it was Igor who’d been drifting dead in my pool. Although I’d spent most of my childhood hating him and wishing he would just die, I never wanted it to be in the refreshing, chlorinated waters of our family swimming hole.
Back in Siem Reap, the following day, Mr. Tino came in his tuk tuk and scooped us from Home Sweet Home hostel bright and early.
“Good morning,” he said. “Are you ready to experience the ruins of Angkor?”
“Hell yeah we are, Mr. Tino.”
“Excellent,” he said as we’d climbed into the back of his auto rickshaw. “In that black bag there,” he pointed near our feet, “is a case of water. It gets quite hot here during the day and it’s very important to stay hydrated. So, help yourself. Take all you want.”
“Awesome,” I said and began chugging one right away. “Thanks a lot Mr. Tino.”
Mr. Tino put on a helmet, hopped on the motorbike at the front of the ride and pulled away from Home Sweet Home hostel. About ten minutes later, we’d arrived at the UNESCO World Heritage Site whereupon our guide handled the entrance fee at the front gate before we entered the grounds. As we whipped through a forested area, I finished chugging my first bottle of water. Minutes later, we emerged from the trees, neared and began to slow down in front of an absolute whopper of a temple. Mr. T parked the tuk tuk off the side of the road and hopped from his bike. We climbed out the carriage and joined him. There’d been no other tourists around. I was in complete awe of what I’d been seeing.
“Okay, so, this one right here is a temple that goes by the name Pre Rup,” Mr. Tino said. “It is made of sandstone and is over a thousand years old. It was dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva and built under King…”
Mr. Tino knew his shit. As we stared up at the magnificent monster, he proceeded to give us a thorough rundown of Pre Rup.
“Any questions?” he’d asked after a three-minute monologue.
We all shook our heads no.
“Okay, very well,” he nodded before holding his hand out towards the temple. “Would you care to explore?”
“Yo, wait, hold on a second,” I said. “They actually allow people to go climbing all over these buildings?”
“Yes,” he grinned, “if that is what you would like to do.”
“That’s definitely something that I’d like to do.”
“Well, alright then,” he said while climbing into the shady carriage of the tuk tuk. “You guys go right ahead. I will be waiting for you here whenever you are finished looking around and taking photographs.”
Being free to climb, touch and even do cartwheels on these ancient beasts seemed too good to be true. It felt like the complete opposite of the experience I’d had in Rome. When visiting the Roman Forum and other historical structures around Italy’s capital, I got the same feeling I do when at a strip club. What I mean by this is that for a certain price they’ll let you in and let you get near the beautiful ruins but if you overstep your bounds and put your grubby mitts somewhere you’re not supposed to, you’re more likely than not gonna end up getting your ass kicked by some big Italian guy and getting dragged outta the place in a bloody mess. But visiting Angkor was different. I felt less like a visitor and more like a guest.
Following Pre Rup, Mr. Tino took us to a similar temple called Ta Keo. On the way over, I’d chugged another bottle of water. When we got there, Mr. T had once again given us the story behind the temple-mountain at hand before setting us free to explore. After having a look around and snapping a few shots from different angles, we were carted over to a temple called Ta Prohm.
Ta Prohm had been used a few years back for a scene in Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie. TP isn’t as large as the first two temples we’d visited, but tends to be a big tourist draw due to the ominous Strangler Figs that grow there. Over time, the Strangler Fig has adapted and developed the ability to germinate in unusual places. From wherever its seed has sprouted – be it the middle of a forest or on the roof of a twelfth century temple – like the arms of a giant octopus, the plant’s serpentine roots rapidly reach downward and begin to strangle the host structure in a quest to feed its increasing demand for nutrition. Meanwhile, the twisted trunk and arthritic branches writhe steadily upward, grasping for sunlight like some wretched beast from a claustrophobic Tim Burton nightmare.
During the time we’d spent exploring the Strangler Fig infested temple of Ta Prohm, I’d put down yet another bottle of water.
Lining the approach to our next destination, on both sides of the street had been a block-long row of statues taking the form of short, stumpy, expressionless men. At the end of this stretch had been a sixty-foot-tall stone gate with a giant face staring down at all who enter the ancient city of Angkor Thom.
Within Angkor Thom, Mr. T pulled up to a place called the Terrace of Elephants. It was probably around noon and I’d just finished my fourth bottle of water. Mr. T did his spiel and we made plans to meet with him back there about an hour later. He’d indicated that there were stands serving food nearby had we been interested. We were interested and decided to head that way.
In that area had been numerous tents from where t-shirts, hats and other keepsakes were being sold as well as those offering food, drinks and ice cream. As we approached these tents to see what kind of lunch options they had, we were besieged from every angle by aggressive hawkers pressuring us to buy this, that and the other thing. Among these fiends had been a nomadic pack of trinket-selling children.
“Hello! Dollar!”
“Dollar! Dollar!”
“You buy!”
“Dollar!”
I was overwhelmed. The way the sun had been beating down made me feel like an ant under a magnifying glass, my bladder was on the brink of exploding from pounding waters all morning long and the last thing I wanted to do was be anywhere near a pack of unaccompanied children after having read the sign on the wall of our hotel room about what sick shit some visitors like to do to kids in Cambodia. It all made me feel super uncomfortable.
Ya see, I used to have this catering job back home at a place called Unforgettable Edibles. All it entailed had been delivering food to the people that ordered it – pretty basic shit. These deliveries were done in company vehicles. Oftentimes, the only company vehicle available had been an unmarked white work van without any windows in the back. Of course, when I was a kid, thanks to all the police blotters reporting how often this type of vehicle had been used to abduct children, we’d referred to these as “molester vans.”
A lot of the clientele for UE happened to be Catholic grammar schools around Chicago’s northwest side. The faculty at these schools would often order group lunches which were to be delivered right at the heart of recess time during which loads of children were running around the playground. Some of these schools are quite big and have many doors. Since I’d never been to these schools before and had never been given specific directions as to which door the food was supposed to be delivered, I was often at a loss for what to do and I’d end up slowly circling the building in this white molester van while recess was in session, peering out the window in search of a door that looks like it might lead to the main office.
One time I’d been assigned to deliver lunch to a place called St. Tarcissus grade school. The molester van had been the only vehicle available at the time and, you guessed it, all the kids had been out for recess. The idea of parking the van and walking around the school to first find the office, then going back for the food afterwards hadn’t occurred to me at the time so I proceeded to circle the premises at about three miles per hour trying to figure out where in the fuck I was supposed to drop off that goddam food. During my second roll around the school, one of the recess dads had set a barricade in front of the molester van. My hair was long at the time. I hadn’t shaven in like three weeks. I looked like a total scumbag. He approached the driver’s side door and I rolled down the window.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“Oh shit,” I thought, putting myself in his place. “This guy probably thinks I’m lookin’ to get me some. This must be what it feels like to be on an episode of To Catch a Predator.”
“Look guy,” I started off, “I’m just here from Unforgettable Edibles tryna to drop off a buncha sandwiches for the ladies of the school office.”
“Sandwiches? Do they know you’re coming?”
“Yeah dude. They ordered the sandwiches, I bring the sandwiches to ‘em. That’s the way the system works.”
“Where you from again?”
“Unforgettable Edibles,” I pinched my shirt and pulled up the part housing the company emblem.
“Hmm, alright,” he still seemed totally skeptical of my reason for being there. “Well, the office is right over that way and up that flight of stairs.”
I felt like such a molester that day. And I wanted to never feel that way again.
So, back in Cambodia, the savage pack of children had us surrounded and were waving all sorts of garbage at us while shouting, “Dollar! Dollar!” Next to some of the tented venders had been a bathroom. Since I really had to piss and didn’t wanna be around all those kids, I opted to kill two birds with one stone by taking a little stroll. But as I stole away to the urinary sanctuary, a few of the kids decided to follow after me, continuing to yell about dollars while waving cheap bracelets around.
“Nope,” I waved ‘em off. “No thanks.”
“Dollar! You buy!”
“Nope,” I said as I neared facilities. “I’m not buyin’ it.”
“You buy! Give me dollar!”
By this time, we’d reached the door leading into the men’s room – a place where I was about to pull out my penis so I could take a piss. I don’t know whether or not these kids would’ve actually followed me in there trying to sell me their bullshit, but I didn’t feel like finding out.
“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” I shouted while pointing at each of the kids. “I’m trying to take a piss here! Get the fuck away from me! I don’t want any of your stupid fuckin’ bullshit!”
They all scurried away.
Following their banishment, I entered the facilities, looked down and noticed the feet of someone who’d been taking a shit in the stall next to the urinal who’d definitely just heard me yelling at a bunch of kids. I felt like a total jackass but I had to stick to my guns. I fuckin’ hate molesters, man. And I don’t want kids anywhere near me when I plan on letting the beast out of its cage.
Photos from Angkor…
T. Osh gazing up in wonderment at one of the many great ruins of the Angkor complex. It amazes me how they let any Tom, Dick and Harry or hairy-dicked Tom’s climb all over these priceless constructions
Same building from farther back. Pre Rup, I believe it was called
View from the top of that bad boy in the picture previous
Temple of Ta Prohm. One of the temples that time apparently hadn’t been as kind to, but awesome nonetheless
Ta Prohm. Takin’ root in rock and chokin’ bitches like Wayne Brady, the “strangling trees” of Angkor ain’t nothin’ to fuck with.
Laying in ruin
This building is down for the count
On that Legends of the Hidden Temple grind
Wish all tunnels looked this bo$$
Temple of Ta Keo
Big-ass Buddha with Sunny D swag
Stone-faced
The King Daddy of them all – whoopty whoop Angkor Wat!? Too bad it had band-aids all over it…
View of the grounds from the top of Angkor Wat
At Angkor Archaeological Park there are hoards upon hoards of tiny little children selling trinkets and homemade wristbands. They are relentless.
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Oklahoma State Football
Chuba Hubbard to Forgo 2020 NFL Draft, Return to Oklahoma State
Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekTwitter LogoFeatured ColumnistJanuary 13, 2020
Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press
The Oklahoma State Cowboys essentially earned their first win of the 2020 season before it even started.
On Monday, running back Chuba Hubbard announced he is returning to the Big 12 program instead of entering April's NFL draft. The star running back was one of the best players in the country this season, running for 2,094 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Chuba Hubbard @Hubbard_RMN
Life is good 🇨🇦 https://t.co/EIIpkJoAgl
Bleacher Report's Matt Miller projected Hubbard to be selected with the final pick of the second round in his latest mock draft and ranked the Oklahoma State playmaker as the fifth-best running back for the 2020 draft behind the likes of D'Andre Swift, J.K. Dobbins, Jonathan Taylor and Najee Harris.
While Hubbard likely would have been given the opportunity to earn significant playing time as a rookie if he was a second-round pick, his return means he can play his way into first-round status for 2021 without having to compete against those other runners.
This is welcome news for Oklahoma State. Hubbard was the focal point of its offense and ran for more than 100 yards in every game this season except for a blowout win over McNeese State in which he had only eight carries. He also ran for more than 200 yards four times and scored three touchdowns in three different games.
The Cowboys dealt with injuries to some key players, including wide receiver Tylan Wallace and quarterback Spencer Sanders, but still managed to go 8-5 thanks in large part to Hubbard's brilliance on the ground.
Still, it was a step back from a double-digit win season as recently as 2017. Hubbard's return can serve as a spark plug heading into a 2020 campaign that includes games against Oklahoma, Texas and Oregon State, as Oklahoma State looks to become a Big 12 title contender again.
Oklahoma State Is In A Great Position With One Of The Best 2021 Interior Lineman In The Nation
via Maven
Chuba Hubbard's First Interview Since Announcing He's Back at Oklahoma State
East-West Shrine Game 2020: Highlights, Top Performers Who Boosted Draft Stock
Benny LeMay Wins Offensive MVP as East Beats West 31-27 in 2020 Shrine Bowl
Mike Chiari
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Chuck Jones Blog
2 Legends & 3 Daughters Event Photos
Warner Bros. Clicks Its Heels Together with Habitat for Humanity
Tag Archives: comedy
Lew Loves Lucy! New “Old Hollywood” Portrait by Fran Lew
Master American portrait artist, Fran Lew, has just completed a stunning, evocative portrait of two of old Hollywood’s most enduring stars, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Utilizing her flawless technical skills, Lew has captured the living, breathing embodiment of the spark and beauty of this dynamic husband-and-wife comedy team.
Using her special charcoal pencils and white pastel and working on tinted wove paper, Lew has brought her considerable talents to bear on this unique work of nostalgia. What secret is Lucy cautioning us to keep with her finger poised at her lips? The look of “uh-oh” on Desi’s face may give a clue to the ensuing comedic moment and with so many to choose from, it’s just a matter of memory to bring your laughter to life.
“I Love Lucy” original charcoal on white pastel on tinted wove paper, 25″ x 19″ unframed.
In Fran Lew’s own words:
Why I Love Lucy
“For decades, millions of “I Love Lucy” fans have fallen in love with the zany, hilarious comedy of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. “I Love Lucy” is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms in history. In 2012, it was voted the ‘Best TV Show of All Time’ in a survey conducted by ABC News and People Magazine.
“I take pleasure in capturing and sharing the memories of people who we have all come to love and admire. To celebrate the upcoming 65th anniversary of “I Love Lucy”, I created a commemorative portrait of Lucy and Desi as an everlasting tribute to their glamour, comic genius, and contribution to American pop culture.”
For more information or to purchase this work, please contact your Chuck Jones Gallery art consultant or online at www.ChuckJones.com.
San Diego | 619-294-9880
Santa Fe | 505-983-5999
Costa Mesa | 949-274-4834
This entry was posted in Chuck Jones Gallery, Inspiration, Notes on Collecting Art, Other Artists of Note and tagged beauty, charcoal portrait, comedy, Desi Arnaz, Fran Lew, glamour, I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball, nostalgia art, Old Hollywood, original art, portrait, small screen on August 9, 2016 by Robert Patrick.
Quote of the Day: Comedy & Farce
"Comedy is unusual people in real situations; farce is real people in unusual situations."
–Chuck Jones, page 22, "Stroke of Genius, A Collection of Paintings and Musings on Life, Love and Art"
This entry was posted in Quote of the Day and tagged Bugs at Piano, Chuck Jones, comedy, farce, real people, unusual situations on November 15, 2010 by Robert Patrick.
Chuck Jones Quote of the Day: Start with the Believable
"We must all start with the believable. That is the essence of our
craft. All drama, all comedy, all artistry stems from the believable,
which gives us as solid a rock as anyone could ask from which to seek
humor."
–Chuck Jones, page 14, Stroke of Genius, A Collection of Paintings and Musings on Life, Love and Art
This entry was posted in Quote of the Day and tagged animation, believable, Chuck Jones, comedy, craft, drama, essence, humor, quote on August 5, 2010 by Robert Patrick.
Image of the Day: Charlie Dog
“100% Charlie Dog” is a fine art reproduction on paper, created from original drawings by Chuck Jones and a background designed by Bob Givens. It measures 24″ x 17.5″ and the edition size is 200, click on the image to learn more.
“Charlie Dog is one of my favorite characters. I don’t understand him, but I do like him. He is so unquestionably a dog. Charlie is merely trying to find a master and a home, which are perfectly natural ambitions for any dog. Comedy is always concerned with simple matters such as this.
“Charlie Dog is in many ways Daffy Duck on four legs. He never doubts his desirability as a pet dog (“You ain’t got no dog; I ain’t got no master. So I’ll make you a preposition”), and he is openly obnoxious to anybody who appears unwilling to accept what is to him a very desirable proposition.”–Chuck Jones, writing in Chuck Reducks, Drawing From the Fun Side of Life
This entry was posted in Image of the Day and tagged Bob Givens, Charlie Dog, Chuck Jones, comedy, Daffy Duck, fine art reproduction on March 31, 2010 by Robert Patrick.
“Marilyn–Like No Other” New Work from Fran Lew
Chuck Jones Gallery POPUPS in Palm Desert!
The Cat Behind the Hat!
Chuck Jones Big Draw Visits Planet X
The Chuck Jones Experience Pops Up!
Robert Patrick on The Animated Art of Chuck Jones–New Book!
Penny Newman on The Animated Art of Chuck Jones–New Book!
David Bird on Which Artist’s Work Will You Go Home with this Year at the Red Dot Auction?
Witches, Bitches and Britches on Image of the Day: Two Sizes Too Small
Peter Fay on Fun Facts About Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
Blogs of Special Note
Chuck Jones Big Draw
Chuck Jones Center for Creativity
Chuck Jones Experience
Chuck Jones Gallery
Chuck Jones' Letters to Linda
Council for Creativity
Events: Past, Present & Future
Friends of Chuck Jones
Linda Jones Clough Archive
Notes on Collecting Art
Other Artists of Note
The Art of Chuck Jones
The Jones Family: Family Gatherings & Memories
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The Monday Roundup: Freeway removals, car abuse costs, bike use savings, transit haters, and more
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on November 7th, 2016 at 10:51 am
Bikes now outnumber cars in Copenhagen.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland))
I know all you can think about is the election. But you should probably take a break and get caught up on the best bike-related stories we came across last week…
Hales sees the light: Remember that no good, horrible, very bad decision Mayor Charlie Hales made in 2013 to enact parking minimums on new residential development? Now he wants to remove them.
Seattleites are over I-5: This article about removing I-5 through Seattle could be — should be! — written about Portland. That freeway sucks and has no business bisecting our central city.
More freeway removal: The city of Rochester in upstate New York filled in a central city freeway with dirt, “to focus on pedestrians and establish vital neighborhoods for housing, expanding businesses and producing jobs.”
As goes Los Angeles, so goes…: A ballot measure in Los Angeles would raise big money ($42 Billion) for light rail. The LA Times has a great rundown on that and a general overview of the non-driving transportation mix in the driving capital of America.
SoCal transit haters: To give you an idea of what L.A.’s transportation reformers are up against, check out these bus-hating Venice residents fought against a new bus route through their neighborhood and then celebrating victory with a tasteless piñata.
“Safe mobility” not “Vision Zero”: The California city of Santa Ana is not just boldly breaking from their County’s auto-centric policies, their new plan to eliminate traffic collisions is called “Safe Mobility” instead of the more popular and well-known “Vision Zero”.
Biking on main street: It’s simple: Backstreet and “neighborhood greenways” aren’t enough. If we want to be a real cycling city, we must make it safe and easy to bike on main commercial streets. But don’t take my word for it, check out the analysis by Michael Andersen.
The cost of car abuse: A new report has found that a whopping half of all injuries treated at a major hospital in San Francisco were from traffic collisions — and the cost to treat them was $105.5 million over two years.
An eye for an eye: China’s traffic enforcement is not messing around when it comes to cracking down on people whose bright lights blind other road users.
Cool bikes in Detroit: The Guardian has a fun photo essay of the creatively customized bikes that roll on the streets of Detroit.
Put that money into bike lanes: A study published in the journal Injury Prevention found that New York City’s bike lane investments have led to “exceptionally good value because they simultaneously address multiple public health problems.” The study went so far as to say that spending money on bike lanes to improve health is, “more cost-effective than the majority of preventive approaches used today.” Bloomberg News also covered the study.
Copenhagen tipping point: This line from Copenhagenize says it all: “For the first time since the City starting counting traffic entering the city centre, there are more bikes than cars.”
Is it really that complicated?: Not sure to smile or cry at the news that the state DOT in Colorado is having such a hard time preventing vulnerable users from being hit and killed on their roads they’re willing to pay the public for new ideas.
Drop us a line if you come across a great article and want us to consider sharing it in next week’s roundup.
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org
BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.
The Monday Roundup: The costs of car culture, enforcement skeptics, tired pros, and more July 29, 2019
The Monday Roundup: Math, danger in safety, transit in Seattle, and more January 9, 2017
The Monday Roundup: LA's freeway follies, Vision Zero's policing problem, a rail vision, and more February 12, 2018
The Monday Roundup: Artcrank b'day, good bike laws, bad air, a transit scam, and more July 10, 2017
Let's Active November 7, 2016 at 11:17 am
Wow, that Rochester freeway that they are filling in had average daily traffic of only 6,000 vehicles before it was decommissioned. I’m guessing it would be a tougher sell here for I-405 given its traffic volume of 80K-128K depending on where you are.
Eric Leifsdad November 7, 2016 at 12:22 pm
I think we should keep the freeway and just tame it down to city speeds, particularly at the ramps so they don’t infect nearby streets. Push to get cars off of surface streets and make this the easiest way to get around in a car. Cleanup the flow and prevent backups from too-late merging (not to be confused with zipper merging) and other anti-social behavior. Maybe some jersey barriers in some places instead of solid stripes of paint. Setting the speed limit at 30mph would allow striping at least a couple more lanes to most parts. What do we gain by removing it if that just unleashes all of the traffic into the grid?
John Lascurettes November 7, 2016 at 12:55 pm
I’d rather get rid of the above-grade I-5 freeway through the waterfront and keep I-405. Then, rename I-205 as I-5 since that is the “real” freight route and I-405 is just a bypass. Call the whole section between Tigard and Vancouver I-405 after ripping up the section of I-5 between Fremont Bridge and OMSI (Markham Bridge).
wsbob November 7, 2016 at 7:12 pm
Major engineering and budgeting challenge, but covering I-405 could be a great benefit to the city, as would submerging the section of I-5 on the east side. Maybe it’s too late a stage in the city’s development of the west side waterfront to take on the latter…there’s that big gangly and dangerously tall bridge to deal with y’know.
I guess I’ve got to google Seattle’s project with the Alaskan Way tunnel. Since the tunnel machine hit rocks, I haven’t heard of much progress, for months.
BB November 8, 2016 at 12:42 pm
Just the opposite actually – Once Seattle’s tunneling machine got through the fill and into rock it has been making steady progress, pausing only for scheduled maintenance. It’s something like 70% complete now.
q`Tzal November 8, 2016 at 9:49 am
Any alternative to truck freight traffic coming into an urban area needs to be as efficient as and no more expensive than current truck freight paradigms. Anything else will simply be swatted down by every business alliance and chamber of commerce everywhere.
Portland luckily has terrain constraints that keep it from being able to built out into a freeway wonderland like DFW but until a viable alternative, that can move the tonnage at a comparable price, can be deployed we will be stuck accommodating big trucks in some painful way.
Simply removing the 405 will not remove the pain; you have to eliminate the need for trucks. As long as human beings group into dense urban areas we will continue to need to get freight in and out of out our human scale communities.
Spiffy November 7, 2016 at 11:18 am
article about removing I-5 through Seattle: https://www.theurbanist.org/2016/11/04/more-support-for-removing-i-5-downtown/
Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) November 7, 2016 at 11:31 am
thanks Spiffy! I had the wrong link in there. fixed it now.
Buzz November 7, 2016 at 11:23 am
re. Bike infrastructure on arterial streets: This was a much larger focus of the previous PBOT Bicycle Master Plan than it is in the current plan. Just sayin’…
Adam H. November 7, 2016 at 11:25 am
Great point about the lack of commercial corridors without cycling infrastructure. It still completely baffles me that Portland has only a handful of commercial streets with any cycling facilities. Even Chicago has door-zone lanes on most business stretches. Most Portland streets have absolutely nothing. It’s not as if there isn’t room: Burnside, Hawthorne, Grand, Belmont, and basically every downtown avenue have plenty of room for protected cycleways. It’s just that the city prioritizes getting cyclists out of the way of drivers, rather than actually promoting cycling as a form of every day transportation.
Catie November 7, 2016 at 12:40 pm
Agreed! Trying to go to a specific store on a busy street is an akward navigation of taking a neighborhood greenway to get you close then walking or biking on the sidewalk to get the last few blocks.
Anne Hawley November 7, 2016 at 11:29 am
I wonder how many entries that Colorado prize competition will get saying, “Slow drives the f*** down.”
yeah I just don’t understand why, in 2016, this is considered some sort of mystery. The reality is that the DOT is simply unable to implement the known solutions because of fear and/or politics so they’re looking for something that is perhaps more palatable. sad
Anne Hawley November 7, 2016 at 12:09 pm
of course I meant “drivers” there.
wsbob November 7, 2016 at 12:42 pm
Not many from anyone hoping to get some of the money offered. Indication is that CDOT is hoping for some ideas a bit more innovative than someone just venting frustration, annoyance, whatever, in an offensive way. With its competition, CDOT looks to be hoping to inspire people to imagine some innovative ideas that will be superior in effectiveness to existing infrastructure ideas.
The dept mentions ‘teams’, which leads me to expect its thinking in part about high paid engineers and designers of big companies, that CDOT would have to pay a ton of money, far more than 500,000, to get solid advice from.
To ordinary working people that amount of money sounds like a lot…and it is…though when it comes to actually installing infrastructure, it’s not a lot of money. Example: crosswalk signals cost approximately 250,000, apiece. So I’ve heard,could be mistaken.
Overspending is one of the big problems in the U.S. The competition may come up with some good ideas. Not necessarily a bad way to engage the public in being more conscious of their road infrastructure. Though it’s important at the same time, to think some about how CDOT is spending money in its budget for already known and proven effective bike and walk infrastructure,
Anne Hawley November 7, 2016 at 6:08 pm
My point, which was apparently lost in my use of naughty language, was that the very best thing they could do, they already know about. A million people could tell them for free. It doesn’t NEED to “innovative”. They’re looking too hard.
“…It doesn’t NEED to “innovative”. …” hawley
You speak with authority, as someone that knows something about Denver’s traffic congestion issues.
I can’t say that I do, and though I didn’t spend any time to day reading up on what those issues are and what means the city already has been using to deal with them…the impression I got from the story, is that the city may be using some of the bike and walk specific infrastructure ideas already, and still finds it needs some additional, innovative ideas.
The programs’ bike and pedestrian challenge, ‘RoadX rules and guidelines’ is worth a look, if you haven’t studied it already:
https://www.imagineco.us/en/page/roadx-rules-and-guidelines-en
From the limited reading I’ve done about it, I can’t see exactly why Denver is running this challenge, but until I hear more about the traffic issues the city is dealing with, I’m not going to dismiss the challenge idea outright.
Lester Burnham November 7, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Okay so you remove I-5 from precious inner Portland. So you just force more congestion and pollution on to us east side residents around I-205? Sounds about right.
Kevin November 7, 2016 at 12:24 pm
While we’re all dreaming, let’s just stick most of it in a tunnel.
Kyle Banerjee November 7, 2016 at 1:29 pm
I hope you don’t just mean I-5. We probably should stick everything that motorized vehicles use in tunnels. I know it will be tough fitting the bridges in there, but it will all happen if we advocate strongly enough.
Adam H. November 7, 2016 at 1:32 pm
Yes because that is going so well for Seattle…
Kevin November 7, 2016 at 1:45 pm
I don’t know specifically why the Seattle project is having so many problems. But I’ve seen some spectacular infrastructure in Asia, and I think we could find a way to put more high throughput roadways underground.
Pete November 7, 2016 at 4:01 pm
Boston’s Big Dig may have its critics, but it was also the first of this kind of project and literally broke new ground. Burying highways doesn’t make traffic go away, but it does create greenspace above it, and allow for more manageable cross-town routes, especially for peds and cyclists. While the tunnel still has problems to this day (like random ceiling tiles impaling passing cars), I shudder to think of what would have become of the city had they not buried its main artery.
Adam H. November 8, 2016 at 8:38 am
I can think of lots of other things I’d rather have the city and state spend $14.6 billion and 25 years on. It would be cheaper just to tear the thing down for good and it would create wealth along the east waterfront.
Pete November 8, 2016 at 10:45 am
Except that kind of money will continue to be spent on maintaining highways, regardless of whether they’re underground, elevated, or directly cutting cities (like SF) in half.
(Van Ness is Highway 101, to clear up my reference).
http://www.dot.ca.gov/d4/newsreleases/van-ness-improvement-project-brief-newsletter-april-2016.pdf
wsbob November 8, 2016 at 10:20 am
A couple years ago, I saw a show on PBS about Boston’s big dig. That’s where about the entirety of my knowledge on that project comes from. The reporting on the show said basically, that the project was hugely expensive, and fraught with serious engineering problems. There seemed to be considerable question that the infrastructure would ever be viable for use. Don’t know what the status is now.
Despite detailing of the problems, it remained clear that it was essential for Boston to have the tunnel in order to deal with the effects of heavy motor vehicle use on the city. Somewhat related, that’s why Seattle has to have the tunnel its building, and Portland eventually will have to do something to reclaim the east-side waterfront land that I-5 occupies, by handling the traffic using it, another way.
Chris I November 7, 2016 at 8:42 pm
Tear out the Marquam and I-5 on the east bank. Turn half of the land into a park, and sell the other half to private developers. Use that money to add a lane to I-405 and lid as much of it as possible.
The Marquam…that’s the bridge whose name I was trying to remember yesterday. That thing is dangerous. Kiss it and everyone on it goodbye, when the big shake comes. Maybe people should start carrying parachutes in their cars.
It’s ugly and dangerous, and together with I-5 on the east side near the waterfront, kind of ruins that important area of land within the city. Are there no better ideas for handling the traffic this infrastructure carries, than to just tell the people driving on it to go away? I hope someone is giving some serious thought as to what can be engineered to provide for the travel needs of people using this bridge and that section of freeway.
Chris I November 9, 2016 at 8:44 am
Use I-405 or I-205. We would want to replace the Marquam with a bridge similar to the Tillicum, connecting Water just north of OMSI to SW River Pkwy. 2 general purpose lanes, 2 streetcar/bus, and wide sidewalks.
To be clear, I didn’t mean my comment about “while we’re dreaming” to sound as rude as I think it does upon a re-read. I’m sorry about that.
I don’t think I would support a proposal to diver I5 in such a way, but I recognize fully there are always two sides when a road bisects a city.
Lester Burnham November 8, 2016 at 2:33 pm
Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) November 7, 2016 at 4:16 pm
Not necessarily Lester.
A lot of the traffic would disappear. Many of those I-5 trips are made because a car is unfortunately the fastest vehicle depending on where you’re going. Take out the freeway and biking and transit would compete much better and therefore more people would do it.
You should not always assume the given level of traffic is a constant. Traffic is the byproduct of a culture and a system that promotes auto use at every level…. If we promote something else, people will make different choices.
Detroit bike pictorial was a fantastic way to light up a Monday – thanks!
B. Carfree November 7, 2016 at 1:28 pm
Michael’s article on bike facilities on business corridors makes me feel old. He quotes another post that contains the following, “Historically, North American cities have placed their bike routes on side streets rather than main streets…” As I recall, when Davis, CA started putting in a few bike lanes it was the first city in the nation to do so, making that kind of important in terms of history. The bulk of the bike lanes were precisely on business corridors (3rd St, F St, L St Covell Blvd, Anderson Rd) as well as streets with schools.
I guess if one thinks the history of bike use started with this century, then such a quote is accurate. Unfortunately, that would miss an awful lot of things like the largest bike boom in history (or is that pre-history now?).
John November 7, 2016 at 2:16 pm
I wish we had great cycling infrastructure on arterials like Hawthorne, Burnside, Belmont, etc.
But if we’re just going to get some door-zone bike lanes (like SW Broadway, or SE Sandy) then I’d rather just spend that money on our greenways. The greenways aren’t perfect, but I don’t think I’ve ridden a single bike lane in Portland that’s lower stress than a typical greenway already, and they could be *massively* improved with some imagination: we could expand the diverters from an ad-hoc setup in locations with too many vehicles to a systematic approach that removes through-traffic from greenways entirely, and maybe borrow the 5mph speed limit from Barcelona’s superblocks as well.
It’s not perfect, but:
– people who want to cut through the greenways to save commute time don’t have any political clout, people who complain about traffic on arterials do
– people who live on greenways will be happy to reduce traffic volumes outside their front doors–so this has the potential to gain support outside of the active transportation community
– much cheaper than reengineering big streets and no issues with highways being owned by less bike/ped friendly agencies
– while I don’t get to bike *along* the commercial blvd to my destination, Portland’s grid means that I can generally get very, very close using bike boulevards and even closer (<1 block) using other neighborhood streets. The neighborhood greenway network offers perfectly acceptable routes for the short non-work trips described in the article.
What if I don’t know exactly what block my destination is on? I often don’t memorize intersections – when I know what place I am going to, I often just keep riding on the street it’s on until I see it.
What if I simply want to cruise around a shopping district and stop into stores that look good? What if I’m hungry and don’t know what I want to eat? These are part of the joys of living in a city – simply browsing and wandering without a set destination in mind.
People driving and walking get this opportunity, and so should people cycling.
My cold dark heart likes China’s solution to high-beam drivers (forcing them to stare into high beams for a minute). It reminds me of one of the many worlds tasted in Heinlein’s book The Number of the Beast. On that world, the justice system was strict eye for an eye. The travellers chanced upon a convicted careless driver being subjected to his punishment. As the ambulance crew stood by with a stop-watch, a car was driven over the guilty party. After the same wait as his victim had endured, the ambulance crew hopped into action to try to save his leg.
Imagine how people would drive if they were subjected to the same treatment as their victims? Needless to say, we’d be down one habitual unlicensed driver and one person who likes to use left turn lanes to speed past other cars.
Perhaps we can make our streets safe by less barbaric means, but I’m beginning to doubt it.
bikeninja November 7, 2016 at 3:41 pm
I like it. The penalty for speeding would to be tied in the middle of the road and rammed with a car going as fast as the difference between the legal speed and the speed the scoflaw was convicted of. Gotta Love Heinlein.
Motorists would quickly grok cycling with just a few scary right hooks.
The penalty for right hooking a cyclist would be to be put in the ring with Mike Tyson ( or modern equivalent) and get a few right hooks for each infraction.
Mark smith November 9, 2016 at 9:16 am
The day that portland rips out 405, is the day it will truly become a great city.
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Pints and PhDs
On Tuesday 26 January, three scientists from The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) helped kick-off the first instalment of ‘PubhD’ at the Cellar House in Eaton, Norwich.
A varied local audience, joined two TGAC PhD students, Thomas Bradley and Maxwell Rogers, to learn about the breadth of TGAC’s research through a series of talk. Facilitated by TGAC Public Engagement and Society Officer Peter Bickerton, the session showcased topics from fascinating fish and orchestra of life to the wonders of microalgae, followed by some in-depth questions, answers and dialogue.
A national campaign, PubhD aims to help PhD students explain their research to a lay audience using just a whiteboard and marker pens. The idea is to get across the main focus of their research in terms that anyone can understand before members of the public get the chance to quiz them and discuss over a drink or two. Considering the importance that PhD research has on the bulk of published science, as well as the famous discoveries that have occurred over a pint in the pub (the structure of DNA for one), where events such as this are an extremely valuable experience.
The audience of thirty people left feeling both engaged and informed, describing TGAC as “worthwhile” and “very far-reaching; looking forward to all the benefits in the future.” Various people also expressed their interest in hearing more and signed-up to hear about future TGAC events.
Dr Bickerton, Public Engagement and Society Officer at TGAC, said: “The first Norwich PubhD at the Cellar House was a fantastic success, and many thanks to Victoria for conceiving and hosting the event. We managed to foster a very effective dialogue between our PhD students and the audience, inspiring the audience about the varied and important research undertaken at TGAC. We look forward to bringing more of our postgraduate students along in the near future.”
Cellar House Landlady Victoria MacDonald, said: “A great fun and inspirational evening with huge support and some lovely feedback! It was brilliant to see the science ‘coming alive’ in a social and informal setting. Looking forward to the next one.”
TGAC is strategically funded by BBSRC and operates a National Capability to promote the application of genomics and bioinformatics to advance bioscience research and innovation.
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Home > Journals > Journal of Mammalian Ova Research > Volume 35 > Issue 2
Journal of Mammalian Ova Research
VOL. 35 · NO. 2 | October 2018
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VIEW ALL ABSTRACTS +
Fuminori KIMURA
35(2), 33, (1 October 2018) https://doi.org/10.1274/jmor.35.33
Ovarian Stimulation in in vitro Fertilization
Yusuke Fukuda, Yukiko Katagiri, Mineto Morita
35(2), 35-41, (1 October 2018) https://doi.org/10.1274/jmor.35.35
KEYWORDS: in vitro fertilization, Ovarian stimulation, Protocol
Read Abstract +
In assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments, the ovarian stimulation method is important for obtaining many good quality oocytes. The first ovarian stimulation treatments used high stimulation in long and short protocols with gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists. It was formulated to suppress the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge while the follicles are developing. Subsequently, a moderate stimulation with an antagonist was introduced following the development of GnRH antagonists, and low stimulation that inhibits the LH surge with continuous administration of clomiphene citrate. However, cases have been reported occurred in which estrogen replacement therapy was selected to facilitate follicular development by supplementing estrogen in ovarian insufficiency. Otherwise ART cryopreservation technology has also developed. These practices are referred to as oncofertility, and have given rise to new ovarian stimulation methods in infertility treatment. Ovarian stimulation with the random start or double stimulation methods, which are not readily affected by the menstrual cycle, and progestin-primed ovarian stimulation (PPOS) that inhibits the LH surge with a progestogen have come to be performed and are showing good outcomes. As the social and medical backgrounds change, the methods of ovarian stimulation may futher improve in the future.
The Role of Phospholipase in Sperm Physiology and its Therapeutic Potential in Male Infertility
Fuminori Kimura, Kazumi Kishida, Chisako Horikawa, Mika Izuno, Akiko Nakamura, Jun Kitazawa, Aina Morimune, Shoko Tsuji, Akie Takebayashi, Akiko Takashima, Shoji Kaku, Takashi Murakami
KEYWORDS: Male infertility, fertilization, sperm, Phospholipases
In mammals, the role of sperm in the process of fertilization is complex, and several well-defined steps must occur for the sperm to fertilize with the oocyte. Phospholipases (PLs), which regulate the lipid composition of the sperm by hydrolyzation of the phospholipids, are involved in the regulation of the flagellar beat, capacitation, and the acrosomal reaction, as well as in the triggering of the calcium oscillations in the oocyte that lead to oocyte activation. The emerging important role of phospholipases is also revealed by the fact that alterations of sperm lipids can lead to infertility. Phospholipases, especially PLCζ, could represent therapeutic targets to overcome male infertility.
Embryonic Modulation of Endometrial Receptivity
Sakae Goto
KEYWORDS: embryo, Endometrium, Cross-talk, Twostep ET, SEET
Implantation requires a receptive endometrium, a functionally normal embryo and communication between the developing embryo and maternal tissues (cross-talk). Two-step embryo transfer (two-step ET) and stimulation of endometrium embryo transfer (SEET) are procedures for ET based on concept of embryonic modulation of endometrial receptivity. In two-step ET, a cleaved embryo is transferred on day 2, and a blastocyst is transferred on day 5. The pregnancy and implantation rates with two-step ET were found to be higher than those with cleaved ET and double blastocyst transfer. We speculated that the cleaved embryos transferred on day 2 modulate endometrial receptivity and improve the implantation rate for blastocysts transferred on day 5. In SEET, embryo culture supernatant (ECS) is injected into the uterine cavity prior to blastocyst transfer to stimulate the endometrium and provide an optimum environment for implantation of forthcoming blastocysts. The pregnancy and implantation rates with SEET were found to be higher than those with blastocyst transfer. Higher implantation and pregnancy rates with SEET could be explained by embryonic factors produced in the culture medium that modulate endometrial receptivity. Lysophosphatidic acid was detected in ECS. Two-step ET and SEET are effective options for ET based on the concept of crosstalk between embryos and maternal tissues.
Expression of Genes Involved in the Non-Neuronal Cholinergic System and Their Possible Functions during Ovarian Follicular Development in Mice
Mizuki Ueno, Haruka Ito, Takuya Kanke, Yuta Matsuno, Wataru Fujii, Kunihiko Naito, Koji Sugiura
KEYWORDS: ovary, granulosa cells, Acetylcholine, Mouse
The regulatory roles of the non-neuronal cholinergic system, such as its growth promoting effects on mural granulosa cells during ovarian folliculogenesis, have been reported for several mammalian species; however, its roles in the early stages of follicles are not well-understood. This study was conducted to examine the expression of transcripts involved in the non-neuronal cholinergic system, and the effects of activating acetylcholine (ACh) signaling in mouse ovaries. The transcripts encoding proteins required in processes critical for ACh metabolism and a nicotinic cholinergic receptor, CHRNA7, were detected in ovaries and isolated mural granulosa cells. Stimulation with carbachol, a cholinergic agonist, promoted proliferation of mural granulosa cells in vitro. Moreover, carbachol treatment of neonatal ovaries significantly increased the numbers of primordial follicles compared with control untreated ovaries in organ cultures. These results suggest that a functional non-neuronal cholinergic system exists in mouse ovaries, and that it promotes the proliferation of mural granulosa cells and the formation/survival of primordial follicles.
The Early History of the TYH Medium for in vitro Fertilization of Mouse Ova
Yutaka Toyoda, Minesuke Yokoyama
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Column: People wisdom from…veterinarians – BizWest
Home » Columns
Column: People wisdom from…veterinarians
By Rick Griggs — December 1, 2019
Kiwi, I was told in a stern and sterile manner, needed all of her teeth removed. The doctor, assuming I had neglected this innocent animal, gave me a look very much like my dad listening to a neighbor describe the bat, the ball, and the broken window. Yes, the exotic red bengal cat had been neglected. The veterinarian was pissed — that’s one of many reasons why I admire them.
For almost 10 years, I’ve had the privilege of working with veterinarians in their clinics, animal hospitals and at national conferences in the U.S., Canada and Australia. These professionals endure veterinary school, internships, residencies and emerge with crushing debt largely because they love working with animals. My observations show that these doctors of veterinary medicine (DVMs) have valuable insights into working with another species called humans.
Start with kindness and love — The real world throws cold water on many dreams. Even so, it’s better to start with a dream or something you love. Like the veterinarian’s early love of animals, you and I can also be guided toward work and careers that we love. It may take longer to break through and many years to gain that sense of success, but a base of kindness and love is a great place to start.
Discipline like clockwork — Good veterinarians understand discipline. For us humans, this suggests structure and regimen. I believe it also underscores building and maintaining good habits. I can always tell when a dinner guest sneaks a bite of food to my new dog Amber — she begs for weeks. Broken habits cause trouble. We humans wonder why our lives and careers zig-zag between goals and wishes and heartbreaks. Part of the answer lies in our habits.
Tend to the business — Successful veterinarians learn to combine their love for the animal with the requirements of the business. One without the other will create hardship and disappointment. I suggest the 60/40 rule: expect that 60 percent of your professional life will relate to the planning, marketing, communicating and assessing needed to keep going. Forty percent (if you’re lucky) will relate to doing what you love. This is good and you are blessed. Those who expect these numbers to be inverted sometimes become bitter and depressed.
Restrain bad behavior — Whether from friends and family or co-workers, superiors and employees, learn from those who work with animals and put a stop to bad behavior. Bad behavior is anything that harms others or makes it difficult or impossible to achieve the needed results of the business.
Admit when the end is near — This is a tough one. The worst mistake I made with a pet was waiting too long to put my dog down. At the end of her life, Belle had good days and bad. I magnified the joy of her good days and rationalized waiting to end her life. She suffered tremendously. I finally learned what my vet friends and clients had tried to teach me — when it’s time, it’s time. It’s selfish to make others suffer when you can’t process bad news.
Plan ahead to sell — If you want to reap the rewards of your studies, efforts and sacrifices, get serious about cashing in. No need to get greedy or cutthroat; just plan early to take care of yourself and the business.
Kiwi, the red bengal, came to me from friends desperate to save her from feline bullies in the household. Their thrill in finding her a good home must have sparked a bit of amnesia concerning her advanced periodontal disease. I agreed to the extractions and she ate dry food just fine without a single tooth. I, however, still have suspicions of being placed on PETA’s (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) hit list.
Rick Griggs is a former Intel Corp. training manager and inventor of the rolestorming creativity tool. He speaks on balance, teams and the confidence of Napoleon. Reach him at 970-690-7327.
Discipline like clockwork — Good veterinarians understand discipline. For us humans, this suggests structure and regimen. I believe it also underscores building and maintaining good habits. I can always tell…
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Philadelphia Eagles: Mychal Kendricks Continues to Impress
Bill Riccette@@Bill_RiccetteTwitter LogoCorrespondent IAugust 21, 2012
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Rich Schultz/Getty Images
It had been a trouble area for the Eagles for years. They had been getting great play at almost every position except for the three linebacker spots.
For years, the linebacker positions had been like a jigsaw puzzle, with different players being mixed and matched in to try and find the best combination of players, but nothing seemed to work—until this year. And especially at the strong side linebacker spot.
With the 46th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Eagles selected former California linebacker Mychal Kendricks. Kendricks was a very productive player at Cal, playing in all 51 possible games from 2008-2011, while starting 29 games from 2009-2011.
Kendricks compiled 258 total tackles in his four years, where he played outside linebacker his first three years, before moving to inside linebacker his senior year.
So it's not like Kendricks doesn't have experience playing outside. And after two preseason games, Kendricks looks every bit the part playing on the outside, proving Mike Mayock right, who felt pretty confident Kendricks would line up outside for this year, saying via NFL.com:
I thought he was one of the most productive and active linebackers in college football. He's instinctive, he can run, and I think he fits what the Eagles do. They have DeMeco Ryans inside. I wouldn't be surprised to see Kendricks outside.
Kendricks just seems to fly around the field. He just seems to have that instinct of knowing where the ball will be. He has been one of the team leaders in tackles so far this preseason. He posted four solo tackles and one assisted tackle against the Steelers, and three solo and three assisted against the Patriots.
There were knocks about Kendricks' size, some saying he is too small at just 5'11", which may make him a bit undersized. But he is using his incredible speed to his advantage, he has tackling well, almost negating his size disadvantage.
Early on in the draft process, there was talk that the Eagles should go after Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly, should he fall to 15 overall. Kuechly, of course, was selected by the Panthers at nine, but so far, the Eagles have found great value in Kendricks at 46.
DeMeco Ryans has played well at middle, but the most impressive linebacker so far has been Kendricks, and it shouldn't be too long (perhaps a couple years) before Kendricks slides in as the middle linebacker.
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Super Bowl 54 Odds 🚨
Kansas City opens as a 1.5 point favorite over San Francisco (Caesars)
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Home » Becky Chambers » Record of a Spaceborn Few
Record of a spaceborn fe.., p.31
Record of a Spaceborn Few, p.31
Becky Chambers
‘Hi, I’m Ayodeji,’ the first said. ‘I’m a doctor at a neighbourhood clinic. I’ll be answering your questions about basic medical care.’
‘Hi, I’m Tohu. I’m a ferry pilot. I’m gonna explain how to get around, both inside a homesteader and in between.’
‘I’m Jacira. I’m a bug farmer, and I’ll be talking to you about food stores and water management.’
‘Hey there, I’m Sunny.’ He smiled with all the confidence in the world. ‘I’m a sex worker, and I’ll be explaining where to go if you want to get laid.’
The young woman stared. The man laughed. The Aeluon looked at him, confused as to what was funny.
The instructors continued – a mural artist, a mech tech, a trade-only merchant – until there were no more names to give. Eyas turned to the class. ‘Now, I’d like you three to introduce yourselves as well. Who are you, where are you from, and what brings you here?’
The students sat in silence for a moment, like all groups of strangers did. The man spoke first. ‘I’m Bruno,’ he said. ‘I’m a spacer. From Jupiter Station originally, but that was a long time ago. I haul cargo – foodstuff, mainly. The Fleet’s been one of my stops for six standards now, and I’m considering putting an end to all the back and forth. I like the people here, but I’m . . . I’m not quite sure yet.’ He gestured to the instructors. ‘I was hoping you could give me a better idea of what I’d be in for.’
Eyas smiled. ‘We’ll certainly try.’
‘I’m Lam,’ the Aeluon said. ‘I am sure you weren’t expecting me.’
The room chuckled. ‘Not exactly,’ Eyas said kindly.
‘I’m from Sohep Frie, and I’m a textile merchant,’ Lam said. ‘I’m not going to relocate here, but I would like to understand the Exodans I work with better. They make great effort to make me comfortable. I’d like to be able to do the same.’
Eyas hadn’t considered that other species might find value in a Exodan cultural crash course. Something to add to the workshop description, she supposed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amad, the poster maker, already making a note on her scrib. ‘That’s wonderful,’ Eyas said. ‘We’re delighted to have you here.’ She looked to the woman. ‘And what about you?’
The young woman swallowed. Eyas could tell she was shy. ‘I’m Anna,’ the woman said. ‘I don’t really . . . I guess I’m . . . I dunno. I guess I’m trying something new.’
There wasn’t an encompassing word for what Eyas felt then. Tightness. Warmth. Pain. Clarity. She thought of the top of the cylinder, of one particular sunken crater she’d refilled with bamboo chips some tendays before now. She thought of the canisters that had rattled in her cart some tendays after then. She thought of dirt, dark and shapeless, and of sprouts, tender and new.
Why now? Sunny had asked of her profession, right before giving her the answer she’d always had: Because you love it, and because it’s our way, and that’s reason enough. There wasn’t maths or logic or any ironclad measure of efficiency to back it up. There didn’t need to be. If trying something new was valid, then keeping something old was, too. No, this wasn’t the same Fleet as that of their ancestors. Yes, things had changed, and would keep changing. Life meant death, always. But by the same token, death meant life. So long as people kept choosing this life, Eyas planned to be there – for as long as she could – guiding them through both sides of the equation.
Eyas looked Anna in the eye. She smiled, and said what she should’ve said the first time she’d heard a grounder speak those words. ‘Welcome. Whatever questions you have, we’re happy to help.’
Kip, One Standard Later
Ever since he’d arrived on Kaathet, Kip had encountered so many things he’d never seen before that the phrase ‘I’ve never seen anything like this’ had almost stopped feeling like something worth pointing out. Nothing was like what he knew, not the food, not the crowds, and definitely not the school, which was the complete opposite of school back home in that everything was fun and interesting (and that was a whole new problem, because it was all so good, he didn’t know what concentration to pick). To say ‘I’ve never seen anything like this’ was the same as saying ‘I got up today’.
That said: he’d never seen anything like the Osskerit Museum, one of the biggest repositories of Arkanic artefacts in the GC. The inside of the building was decorated to look like one of their long-gone grand temples – or, at least, somebody’s best guess as to how they looked. It was hard to say anything hard and fast about a sapient species that had gone extinct long before any of the ones around today had woken up. Still, if their buildings looked anything like the Osskerit, the Arkani had been damn impressive. Everything inside and out was harsh angles and reflective surfaces, a sharp, stabbing fractal of shimmering light. The visual effect felt violent, almost, and was nowhere Kip would want to live. He was wowed all the same.
‘Hey, come look at this!’ Tuumuu said. The Laru’s body was facing a display, but her limb-like neck was stretched back around her foreleg so she could face the others. Kip was still getting used to that. He was also still getting used to having whole conversations in Klip all day every day, which he was getting better at. He wore a translation hud to fill in the gaps.
The rest of the group came over to Tuumuu’s side, and Kip left the fossils he’d been looking at to drift their way. They were inseparable, the five of them, all first-year students, all interstellar transfers, all taking Introduction to Historical Galactic Civilisations. They were each from somewhere else, and even though the homegrown students at the Kaathet Rakas school were friendly (mostly), somehow it felt natural for the outsiders to stick together. Even if they were total weirdos.
Dron leaned toward the display, his cheeks swirling speckled blue. ‘Huh,’ he said.
Viola pointed at Dron’s face. ‘What’s that one mean?’
The Aeluon gave Viola a tired look. ‘Stars, you are not going to let this go, are you?’
‘How else am I supposed to know what’s up with you if you don’t explain your colours? See, now there’s some yellow in there. What’s yellow mean?’
‘Yellow means lots of things.’
‘What’s this yellow mean?’
‘Annoyed. It means I’m annoyed.’
Viola cuffed the innocent Laru. ‘Jeez, Tuumuu, stop bugging Dron. Can’t you see he’s yellow?’
‘Kip,’ Dron called. ‘Will you please get over here and make your cousin behave?’
‘And will you all please shut up?’ Kreshkeris said from a bench nearby. She was taking furious notes on her scrib, like always. ‘Some of us would like to actually do well on this assignment.’ She was a lifelong spacer, too, and always acted like she had to prove herself to the grounder Aandrisks they went to school with. Some things weren’t that different.
Kip walked up to Viola with his hands in his pockets. ‘Hey, cousin,’ he said. ‘Behave.’ He could hear his accent, his imprecise words. But it was cool. With this group, he knew it was cool.
Viola smirked at the joke. Their first day at school, Dron had asked if she and Kip were related, which was hilarious, because Viola came from Titan, and they looked nothing alike. At least, they didn’t think so. Everybody else did. ‘Bug-fucking spacer,’ Viola said in her weird, flowy Ensk.
‘Cow-licking Solan,’ Kip shot back.
‘That’s for Martians, you idiot. There aren’t any cows in the Outers.’
‘I dunno, I’m looking at one right now.’
They both grinned.
‘They’re talking shit about us again,’ Dron said in the others’ general direction.
‘You have no idea what we’re saying,’ Kip said.
An elaborate explosion of colour danced across the Aeluon’s face. ‘And neither do you.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Viola said.
‘You guys,’ Tuumuu said, the fur on her neck waving in the air as her big funny feet danced impatiently. ‘Look at this.’
They leaned in to see what had gotten their f
uzzy history nerd so excited. On the pedestal before them rested an ancient lump of metal, smashed in on itself, worn down by time.
‘It’s a star-tracker,’ Tuumuu gushed. ‘It’s what they used to study the sky. Think about it! They were trying to find people out there, too. Only . . . only we showed up too late.’ Her head sagged. ‘Stars, that’s sad.’
They leaned in closer. ‘Doesn’t look like much,’ Dron said.
‘That’s ’cause it’s old, dummy.’
‘How’d it work?’ Viola asked.
Kip cocked his head. ‘Looks like there was a switch here.’ He reached out and picked up the star-tracker.
Everything went batshit at once. An alarm went off. Previously unseen lights started flashing. His friends yelled in unison.
‘Kip, what the fuck?!’
‘Dude, what are you—’
‘Put it back!’
A shout in Reskitkish came from behind. A line of translation shot across Kip’s hud: Put the object down.
He turned to see an Aandrisk security guard standing behind him. She was about two heads taller than he was, and had a stun gun at the ready.
Kip stammered. ‘I – what—’
The Aandrisk repeated herself in hissing Klip: ‘Set the item down.’
Kip looked down at the lump of metal he was still holding stupidly. He had no idea what he’d done wrong, but he did as told. ‘I – I wasn’t stealing—’
The guard glared at him, and everyone else. She looked straight at Kreshkeris as she walked away. ‘Mind your foreign friends,’ she said.
Kreshkeris got up from her bench and stormed over to Kip, her feathers on end. She was tall, too. ‘What were you thinking?’
Kip looked at his friends – Tuumuu an anxious puff from front to back, Dron red as a bruise, Viola laughing with her forehead in her palm. What was he thinking? He had a better question: what had he done? ‘I wasn’t stealing,’ he said again.
‘Kip, you – you know you can’t touch stuff at a museum, right?’ Dron said.
Kip blinked. ‘Why not?’
‘Oh, stars,’ Viola said, laughing harder.
Tuumuu stepped in. ‘These are priceless things,’ she explained. Her fur started to settle. ‘This star-finder might be the only one left. If you break it, that’s . . . that’s it. There are no more, and we can’t learn anything.’
‘If you break it, why not fix it?’ Kip frowned. ‘You can’t learn anything like – like this.’ He gestured to the trouble-making metal. ‘You can’t learn how it works if it’s broke.’
‘I – well – you should take an archeology class,’ the Laru said, her tone brightening. ‘Professor Eshisk is great. You’d learn all about restoration techniques, and preserving context, and—’
‘The point, Kip,’ Kreshkeris said, ‘is that you can’t touch. That’s the rules.’
‘Okay.’ Kip put his palms up. ‘Okay, that’s the rules. I’m sorry.’ He surrendered the argument, but he didn’t understand. He tried to imagine the same situation playing out back in the Fleet. This is a First Generation telescope, and you can’t attempt fixing it, you can’t recycle the metal and glass, and you definitely can’t touch it. We’re just going to put it here on the shelf, spending space and fuel on something nobody can use.
Tuumuu seemed to read his mind. She fell alongside him as the group continued through the hall, walking on four legs and keeping her neck down so as to match his height. ‘Don’t you have museums in the Exodus Fleet? You obviously don’t have buildings, but collections or . . . or museum ships maybe, or . . .’
‘No,’ Kip said. ‘We have the Archives, I guess.’
‘What’s that?’
‘They’re like a library. All on servers though, no paper or tablets or anything. Just recordings of . . . of . . .’ The Archives were such a basic thing to him, such an everyday given. He’d never had to sum them up before. ‘Of everything. Earth, the Fleet, families. Seriously everything. We don’t need to carry museum stuff around.’
‘But you – you don’t have any physical artefacts of your history. None at all.’ She looked bothered by that idea. Tuumuu lived and breathed for artefacts.
Kip started to say no, but realised that wasn’t true. He thought about his hex, where he’d watched Mom melt down old busted tools, where he’d watched Dad refit an exosuit that was still good and sealed after three generations. He wondered how Tuumuu would react to that. If she freaked out over him just picking up an old thing, she’d lose her mind at a neighbourhood smelter. ‘We . . . use stuff,’ Kip said. ‘If we can use it, we use it, and if we can’t, we make something else.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I guess everything is an artefact, kind of. Like . . . I dunno, a plate. A plate wasn’t always a plate, see. It could’ve been a bulkhead once, or . . . or flooring, or something. Or maybe it was a plate all along, and my great-great-great-great-great-grandparents ate off of it. I’m still going to use it.’
Tuumuu got that cute fold in her face that happened when she was putting ideas together. ‘And that plate would’ve been something else down on Earth first. A machine, or a house, maybe.’
‘A house?’
‘Well, because of the metal foundries, right? Where they took apart the cities.’
‘I guess so,’ Kip said. The Laru beside him had a better grasp on Earthen history than he did, and he was kind of embarrassed about it. He’d been meaning to get a Linking book.
‘Wow,’ Tuumuu said. ‘Wow. So you can touch everything. You’re touching your artefacts all the time.’ She let out one of her weird alien chuckles. ‘So that star-tracker, you would’ve just . . .’
Kip shrugged. ‘Made a plate.’
‘Made a plate,’ she repeated, disbelieving. She pushed her face a little closer to his. ‘Can I come visit some time? Can I stay with your family?’
Laru, Kip had learned, didn’t find it rude to ask for exactly what they wanted, be it a favour or part of your lunch or, apparently, a cross-galaxy trip to stay with your parents. ‘Yeah, sure,’ he said, and as he said it, he realised that he really, weirdly, did want Tuumuu to visit. He thought about the Fleet through her eyes, and it wasn’t the same Fleet he knew at all. He thought about the murals he walked past every day without a second thought, the theatres he went to because it was something to do, the farms that were just farms until you saw farms on the ground. He imagined how Tuumuu would see those things, what they’d mean to someone who never shut up about artefacts. He imagined saying, ‘Go ahead, touch anything you want.’ He imagined her fur fluffing and her big feet bouncing and her face folding and folding until she exploded from excitement. He thought, for a second, about taking her to the Archives so she could meet M Itoh, who would totally be able to tell Tuumuu anything she wanted . . . but that imagining wasn’t as good. He wanted to be the one to tell her. He wanted to know stuff, like Tuumuu knew stuff. He wanted to hang out in his district with her and have the neighbours come stare. He wanted to teach her things. He wanted his alien friend to think the Fleet was cool.
And maybe . . . maybe it was.
‘Hey, hurry up!’ Dron called back to them. The rest of the group was rounding a corner. ‘I’m not coming back if you get lost.’
Kip followed along. He moved through the museum, passing intangible history and thinking of home.
Tessa, Two Standards Later
The sun spike was a weird plant. Not quite a succulent and not quite a tree, it rose from the desert sand on its spindly trunk, an improbable support for the pod-like leaves and bright orange fruit that puffed out from its upper arms. The sun spikes weren’t native to Seed; they were an introduced species, just as the Humans who tended them were.
Tessa watched the sun spikes go by in neat rows as she flew the low-hovering skiff down the orchard road and back toward the village. ‘What’d I tell you?’ she said to her passenger. She threw a glance over her shoulder to the bed of the skiff, full to the brim with bushels of fat fruit.
Ammar raised his calloused
palms. ‘You win,’ he said. ‘I’ll never question your pollinator maps again.’
Tessa nodded, satisfied. Drawing up a new rotation for the pollinator bots hadn’t been hard. Geometry and logic, that was all. Move this shape here, fill that gap there, and hey presto, you’ve got more efficient field coverage. That part had been a cinch. The hard part was convincing the settlers who’d been there far longer than her – people who didn’t trip over their own feet when looking up at the sky, who didn’t freak out over bugs that weren’t food, who no longer stared at the unending horizon until they felt dizzy – that her suggestion had a good chance of boosting the next harvest. That part had been hard, too – waiting. Seasons on their world moved fast, but still, she couldn’t just grab a few spare aeroponics parts and put her plan into action. She’d drawn up the map in winter, waited until spring to actually do anything, and crossed her fingers until late summer in the hopes that she’d be right.
And she had been. She couldn’t help but feel a bit smug about it. It was a good way to feel.
Ammar reached back, plucked a choice sunfruit from their haul, and took a huge bite. ‘Mmm. Stars, I love these.’
‘Hey,’ Tessa said, slapping his knee. ‘What is that, your fourth?’
‘If I pick ’em, I eat ’em,’ Ammar said. He took another bite, his lips already stained from the previous three. ‘Mmm mmm mmm.’ He looked down at Tessa’s arm. ‘Did you forget your jacket again?’
A bit of the smugness faded. ‘I’m fine,’ she said tersely.
Ammar laughed. ‘You are goosebumps from shoulder to wrist. Tess, you gotta remember that weather exists.’
Tessa stuck her tongue out at him as she flew around the construction site for the new water reclamation building. Days on Seed were hot, and it was easy to remember to dress cool when you woke up with blankets kicked to the floor. The bit she kept forgetting was that the sun going down meant the warmth went with it. A lifetime of disconnect between light and air temperature was a tough thing to shake.
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers / History & Fiction have rating 4 out of 5 / Based on32 votes
Other author's books:
A Closed and Common Orbit
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
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How to Be Human and Strange Heart Beating
I’m mostly grouping these two debut novels by women authors together for my scheduling convenience, but they do have things in common. For starters, both center on an encounter with another species that determines much of what follows. For another thing, they pivot on the end of one relationship and the potential beginning of another. And in the end they’re about how we retain our humanity in the face of loss – despite the strong temptation to give into madness. Although they are both notable and surprising books, I felt that one was significantly more successful than the other; read on to discover which I favor.
How to Be Human by Paula Cocozza
Thirty-four-year-old Mary Green is adrift after her long-term fiancé, Mark, moves out of their East London home. She works in university HR but hates her job and can never manage to show up to it on time. Though she and Mark broke up in part because she didn’t feel ready to commit to having children, she’s inordinately fond of the next-door neighbors’ baby, Flora. Most of all, she’s trying to reorient herself to the presence of a fox who slips in from the surrounding edgeland to visit her back garden each evening. He leaves presents: boxers, a glove, an egg, and – one disorienting evening – Flora herself, a live bundle on the back steps.
Whereas the neighbors are horrified at the thought of a fox infestation and ready to go on the attack if necessary, Mary is enraptured by this taste of wildness. Before long the novel is using almost erotic vocabulary to describe her encounters with ‘her’ fox; Mary even allows the neighbors and her ex to get the idea that she’s ‘seeing someone’ new. Yet even as Mary’s grasp on reality grows feebler, it’s easy to empathize with her delight at the unexpectedness of interspecies connection: “At the end of her garden she had found a friend. … His wildness was a gift. … He was an escape artist, she thought admiringly. Maybe he could free her too.”
I love this novel for what it has to say about trespass, ownership and belonging. Whose space is this, really, and where do our loyalties lie? Cocozza sets up such intriguing contradictions between the domestic and the savage, the humdrum and the unpredictable. The encounter with the Other is clarifying, even salvific, and allows Mary to finally make her way back to herself. There’s something gently magical about the way the perspective occasionally shifts to give the fox’s backstory and impressions as a neologism-rich stream (“Come fresh to stalk around the human Female with sly feet and rippety eyes. Spruckling toadsome”). Memorable lines abound, and a chapter set at the neighbors’ barbecue is brilliant, as are the final three chapters, in which Mary – like James Darke – holes up in her house in anticipation of a siege.
Detail from the cover.
As much as this is about a summer of enchantment and literal brushes with urban wildlife, it’s also about women’s lives: loneliness, choices we make and patterns we get stuck in, and those unlooked-for experiences that might just liberate us. The character Mary is my near contemporary, so I could relate to her sense of being stuck personally and professionally, and also of feeling damned if you do, damned if you don’t regarding having children. “Some part of her was made for a bigger, wilder, freer life.” One of my favorite books of 2017 so far.
Paula Cocozza is a feature writer for the Guardian. How to Be Human was published in the UK by Hutchinson on April 6th. My thanks to Najma Finlay for the free copy for review.
If you’re in the London area, you may be interested in this animal-themed Faber Social event, also featuring Lucy Jones, author of Foxes Unearthed. I’ll be in America at the time or else I surely would have gone!
I also enjoyed these two articles by Paula Cocozza: one on the depiction of foxes in popular culture, and the other about a life-changing encounter she had with a wild fox.
Strange Heart Beating by Eli Goldstone
No doubt about it: the cover and title – from W. B. Yeats’s “Leda and the Swan” – can’t be beat. One day in late March this book showed up on my Twitter, Goodreads and Instagram feeds, and the cover lured me into requesting a copy right away. The elevator pitch is a winner, too: Seb’s artist wife, Leda, was killed by a swan. To be precise, she was boating in a London park and got too close to some cygnets; the parent bird upturned the boat and Leda drowned. The novel is narrated by Seb, an art history professor realizing just how little he knew about the woman he loved. When he takes a break from work to travel to Leda’s native Latvia in search of answers, he even learns that she was known by another name, Leila.
It’s as if Seb is running both towards and away from his sorrow:
What can I do to find some way back to Leda? I seek for meaning in every miserable glint and shadow … I felt I was starting to lose myself as well. Grief is the aggressive displacement of the self from a known universe to another … I want to bury myself neck-deep in the quicksand of grief.
When he gets to Latvia he stays at a guesthouse and communicates with the landlady in Russian. For a week running he meets Leda’s cousin Olaf at his clubhouse each night to drink and play cards, and later bags a boar with Olaf and his hunting buddies. While viewing a fresco in a picturesque church he meets Ursula, who is looking to build an eco-friendly resort to boost the country’s tourism industry. She soon emerges as a potential love interest for Seb.
As best I could make out, this is set roughly a decade ago. Interspersed between Seb’s rather aimless travels are passages from Leda’s diary between 1988 and 2005. These reveal her to have been a lonely, bullied youth who took refuge in art and music. If you’re familiar with the myth of Leda and the Swan, you’ll be expecting the trauma in her past. It’s a shame this has to be spelt out in Leda’s final diary entry; it was sufficiently foreshadowed, I think.
Ultimately I felt this book had a promising setup but didn’t particularly go anywhere. It struck me as an excellent short story idea that got expanded and lost a good bit of its power along the way. This is a shame, as I was initially reminded of several excellent debut novels with Eastern European elements, especially in the excellent opening sequence about how Leda’s various female ancestors perished (Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated, Rebecca Dinerstein’s The Sunlit Night, and Jaroslav Kalfař’s Spaceman of Bohemia). There could have been a quirky family saga in there had Goldstone chosen to go in that direction.
By the end we’ve learned next to nothing about Seb despite his first-person narration, and little of interest about Leda either. I can see how this is meant to reinforce a central message about the unknowability of other people, even those we think we know best, but it creates distance between reader and narrator. You could easily read this 194-page paperback in an afternoon. If you do and find yourself, like me, a mite dissatisfied, never fear – Goldstone is so young and writes so well; I’m confident she will only improve in the years to come.
Eli Goldstone has a City University Creative Writing MA. Strange Heart Beating is published in the UK by Granta today, May 4th. My thanks to Natalie Shaw for the free copy for review.
debut fiction
Eli Goldstone
Jaroslav Kalfař
Paula Cocozza
Giveaway: Hitler’s Forgotten Children
A Spate of Swimming Memoirs
13 thoughts on “How to Be Human and Strange Heart Beating”
“Spruckling toadsome” as a phrase makes me so happy. “Spruckling”!
Very “Jabberwocky,” I thought. I know some didn’t like these passages from the fox’s perspective (e.g. Susan at A life in books), but I thought they were well done and meant we don’t only see him as an outsider.
It also sounds as though the fox isn’t written like it’s just a small human in a fox suit, which is always a plus!
Indeed. He’s very much a wild creature, even as he becomes friends with Mary. The older I get the more I frown on anthropomorphism, though I’m sure I used to love it as a child (Watership Down, etc.).
Carolyn Anthony says:
“Salvific” — what a word!
Great reviews of them both! But I think I’ll go with How To Be Human. I love both covers!
Thanks! I agree they both have excellent covers and titles. Although it’s what inside that counts, nice packaging doesn’t hurt 🙂
These are both books I’ve been keen to pick up! I really enjoyed the grouping of these two reviews together. How to Be Human is one I will definitely want to read now 🙂
Glad you enjoyed 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
mikealixonline says:
A lot of love and gender-centered books fail where D.H. Lawrence was so successful, in merging nature, custom (as part of nature) and experience into the neutral but “sex-full” unseen. These books tend to show women acting as women; that is, role-playing. An exaggeration, I find.
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Victory: An Island Tale
Ojction of intimacy in his murmur. He was lookhng straight at her now. "That fat, tame slug of a - gin-slinger, Schomberg, put us up to it."
So strong is the impression of helpless and persecuted misery, that the girl who had fought down a savage assault without faltering could not completely repress a shudder at the mere sound of the abhorred name.
Ricardo became more rapid and confidential:
"He wants to pay him off—pay both of you, at that; so he told me. He was hot after you. He would have given all he had into those hands of yours that have nearly strangled me. But you couldn't, eh? Nohow—what?" He paused. "So, rather than— you followed a gentleman?"
He noticed a slight movement of her head and spoke quickly.
"Same here—rather than be a wage-slave. Only these foreigners aren't to be trusted. You're too good for him. A man that will rob his best chum!" She raised her head. He went on, well pleased with his progress, whispering hurriedly: "Yes. I know all about him. So you may guess how he's likely to treat a woman after a bit!"
He did not know that he was striking terror into her breast now. Still the grey eyes remained fixed on him unmovably, watchful, as if sleepy, under the white forehead. She was beginning to understand. His words conveyed a definite, dreadful meaning to her mind, which he proceeded to enlighten further in a convinced murmur.
"You and I are made to understand each other.
Born alike, bred alike, I guess. You are not tame. Same here! You have been chucked out into this rotten world of 'yrporcrits. Same here!"
Her stillness, her appalled stillness, wore to him an air of fascinated attention. He asked abruptly:
"Where is it?"
She made an effort to breathe out:
"Where's what?"
His tone expressed excited secrecy.
"The swag—plunder—pieces. It's a game of grab. We must have it; but it isn't easy, and so you will have to lend a hand. Come! Is it kept in the house?"
As often with women, her wits were sharpened by the very terror of the glimpsed menace. She shook her head negatively.
"Sure?"
"Sure," she said.
"Ay! Thought so. Does your gentleman trust you?"
Again she shook her head.
"Blamed 'yrporcrit," he said feelingly, and then reflected: "He's one of the tame ones, ain't he?"
"You had better find out for yourself," she said.
"You trust me. I don't want to die before you and I have made friends." This was said with a strange air of feline gallantry. Then, tentatively: "But he could be brought to trust you, couldn't he?"
"Trust me?" she said, in a tone which bordered on despair, but which he mistook for derision.
"Stand in with us," he urged. "Give the chuck to all this blamed 'yrporcrisy. Perhaps, without being trusted, you have managed to find out something already, eh?"
"Perhaps I have," she uttered with lips that seemed to her to be freezing fast.
Ricardo now looked at her calm face with something like respect. He was even a little awed by her stillness, by her economy of words. Woman-like, she felt the effect she had produced, the effect of knowing much and of keeping all her knowledge in reserve. So far, somehow, this had come about of itself. Thus encouraged, directed in the way of duplicity, the refuge of the weak, she made a heroically conscious effort and forced her stiff, cold lips into a smile.
Duplicity—the refuge of the weak and the cowardly, but of the disarmed, too! Nothing stood between the enchanted dream of her existence and a cruel catastrophe but her duplicity. It seemed to her that the man sitting there before her was an unavoidable presence, which had attended all her life. He was the embodied evil of the world. She was not ashamed of her duplicity. With a woman's frank courage, as soon as she saw that opening she threw herself into it without reserve, with only one doubt— that of her own strength. She was appalled-by the situation; but already all her aroused femininity, understanding that whether Heyst loved her or not she loved him, and feeling that she had brought this on his head, faced the danger with a passionate desire to defend her own.
TO Ricardo the girl had been so unforeseen that he was unable to bring upon her the light of his critical faculties. Her smile appeared :o him full of promise. He had not expected her o be what she was. Who, from the talk he had heard, could expect to meet a girl like this? She was a blooming miracle, he said to himself, familarly, yet with a tinge of respect. She was no meat for the likes of that tame, respectable gin-slinger. Ricardo grew hot with indignation. Her courage, her physical strength, demonstrated at the cost of his discomfiture, commanded his sympathy. He felt himself drawn to her by the proofs of her amazing spirit. Such a girl! She had a strong soul; and her reflective disposition to throw over her connection proved that she was no hypocrite.
"Is your gentleman a good shot?" he said, looking down on the floor again, as if indifferent.
She hardly understood the phrase; but in its form it suggested some accomplishment. It was safe to whisper an affirmative.
"Mine, too—and better than good," Ricardo murmured, and then, in a confidential burst: "I am not so good at it, but I carry a pretty deadly thing about me, all the same!"
He tapped his leg. She was past the stage of shudders now. Stiff all over, unable even to move her eyes, she felt an awful mental tension which was like blank forgetfulness. Ricardo tried to influence her in his own way.
"And my gentleman is not the sort that would drop me. He ain't no foreigner; whereas you, with your baron, you don't know what's before you—or, rather, being a woman, you know only too well. Much better not to wait for the chuck. Pile in with us and get your share—of the plunder, I mean. You have some notion about it already."
She felt that if she as much as hinted by word or sign that there was no such thing on the island, Heyst's life wouldn't be worth half an hour's purchase; but all power of combining words had vanished in the tension of her mind. Words themselves were too difficult to think of—all except the word "yes." The saving word! She whispered it with not a feature of her face moving. To Ricardo the faint and concise sound proved a cool, reserved assent, more worth having from that amazing mistress of herself than a thousand words from any other woman. He thought with exultation that he had come upon one in a million—in ten millions! His whisper became frankly entreating.
"That's good! Now all you've got to do is to make sure where he keeps his swag. Only do be quick about it! I can't stand much longer this crawling-onthe-stomach business so as not to scare your gentleman. What do you think a fellow is—a reptile?"
She stared without seeing any one, as a person in
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IT News Weekly Recap – Intel’s 8M Self-Driving Cars, Fortnite On Android, Youtube Music & More
Weekly News Recap
YouTube Music Streaming Service Is Launching Tomorrow
The new YouTube Music subscription launches on May 22 and offers both free and paid plans.
For $9.99 per month, you’ll get unlimited access to music streaming and artist radio stations. The free version will exclude offline downloads, listening in the background on mobile, and will include ads.
YouTube Red will be renamed to YouTube Premium and will cover both music and video for $11.99 per month.
The new music service will initially be available only in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea.
YouTube is not yet replacing Google Play Music, at least until 2019.
Fortnite Is Finally Coming To Android
This summer, after dominating the iOS gaming market since March, world’s most popular game is coming to the world’s top mobile system.
Fortnite had already been generating $126 million revenue every month, even prior to the iOS launch. With the Android release, this number is likely to get a whole lot larger.
Intel Tests 100 Self-Driving Cars, 8M Cars To Come
Intel’s subsidiary Mobileye has started testing 100 Level 3 self-driving cars in Jerusalem.
In Level 3, the car is self-driving but the driver has about 10 seconds to take over if the system is unable to continue. By the end of 2019, Intel expects 100,000 Level 3 cars with Mobileye installed.
According to Reuters, Intel’s autonomous driving unit has signed a contract with an undisclosed European automaker to supply 8 million cars with its self-driving technologies.
The long-term goal is to deploy fully autonomous vehicles by 2021, including robo-taxis.
Microsoft acquires conversational AI startup Semantic Machines
Semantic Machines specializes in speech synthesis, deep learning, and natural language processing that enable machines “to communicate, collaborate, understand our goals, and accomplish tasks.”
The acquisition is planned to bolster Microsoft’s conversational AI offerings like Cortana, the Azure Bot Service, and Microsoft Cognitive Services.
PayPal buys payments provider iZettle for $2.2B
iZettle is the Stockholm-based payments company commonly referred to as the “Square of Europe”. The actual operations of the provider spread across 12 markets – from northern Europe to Latin America.
The deal becomes PayPal’s biggest-ever transaction — $2.2 billion, all in cash. Prior, PayPay’s biggest purchase had been the acquisition of money-transfer startup Xoom for $890 million.
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IT News Weekly Recap – Intel's 8M Self-Driving Cars, Fortnite On Android, Youtube Music & More
When you work hard – it's easy to lose touch with the real world. No worries, we've got you covered. Here's a brief overview of the latest IT news everyone talks about.
Liubomyr Kachur
Boost Solutions
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Droga5
Hello Droga5, I saw your profile on adforum.com and would like to learn more about your capabilities. Please send your credentials to:
7 Howick Place Victoria
London SW1P 1BB
Telefone: (+44) (0)207 287 5925
Site: www.droga5.co.uk
@droga5
Olivia Legere
Head of Account Management
Telefone: (+44) 745 475 0192
Maura McGreevy
Telefone: (+44) +1 917 237 6979
Competências Essenciais: Digital, Serviços de marketing, Marketing direto/Telemarketing/ Database marketing/CRM, Experiential, Branded Content/Entertainment, Investigação de mercado / assessoria, Compra e planeamento de media, Eventos/patrocínio, Marcas/desenvolvimento de produto, Embalagem/design, Visual/Sound Identity, Branding/Celebrity endorsement, Planeamento estratégico
Rede: Droga5 (New York, Estados Unidos)
Droga5 Leadership and Team Members
David Kolbusz
David joined the Droga5 London office in November 2015. He arrived form Wieden + Kennedy New York where he was the Executive Creative Director overseeing the creative department and partnering with the Managing Director to run the 250 strong office. During his time there he helped raise the creative profile of the agency, doing brand-building work for the likes of GAP, Delta Airlines, Southern Comfort, Nike Brand Jordan and Squarespace. Prior to WKNY, he was the Deputy Executive Creative Director at BBH London where he helped oversee the creative department and ran the Axe/Lynx Global account along with The Guardian, creating The Three Little Pigs work which was the UK’s most awarded campaign in 2012. During his time at TBWA he also worked on Nissan. Along with stints at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners San Francisco, Mother London and TBWA, he combines a global scope with strategic rigour and a passion for making brands famous.
Telefone: (+44) 7899 913245
Bill joined the Droga5 London office in November 2015. He arrived from Grey London (part of the Grey Global Group), where he was Group Managing Director – overseeing the operations of the London office and a number of global & domestic clients. Most significantly he directed the Volvo global pitch win – overseeing a transition across 34 markets. His EMEA experience includes working on Magrabi Optical wear. Prior to Grey, Bill was at BBH for 13 years, where he was Client Services Director and Managing Partner. His client portfolio experience includes – Audi UK, Unilever (Axe), Associated Newspapers, Gordon’s gin and Waitrose. He also did a 2 year stint in BBH Singapore, where he ran the Johnnie Walker business across Asia. Out of work Bill is a keen Chelsea FC fan, and has enjoyed taking his kids to Wadi Water world!
Kevin Dundas
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Glen Fisher
Associate Director for Health, ANZ
Australians are worried about their health.
Indeed, the ABC’s recent Vote Compass survey identified health as the number three worry after climate change and saving for retirement. So why are so many turning their back on private health insurance?
" Affordability of private health insurance is an issue for many. And demand for private health insurance is price elastic."
There is no one reason but increased out-of-pocket expenses are a key factor linked to consumer dissatisfaction with - and exits from - private health insurance.
Trading down
Affordability of private health insurance is an issue for many. And demand for private health insurance is price elastic. That means when prices increase, demand decreases.
Higher premiums are linked to consumer dissatisfaction and exits from private health insurance. This is especially the case with younger policyholders who use their insurance less if at all.
Although the growth rate of private health insurance premiums has slowed, it has long outpaced that of wages and contributed to consumer concerns around affordability.
Over recent years a declining proportion of the population has enrolled in private health insurance. More noteworthy though is how a majority have ‘traded down’ - that is, switched out of higher premium policies with wider coverage into exclusionary policies (lower premium policies with narrower scope of coverage).
The trading down trend in hospital cover is significant: six in 10 individuals with hospital cover now have exclusionary policies compared to just one in 10 a decade ago.
Although still a minority of hospital cover policyholders, older policyholders are accounting for an increasing percentage of the total private health insurance membership as younger policyholders exit.
This matters because those older policyholders are using more services on a per capita basis (compared with previous generations). They also account for an increasing proportion of hospital episodes and a majority share of the private health insurance benefits paid.
Assuming these factors play out, private health insurance participation is likely to continue declining despite recent reforms. History suggests a return to private health insurance participation closer to 30 per cent - a level Australia hasn’t seen in around 20 years.
That scenario would present challenges to private health insurance funds whose business models rely on a relatively small minority of insured persons using their private health insurance. As younger policyholders exit and the proportion of older policyholders increases, that pattern of usage is unlikely.
Hospitals, practitioners, private health insurance funds and others are all quick to point out that Australia’s public system would struggle to take on the volume of activity.
Private hospitals already do the majority of elective surgery, so public hospitals under greater pressure would inevitably see longer waiting lists and waiting times. They would also require material funding increases to create additional capacity.
Merit goods
People tend to think of health services as “merit goods” that should be provided for free as they generate material benefits for the wider community. Australia’s hybrid health system reinforces and perpetuates this thinking, with access to universal coverage under Medicare in the public system and private health insurance also available for those who want to pay for choice and access in the private system.
Yet despite unique purposes, attributes and ethical considerations, health services still mirror other areas of economic activity when it comes to the realities of input costs and private - or public - operators looking to recoup costs, compensate for risks and earn returns.
As in other markets, there is also price discrimination: providers charge higher prices where they believe consumers can afford to pay.
Medicare reporting on out-of-pocket expenses reflects this too, as it shows how such expenses have trended upwards over time and vary significantly according to geography and service type.
It’s also worth remembering how practice incomes have been constrained under Medicare funding arrangements over time, including not only the freeze on Medicare rebate levels but also benefit levels that may not have kept pace with prior cost increases. Practice costs including workforce, devices and consumables, and other material items such as professional indemnity insurance costs have all trended up over recent years.
Australia can still maintain our hybrid healthcare system though the question of who will pay is likely to become a more pressing one.
With the government (and by extension, the taxpayer) the main funder and a range of factors driving sustained increases in health services expenditure, without measures to address costs health services in the future may look slightly different to the ‘merit goods’ of today.
Glen Fisher is Associate Director for Health at ANZ
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Icelandic Adventure
By alexkrook
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Cancel 1:00 am
Protracted Arrival
There was a toddler on our flight that everyone was about ready to murder in cold blood by the time we landed with a thump close to midnight. Keflavik airport is a maze of neon lights and people in woollen sweaters, but somehow we're now crawling down the motorway with the Icelandic planes stretching bleakly (and invisibly) to one side and the water to the other. Reykjavik's twinkling skyline swims in and out of view through our rain-lashed windows, and a cheerful voice-over with questionable grammar is telling us all about our transport and entertainment options in this land of elf-lovers.
I'm not sure what possessed me to make the 20 minute march between the central bus station and my hostel at 1am dragging my 26kg bag behind me, but it is a thing that happened which I cannot bring myself to regret as taxis, like all things here, are truly extortionate. I saw not one other human in the first fifteen minutes of my stride, and the eery chill of the industrial area preceding the city centre made me walk so fast that by the time the epic mass of the Hallgrímskirkja Church loomed before me I was in a light sweat. Despite 15 degree temperature and my summer playsuit and straw boater. The centre of the city was equally quiet but dotted with more familiar and welcoming Scando features; brightly coloured buildings and spacious interior design shops, warmly wit windowfulls of candles and fairy lights, and a friendly black cat. I made my way down to the waterfront and the Kex Hostel where I cannot quite describe the horror of four flights of stairs with a bag tagged as "heavy" by people who lift bags for a living.
The hostel is incredibly trendy (it has its own barber), but more on that later. I passed half an hour chatting to a pair of blondes convinced of their stomach poisoning from Icelandic pizza, before collapsing into bed amidst the glares of my roused dorm companions. Until tomorrow, Reykjavik.
Cancel 1:30 pm
Gathering Bearings
Today I slept in gloriously and awoke to blue skies and only occasional drizzle (and laughed in the face of a forecast of four days of downpours. Hahahaha.) Unfortunately however, the first half an hour of my afternoon was spent frantically googling and then locating a hardware store in the opposite direction of anything interesting, in search of a European adaptor and some new camera batteries. The omnipresent geometric spire of the Hallgrímskirkja is how one usually orients oneself around Reykjavik, but in this direction a new double-pronged church became the compass. I can't resist a good church (and this city seems full of them), and the inside was a pleasingly modern and practical affair not unlike the ecclesiastical equivalent of Ikea interior design. #scandinavia. I have certainly not been here long enough to make bold claims about what a "typical Icelander" entails, but I would hazard a guess that it's personified by the owner of the hardware store I eventually found - teasing manner, round glasses, excellent English and all.
This tedious mission accomplished, I set off back West and towards the Saga Museum. Icelanders seem adept at dressing their windows very beautifully, be it with vases of roses, a snoozing dog, figurines of Wallace and Gromit, or shelves of plants and coloured glass bottles. Or an angry cat. People smoke pipes and read quietly in the parks, and little planes roar overhead towards the internal airport. (And it didn't rain too much.)
History and Horror
I do love a good historical waxwork. Pictured below is a famed Icelander who travelled to America to terrorise the natives with her breast/weapon action. The Saga Museum gives a brief overview of Icelandic history in the form of audio guides and waxwork figures, and my guidebook warned me not to be alarmed if I saw some of the characters wandering around town; apparently many Reykjavik residents lent their faces to the models. They're lifelike to a scary level, a case-in-point being the graphic installation of the gruesome execution of one of the few female witches to be burnt at the stake in Iceland's male-dominated age of sorcery. Grim. The exhibition rather abruptly ends at 1550 which is a shame - but you do get to dress up as a Viking at the end of it! Which I of course did, alongside a TERRIBLE British gay couple that refused to relinquish the gear to waiting children until they'd taken a thousand Instagrams.
I moved on to the so-called Reykjavik Museum of Photography which is in actuality just an exhibition room at the top of the public library - but free, so no one is complaining. The featured work was the fantastically-named Ragnar Axelsson's documentary shots of Greenland and its vanishing landscape and peoples, with a truly excellent video installation involving the stories behind the photographs exhibited and extended interviews with the man himself. A real treat, glad I nicked someone's abandoned Lonely Planet guide to Iceland from my room or I would have missed it.
The Old Harbour in Reykjavik isn't that much to look at. Lots of lumbering ships old and new, and an admittedly scenic view out over the water and towards the cloudy mountains. On my wanderings towards the city centre I of course came across another church I couldn't resist, this one apparently attached to a convent as I stumbled in on some nun worship that involved positively sinister singing (whose source I could not locate), and an awkward priest lighting candles and tripping over his robe.
LGBT flags are all over the shop here. Literally all over every shop, be it selling ceramics or teeny tiny Viking figurines. They're more omnipresent than the Icelandic flags which pop up every so often in gardens or on restaurants. Perhaps Iceland's last Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, openly gay and married with kids has something to do with this - can't knock that.
Hallgrímskirkja
Even for someone of my EXTENSIVE CHURCH EXPERIENCE it is impossible not to be impressed by the Hallgrímskirkja. Angular and incredibly ominous against a background of grey clouds, it stands alone atop the highest point of the city and visible from all across it. It's especially impressive when walking up the steep approach from downtown, with the trendy shop-filled sides of the road that runs up from the harbour to the doorstep framing its oh-so-symmetrical bulk. A huge iron statue of Leif Eriksson stands in front of it, gifted by the USA (who loves to claim him) on the millenium anniversary of the founding of The Thing. Although it seems like it must have existed since the dawn of time and the city simply grew up around its vast stature, Iceland's 6th largest building was in fact started at the end of WWII and only completed in 1986! You really need to stand at the bottom and just stare up for a while.
Once I'd got that out of the way though, I do make a point of climbing every European cathedral I possibly can, and although this one had a lift (booooo) it did not diminish the view from the top over Reykjavik's brightly-coloured roofs, and out into the harbour and beyond. Particularly pleasing to the eye are these vistas through the huge circular stained-glass windows right at the top - not particularly beautiful in and of themselves, but very lovely as a coloured lens to the city below. A real-life Instagram filter if you will. The huge church bells clanged in a most heart-stopping manner while we were up there, and on descent the sound of the organ filled the typically puritanical interior. It's a very impressive specimen, and the acoustics of the place are phenomenal (even if its gut isn't quite as spectacular as the outside view).
Kex Hostel
Cafe Loki is famed for its Icelandic specialities, and I stepped in to try their taster platter of "fermented shark". Surrounded by small blonde children in the typical knitted pattern jumpers of this country, and murals of some of my favourite Norse myths, I was lulled into a false sense of security. I may have only had to eat four bites of it, but that dish was horrible. Just horrible. The fermentation produced a most unpleasant nasal tingling akin to accidentally inhaling water up your nose, and Loki's dreadful children Fenrir, Jörmungandr and Hel cackled down at my distaste in cartoon form from the walls. HIDEOUS.
I headed back towards home and the water, stopping to admire the view and the Sun Craft sculpture and glare at the Italian tourists clambering all over it. I'm now at my hostel with a Viking beer, surrounded by travellers and Icelanders alike and listening in to the Free Gaza concert happening on the patio. Although it's nearing 10pm the sun is only just beginning to set over the mountains, staining the clouds and the sea a delicious pink that I just cannot be bothered to photograph but take my word for it: it's very nice.
More sleeping in from me, and another late start. I spent the first couple of hours of my day yawning and writing in the various rooms of Kex Hostel. Hostels in Reykjavik are numerous (and cripplingly pricey), but Kex was recommended by friends and the internet alike and it's not hard to see why. Its refreshingly trendy and well-photographed website is a good starting point. The place is full of retro decor and wide open communal spaces, and its bustling bar and dining area are clearly a draw for everyone from middle-aged tourists and 20-something travellers to the local hipsters and ageing families. When getting directions from the bus station I was told to "just ask someone - everyone knows where Kex is." It's situated centrally with beautiful views out over the water, and every night I have been here the place has been hosting some sort of concert or event for beautiful and trendy people to congregate at. Comfy seats and old-school maps cover every surface, and there's no shortage of vintage decorations and reading materials. And a very excellent selection of beer - so there's that too.
City and Settlers
I set out on a new route towards the buzzing old town, with the destination of the Reykjavik 871+-2 in my sights. It's a museum housing a journey through Reykjavik's early history, built around the excavated remains of a Viking longhouse, and so-named after the volcanic eruption in 871 from which most of Icelandic settlement is dated. I studied the Vikings last year and so spent quite possibly too long enthralled by the mixture of real-life archaeology on display and the space-age technological aids employed to EDUCATE YOU. Holograms and touch screens for days. I particularly enjoyed a cartoon representation of the Great Auk, hunted to extinction centuries ago which is a real shame as it resembled a flightless and overgrown budgie (and apparently sounded like a hippo).
During my wanderings into town I was also forced to purchase something to throw over my exclusively summer wardrobe for my enterprising trip into the Icelandic countryside tomorrow, and settled on a plaid garment from a vintage store. I was also confronted by the incongruous sights of three children petting a disgruntled pigeon, and a man wearing a T-shirt of a giant pug's face. I finally worked out the source of the preponderance of LGBT flags and stylish men - it's pride week. Nordic style.
Resisting the Phallological Museum
The day was grey but I forced myself around some of my guide book's recommended hot spots. The Alþingishúsið, Iceland's National Parliament, housed in a depressingly empty 19th century building as the government is on a summer break. The National Cathedral, by no means as impressive as the Hallgrímskirkja to the east but rather more cosy inside with its delicious blue light from a central stained glass window. The Tjörnin lake, filled with ducks and seagulls and looking more like Barnes pond under the depressing weather. I do love that every road you turn down in the old quarter is so close to the coast that waves and mountains peak out from behind the stream of cyclists and pedestrians. (If only it was a bit sunnier.)
I hung around outside the penis museum wondering whether I could stomach the extortionate entrance fee (and the contents), before deciding to wend a scenic route back to Kex for a coffee. I remarked on some new window dressings on the way, including a glass dog pooping, some ornamental brasswear, and a stuffed animal of unidentifiable and presumably disturbing provenance. A weirdly lifelike pair of ogres grace the main shopping street, and someone had charmingly draped a wreath of dandelions on the head of the female.
Beers and Buds
I whiled away the rest of the afternoon finishing my book over an "Arctic Berries" ale, feeling slightly more trendy in my vintage store acquisition. While waiting at the bar I spotted the delightful specimen of a man in a t-shirt stating "I am not your cousin". This is no flippant fashion choice; with an incredibly inbred population of 320,000, consanguinity is a danger faced by all Icelanders who want to reproduce - or even just have a good time: an app has been created from the millenium-old Landnámabók (Book of Settlements) to avoid accidental incest. When Icelanders meet someone in a bar they can now simply whip out their iPhones and check that they're not actually first cousins before heading home together, instead of getting a nasty shock at the rehearsal dinner.
I got so lost in Maya Angelou that I did not notice the hours slip away before my stomach did, and I made a rather miserable meal of pasta and whatever I could find on the free food shelf. The evening was greatly improved, however, by a cheerful Canadian and a French girl with a perfectly picturesque accent moving into my dorm, and we all headed downstairs to investigate the music video launch in the "gym and tonix" space of the hostel. The event was full of blonde people in large frames and long coats, and we arrived just in time for two glasses of free beer and the viewing of the video itself. Artistic nakedness involving shrill vocals and a very beautiful Nordic woman in lacy suspenders and nothing else. Plus a whole lot of paint. It's called The Backbone, by Rökkurró, and it's actually a fairly good song if you get past the soft porno part. The band were all present and we later realised that two of its members had been serving us beer - they were pretty big in Iceland a couple of years ago and are making their comeback. Tell your friends, y'all!
I haven't spoken French in a while so was self-congratulatorily proud of acting the translator for the evening. Felt suitably smug for the rest of the night, and then felt suitably horrified by my bank balance after booking a trip to the Blue Lagoon - but it can't be missed, apparently. This country will be the financial death of me.
Today I had booked myself a hideously expensive but well-worth it bus tour around the Golden Circle, Iceland's most popular tourist day trip from the capital. I woke up an hour too early at hideous o'clock, leaving myself more than enough time to eat a pot of instant porridge abandoned in my dorm and catch the bus from outside the hostel. The Icelandic tourist industry works like a well-oiled machine; shuttles pick everyone up from their various hostels and deposit us all in front of the coach at the main bus station, on which there is wifi! WIFI! However I was forced to remark again at that constant phenomenon of how American tourists always manage to identify each other instantly and cheerily share their life stories with an enthusiasm undampened by the glares of every other nationality present. It was hard to hate the particular selection on our bus as they were all elderly couples celebrating anniversaries and making new friends much more effectively than us youth at the back, but as Europeans we felt we should try hard to disapprove nonetheless.
The drive towards our first destination took us through a bleak landscape of volcanic hills wreathed in clouds so low you could almost pop them with a pin. Houses cropped up colourfully across the planes, as did the swishy-tailed Icelandic horses that look more like Shetland ponies than anything else, and we all craned our necks to look at the smoky islands lining the horizon. Sulphurous fumes snuck through the windows on the way through a moss-covered lava field. Apparently one third of the world's lava flow in the last 10,000 years has taken place in Iceland, a country where when a volcano erupts "we run towards it, not away from it!".
The countryside is perfectly picturesque. Puffs of steam prick the mountainsides and crystal clear little streams wind down the slopes. We pass a fishermen thigh-high in a rushing fjord, and the deep red of an earth path cuts through the endless green towards a little log church framed so perfectly against the blues and greys of the sky and a sunbathing mountain that it might as well be an oil painting. We skirt a lava hillock inconveniently positioned in the middle of the road, and our tour guide tells us that road construction had to proceed around it as it is said to be home to elves. 55% of Icelanders believe in them.
Cancel 10:00 am
Friðheimar
Our first stop seemed to be purely a vehicle to advertise Iceland's vast superiority to the rest of Europe when it comes to energy generation; no fossil fuels or nuclear power used on this island, and in fact much of the country's power is appropriately produced by geothermal energy. This is certainly the case for Friðheimar, a predominantly tomato-based farming operation housed in greenhouses that suck up as much as electricity per day as 3000 average Icelanders. Run by an almost offensively Nordic-looking family of gorgeous aryans, a cafe is housed in one of these cosy glass longhouses that serves deliciously fresh tomato soup with poppyseed and sugar and cinnamon breads. I gave in to my more luxurious instincts and bought myself a mug and a roll because you definitely wouldn't get this stuff out of tin (although maybe you would in Iceland), and it was so filling that I have actually yet to eat since.
Giant bumble bees bustle around the green houses pollinating everything, and workers plugged into their iPods and balancing on ladders line each row, poking and prodding the still-green tomatoes. Every plant has to be replaced every 9 months - what a faff, especially since the greenhouse we got to peek around is only one of many. Lucky for Icelanders, courtesy of the geothermal energy at their fingertips the natives have little need of importing anything. It's Europe's largest producer of bananas (what an accolade) and has even tried its hand at coffee and oranges - although "just for fun" according to our tour guide. Just for fun.
As we cruise into the Geysir area we all ooh and ah at an enormous spout from afar - hastily reassured by our guide that there'll be another one within fifteen minutes. The eponymous mother of all future geysers unfortunately no longer erupts so regularly after getting blocked up with rocks thrown by the hooligan tourists of the 50s; in her hey day in the 19th century her plumes would reach up to 170m, and although recent earthquakes have helped to revive her somewhat she was sulking underground for our visit. The big performance nowadays is from Strokkur. It stayed silent for half an hour before erupting in three massive plumes of water and steam in quick succession, the smell of sulphur spraying out over the crowd before the water retreated back into the rock as if down a gigantic plughole. I can well imagine the hot springs as a jacuzzi for one of the Giants of Norse myth, as radioactive blue pools bubble away like cauldrons of potion and steam floats menacingly across the rocky landscape.
The geysers are all well and good if you're into steam and furious fumes, but what I enjoyed most about this stop was climbing to the top of the mossy peaks that survey the area. The summit overlooks a lush green valley on one side and the hot springs on the other, and was teeming with tourists (and myself) taking egregious amounts of panoramas (and selfies). The view of the geysers erupting was admittedly great from up at the top, but I sat for a while on a tuft on the cliff face and GAZED CONTEMPLATIVELY out over the fields scattered with horses grazing and little red cabins, and bisected by the archetypal babbling brook. The landscape in this country really does belong in the illustrations of a fairy tale.
Gullfoss Waterfall
Hlíðarberg - Gullfoss
The Gullfoss waterfall is one of the largest in Iceland, consisting of two separate shelves that combine to make it a whopping 30m high. No Victoria Falls, but an impressive place to be able to visit on a "city break". As we descended to get a closer look, a mist of vapour rose up rather like the steam from the hot springs, and left me raw and red in the face. The water pounds down so hard that it rises out of the narrow gorge in clouds, and roars thunderously until your ears ring with the torrents. It's very spectacular, and quite hard to believe that the waterfall has had to survive several attempts at its destruction. A century ago an Englishman (ugh, obviously) wanting to harness its epic power was foiled by a simple farmer, and then decades later his daughter threatened the Icelandic government with hurling herself into the waves if they did not stop contractors from constructing a hydroelectric dam. Another local myth tells of a shepherd and a maiden living on opposite sides of the mighty river before he finally braved the flow to wade across and produce "many well-thought of descendants". It's an awesome sight, nature at work etc etc; apparently on sunny days a rainbow arches through the spray. Curse the weather.
As well as the magnificent waterfall, Gullfoss boasts a view out towards the glacier from whence it flows, packed in by black mountains streaked with snow. I do wish that the day had been sunnier, as the whole view was wreathed in the mists of cloud and rain - which sounds romantic but was in fact just irritating.
Þingvellir National Park (Þingvellir þjóðgarður)
Þingvellir was probably my favourite stop today. A National Park that "straddles two continents" as my leaflet so dramatically tells me, between 930 and 1798 it was home to the gatherings of Iceland's general assembly (the Alþingi). Its steep crags and location on the edge of the country's largest lake (Þingvallavatn) give it the perfect acoustics for oratory and loud law-making, which is exactly what would happen when the parliament gathered there back in the day. Also what happened when Iceland converted to Christianity in 1000AD, and when it declared itself a republic independent from Denmark almost a millenium later; it's still a pretty relevant place in the national mind. Other exciting things it played host to were countless gruesome punishments and executions! Many of Iceland's male sorcerers were burned at the stake here, and women were drowned for crimes like incest and fornication.
The main pathway that leads up to the summit and the parliamentary site itself is flanked by jutting rock-faces and mossy crags that start to morph into troll faces if you stare for long enough. A mini waterfall appears halfway through the ascent, a picture-perfect blend of greens and blues whose depths are lined with hoards of glittering coins tossed in by patriotic Icelanders and lemming-like tourists alike. Þingvellir's position across two tectonic plates means that the crags are littered with cracks and fissures and nooks and crannies that create pleasant little pockets of silence away from the buzz of the tour bus masses, and from the summit you can look out over the lake itself and an angular church surrounded by streams - on the very same spot as one of the first religious buildings in the country all those centuries ago. I wish we'd had more time here, as it's very beautiful.
We wend our way back through the countryside as our tour guide fills us with tales of doom and gloom about climate change and electricity bills. We pass a tiny field of delicately balanced piles of rocks, and multiple clusters of sheep shouldering through tall grass and brush. Apparently sheep are specially cut to signify who owns them and then allowed to roam across the fields at will for the summer months. We rumble over a dark blue fjord with a shimmer on its surface from the sun that has finally decided to appear, and a grim-faced cyclist battled against the wind alongside us for a while. Clusters of pines appear around the base of the hills shielding hidden log holiday cabins with all the mod cons - I can't wait to return to this country.
I wish I could come back to Iceland with a car, a tent, and a salary. Hitch-hikers line the roads looking rough and ready to go, and I spy a beautiful blonde couple stopping to smooch and fill up their water bottles at a brook running alongside the ring road. Hostel tales of driving for hours along that one road that loops around the whole island and only seeing perhaps one or two cars maximum really sound like a dream to me; being able to pull over and stand and stare out at the glaciers or the smoky mountains (without craning to see over that fat Australian woman in front) would truly be bliss.
As we roll towards Reykjavik our guide tells us that the Icelandic language is really just undiluted old Norse - spoken by most of Scandinavia at one point before mass abandonment and becoming unique to Iceland. A pointy church appears at the end of a tree-lined path, where the lead player in the famous Egil's Saga was laid to rest. Perfect.
After collapsing onto my bed for some reading and writing, my chirpy Canadian roommate persuaded me downstairs for beers and bar snacks and failed attempts to remember how to play any form of card games. We were eventually enticed out to The Laundromat by a selection of other ladies from the hostel, one of Reykjavik's trademark hip bars with shelves of colour-coded paperbacks and a wide selection of Icelandic beers. Some of us decided to take on the vibrant nightlife marking the start of gay pride weekend, but I shuffled home to my bunk just past midnight, exhausted of energy (and cash).
Late Starts and Lattes
Sleeping-in seems to be a theme of this trip for me. I didn't manage to leave my hostel before the afternoon had begun, perhaps because of the uninviting sound of the wind whistling through the corridors and the sight of white-capped wavelets rushing in from the sea. Perhaps because I'm lazy. Despite the bracing breezes the sky was cloudless and gloriously sunny, and the locals were out en masse for the start of Reykjavik's Pride Weekend. Everyone and their mother had dressed in rainbows in this most LGBT-friendly of countires; an eight-year-old in a rainbow bow-tie scurried past me on a scooter, drag queens in platforms and wigs tottered down the middle of all the central roads closed to cars today, and two girls dressed as nuns rocked rainbow leis and knee-high socks. Or perhaps they were real nuns - in this city where all businesses from banks to book shops fly pride flags in their storefronts there may well be no limit to tolerance.
I had some time to spare before an agreed meeting point in front of "that scary grey building by the hill" (the city theatre), so ducked into the charmingly-named Cafe Bort for its comparatively cheap coffee and cake deal. It was deliciously sunny under the skylights, and I finished my book over a blueberry muffin soundtracked by a band warming up out back on one of the many temporary stages littering the city today. An absurdly attractive gay couple and their absurdly well-behaved small child slurped soup at the table next to me, and a constant stream of invariably cool and multi-coloured revellers flowed on through. This city has a habit of making one feel very unattractive and very under-dressed.
Scenic Strolling
Sarah and I headed in the direction of the general throng downhill towards Arnarhól, where a huge flag-draped stage was occupied by a band singing indecipherable Icelandic rock. The crowd was heaving, relaxed, and colourful (obviously), the statue of Ingólfur Arnarson covered in spectators and sporting a traffic cone hat, and there was a general air of happiness and human rights. We took advantage of the weather and wandered through town, remarking at everyone's excellently themed outfits and excellently squidgy dogs, and some of bars' sort-of-excellent happy hour deals. Reykjavik under sun is a city transformed, and even the gulls constantly circling the centre became ideal framing for the silhouette of the Hallgrímskirkja in the distance. I had yet to view Lake Tjörnin under anything except oppressive cloud so we did the full loop. Officially a lagoon (how exotic), Wikipedia describes it as an "integral part of the urban environment", and I'd have to agree; it offers picture-perfect views of both town and mountains - and a whole lot of ducks. Ideal.
We dropped in on the end of the weekend flea market (although failed to purchase anything more than an iron-on Icelandic flag to help decorate my currently pitiful hiking backpack), and Sarah showed me to an Icelandic institution that served me the national dish: hot dog with all the toppings. Baejarins Bestu appropriately translates to "best hot dogs in town", and has stood by the harbour since 1937. It serves your standard frankfurter smothered in fried onions, raw onions, and remoulade - a sweet mayonnaise with relish - and is v. cheap and v. delish.
We do like to be beside the seaside
Reykjavik Harbour
Grey and miserable on Thursday, the harbour in this weather is transformed into a blue and glittering delight. We headed first into the Harpa concert hall, a giant block of thousands of panes of clear and coloured glass that glints under the sun and offers a magnificent view out over both the city centre and the sea itself, with its backdrop of green and brown mountains. Harpa was destined to be a much larger World Trade Centre affair before the Icelandic financial crisis hit like a tonne of bricks in 2008, but now its sole purpose is to house a purpose-built concert hall plus egregiously vast gift shop and cafe. We climbed right to the top to enjoy the scenery, and spied multiple yachts and one tiny boat chugging through the choppy water with its cargo of suited-up tourists bent on whale-watching. I must say that I wouldn't have want to be out on the high seas today as the wind and waves were only getting stronger - and who wants to see a whale when you can eat one at the restaurant downstairs?
The harbour front is dotted with neon yellow lighthouses that provide excellent viewing platforms out towards the ocean - and also into it. A mass of glassy pink jellyfish was floating ethereally just beside the boardwalk, and sea birds periodically dived and plopped into their midst, casting flickering shadows across the water and inevitably coming up empty-beaked and squawking. Rather distracting from all the nature was the almost impossible to ignore photoshoot happening further down the harbour involving two identical and identically-dressed blondes standing in profile and looking contemplatively out to sea, while two men with very unprofessional-looking photography equipment leered on. Sarah and I have both admitted to having trouble telling Icelandic women apart, being universally fair, stylish and beautiful. This was something else entirely.
Paradís
According to various friends and food blogs, an unmissable Reykjavik speciality is its ice-cream, which the locals enjoy come rain or shine. Our hostel sits a convenient couple of blocks away from a new addition to the booming Reykjavik ice-cream scene: Parlour Paradis, run by a typically blonde and beautiful woman who apparently "mastered the art of ice cream-making at the Gelato University in Bologna, Italy". It serves enormous triple scoops for the eye-poppingly meagre some of 370 krona (less than £2!), and is staffed by a selection of typically blonde and beautiful women. Perhaps they all mastered the art of ice-cream making at the Gelato University in Bologna, Italy. I tried both the kiwi and bubblegum flavours which really were delighfully gelatoey, and Sarah had a neon pink milkshake. We wended our way home just as the sky began to cloud over, and encountered some more window dressings of delights such as rowdy dogs, piles of books, and an enormous silver trophy. Probably for being a member of the most delightful country in Europe.
Gigs And Gays
I left Kex to join some friends out and about at the perfect moment to catch the late night sunset. The houses down the Hverfisgata all blushed a deep pink, and their windows bounced the glow of fading sunlight back out over the street below as fairy lights snapped on in the upper storeys. I caught the last minutes of a fab local band's set on the patio of trendy Bar 11 (they're called Kaleo, check em out), and we sipped Tuborgs surrounded by a selection of the city. Pale gothic teenagers and stubbly sk8er bois rocked alongside a group of middle-aged women in grey trouser suits and rainbow ties moshing harder than anyone. Love pride.
We moved with the crowd downtown to settle in the upstairs of a whiskey bar promising live music and local beers. Their attic room filled up with heavy blues from another local group, and I couldn't help but think how perfect the scene would be in the dark and freezing winter months; the softly lit panelled interior of sloping ceilings and shelves of booze, a tumbler of liquor and a pane of glass away from the snow and stars on the street. But it was pretty nice in August too. In the queue for the loos at the next bar an Icelandic woman asked me if I thought there was "hanky panky" happening in a particularly slow cubicle - where on earth did she pick up that phrase? What textbooks do they use for language learning in this country?
We ended our night at a queer club full of shadowy corners and Whitney Houston, followed by chicken wings at the Chuck Norris restaurant downstairs. Very authentic.
The Einar Jónsson Museum
My last day in Reykjavik was an eerily deserted and quiet affair. Perhaps everyone was hiding from all light and noise after a riotously gay evening on the town, or perhaps that's just what Sunday afternoons are like in this city. Either way, my wander up the hill into town was soundtracked by nothing but the bouncing of a lone basketball, and some muted children flitting around a playground under the shadow of the Hallgrímskirkja. The Einar Jónsson Museum is not a particularly exciting place and I'm glad my wily ways got me in for free. Constructed by the artist himself as "his greatest sculpture yet", it was one of the first buildings to grace the "desolate hill on the outskirts of town" (as the now bustling Skolavorduhaed was known back in 1914). It contains plaster versions of many of his later bronze works, and a reconstruction of his study and library which is all rather perfunctory as the real gem is the sculpture garden outside. Picturesquely framed against the Soviet-esque museum structure and the peeping spire of the Hallgrímskirkja, his beautifully symbolic bronzes thrive in the open air just as the plaster versions inside fail to really connect - definitely worth a visit.
I popped into an analogue photography store I'd been eyeing up on the hillside, run by a cheerful Irishwoman who sold me a polaroid and talked about the full moon with great gusto. Next stop was Reykjavik Roasters, a cosy little cafe full of armchairs and the sound of vinyl, that has been listed by Buzzfeed as one of the top 10 COOLEST coffee shops in the world! I could certainly see the appeal as I sank into an armchair and a novel, and it is patronised by both the young and hip and the old and moustachioed. I whiled away an excessive amount of time with the aid of a heavily spiced Chai tea and an Icelandic cinnamon scone, served with butter, jam and, more incongruously, two slices of Swiss cheese.
Reykjavik 101
Bíó Paradís
I'd promised myself some Icelandic cinema before I left, and on the way I detoured along the coastline to catch my last glimpse of some of the sculptures that line the seashore east of the harbour. The wind direction today meant that the smell of the ocean assaulted the nostrils in waves, something that always takes me back to childhood holidays at the beach. Old men were perched on the rocks by the sun-craft getting in some late-afternoon Sunday fishing, and the whip and whistle of their lines filled the air (along with the smell of their buckets full of bloody and gasping mackerel - if only murder wasn't so gosh darn tasty.) Sunday evenings mean happy hour at the cinema, so I headed into the screening of the Year 2000 classic 101 Reykjavik with two bottles of beer in hand and very few expectations of Icelandic cinema in mind. And I was not to be disappointed, as the film itself is fantastic. Touching and hilarious - sort of like a cross between Submarine and Bridget Jones's Diary with an Icelandic thirty-something protagonist and an enormously 90s vibe. I was very pleasantly surprised, and the best part was that the film takes place across all the churches, streets and bars that I've explored in this city, which makes one want to clap at the screen with delight and feel simultaneously very smug. I'm fairly sure that some of the nuns that appear in a church scene are the very same whose prayers I interrupted on my first day.
Sarah and I headed to a noodle place on the hill for delicious chop suey with a view of the Hallgrímskirkja bathed in evening light. We couldn't resist our now-favourite ice-cream shop on the way back to the hostel, so packed for the evening that we had to take ticket numbers and wait to be served. I've now sampled kiwi, white chocolate and bubblegum, but green apple has to be the fave.
Final Sunset
The Kex bar was as buzzing as usual, and we scooped up an American friend and some new British ones with whom to enjoy our final night in the city. The sun was setting peachily over the ocean as we wrote postcards and discussed coming back to Iceland to work after graduation, which is not an uncommon proposition for foreign travellers and one that has been looking more and more appealing to me by the day in this country. My sights are now set on the Blue Lagoon tomorrow and my near-and-yet-so-far homeland, but my long distance vision is already formulating my next trip to Iceland armed with more time, money, and waterproofs. Until next time, Reykjavik.
Towards Keflavik
My last day in Iceland was blessed with absolutely glorious weather. Barely a wisp of cloud in the sky and the gentlest of breezes as I enjoyed Kex's sun-drenched comforts for the very last time and chugged towards Keflavik and the Blue Lagoon. Someone last night described the Icelandic landscape as otherworldly, and the scenery floating by the window during the drive would certainly attest to that. Someone told me that Neil Armstrong and co spent a whole lot of time in the Icelandic planes before shooting into space - it's the closest you can get to walking on a real-life lunar landscape, and the rocky lava fields stretching on towards bare and barren mountains do bring the moon to mind. Everything was simultaneously glaring and hazy under the cloudless sky, with one side of the road harsh and bare as a desert with the other dropping straight off into ocean. Occasionally we rounded bends in the road and green sloping hills burst into view along the coastline, almost reminiscent of Cornwall, and it wasn't long before the steam clouds of the lagoon came into view, blaringly white against all that black rock, and its neon blue itself crept into our sights.
Icelandic law requires a full and thorough swimsuit-less shower before entering the lagoon, and I charged through all the faff of wristbands and towels and lockers to burst out into the sunlight and plunge into its deliciously warm and stupidly blue depths. The water is pale and almost opaque to the point of your body becoming invisible more than an inch below the surface. It's warmer than a bath, and sometimes uncomfortably so. The lagoon is so stuffed with minerals that it's easy to float along blissfully almost entirely above the surface of the water, totally oblivious to how far your drifting takes you - to the displeasure of all the other bathers around you and the pain of whacking into the rocky surroundings. I swam in and out of the puffs of steam from the bubbling geothermal pool, was pummelled by the artificial massaging waterfall, and struggled for breath in the close and dripping steam baths - one carved right into the rockface to resemble a dark and misty lava cave and the other with moist white walls like the silicon mud everyone scoops from vats and plasters across their face and body. I wish I had had more time here as I could easily have whiled away an entire day in the lagoon's milky waters, but my flight and the state of my straw-like salty hair prevented more than a couple of hours of carefree floating. A wonderfully relaxing experience. Don't miss it.
Fond Farewells
Reykjavik has been a novel and incredibly unique European experience for me. It's a buzzing city full of cool places and cool people, culture and wonderful aesthetics, and I would love to spend more time here some day. Or maybe live and work here for a while - it's full of young and restless foreigns soaking the city up for a few months while they work out what to do with their lives. The landscape around the capital (and, I'm sure, beyond) is ethereal and begging to be absorbed, and I promise to be back to explore the what lies to the south and the far West. Goodbye Iceland. It has truly been a pleasure, and I'm already planning my return.
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heroesvideosmatch analysisweekly cupMoremmr League
Five more teams have guaranteed slots for EPICENTER Major
The EPICENTER Major qualifiers are winding down and the lineup is starting to be finalized. Five more teams - RNG, OG, Virtus pro, Evil Geniuses, and Infamous Gaming have earned their place at the last DPC 2018-2019 season LAN event. Only two more slots remain to be filled from the qualifiers - SEA and China.
RNG had an impressive run in the group stage, tying up for the first seed with PSG.LGD who had ultimately bested them in the tie-breaker. After taking the second place, they headed to the playoffs where they bested Team Aster 2:1 and then swept through ViCI Gaming 2:0 in two hard-fought games. Their patience and tenacity paid off with a spot at the Major event.
The TI8 championship team, OG, dominated the lower brackets after falling to Team Liquid 2:1 the other day. They first swept through NiP 2:0 and then took on Alliance which was a bit more of a struggle for them. They took the first match against the Swedish team in only 19 minutes but were trampled on by Alliance in the second game thanks in part to a heavily farmed and flawless performance on Broodmother by Max “qojqva” Bröcker. With a level playing field and everything on the line, the third match took almost a full hour for OG to close out. An OP Morphling 31:6:6 was not enough for Alliance to claim a victory, but give OG a hard enough time to close out their own. In the end, Alliance just couldn’t stop the constant barrage and dropped out of contention.
OG should be able to easily secure their TI9 invite at the event to defend their title and the Aegis of Champions.
Virtus pro were originally considered to be a shoo-in for the event to represent the home region as their last hurrah for the season. But it was Gambit that upset the odds and took the first slot and Na’Vi that seemed to give the CIS powerhouse a run for their money.
After defeating Winstrike 2:0 in the lower brackets that Na’Vi had sent them to, they came back to exact their revenge on the iconic Ukrainian team in the grand finals for the final spot. It took a grueling five-game series for VP to best Na’Vi as the matches went back and forth between the two. Na’Vi proved they were an even match for VP through the series, constantly keeping them on edge and capitalizing on any opportunity that came their way. Unfortunately, it seemed that they had run out of steam by the end as VP absolutely shellacked Na’Vi in game 5. The Ukrainian team was able to only seize three kills in the 25-minute game and were crushed at every turn.
For Na’Vi a win would have meant a chance to climb up the ladder and earn enough points to find themselves a TI9 invite. They will now have to take the long road via Starladder Minor qualifiers and event.
Evil Geniuses came to the NA qualifiers ready to take their spot in Moscow, and despite a very surprising performance by Forward Gaming who went undefeated in the group stage for the first slot at EPICENTER Major, they didn’t back down to anyone else.
They cruised through the playoffs undefeated until the grand finals, where they went up against longtime NA rival compLexity. compLexity had run through the lower brackets also undefeated and entered into the battle hyped and ready. They took the first game with an outstanding performance by Linus “Limmp” Blomdin on Clinkz but EG just wiped the dust off and picked themselves up to claim the next three matches, relatively easily.
If compLexity wants a TI9 invite, they will need to go for it through the Starladder Minor route and take a top place at EPICENTER.
The mostly European squad, Infamous, bested their SA counterparts in the upper brackets, taking down EgoBoys and then Gorillaz Pride to find themselves in the Grand Finals. There, they once again faced off against the Peruvian team of veterans. In another sweep, Infamous crushed EgoBoys once again and landed themselves the second slot for the EPICENTER Major.
Infamous as only 60 points and is sitting in 29th place of the DPC rankings, but if they could pull off a top finish at EPICENTER Major, they could find themselves a direct invitation to attend TI9.
EPICENTER Major teams
Europe Team Secret
Europe Team Liquid
Europe OG
Russia Gambit
Russia Virtus pro
China PSG.LGD
China RNG
China TBD
South East Asia TNC Predator
South East Asia TBD
United States Forward Gaming
United States Evil Geniuses
Brazil paiN Gaming
Peru Infamous
Starladder Minor Championship team
Starladder Minor Runner up team
EPICENTER Major
The last DPC event will take place in Moscow, Russia at the VTB Ice Palace June 22-30, with 16 teams competing for the lion’s share of the $1,000,000 prize pool. As with all DPC events, there will be no direct invites. All 16 participants will need to qualify, 14 through the closed regional events and two teams via the StarLadder Minor.
© «L2P Limited» 2016–2020
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What Police Did For A Homeless WWII Vet Will Make You Tear Up
Charles Johnson is 90-year-old World War II veteran who earned and deserves the respect of a grateful nation. Instead, Wichita police officer Robert Bachman found Johnson homeless, living in a broken down vehicle in 90-degree weather. That was too much for the local police officer, who immediately took action to help the veteran get the proper care and treatment he needed, including food, medical care, and permanent housing.
Despite being a WWII veteran, Johnson has been homeless and living out of his car since September of 1988. He would visit the library to use the computer for reading the news, go to the laundromat to wash his clothes, and visit elsewhere to shower. Then recently his car broke down completely and he was stuck living in it during the hot Kansas summer temperatures without air or other basic necessities.
Officer Robert Bachman came across Johnson in his vehicle, and when he found out that he was a homeless veteran, he immediately contacted fellow police officer Nate Schwiethale to get Johnson some help. Officer Schwiethale, Wichita Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team coordinator, said, “In that kind of heat at his age, who knows what could have happened.”
Wichita Police Officers Nate Schwiethale and Robert Bachman.
Officers Bachman and Schwiethale started taking care of him right away, starting with the basic needs. “He wanted a shower — he had been in that car a couple weeks, and he hadn’t showered. He wanted some food,” said Schwiethale. “I gave him some food and water, and then I got him in my vehicle and I transported him to a day shelter in order to get a shower and also do laundry.”
After getting a good meal and a shower at the shelter, outreach veterans from the VA picked him up and took him to a hospital for four days for some minor medical treatment.
They then called Jennifer Garrison, CEO of Passageways, a non-profit organization that helps homeless veterans in the area. Passageways has an eight-room house where homeless veterans can stay in their own room — with food provided — while they get back on their feet and find an apartment of their own.
“We dropped everything. …I got back with Officer Nate and said, ‘We can make this happen right now,'” said Jennifer Garrison. “The VA transported him out to our house, and I was there to meet and greet him. He was thrilled. This was a house, it wasn’t an institution — it wasn’t a sterile environment; this was a home.”
Photo: Facebook/Wichita Police Department North Bureau — Officer Robert Bachman with WWII veteran Charles Johnson.
The 90-year-old WWII veteran is now living in the room of his choice at Passageways while he gets things in order. He is already looking for his own apartment — the first stable living place he will have had in nearly 30 years. “We are going to help him find an apartment with the help of Salvation Army and the VA,” Garrison said, adding that when the time comes, “We will furnish his apartment top to bottom, and Two Men and a Truck will move him for free.”
When the rest of the community heard about the veteran’s situation via a post on the Wichita Police Department North Bureau’s Facebook page, support came pouring in. Donations were made to buy all of the parts needed to fix Johnson’s car, and the repair shop, Peniston Automotive, did all of the labor for free so that Johnson could get his car right away and not need to worry about paying for that while he gets back on his feet.
“He served our country in World War II,” said Officer Schwiethale. “There’s no reason for a vet to be homeless.”
Watch the full story in the video below! Then click the link beneath it to help house homeless veterans!
Home for the Holidays: Help Veterans and Pets Stay out of the Cold
In the U.S., more than half a million people are homeless—and nearly 15% are our nation’s veterans.
Many of our veterans count on their pets as true companions. And while homeless shelters are a key resource for veterans who need food and a safe place to stay, most shelters in our country cannot accommodate animals.
We need your help to reach our goal of $70,000 to make this project a reality.
You can help give homeless Veterans with pets a home for the holidays. We believe no pet or veteran should be left behind — or out in the cold. Please give today.
Make a difference!
This Veteran Thanks The Rescue Dog Who Saved His Life, And His Story Will Bring You To Tears!: Click “Next” below!
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Meet the minds behind NW Noggin, a K-12 neuroscience outreach program
At 8 a.m. in an eastern Washington elementary school gymnasium, Bill Griesar, Ph.D. ’01, is in a situation that would make anyone else sweat.
Dr. Griesar has brought his group of neuroscience outreach volunteers – undergraduate and graduate students hailing from OHSU, Portland State University and Washington State University Vancouver – to Davenport, Wash., to teach schoolchildren about brains and neuroscience.
But he has just discovered that the pipe cleaners used to construct neuron models were nearly used up the day before.
Unfazed, Dr. Griesar immediately concocts a new activity and somehow procures rolls of colored butcher paper from the school. Volunteers from NW Noggin rush to arrange paper on the floor to represent different lobes of the brain.
Scott Jones, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the OHSU School of Medicine’s Behavioral Neuroscience Graduate Program, tapes out an outline of a brain around the paper just as the first classes come into the gym. Dr. Griesar, simultaneously snapping photos, directing students and showing off a model brain, hasn’t stopped grinning.
This isn’t the scene most people picture when thinking of the career of a traditional Ph.D. scientist, but, as Dr. Griesar asked, “What is the traditional career for a Ph.D.?” With the number of Ph.D. graduates who move on to a tenure-track faculty position dropping, graduates are branching out and exploring other career options, some of which offer more flexibility for working parents than traditional academia.
Called to teach
Dr. Griesar and his husband adopted their oldest son, Dominic, at 14 months old when Dr. Griesar was in the middle of writing his dissertation. Somehow, Dr. Griesar found time to write, working during Dominic’s naps.
“I’d write a little more while my friends held him and showed him around the lab,” he said. The day after Dr. Griesar defended, their second son, a four-month-old named Jack, joined their family.
“Suddenly I had a doctoral degree and two young boys, so I was not about to take the so-called traditional route,” he said. Instead, he started teaching science as an adjunct at Portland State University and Washington State University Vancouver and fell in love with the classroom – or, in some cases – the gymnasium.
In the gym at Davenport Elementary, students filter in and cluster around different pieces of paper. Dr. Griesar and NW Noggin volunteers explain that the kids are sitting on a brain. (Some take it literally and wrinkle their noses, looking under their feet.) After NW Noggin volunteers explain how brain functions are localized to specific lobes, students draw depictions of what their brain region does on the paper lobes in front of them. Other groups rotate through activity stations in the back of the room.
NW Noggin targets groups of kids who might not otherwise get exposure to hands-on neuroscience. Davenport, population 1,700, is nestled in Washington’s wheat fields, far from the biomedical hubs of Seattle and Portland. More than half its students qualify for free or reduced meals.
“Neuroscience – and all science in general – will only benefit from having scientists from all sorts of backgrounds,” said Alfredo Zuniga, NW Noggin volunteer and a third-year Ph.D. student in the Behavioral Neuroscience Graduate Program. “Through its outreach, NW Noggin is making sure that students from all demographics are exposed to this field and these sorts of careers at an early age.”
Brains + art
PASSION Jeff Leake (left) and Dr. Bill Griesar co-founded NW Noggin, an arts-influenced outreach group with a mission to turn kids onto the wonders of neuroscience. Should you decide to attend one of the many NW Noggin outreach events, it’s a good bet Dr. Griesar will be there. Just look for the guy with pipe-cleaner neurons. Credit: Bill Griesar
NW Noggin began as a conversation between Dr. Griesar and Jeff Leake. Leake, a Portland artist who also works at PSU and WSU Vancouver, and Dr. Griesar were trying to figure out what their children could do for the summer.
So they decided to start a volunteer-driven, art-infused neuroscience summer course for middle school students through Multnomah County’s Schools Uniting Neighborhoods program, or SUN.
After planning lessons with students from their PSU and WSU Vancouver classes and using their own children as guinea pigs, Dr. Griesar and Leake found a successful combination.
“No one in that summer SUN program had to attend, and yet we had middle school students back day after day to make art and dissect sheep brains and learn about college and graduate research directly from our volunteers,” said Dr. Griesar.
After seeing how popular art-influenced neuroscience outreach could be, Dr. Griesar and Leake formalized their effort and created the nonprofit Northwest Neuroscience Outreach Group: Growing in Networks, or NW Noggin.
Marrying art and science is part of NW Noggin’s secret sauce. “Arts integration makes learning science personally relevant,” said Dr. Griesar.
“It allows open-ended exploration of scientific concepts, and offers science teachers a broader palette from which they can differentiate their lessons,” added Leake. That successful combination exemplifies the national movement toward STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) education, in which art and design are integrated into traditional STEM curricula.
Now, five years later and thanks in large part to his seemingly limitless enthusiasm, Dr. Griesar estimates that NW Noggin has reached over 12,000 K-12 students. The pipe-cleaner neurons that volunteers build with students have become a hallmark of NW Noggin’s events. These models offer a way for students to conceptualize neuronal structure and understand how neurons function to communicate within the brain. (Plus, they’re an easy way to identify Dr. Griesar in a crowd as he usually has at least one or two in his hands.)
But models aren’t the only thing kids get to handle: NW Noggin events usually feature a real brain for students (and their teachers and parents) to handle. While the squeamish ones shy away, most kids don gloves, hold their noses and wonder at the folds and inner structures of the brains before allowing the next kids in line their turn.
“We’ve definitely tested the longevity of our formalin-fixed specimens!” exclaimed Dr. Griesar.
Presidents, pipe cleaners
On a broader scale, NW Noggin has grown active in science policy. Last October, it was invited to participate in the White House Frontiers Conference in Pittsburgh, Pa., where President Barack Obama encouraged attendees to further U.S. innovation.
PUTTING NOGGINS TOGETHER NW Noggin depends on college and graduate school volunteers to staff its events with multi-layered benefits. “The graduate [students] get teaching experience by mentoring undergrads, the undergrads learn about current research and what grad school is like, and our K-12 kids discover opportunities for education, research and careers they may not have ever considered,” explained Dr. Griesar. Credit: Bill Griesar
A highlight of the trip, said Dr. Griesar, was a brief interaction with the president, who spotted the pipe-cleaner neurons and remarked, “I love those!”
Earlier in 2016, Dr. Griesar, Leake and a group of 26 volunteers traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, congressional committees and caucuses. The group discussed why K-12 outreach efforts are important not only to encourage future scientists but also to stoke public appreciation for neuroscience and the value of federal research funding. This fall, NW Noggin hopes to take a larger volunteer group to D.C. to meet with legislators and visit local public schools.
Back in Davenport, volunteers are explaining brain function, answering questions, leading art projects and passing human brains from student to student. “The most rewarding thing about NW Noggin is hearing all the kids’ questions,” said Ph.D. student Scott Jones. “It’s fun to hear what they already know and are excited to learn about.”
After two full days leading sessions that included most of the students in town, the volunteers swap stories over a late lunch. As they compile a list of the questions they received from students, a favorite emerges: “Can you come back next year?”
For more information about NW Noggin, including volunteer accounts and photos of previous outreach events, visit nwnoggin.org.
Rebecca Hood runs experiments as a fourth-year behavioral neuroscience Ph.D. student at OHSU, volunteers for NW Noggin and considers any weekend that includes a campfire a weekend well spent.
This article was originally published in Bridges, a magazine of people, connections and community for alumni of the OHSU School of Medicine.
Posted by: Jennette Zarko in Behavioral Neuroscience, Events, Neuroscience, Research
On: Thursday, July 6, 2017 Last update 2018-03-03T15:00:03+00:00
Tags: bill griesar, featured, jeff leake, nw noggin, outreach
Jennette Zarko
Jennette Zarko is a Senior Social Media Specialist at OHSU. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Connect with the team at socialmedia@ohsu.edu.
The caregiver perspective: Jennifer’s story
Nourish your neurons during the 2018 Brain Awareness Season
Researcher credits Tax Checkoff Grant for work/life flexibility
Year in review: The most popular “On the Brain” posts of 2017
Brain donation at OHSU
Experts in #hikikomori say the condition of extreme social isolation is more widespread than previously acknowledge… https://t.co/SzN6kyp0ll22 hours ago
RT @nateselden: So proud of my friend and @OHSUSOM colleague Dr Dennis Bourdette as he completes a spectacular 20 year run as #Neurology…yesterday
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Love Island's Ellie Brown 'practically starved' herself before entering villa
Amy Johnson
Yahoo Celebrity UK January 11, 2020
Ellie Brown attends The Beauty Awards 2019 on November 25, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Lia Toby/Getty Images)
Former Love Island contestant Ellie Brown has shared that she went to extreme measures when it came to her appearance ahead of her stint in the 2018 series of the show.
Brown claims she limited her diet before going onto the programme, even shunning fruit due to its sugar content, and spent two-and-a-half hours in the gym everyday for two months.
"One of the biggest myths about Love Island is that we look so toned, tanned and skinny all of the time," she wrote in The Sun. "In reality, I practically starved myself going into the villa – eating nothing but fish and vegetables for months and spending hours sweating away in the gym each day."
Read more: Caroline Flack's Love Island replacement Laura Whitmore says host has been 'gracious and supportive'
Brown said that being fat-shamed by online trolls for pictures taken after she left the programme left her feeling "lower that [she] ever had in her life".
She opined that the contestants for the upcoming series "will no doubt be under the same pressures from trolls who are desperate to scrutinise every pound they shed or gain".
The 21-year-old also added there was "no real pressure" put on contestants by producers when it came to their physiques.
The programme has previously come under fire from those who believe there is a lack of body diversity among the contestants.
The Love Island winter contestants have been announced. (ITV)
Last year, creative director of ITV Studios Entertainment Richard Cowles responded to the backlash, saying: “First and foremost, it’s an entertainment show. It’s about people wanting to watch who you’ve got on screen falling in love with one another.
“Yes, we want to be as representative as possible but we also want them to be attracted to one another.”
“We’re not saying that everyone that’s in there is how you’re supposed to look," he added.
The new series of Love Island, the show's first winter instalment, is set to commence on Sunday, with the new crop of contestants already confirmed.
#love-island
#ellie-brown
#itv
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Serena Williams ends drought, wins first title since she had her daughter
Chris Cwik
Serena Williams ended her title drought Sunday. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The drought is over. Serena Williams ended a three-year title drought Sunday, winning the ASB Classic. It was Williams’ first win since she had her daughter, Olympia, in 2017.
The 38-year-old Williams defeated Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-4. Pegula, 25, pushed Williams early, but Williams got stronger as the match went on. It was Williams’ first win since the Australian Open in January 2017.
Williams expressed relief after the win, saying it has been a long time, according to the Associated Press.
“It feels good. It's been a long time,” Williams said. “I think you can see the relief on my face.
“I played an incredible opponent today in Jessica and, honestly, it was a great match and I couldn't have played anyone better in the final.”
Following the victory, Williams donated her $43,000 winnings to victims of the Australian wildfires. A number of tennis stars have also donated to the cause, including Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova.
With that win out of the way, Williams will set her sights on the 2020 Australian Open. The event will begin Jan. 19. Williams has won the Australian Open seven times.
Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
Wentz called ‘heroic’ for self-reporting concussion during playoff game
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Sohi: Lakers bucking trend with their regular-season dominance
#serena-williams
#jessica-pegula
Neighborhoods in St. John's, Newfoundland, Buried After 'Monster Blizzard'
Holly Holm decisions Raquel Pennington in UFC 246 co-main event
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Richard Parry discusses the way that the 2019 UK General Election bucked the trend for surprise results.
Keeping Perspectives
David McCrone
Instead of focusing on the success of the SNP, we should compare the Labour and Conservative vote share in Scotland and England since 1945, states David McCrone, University of Edinburgh.
Continuity and consolidation?
Malcolm Harvey
Malcolm Harvey, University of Aberdeen, provides a rundown of the general election results in Scotland, asking is this the new norm?
Will 2019 be like 1987, 2015 or 2017?
Richard Parry assesses the prospects of Boris Johnson’s surpassing the electoral achievements of David Cameron and Theresa May.
Analysing the Manifestos: Northern Ireland
Jonathan Evershed
Brexit has played a conspicuous role in the election in Northern Ireland, but, as in the rest of the UK, it has also been forced to compete for attention with other headline-grabbing political
Analysing the Manifestos: Strengthen the Union
In the second edition of our series analysing where parties stand on constitutional issues, Jack Sheldon looks at where the Conservatives stand on Brexit and Scottish independence.
Analysing the Manifestos: No radical change required?
Coree Brown Swan
Throughout the General Election campaign, we will analyse where the parties stand on constitutional issues.
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Richard Parry discusses the media presentation of opinion poll findings as we await evidence of the impact of the Brexit Party withdrawal from Conservative seats.
Elections in Spain: a New Deadlock in a More Polarised Parliament
Robert Liñeira
In 2019, we have seen two Spanish general elections, one April and another in November.
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Channel Georgia
Fady Asly
Krish Sundaresan
Oscar Asly
Ambassador Zurab Katchkatchishvili
George Arveladze
R. Michael Cowgill
Elie Dayé
Ljubomir Filipović
Jamil-Henry Germain
David Kirvalidze
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Keti Sidamonidze
Sascha Ternes
Ronald Tyan
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Press Release regarding Channel Georgia Consulting and Fine Hygienic Paper FZE signing a Sales Representation Agreement for Eurasia
News channel georgia, Channel Georgia Consulting, Fine Hygienic Paper, Fine Hygienic Paper FZE, FZE
Channel Georgia Consulting and Fine Hygienic Paper FZE have signed in Dubai a Sales Representation Agreement to facilitate the access of Fine Hygienic Paper FZC to several countries of the former Soviet Union and of Eastern Europe.
“We are very proud to have been chosen by Fine Hygienic Papers, the largest company of its kind in the MENA region and one of the largest in the world; this Agreement is an additional achievement for Channel Georgia Consulting the leading Consulting Firm that bridges the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Middle East with the Caucasus, Central Asia and Eastern Europe” said Fady Asly, Chairman of Channel Georgia Consulting.
“We are delighted to be partnering with a renowned international consultancy firm like Channel Georgia to serve new markets in Eastern Europe. This step comes to further highlight the leading position of Fine in providing innovative and high quality hygienic products,” said Charbel Azzi, Chief Commercial of B2B and Export for Fine Hygienic Holding.
Azzi pointed out that Fine’s paper and diaper products are available in more than 70 countries across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the United States, and that the group is working to expand its business into new markets in the near future.
Channel Georgia Consulting is a unique International Consultancy Firm bringing together a group of highly experienced professionals to serve investors and businesses globally in the areas of energy, agriculture, tourism, banking, financial services, construction, real estate, infrastructure, industry and advertising;
Channel Georgia Consulting is registered and active in several countries and links businesses internationally and more particularly the GCC countries, Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and South East Asia and offers a five star service through efficient, professional and swift performance.
Channel Georgia Consulting is a specialist Business Matchmaking consultancy that delivers fast, reliable, transparent, and highly effective International Business Development and Business Matchmaking solutions to private companies, public companies, Embassies, and government trade and export promotion organizations in more than 50 countries.
Fine Hygienic Holding is the first and largest hygienic tissue producer in the MENA region and one of the largest in the world with a presence in more than 70 countries of the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the United States. Fine Hygienic Holding is part of the Nuqul Group that brings together 30 regional and global companies, more than 5,100 employees and exports in more than 70 markets worldwide.
Channel Georgia Consulting and Ermed Georgia LTD sign a Cooperation Agreement
Investments to Georgia – Top business industries
Mr. Fady Asly Chairman of Channel Georgia Consulting was re-elected Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce in Georgia
Fady Asly – guest speaker at the Leadership School, an institution that includes young leaders from both Georgia and Armenia.
Meeting – The Coalition for Independent and Transparent Judiciary
PRESS RELEASE GEORGE ARVELADZE JOINS CHANNEL GEORGIA CONSULTING AS PARTNER FOR HEALTHCARE AND PHARMACEUTICALS.
ICC-Georgia held its 1st Consultative Board Meeting for 2018
Fady Asly: Investment climate in Georgia is one of the best in the world
Fady Asly Chairman of Channel Georgia Consulting meets Prime Minister of Georgia H.E Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
© Channel Georgia 2020
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Sparkling rosé by-the-glass: Tony hosts Franciacorta winemaker Cristina Ziliani of Berlucchi
One of the things that sets the Vallone family of restaurants apart in Houston’s ever-expanding food scene is Tony’s connections to Italy.
Last week, Tony hosted winemaker Cristina Ziliani (above, left), owner of the Berlucchi winery in Franciacorta, an appellation about 45 minutes east of Milan where classic-method sparkling wines are produced.
“I go to Milan every year,” says Tony. “The best restaurants there all serve Franciacorta by-the-glass. They love Champagne as much as we do here in the U.S., of course. But Franciacorta has richer fruit flavors. It’s fresher and it’s more food-friendly. After all, it’s Italian! And that’s why I’ve been serving Franciacorta by-the-glass at all my restaurants.”
“Franciacorta is one of our favorite wines here at the Vallone family of restaurants,” says Scott Sulma, who oversees the wine programs at all three restaurants. “It just works so well with the food. You can even pair the rosé with our 55-day-aged steaks.”
Look out for the Berlucchi Franciacorta sparkling Rosé, made from 100 percent Pinot Noir grapes.
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The Consortium of Doctoral Programs in Rhetoric and Composition
a standing group of the CCCC
Changes in Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP)
The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) announced at summer’s start the release of the 2010 revised classification code for instructional programs in the United States, which will be used to report institutional data to the Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System (IPEDS). The new CIP code includes revisions and additions for rhetoric and composition/writing studies that will allow our programs for the first time to be represented and reported accurately in educational statistics. It is important for us to make sure that this change is properly implemented on campuses.
As many of you know, Syracuse University’s Louise Phelps has worked tirelessly to ensure that Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies stand out as a visible discipline within academe and that students in programs within our discipline be recognized and counted in the national statistics. In 2008, she was joined by a CCCC Task Force (Linda Ferreira-Buckley, Kay Halasek, Gail Hawisher, Doug Hesse, Krista Ratcliffe, and David Russell) to draw up proposals to petition NCES for changes in the CIP code. Because these efforts were successful, we now need to work proactively to assure that existing degree programs are reclassified for next year’s reports and that new degree programs are assigned the new codes.
New Classification
All degree completions after July 1, 2009 will be reported under the new CIP codes. That means we can and should be requesting from our universities reclassification of all undergraduate and graduate programs offering degrees or certificates in Rhetoric and Composition, Writing Studies, and/or Professional/Tech Communication.
The following codes are available under the new 4-digit series:
23.13 Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies
23.1301 Writing, General
23.1302 Creative Writing
23.1303 Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing
23.1304 Rhetoric and Composition
23.1399 Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies, Other.
See http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/cipdetail.aspx?y=55&cipid=89227
Steps to Take Now
Contact your university IPEDS “keyholder,” who resides in different places on different campuses (e.g., registrar’s office, institutional research, provost’s office, and/or grad school). All of us on the Task Force found these colleagues to be enormously helpful, and it is their responsibility to report graduation data to NCES. Provide the keyholder with the code that best matches your program. With everyone’s help, we should be able to ensure the appropriate classification or reclassification of degrees in our field so that they are recorded accurately in government databases as part of Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies.
Consortium of Doctoral Programs in Rhetoric and Composition
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Jasmine Hyman
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Jasmine Hyman is currently completing a doctorate at the Yale School of Forestry and the Environment, where she seeks to identify design principles for global climate finance schemes that promote equitable development and social justice. Prior to her research at Yale, Jasmine was the Director of Programs and Partnerships at the Gold Standard Foundation, a certification scheme for greenhouse gas emission reduction projects under the Kyoto Protocol's offset scheme and for the voluntary carbon offset markets in the US and Australia. From 2001-2005, Jasmine worked on climate and sustainable agriculture issues at the Food and Agriculture Or ganization of the United Nations. She was the head writer and correspondent for the International Year of Rice in 2004, where she wrote speeches for the Food and Agriculture Director General and varying representatives to ASEAN. Jasmine began her study of greenhouse gas emission markets in earnest while doing a Masters of Science at the London School of Economics in Environment and Development in 2005. She earned an honors B.A in Urban Studies at Columbia University in 2001. Jasmine's current research is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship; the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, and the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies.
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Jasmine Hyman joined the Climate CoLab community Jun 11, 2014
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Filip was trying to run a brand new bouncing screensaver on his PC and got his first missing DLL error, opengl32.dll. After several months of frustrating online searches, he launched a website where people could download this single file. At first, the website was hosted for free at the Swedish hosting provider Passagen.
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After developing the site on his own for years, Filip finally hired his first employee: Lars. The dynamic duo took the site to a whole new level and during this year we passed 2 million monthly visitors.
On April 11th the DLL-files Fixer software, focused on automatically solving DLL and associated registry errors, was first released. Before this the site had been financed by advertising. DLL-files Fixer was the company’s first attempt to sell software. Ads were removed from the site the next day.
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Taba Heights to open Bay View hotel next month: senior owner representative - Daily News Egypt
Business Taba Heights to open Bay View hotel next month: senior owner representative
Taba Heights to open Bay View hotel next month: senior owner representative
A water park will be installed at Sofitel Hotel at a cost of $145,000 in January, says Eltrabishy
Shaimaa Al-Aees July 13, 2017 Be the first to comment
Senior owner representative of Taba Heights Resort Emad Eltrabishy said that Orascom Hotel Management (OHM), the owner of Taba Heights, invested EGP 12.5bn in the project after flotation.
Eltrabishy said in an interview with Daily News Egypt that Taba Port’s returns reached approximately $1.2m annually with a capacity of one million passengers.
What is the size of investment in Taba Heights resort?
The volume of investments in Taba Heights is estimated at EGP 12.5bn following the decision to liberalise the exchange rate. Investments before the flotation decision reached EGP 2.5bn.
How many of Taba Height’s hotels are operational?
So far, three out of a total of six hotels are operational due to several factors, the most important of which is the decline in tourism.
We seek to open the rest of the closed hotels in the coming period as the Bay View Hotel will be reopened next month with an opening ceremony. The room prices of the new hotel will range between $200 and $300 per night.
The hotel will be reopened partially. 100 rooms out of 394 will be reopened, and the targeted occupation rate is 20%.
Furthermore, E.MAK Swimming Pool Center will install a water park at Sofitel Hotel at a cost of $145,000 in January. We contracted with E.MAK last year to develop this park.
What is the size of accumulated losses?
We have accumulated losses since the 25 January Revolution of about EGP 750m as a result of the decline in tourism.
What are the types of tourists in Taba Heights?
The company is working to develop different categories of hotels to suit all guest segments.
Orascom is seeking to attract a number of guests to compensate for continuing losses. Taba Heights was dependent on British, French, German, Italian, and—to a lesser extent—Russian tourists, who spend large sums of money.
Egyptians are now becoming more present in Taba Height’s resorts, since last January. The price of a room for Egyptians is about EGP 450 per night for the double room.
What is the source of dollar to the resort?
The resort receives dollars through its Taba Heights Marina.
The Marina’s income reaches $1.2m annually, 50% of which goes to the General Authority for Red Sea Ports, the main partner in the port.
Taba Heights and the Red Sea Ports Management Company is a partnership of 51% for the General Authority for Red Sea Ports, and the rest is for Orascom Hotels Management, which has the right of management for 50 years.
The company has improved its legal situation to be on the map of international ports after entering the tourist business activity.
What is the capacity of the Marina?
The marina has a capacity of about one million passengers annually. During the past year, however, it was used by 80,000 passengers and aims to reach 150,000 passengers during the current year.
What is the main reason in the decline of tourism in Taba Heights?
The Taba bus bombing of 2014, which was transporting a number of Korean tourists, was a major reason for the decline in traffic to Taba.
Furthermore, after the bus incident, German company FTI Touristik GmbH advised all German nationals not to visit Taba until July 2015. This contributed to the closure of hotels, which increased the losses of the company in its investment there.
The area of Taba began its slow recovery during the last period as a result of the propaganda, marketing parties, and concerts that Taba Heights initiated during the past period.
What is the size of the budget allocated for these propaganda concerts?
Taba Heights has allocated EGP 20m annually to hold concerts for famous singers of the Arab world, which raised the occupancy of hotels. The minimum occupancy during concerts is 50%, and, sometimes, all rooms are occupied.
What is the size of investments in Club Med Sinai Bay?
Club Med Sinai Bay is one of the resorts of Taba Heights, which is a unique resort situated in a beautifully preserved bay between two mountains. The hotel has the best hotel in the world of the Club Med Group, which has 120 hotels worldwide.
The current investment reached about EGP 2.2bn after the flotation of the Egyptian pound.
Does Taba Heights intend to reopen the Club Med?
There are negotiations with Club Med Group to re-open and operate it. Meanwhile, if negotiations fail, there will be negotiations with other management companies to operate the hotel.
Does the company seek to increase investment in the region?
Taba Heights does not seek to inject new investments in the region during the coming period. However, we are focusing on attracting other tourist nationalities, including Lithuania, and we will receive the first cohort in October.
Does the closure of Taba International Airport affect the tourism movement in the region?
Absolutely, yes. We call EgyptAir to fly at least once a week to Taba Airport, as closing it causes great losses for the region. The company is using Jordanian airports and Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport to transport its tourists to Taba.
Did Taba Heights submit any recommendations to governmental agencies to revive tourism in the area?
We did send recommendations and requests to the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation, and the cabinet, including operating the direct road to Taba at full capacity. The Tourism Promotion Authority does not support Taba and does not put it on its tourist map at international exhibitions.
What are the efforts Taba Heights has done to promote tourism in the region?
Our company agreed with the management of King Hussein International Airport in Jordan, the Jordanian Commission, and a number of Jordanian maritime companies to operate joint flights between Aqaba and Taba. The agreement will be made at the tourism exhibition ITB Berlin in November.
The international port will be used in Taba to transport Egyptians to Aqaba to spend their vacation and exchange tourists between the two parties. The agreement includes the arrival of the tourist from any airport in Egypt to Taba to spend their vacation, and then move to the port of Aqaba and get a flight from there to speed up the process of transporting tourists back and forth from Taba and Aqaba.
The company is seeking to use the shipping line between Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh to operate the Taba area during the coming period.
These agreements will pump $3m annually through transferring tourists through the marina.
Moreover, it was agreed with the Jordanian side that Egyptians will pay for the fees of Taba Aqaba trip in the Egyptian pound to preserve the foreign currency within the country.
The company has a housing project. Why did the project stop?
A real estate residential project in Taba has been suspended following the non-acquisition laws in the area, and these units are being used for rent. The units reached 104 and, out of them, only 30 units are rented.
How will the increase in electricity prices affect you resort?
We pay EGP 1.2m monthly before the decision to increase, and we will pay EGP 3m monthly after the increase, which adds pressure on our operations.
How much are the arrears in favour of the electricity company?
The arrears amounted to EGP 14m. The arrears were scheduled for 28 cheques, and we have started paying them.
What is the size of income of the six hotels of Taba Heights?
The income for the six hotels in Taba Heights is EGP 50m annually, while employees’ salaries are EGP 54m.
The resort was charging the value-added tax (VAT) as a result of the tourism companies’ refusal to pay tourists.
What is the size of the company’s land bank in Taba?
The company owns 2.2 million square meters inside Taba, which is still unexploited out of 4.6 million square meters.
The company implemented more than the periods set by the Tourism Development Authority for the implementation of projects, which made the company does not think at the moment to increase its investments.
According to the competition in prices in tourist areas in Egypt, how do you see this issue?
The concerned agencies have to set a minimum price for hotel rooms in South Sinai to stop the burning of prices (to have justice competition). The camps inside South Sinai sell at prices more than many hotels located in South Sinai.
The company is seeking to use the shipping line between Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh to operate the Taba area during the coming period
The Tourism Promotion Authority does not support Taba and does not put it on its tourist map at international exhibitions
Topics: Hotels Taba Taba Heights
https://cdn2.dailynewsegypt.com/2017/07/13/taba-heights-open-bay-view-hotel-next-month-senior-owner-representative/
Mountain View debuts first business park in Egypt
Negotiations with hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh to sell electricity produced in second phase
Taba Heights ignites mountains with party lights to revive tourism in turquoise land
EgyptAir approves second phase of its fleet development plan: Musallam
Court orders 4-day detention for Italian tourist accused of manslaughter
Loyal Egyptian fans of Chester Bennington commemorate his life
Who bears the brunt of the economic reforms?
Stability Red Sea hotel occupancies during current week: Red Sea Tourism Investors Association official
Housing Ministry completes 3,668 social housing units in New Qena
SIS says two translators fired over wrongly referring to Hurghada attack as terrorism
Electricity Ministry signs EGP 37bn loan with NBE and BM on Tuesday
Egypt’s investments in education and health reach EGP 25bn in FY 2017/18
Boost in Orascom Hotels revenues in Q1 2017
Taba Heights to launch more tourism promotion concerts
Meet Yara Shalaby: first to cross from Taba to Aqaba by kayak
Tabarak Holding launches ‘Ninety Avenue’ at Cityscape
July 13, 2017 Breaking News
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Caroline Taylor
Snippets of work & life in Trinidad, the UK & the US
Work | performing arts & publishing
Writing & editing work
Performing arts work
Category: carnival
carnival, trinidad and tobago
Carnival 2017: the who, what, where, when, why | Discover Trinidad & Tobago
Originally written for and published in the 2017 edition of Discover Trinidad & Tobago. The Carnival season is like one large buffet. You can sample all of it over multiple courses; just some of it, by confining yourself to a few things which appeal to you; or none at all (which means leaving the restaurant altogether, to keep the analogy going). But the point is, there’s … Continue reading Carnival 2017: the who, what, where, when, why | Discover Trinidad & Tobago
Caroline Taylor 1 November, 2016 18 January, 2017 Leave a comment
caribbean, carnival, conservation, trinidad and tobago
Did you know? 25+ cool facts about Trinidad & Tobago | Discover T&T
Originally written for and published on the Discover Trinidad & Tobago website in 2016 There are many people and things that have landed Trinidad and Tobago in the history books…or which are just plain cool! Here are just some. And if you know more that you think should be here, feel free to give us a shout! We always love to hear from our readers. Banwari Man … Continue reading Did you know? 25+ cool facts about Trinidad & Tobago | Discover T&T
Caroline Taylor 30 March, 2016 18 January, 2017 Leave a comment
carnival, festivals and events, media and technology, music, theatre and performance, trinidad and tobago
An insider guide to Port of Spain, Trinidad | The Guardian (UK)
This guide was written as an assignment for The Guardian (UK), and published as An insider’s cultural guide to Port of Spain: steel, sass and sweat 1) Your city’s culture in five words Steel, seascapes, sass, and sweat. 2) What sound defines your city? The hills and valleys of Port of Spain’s residential communities is a strange combination of urban and rural. At dawn, there’s a distinct soundtrack … Continue reading An insider guide to Port of Spain, Trinidad | The Guardian (UK)
Caroline Taylor 19 October, 2015 16 January, 2017 Leave a comment
carnival, new york, trinidad and tobago
K2K: Fashion, Mas and Philanthropy | OUTLISH
Originally written for and published on OUTLISH.com in 2012 “A breath of fresh air.” That was the phrase that numerous people used over and over, when I spoke to them after K2K’s launch of their 2013 Carnival presentation, “The Human Race” last Thursday. Twin designers Karen and Kathy Norman have introduced something to the Carnival landscape that one patron said Trinidad and Tobago is “desperate” … Continue reading K2K: Fashion, Mas and Philanthropy | OUTLISH
Caroline Taylor 14 August, 2012 17 January, 2017 Leave a comment
carnival, festivals and events, new york, trinidad and tobago
K2K Carnival’s Karen & Kathy Norman | Discover Trinidad & Tobago
Originally written for and published in Discover Trinidad & Tobago magazine in 2012 The twins behind K2K Alliance, Kathy and Karen Norman, have generated a lot of buzz around their new medium-category, all-inclusive 2012 Carnival band “The Waters – Seas of Consciousness”. They talked to Caroline Taylor about the story behind their designs; the journey to making the band; Trinidad’s vs Brazil’s Carnival; and re-claiming Trinidad’s mas. … Continue reading K2K Carnival’s Karen & Kathy Norman | Discover Trinidad & Tobago
Caroline Taylor 31 January, 2012 17 January, 2017 Leave a comment
carnival, music, trinidad and tobago
The Making of a Steel Pan | Discover Trinidad & Tobago
Originally written for and published in the 2008 edition of Discover Trinidad & Tobago travel guide The steel pan (it’s really a bit of a faux pas to call it a steel drum!) is one of Trinidad’s proudest exports. It distinguishes itself by being the only acoustic, non-electric instrument invented in the 20th century, and one incubated right in and around Port of Spain during the second world war. Origins … Continue reading The Making of a Steel Pan | Discover Trinidad & Tobago
Caroline Taylor 2 January, 2008 18 January, 2017 Leave a comment
carnival, festivals and events, london, theatre and performance, trinidad and tobago
Songs of freedom | Caribbean Beat
Originally written for and published in Caribbean Beat magazine in 2007 This September, Geraldine Connor’s epic musical Carnival Messiah will be presented in a rather unusual setting. The mammoth production will be staged under a 1,000-seat big top on the lawn of the sprawling Harewood House, home of the Queen’s cousin the Earl of Harewood, and an estate built on the profits made from 18th-century slave plantations. Created … Continue reading Songs of freedom | Caribbean Beat
Caroline Taylor 2 July, 2007 17 January, 2017 Leave a comment
RT @AndyBrown1_: 'Don't fly British Airways' British Airways emits up to 🔺45 percent more #CO2 per passenger compared with rival airlines o… 8 hours ago
RT @melissaFTW: At the end of 2020, instead of 30 Under 30 and NextGen lists, please profile middle-aged people who just got their big brea… 10 hours ago
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RT @jasonhickel: Wow. Barcelona has declared a climate emergency that gets straight to the point: "The current economic model is based on e… 2 days ago
RT @jiveDurkey: the world’s an awful place but also have you seen this video of a tiny deer meeting a tiny human https://t.co/OqmtglA2If 2 days ago
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July 12, 2012 carolynhelselLeave a Comment on Nancy Fraser Part 2
Nancy Fraser Part 2
So the themes in Fraser’s work thus far consist in the dual strands of critical social theory: claims for redistribution and claims for recognition. The two are at odds when persons who are emphasizing redistribution of money or power fail to acknowledge or recognize the importance of the maligned identities that are the source of the disparity of money and/or power. The two ways of addressing these claims that Fraser highlights are affirmative and transformative. The first consists in end-stage products–the redistribution of wealth via government subsidies and tax rebates for the poor, or something similar to reparations for the wealth lost by persons whose ancestors were enslaved. In terms of recognition, the affirmative approach is exemplified in the multicultural movement’s emphasis on valuing identities that have previously been maligned.
On the other hand are what Fraser labels “transformative” approaches to remedy maldistribution and misrecognition. The transformative approach looks at the structures that lead to such inequality and seeks to deconstruct these unjust structures, replacing them with more equitable ones. For instance, a social democracy for redistributive claims that sets up fairer access to living wages for all persons, and a deconstructive approach to identity that challenges the ways identity has been reified and essentialized. Ultimately, the goal in remedying these injustices is to work towards parity of participation, which means that all persons have access to full inclusion and participation as equals in society. This goal address both economic and cultural barriers to participation, both the ways that poverty prevents persons from full participation as well as how the devaluing of certain cultural identities prevents persons from being considered as peers.
In drawing from the deconstuctionists and post-structuralists, Fraser is clearly conversant with figures such as Foucault, a scholar she addresses in an early 1980’s article publishing in Unruly Practices. While I’m not sure the deconstruction of identities is necessarily the best route, I am interested in how the fogging of identites and the de-essentializing of identities is crucial for the building of coalitions across diverse populations. That is, holding to certain standards of what counts as a particular oppressed identity can obscure the goals of coalition-building for the sake of social change. At the same time, there seems to be moments when the lifting up of particular identities is essential to that same social change because of the ways considerations for the accommodation of such difference has been ignored or unconsidered.
As I read more from Fraser, I hope to get a clearer idea of how deconstruction and “fogging” of identity works in her schema of institutional change.
Previous Nancy Fraser-My New Best Friend
Next Birthday musings on a possible dissertation proposal
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Cars For You
Category Archives: BMW
2020 BMW M8 Competition Coupe UK
October 19, 2019 Yulizar
BMW M8 is a sophisticated vehicle and many people like it. After respectfully inquiring as to whether I can switch my BMW M8 Competition Coupe to float mode, the pit group laborer reacts with a snappy “No.” Come to consider it, sending 617 torque to just the back wheels on a soggy course with off-camber corners and visually impaired peaks sounds like the carving on a Darwin Award. All-wheel drive it is.
The sheer truth I had such a decision addresses the 2020 BMW M8 Competition Coupe and Convertible being moving activities in adaptability. The decision of what number of wheels you need driven is only one of heap alternatives. Drive mode settings are bountiful to the point that the guiding wheel is flanked with twin M1 and M2 catches completed in ostentatious blood red to bring driver presets on the fly. A large number of motor, frame, controlling, brake, and all-wheel-drive control circulation settings are overseen by means of the 10.25-inch infotainment framework. Additionally present are fastens on the inside reassure to switch into M Dynamic mode, which controls the all-wheel drive and e-differential to enable the vehicle to enter “controlled floats,” however the Bavarian maker never legitimately alludes to it as float mode.
The M8 develops the M850i’s as of now impressive execution weapons store with a progression of overhauls expected to take it to the following level. It has the most dominant arrangement creation M motor yet, a twin-turbocharged, twin-scroll 4.4-liter V8 that siphons out an even 600 hp in standard M8 trim, or 617 hp with the $13,000 M8 Competition Coupe bundle. Torque is an indistinguishable 553 pound-feet for the two models, however the pinnacle endures an extra 160 rpm in the Competition. That base yield is 77 hp more than the M850i (torque arrives at a similar pinnacle however does so 1,100 rpm sooner) and a shocking 265 hp more than the 840i.
Other than its additional yield, the Competition bundle includes stiffer motor mounts, expanded front suspension camber, and rotating appendages rather than elastic at the back for more noteworthy body control. Different enhancements contrasted with non-M models incorporate beefier motor cooling, stiffer and totally reconsidered body structure and suspension parts. BMW says the roadster will go from zero to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, with the Competition shaving a tenth off for an even 3 seconds. The Convertible drops those occasions to 3.2 and 3.1 seconds, separately.
BMW M8 Competition Coupe Interior
My day began in a M8 Competition Convertible ($143,495), covering the delightfully crooked course from the Conrad Algarve lodging to the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve ordinarily known as Portimão. One word constantly comes into view when I move into most present day M autos: Beefy. The word is typically activated by BMW’s girthier-than-normal controlling wheel breadth and the cockpit’s overall state of mind of unmistakable manliness. A premium, significantly completed feel wins all through the lodge, which is all around protected from the components because of a thick, multi-layer delicate top. Bringing down it takes 15 seconds and should be possible up to 31 mph, while a breeze redirector that can be connected to the rearward sitting arrangement (and occupies room in the storage compartment when not being used) keeps the front compartment generally tranquil. Seat and neck warmers keeps it generally toasty.
Indeed, even in its mildest suspension setting, the M8 doesn’t feels wallowy or delicate. There’s recognizably more body control and responsiveness contrasted with the M850i in all modes. At any rate on the generally smooth surfaces of Portugal’s well-cleared mountain streets, the ride doesn’t come to the heart of the matter of being awkward, however it appears to transmit essentially every edge and wrinkle in the asphalt. Guiding gives a not too bad measure of criticism unquestionably more than in the M850i, however the general impression veers more towards detachment than kickback from street anomalies. There’s sufficient data and development of exertion through the thick-rimmed wheel to loan trust in rapid corners, and the variable proportion arrangement doesn’t cause a lot to notice itself, dissimilar to some prior cycles that made it hard to survey how a lot of controlling information is required for course change.
Immense stores of intensity are accessible from the twin-turbocharged V8 yet can be hard to access on winding open streets. Point it at an open stretch of expressway, be that as it may, and the M8 arrives at triple-digit speeds in what appears no time by any means. In its calmer setting, the fumes note is sufficiently peaceful to empower open to motoring throughout the day. Change to the stronger setting with the catch on the inside comfort, and a misleadingly upgraded sound conveys a refined however persuading lodge filling baritone note.
In spite of the fact that it’s difficult to start to expose the M8’s full capacities during two arrangements of hot laps at the Algarve circuit, despite everything they uncover a considerable amount about the Competition Coupe’s underpinnings. In “AWD Sport” mode, the enormous two-entryway handles tightly to landing area and quickens unequivocally off the line without a trace of wheel slip. It didn’t appear to be reasonable to connect with dispatch control in pit path, yet that guaranteed 3-second 0-60 mph time recommends I could collect a considerable amount of speed before turn 1 if so wanted. In spite of the fact that it takes a touch of boasting to completely place your confidence in the M8’s back one-sided all-wheel-drive framework off the bat, when you do, there’s a considerable amount of mobility on tap for an almost 4,300-pound vehicle, thanks to some degree to the enchantment of torque-and brake vectoring that help the vehicle alter course. In spite of the fact that not as unmistakably light-footed as, state, a Porsche 911 Turbo (which tips the scales an entire 778 pounds lighter than the Bimmer), the M8’s skeleton firmness and forcefully tuned suspension help shrivel its apparent mass.
When you’ve conquered the dread of inactivity furrowing you into a corner, the M8 demonstrates fit for impressive corner velocities and certain ways out. Just point the wheel in the ideal heading, and the undercarriage figures out how to plant the haggles the vehicle through the corner, much similarly the wizard-like Nissan GT-R’s complex all-wheel-drive framework apparently opposes material science. In spite of the fact that the two-wheel-drive setting probably conveys tail-glad slides, the all-wheel drive in its most forceful setting never feels understeer-inclined or reluctant to move. Jam the carbon artistic brakes, and the quick deceleration almost coordinates the M8’s momentous capacity to shoot forward. In spite of the fact that more laps may uncover chinks in the covering brake blur, maybe, or perhaps taking care of cumbersomeness at higher velocities the M8 demonstrated astoundingly formed during my spells given its generally enormous impression and extensive control weight.
Beginning at $133,995, or $146,995 for the Competition bundle (counting $995 for goal), the M8 is situated close to the zenith of the BMW lineup, not far-removed the big enchilada $158,695, V12-fueled M760i xDrive car. The M850i Coupe begins at $112,895. Tick boxes like carbon artistic brakes ($8,150), the Bowers and Wilkins sound framework ($3,400), or a carbon outside bundle ($5,400), and the premium heightens further. Despite the fact that not as inflexible as its most wearing rival, the Porsche 911 Turbo, the M8 demonstrates more driver-centered than the Mercedes-AMG S 63 roadster and more usable than the AMG GT two-seater. The ultra-elite two-entryway super roadster is a restricted specialty, and the M8’s little back seats don’t make a big deal about a case for pulling around developed grown-ups. Be that as it may, for rapid, track-proficient capacity and throughout the day comfort, the M8 accomplishes its strategic easy power and straightforwardness.
2020 BMW M8 Competition Convertible [UK] language:en
2020 BMW M8 Competition Coupe interior2020 BMW M8 Competition Coupe UK
2020 BMW M850i Convertible Review
September 24, 2019 Yulizar
As times change, there are numerous progressions to the BMW. The 2020 BMW M850i Convertible isn’t equivalent to a turn-of-the-century E39 5 Series or reawakened 6 Series of the mid-2000s. Has an inclination that them and that is fine. It’s a shocking vehicle overflowing with cutting edge designing and class. It is an incredibly unbending four-situate convertible, obligingness of BMW’s “Carbon Core” innovation initially found on the 7 Series that acquaints carbon fiber with the aluminum and high-quality steel structure. Monster knocks are consumed without a trace of shake or brutality, while even my insane slanted garage couldn’t make it break or flex. This is a dazzling accomplishment for a vehicle with some fabric for a rooftop.
So too is the measure of commotion inside the lodge with that rooftop raised. Wind and street clamor are essentially nill, and just when it began to rain would you be able to truly disclose to you weren’t secured by an inflexible material.
The M850i Convertible is the first BMW since the E90 3 Series with controlling that made me gesture with endorsement. This isn’t to imply that the two are comparable. They’re amazingly unique, just correspondingly first rate. You can feel vibration through the M850i’s haggle sensation transmitted from the tires to your hands. It does in reality connect with you when driven rapidly. Drawing in Sport mode helps, yet isn’t the need it was in such a significant number of BMWs of the most recent decade. Truth be told, there’s not unreasonably much contrast in directing exertion between modes, an invite pattern currently saturating the car business.
In any case, the M850i is a GT, and all things considered, the directing acts in a manner that supports a loose, yet responsive exertion at higher velocities, and a lighter exertion at low ones. When driving lethargically around town, there’s underlying obstruction at turn-in pursued by simple, however direct exertion. It’s marginally similar to an Audi, however there’s undeniably more data separating through. This is without a doubt not characteristic of those “magnificence days” BMWs people like me grovel over with rose-tinted glasses, yet it’s suitable for the vehicle and in reality prevalent in specific regards. For example, the E60 5 Series and the second-age X5 had horrendously substantial guiding at low speeds.
The M850i’s ride is superb, a demonstration of prevalent suspension building and that ultra-unbending Carbon Core structure. Indeed, even the firmest Sport Plus setting sops up street flaws competently and has no issue with the amazing mid-corner knocks. Solace mode isn’t some segregation load, either, which makes the center ground Sport setting somewhat pointless. It’s fundamentally similar to having an old-school Series BMW and a M model across the board – both well-damped, however with shifting degrees of immovability.
In spite of its solace, be that as it may, taking care of is additionally excellent, particularly given the M850i Convertible’s monstrous extents. Other than that equivalent suspension keeping you level through corners – unquestionably more so than BMWs of the past – the back wheel directing amazingly contracts the vehicle around tight corners, and makes the turning circle absurdly tight.
At that point there’s the motor, a 4.4-liter turbocharged V8 useful for 523 pull and 553 pound-feet of torque. Turbocharging has sapped some character from BMW’s plants, however there’s no contending with the exhibition and relative effectiveness they’re ready to accomplish. The M850i will hit 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, pushing you easily forward as each of the four wheels hook at the asphalt for footing. It is total needless excess, and the general powerful bundle may really be better valued if the motor wasn’t there to always get everyone’s attention.
Be that as it may, it positively does, in no little part in light of the fact that the fumes sounds awesome. It’s there as a delicate thunder when driving at low speeds (one of my preferred parts of the mid-2000s Mercedes CL65 AMG), however chatters with delectable annoyance when you let ‘er tear – particularly in a Sport mode. However, it doesn’t inauthentically pop and snap under braking. It sends out only the correct vibe, both actually and allegorically.
Other than enabling you to appreciate that capable of being heard abundance, the open-top lodge additionally dazzles such that its commended ancestors didn’t. There’s a certified quality of extravagance present that was missing in even high-dollar BMWs of yesteryear. Through its structure and materials, there’s the kind of pizazz present you’d would like to get from a vehicle that costs well north of $100,000. However, there’s additionally a lot of usefulness. More established BMWs were regularly deprived of little thing stockpiling and valuable cupholders. The M850i, on the other hand, has huge entryway receptacles, conventional cupholders, a remote charging cushion and an under-armrest canister enormous enough to hold a cell phone, shades case, water bottle and a cap.
So, the rearward sitting arrangement is extraordinarily little given the outside measurements. The M850i Convertible really has 3.6 less crawls of back legroom than a 4 Series Convertible. The storage compartment is at any rate conveniently profound regardless of whether, expectedly for a convertible, it shrivels in stature when the rooftop is brought down. The 8 Series Convertible likewise doesn’t have a different back window as the two past 6 Series convertibles had. This enabled you to have free-streaming air with the rooftop still set up (useful for hot, radiant days) just as an implicit breeze diverter. Rather, the M850i has a conventional, removable breeze diverter covering the secondary lounge that must be collapsed up and set in the storage compartment when not being used.
Obviously, that didn’t actually quiet my target, proficient thankfulness for this car. Besides, the M850i Convertible looks sufficient that I may even toss some lingering childhood car longing its direction – it sure looks hotter than the 6 Series. In any case, a $131,395 territory besting convertible doesn’t a renaissance make. For that, the 3 Series and 5 Series must establish comparable connections, and to date, they have not. However, maybe it’s only simpler for the 8 Series as it’s not bearing the equivalent chronicled things and desires. It has permit to appear as something else, yet it’s likewise a similar enough to make dried up old previous Bimmerphiles quit longing such a great amount for past times worth remembering.
2020BMWConvertibleLuxurym850inew car reviewsPerformancereview
2020 BMW X2 M35i Price UK
August 12, 2019 Yulizar
There is new news about the BMW X2 that you need to know, especially the people of the United Kingdom especially about price, specifications, features, fuel savings, and safety.
The 2020 BMW X2 is the X1’s snappy and fun kin. They share a typical vehicle stage, including a similar base motor and inside plan, however separate from that point. Where the X1 prevails at being a fun yet utilitarian hybrid, the X2 offers more execution, progressively particular style and more debate. That additional presentation comes graciousness of the sportier, all the more dominant M35i variation that is selective to the X2. The discussion originates from that style, which surely won’t be for everybody, and that, critically, diminishes the space and flexibility numerous people anticipate from a SUV.
That BMW offers decision in this developing portion can’t be seen as an awful thing, in any case. Some may like the X1, others may incline toward the X2. In any case, it’s critical to look at the section’s other solid passages, including the Volvo XC40 and all-new 2019 Audi Q3. Considering a non-extravagance vehicle like the shockingly sumptuous Mazda CX-5 is a smart thought as well. However, the 2020 X2 remains a convincing section for the individuals who organize style and execution.
There are no imperative changes for 2020. The X2 was first presented for 2018, with a year ago’s key change being the presentation of the M35i variation.
The 2020 BMW X2 has an inside that is fitting of a little, extravagance hybrid. It’s no 8 Series within, yet the great materials and interfaces feel are suitable for the BMW identification. It’s not the most plainly extravagant climate, yet it can unquestionably be a smart one with the correct alternatives chose. We’re gigantic devotees of BMW’s Magma Red inside shading choice, appeared previously. It’s a sublime red orange tone that flies against any differentiating outside shading.
One significant viewpoint you should note is that the X2 doesn’t have the grandiose SUV-like seating position many anticipate from a SUV. Rather, it’s lower and rather vehicle like. We didn’t really mind this, yet it may not be what numerous hybrid customers are looking for. At any rate realize that the X2’s X1 kin comes nearer to it. There’s one bothering disturbance regular with both little BMW SUVs, notwithstanding: the balance controlling wheel. They’re by all account not the only vehicles liable of this, however it could demonstrate to be a steady disturbance.
BMW X2 M35i
Concerning the tech, BMW furnishes the X2 with its iDrive infotainment framework. It’s not the most recent form you’ll discover on models like the X5 and new 3 Series, which means its missing touchscreen usefulness and a few different highlights, however it’s still bounty adequate gratitude to a framework that reacts rapidly to inputs by means of the rotational controller and encompassing menu catches. Shockingly, tech highlight substance is somewhat slight. Android Auto isn’t accessible and BMW exceptionally offers Apple CarPlay just as a discretionary membership. Numerous vehicles that cost considerably less incorporate the two highlights as standard hardware.
The 2020 BMW X2 is on the littler side of hybrids falling into what is viewed as the subcompact hybrid fragment alongside vehicles like the Volvo XC40, Range Rover Evoque, Lexus UX, Mercedes GLA and Audi Q3. At 172.2 crawls long, it falls on the littler side of things in this class, however not by much.
As far as tallness, will undoubtedly see how short it is as it so happens. It’s one of only a handful couple of hybrids we can remain beside and see totally over it. This low rooftop reduces headroom contrasted with the X1, yet less that your head will contact the main event. It’s somewhat unbalanced getting back there with the little opening, however there’s a lot of room once settled with 36.7 creeps of back legroom.
As far as freight space, the X2 has a stunt at its disposal. From the outset attempt, we fit two medium-sized registration bags and two roll-aboards behind its raised secondary lounge. That is not incredible, but at the same time it’s truly ordinary for a section that doesn’t actually put the U in SUV. Be that as it may, lifting up the load floor uncovers the X2’s full 21.6-cubic-feet of room, enabling us to fit another pair of roll-aboards and a little duffle pack, as well. It fundamentally takes the X2 from normal to truly outstanding in the class. Simply realize that extra under-floor stockpiling comes to the detriment of an extra tire – on the off chance that you choose one that space vanishes.
Both the X2 sDrive28i (front-wheel drive) and xDrive28i (all-wheel drive) come standard with a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four that makes 228 pull and 258 pound-feet of torque. It feels spunky at low speeds and is perhaps the most grounded motor in the portion, yet the M35i is the one to go for on the off chance that you need genuine execution. The M-fettled four-chamber puts out 302 pull, 332 pound-feet and drops the 0-60 mph time from the mid-6-second range to 4.7 seconds, as per BMW. That is one speedy hybrid.
BMW X2 M35i Interior
Efficiency for the front-wheel drive X2 tops out at 23 mpg city, 32 mpg thruway and 26 mpg consolidated. Settling on all-wheel drive drops those figures down to 21/31/25 mpg. The shockingly productive M35i just goes down to 23/29/25 mpg, as indicated by the EPA. You’re probably going to see the mileage begin to drop when utilizing every one of the 302 steeds in the M35i, however.
The 2020 BMW X2 xDrive28i looks somewhat like a vehicle and its lower driving position is like that of a vehicle, so it shouldn’t amaze that it likewise drives more like a vehicle than a SUV. We feel that is something worth being thankful for, as it surrenders it a leg in this fragment. In spite of the fact that there’s more body move than you’d get in one of BMW’s game cars, this is as yet a fun vehicle befitting its identification. Things show signs of improvement when fitted with the $800 Dynamic Handling Package, which both solidifies and brings down the vehicle notwithstanding changing the controlling. It clutches the asphalt for far longer than you anticipate that a subcompact hybrid should and shows fulfilling body control when assaulting progressive corners on a byway. You can tell that BMW attempted to make this little hybrid lithe and amusing to drive.
The 28i motor is essentially a similar unit you’ll discover in a JCW Mini. It pulls bounty hard and is smooth. It misses the mark regarding invigorating, yet you’ll never feel deserted. The fantastic eight-speed programmed transmission conveys quick changes easily and consistently is by all accounts in the correct gear.
BMW X2 M35i Engine
With respect to the M35i, that is the place things truly begin to get energizing. The forceful suspension arrangement is seen over knocks and street defects, however it sure is justified, despite all the trouble in the corners. If not for the vehicle’s higher weight (3,721 pounds) and focal point of gravity, the X2 M35i would really feel like an appropriate hot bring forth. It alters course rapidly and with balance, particularly when fitted with grippy summer elastic. The accessible drive modes (Comfort, Sport and Eco Pro) enable you to modify the stun solidness on the off chance that you’ve attached the $500 Dynamic Damper Control alternative, and it has an unmistakable effect in dealing with. Tossing it in Sport additionally makes the motor, transmission and fumes all the more exuberant. We cherish the forceful fumes soundtrack that is brimming with pops and pops — the sound joined with how rapidly it launches you forward is noteworthy stuff. Get it odd or strange, however the X2 wears the M35i identification well.
The 2020 BMW X2 sDrive28i begins at $37,395, including the $995 goal charge. BMW is enthusiastic about offering a huge amount of choices, yet you get a considerable measure of standard hardware at that cost. It accompanies 18-inch amalgam wheels, LED headlights and foglights, control rear end, a blend of polished dark and chrome trim, auto atmosphere control, eight-way power front seats, “SensaTec” premium vinyl upholstery, encompassing light, a 8.8-inch infotainment show with the iDrive handle controller interface and a seven-speaker sound framework.
BMW doesn’t offer a lot of various trims for the X2, yet the all-wheel drive xDrive model knocks the cost up by $2,000 to $39,395. The M35i execution model is significantly more at $47,445. Notwithstanding its additional power and its M-tuned suspension, brakes and directing, you get a changed outside look with the M35i, as BMW paints the vast majority of the dark plastic embellishment in body shading and includes progressively forceful streamlined components. Attach enough alternatives, and the M35i expands over $50,000. At that value, it begins to contend with bigger, progressively lavish SUVs, while making it outrageously expensive for a hot bring forth elective. There’s a lot of execution, yet BMW is approaching a ton for it
The 2020 BMW X2 comes standard with front impact cautioning, low-speed programmed crisis braking, path takeoff cautioning and programmed highbeams. Versatile journey control is discretionary.
BMW got a Top Safety Pick grant from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, with “Great” appraisals in all the crashworthiness areas. The administration has not yet evaluated the BMW X2.
2020 BMW M135i [UK] language:en
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